I realized recently, that no matter how good you are at your job, you will not be a good fit for every organization hiring for your role.
A digression to illustrate.
For my fellow friends who watch soccer, Mesut Ozil was/is one of the finest passers of the ball out there. At Real Madrid, everyone agreed he could win the Ballon d’Or. At Arsenal, his career stalled, then went downhill.
Similarly, Lionel Messi in a Barcelona shirt was one of the best ever players to grace the game. At PSG; he seems ordinary.
This has little to do with these players’ ability or willingness to work hard. They are players whose tenacity enables them to be amongst the best in a system where less than 1% of players successfully play professional football/soccer.
Rather, in my own view at least, with a change in the system between their former and latter teams. One was set up to work in harmony with their strengths, and bring out the best in them. In the latter, they were square pegs in round holes.
I am sure in every team sport, we will find stories like this. Where a superstar in one team, makes a career move and becomes a shadow of their former self. In these stories, is an important lesson for all our careers.
No matter how good you are at your job, you will not be a good fit for every organization hiring for your role. And in some instances, your career will stall as a result.
You have intricacies about you, and how you work & communicate, about what you value and hate-that means if an organization violates these-your superstar abilities will not shine through.
Are you a late or early riser? Are you someone whose default communication style is in-person-& personal? Or do you simply want to know what needs to be done & do it? Are you a systems thinker; or do you thrive in spontaneous bursts of production?
Do you truly believe in an organization’s mission, values & reason for being? Or are you on the job because you need a 9-5? Do you love to see people grow & celebrate each other openly? Or do you believe these are personal matters for family & friends only?
Do you love continuous learning & evolution? And the odd misstep that will come along the way. Or do you want to become ruthlessly efficient at one thing and flawlessly continue to execute?
There are many more questions.
Questions that when you honestly answer, will clarify to you the kind of organization & role complexity that will be great for you & for the organization.
The synergy for the organization and for your career & life that come with an authentic understanding of who you are and what your skills, passions & beliefs are is worth pursuing.
So wherever you are in the job search or on your career trajectory; do some soul-searching before you wallpaper the universe with your applications.
You have superstar potential, and the world needs you to find the space where you can demonstrate it.