Just ask the cyclists competing in the Tour de France. Races are won and lost. Teams’ needs change. Competitors move on: sometimes of their own volition and sometimes not.
With the summer upon us the Tour de France is underway.
The professional cyclists have been training for years. Over the past year, teams have been built with various objectives in mind. Teams are comprised of competitors with differing strengths. Strategies have been developed for each tour stage and will be modified based on how the overall race develops.
Not every competitor can win the race and not every competitor sets out to, or is even allowed to do so. Roles are very well defined, and helping the team to meet its goals is the job of each team member. The difference is that some are being supported to win and others are there to do the supporting.
Within each stage there are many things that can happen and the various jerseys and the race itself are won over weeks. It is a marathon versus a sprint and is a true team effort.
Make no mistake however, cycling is a big business. Professional cyclists are vulnerable regardless of their track records. Team management changes, finances dictate changes, opportunities to add competitors mean others are dropped, and individuals face health and other personal challenges.
Careers can evolve in a similar fashion. We take on roles which really are about helping “the team” to win. As in the Tour’s various stages, sometimes people are there to play specific roles in the face of specific conditions.
Sprinters specialize on the flat stages, climbers set out to win the mountain stages, there are racers who focus on the time trials and there is an elite group competing for the overall title. It is no different for executives.
Over the years I have worked with executives who have built very successful careers as functional experts. Like cyclists who specialize, they may get dropped by a specific team when circumstances change but are able to land new, exciting roles with new organizations.
There are also executives who are similar to cyclists who set out to win the overall race. Those in general management roles know the pressure to deliver is immense and the spotlight is intense. Just like the Tour, not everyone can win and there can be fall out resulting in changes and the need to move on to new challenges. People get back on their bikes and find a new team!
Finding a new role is also a bit like a race as each stage suits some racers better than others. This is the case in transition as well. 59% of the graduates sampled found the process of finding their new roles “as expected, or easier than expected” and 41% found it “more difficult than expected.” I am sure Tour riders would probably rate each stage in a similar fashion!