Career Advice: When Ambitions change…
I’m looking for some guidance on how to move forward in my career, or more specifically, advice for someone close to me.
He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, with an incredible memory. On top of that, he has a great personality: he’s genuinely likeable, very funny, and gets along well with pretty much everyone. He speaks two languages (English and Spanish) at a native level, and another two at a conversational level. Additionally, he’s very well connected. He originally studied Business Administration and Law, and a few years ago he went back (remotely and while working) to university to study Mathematics and Statistics purely out of personal interest.
For most of his career, he hasn’t been particularly driven by ambition in the traditional sense. His priority was having a good work-life balance while earning what he considered a fair salary. That said, he’s always earned well, especially for Southern European standards, where he lives.
Recently, though, his mindset has shifted quite a bit. He’s now considering making a major change, almost a 180° turn, and becoming much more ambitious professionally. He doesn’t currently need a high income (he’s single, lives alone, no dependents), but he wants to secure a strong future and be prepared in case his life circumstances change down the line.
In terms of experience, he has around 15-20 years of work experience, with about +10 of those spent at the same company. He joined when it was a small startup of around 5 people, and now it has grown to about +150 employees. He’s currently in a high-responsibility role, working very closely with the CEO/founder - essentially acting as a kind of right-hand person. His role is related to software, and given the company’s growth, he’s been involved in many different areas over the years.
The challenge is that it’s not entirely clear what he actually wants next (or atleast he’s not very transparent about it):
• Does he want to change industries?
• Move into a different kind of role?
• Maximize income?
• Or just explore more ambitious opportunities in general?
So my question is: what kind of advice would you give someone in this situation?
I also think it might be helpful to identify the right questions he should be asking himself to figure out his next step.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long messag