Designing a happier, more fulfilling career is a critical concern for finance professionals navigating the challenges of linear career paths and feeling stuck in mid-level roles. In this episode, Lucia Knight, a Midlife Career Design Consultant and Co-Creator of The Fierce Emporium, shares her expertise on how finance leaders can intentionally craft careers that align with their unique strengths and interests, leading to greater job satisfaction and long-term career success.

Many finance professionals, despite their impressive qualifications and experience, find themselves dissatisfied with their work, with studies showing that less than 50% of their time is spent on tasks they truly enjoy. This episode explores strategies to help these individuals break free from the constraints of traditional career trajectories and design roles that energize and inspire them.

Key topics covered include:

• Lucia’s personal journey from a “career coma” in financial recruitment to retraining as an occupational psychologist and uncovering the secrets of happier work.
• The importance of identifying and leveraging one’s “superpowers” – activities that are deeply satisfying, energizing, and unique to the individual.
• Strategies for uncovering these superpowers, such as the 4-piece paper exercise to reflect on past work experiences.
• Aligning superpowers with problems that are genuinely interesting and valuable to others, rather than just moving to a different company or sector.
• The significance of strategic career planning, avoiding the “shiny object syndrome,” and ensuring alignment between personal values and the organization’s culture.
• Resources provided, including Lucia’s website midlifeunstuck.com, to help finance professionals design their ideal careers.

• Lucia Knight on LinkedIn
• Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn
• GrowCFO Mentoring

• 0:01:01 – Lucia Knight’s introduction and background in financial recruitment
• 0:01:23 – Lucia’s experience of a “career coma” and the realization that she hadn’t learned anything new in years
• 0:04:38 – The concept of “happy work” and the importance of finding deep satisfaction in one’s work
• 0:05:44 – Challenges finance professionals face in linear career paths and feeling stuck at mid-level roles
• 0:09:46 – The importance of enjoying at least 75% of one’s work time to feel satisfied
• 0:10:47 – Identifying and leveraging unique “superpowers” – activities one loves, does easily, and that energize them
• 0:13:38 – Examples of finance superpowers, such as translating words into numbers to tell a story and cutting through the noise to find solutions
• 0:16:51 – Strategies for uncovering superpowers, such as the 4-piece paper exercise
• 0:24:42 – Aligning superpowers with interesting problems that others need solved
• 0:28:15 – The importance of strategic career planning and avoiding the “shiny object syndrome”
• 0:31:57 – Ensuring alignment between one’s values and the organization’s lived values
• 0:33:00 – Resources provided, including Lucia’s website midlifeunstuck.com

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