Embracing What’s Next: How to Prepare for Your Next Career Move

So, you would like to: be promoted, find a new job, grow as a leader, or… even change careers! It all starts with you! Let’s talk about that.

Whichever your goal, the process begins with self-reflection and intentional planning. Growth in academic surgery requires more than technical expertise. It demands adaptability, clarity of purpose, and a willingness to evolve.

As great leaders always say; “you need to relinquish the past to fully embrace the future.” What to relinquish can include old titles, certain responsibilities, areas of clinical, educational, research, or administrative focus, even a deeply ingrained professional identity.

Imagine: As you prepare to be promoted, imagine your best professional and personal self. For example, imagine yourself transitioning from the editorial board to now become the section editor or chief editor of a journal. Imagine that you will now lead your section, division, a new department, or institution.

Prepare: 1. First and foremost, plan to relinquish the responsibilities that do not align with YOUR MISSION. Ideally, start with the small items, the easy ones to complete or pass on. Create a timeline and then meet your deadlines. Remember, you are the one who holds yourself accountable; no one else will. 2. Seek advice about how to prepare for the next position. Talk to those who already hold a similar position; How did they get there? Do you need coursework such as a leadership or finance course? And always be sure to inform and seek advice from your boss.

Begin the process: Focus first on informational material to help you move forward, then on needed skills, then experiential learning.  As Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs at Johns Hopkins my team and I created professional “tracks”. These were in Basic Research, Education, Patent Law and Inventions, and Research Administration. Each track was information-, skills-, and then experiential-based.

Embrace the Journey: So you’ve thought about your future, prepared for the next step, now what? My best advice is to simply “enjoy the journey.” I knew I wanted to be a part of leadership at Johns Hopkins with a focus on research. With guidance from the Vice Dean of Faculty, I served on related institutional committees, took institutional and national courses on leadership and was prepared when the Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs position became available. I had not known what position I would hold, only what I was most interested in. Remember, let others guide you, and then be sure to walk through open doors, always!

Be sure to post below about your journey toward a new focus, new position, or new career.

As John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”