Okay, you’ve built your career transition support team.

Maybe you’ve got your Motivator and your Mooring for emotional support. Maybe you’ve found a Mentor or hired a Coach to be your Trusted Expert.

You’re excited. You have people in your corner.

And then… a month or two in, you realise something is not quite working.

You’re not sure how often to check in with people. Maybe you’re worried you’re asking too much.

You’re not really getting the help you need. Because you haven’t been clear about what THAT is.

Building a support team is one thing. Actually using it well is another.

In this episode, I talk about how to make sure your team actually serves you – AND stays sustainable, for you and them.

If you aren’t sure what I mean by support team, go back to some of the previous episodes in this series – especially episode 44, where I talk about why you need a support team, and episode 46 about the 6 roles on your support team. 

3 Principles to Structure Your Career Transition Support Team

So how do you make sure your support team works well for you – and your team?

The 8 tips I have for you today consist of 3 principles for how to structure your support team, plus 5 tips to make your support team sustainable.

Let’s start with the three principles.

The First Principle: Stay In The Driver’s Seat

Before we talk about structure, remember: you are in charge.

Your support team is there to help you move forward. But they’re not here to make your decisions for you. They’re not responsible for your career change. You are.

This is important because sometimes, when you finally have support around you, it’s tempting to hand over responsibility.

To think: “Now that I have a coach, they’ll tell me what to do.” Or: “Now that I have people who care, they’ll figure this out for me.”

But that’s not how it works!

Your support team is there to oil the gears. Not take the wheel.

You might follow some of their advice exactly. You might take other advice and adapt it. You might decide to go a completely different direction.

All of that is fine. That’s what staying in the driver’s seat looks like.

Your team’s job is to help you make better decisions. Your job is to actually make them.

The Second Principle: Be Intentional with Time

You don’t want to spend all your energy managing your support team. And your team members don’t want to feel like you’re asking endless amounts of their time.

So early on, be explicit about rhythm. For example, for your…

– Motivator: “I’ll probably reach out when I’m scared or feeling stuck.” 
– Mooring: ”I might reach out occasionally when I’m feeling overwhelmed. Is that okay?”
– Mentor: “I’d like to check in with you maybe once a month, unless I hit something I really need to talk through.”
– Trusted Expert: “Let’s plan for weekly or fortnightly sessions.”

Different people have different rhythms. And that’s okay. 

The point is: agree upfront. Don’t guess. Agree. This takes all the awkwardness out of it. Everyone knows what to expect.

The Third Principle: The “Giving Back” Reframe

One of the biggest blocks to accepting support is the guilt about “taking.”

You’re worried you’re being needy. Or selfish. Or that you need to give something back of equal value. And that weight can actually push you away from asking for the help you need. 

So let me reframe this: The best way to “give back” is to take the support seriously and actually use it.

When you take their advice and implement it, they get to see the impact. They get to know they helped. When you report back on progress, they get to celebrate with you. That’s rewarding for them. Your success IS the gift. Your progress IS the thank you. 

So instead of worrying about how to repay them, just do these three tings:

  1. Tell them what worked. “We talked about fear last week, and you said something that really shifted my perspective. I did the thing I was scared of and it went well.”

    Or if it didn’t, say “I did the thing I was scared of and it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I realised I struggled with [whatever that was]. Can we focus on that in our conversation today?” 
  2. Share your progress. “Remember that connection you introduced me to? We had a great conversation and I learned something really important.”
  3. Show them you’re taking it seriously. “I’m following through on the steps we talked about. It’s helping me in [this way].”

That’s enough. 

When you hire a professional mentor or coach, these same principles apply. It’s a professional relationship, so you might worry less about giving back – and more about stepping up to make the most of your investment. 

Career change isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon.

Yes, you may have guessed this. But it’s worth remembering. 

Changing careers usually doesn’t happen over night. It takes time. For some months, for others years – depending on how big a change it is and whether there’s any further training involved. 

This means: Your support team needs to be sustainable. For you AND for them.

So let’s now talk about the remaining…

5 Tips to Make Your Career Transition Support Team Sustainable

  1. Rotate check-ins. Instead of always you reaching out, sometimes they reach out. “How’s it going?”
  2. Celebrate milestones together. Don’t just talk about obstacles. Share wins, even small ones.
  3. Adapt as you go. If a certain rhythm isn’t working, change it. Say: “I think we need to adjust our schedule. Would [new rhythm] work better?”
  4. Check in about the relationship. Every few months: “Is this still working for you? Are you getting what you need from this too?”
  5. Acknowledge that it evolves. Early on, you might need your Mentor or Coach intensely. Later, you might need your Mooring more. Or the other way around. The point is it changes. And that’s normal.

Now, what if someone drops out?

Sometimes, despite everyone’s best intentions, a relationship doesn’t work out.

Maybe someone gets too busy. Maybe the dynamic isn’t what you had hoped for. Maybe you realise they’re not actually the right fit. 

That’s okay. Thank them. Move on. And find someone else.

You don’t need to make it dramatic. Just: “This isn’t working as well as I hoped. I think I need to focus my energy elsewhere. Thanks for what you’ve given me.”

Simple, clear and respectful.

The Long View: Building a Useful Transferable Skill

Building a support team for your career change isn’t a temporary thing. It is a skill that will serve you for the rest of your life.

The ability to ask for help, to be vulnerable, to let people in, to actually use support. These are things that make life better in EVERY way – not just career change.

So as you build your team, you’re not just supporting yourself through this career transition. You’re learning how to live life in a way that’s more connected, more resourced, more sustainable. 

And that’s worth the effort, don’t you think? 

What Now?

This is the end of the Support Team series.

Over the last 6 episodes, you’ve learned:

Now it’s time to actually do it.

Until next time: make space, rediscover YOU, and then take action.

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TOPIC: Design Your Next Career Move, From Paralyzed to Energized