Careers rarely derail in one dramatic moment. They stall, in ways nobody names out loud, and by the time you notice, two or three years have gone.
After coaching thousands of professionals, I’ve spotted five career gaps that block progression more than anything else. Here they are.
1. The Talent Gap
Not everyone is born gifted at everything.
But to succeed, you need to find what you’re UNIQUELY talented at… then leverage the heck out of it and make it your superpower.
(Btw, my superpower is being super-likeable and empathetic, which suits me perfectly as a career mentor.)
Winners know their strengths and continue building their capabilities around them.
But if you’re forced to do something you know you don’t have the best talent for (cold-calling sales, accounting, technical drawing), then delegate, outsource, or walk away from it. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.
2. The Skills Gap
Skills come in two flavours:
- Having versus not having the skill
- Basic versus advanced proficiency
It’s not enough to have basic understanding. You need to be proficient and demonstrate mastery.
So what if I ‘know’ Spanish if it’s just limited to hello and goodbye… it’s useless if I can’t negotiate with my suppliers in Madrid.
At your level of senior leadership (and salary band), it’s not sufficient that you’re just ‘good enough’ at the thing they’re paying you for. You need to be EXTREMELY GOOD at it.
Hone your skills the way a master craftsman would and become the subject matter expert people will travel miles for, just to get your advice.
3. The Effort Gap
The spirit is willing, but what if your effort is weak?
You want to make a million bucks a year, but are you willing to put in a million bucks of effort towards that goal? And if you are, when are you going to start?
I believe in Newton’s first law of inertia, that an object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will continue in motion.
Often, the first move is the toughest (like getting off the couch to go to the gym), but once you get out and put on your gym shoes… you’re already on your way.
Trick your brain into making the first move. Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins by getting off your butt.
4. The Experience Gap
A snarky interviewee was once told “you don’t have the necessary experience for this job” and he replied, like the smartass he was, “if NASA really believed in that, they would never have put a man on the moon.”
But what Mr Smartypants didn’t realise was that the astronauts NASA hired were all aviation test pilots who were supremely experienced in flying and testing new aircraft, had the calm nerves to navigate life-threatening problems in flight, and had no fear of death.
So yes, those astronauts WERE experienced, in the areas that were relevant to success.
So start building your adjacent skills and experience so you’re better prepared for roles that seem out of your comfort zone.
5. The Attitude Gap
Have you run out of mojo?
Are you so tired or jaded by what you’ve been doing that you’re leaking fatigue, or worse still, resentment for your job, company or tasks?
I once brought my daughter to a nearby clinic for a bad cough and fever, and the middle-aged locum doctor who attended to us seemed like he really wanted to be somewhere else.
“Take one Panadol twice a day and come back in two days,” he droned.
I was not inspired by his attitude and had to get a second opinion… and indeed, her condition was far worse than he had diagnosed.
If you’ve lost your passion or interest in your job, maybe it’s time to move on to something different, because try as hard as you might, you won’t be able to hide a poor attitude.
Now Review Your Own Career
Look at your career against these five gaps and ask yourself: are they relevant to me, and how do I close them?
Every gap except talent can be closed, with strategy, persistence, and the right support.
Your career is a marathon, not a sprint. Close these gaps one by one and you’ll be unstoppable.
