Let’s be clear about what we mean by realignment. When you choose a realignment experience, you are voluntarily taking a step back or a step down. You are initiating the move with the support of your manager or mentor or coach. Stepping back can be an opportunity to recalibrate, a chance to rethink a route you may have committed to at one point and now want to reconsider. Or you may include a realignment experience in a career pattern as a stepping stone to future opportunities.

If realignment experiences are not common in your organization, it can be puzzling to understand the why behind including this option in a career pattern. The realignment experience is becoming more common, though. We have heard from a number of our clients that employees have a wide variety of reasons for choosing a realignment experience. Several interviewees shared with us that they were:

•    returning to an individual contributor role after discovering that management was not all it appeared to be;

•    taking on an entry-level position in another function or area of expertise, where there might be more opportunities for longer-term growth;

•    seeking a part-time or job-sharing schedule to allow more hours for personal responsibilities;

•    opting for a less stressful or time-consuming opportunity; or

•    learning a skill set that is only used in a lower position.

Too often, the bad press around the idea of stepping back—the chatter, the buzz, the side glances, the assumption that there must be more to it, for someone to make such a move—is harmful and hurts. However, depending on the circumstances, realignment can be just the right place and just the right time. When you want to shift your career pattern, when you want to twist the kaleidoscope a full turn or two to find something different, taking a step down or back can allow the space to do just that.

We’ve seen this scenario play out over and over in technical organizations we work with. Talented individual contributors are promoted into management as a reward or acknowledgment of their expertise but without careful consideration of what’s the best fit for them and for the organization. Unfortunately, when it is not the right fit—when the three mirrors don’t line up with the new role—the individuals involved often leave rather than speak up.

As we pointed out when we introduced the three mirrors in chapter 2, finding the right fit—matching skills, interests, and values to what we do—is essential to a successful and meaningful career. When that best fit is a lower-level or previous role, the choice can be refreshing, rewarding, and fulfilling.

A realignment experience can rejuvenate a career that has become dreary or monotonous. The physician we met who gave up medicine to become a human resources manager, or the corporate executive who returned to school to study theology, might be extreme cases. Still, even the young man who went from management to part-time phone representative in order to make time for his band tour paints a positive picture of the realignment possibilities.

Does this sound like we are trying to offer a hard sell for realignment?

Actually, what we are selling here is a challenge. We are challenging you to examine your view of realignment. We are inviting you, once again, to say, “I never thought about it like that before.”

Let’s examine some possible biases. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you label steps down or back as “demotions”?

2. Do you believe choosing to realign will knock an employee permanently off track?

3. Do you assume realignment experiences are for those who can’t cut it?

If you answered yes to any of these three questions, there’s a risk you might be undervaluing or prejudging this experience.

Labels Matter

Pay attention to words that may be sending the wrong message.

First, are all realignments demotions? The word demotion carries a negative vibe. It also implies that the individual may have had little or no input into the decision. Language is powerful. Just the simple step of calling a move a realignment rather than a demotion can change the perception.

Let your conscience be your guide: read the following two statements and see if you have different reactions to each.

Maybe the two statements felt the same. Maybe they didn’t. But how you talk about this option can influence the chatter and, most importantly, can support the choice.

•    Use synonymous terms like realign, shift, adjust, switch, or balance to help pave the way and redirect inaccurate grapevine talk. Positive descriptors will reframe the move as a planned, deliberate, and informed choice.

•    Talk openly about any concerns you may have regarding the perception of others—the chatter—and discuss ways you communicate to build support and understanding.

Avoid Sidetracks

The second question we asked you to consider was whether you believe realignment knocks a person off track. Again, it’s important to remember that we are talking about an employee-initiated option. To be honest, a realignment could result in some temporary stalls, depending on an individual’s longer-term aspirations, but built into an overall pattern, the experience can be a right place at the right time.

When a realignment experience is part of an overall plan—a pattern that fits the needs at the moment or for the future—then the sidetracking risk is diminished. Planning is key to making realignment a successful chapter of a career journey. Candid conversations about motivations and risks will support making objective decisions and choices, with full understanding of the consequences.

Like other experiences that take the employee away from the current role and team, a realignment choice might result in “out of sight, out of mind.” Plan for how to maintain connections. And brainstorm ways to stay informed and up to date with changes, to keep the rest of the career pattern intact.

Dispel the Perception

The final question we asked you to consider was whether realignment is only for those who can’t “cut it.” This perception is one of the main reasons people are reluctant to seriously consider and openly talk about a realignment experience, even if circumstances make it a top option. Initiate a conversation about reasons for a potential realignment choice. Ask what’s making realignment look like a good option right now. When it’s clear that you have control over the decision, you know how it will be communicated, and you have the necessary support, you’re ready to realign.

Support realignment experiences through any or all of the following steps.

A realignment experience can be the right place at the right time for lots of reasons. If you catch yourself judging the option before understanding the motivations, turn down the volume of those voices in your head and ask questions to learn more. If you hear others evaluating the move based on outdated perceptions or inaccurate information, step in to help reframe the way they view the move. And, in the process, perhaps a few mind-sets about career mobility will be reset. Aim for someone saying, “I never thought about it like that before.”