5 Tips to Help You Descend the Corporate Ladder Gracefully

5 Tips to Help You Descend the Corporate Ladder Gracefully Perhaps youve been soaring in the corporate heavens for a few years now, and maybe youre starting to find that things dont look so great from 30,000 feet up anymora. Perhaps you flew a little too close to the sun? Maybe you are tired, you no longer enjoy the work, or you are out of your depth? Maybeyou just want out you want to dial it down a bit, take an easier, more engaging job, and get your groove back. However, the problem with the current corporate career ladder is that it only goes one way. Sure, you can come down, but you cant just neatly climb your way back to the bottom. You either have to jump off without a parachute fall off, or be pushed off. In any case, you generally hit the ground with a nasty thud.Itdoesnt have to be this way, and thankfully, things arestarting to change.Cathy Benko, vice chairman and managing principal at Deloitte, has recently pioneered the termcareer lattices, which are posedas modern replacements for the one-way career ladder. In a career lattice, employees donthave to jump off the career ladder when they find they dont like their role. Instead, they can move left or right, up or down. In a carrer lattice, when individuals reach apoint of incompetence, burnout, or disinterest, they can gracefully move back down to a more suitable role.Suchcareer flexibility is great, but we dont all work for Deloitte, and fruchtwein employers havent fully embraced or even heard of this concept just yet. This means that, if you are looking to descend the corporate ladder gracefully, youll most likely be the first to do so at your particular company. With that in mind,Id like to offer some tips on how you can climb down the ladder without falling to your doom.1. Be BraveTheres no hiding from it youll need to show some courage to abdicate yourlofty position. But, as soon as you have made your plan for change, youll gaina sense of direction. As you start ticking off some milestones, youll feel that you are progressing toward your goals. Youll be focused and galvanized, and the feelings of uncertainty will start to ebb away.2. Use Positive VisualizationResearch such as the book Creative Visualization byAlan Richardsonand this article by Catherine Chadwickshows that positive visualization the process of rehearsing, acting out, seeing, and visualizing success in your mind can better prepare you to achieve goals. It can certainly help you achieve an especially difficult goal, such as climbing down a career ladder. Engage in positive visualization by visualizing what success might look like in 2-3 years and what youll do to achieve ultimate success next week, next month, next quarter, and so on. If you need help in engaging in positive visualization, just search the Internet. Youll find plenty of step-by-step guides.3. Speak to Your ManagerYour request to step down may take your manager by surprise, so its a good idea to arrange a meeting with themto explain your reasoning. You should alsoexplain what might happen if you dont make the change and why you think climbing down the corporate ladderwill benefit you, your manager, and your organization. The most attractive benefit, of course, is that you will be more engaged and effective.4.Try to Negotiate a Step-DownYou may want to speak to peers and coworkers and explain your plans. You may find that you are able to negotiate a step-down in role within the organization. If your manager is on your side, they may be able to help you with this.5. Apply to the Open MarketIf the previous negotiation step fails, youll simply have to apply for suitable, more junior-level jobs within your companysinternal job market or the external job market overall.If you are going external, youll needto make acompelling case for your decision to seek a lower-level positionto potential new employers. In a situation like this,Ithink that using a recruiter can be especially beneficial.If you can convince the recruiter of your authenticity and the soundness of your decision, they can act as a powerful ally and fight for youwith skeptical corporate hiring teams.