The Plateauing Trap
My Vice President informed me that a decision was made that I was not going any higher in management in the company. I had known this on a subliminal level, but hearing it had made it final.
I was trying to get my head to move in a different direction; and, coming to the realization of being stopped. My career was over. I had not told Emily that we were going to stay in this small town until I retired. (this did not happen) I was looking for “a window that is open when a door is shut”, as Robert Schuller stated. I was hoping I would find something to focus my energy on.
Emily liked to go to an outlet mall close to where we lived. When we went to this outlet; I went to the bargain book store. There I found a book titled, “The Plateauing trap” by Dr. Judith Bardwick. This book provided the window I jumped through.
The book said that all managers will be stopped at some point in their careers. This is being on the plateau and most managers feel trapped. It stated that sometimes the manager is not prepared to stop. Also, the managers need to come to reconciliation to where they are trapped. This gave me the impression that our generation had been sold on a false premise… that as managers we had a career. We were headed to the top. My father was happy to have a job and took pride in performing that job to perfection. My father lived through the depression as a child. He knew how important just having a job was, no career in the sky crap.
There it was, from now on I would be on a different learning curve. I would know more about my job I had than anyone. I would dedicate myself to be the best at my job. That would be my career, becoming the best at whatever I was hired to do. My whole attitude toward my job changed for the better.
