Throughout my life, I’ve held several different roles. I’ve worked in the media and politics as a software developer of different flavours, all before I moved into Scrum Mastery and Agile Coaching. I’ve been doing the latter now for over ten years, but it occurs to me that I haven’t been doing the same role even though I’ve had the same job title. I’ve attended countless meet-ups and conferences where I’ve learned many concepts and techniques to employ in my work. I’ve trained with at least seven different schools in and around agile and coaching practices. I’ve had some fantastic mentors who have bolstered my confidence and supported my continuous improvement. At no point since joining the workforce do I think I’ve done the same thing for more than two years.
I can still see growth and development opportunities for myself in the software development industry, yet that may end one day. If there becomes a point when I don’t want to be talking to people about agile methodologies and leadership skills any more, I think it will cause me a greater crisis than any of my other career pivots ever have.
Since becoming a Scrum Master, I have spent thousands of pounds in training and community participation. The sunk cost fallacy alone makes me think I’m unlikely to leave this path now that I’m so far along it. However, not all coaches will have this experience, and many will be thinking about new paths around this time, given the difficulty of the job market. I know people who have had to scale back their businesses and others who haven’t been able to find a new role for almost a year. If not by choice, many coaches will leave our ranks over the coming months (and hopefully not years).
It is rare that people don’t have hobbies, so my first question to a coach considering moving into a different field would be about which of their hobbies could turn into a career path. The coach would likely be good enough at something else to become entry-level with minimal effort. At the moment, I am taking a few courses in areas outside of Agile. These courses are aimed at getting individuals to a level of skilled amateur. I would be employable in some of these areas with practice and perhaps another couple of courses. However, this would also come with a severe salary reduction.
Perhaps a salary reduction isn’t possible. Indeed, those of us with mortgages renewing at the moment won’t feel like that is the direction we can entertain, let alone make a reality. So perhaps there’s some element or skill of the coach’s role that can be expanded or transferred into another role. I read recently about an Agile Coach who has recently become a Sustainability Consultant. Apparently, this is a growing field, and even the big six consultancies have got their teeth into it.
Just what the planet needs: management consultants to tell it how to be better at doing what it’s been doing since before the consultant was born…
There are so many facets to our role that there are as many alternatives as there are coaches. I know many agile coaches who volunteer as sports coaches, so potentially only a small step away from moving into a professional role. Coaches specialise in everything from meeting facilitation to leadership development, all of which have possible routes for development out of Agile Coaching.
There may be a third option that isn’t something I quickly consider as it does not apply to me. Perhaps the coach has a side hustle, some small business activities already generating revenue. If this is the case, pursuing that to increase revenue would be a sensible route out of agile coaching. I only wish I had thought of doing such a thing as a younger person. Perhaps it’s never too late to start a side hustle…
All of these take effort though, so if you or a coach you know is looking for a way to the next career path, you first need to consider the investment in time and – potentially – money needed to do so.