Today is April 18 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “Do you view your career path as a jungle gym or a ladder?
In her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, Sheryl Sandberg borrows a career development metaphor of the jungle gym from Fortune magazine editor Pattie Sellers.
“People who view their careers as jungle gyms, rather than ladders,” observed Sellers, “make sure that their vision is always peripheral so that they can see opportunities that come along—and swing to them.”
Sandberg continued that thought and wrote “A jungle gym scramble is the best description of my career since I could never have connected the dots from where I started to where I am today.”
The jungle gym metaphor offers a different approach to career development than the traditional corporate ladder for a variety of reasons:
The jungle gym allows you to move up, down, and sideways, whereas the ladder allows you to move only up and down. Having the flexibility of a jungle gym is an absolute necessity in today’s challenge job market.
The jungle gym allows you to work with others, while the ladder only offers you the opportunity to walk over someone to get to the next step.
The jungle gym has a wide base and therefore allows for a stronger foundation as compared to the ladder that has two legs and is subject to wind, shifts in weight, or unpaved surfaces.
The jungle gym allows more than one person to sit at the top, while the ladder has room only for one person.
Creating options via the jungle gym is especially relevant for new college graduates who possess high expectations that their degree will result in an immediate dream job following graduation.
The pursuit of a ‘dream job’ is “a recipe for disappointment.” To build their path around, over, and through their career jungle gym, individuals need to expand their employment options.
In What Colour is Your Parachute? Richard Bolles concluded, “Even in tough times there are jobs to be had, but applicants have to work far harder to get an employer’s attention. They need to market themselves better and consider a broader range of employers.”
In considering a career move are you only looking up or are you considering other options that exist all around you?
One such person that considered her options is Whoopi Goldberg, the only African-American woman with an EGOT (an Emmy, A Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony).
Goldberg disputed that she was ever on anything so clear as a path and said “You can’t create a career. It goes where it goes.”
Having a jungle gym approach allows you to have a career that ‘goes where it goes.’ But are you comfortable with that approach? Do you remain open to the opportunities that come across your path?