Ask yourself: How much do you love doing what you do? For most of us there’ll be some bits we really don’t enjoy (admin in my case!), but ideally there’ll be many aspects of our role that make our heart zing!

If that isn’t the case, read on for ways to address any malaise…

One way of finding your perfect role is to start by looking at what I call your marketable assets. Make a list of the projects you’ve been involved with and then look objectively at your experience, skills and network. Answer these six questions honestly:

1. What experience and knowledge do you have? Summarise the key areas.
2. What might be missing which, if added to your experience and knowledge, would make you more of a ‘wow’?
3. What key skills do you have (perhaps commented on in performance reviews) that help you stand out from others?
4. Where are your personal development needs (ie if addressed would open up exciting new opportunities)?
5. Who in your network do you know really well, both inside your firm and in the market place – they enjoy working with you and think you’re talented?
6. Who might you need to get to know better so that new doors might open?

So that’s an audit of you. Then look at the market to assess the attractiveness of the options available to you. Take each aspect of your work and assess the following:

1. How big is that area of work (score it H=there’s lots of work, M=a medium amount or L=this is a specialist field)?
2. To what extent is that area of work likely to grow (H= it’s growing, M=static, L=this is in decline)?
3. How profitable is the work (H=no problem selling at top rates, M=medium or L= lots of discounting required)?
4. How strategically important are these areas of work to your firm (H=important and there’s likely to be good investment, M=some limited interest, L= no interest)

Then you compare your answers to try to find a match between your experience, skills and network and attractive market opportunities. If you find a match you are well on your way.

But now the big question…how passionate do you feel about focusing your career on developing that work stream? Does the thought of concentrating on such work make your heart zing? I would say you need to score it at least 8 out of 10 on the passion-ometer!

If the area scores less than that, go back to your analysis until you find your heart zinging!

You may find that your passion diminishes in your mid-career period. Maybe there’s just been too much repetition. All you need to do is to repeat this reflection and move on…

If you need to motivate others in your team, have a look at https://tonyreiss.com/2015/04/27/what-can-managers-do-to-motivate-their-team/