Innhold levert av Layne Robinson. Alt podcastinnhold, inkludert episoder, grafikk og podcastbeskrivelser, lastes opp og leveres direkte av Layne Robinson eller deres podcastplattformpartner. Hvis du tror at noen bruker det opphavsrettsbeskyttede verket ditt uten din tillatelse, kan du følge prosessen skissert her https://no.player.fm/legal.
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George Esquivel started making shoes for himself and some friends, up-and-coming musicians in Southern California. Soon, Hollywood came calling. And it wasn’t just celebrities who took notice. A film financier did, too. He said he wanted to invest in the company, but George soon realized his intentions weren’t what they seemed. Join Ben and special guest host Kathleen Griffith as they speak to George about the rise of Esquivel Designs. Hear what a meeting with Anna Wintour is really like, and what happens when you’re betrayed by someone inside your company. These are The Unshakeables. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…
Innhold levert av Layne Robinson. Alt podcastinnhold, inkludert episoder, grafikk og podcastbeskrivelser, lastes opp og leveres direkte av Layne Robinson eller deres podcastplattformpartner. Hvis du tror at noen bruker det opphavsrettsbeskyttede verket ditt uten din tillatelse, kan du følge prosessen skissert her https://no.player.fm/legal.
I help you navigate the path to professional success. Whether you're a recent graduate still searching for your place or a seasoned professional with years of experience, the knowledge and insights I share can show you how to position yourself for growth and career advancement.
Innhold levert av Layne Robinson. Alt podcastinnhold, inkludert episoder, grafikk og podcastbeskrivelser, lastes opp og leveres direkte av Layne Robinson eller deres podcastplattformpartner. Hvis du tror at noen bruker det opphavsrettsbeskyttede verket ditt uten din tillatelse, kan du følge prosessen skissert her https://no.player.fm/legal.
I help you navigate the path to professional success. Whether you're a recent graduate still searching for your place or a seasoned professional with years of experience, the knowledge and insights I share can show you how to position yourself for growth and career advancement.
AI and automation have become game changers across every industry. No matter what you do for a career, you're going to need to figure out how to introduce their capabilities or find yourself falling behind those that can. This week, I'll take a look at some of the things you can do to integrate AI into your normal workflows. Before we look at the capabilities of AI, let's talk about data privacy. Unless the company you work for is paying for the enterprise version of whatever AI you are using, you should only submit information that is deemed public. If there is any question about whether you should submit the information to the AI tools, you should consult the appropriate departments at your company. There are many example instances where company secrets were leaked by someone unfamiliar with how these AI services worked. Don't let that be you. The other key thing that you need to be aware of when it comes to AI is the concept of hallucinations. In terms of AI, a hallucination is when the AI generates something that seems plausible but may not be factually correct. This stems from the basis of how these AIs work. When an AI generates an answer, it is just putting words together based on the likelihood that they would appear in that order. While this often leads to useful information, it can occasionally generate incorrect information. You should not implicitly trust the results of the AI without some level of verification. In spite of all of that, AIs are still a valuable tool across many different roles. Researching. One of the best uses of an AI chatbot is to be able to ask simple questions and receive in-dept responses. When using a traditional search engine, you likely have to look across multiple entries in the result to glean the information that is provided by a single chatbot query. And the real power comes when you ask deeper or clarifying questions about aspects of the response; it's this interactive chat capability that makes the AI really shine. Just be aware that if you do use a chatbot for research, you should also tell it to cite sources to make it easier to validate that the information comes from a credible source and reduce the chances of falling for hallucinations. Summarizing. If any part of your job involves reading lengthy websites or large online documents, there are AIs that can summarize those contents for you. Once the summary has been created, you can even ask follow-up questions about the document to dive deeper into specific aspects that most interest you. This doesn't replace the need to read them, but it can help you prioritize which portions to read in depth or which provides the information you might be looking for. Transcribing and Meeting Notes. There are specialized AIs that can extract information from a recording. They can create a transcript including identifying unique speakers. Additionally, they can summarize and provide meeting notes and summaries including calling out action items that were identified as part of the meeting. Some AIs even provide insights into how you sounded during the meeting; did you come across as confident or was the audience confused by what you said? This type of feedback can help your reformulate your ideas to be more compelling. Writing. One of the things that these AIs excel at is writing. Many of the modern AIs are what are considered LLMs - Large Language Models. These AIs have been trained on how language is constructed. You can easily turn bullet points and vague ideas into complete paragraphs. I don't recommend just copying and pasting the generated results, but it's much easier to edit a response than it is to start with a blank page. Even episodes of Managing A Career start with a brainstorming session with an AI. I use the results as inspiration, but every episode is my own creation. Images and Video. Much like writing, there are specialist AIs that can take a few sentences and generate graphical results such as images and video. And just like writing, I would not just take the results verbatim, but using the AI results as inspiration can kick-start the creative process. Specialty AIs. There are also many specialty AIs that have been trained on information specific to an industry. There are tools that focus on the medical field that can help with diagnosis or treatment or even in reading medical images. There are tools for the financial industry that can recommend investments based on a persons risk tolerance and investment goals. And one of the more popular areas for specialty AI is for the software development industry where AIs are able to write large portions of the code needed to run businesses. But, regardless of the industry, it's important to remember that these AI tools are still imperfect and you need to use your expertise and knowledge to vet any answer. Custom AIs. The final type of AI is one that is custom built for your needs. This requires more technical skill than the others, but it has the highest potential for benefit. This may require the assistance of I/T and clearance from legal, but when an AI is trained on your data, it opens up more specific questions that you can ask. You could ask the AI about buying patterns of your various customers. You could ask the AI about most common solutions to customers' problems. You could ask about potential design ideas and how customers would react to them. Automation. Once you have a custom AI built that understands your business processes and data, it opens up the possibility of automation using AI agents. These types of agents allow you to delegate tasks to a virtual assistant giving you more free time to work on more strategic activities. For instance, if you regularly respond to customer emails, you can have an AI agent author drafts for your final review before sending. Or if the AI understands how you onboard customers, you can let the AI agent begin the process while you just provide oversight to ensure accuracy and interject a human touch when needed. There is a lot of worry by the world at large that AIs are going to put people out of a job, but in reality, they are just a tool like any other. Tools like a powered saw allow you to cut wood more efficiently, but there are still people that cut the wood. Treat AI, like an assistant that you can delegate lower level tasks to freeing you up to concentrate on those higher level tasks that can help you advance your career. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes. [episode artwork was generated by AI]…
My dad worked at the same company from when he was in his early 20s until he retired -- with a pension. These days, that is a rare event. Companies are driven more by the demands of shareholders to deliver ever increasing profit margins rather than to have any level of loyalty to their employees. With more and more executive compensation tied to stock grants and stock options, they are actually incentivized to perpetuate this drive for profit, so don't expect company loyalty to change any time soon. In today's world, if you want the company to have any sort of loyalty towards you, it all comes down to the value that you provide to the company. It's a harsh reality, but it's the only thing that can provide you with any level of protection when companies are downsizing. But it's very much a "what have you done for me lately" situation. You may have saved the company millions of dollars three years ago, but if you aren't actively contributing more to the bottom line, there will be no loyalty. In spite of the lack of loyalty towards you, what of your loyalty to the company? Obviously, there are legal ramifications if you were to take trade secrets and share them with the company's biggest competitor, so I'm not advocating any such action. But, I will recommend that you focus on YOUR needs over those of the company. You may have a family that you support or you may be looking to drive your career a certain direction. Given the current climate, you might want to prioritize those things over working nights and weekends for months on end. Layoffs are going to happen……are happening…..across every industry right now. This week, I'd like to take a deeper look at what you can do to protect yourself whether you are on "the list" or not. Understand what makes your company unique and align yourself with work that supports it. If the primary business of the company is to sell "widgets" is the work you do directly involved in the creation or selling of those widgets? If your department is considered "overhead", you are not in alignment with the company's key differentiators. Being closer to these core business activities doesn't guarantee anything, but they are usually less impacted than other departments. Listen to what executives are saying. Even if you aren't "in the know" in terms of what areas will be impacted by a layoff, there are often signs. It is very rare for a layoff to happen out of the blue. Each quarter, when earnings are announced, consider how the company performed against their targets. The most important is Profit Margin. Your company may have had record revenue numbers, but if that is accompanied by higher than normal expenses, the company may have missed the expected profit margin targets. When the quarterly numbers are announced, pay attention to where the executives talk about tackling the problem. Are they expecting an increase in sales (leading to more revenue) or are they talking about managing expenses? Focus on YOU. As a listener of this podcast, you've already taken steps to improve yourself when it comes to career. You have an IDP. You've built a strong network. You've taken steps to ensure you have a good work / life balance. Beyond those long-term activities, you should also take some steps with a shorter term focus. Invest in your career. You should always be prepared to invest your own money in your career. Consider hiring a career coach to help you navigate the changing conditions at work. Pay for training when it will set you apart from everyone else because training budgets are usually one of the first cuts made by companies. Keep an eye on the market. You should always keep your resume updated and periodically look at what positions are open. If something comes open that matches what you are looking for, don't feel guilty about applying. Diversify your income. For most people, their income comes solely from their job. However, this leaves you open to a lot of risk when the company you work for decides that you or your team are no longer part of their future direction. When it comes to the stock market, a good strategy is to diversify your portfolio and the same adage hold true when it comes to your income. Consider starting some sort of side hustle or look for freelance opportunities. In my case, I have a day job, but I also have a side business, a podcast, and I do career coaching. Other people receive income from rental properties. If you're looking for takeaways from today's episode, I'm going to assign you some homework. Update your resume. Ideally several times per year. But do it now because you never know when you will need it. Review the most recent quarterly earnings report from your company's leaders. How does their message affect you personally. Brainstorm five different alternative sources of income that you could add. A career coach can help you navigate these trying times. If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching. If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.…
When it comes to career advancement, all skills are not created equal. In this week's episode, we look at a framework for evaluating and prioritizing the skills that you should focus on for development. To begin this assessment, you will need to build two different lists of skills: the skills needed for your current role and the skills needed for your next role. When building each list of skills, evaluate how those skills are actually used; especially for those soft skills such as leadership, storytelling, or executive presence. Use this insight to rank your abilities in those skills as weak, strong, or competent. If a skill appears on both lists, consider how the use of that skill will change as you progress towards your next role. If you need help identifying the list of skills, review job postings for your role and look at the list of skills that are identified there. You can also use one of the various AI resources such as ChatGPT or Bard to ask what the primary and secondary skills are for each role. If you have a good relationship with your leader, you can ask them, but this might be misconstrued as you not knowing how to perform your duties. Now that you have a list of skills, you are going to place them on a quadrant map. For the left to right axis, the left represents skills that you need to have and the right represents skills that are nice to have. For the top to bottom axis, the top represents skills that you need now and the bottom represents skills that you need later. If you are unsure whether a skill is a nice to have or a need to have, consider that earlier description of how the skill is used in the role. Primary skills are usually need to haves and secondary skills are usually nice to haves. Now that you have classified the different skills from your lists, you can focus on the skills that are weak in the upper left quadrant. These are the ones that will hold you back from success in your current role. Put a plan in place to augment your abilities in these areas as soon as possible through training and direct mentorship. You should dedicate a minimum of an hour each week to work on these skills until you are competent or strong in these skills. The next tier of skills to address would be those in the lower left quadrant that also appear in the top half of the chart. While the form of the skill may be different between your current role and your future role, the fact that the skill is used in both roles emphasizes the importance of the skill. Even if you are currently strong in the skill, it is important to continue to build this skill in preparation for the next role. Since you are often expected to display the ability to do a job before you are promoted to that job, building these skills will provide you a path to faster advancement. The third tier of skills would be those that appear in the lower left quadrant and do not appear in the top half of the chart. These should be considered growth skills that you should work on as time allows. These skills will be the ones that set you apart from other peers that are competing for the same promotion. If you have worked through those three groups of skills and have not identified at least three skills to work on, only then should you extend your view towards the nice to have skills. Be selective from the nice to have list and only picks skills that put you in a position to be assigned to strategic projects that can provide additional visibility that can help put you in a position for a promotion. Once you have a list of skills to work on, put a learning plan together. Any in tier one should have a plan to address any deficiencies within the next quarter. For skills in tier two or three, take a longer range view towards building them. Use a multi-pronged approach that includes working with your leader on stretch assignments that allow you to use the skill as you grow it. Review your progress with your leader and mentors and update the plan based on their feedback on your progress. For those of you following this podcast in real time, I will be shifting to a less frequent release schedule for the next few months. Between the holidays and the fact that I am in the process of packing and moving, I will not be able to be as consistent with new episodes. By the end of January next year, I should be back on a regular schedule. Please bear with me during this transition period. If you are looking for any specific career advice, feel free to reach out to me via the contact form at https://ManagingACareer.com/contact and I will answer them directly in the meantime.…
When it comes to career advancement, one of the hardest transitions is from junior level to senior level. This isn't because the change in responsibilities is difficult, but because this is the first significant change in someone's career and they usually don't have a full understanding of what it takes to make the transition. When talking about junior roles vs senior roles, each company could have different titles and number of positions between those levels. For instance at one company, you might find it easy to progress through titles of Analyst I, Analyst II, and Analyst III, but then feel like your career hits a wall because your current company considers Analyst IV to be a protected senior position. At another company, they may only have positions of Analyst and Senior Analyst. Regardless of how many steps there are between them, this episode is focused on that transition from junior to senior level roles. Those early promotions are often some of the fastest in your career. Back in Episode 017, I discuss the Corporate Ladder ( https://www.managingacareer.com/17 ) and rough timelines that people are typically at each rung. Promotions within the first few years of your career are often driven by just growth in skill and competence at your role and being capable of taking on more work. When your company has several titles within the junior level, you may even receive promotions every year or two setting unsustainable expectations for the rest of your career. It's these expectations and the fact that the role is changing that makes this transition exceptionally difficult. Those making the transition often don't have the corporate maturity to understand the fact that what has worked in the past is not what will work now. This leads to a situation where a person attempts to take on more and more tasks and gets frustrated when that doesn't lead to the desired promotion. Why this approach doesn't work When you are making the transition from junior level to senior level, it becomes more important to take on the right tasks and not focus on more tasks. If you are just taking on more tasks, you will eventually find yourself spread too thin which means that your ability to deliver will be impacted and your previously strong performance reviews may begin being impacted -- compounding the problem of obtaining a promotion. Alternatively, if you maintain your performance levels, it could come at the expense of your work/life balance or your mental health, all leading to burnout. You might also lead people to have the perception of your lack of strategy or focus if the additional tasks you take on do not represent your core responsibilities and don't align with the goals of the company. So, if taking on more work is not the path to advancement, let's define what it means to take on the right work. The biggest change from junior to senior is changing your focus from the work at hand to understanding the why of the task and how that work fits within the overall process. It's this shift towards more Strategic Thinking (see Episode 049 for more thoughts - https://www.managingacareer.com/49 ) that shows that a candidate is acting more senior in their approach. Focus on these higher level tasks that have the most impact on the wider, organizational goals. As you move up the tiers -- junior to senior to management to executive -- you work shifts from doing to influencing and impacting; you shift towards being a force multiplier. When you are task focused, your efforts produce results in a one-to-one ratio. But, there are some ways that you can become a force multiplier where your efforts have a much larger impact. By mentoring your coworkers who are less knowledgeable or experienced, the effort spent helping your teammates grow is multiplied by their increase efficiency. Another way is to work to remove roadblocks that your teammates face allowing them to complete their tasks sooner. The final capability you should exhibit in order to be viewed as ready for a senior role is to show leadership skills. Being a leader doesn't mean being a boss. It's about being a thought leader as much as it is about leading people. There may be opportunities to show leadership by delegating some of your tasks. This can be a chance to show how you can grow trust and encourage collaboration within a team. But, more likely than not, leadership when you are junior looking to transition to senior means that you are starting to show thought leadership. This could be through learning about upcoming technologies and how they can be applied in your field. Or, it could possibly be about bringing new ideas on how to optimize the processes you support, bolstered by a larger understanding of how your work impacts the business. Next steps So, as you look to transition to more senior level work, evaluate the work you do and where it fit within the bigger picture. Prioritize things that have higher impact and look for opportunities to say "no" to things that do not. Sign up for activities that allow you to show your leadership abilities. Additionally, review some of the past episodes of this podcast where I talk about additional strategies. Episode 030 - Getting Ahead By Saying "No" - https://www.managingacareer.com/30 Episode 026 - Should You Be Promoted? - https://www.managingacareer.com/26 Episode 006 - Is Your Work Important? Is it Urgent? - https://www.managingacareer.com/6 Episode 003 - Mentoring - https://www.managingacareer.com/3 The promotion to senior level is one of the hardest for someone to achieve, but a career coach can help you work through the transition. If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching. If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.…
In Episode 12, I discussed some strategies for soliciting effective feedback ( https://www.managingacareer.com/12 ). However, feedback is only as good as what you do with it. This week, I'm going to take a look at how you can best act on the feedback that you receive. The first step in acting on feedback is understanding what is driving the comment. In the previous episode, I suggested that when receiving feedback, you should ask clarifying questions along the lines of "Can you explain that in more detail?" or "Tell me more." The goal with this clarification is to turn high-level, generic comments into something more specific. If you receive feedback that you need to "improve your communication skills", there could be several underlying causes and each one would be addressed differently. If the source of the feedback is because you don't provide regular updates or hold back on negative news, you may need create a weekly report that you send to your superiors; you can hear more by reviewing Episode 44 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/44 ). However, if the source of the feedback is based on recent presentations, you may need to practice presenting more so that you become more comfortable or you might need to work on the content of your presentations (see Episode 56 - Presenting to Leaders https://www.managingacareer.com/56 ). Without knowing the underlying reasoning for the specific comment, you may not work on correcting the right behaviors. If you've received feedback, but are unable to coax additional details about what they mean, the next approach you can take is to reach out to other people that can comment on the same topic. Continuing on the example above, if the feedback you received is about your communication skills, reach out to those that you have presented to or that you regularly provide status to. Ask each of them specifically about the area in question. Look for patterns in the feedback they provide and use that insight to target your improvement. As you consider the different elements of feedback that you have received, how does that feedback align with your career trajectory as well as your personal career goals? Prioritize anything that advances you over things that apply to your current level. If you've created your IDP, these items should be represented on your Assessment and Next Role sections. Review Episodes 36 through 40 for details on your IDP ( https://www.managingacareer.com/36 ) and if you need an IDP template, drop me a note requesting one via the Contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). Now that you have a list of feedback to address, talk with your mentor or coach and develop an action plan. They can help you identify training and activities that will help you develop the skills that you need. Be sure to define goals and deadlines to ensure that you put appropriate focus on addressing the feedback. Episode 47 covered some goal setting frameworks that you may find useful here ( https://www.managingacareer.com/47 ). As you reach the identified milestones, update your IDP and discuss your progress with your leader and anyone who participated in giving you feedback. Request updated feedback based on your progress. A career coach can help you identify activities to address feedback. If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching. If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.…
When it comes to dealing with people, it can be difficult when they don't share the same opinion you do as to how to handle a specific situation and that can often lead to conflict or complications. The fastest way to move past those differences and get back to moving forward is to put yourself in their shoes. If you can understand people's thoughts and motivations it goes a long way towards formulating an argument that sways them to your side. How well can you read them? Some people will mask their true thoughts and feelings, especially when it comes to professional relationships. To really understand them you might need to rely on your observational skills and not just listen to the words that they say. Start with how they are speaking. When someone is excited about something, even if they are trying to suppress it, they will speak slightly faster and with a higher pitch. Conversely, if they are unsure, they will slow down and be more cautious as they speak. Even their word choices can give you a clue as to their mindset. Open language will indicate a higher level of trust. Strong, clear language indicating confidence. If you find that their words are not in alignment with their body language, it becomes even more important to observe them closely. Visually, watch their body language and look for micro expressions that may clue you in to something that they aren't saying. Whether they are smiling genuinely or politely says a lot. Is their stance closed with their arms crossed or are they open and receptive or possibly even leaning in with excitement? When you say something new, is there a flash of humor or anger in the corners of their eyes? Some of these visual cues will be easier to spot, but the more nuanced actions can be more revealing. In general, people are not malicious in their actions, but, the actions they take may come across that way. For instance, I have seen multiple times where Person A feels like Person B is purposefully undermining the ability for Person A to perform work. But, in reality, Person B is just focused on taking steps that they think will let them reach their personal goals that they never even considered how that could impact Person A. Once Person A sat down and spoke with Person B and everyone's views were communicated, both people were able to be more productive and reach their goals quickly. The easiest path to knowing someone's motivations is to come out and ask them. But, sometimes, you don't have that type of relationship with them and it may take a little bit of detective work. For example, how have their current projects been going recently? If positively, their mood probably reflects that. Though if they are experiencing project stress, they may be taking it out on everyone around them. The "no" to your request may be coming from this type of stress more than anything else. Looking for these types of factors can help you find the motivations of someone that you would not ask directly. No matter how you gain the insight, how can you use this understanding to your advantage? When you understand someone, you can build a stronger relationship with them. Stronger relationships lead to stronger networks. And I can't stress enough how powerful a strong network can be. ( https://www.managingacareer.com/29 ) If someone's actions are not in alignment with what they say, you can look towards their secret motivations for guidance on how to bring them back to alignment. Someone who accepts tasks but looks for ways to avoid them may be missing key knowledge or resources and does not want to admit that weakness. Understanding this, you can provide the tasks as well as information on how to close the resource gap so that they can be successful without looking weak. If you are making a proposal to someone, you can tailor your pitch accordingly based on how they feel about the idea. If someone is excited about the topic, play up the capabilities and benefits to get them more excited. If someone is unsure, focus on the approach and risk mitigation plan so that they gain some certainty. Building these people reading skills will take practice. With all of your interactions, make notes about your observations and review those notes with your close coworkers and mentors; especially if they are involved in those same conversations. They can help you refine your deductions. Over time, this will come more naturally. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.…
If you want to be successful in your career, you will need to build relationships with the people at work -- peers, superiors, and subordinates. Strong relationships build strong networks. This week, we look at the different types of relationships you'll find in the office and key aspects to building them. Unless you're the CEO, everyone has a boss, a manager, a leader. When it comes to career growth, this is probably the most important relationship to build and maintain. A good relationship with your boss will ensure that you get the assignments you need to develop. The first step in building this relationship is to spend time understanding your leader. What is their preferred form of communication? What is their approach to leadership? What are their priorities and how does your work support them? Once you understand these factors, you will need to adjust your communication approach to match theirs. Knowing their priorities allows you to focus that communication on the right messaging. If your leader is customer focused, talk about the impact of your work on customer satisfaction. If your leader if driven by the financials, report your status in terms of dollars saved. Your goal is to have your manager view you as a partner; someone who supports them and their goals. Clear, frequent communication that addresses the things that they care most about will help them view you as someone who "gets it". If your manager is the most important relationship, the next most important is with your peers. A great relationship with your peers will lead to more productive efforts on your projects. When it comes to peers, the focus is on collaboration and cooperation. People respond favorably towards people that help them. If you focus on the competition side and take steps to undermine your peers, they will react in kind and make it more difficult for you to complete your projects. In the event of a conflict between you and your peers, it's important to handle them calmly. Don't attack the person, but, instead, address the issue. If you are unable to separate the issue from the person, take a break and document your reasoning so that you can present it later. If you are still unable to come to a resolution, bring in someone else to act as a mediator. Handling conflict professionally will improve the relationship with your peers even when you disagree. If you are a manager, yourself, a positive relationship with your subordinates builds a team that performs better and directly leads to your personal success. When it comes to your team, your relationship relies on some key aspects. Be open and honest in your communication, this transparency will help you build the second aspect -- trust. But, trust is a two way street. Showing your team trust by guiding and empowering instead of commanding and micromanaging allows them to trust your leadership in return. So far, I've focused on professional relationships. But, when we spend as much time at work as we do, you are bound to develop social relationships as well. These friendships can help make your time in the office more enjoyable and can even extend beyond working hours into personal time, too. But, be careful that these friendships do not lead to cliques that exclude other members of your team. This can erode any positive relationship you've built within your team. Draw a line of professionalism when performing your duties and save the personal interactions for downtime and breaks. By maintaining a boundary between your social relationships and your work, there will be no impediment to continue growing your relationships with the rest of your team. The final relationship type to address is that of a romantic relationship. Like friendships, keep your relationship professional at work so as to not disrupt the performance of the team. But a romantic relationship comes with additional concerns. Be sure you stay in compliance of any company policies. There are often restrictions on romantic relationships that involve any sort of reporting structure. There is also the possibility of complications that could arise if the romantic relationship sours. One or both participants in the relationship may need to be prepared to transfer to another area within the company to address any issues related to the relationship. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.…
In the 1960s, Dr. Laurence Peter defined a theory known as the Peter Principle. This theory states that people in an organization are promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. This usually happens when someone is promoted from a position that requires one set of skills to a new position that relies on completely different skills that the person is not equipped with. While they may be quite competent at their previous position, in their new position, they don't have the competency required to be successful and their career stalls. The story typically goes like this. You start your career and begin learning the skills you need to be successful in your field. As you become more competent, you'll progress from junior roles to more senior roles where you have larger responsibilities but are still leveraging the same skill set. Eventually, the next rung on the ladder will rely on different skills. As you progress through the ranks, the available training diminishes and as an experienced team member, you're expected to just figure it out. It's at this point in the story where you face two different paths. The first path is to continue to struggle and face the fact that you have reached the Peter Plateau. The other path is find ways to break past the plateau to put your career back on track. The most common reason for reaching this plateau is when the role transitions from using hard skills -- those more quantifiable in nature -- to soft skills -- which usually involve interactions with other people. Hard skills are easier to teach because they can be shown as right or wrong. When it comes to soft skills, success is a lot more fuzzy and results involve a lot of "it depends". Because soft skills involve people, what works with one person may not be effective with another person. When you reach a position that relies on soft skills, training resources become more difficult to find and you will need to find other methods for building these skills. If you've been following this podcast for any length of time, you'll know that I'm a big proponent of creating your Individual Development Plan or IDP. If you need a refresher on building your IDP, review Episodes 036 through 040 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/36 ). Those episodes walk you through a description of the sections of the IDP and the process of integrating it into your discussions with your leader. If you need a free copy of my IDP template, reach out via the Contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website ( Contact | Managing A Career ). If you have your IDP created, your Assessment section should detail what skills you need to work on in order to reach the next level. If you find that you have reached a career plateau, review the items here to determine which skill or skills are holding you back. This would be an ideal time to speak with your coaches, mentors, and leaders to do an honest assessment of your current progress on building these skills. Review the items in your Action Plan to make sure that they are addressing the skill gaps that are holding you back. Work with your leader to find assignments that can help you focus on those specific skills. If you can pair up with someone strong in that skill -- especially in the context of what is successful within your organization -- it can help you grow faster. For example, if you struggle with executive communication, start by pairing up with someone who excels at that skill so that, together, you prepare a presentation. As your skill grows, take more of a lead of creating those presentations, but review it with your co-worker. Eventually, when you have gained skill and confidence, create and deliver the presentation on your own. This pairing will ensure that you have clear examples of what constitutes "good" within your company and the direct hands-on approach can help identify specifics that you need to work on. A career coach can help you create strategies to close skill gaps and break through the Peter Plateau. If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching. If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.…
When you speak up at work to offer your ideas, have you considered how loud is your voice? I'm not talking about volume, but how many people hear your message? How much weight does your opinion hold? How large is your sphere of influence? A management position comes inherently with influence over the team that you lead based on being in a position of authority. But influence does not necessarily mean power or authority. This week, we look at some strategies for how you can grow your sphere of influence. As you consider these strategies and the steps that you will be taking, keep in mind where you are in your growth and your career. While the strategies apply no matter what level or position you're at, the targets of those strategies may be closer or further away from you within the organization. The same can also be said based on how much influence you already have. When your sphere is small, start closer to home, but the strategies will apply no matter how large your sphere already is. When it comes to building influence everything starts with relationships. In Episode 029, I covered Building a Network ( https://www.managingacareer.com/29 ), but influence is not just about creating connections; it's about building trust and collaboration. Identify those that you seek to influence and reach out to them regularly. Ask them how you can help them, especially with cross-team initiatives. If you don't have the skills to help directly, learn to be a connector. Helping them resolve their problems -- or connecting them to people who can solve their problem -- will increase their level of trust in you. More trust will lead them to listen when you present your own ideas or suggest solutions to those cross-team projects. Another way that you can build your influence is to become the resident expert on some process, technology, or resource. The goal isn't to be a gatekeeper, though, that is a form of influence. Limiting access to a resource will lead to resentment and a possible loss of the trust that you are working to build. Instead, by being the expert on a piece of technology and being collaborative, people will seek out your opinions and solutions when that technology is involved. The third strategy for growing your sphere of influence is to become involved in critical problems. If the problem has already been identified, this could mean volunteering to work on the project to address it. However, you may need to apply some Strategic Thinking as covered in Episode 049 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/49 ) to find a critical problem where you can contribute. By solving a high-impact problem, you will build your reputation and have people reaching out to you in order to grow THEIR network. The final strategy for increasing your sphere of influence is communication. Whether communicating up the management chain or across departments, information is a valuable resource. Being seen as someone who both has and shares information will help keep you in the loop on what is going on within the organization as well as give you early notice of areas where you can apply the other strategies. There have been several episodes covering different communication top…
Advancing your position or getting promoted at work can sometimes feel like a struggle. If you are feeling stuck and wondering why you aren't advancing, this week's episode will help you understand the key misconception that most people face and learn some strategies you can put in place to get past it. As we go through childhood, we are often told that through hard work, we can be successful. While this is true in large part, just by working hard and being good at your job is not always enough to get promoted. Early in your career, when advancement is focused on learning and growing, competence can lead to a promotion. But, once you advance beyond the junior phase, you may find yourself stalled no matter how much you increase your skills. The biggest factor that is holding you back could be visibility. When the organization is deciding on who is promoted and who is not, the leaders need to know who you are and what value you have provided to the team. If you are unsure if you have a visibility problem, consider the following: Does your boss just know the status of the project, or does your boss also know what you contributed to the project? How often are your projects mentioned in the wider organization? Do you have a relationship with your boss' peers and leaders? If you can't answer yes to each one of those questions, any struggles you experience when it comes to advancement can be traced back to the lack of visibility. When promotion discussions are held, it's a lot easier for your boss to justify the promotion to their peers when you are visible. When it comes to visibility, everything starts with actually performing your duties. But, after that, you have to sell yourself. Most people are uncomfortable with self-promotion because it can feel awkward or like you are bragging, but if you want to progress, you will need to get past those feelings. It's not about bragging as much as it is about factually stating your accomplishments and the value that they provide. Review Episode 018 - Selling Yourself ( https://www.managingacareer.com/18 ) and Episode 044 - Reporting Status ( https://www.managingacareer.com/44 ) for insights into how best to communicate your value to various management levels. One way to ensure that your status does not come across as being braggadocious is to communicate it regularly. If you send status focused on larger items either irregularly or only when asking for a promotion, it will appear to be insincere. Instead send a weekly status to your boss and communicate progress on assignments of all sizes. Once per month or once per quarter, include a recap where you highlight the larger items that were reported on previous status reports. Beyond just reporting status, you need to make yourself known to other teams throughout your organization. Part of being known is creating a Personal Brand as covered in Episode 043 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/43 ). But you must also engage with those other teams. Organize cross-team sessions where you share ideas and techniques. Participate in departmental social events. And, through it all, build your brand. The last thing you need to do in order to build visibility is to build relationships with your manager's peers such that you find an advocate or sponsor. When you've identified someone that will support you, meet with them regularly and talk about how the work that you are doing aligns with their goals and how you can help them. When your manager elevates your name as a promotion candidate, your sponsor will add their support increasing the chances that your promotion will be approved. Is visibility something that you struggle with? I'd love to hear about how you've overcome this. And if there is something else that is keeping you from the advancement you seek, let me know and I'll cover that topic on a future episode. You can send your stories on the ManagingACareer.com website via the contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or leave me a voicemail through your computer.…
If you pay attention to what is going on within your company you can often see what direction things are going to go. With this warning, you can PRE-act to upcoming changes instead of RE-acting to them. This proactive stance will put you in the best position to succeed when those changes happen. Whether the changes are localized within your department or if there are larger changes coming that impact the entire company, everything starts with understanding who are the key players in decisions at each level. You can start with people in positions of power such as the CEO or a department head, but key players could also be individuals with significant influence over those people in key leadership roles. These people may not be within your immediate network, but make every effort to understand what their priorities are. When you know who the key players are, look at how they make decisions. Are they someone who is driven by emotion or facts? Are they strategic or tactical? Do they look for consensus or do they make the decision on their own? The insight into the decision making process can help you anticipate how and when decisions will be made. For example, If the decision is being made emotionally, when a triggering event happens, you can prepare for an emotional reaction to that event. Whereas if decisions are made based on facts, you can expect that those decisions are made methodically with great care. Listen to the language that these key players use when they talk about the concerns of the company; especially when their language changes. Most companies are for-profit entities and money is a huge driver of many decisions. As such, focus on revenue, expenses, or margin will lead to different decisions all with the goal of increasing company profits. If the executives focus on revenue in all of their speeches and newsletters, you can expect decisions focused on increasing sales. If they focus on expenses, decisions will usually be focused on reducing overhead and cutting things they consider non-essential. With a focus on margin, look for negotiations around material costs and an investment in technology that offers process improvements. The last factor to pay attention to in order to predict company change is to be aware of what is happening in your industry overall. If your competitors are having a different level of success, look for your leaders to make decisions to capitalize on those discrepancies. If new regulations are being discussed, what changes will that drive for your company? Are there new ideas or new technologies that you company can benefit from and how will they be adopted by your company? Once you have some insight into the factors that could lead to change, you can use this knowledge to begin to predict what changes may be coming for you. These predictions can give you an opportunity to get ahead of the change and potentially influence how it impacts you. If you are already aligned with the key decision makers, use this connection and your influence to turn the decision your direction. Even better if you have predicted the change before they have as it will strengthen the relationship and showcase your ability to think strategically. Look ahead to the potential choices and identify the ones that are most advantageous to you. Put together a justification for these options and present your case to the decision maker. Even if the final decision doesn't go your way, a compelling argument will usually provide some benefit for you. Whether you have influence over the potential decision or not, understanding what's coming gives you time to react before the actual decision is made. If processes or technologies are changing, learn everything you can about them beforehand; become the resident expert. If your area will see growth, position yourself to take on higher level work potentially even with a transition to a leadership role. If your department will be impacted by budget cuts, spend time communicating the value you provide to set you apart from others and reducing the chance that you will be impacted by any reductions. Episode 44 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/44 ) provides more insight into Reporting Status. A career coach can help you gain the foresight you need to get ahead. I would love to be that coach for you. Reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your situation. If we are a good fit, we can schedule regular sessions to help you get your career on the right track.…
At some point, you may find yourself in a position where you are able to attend an industry conference. When this happens, with enough planning, you can leverage this conference to help advance your career. At any conference, there will be panels, talks, and sessions by industry experts. These can help you understand upcoming changes to any regulations that apply to your industry. They can also offer new techniques and solutions to problems that you may have been facing. Often, the speakers also represent the companies that create the software commonly used in the industry and you can learn about new features that are coming to the tools that you use. Before you travel to the conference, review the schedule of talks and identify the ones most relevant to your projects. Also talk with your leader and teammates to see if any of the presentations will cover topics that will benefit them. There will often be overlapping events, so identifying the most important sessions will let you plan your daily schedule. It will also let you identify alternative sessions so that if your primary session is full or underwhelming, you can attend a different presentation that will still provide some value. During each presentation, make every effort to remove any distractions. Turn off the alerts from your phone. Position yourself where you can see anything projected on the screens as well as the presenter. Be sure to take notes of the most important points. Over the course of the conference, you will be hearing a lot of new information and it may be difficult to remember it all without good notes. Beyond the opportunities for education, the other major activity at a conference is to network and socialize. Try to get to the conference city a day early so that you can attend any kick-off social events. Include time during your day to gather in the common areas and talk to attendees. Make a note of the speakers that had the most insightful talks and look for opportunities to connect with them outside of the meeting rooms; unless they are a major keynote speaker, they are usually excited to talk with conference attendees. If this is not the first time you've attended this industry conference, reach out to everyone that you have met during previous years and arrange to meet with them again this year. This will strengthen these connections and allow you to compare notes on how others are progressing in your industry. Have them introduce you to others attending in order to grow your network faster. If you are introverted, networking may not come easy to you. Take advantage of the quieter times in the conference when you can mingle in smaller groups. Leverage the fact that those attending the conference work in a similar field as you so there is a common topic for starting conversations. And when in doubt, stand next to someone who is outgoing and wait for them to bring you into their conversation. Send an email to each person that you meet as soon as you have any sort of break. In that email summarize the conversation and offer to follow up after the conference. This will help you remember not just who you talked to but what you discussed. Fostering these connections will pave the way for future collaborations or even recruiting opportunities. Be sure to visit the expo floor during the conference, too. Beyond just the conference swag, walking the floor can help you find new tools and technologies that may not be covered in any of the presentations that you attended. You can also meet vendor contacts which can help you bypass any of the red tape in getting support for the tools that you use. After you return home from the conference, schedule a recap session with your leader and coworkers. Go over the highlights from the important sessions, especially those that discussed upcoming changes to the tools used by your company or any new government regulations that apply to your industry. Send an introductory email between your team and any vendor contacts so that they can extend their network, too. Lastly, reflect on what you've learned and look for ways that you can inject new ideas into how your company works. In Episode 049, I covered thinking strategically ( https://www.managingacareer.com/49 ). Use the insights you gained at the conference to understand the competitive landscape of your industry and to guide your solutions to these bigger problems. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.…
I've mentioned Jackie Simon in the past. If you aren't following her on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiesimon1/ ), you should. She's a leadership coach and regularly posts some insightful content. This week's episode of the ManagingACareer.com podcast is inspired by a post she made this week on Delegation vs Leverage ( https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jackiesimon1_delegating-wont-get-you-promoted-activity-7230196646461026304-D_UT ). Links to Jackie's profile and the inspiration post will be in the show notes for this episode. As with anything, we start with definitions to establish a context for further discussion. Delegation is assigning tasks to others. Leverage is using your resources (including people resources) to complete your work more effectively. While they can seem very similar, the differentiator is the goals and outcomes of the action. Way back in Episode 001 of this podcast ( https://www.managingacareer.com/1 ), I covered Higher Level Tasks. In that episode, I covered that your goal should be transitioning from process driven tasks to tasks that rely more on your personal discretion and judgement. Part of this transition is delegating lower level tasks. The goal of delegation is to pass activities that distract you from more strategic work to someone else. You do this because the task needs to be done but you are less focused on HOW it's performed. If done well, delegation is an opportunity to build trust with those that you delegate to because it helps them expand their role and provides them a level of autonomy. However, done poorly and they can feel a level of resentment when the delegated tasks are menial or if you continue to inject too much influence into the details of their performance of the task. When it comes to leverage, however, the goal is to continue to be involved in the task but to bring others into the activity. You may need to augment your skills by bringing in an expert. If the task requires navigating tough political waters, you may look to leverage someone with the right connections. Another reason to use leverage is when you are mentoring someone and you get them involved in order to expose them to new situations. The focus with leverage is to multiply your efforts through the resources available to you. Delegate small, routine tasks. Delegate to divide and conquer. Delegate to grow your team. Use leverage for those impactful, strategic, higher level tasks. Use leverage to augment your abilities. Use leverage to grow your network. In Episode 006 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/6 ), I introduced the concept of the Eisenhower Decision Matrix. This matrix divides work based on two scales: Urgency and Importance. This results in four quadrants: Urgent and Important known as the DO NOW quadrant; Important but not Urgent known as the SCHEDULE quadrant; Urgent but not Important known as the DELEGATE quadrant; and neither Important nor Urgent known as the IGNORE quadrant. This can be a useful way to determine which of your tasks would benefit from delegation and which would benefit from leverage. By definition, work that is urgent but not important falls into the DELEGATE quadrant, but there may also be opportunities to delegate some of the tasks that are in the DO NOW quadrant. If you have trusted members of your team that have shown growth or when specific skills are needed to accomplish them, consider delegating some of these urgent and important tasks within your team. When it comes to Leverage, the SCHEDULE quadrant is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of Leverage. This work is strategic in nature and being able to leverage your connections to make progress on these tasks while continuing to put focus on the work in the DO NOW quadrant will allow you to showcase your impact to the organization. Speaking of the DO NOW quadrant, this is another opportunity to apply leverage to remove any roadblocks preventing you from doing the things that should receive your primary attention. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.…
In today's episode of the ManagingACareer.com podcast, we take a look at a framework you can use to evaluate whether your current role will have a positive impact on your ability to advance your career. This framework is supported by four E's: Enablement, Empowerment, Engagement, and Enthusiasm. Enablement: The first E is Enablement. In Episode 51 - Success or Failure ( https://www.managingacareer.com/51 ), I use the quote from Alexander Graham Bell, "the only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action." A big factor in your ability to take action is whether or not you are enabled you to perform your role. Enablement refers to the support you receive to actually perform the duties of your role. Do you have the tools and access you need to be successful? When you face barriers, do your leaders help you break past them? Do you have a clear understanding of the expectations of the role? If you are a leader or a senior member of the team, how do you enable the rest of your team to perform their duties? Do you provide the documentation and SOPs that junior members require? Review Episode 5 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/5 ) on how Documenting Your Work can help you get ahead. Do you carve out time from your day to mentor others on your team? Review Episode 3 for more insights about Mentoring ( https://www.managingacareer.com/3 ). When you are enabled, you will have confidence that you can be successful in your current role. When you are enabled, you have the tools you need to be efficient. Empowerment: The second E is Empowerment. Where Enablement is about having the tools needed to perform your duties, Empowerment is about having the authority to perform your duties. If you have to check in with someone else for every decision you need to make, it can be demoralizing and discouraging. When you are empowered to make decisions, you will take initiative and drive results proactively. When you have responsibility of others on the team, do you empower them? Delegating decision making can free you up to do more important tasks. It will also lead to team that is more satisfied and more willing to follow your leadership. Engagement: The third E is Engagement. Engagement is when you feel connected to your work and have a desire to complete your duties at the highest level of quality. When there is a clear link between your role and your company goals you will have a higher level of satisfaction and be more willing to see things through. When the work you perform aligns with your goals, successful completion will lead to a positive performance review and the rewards and recognition associated with those reviews and ultimately to the advancement you seek. Enthusiasm: The final E is Enthusiasm. With Engagement being your connection to your company goals, Enthusiasm is your connection to your personal goals. Alignment with your interests and desires makes work easy. You don't need to be convinced to do the work because ultimately, it's what you want to do. I speak often about the Individual Development Plan and how it can help you identify the path you want your career to take. When your role aligns with your Career Vision (see Episode 37 - https://www.managingacareer.com/37 ), this linkage will provide personal motivation because you see how it will lead you to your ultimate goal. As a leader, watch for members of your team who only half-heartedly complete their work. There may be a mismatch between what you are asking them to do and their interests. Enablement, Empowerment, Engagement, and Enthusiasm. Resulting in Confidence, Initiative, Satisfaction, and Motivation. When your job provides you with all of these factors, career progression is just a matter of time. When any one of them are missing, reach out to your leaders and have a conversation on how, together, you can resolve that. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.…
Having regular conversations with your manager is important to ensure that you are on track for your desired career growth. But just as important is to occasionally have similar conversations with your skip level leaders. When it comes to skip level one-on-ones, there are three key outcomes to look for. First, is to build a relationship with your leaders. Second is to have an opportunity to highlight your contributions to the organization. And third is to have more insight into the direction that your leader is driving the team. Even just requesting the one-on-one will help you stand out when it comes time for promotions because most people never request a skip level meeting. This one act shows your leader that you are proactive and interested in advancing your career. Building a relationship. Unless you work for a very small company, your leaders are responsible for a lot of people; potentially a couple of hundred in larger companies. It is very rare for your skip level manager to know much about you individually. Requesting a one-on-one with them allows you to get to know them on a more personal level and for them to get to know you better. People are more likely to help people they like, so establishing a positive relationship and not just engaging in small talk should improve your chances of better assignments and eventually career advancement. Showcasing your contributions. When the conversation eventually turns towards your work, this is your chance to practice your presentation skills. Episode 056 covered Presenting to Leaders ( https://www.managingacareer.com/56 ); revisiting that episode should help you here. If you think about the scope and timelines that you are responsible for compared to those of your skip level leaders, their focus is on larger efforts and longer time horizons. So, as you describe your recent accomplishments, make sure you focus on describing them in relationship to the bigger picture. Many of the insights from Episode 44 - Reporting Status ( https://www.managingacareer.com/44 ) apply when communicating verbally, too. Focusing your contributions in terms of value produced will ensure that your skip level leader can relate what you do to the things that they care about. One of the benefits of presenting your contributions in the context of value to the organization is that it signals to your leader that you are starting to think strategically. Back in Episode 49 ( https://www.managingacareer.com/49 ), I cover several ways that you can transition to more strategic work and having your skip level leader recognize that growth should help. Gain Insight. The third goal of a skip level one-on-one is to learn about the direction of the organization from your leader. The purpose of this isn't to feed the rumor mill. Use this time to understand the drivers for the decisions that they make and figure out how those drivers can also be applied to your priorities. How can you leverage these insights to devise an idea that involves a bigger scope than your current level of responsibilities? Don't try to formulate the idea and make the pitch during your skip level one-on-one, but by understanding how your leader thinks and knowing what aspects are important to them, you can look for opportunities where you can expand your role. After your one-on-one is finished, spend the next few weeks refining your pitch. Reach out to trusted peers and mentors to vet the idea. Along the way, socialize the idea with decision makers and direct reports of your skip level leader. By winning over support, when you finally present your idea, it will be much easier to convince your skip level leader to adopt your idea. I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.…
I was hosting a coaching call the other day and I wanted to share the problem that we discussed in case you are experiencing a similar situation. The person I was speaking to has an issue where their manager is actively sabotaging their career development. If you want to be successful, you have to take control of your career because no one else will do it for you. And when your leader creates roadblocks that prevent you from growing the way that you wish, it becomes even more important to own your own career. If you find yourself in a similar situation, the first thing you need to do is to try to identify why your leader might be behaving this way. Your manager may have some form of bias. This could be a form of prejudice such as racism or sexism that should be addressed with HR or it could just be as simple as playing favorites with others on the team. Your manager might feel threatened by you. There are several reasons why your manager could have these feelings from being a below average performer to being new to the role. Another reason that your manager may not support you is that they may just not be aware of what it actually takes for you to advance. Though, if you have been following this podcast for any length of time, I regularly encourage you to have career conversations with your leader to ensure that they are invested in your development. By understanding the source of the problem, you can adjust your approach towards finding a resolution. Start by having a conversation with your manager for feedback on your performance. Prior to this conversation, review Episode 012 - Receiving Effective Feedback ( https://www.managingacareer.com/12 ). It may be a difficult conversation given the contentious relationship you may have, but it is important to maintain a level of professionalism and avoid getting defensive about anything your manager says. Ideally, you don't react at all to any faults that your manager indicates -- whether true or not. Even if they are actively preventing your progress, there will still be items that they think you should work on. Your goal with this feedback is to spend the rest of the year generating evidence to counter each believe. For instance, if there are skills that your leader thinks you are weak in, look for training that can supplement your abilities and try to find opportunities to showcase them to your organization. Use this evidence during your performance review to prove that these are not weaknesses. If your leader believes that you have issues related to your performance on assignments or projects, create a weekly status report. Review Episode 044 - Reporting Status ( https://www.managingacareer.com/44 ) for some guidelines on what makes a good status report. This status report should be sent to your manager, the project manager, and your manager's leader. It is important that your status report include not just the activities that you have completed or made progress on, but also the value that those activities provide to the company -- in dollar amounts if possible. Additionally, relate the status back to your annual goals and your personal career goals. By documenting your performance with a full circle view and sending it to a wider audience, you ensure that your manager is not the only person aware of your performance. When it comes time for your annual performance review, you can summarize the details from all of your status reports and provide details of which of your goals you have completed. Another strategy to help you when your manager is blocking your career progress is to find an advocate. Episode 029 - Building A Network ( https://www.managingacareer.com/29 ) can give you techniques for meeting and identifying potential advocates. Ideally, your advocate would be someone who is in your organization as either a peer or a senior leader of your manager so that their opinion has weight. When your performance is discussed among the leaders, having and advocate can ensure that someone will be speaking positively about you instead of just hearing the biased opinion of your manager. If none of these strategies improve the situation, the more severe options is to look elsewhere. If you have an advocate, they may be able to help your find an internal position that you can transfer to. Just be sure to do your homework to ensure that the new situation isn't just perpetuating the problem. If your would-be new manager is friends with your current manager, any bias may carry forward. If there are no internal positions -- or at least none that provide the opportunities you want -- the next step would be to look outside of the company. If you are facing a challenging situation at work and could use a career coach, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com ( https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/ ). I'll schedule an introductory session much like the one that inspired this episode and if we are a good fit, we can schedule regular sessions to help you get your career on the right track.…
At the time of this episode, we're a little more than halfway through the current year. Most companies have an annual goal setting process and it's a good time to check in on your progress towards those goals. Waiting until the end of the year to review your progress doesn't give you enough time to react and adjust to ensure success. In Episode 47 - Annual Goal Setting ( https://www.managingacareer.com/47 ), I go through several frameworks you can use to help define your goals. If you followed the guidelines I provided in that episode, you should have a series of goals that align with the corporate strategies but still provide opportunities for growth and advancement of your career. Each goal should consist of some sort of long-term objective and a list of supporting activities that will help you achieve the objective. As part of a mid-year evaluation, you should review each of the supporting activities and update the status of them. How many of those activities have you completed? How many have had significant progress? Of the ones that haven't been started, what is preventing your progress? One aspect of the IDP that I encourage is the section that documents your Successes -- see Episode 39 for more details on this part of the IDP ( https://www.managingacareer.com/39 ). With this review of your progress against your goals, you have an opportunity to boost your motivation by acknowledging the success you have had so far this year and also to spur action knowing that there is still time to achieve everything that you set out to achieve for the year. Now that you know where you stand with respect to your goals, consider whether they are all still valid. Companies will adjust their goals based on any events going on in the wider market. The priorities of your team may have shifted. Even your personal roadmap may have changed based on things you have learned. If any of these factors apply, use this opportunity to update your goals to align with these new conditions. Even if the overall goal is still valid, it is also an opportunity to redefine the supporting activities to match your current work assignments. For any goals that you are off track or are blocked by something beyond your control, have a conversation with your leader. How can the two of you work together to get things back on track? Is it a matter of missing resources or aligning your assignments with the activities that support the goal? Your annual goals should align with both your company and personal objectives, so this midyear review should include progress on your Individual Development Plan ( https://www.managingacareer.com/36 ) as well. Be sure to update your Action Plan ( https://www.managingacareer.com/39 ) but review whether you need to adjust your Roadmap ( https://www.managingacareer.com/37 ) based on how your year has progressed so far. As I covered in Episode 51 - Success or Failure ( https://www.managingacareer.com/51 ), a large component of success is taking action. There is still plenty of time left in the year to successfully complete your goals, but this review will show you where you need to focus your attention and take action in order to complete your goals. My goal for this podcast is to continue to grow the audience in order to help as many people as I can advance their careers. To reach this goal, I would appreciate it if you would share this episode with your friends and coworkers. Send them to ManagingACareer.com/follow ( https://www.managingacareer.com/follow ) which will give them links to everywhere that this podcast can be found.…
Let's talk about credit. I'm not talking about the financial mechanisms by which you borrow money from a bank using plastic card. I'm talking about the type of credit involved when someone receives recognition for work performed. If we consider our relationship to credit: we can TAKE credit; we can GIVE credit; we can STEAL credit; and we can GIVE AWAY credit. In today's episode, I'm going to talk about each of these different modes and how they can impact your career advancement. Taking credit. When we perform a task, especially if we do it well, we should be proud and take credit for our work by sharing that information with others; especially with our leaders. Keep a "success diary" of some sort so that you track the things that you do that deserve credit. Whether small or large, track everything. Successes with a more localized impact can still be shared within your project team, but successes with a more wide-spread impact should be shared to higher levels of the organization. Be clear in what was accomplished and your role with bringing it to fruition; just be careful that you don't come across as too braggadocious and share your successes with a level of humility. By making this a regular occurrence, it keeps your leaders aware of the contributions you make which will help them consider you when new opportunities become available. Giving credit. If others were involved in the success, we move to the next mode, giving credit. If you are keeping a success diary, include documenting the roles other played in making your activities successful. When you share YOUR success whether in meetings or emails, mention the others, too. Most work is done as part of a team and including them in your successes will lead others to reciprocate providing YOU additional recognition with your leaders. Another aspect of giving credit is when the work of others provides a positive impact to you. Call out the work of others by leveraging any appreciation tools provided by your company. By recognizing the work of others, you'll strengthen your relationships and bring others to WANT to work with you. If you are a leader of a team, pay special attention to Episode 008 - The Five Recognition Languages . Everyone on your team has a different way that they feel appreciated, so be sure to align giving credit with the form that they prefer. This will ensure that they feel valued and increase the impact of the recognition. Stealing credit. The opposite of giving credit is stealing credit. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, if you take credit without including others who contributed to the effort, you are stealing credit that they deserve. Another form of stealing credit is if credit is given to the wrong person. Where giving credit can build up a team, no matter how the credit is stolen, it can cause a rift within the team and undermines your credibility. Giving away credit. The last form of relationship that we have with credit for work performed is when we give away credit. If you allow someone to steal your credit or you don't speak up when credit for your work is stolen or misappropriated, you are giving away credit. If you give away your credit by allowing it to be stolen, you run the risk that person gets opportunities ahead of you. There may be instances where you might wish to give away credit. An example would be when you have built up significant goodwill but someone else involved in the work has been underappreciated, you may wish to give away your credit to the underappreciated person. In instances like this, you can strengthen your relationship with them. And as I covered in Episode 029 - Building a Network , a strong network is one of the most valuable tools for career advancement. Earlier in the episode, I mentioned keeping a success diary. If you would like a free template you can use to track YOUR successes, reach out to me via the contact form at the ManagingACareer.com website. I would be happy to send you one.…
I firmly believe that you have to own your career. If you rely on someone else to drive it, it will likely not go in the direction that you want -- if it actually goes anywhere at all. In each episode of this podcast, I cover a topic that makes you think about your career, but taking action is still up to you. Sometimes, we find ourselves procrastinating even when we know we should be acting. This week, I want to cover several reasons why you may be procrastinating and how to get past them. We know what we SHOULD do, but struggle to find the motivation to do it. So, why do we procrastinate? The first reason may be the fear of the unknown and the comfort of the known. We know what it's like where we are. It may be "just fine" to continue in our current role. If you've reached a level where you have a fair number of responsibilities and your pay allows you a level of comfort, maintaining the status quo may be more important to you than the risk of what might come next. The strategy here is to find ways to reduce the risk and get excited about the future. Find someone within the company that has a role similar to your next role that will serve as your mentor. Set up regular time with them to talk about what their day to day activities look like. Ask them what they find fulfilling about the additional responsibilities of that role. Use their insights to identify the areas you are least comfortable with and find opportunities to strengthen them through training or assignments. The next reason that we procrastinate is not having a clear goal of what actually IS next. I'm a big fan of the Individual Development Plan. The primary reason that I like the IDP is that it provides a systematic approach to help you clarify what your next steps should be. For a refresher on the IDP and how you can use it as a tool for career planning, go back to Episodes 036 through 040 and then reach out via the contact form at ManagingACareer.com to request your free IDP template. Once you have completed your IDP using my template, you will have identified your next role and created an action plan to get you there. This clarity will allow you to break past this source of procrastination. Another reason that we might procrastinate taking action on our career is being overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done. You may be excited about what is next and have formulated an action plan in your IDP, but if there is too much to do, you may not know how to get started. Pair that with a fear of failure or a desire for perfection and you may feel completely paralyzed when it comes to getting started. If you find yourself overwhelmed with everything that you need to do, take a step back and find the smallest, easiest task. Success breeds success. A small win provides momentum to the next win. Once you've gained confidence with small, easy steps, you'll be ready to take on the bigger, more important steps. In Episode 051 - Success or Failure , I talk about how taking action can be inspiring and this snowball effect can jump start your career progression. If you are unable to push past your source of procrastination, it can lead to career stagnation. This can lead to a negative perception about having a lack of ambition. You might also face increased stress as you miss out on promotions and opportunities. You may even lose confidence in yourself and your ability to grow. Just like success breeds success, lack of success can lead to further delays. One strategy, no matter what is driving your procrastination is to have someone on your side -- your leaders, your mentors, or your coach. Someone that can help you clarify your path forward and provide the motivation you need to take action. If you are interested in career coaching, it is a service I offer. Reach out to me via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website and I will set up an introductory session where we can determine if we are a good fit. If we are, we can arrange regular coaching to help you break past your source of procrastination and put your career on the fast track to advancement.…
The other day, I saw a post on LinkedIn by Wes Kao the co-Founder of the Maven learning platform. Her post was a synopsis of an issue of her newsletter that really resonated with me ( Link https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/the-unspoken-skill-of-finesse ). It was on the topic of Finesse in Communications. You could also think of it as communicating like a leader. In Wes' article, there was a situation where a customer had asked about the limits of a software system. Several people were in a chat thread formulating a response. The first person offered a factual number based on the highest limit observed in the system. The second person clarified the limit with a lower number that had shown acceptable performance plus a plan to increase the performance for a higher limit. The third person took the response from the second person and reframed it to have less of a negative connotation but still convey the same results. Finesse is the ability to refine your message based on understanding the situation and the desired outcomes it is the ability to use good judgement in delicate situations. None of the responses were wrong per se, but the first answer could have led to disappointment by the customer if they approached the technical limit and experienced the performance degradations. The second answer provided additional context around the limits but may have caused the customer to look elsewhere for a solution that didn't have those limits. The final answer with a more positive message invited the customer to be optimistic about the solution being able to scale to meet their needs. For some, the ability to have finesse in their communications may come naturally. But for others, like any skill, you can improve your abilities with focus and practice. The more you practice, the easier it will be to know when to apply finesse and the more likely it will come to you without consciously thinking about it. First, you need to recognize when situations require finesse to handle. As you start practicing, look for situations where the outcome is not well defined or where there are people involved that you don't regularly interact with. That isn't to say that other situations would not benefit from nuance and finesse, but when you are learning the skill, the situations with the most uncertainty will be the ones most obvious to you that using finesse will be appropriate to lead to a positive result. Once you have identified a situation to practice your skills, think about your desired outcome and what aspects have the least clarity. When you discuss them with others, pay attention to how the other people react to what you say and how you say it. You aren't just looking for surface level reactions such as responding verbally -- whether in agreement or to counter your points. Look at those micro-reactions such as that fleeting expression when your point hits home before they recompose and make their point. These types of responses can give you clues as to how your approach has been received such as whether it is too direct or needs more context or whether it's too aggressive or too passive. As the interaction proceeds, make adjustments and pay attention to how that changes how your arguments are received. Finesse is not just about what you say and how you say it, but it's also about what you DON'T say. In Episode 56 - Presenting to Leaders , I talked about how my background in an analytical field lends itself to providing every detail because they all matter when solving technical problems, but when presenting to an executive, I had to focus on stripping my message down to only the most relevant bits. This is another part of exhibiting finesse in your communications. Understanding when to include and when to exclude information to direct the situation towards the outcome you are pushing for. This doesn't mean to lie through omission -- that leads to losing trust. But understanding which details are important to your audience and which details are noise is part of framing your message clarity. Because finesse is in large part driven by the PEOPLE, there are no hard and fast rules about how to handle each situation. But what you CAN do is bring in someone who has a better handle on how to apply finesse such as Person Three from the example story. Have them observe your approach and provide feedback on how you can do better. You can also watch them when they are interacting with others and then have a review session afterwards where you can ask them about the different decisions they made about how to approach the conversation. Go read Wes' full article on finesse which you can find linked in the show notes ( https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/the-unspoken-skill-of-finesse ). There are additional insights and strategies that can help you perfect your finesse skills. Improving your communication skills will help you advance your career no matter what level you are at and finesse is an important aspect of that. If you would like to be alerted when I release new content, go to ManagingACareer.com/follow for the various platforms where I can be found. Help me spread the word by sending that link to your friends and co-workers, too.…
The goal of most people in the corporate world is to get promoted. Along with that promotion is usually personal growth, more responsibility, and increased pay. But, what happens if you find yourself promoted too soon? There could be many reasons that you receive a promotion. Someone more senior could have left -- either the team or the company. You could have also pushed for it with your leaders and everything aligned for them to promote you. You may have even received a promotion that you weren't expecting. When you receive a promotion when you are ready for it, it can be a great experience. But, when you are promoted early, it can lead to possible complications. Check out Episode 26 - Should You Be Promoted for insights into whether you are ready for a promotion or not. The first complication is not having the necessary skills to perform the new role. Often promotions build on the skills you've already been using but there are additional new skills that you will need to develop. If you are promoted early, you may not have had the time to build those new skills. The more advanced your position, the more you are expected to just "figure it out". As soon as you are notified of your promotion, you should begin working on those skills in whatever form of learning works for you best. Finding training courses for the more technical skills should be fairly straightforward. When it comes to the soft skills, it may be time to reach out to your mentors or your network to find someone who can provide the insights you need to be successful. Another complication could be strife within your team. If there is someone else on your team that was angling for the same promotion, they may be resentful if you receive a promotion over them. This may make working with them difficult, especially if you now have a position of authority over them. If you foresee this as being problematic, you will need to work to build -- or rebuild -- that relationship. If this leadership position is a new type of role for you, you may not be well positioned to navigate these types of relationship problems. Lean on your leader and your human resources department for insights into how to best smooth this rocky situation. If you feel undeserving of the promotion, you may have a sense of Imposter Syndrome. This complication can completely undermine your ability to be successful in your new role and possibly even future roles. Imposter Syndrome as a topic is very large and I should probably do a future episode on the subject, but the number one way to combat it is to build your confidence. You probably just said, "That's easier said than done". Confidence comes from skill and experience and support. I've already covered how to build the skills required of your new role. And your mentors, network, leaders, and HR should offer the support you need. The only remaining component is experience and the only way to gain that is to put yourself out there. Go back and review Episode 051 - Success or Failure that talks about how taking action and building on small successes can lead to much greater success. This success will build your confidence and dispel the feeling of Imposter Syndrome. The final complication is more of a factor of the environment that we currently face. There are many companies that are looking for ways to cut costs or increase profits and one avenue that they pursue to achieve that goal is to reduce their workforce through some sort of layoff. Being promoted early could put you at higher risk of being selected for any pending layoff. With an early promotion, you will be one of the lower performers at your new level until you have addressed the other potential complications. Lower performance combined with higher pay is usually the attributes that lead to selection. There is no easy solution to this complication because it is more of a factor of the situation. The best you can do is to work quickly to bring your level of performance up to the standards of the role. If you've listened to most of the other episodes of this podcast, I talk about different things you can focus on that will make you more promotable. You should be prepared with the tools you need so that any promotion does not include any of the above complications. If you want to be sure to get new episodes when they are released, go to https://ManagingACareer.com/follow to find all of my social media links.…
I was reading an article on LinkedIn by Christine Laperriere that was titled "How to get on the AAA team" . This article talks about how a new leader could build a AAA team - a team with the three A's: Accountability, Autonomy, and Authority. From a leader perspective, it's important to build a team that everyone wants to be on, but what about you as an individual, if you are a AAA talent, you can help your leader attract other AAA talent to your team. In this week's episode, I'm going to talk about what it takes for you to become a AAA talent Accountability is about taking responsibility for your actions and owning the results of them. But beyond just YOUR actions, if you want to stand out, you need to have a sense of ownership for the results of your project and team. In order to build accountability, start with fulfilling your commitments. If you are assigned a task, see it through to the end. Be clear about the deadlines and raise concerns when they are at risk. Be proactive in clearing roadblocks, the earlier you can clear them, the better. When completing a task, don't just do the bare minimum, but complete your work with the highest quality. If, in completing your work, you make mistakes, don't be afraid to own them. Go back to Episode 055 - Owning Your Mistakes and review the guidance there. Once your commitments have been met, you should also look to help your team complete their tasks as much as is within your ability. Do as much as you can to elevate the quality of the team. When your leader knows that, no matter what, you get stuff done with very little of their oversight, you build their trust. If you consistently deliver their trust will grow. Bringing that accountability to the rest of the team will set a good example and show your leadership skills. Trust leads to the next A, Autonomy. Once you have proven that you are accountable, your leader will allow you to be more independent and own more decisions. When you are not autonomous, your assignments will sound like a list of tasks to complete - do this, do that. But, as you gain autonomy, your assignments will be less defined and sound more like desired results with a lot of the "how to get there" being left up to you. To prepare yourself for more and more autonomy, start by mastering the core skills of your field. This knowledge and understanding will provide confidence as you make decisions. Next, work to understand how your tasks fit into the bigger picture. How do the things you are assigned lead to results in alignment with your team's goals? With a better understanding of the mission of the team, you should begin to understand the priorities of your various tasks. As you complete a task, if you know where that task is leading, start working on the next task without being told. By taking initiative to do the "right" thing next, you'll build additional trust with your leader. The last thing to work on to build more autonomy is to showcase your decision making skills. When your leader has given you a level of autonomy, they expect you to make some decisions without their input, but larger decisions they may still want to be involved in, at least initially. Instead of bringing the problem to them, bring the problem as well as the solution you would take. By showing them that you would make an acceptable decision, they will let you own larger and larger decisions leading to the final A, Authority. Authority is the power to make decisions that impact your projects and your team, not just your assigned tasks. You grow your authority by strengthening your relationships with your extended team and sharing what you've learned as you've progressed from an A talent to a AAA talent. This builds credibility such that, not only will you gain trust with your leader, but you will gain trust with the rest of your team. When your team trusts and supports you and you communicate your decisions clearly, your decisions will be followed and your authority will grow. Taking the steps needed to transform into a AAA talent, will help you grow not just as an individual but as a leader and a teammate that other AAA talent will gravitate towards. Helping your leader build a AAA team reinforces the trust you've gained and will put you on a fast track to advancement. Do you have questions or topics that you would like me to cover on a future episode? If so, go to the ManagingACareer.com website and submit them via the Contact Form . I would love to be able to help you with your career questions.…
The past few weeks, several of us at my job have been working on a slide deck that will be presented to an executive that is a few levels above mine. The final deck is just three slides, but it took a lot of time to get those three slides nailed down to the ideal content. Most of the time was spent on simplifying the content to only the information that the executive would actually care about and refining the slide design to be more visually focused. For a deck to only be three slides but for it to take a few weeks to put together might seem like a really long time, but when you are communicating with your leaders, regardless of whether it's your immediate manager or the CEO of the company, it's important to get the message right. Leaders are responsible for teams of people usually spread across several different projects. The higher in the organization, the more teams and the more projects that the leader is responsible for. They usually don't have the attention for nor the time for minutiae. What this means for you, is that you should focus on providing just enough context for the leader to know the situation and then provide a lens into the most relevant information for them to provide the solution or to make the decision you need them to make. Besides guiding your leader to the topic at hand, a well-crafted presentation will make you seem smart and aware and "leaderly" in the mind of your leader; all aspects that can put you on the fast track to advancement. Peeling back the layers a little more, what actually makes a well-crafted presentation? It begins with the right structure. Since your leader has limited time, it's important to get to the point quickly. A good structure that maximizes focus with minimal content is the Goal / Problem / Solution structure. This is basically the structure we took with our three slide presentation that we've been working on. The Goal should set the context of the meeting. Why is this meeting on your leader's calendar -- as opposed to being an email or being a meeting with one of their direct reports? What is the outcome that you are trying to achieve? Ideally, this message can be condensed to a single slide. The Problem should be where you drive their attention to the specific area that you need assistance with. This is an area that I struggle with because I'm in an analytical field where accuracy and completeness are important. But, when dealing with an executive, too much detail just becomes noise. If you feel that you really must include everything, move it to a back-up slide that isn't part of the core presentation. If there are details that your leader needs that you haven't provided, you can share the content from the backup slide or speak to it directly. The last area should propose a Solution to your problem. Tell your leader what answer you want them to give you. If you've done all of the leg work and justified your case, your leader will likely agree and send you on your way. If they have insights that you aren't privy to or if your case isn't strong, they may send you back to do more research into possible solutions or they may tell you "no". I mentioned that one of the other things we spent time on was making the presentation more visual. There's that old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, and the same applies in a presentation. If you've spent a lot of time simplifying the message, particularly such that the problem is boiled down to just the information relevant to the decision you need the executive to make, using a more visual representation instead of just a dump of text allows you to hint to all of the information that was culled. It leads the audience to the fact that there is more there if they need it. Beyond just making a good presentation and stating your case, there are some other things you can do to increase your chances of a successful request. The first is practice your presentation. The easiest way to combat nervousness -- either from just presenting in general or from addressing senior leadership -- is to just be so comfortable with your content that you can fall back to that to settle your nerves. The second thing you can do is get people on your side. If you prepare others who will be in room, especially if they have the trust of the leader you will be presenting to, and convince them that your solution is the ideal choice, they will be able to support you during the presentation and provide additional context when the leader asks questions. They can also offer insights into the quality of your presentation before you actually present it. Regardless of whether you are making a request of your direct manager or the head of the company or anywhere in between, making a clear, concise presentation not only has a higher chance of getting the result that you are going for, but it gives you an opportunity to stand out and be memorable. When you are brought up as a promotion candidate, being remembered -- especially positively -- will make your managers case much easier leading to faster promotions. If you find the content of the Managing A Career podcast beneficial, share it with your friends and coworkers. And to help me spread the work, go to your podcast platform of choice and leave me a review . Reviews by people like you helps other learn about the value that my podcast provides and helps me grow my audience.…
I was reading through LinkedIn the other day and there was a post by Jason Feifer, the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, where he had made a mistake but owning up to it and correcting the issue lead to an overall great outcome. That post inspired this podcast episode. It can be scary when you make a mistake. Depending on how impactful that mistake is, there is always the possibility of severe repercussions. If you are insecure or unconfident, your first reaction may be to try to hide or cover up the mistake. But, that may actually make the situation worse. So, what SHOULD you do when you make a mistake? The first thing you should do is acknowledge that you made a mistake. This doesn't have to be an overly complex statement, just state what you did wrong and don't try to deflect blame to others. Next, explain the situation that lead to the mistake. This isn't an opportunity to make excuses. If possible, offer potential solutions so that the mistake can be avoided in the future. Even if you don't have a solution, by describing the root cause, your team will have the information they need to make any required adjustments. After acknowledging your mistake and explaining the situation, the next thing you should do is apologize. Be clear and genuine and show that the negative results were not intentional. Next, you should address the impact your mistake has had and how you are mitigating that impact. What steps have you taken so far to correct it? How have those steps improved the situation? What steps will you be taking in the future? The last thing you should do when you make a mistake is reflect on the situation and determine what you can learn from it. In your next one-on-one or coaching session, be sure to bring it up to get insights from your leaders and mentors on how this situation can lead to personal growth. If you take those steps to address your mistakes, you will find that once the frustration with the immediate situation has passed, owning your mistake will lead to a greater sense of trust between you and your team. The demonstration of accountability and the willingness to learn and grow allows the team to know that you are team-focused and not self-serving. This can build credibility with the team. If you have a position of leadership, it sets a positive example and encourages the team to be more transparent. One thing that WON'T be a mistake is engaging with a career coach the help you learn and grow as you advance your career. Reach out to me via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website. I will arrange an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and how I can help. If we are a good fit, we can schedule regular coaching sessions or I can refer you to other coaches I know that may suit your needs.…
I focus a lot on the Individual Development Plan or IDP as a tool for managing your career. As a singular document, it encapsulates where you want your career to go and the steps it will take to get there. If you need to review the IDP, refer back to Episodes 036 through 040 where I break down each section. But if you are unsure of what that end goal should be, understanding your WHY may help you resolve that problem. Have you ever spent time of self-reflection on your motivations for choosing the work that you do? To determine what your primary motivator is, think back to moments in your career when you felt the best. What were you doing at the time? What had you just achieved? Why was that the specific time that mattered most? When I talk about motivation, I'm not referring to being able to pay for food, shelter, and basic necessities -- essentially anything required to support your family. Those things are all important but those needs could be met by various jobs. What is it about your current field that keeps you going? Let's take a look at several common motivators. Financial - One possible motivator is financial. Beyond just meeting your basic needs, those that are financially motivated choose a career based on its potential for higher levels of income. Altruistic - Some people are motivated by the impact their work has on the world. Those that choose humanitarian or environmentally focused careers or that work for socially conscious companies are likely motivated by altruistic impact. Intellectual - If you enjoy the quest for knowledge or the challenge of solving complex problems, you might be intellectually motivated. Classic examples of this type of motivation are scientific and engineering focused careers. Self-Fulfillment - Some people are motivated when their work aligns with their personal interests. If you find joy and your work aligns with your passions, then personal fulfillment could be the source of your motivation. Social - When the relationship and comradery you have with your coworkers or being able to engage with customers is what keeps you going, you are socially motivated. Advancement - The final form of motivation that I want to cover is that of career advancement. Some people are motivated by their career growth and the chase of higher and higher titles. Regardless of whether you are Financially, Altruistically, Intellectually, Self-Fulfillment, Socially, or Advancement motivated, does your role provide you with opportunities to meet your motivations? What about the company or team that you work on? Based on the typical progression in your job at your company, will you continue to build on the aspects that bring you career satisfaction? If the answer to any of those questions is no, you may want to consider a transition to something else. That doesn't necessarily mean that you need to quit your job or leave your current company, but finding a role that aligns with your WHY will allow you to enjoy your work more. For example, if you are motivated by social engagement it may just be that your current team is geographically dispersed and you may need to transfer to a team that is all located in the same city. If you are intellectually motivated but have been in the same position for several years, you may no longer be challenged by the problems you face and you just need to work with your leader on being assigned to a project that leverages new technologies or techniques. However, if you are altruistically motivated and want to improve the environment, that may mean switching to a company that better meets that mission. Regardless of your motivation, if you are struggling deciding on your career vision, have a conversation with your manager, a mentor, or a trusted peer and explain to them what motivates you and how your current role does or does not satisfy that. They can help brainstorm a career path that helps you find fulfillment. Use this information to revisit your IDP and put a plan in place that will get you there. I hope that this episode has helped you think about your WHY and how a career in alignment with it will give you a better sense of success for whatever success means to you. If you need someone to help define a career roadmap that helps bring you a higher level of enjoyment, I'm available for career coaching. If you reach out to me via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website , I will arrange an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals. If we are a good fit, we can set up regular coaching sessions or I can refer you to other coaches that may suit your needs.…
There is a lot of uncertainty in the job market right now with so many news stories talking about this company or that company laying of large portions of their workforce. If you've been following the guidance that I've shared in the various episodes of this podcast, you've likely done all within your power to keep your name off of "the list", but sometimes, no matter what you do, you could find yourself impacted by a layoff. When you lose your job, it's ok to have feelings. Acknowledge them. Work through them. Find support for them. In Episode 043 - Mental Health and You , I cover several resources and strategies that may help you in this situation. Additionally, most companies offer counselling services to those affected by a layoff; take advantage of them if you need them. If you need an escape, spend a few days taking a mental vacation so that you can return refreshed and able to focus on finding new employment. Once you have recovered from the initial shock, the next phase is to address short-term needs. Begin by understanding what, if any, severance is offered -- not just monetary, but how long will your health insurance continue, what sort of job placement assistance will be offered, etc. Additionally, apply for any government unemployment benefits as soon as possible. It usually takes time for those processes to complete, so starting early ensure a minimal gap before they begin. Once your immediate personal needs have been addressed, the next steps are to prepare for the upcoming job search. If you are like most people, you haven't kept your resume up to date because there wasn't a need. Take some time to review and update it. If you were offered job placement assistance as part of your severance package, that usually includes someone available to help revise your resume. Don't forget to review and update any online profiles such as LinkedIn or job boards as well. Before you begin the actual job search, it's a good time to reflect on WHY you were let go. Why were you selected instead of your peers? What skills should you work on while you look for a job? This is also a good time to look at new skills that you can develop that can open up additional options for potential jobs. Use your time away from the daily grind to focus on learning and growth. In Episode 029 - Building a Network , I had covered how to expand your network. You don't build a network overnight, but if you've spent time building a strong network, now is the perfect time to take advantage of it. As a personal anecdote, other than my very first job in high school, every job I've ever had can be traced back to my network in some capacity. Reach out to those that you know to see if they have leads and connections on a new job. At this point, you are ready to begin the actual search. Determine what your ideal situation will be and target jobs that meet that criteria. Will you look for a similar job to the one you had or will you leverage new skills that you are building to transition to a different type of job? Would you be open to considering a freelance or contractor position? Is this a good time to consider a management position? Early in your job search, it's ok to be selective. But the longer the search goes, the more flexible you may need to be, based on your personal situation. Job hunting can be trying and stressful. It is good to have someone on your side during this process. Don't be afraid to engage a personal Mentor or a Career Coach to help you with the process. They can help you review your plan and practice interview techniques so that you are better positioned to land the job that you want. There may even be instances where you will want to use a Placement Firm to aid your search -- for instance, many executive positions are not listed on the public job boards and going through a placement firm can get you access to that type of position. If you treat your search as your job and track your progress like a project, you can distance yourself from negative emotions and keep the focus on the goal. Use the lay off as an opportunity for personal growth. And if you find you need a Career Coach, reach out to my via the ManagingACareer.com contact form. I will schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your goals. If we're a good fit, we can set up regular coaching or I can refer you to other coaches I know that may suit your needs.…
Manager, Leader, Mentor, Coach; all four can help you advance your career. This week, we take a look at each role and how each one can help you in your quest for a promotion. At the most simplistic level, the roles can be summarized as: A Manager tells you want to do. A Leader enables you so that you can do it. A Mentor shows you how to do it. And a coach changes the way you think about it. Your manager is responsible for what projects you work on. It's important to have a manager that recognizes both your strengths as well as what skills you need to develop. If they take these things into account when giving you assignments, they can ensure that you are successful while still growing as an individual. And, of course, they are ultimately the decider on whether you are considered for a promotion. With that much control over your activities, you don't need to be best friends with your manager, but you certainly need to build a positive relationship with them. A leader is someone who inspires and motivates the team. In Episode 016 - What Does It Mean To Be A Leader , I described a leader as someone who enables their team to do MORE. A good leader can remove impediments and provide you with the tools and resources you need to complete your tasks. Leadership can come from people in official leadership positions or from peers that lead informally. Regardless of the source, a good leader will put you in the best position for success. A mentor is someone -- sometimes on your team, but not always -- that acts as a teacher. Episode 003 - Mentoring goes into types of mentoring in more detail When you are learning a new skill or working in a new company, having a mentor to show you the ropes can help you learn skills faster but also the way to apply those skills in line with how the company values them. The final role that can help you advance your career is a coach. The role of the coach is to challenge your thinking and get you to look at things from a new angle or with a different mindset. Where leaders and mentors are focused on the shorter term tasks, coaches are looking towards the horizon. A good coach will help you set long term career goals and help you put a plan in place to achieve those goals. Where the mentor is focused on skills and tools that address your current assignments, a coach will focus on skills and tools that will help you grow as an individual. Often, a coach will come from outside of your organization where they will not be restricted in their thinking by the limits and attitudes of everyone else. If you're lucky, you may find one person that serves all four roles, but that will be rare. More often than not, you will need to find two or three different people to fill them. Managers and Leaders, by their nature, will be people within your team or organization. Mentors and coaches may come from anywhere -- within your company or even externally. When looking for a mentor or coach, there are several places that you can look. First, look to more senior or longer tenured members of your team. Even if they are not interested or if they don't feel like a good fit for you specifically, you can leverage their connections to find other candidates. Another source for finding mentors and coaches is to reach out to your network and professional organizations. Ask your personal connections if there is someone that can and will mentor you or if they know someone who will. If you have access to a formal network such as an alumni network of your school or an industry association, they will usually have matching services that will put you in touch with potential mentors and coaches. Lastly, look towards professionals. There are professional coaches that can help with various aspects of your professional career. Whether technical skills or soft skills, look for a coach that is experienced in the areas that you wish to develop. Managers, Leaders, Mentors, and Coaches. Find people who will be on your side and can help you get ahead. Having several people in your cheering section will give you more confidence and support as you continue your career. In the Managing A Career podcast, I cover short-form topics to challenge your thinking about career advancement. If you are interested in professional coaching, reach out to me via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website. I will schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your coaching goals. If we're a good fit, we can set up regular coaching or I can refer you to other coaches I know that may suit your needs.…
The other day, while browsing Facebook, a quote appeared on my feed that I found very inspiring. "The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action" - Alexander Graham Bell. This week, I want to break down why I find this quote so inspiring. In general, I consider myself a fairly successful person. But most of that success has come from not being afraid of the results and just TRYING…..or using the language of the quote, taking action. If you are looking to make progress -- on anything -- you can sit an analyze (very likely over analyze), or you can take action. Even when that effort does not produce the desired results, it still provides learnings and guidance for how to refine your approach and take additional action. Regardless of the results, taking action puts you closer to your goal. In addition to the aspect of progress, taking action also helps resolve fear. Most fear comes from the unknown. Each time you take action, you become more comfortable and familiar with the situation. This results in eliminating doubt and transitioning the unknown that you fear to the known that you can overcome. The final reason that taking action should be inspiring is the snowball effect. Taking small action leads to small wins. Small wins helps build confidence and momentum leading to bigger actions and bigger wins. Over time, those early small actions have led to exponentially bigger and bigger success. To reiterate the quote from Alexander Graham Bell, "The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action." Making progress, removing fear, and exponential momentum all leads to success….because you took action. If you, like me, find this inspiring, the next question is how can you apply this to your career? I stress in the intro and outro of this podcast that taking control of your career is entirely up to you because no one else will do it for you. And part of taking control is to consider your situation and take action to move your career forward. In previous episodes, I've covered the Individual Development Plan. If you need a refresher on the IDP, a good place to start is Episodes 036 though 040 where I introduce the IDP and then proceed go through the process of creating one. After following the IDP Process, you should have created an Action Plan. If you find yourself struggling to make progress, find the simplest task in the plan and focus on completing it. Let this small action build to others and clarify the unknown. In addition to the Action Plan, the IDP includes a Successes section. When you find yourself stuck, reflect on your accomplishments. Remember how completing those actions made you feel. Think about how you may have been unsure before you started the task, but once you took action, it built until you completed it. If taking on tasks from your Action Plan and reviewing your Successes doesn't inspire you to move forward, seek out a mentor, coach, or trusted leader that can provide the motivation that helps you break through and resume career progress. When you are ready to take action towards advancing your career, go to ManagingACareer.com and request a free IDP Template. The IDP provides a framework for ensuring that the actions you take are in alignment with your career goals and the difference between career success and career failure is taking action that moves you one step closer to your goals.…
If you regularly listen to my podcast, it's either because you know me personally and want to help me out (thanks, I appreciate it) or because you found me because you are looking for advice on how to position yourself for a promotion. I hope that you find my advice targeted and actionable while being presented with simple clarity. But, I'll also be the first to tell you that you should listen to multiple people and synthesize your own plan about the best course forward because no one else lives in YOUR personal situation. The advice on my podcast comes from my personal experience or from conversations I've had with others that I have either worked with or lead. Even when inspired from another source, I still try to put my own spin on the content. But the factors that come into play in your life may not line up with my suggestions because they have been filtered through my lens and generalized for a wider audience. There are quite a few famous names such as COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg , author Brene Brown , entrepreneur Seth Godin , or several other authors, coaches, or executives that you can follow, and if their approach speaks to you, you should certainly do so. But, this week, I wanted to highlight several less well-known public voices that you might also want to follow to hear different takes on similar topics. Combining what you learn from me as well as any of these other people can help you figure out the best option for your personal circumstances. The first voice I want to mention is Jackie Simon of Jackie Simon Coaching . I mentioned her in Episode 012 - Receiving Effective Feedback as that episode was inspired by one of her posts. Jackie posts daily on LinkedIn with information targeted at people leaders, but as evidenced by my podcast episode, you can extrapolate the information to people of all levels. I find her posts to be inspirational driving me to want to be a better leader for my team. The next person that I follow is Jayme Edwards from Healthy Software Developer . Jayme is someone that I actually know personally and respect highly. He and I worked together for several years. Jayme's podcast and YouTube content is targeted toward helping software developers maintain a healthy work life balance driven by a lot of personal stories. But, I would argue that his content applies to ANYONE because work life balance is crucial for everyone. For those in a position of leadership with a goal of reaching the executive level, take a look at the content of Ethan Evans of EthanEvans.com . Ethan is a former VP from Amazon who offers deep knowledge of what it takes to move into the executive ranks. Learning from someone who has been there before, especially in such a challenging environment, is extremely beneficial. If his more direct style is agreeable to you, I can personally recommend his courses as I've paid for some with my own money and gained a lot of value from them. Ethan also have a newsletter that offers insightful answers to questions from his followers. Wes Kao , the co-founder of Maven, posts on LinkedIn and offers a valuable newsletter at WesKao.com . She offers insights on how to build a positive relationship with your manager in order to gain more opportunities and build a successful career. The last voice that I want to highlight is Randy Mahoney, Jr with his Work With Purpose podcast . Randy releases episodes of his podcast once a month with information targeted at job seekers looking for insights into how to stand out during the job application process. Now, you may be wondering something along the lines of "these people are your competition, why are you telling us about them?" And the answer to that is the same thing I would say if there were one available promotion and someone else I knew was also up for that same promotion. One of the best signs of a good leader is how they lift up those around them. I alluded to that same idea in Episode 016 - What Does It Mean To Be A Leader? In that episode, I defined leadership as "enabling your team to do more". If you spend most of your time pushing your competition down, it makes you look petty and small. But if you spend time lifting those around you up, you show leadership and foster an environment where you can build a strong network. Be sure to check the page for this episode for links to all of the people mentioned. Also, I'm always looking for other people to follow to round out MY personal approach, so if there someone that you follow that I haven't mentioned, please either send it to me directly via the contact form on my website ManagingACareer.com or better yet, post it in the community so that others can benefit.…
In Episode 001 , I touched on the subject of Higher Level Tasks . In that episode, I talked about how you can position yourself for advancement by transitioning from process oriented tasks to higher-level tasks that leverage more discretion and judgement. This week, we'll revisit that topic and discuss additional strategies for making this transition. Process oriented tasks are those that follow a standard flow and can be done more through rote action than through personal agency. Higher-level tasks are often unique and require more understanding and experience to resolve. These types of tasks usually provide more value to the organization leading to additional responsibilities and, eventually, a coveted promotion. Previously, I offered several methods you could use to showcase your creativity, problem solving, and decision making skills. These included optimizing processes that you owned and volunteering to take work from senior members of your team. This week, I'll cover some additional options for stepping into higher-level tasks. Understanding the BIG picture Higher-level tasks are often focused on decisions that move the organization forward. Having an understanding of the values of the company and its leadership, allows you to align your decisions with them. So, how do you go about learning about other areas of the business? First, you can pay attention during organization-wide meetings. During these types of meetings, they will often talk about projects that are important or that have a high, cross-departmental impact. This will give you insight into what ideas and initiatives you could champion in your area that would build on those important projects. Next, look for cross-functional teams that give you exposure to people in other areas. Leverage those teams to build your relationships and expand your network. Schedule sessions with these new contacts to discuss what they are working on and how that relates to your work. Lastly, keep up with trends in your industry. Dedicate time each week to read up on everything related to your industry and competitors. Are there new approaches or new technologies that you can bring to your organization? Strategic Thinking Once you've built an understanding of the big picture, you'll be better positioned to develop your strategic thinking skills. There are a few exercises you can undertake that will take your understanding of the big picture and use that to think strategically. First, practice Critical Analysis of your existing work. Challenge the assumptions underlying each decision. Use techniques like the "Five Whys" to get to the actual root of them. Ask probing questions to understand why those assumptions are believed and look for evidence that those assumptions are still valid or if they need to be changed. When you determine that the assumptions are incorrect, analyze how that changes the original decision. Next, leverage Systems Thinking. With each problem that you face, focus on the interconnections between the different systems involved in the problem. The interconnections will be where changes will have the biggest impact. Start by understanding the system at the highest levels and spiral down to lower and lower levels looking for areas where you can have the highest impact. Finally conduct Scenario Planning exercises. Using the knowledge of the industry trends, play "what if" to see how those trends could be beneficial or detrimental to your company. What are some changes you could champion that would turn negative trends to your favor? How would that impact your current projects? What if your competitor is in a better position to take advantage of these trends? By understanding the big picture and utilizing strategic thinking, you will be showing your ability to handle higher-level tasks. When you have your one-on-one meetings with your leaders, be sure to highlight how you have continued to grow and that you are interested in taking on additional responsibility and advancing your career. Is there something that you would like for me to cover on a future episode? If so, go to the ManagingACareer.com website and drop me a note via the Contact Form . I'll do my best to schedule that topic quickly.…
Early in your career, advancement is generally easier and is just a matter of doing "more"……more tasks, bigger tasks, more responsibility. But, transitioning to senior levels may require a different approach - being more innovative. Senior members of the team are usually expected to bring new solutions, approaches, and ideas to the problems the team tackles. These expectations can best be met by those on the team that are the most innovative. Innovative solutions can often lead to improved efficiencies, reduced costs, or new product lines. Before we look at some techniques that could help you be more innovative, let's talk about some of the benefits of adopting this mindset. Opportunities to lead - those who provide thought leadership are often the ones given the chance to lead the efforts to implement those ideas. Demonstrates value - those who provide the most value are often promoted fastest; by being the one to solve difficult problems, you can give yourself an edge. Drives learning - innovation requires learning new skills and staying abreast of advancements in your field. Inspire teammates - by facing difficult problems with curiosity and determination in order to find a solution, others on the team will follow suit resulting in an elevation of the capabilities of the team. With some of the key benefits outlined, we turn towards some techniques that you can leverage to encourage more innovative thinking. Some of these techniques will work better in person, but several of them can be used in a remote setting, so regardless of whether your company has deemed there to be a Return To Office, you can still find ways to be innovative. Host brainstorming sessions - whether in-person or virtual, hold sessions where anything and everything is considered a viable solution. Spend the first half of the session just listing out possible solutions, regardless of how absurd the idea seems. Then, as new ideas slow, transition to analyzing each idea. Don't consider why an idea WON'T work until every idea has been reviewed as to why it WOULD work. This will ensure that each idea has had adequate consideration and not dismissed unfairly. Bring together cross-functional teams - by working with people in other areas, you may be able to find parallels within their respective fields that can be applied in novel ways to your problem. Additionally, it can help you strengthen your network making it easier to implement the solution once identified. Schedule "thinking" time - one way to foster innovation is to schedule regular time on your calendar to just sit and think. During this scheduled time, turn off all distractions and if possible, get away from your normal workstation. Innovating is a skill and you build skill through repetition and practice. By scheduling recurring time to just think, over time, you'll find that you are able to envision ideas and solutions with less and less effort. Create prototypes - prototypes allow you to test aspects of an idea without focusing on a complete solution. Proving smaller complex pieces reduces the overall risk of adopting an unfamiliar approach and allows the cycle of innovation to proceed faster. Regardless of the techniques you use, there are several tools that can aid you as you work on ideas. Whiteboards - whiteboards are one of my favorite tools because they allow you to capture notes or quickly edit as you think through ideas. Using multiple colored pens provide simple ways to categorize your notes or to make important parts stand out. Idea prompts - There are numerous apps and websites that will generate random words or random prompts. There are also physical books that offer thinking strategies. Using these types of tools allow you to contemplate the problem from angles that you may not normally consider. Idea diagrams - There are also several different popular brainstorming diagrams such as mindmaps, fishbones, flowcharts, bubble maps, and affinity diagrams. The structure of a standard diagram can help ensure that your ideas have traceability back to the problem you are trying to solve. There is no one "right" way for being innovative, but through continued practice, you can get better at coming up with new and novel ideas. Not all of them will be "good" or "great" but by honing the skill you begin being adaptable to unfamiliar situations and open yourself to being receptive of new ideas. If you have a friend who should be receptive of the new ideas offered by this podcast, share it with them. Send them to ManagingACareer.com and help them subscribe.…
Most companies, at least once per year, go through an annual goal planning process. As part of this process, you are expected to have some number of company-focused goals as well as some number of personal goals. Company goals are usually related to revenue, profit, sales, projects, or initiatives. Your personal goals, however, have more freedom in what they target. With the company goals, you'll want to start by analyzing how you can personally impact them. This may take a little bit of creative thinking. For example, if you are in the facilities organization and the corporate goal is related to profit, it may seem like you have no impact on the goal and it shouldn't apply to you. However, there are aspects that you DO have control over that impact the bottom line. If you are responsible for negotiating building leases, a cost savings there could lead to higher profits. Before you start writing goals, pick a goal framework. There are several available, but by using a consistent framework, your goals will be clearer and have defined success criteria. A few popular frameworks are OKR - Objectives and Key Results, SMART, and Backwards Goals. OKR - Objectives and Key Results is a popular framework where you take high level objectives (for example the corporate strategy) and provide measurable results that you can achieve that leads to that objective. In my earlier example, renegotiating a building lease to reduce costs by at least 5% could be a key result that supports an objective focused on profitability. A strength of the OKR framework is that goals (key results) are immediately traceable back to objectives. The Backwards Goals framework takes a long term objective and works backwards by consistently asking "if THIS is to be achieved, then THAT has to have happened by WHEN". Personally, I find this framework to be better suited for more targeted objectives than larger corporate strategy. If you have followed my earlier episodes covering the Individual Development Plan it follows a Backwards Goals approach toward defining your career path. SMART goals is another framework based on the attributes of the SMART acronym - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound - to provide all of the components that a good goal needs, ensuring that the path to success is understood by everyone. The strength of the SMART framework is that it provides a path for refining goals ensuring that you reach buy-in by all impacted by the goal. Additionally, SMART goals can be combined with OKR or Backwards Goals to ensure that your plan can lead to success. Using the framework you select write your company focused goals using the defining statements where you have personal impact. Be sure to include the appropriate success criteria to ensure that it is clear when the goal has been met. When it comes to setting personal goals, you'll find this process easier if you have already gone through the process of creating an IDP. You can take a tactical approach and set goals based on your Action Plan or you can set more strategic goals based on your Roadmap or you can set goals based on some combination of both tactical and strategic goals. Whether you have an IDP or not, if you find that you are making slow progress on your career growth, I would put more emphasis on strategic personal goals. If you only create tactical goals, a large part of your focus and a large part of the one-on-ones with your manager will be about short-term activities. If your career growth has slowed, you want to have conversations with your manager are about how to progress on your roadmap and those bigger picture goals ensure that they keep that focus throughout the year. If the pace of your advancement is sufficient, I would favor tactical goals. You've already established a cadence you're happy with and by focusing on your Action Plan activities, you'll be able to maintain your existing pace. For your annual goal setting, pick items from your Action Plan that build critical skills and items that lead to higher level tasks . Even though the goals are personal in nature, try to tie them back to the corporate strategy somehow, too. When there is a relationship between corporate goals and personal goals, your manager has a vested interest in helping you achieve them. Additionally, review the timing of all of your goals in order to spread them out throughout the year. If they all target the same timeframe, there won't be an urgency early and then, at end of the year, you could be overwhelmed when everything is due at once. Once your goals have been documented, have a conversation with your leader about them. Work with your leader to put a plan in place so that you have the proper work assignments to be able to meet the goals. Use the outline in Episode 011 on How to Structure Your One-on-Ones to communicate the progress on your goals -- both corporate and personal. If you follow the advice detailed in Episode 044 - Reporting Status , in addition to the progress reported in your one-on-one, you will be sending out regular emails relating the value you have provided and often, that value ties back to the corporate objectives. Annual goal setting is not just something you trudge through just so you can mark some task complete. It's an opportunity for you to relate the work you do back to your career aspirations. You can help me reach my goals with this podcast by sharing it with a friend. If you know someone who is looking to advance their career and would benefit from the content in my podcast, send them to ManagingACareer.com and help them subscribe.…
Periodically, I check back and highlight the last few episodes to remind you of things you can work on to help set you up for career success and this most recent group has a lot of solid content. Episodes 036 to 040 was a five-part series that covered the Individual Development plan in detail. It starts with an Introduction that emphasizes the importance of the IDP and is followed by episodes that describe the key sections: the Vision and Roadmap , the Assessment and Next Steps , and the Action Plan and Successes . The series wraps up with an episode that describes The Process you can use to integrate the IDP into your personal career growth. After the series on the IDP, Episode 041 covers Gaining Responsibility During Company Change . As many companies are restructuring their workforce, you can take advantage of those changes to strengthen your position and set yourself up for future advancement. This episode outlines several ways that you make your own luck by leveraging this change. Episode 042 addresses Mental Health . Taking care of your mental health is more important than any work that you do. If you find yourself struggling with mental stress, reach out to one of the resources I covered in this episode. Next up I cover how creating a Personal Brand isn't just for social media influencers in Episode 043. By building a reputation that makes you unique within your company, you be come and expert and make it easier for your leaders to position you for advancement. I wrap this group up with Episode 045 that covers Making the Most of Return to Office . As the workforce moves towards requiring staff to be in the office at least part time, I give some tips on how to make best use of your in-office hours. I'm always looking for good content to bring to you, so if there's a topic you would like me to cover on an upcoming podcast episode, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com .…
If your company has a hybrid policy, how can you best use your time in the office? Well, first you should make sure you understand and comply with all aspects of the new policy. Are there specific days that you must be in the office? Do you have a designated space or are you participating in Community shared desk system? Which days and what locations will most of your coworkers leverage when they work from the office? Most companies, as they roll out these return to office policies, state that the primary driver for them is to foster collaboration. It's very likely that you primarily interact with those on your team, or those that are directly involved in your projects. When you work remotely. So as you go back to the office, look for opportunities to spend face to FaceTime with business partners and key decision makers. You should really understand where those people will be and make it a point of spending time in those areas, especially for those important hallway conversations. When you do meet with team members in the office, focus on using that in person time to brainstorm solutions to difficult problems or to build agreement on next steps in your project. Because there will be days that you go into the office and other days where you'll work from home, you're going to need to take full control of your schedule. Don't be afraid to decline meetings or suggest alternative times to ensure that your calendar aligns with the most appropriate work for the location that you're going to be in that day. For the days that you will be in the office, plan adequate networking time to ensure that you focus on those all-important face to face conversations. Reserve your at home days for deeper work where you have fewer disruptions. Additionally, review Episode 023 - "Can you be successful working remote?" For more tips on how to make the best use of your working from home time. If you aren't going to have a designated home, Oregon or you find yourself working in a community area, it's going to be harder to be comfortable in your new working environment. Consider purchasing the essentials that you bring with you when you go to the office. Having things such as your own mouse or a headset or USB hub. It ensures that you can work how you want no matter where you're stationed. There are even things like a USB external monitor. If you work best with second monitor. Also consider going paperless to ensure that important documents aren't left behind when moving from one location to another. In spite of returning to office, be sure to maintain your work life balance. The additional commute time is already going to have an impact on your personal life, so setting strict boundaries to ensure that you leave the office on time is important. Save your late nights for days when you work from home, especially since those days will be focused on more deep work. This should provide more flexibility, allowing you to still spend time with your family. Episode 019 - "Work / Life Balance" has additional tips on this topic. Word of mouth is the single most effective way to grow community, so if you're enjoying this podcast, I would appreciate it if you help me get the word out by sharing it with a friend. I would love to be able to help everyone take control of their career.…
In several of my previous episodes, I've mentioned that one way to stand out is to produce status reports that are value focused instead of task focused. This week, I go into more detail about what that type of status report would look like. Purpose and Audience The first thing to understand about a status report is its purpose. By knowing who the audience is you can properly tailor the report to meet the purpose that they care about and summarized appropriately. For your clients and stakeholders, it's a means to communicate project progress. For your manager, a status report ensures that they are able to track your performance against your annual goals. For executives, it's an opportunity to update them on company initiatives. Did you notice something? The purpose of a status report differs based on the audience and they aren't one-size fits-all. This implies that you would be creating different status reports for each audience. The other thing to be aware is that each different audience will likely need a different cadence for reporting status. Clients and stakeholders are more engaged in your day to day activities and would require more frequent updates. Executives have a higher level focus and may only need updates a couple of times per quarter. Content Status reports that just list the things you've done are very forgettable. Regardless of who your status is for, the key is to transform your status updates from task-focused to value-focused. If you want to make an impression and stand out, focus less on the tasks and more on the outcomes. Activities that do not provide value likely aren't worthy of being included in a status report. Instead of saying: "Automated reporting of our KPIs" Say this: "Increased the productivity of my business partners leading to a $50k annualized savings by automating the reporting of our KPIs" Instead of saying: "Delivered the Artemis project on-time and on-budget" Say this: "Delivered the Artemis project within the planned 5 months and $1M budget which is projected to save the company $15M over the next three years" These types of statements still reveal the work that you've completed but highlight the value that those activities provide. Be sure to align the status with the purpose of your audience. When updating your clients and stakeholders, the focus will be on project deliverables. But if you are sending a status report to your manager, try to align the value with progress against your goals. Structure My background is in software development and in that field, we have a project management process called Agile SCRUM. In each daily SCRUM meeting, every project participant is expected to speak to three key points: What did you do yesterday? What are you going to do today? and What things are blocked from progress? I think a good status report more or less parallels those same three areas. What value have you provided since the last status report? What are your focus priorities going forward? And what risks or impediments are you tracking that could prevent progress? Additionally, keep your status reports succinct. The intent is not to detail every single thing you do but to provide key highlights. Noone is going to want to read multiple pages. Try to keep the length to two or three paragraphs or just a handful of bullet points. Develop a standardize template and use it consistently so that over time each recipient can learn to anticipate where the information most relevant to them is located. If you haven't been sending status reports before, it may seem awkward at first, but by sending them regularly, the people you send them to will begin to associate "valuable" with you. When it comes time for raises or promotions, that's an association that should give you an advantage. And when faced with potential downsizing, it may even give you a layer of protection compared to others. During this next week, identify the different audiences that you should provide with regular updates and create recurring events on your calendar to send those status reports. Also, create a template that you can use when you send them out. As you go through your week, keep track of what you have accomplished and how that provides value to each different audience. When your calendar even occurs, summarize your activities and write the status report. After you've done this for a couple of weeks, send me a note via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website to let me know how much of a difference they make.…
This week, I'm going to talk about your personal brand and how you can build one. When you hear the term, what impression does that give you? For many, I'm sure you associate the term with celebrities, athletes, and social media influencers. But, I'm here to tell you that it applies to everyone. So, what is a personal brand? At the simplest level, your personal brand is the impression that others have of you -- your reputation. But it's more than just that. Your personal brand statement is a concise summary of who you are, what you do, and what you stand for -- or rather it's a concise summary of who you want others to think you are and what you want others to think you do and what you want others to think you stand for. Your reputation is based solely on the impression that others have about you, whereas your personal brand is also the aspects about yourself that you work to project and how you go about projecting them. As you look to progress your career, often, you are promoted or are not promoted based on your personal brand. When your manager suggests your name as a candidate for promotion, how do his peer leaders react to that request? If they know who you are and have a positive opinion of you, that promotion request will be easy. But if you are unknown or the perception is negative, your leader will have to fight a lot harder to justify your promotion. Within your company, are you known -- not just within your team, but within your organization and those organizations that you interact with? If you are known, what are you known for? Is that the reputation that you want to have? As you look to build your personal brand, identify what makes you unique. If your strengths are similar to the strengths of everyone else on the team, you will struggle to stand out. Is there something that only you are capable of? Is that something that you want to be known for? Maybe your reputation is that you are the person that can solve the most challenging problems. Or maybe you’re the one who can get any project back on schedule. Or maybe you're a great negotiator. Maybe what makes you unique isn't so much what you do or can do, but instead is how you approach things. Are you calm under pressure? Are you a take-charge leader? Are you able to talk anyone into anything? The more uniquely you can define your brand, the easier it will be to highlight those capabilities to the wider organization. When you identify what aspect or aspects you are going to concentrate on for building your brand, look around the company to see how others will value them. How can you leverage those aspects to advance the company's goals? How can you leverage those aspects to advance your personal goals? If your company values logic and reason, how would branding yourself as being strongly empathetic play with the organization? Each situation is different -- being antithetical to the values of the organization could be invaluable or it could be ostracizing; you'll need to make that call for yourself. But, once you've decided, you'll need to put in the work to make that the opinion people have of you. Your personal brand is about perception, but perception starts with action. As your brand begins to take shape, come up with a brand statement. Actually write it down, like on a sticky note, and place it somewhere that you will see it daily. Use the brand statement as your mantra throughout the day until it becomes a natural part of you. Every action and decision you make should trace back to your brand statement. When your actions support your brand, it almost sells itself. If you are struggling to write your brand statement, come up with a short statement (often a phrase or a single sentence) that describes what makes you unique. Here are some examples: I build and grow great teams. I aggressively manage cost in order to maximize profits. I treat everyone with compassion and equality. Nothing is impossible. I apply logic and reason to produce optimal solutions. The second part of perception is communicating your brand. In the social media world, you build your brand by how you present yourself on the various platforms. Within a company there isn't usually a platform for you to use -- but, you can be social. Work to build your network within your company. In Episode 028 - Building a Network , I cover ways to build your external network. However, when building a network within your company, it takes a different approach. Look for projects that allow you to work with people outside of your immediate team. Volunteer for initiatives that put you in contact with new people. Attend social events that you would otherwise avoid. Offer to give presentations on topics related to your brand. Find ways to have your name be associated with the brand you are building. How can you be viewed as the resident expert on your brand specialty? Spend the next couple of days formulating your personal brand. Then, visit the Managing A Career community and make it real -- post your personal brand for everyone to see. By posting it publicly, everyone in the community can become your accountability partners. Everyone in the community can help you clarify your brand and ensure that you begin the path towards building it successfully.…
This week, we're going to talk about a very critical subject, your mental health. Each episode, I talk about subjects that can help you advance your career and understanding and addressing your mental health is an important one. If you aren't able to be focused on your work because of things happening in your personal life, it's going to impact you. So, let's take a look at what you can do about it. First, I want to start by saying, no matter what anyone says, your health and your mental health are far more important than any work that you do. It's kind of like the statement that when the oxygen masks come down in an airplane, you should put your mask on before helping anyone else. It wouldn't do you or anyone else any good if you were unable to help them because you had passed out. The same is true when it comes to your health and your mental health. If you are facing personal stressors, it is better to address them than to ignore it and focus on work. It is important to identify the signs of mental stress. Denying that they exists can delay any treatment and likely find them compounding. If you find your work performance falling off or if you have trouble concentrating on your work for an extended period of time, you may be experiencing mental stress. Another sign could be changes in appetite or sleeping patterns. Lastly, if you find yourself reacting strangely to normal situations -- overly aggressively, too lackadaisically, being touchy or sensitive -- these types of reactions can be because of how you bring your personal stressors into other aspects of your life. If any of these signs apply to you I would recommend reaching out for help. If available to you, professional help is going to be your best option. Many companies have EAP programs - Employee Assistance Programs. These programs offer counselling services to employees, often by phone so that they are available any time night or day. These services can also refer you to local mental health professionals for in person session. If your company does not offer an EAP program, there are still online websites that are fairly affordable and can serve the same role as an EAP program. I have no affiliation with them and I do not know which countries they are available in, but a site like BetterHelp.com offers online counseling. And if you find yourself having suicidal ideations, most countries have suicide hotlines that you can call -- for example in the US, you can call 988 from any phone at any time to talk to someone at the National Alliance on Mental Health who can help. You can also reach out to the Crisis Text Line at CrisisTextLine.org for issues other than suicide; they have local numbers in several countries including 741741 in the US. After the initial assessment, your mental health professional will often work with you to establish strategies that will help you cope with whatever stress you are experiencing. This could be something like mindfulness and meditation where you sit quietly, perform slow, steady breathing, and focus on the immediate. For some, becoming more involved in religion can give them the focus they need to calm their mental state. For others, vigorous exercise may be a way to alleviate stress. There will also be instances where medication is suggested -- this is not a stigma, if there is a chemical imbalance in your body, often medications can help regulate them. Regardless of the technique, it takes time; it doesn't have an immediate effect. Once the root cause has been addressed, the next step is to address any triggers that may cause your stress levels to increase. If the triggers are from aspects of your work, have an honest conversation with your leaders to try to change your assignments. Remember, your health and mental health is the most important thing. Taking on less stressful duties will ensure that you can continue to perform your best which is good for both you and your company. Everyone faces stress and handles it differently. If you find yourself in a situation where that stress is beyond what you can handle on your own, reach out for help. Personal health, including mental health, is important.…
There is a lot of corporate downsizing happening right now. In a future episode, I may go into more detail on that subject, but this week, I would like to talk about how you can take advantage of the downsizing to increase your responsibilities within the company. If you are one of the ones that remains when a company goes through any sort of organizational change, it is an opportunity for you to increase your sphere of influence and position yourself for increased visibility. Adding responsibilities strategically can provide a measure of security and even accelerate your career growth. The first key is to understand the primary drivers of the reduction. By understanding why each area is being impacted, you will have insight into where the opportunities will be. Next, you need to determine which areas were impacted the most and whether the work they performed is important to the business going forward or not. Cost Reductions - If a company is downsizing in order to cut costs, there will be opportunities in increasing the efficiencies across the company. Look for ways that you can help people do more with less. As an individual, look for processes within your larger organization that you can streamline. As a leader, look for cross-functional processes that you can bring under your control. Divesting unprofitable functions - If a company is cutting a business unit that is underperforming or is not considered part of the company's future, you will want to determine what aspects of the business unit will still need to be performed and have those functions assigned to your team. Mergers and Acquisitions - When two companies combine, there will often be overlap in certain organizations; usually the ones that are more for business support such as Human Resources or Accounting. In these instances, the duplication of roles leads to elimination of redundancies and streamlining of costs. In these instances, the opportunities will be in owning the process of aligning the competing processes into a single process. Technological Advancements or Improved Efficiency - Another reason that a company will downsize is when roles have been made obsolete due to improved technology or efficiency. Can you become an expert in the new technology or processes in order to be best suited for leading efforts in its adoption? Restructuring - Sometimes, a company will just make general cuts across every area. In these instances, teams will have to prioritize their efforts on the most important work and let everything else go. Are there areas within the company that you can focus on picking up their slack? Knowing where the gaps are and how they align with the company vision going forward will allow you to assess their value potential. You should also consider how those functions align with your current responsibilities, however, that is less important than the value of the work to the company. Additionally, consider which of the opportunities align with your current skills or the skills you are looking to develop. Focus on areas that provide the most value to the company as well as lead to the most career growth for you. Once you have identified which areas you would like to target, start to develop a plan for drawing that work to your team. Start by evaluating your network for any connections to the impacted areas. If you can reach out and offer your help, you can begin to suggest your name as a potential candidate to take over those responsibilities. Next, have a conversation with your leader on how you would like to take on this additional work. Be prepared to provide justification on how that additional responsibility aligns with your skills or how it can expand your capabilities going forward. If you have enough warning, work to build any skills you will need to take on the additional work. This is what is happening with Generative AIs such as ChatGPT today. Those who are learning everything they can about AI and how they can incorporate it into their work are getting ahead and those who aren't are falling behind. The last step to take is to evaluate your current workload and figure out what aspects of your job you can delegate in order to free up the time you will need for the additional responsibilities that you take on. As I mentioned in Episode 013 - A Little Bit of Luck , luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Any time there is change, there is opportunity. Are you going to be in position to make your own luck and take advantage of the change, or are you going to fall behind those that are already prepared? If there are any topics that you'd love for me to cover in the future, why don't you drop me a note via the contact form on my web page at ManagingACareer.com ?…
Over the course of the past four weeks, I've described the Individual Development Plan -- why it's important to your career and what the various components are. This week, I'm going to talk about how you can integrate an IDP into your development processes. Initial conversations Once you've spent the time creating your IDP, it's important to share it with your leaders and mentors. If you don't already have a recurring one-on-one with your manager, you should schedule one. In Episode 011, I cover How to Structure Your One-on-Ones . I recommend having a career-focused one-on-one every four to six weeks -- more frequently and you haven't had enough time to act on the feedback and any less frequently and you aren't putting adequate focus on personal growth. As you speak with your leader, talk about your goals and aspirations -- talk about what aspects of your road map exist within the company. Can your leaders help you get in contact with people who already have those roles? Can someone in that role act as a mentor for you? Ongoing conversations Beyond just talking about your longer term goals, talk with your manager about the items in action plan. Are there resources available from the company -- such as budget for training -- that will support those activities? Can your manager provide you with assignments that allow you to build the skills you need to progress? Remember, your action plan should be targeting activities that can ideally be completed within three months. This would imply that the activity would be discussed in up to four different one-on-ones. In the one-on-one where the activity is introduced, talk with your manager on strategies for achieving the goal so that you start off correctly. In subsequent one-on-ones discuss progress and any roadblocks; verify that you are still on track to meet the target date. Once you have completed an activity, spend some time in your one-on-one doing a retrospective on how that activity has impacted you. How has that activity improved you? Were there any obstacles that you had to overcome to accomplish the goal -- whether internal issues or external factors that caused you trouble? Does completing that activity open you up new opportunities? Are there follow up actions you can take that can reinforce or build on the take-aways from the completed activity? Use the notes from the retrospective to record them in the Successes section of your IDP. Continue to add new activities to your Action Plan as you identify gaps in your current role or areas of growth towards your next role. Even after you feel that you are ready for the next role, continue to plan actions that expand on your capabilities. In many organizations, being ready doesn't get your promoted -- often, you have to have already been performing at the next level. Work with your leader to increase your responsibilities and scope of work. After a promotion At some point, you'll reach the next role. When this happens, I recommend archiving your existing IDP and starting a new version. Much like the successes section, having an archive of your IDP gives you something that you can review later to see how much progress you've made. In your new IDP, review each section to make sure that it still applies. When you review your Vision Statement, is it still true? Is the timeframe still reasonable; can you reach your goal or can you reach it sooner? Have you learned anything that would lead you to a different goal -- whether a bigger goal or a complete shift in direction? Update your Roadmap based on your revised Vision Statement. Now that you have reached your next role, perform a new Assessment of your strengths and weaknesses in this role. You should be able to transfer quite a bit from the previous version of your IDP. Additionally, research what skills you need to build for your new Next Role. While an additional promotion is likely several years away, you start working towards it TODAY. If you have any open items in your Action Plan, carry them forward to the new version of your IDP, but work with your leader on a set of activities that set you up for success in your new role. If you find this podcast valuable, help me reach a larger audience. Share this podcast with your friends and co-workers. If you leave a rating and a review on the podcast platform of your choice, it will help those looking for career development find my podcast, too.…
The episodes for the past few weeks are part of a series where I take a deeper look at your Individual Development Plan. Episode 036 introduced the IDP and covered some of the benefits of creating one for yourself. Then, in Episode 037 , I covered the Career Vision and Roadmap sections where you define the direction of your career. Last week in Episode 038 , I talked about the Assessment and Next Role where you identify the areas of focus for career advancement. This week, we cover the final two sections of the IDP -- Action Plan and Successes. Action Plan In the assessment, you identified areas where you still had room for growth within your current role and the next role section identified areas where you needed to build skills before you could achieve the next role. In the Action Plan section, you identify specific activities you will undertake in order to address one of those areas of focus. If the Assessment identifies the WHAT, the Action Plan reflects the HOW. Like most planning, using a framework such as SMART Goals will ensure that the activities in your Action Plan are well defined. SMART and other similar goal frameworks aim to create clear and practical goals that can be realistically completed. In the case of SMART, goals are expected to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. I specifically call this the Action Plan and not Goals because it's about doing things….and doing them NOW. It reminds me of the Chinese proverb that "the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now". Setting yourself up for a promotion in the future starts today and not the day you expect to get the promotion. In my IDP template, for each entry in the Action Plan, I include several details. First is a Target Date. No matter what goal framework you use, having a date when the action is to be completed ensures that you maintain focus on these activities. Unlike annual goal planning, I would recommend that the items in your Action Plan have near-term target dates -- usually within the next three months, but six months at the longest. Next is a description of the Activity. Be very tactical when defining these Actions. For example, you aren't going to "Improve my presentation skills", you are going to "give a 30-minute presentation in front of an audience of at least 30 people". By keeping the activities focused on smaller tactical actions, you'll see immediate progress which will keep you from being discouraged. Very likely, you will need to complete multiple items on your Action Plan in order to fully close any gaps identified by the Assessment. The third detail is the Success Criteria. In this area you will explain what success in the activity looks like and how that success will be measured. You will also describe what new capability you will have after you complete the action. By defining what success looks like, you will have clarity on the action and what you hope to gain by completing it. This will ensure that you put appropriate priority on the actions, especially those that have the most immediate impact on your career. The last detail is the Area Addressed. Tying the activity back to your assessment ensures that you have traceability for the actions back to which gaps or new skills you are working on. In the context of SMART goals, the different aspects of the acronym are all addressed by the details in the template. Specific is addressed by the Activity description. Measurable is captured in the Success Criteria. Achievable is covered by a combination of the Activity description and the Success Criteria. Relevant is ensured through the Area Addressed. And, lastly, Time Bound is obvious from the Target Date. As you add items to the Action Plan, be sure to have regular conversations with your leaders to ensure that they are in alignment with the plan. If the activities require specific work assignments, you will need their support in order to gain them. Additionally, if you are struggling with what activities will help you close any gaps or add missing skills, your leaders and mentors can help you devise the Action Plan. Successes The final section of the IDP is the Successes section. As you complete activities from your Action Plan, record them in the Successes section. By recording your history, you can show the evidence of your growth when it comes time for a promotion. If you find yourself discourage, you can review this section and reflect on how far you've come. Where the Action Plan section is focused on the activities you will be performing, the Successes section should be focused on the improvements you have accomplished. As you complete each item in the Action Plan, spends some time reviewing how that activity puts you closer to your career goals. Have you shown an increased level of competency in an existing skill? Have you gained new skills? Has the activity improved how you go about your daily work? At this point, I have covered all of the sections of the IDP, but there is one more episode in this series. Next week, we will take a look at the processes around maintaining your IDP and how to integrate it into your career development conversations. As a reminder, if you need a copy of my free IDP template, reach out via the Contact form at my website, ManagingACareer.com .…
This is the third episode of a multi-part series covering the Individual Development Plan. If you have not listened to the first two episodes, go back and review them before listening to this one. If you need the IDP template, you can request on by dropping me a note via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website . In the first episode of the series, I go over the purpose and benefits of the IDP. The IDP provides a personalized plan that ensures that your career is fulfilling and you maximize your job satisfaction. Additionally, the IDP can help you figure out the next steps when you find you career hitting a plateau. The second episode covers the Vision Statement and Career Road map. Your vision statement documents your goal by projecting as far ahead into your career as you can. The career road map lists what roles you need to hold between your current position and the fulfillment of your vision. This week, I will cover the Assessment and Next Role sections of the IDP. Assessment Once the road map is set, take an honest look at where you are in your current role. How long have you been in the role -- have you been recently promoted or have you been in the role for a few years? What strengths are you able to leverage in your current role? What are your areas of weakness with respect to your current role? Have you received any awards for your work in your current role? This would be a good opportunity to ask a trusted peer or leader to help you perform the assessment. Your strengths are likely what set you apart in your previous role and were what lead to the promotion to your current role. But, how do those strengths compare to your current peers? How can you continue to showcase those strengths with your current responsibilities? Do those strengths even matter for your current role? For example, if your strength is in how you deal with customers but your new role has less interaction with them, you may need to develop other skills to continue to be successful. For weaknesses, you will need to evaluate how important they are to your current role. If a weakness is critical for your role, look for opportunities to delegate those items while you build the skill. For any skill that isn't crucial, you only need to get them to the level of "competent" such that they don't hold you back. Next Role After you've assessed how you stack up in your current role, take a look at your Career Road Map and do a skills inventory for your next role. I recommend looking at several open job postings for the types of companies that you'd like to work for. Look for what skills are common across them. How do your current strengths and weaknesses line up with the skills you will need for the next role? How does that skill change between the two roles? For example, as a junior team member, leadership may be limited to owning a specific process, but as a senior team member, you may be responsible for mentoring others on your team and leading process improvements. Additionally, skills that may be important for your current role may not be needed in your next role. These two evaluations will result in a list of areas and skills that you need to focus on for improvement. In next week's episode we will discuss the Action Plan section where we take these focus items and convert them to specific activities. If you like this podcast, I would love it if you submitted a Rating and Review in your podcast platform. This will help highlight the value you receive so that others find the podcast, too.…
Last week's episode provided a high-level overview of the IDP and gave several reasons why it should be an important part of your career development plan. This week, we will cover the first two sections, the Vision and the Roadmap. And as a reminder, if you'd like to get my IDP template, go to the Contact form at ManagingACareer.com and drop me a note. Career Vision The career vision is a statement about where you want to be in your career as far into the future as you can imagine. For some, this could be where you see yourself at retirement; for others, it may be where you see yourself in 5 to 10 years. It's a statement about what will make you feel fulfilled or be happy with the direction your career has taken. This is really a statement that only you can make. As you contemplate your vision, brainstorm how the various options that you are considering align with your personal values. Ask yourself questions similar to these: Will you remain in an individual role? Do you aspire to management or even executive level work? Are you interested in changing fields of work or progressing in your current field? Do you find your current industry interesting or would you prefer to be in a different industry? How does the size of your current company compare to your ideal company size? Would you prefer to be doing work that is more charitable or altruistic? If you reach this goal, what would you do "next"? Don't rush through this. If necessary, spend several days mulling this over -- if you are so inclined, pray or meditate on this. This statement will be setting the direction for the rest of the IDP. But at the same time, don't fret if you can only think a few years ahead. Your Vision Statement is not set in stone. As you learn more about yourself and your desired direction, you can always revisit and revise the Vision Statement. Your vision statement should clarify the timeline, the desired job title, and the list of expected duties. Be sure to add any other details to make the vision statement as specific as possible such as the industry or company size. If you consider the SMART goal template, the Vision Statement should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It should be possible for you to review this statement every year and clearly determine whether it has been met or not. Road Map Once you have determined your vision statement, the next section is the Road Map. The Road Map is a breakdown of all of the steps it will take to go from your current role to reach your vision. If you are unsure of what those steps may be, this would be a good time to have a conversation with your manager or your mentor. When referencing the roles, try not to get too hung up on job titles as those may be specific to your current company. For example, a senior level accountant role may be split across two different job titles (Sr. Accountant and Lead Accountant) at some companies but as a role, they represent the same type and level of work. As you document the various roles that you will need to have, capture the primary responsibilities of this role and the key skills that you will need to have in order to perform it. As you get to later sections, you can use this skill list to develop your action plan to ensure that you gain these skills beforehand. This would be a good time to review current job openings to compare what the common duties for similar roles are across multiple companies. Additionally, write down how long you expect to be in the role before progressing to the next one. On average people are promoted every 5 to 7 years. Earlier in your career, this number will skew lower and later in your career, this number will skew higher. As you reach the executive level, you need those above you to get promoted or leave before there's an opportunity for you to be promoted. As you create this timeline, remember to consider how much time do you have left before you retire. I'm currently in my 50s. I might have 15 to 20 more working years. I probably have 2 or 3 more promotions before the end of my career. If you are just starting your career, you could easily have 40 years and 8 to 10 promotions before you retire. When you've listed the roles and how long you need to be in each one, compare that timeline to how long you expect to work. Is it achievable? Do you need to revise your expectations and redo your Vision Statement, or are there other things you can do accelerate the timeline? Remember, though, not every position on your road map equates to a promotion. There may be points in your career when you need to make a lateral or lesser move such as when you are changing fields. These lateral moves may take longer as you are learning a new area. If you're following along and creating your IDP, spend the next week thinking about where you want your career to go and write down your Vision Statement. If you have questions or need some pointers for defining your Road Map, drop me a note through the Contact Form on my website . If you don't have the template and would like a copy so that you can create your own IDP, send a request through the same contact form. Next week, we will continue the IDP series and look at the Assessment and Next Role sections of the IDP.…
The beginning of the year is often a time of renewed focused on planning and growth. When it comes to career development, the Individual Development Plan, or IDP, is my preferred tool for documenting that plan. Back in Episode 002 , I introduced the concept and named the various components of an IDP and what type of information you include in them. For the next few episodes, I will be taking a deeper dive into the IDP. If you would like to follow along and create your own IDP as this series progresses, I have an IDP template available if you reach out to me via the Contact Form on ManagingACareer.com . The Individual Development Plan is a roadmap for your career. If you think about planning a road trip the first thing you usually do is figure out where you want to go. After that, you look at what routes are available and choose which one you will take. Next you determine in which cities along the way that you might want to visit some of the local attractions or where you need to book a hotel. Basically, you start with the big picture and break it down into smaller and smaller pieces of the trip. The IDP follows a similar flow. The beginning of the document is the Vision Statement which represents the end destination of the plan. The Roadmap section covers what the various stops will be along the way. The Action Plan is similar to which roads you will take. Together, they set your course and keep you focused on the things you need to achieve to ensure that you stay on track for your career. Beyond anything, the most important aspect of the document is that it’s for YOU. It's your career and the plan should be in alignment with YOUR goals. And when those goals change, you should update your IDP. Every job you take, every promotion you get, every work assignment you accept should be evaluated against your IDP and how those changes help you get one step closer to your destination. If they don't provide some benefit that helps you along your career path, you should consider turning them down. If you haven't put thought into your career plan, whether formally documented in an IDP or not, you can still progress, but that progression will often be dictated by the company you work for. I usually describe this as having your career happen TO you. It can still be considered a successful career, but it is usually much less fulfilling with a lower level of job satisfaction. Also, if your personal investment is low, you will likely reach a plateau earlier in your career. If an IDP is the most important tool for career advancement, the second most important resource for success is to have a network of people who support your growth. As you talk with your manager, your mentor, or your career champions, be sure to communicate with them the content of your IDP. By knowing your goals, when they encounter opportunities that match up with those goals, they can make you aware of them. As covered in Episode 013 - A Little Bit of Luck , I subscribe to the Seneca quote that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. If you have been working the Action Plan in your IDP and your strong network can bring those opportunities to you, you will be in the best position to take advantage of that luck. Review Episode 029 - Building A Network for ways to find those champions. This episode, we've taken a look at what the IDP is and why it should be important to you. In the next few episodes, I will be taking a look at each of the sections and giving some insights into how to fill them out. If you have questions about the IDP, please reach out to me via the Contact Form on ManagingACareer.com and I will try to answer them as part of this series.…
After every six episodes, I have a review episode to highlight some of the episodes you may have missed. This progress report covers episodes 029 to 034. Episode 029 - Building a Network covers several ways that you can grow your network. Much like Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you are only a few connections away from someone you can help you advance your career. Through formal professional organizations or local informal groups, the key to building your network is meeting new people. Make connections and leverage them to build additional connections. The next episode was Episode 030 - Getting Ahead By Saying "No" . There is often a desire to say yes when offered an opportunity. It shows that you are a team player, willing to do whatever it takes to help the organization. However, it is sometimes better to pass up an offered opportunity. If the new role will upset your work/life balance or isn't in alignment with your long-term career goals, saying "no" may be better for you personally. When it comes to gaining additional responsibilities within your team and organization, being trusted is one of the most important aspects for achieving it. In Episode 031 - Does Your Manager Trust You , I talk about some techniques you can use to increase the trust your leader has in you. Understand how your manager makes decisions so that you can make the same decisions, escalate appropriately, and communicate clearly and concisely. In Episode 032 - What If I Don't Want the "Next" Role , I talk about my relative who isn't interested in a promotion that appears to be eminent. This episode is the culmination of the previous two. My relative has been building trust with his leaders which is putting him in a position for a promotion. But he is unsure that the next role will be in alignment with his career goals. But, this could be an opportunity to negotiate a different mode for the promotion. This episode covers how this situation could apply to you and how to deal with it. I wrap up this block of episodes with Episodes 033 and 034 which are a two part series of episodes covering Office Politics. In part one, I talk about the different roles within office politics as well as strategies you can leverage to work within the politics of your office. Building a decision map to know which people will play each role, building your network to have people on your side, and becoming the go-to person for some aspect within your organization allow you to navigate the corporate politics and continue your career success. In part two I cover some of the most common challenges you will face when it comes to office politics and some ways that you can mitigate them. Building trust and building a network can put you on the fast track to opportunities. If you missed any of these recent episodes, go back and listen to them. The should all be available in the podcast player of your choice. For the upcoming block of episodes, you should go back and review Episode 002 - Individual Development Plan and then go to the Contact form at ManagingACareer.com to request your free IDP template. The next few episodes will be taking a deeper dive into putting together a solid IDP.…
Let's start with a quick review of last week's episode , but for the full details go back to that episode and listen there. We started by covering the key players in office politics. Decision Makers, Gatekeepers, Connectors, Influencers, Observers, and Champions. After that, we talked about strategies: Build a decision map, Build your network, Build your people skills, and Become "the one". But things don't always go smoothly. Sometimes, beyond the simple issue of learning who the players are and working with them in a way that allows you to accomplish your tasks, you'll find yourself facing challenges to get things done. The first challenge you may face is when someone plays favorites. This is even more problematic when the person who plays favorites is the gatekeeper or the decision maker because they can completely stall your work. If someone consistently gives deferential treatment to someone else, even when your suggestions are better, start by evaluating why they always defer to that person. It is often a question of trust. If so, review Episode 31 - Does your manager trust you for strategies for building trust. Additionally, try to find opportunities to meet with that person in an informal one-on-one setting such as a coffee break. Leverage your people skills and spend time building a relationship with them. Another option you have is to take your request to their favorites. Use the favorite as an influencer to convince the decision maker that your request is sound. If the person still continues to play favorites, it may be necessary to escalate the decision to the next level. Be up front with them that you intend to escalate and don't just go around them. There will already be some contention because you are taking the decision away from them, but if you go around them, it will make all future interactions more contentious. The next challenge you may face is when there are communication issues. This could be simple issues like lack of clarity or it could be dealing with secrets and rumors. If it's a case of clarity, make an effort to gather the details you need and share them openly with others. If someone is consistently vague, find a way to bring the team together to come to a consensus on the appropriate level of detail that should be included -- this can often be resolved with a form or template. If information is protected through secrets you can often break through by working with the connector to get introduced to the person who holds the information. If you find yourself dealing with rumors, the best course of action is to stay out of any corporate gossip and respond to rumors only with known facts. Gossip and rumors erode trust within an organization and can make it more difficult for anyone who is a subject of them to do their job. Shutting down rumors with facts will keep things moving forward and focused on the job at hand. The third challenge you may face is when someone places blame or steals credit. These two issues are related and often indicate someone who is insecure in their position who is trying to advance their own career. In both instances, the best way to handle them is to consistently document your results and communicate them to your leader. If you are sending a regular status report to your manager, they will be less likely to believe the negative information. All of these challenges can be overcome. However, if you still find yourself struggling with a specific situation, find a mentor within the company you can coach you on how to deal with the person causing you problems. If there are office politics that are holding you back, I would love to help. Go to ManagingACareer.com and drop me a note through the contact form. I can give you insights into how you might handle them and start moving forward.…
At some point in your career, you will find yourself in a position where you have to deal with office politics. Office politics aren't bad in and of themselves, but it is important to understand how they work and what your place is within them. First, we should put some clarity around what I mean by the phrase "office politics". They are really just the unwritten rules and informal structure of the organization. The key to navigating the political landscape is to understand the various roles and who holds them. From situation to situation, there may be different people playing each role, but understanding who plays them in your current situation will make it easier for you to do what you need. Decision Makers - someone who has final say on critical decisions. For bigger decisions, this is usually a manager or executive. But for smaller items, this could be a team member or a team with approval authority over a specific process. Gatekeeper - someone who controls access to a key person or resource. The gatekeeper for an executive might be their executive assistant from a time scheduling perspective, but it is often a trusted manager when it comes to processes and decisions. You may need to make your case to the gatekeeper before the decision is brought to the leader. In the case of a process, there may be someone responsible for managing the agenda for approvals that you must convince to prioritize your request for a decision. Connector - someone who has connections across multiple departments. The connector can be invaluable, especially when you are new to an organization, because they can provide introductions to decision makers and gatekeepers. Influencer - someone who's opinion is revered by many in the organization, often including key decision makers. The difference between a connector and an influencer is that an influencer may hold sway with others just based on reputation without actually having a personal relationship with the people involved. Whereas a connector has the relationship but may not have the expertise needed to provide the influence. Observer - someone who understands who are the current political players. An observer knows who the players are but may not be able to introduce or influence them. Champion - someone who advocates for others within the organization. Having a leader that acts as your advocate can speed up the decision making process through the additional authority that they bring. Beyond understanding the roles of the people who can help you, the next step is to look at what strategies you can take to be successful within the politics of your office. Build a decision map. For each situation, build a map of who plays each role and how you can engage them. When you are unsure of who can fill a role, look to the Observer to help you complete the map. Unrelated tasks and decisions may have different maps, but similar tasks may have a fair bit of overlap. Build your own network. Having a strong network is beneficial in terms of career advancement, but it is also useful in terms of getting things done. The Connector is an important role for cross-organizational work and if you can be the Connector for your organization, it puts you in a more visible position which can lead to more important assignments. Review Episode 029 - Building a Network for ways that you can build your network. Build your people skills. Many of the roles involved in office politics require interacting with others. Building influence and making positive relationships will not just help your current situation but will serve you well for the future, too. Become "the one". The final strategy is to become the go-to person for something within your organization. This could be by becoming the expert such that you become an influencer or by having a strong network to be the connector. You could also take ownership of a process so that you become a decision maker or gatekeeper. Regardless of which role you take, you can use this position of importance to negotiate favors from others allowing you to accomplish your tasks while assisting them in their tasks. This episode, we've looked at the positive side of office politics. Next week, we will take a look at some of the challenges that you may face and how you can address them. Be sure to subscribe in your podcast player of choice so that you get the next episode as soon as it's available.…
When I was talking to my relative the other day, he was describing how his bosses have gained a lot of trust in him and are giving him more and more responsibility and more and more autonomy. As someone who leads a team, everything he described and a few other factors pointed towards the possibility that he'll be considered for a promotion soon --- possibly even as soon as the next promotion cycle. But, my relative isn't really interested in the next role. I can actually understand his position. My background is in software development. For me, my love of programming started when I was in elementary school when I learned BASIC on a Commodore 64. For most of my career, I could never see myself doing anything different than being a technical member of the team. It's only in the past few years that I seriously considered the transition to management…..and that was only because I was getting older and knew that if I was ever going to try management, I needed to transition "soon" or "never". Turns out, I actually enjoy it -- something that has led to this podcast. So, let's take a look at some of the reasons that someone would prefer to stay in their current role instead of taking a promotion. If someone is being considered for a promotion, it usually means that they are doing their current job well. But, they may be doing their job well because they are finally in a role that they love; they enjoy what they do and the level of responsibility that they have. If this is the case, why would they want a promotion that takes that away? Most go into a field for the love of the subject. However, as you move further and further up the management chain, you do less and less "hands-on" work. If you had asked me early in my career, this would be the reason that I gave. I didn't see myself as a manager because I loved doing the actual programming work. Another reason that someone may opt not to take a promotion that is offered is if the promotion would interfere with their work / life balance. A promotion could require longer or a change in working hours which could reduce the amount of time they have available to spend with their family or on hobbies. Work / Life balance should be important to everyone and I cover it in more detail in Episode 019 . Along those same lines, a promotion may require additional travel. Maybe a promotion includes a change from being responsible for a district to being responsible for a region. This could take you away from personal responsibilities or impact your Work / Life balance. Even if the promotion does not require more travel, it may require someone to relocate. This could be to move to the location of a new team or it could be to relocate to corporate headquarters. There could be several reasons why someone would not want to move cities. Someone may also turn down a promotion if they don't believe that the compensation is adequate based on the additional stress and duties. Not every promotion includes a significant raise or an increase in bonuses. Even if someone is ok with the additional hours or additional travel, they may feel like the new pay isn't enough to account for the additional inconveniences. There are many reasons why someone would opt not to accept a promotion and they are all perfectly valid. It's also fine for this stance to change over time. In the first twenty years of my career, my position was that I never wanted to take a manager role, but along the way, my opinion changed. Now, I've been leading teams for several years, I am glad that I made the transition. If you feel like you do not want to take a promotion, my suggestion would be to communicate with your manager. Don't just tell them "no thanks" but tell them WHY you are declining. There may be other advancement opportunities that do not have the same drawbacks as the position you are declining. When I took a management role, I was leading a small team and still able to continue doing the hands-on work of programming. Over time, as my team grew and my skill as a manager increased, I transitioned to more and more managerial tasks and fewer and fewer programming tasks. This transitory role allowed me to still grow my career but address my reservations. That all started by being clear about what I wanted and negotiating for a position that allowed me to get what I wanted. If you find these episodes insightful, I would appreciate it if you would help me spread the word. The more people that listen, the more people that can benefit. Go to your podcast app of choice and leave me a review; these reviews provide social proof to help others find my podcast. Even better would be if you would share it with a friend and get them to listen. If you're a new listener, go back to the previous episodes and listen to them.…
At my job, I have the title of "Director" and I have responsibility for the team that builds an internal application that is important to the sales team of the company I work for. I also manage -- either directly or indirectly -- a team of around 40 software developers, none of which are in the same city as I am. There are not enough hours in the week for me to spend time on everything that I am responsible for. As such, I must delegate some of those responsibilities and TRUST that my team will complete the work without my direct involvement. Gaining the trust of your leader is an important component of career advancement. If your manager trusts you, it leads to more responsibility and eventually to the promotion you desire. But trust isn't something that's gained instantaneously, it's built over time. The first key to gaining your managers trust is to understand the decisions that they make and why. When your manager delegates tasks to you, they are trusting that you are going to complete the task successfully. They are also trusting that you are going to make the same decisions that your manager would when facing a similar situation. The more closely your decisions match your leader's, the more they will trust you with future decisions. The next key is knowing how and when to escalate. There will be times when you don't know what decision your manager would make or if you feel strongly that a different decision should be made. In those instances, you'll likely need to escalate to your manager. This is another opportunity to gain trust with your manager. When you escalate appropriately to your manager, it's a chance for you to show them that you understand what things are important to the overall goals of the team. It also gives you an opportunity to show your manager you can be an independent thinker. Conversely, if you escalate every little decision or do not have a strong case for making a different decision, your manager may lose trust in you. Another way to build trust with your manager is in how you communicate. As I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, I have a lot of responsibilities and don't often have time to deal with all of them. When someone on my team needs my input, it's important for them to be clear and concise about their needs. If it takes a lot of time for me to understand the request or if it's too deep in the weeds, I can feel like I'm wasting my time or that I've delegated the task to the wrong person. Present a summary of the situation and what decision is required. If I need details, I can ask for them, but if I trust that you have accurately portrayed the situation, I often won't need them. Saying that you'll do something and then following through with that statement goes a long way towards building trust. This allows me to delegate a task and shift my focus to other issues because I know that it will be handled. This also shows consistency and honesty -- two factors that enhance the level of trust that your leader has in you. Speaking of honesty, the final key to building the trust of your manager is owning your mistakes and working to correct them. There will be times when you make the wrong decision or miss a key deliverable. It happens, no one is perfect, but it's how you react to those mistakes that matters. There may be an initial impact to the level of trust you manager has, but over time, the integrity you've shown can result in a stronger level of trust. If you find yourself struggling to gain trust, take a look across your team and try to figure out which team members your manager trusts most and then emulate them. Your peers often have more time to help you understand your manager's decision making processes and priorities. Watch which issues they escalate and how they present them. If you continue to do these key things, over time, you'll become more trusted. With trust, comes additional responsibility and often, more autonomy. What other topics would you like me to cover? Head over to the Managing A Career feedback page and let me know what career development questions you have. I will discuss them in an upcoming episode.…
When you are looking towards career advancement, you may have heard advice along the lines of "say yes to every opportunity". And sometimes, that advice is perfectly fine. But today, we're going to look at when the better choice is to say "no". The first consideration is just your time in general. You might think that you need to say "yes" to everything to be seen as a team player - this is often the stance taken by those new to a job or team. But, you should also consider whether taking on additional tasks could impact your ability to complete your other work while maintaining the same level of quality. Saying "no" could allow you to maintain a good work/life balance or keep you from burning yourself out. Back in Episode 001 - Higher Level Tasks , I talk about how transitioning from process driven tasks to tasks that involve more discretion and judgement helps you advance your career. These types of tasks are often reserve for the more senior team members and showcase your readiness for promotion. However, what if a particular tasks isn't in alignment with your personal goals? In Episode 002 - Individual Development Plan , I outline a template for planning out the future of your career. If you've taken advantage of the free template, you should have a roadmap that outlines your next two or three positions. You should also have an action plan of what areas you need to focus on improving in order to reach your next step. If someone offers an opportunity that isn't in alignment with you career goals or your action plan, saying "Yes" could delay or possibly derail your plans. You should strongly consider whether that diversion is something you want to take on or whether you should decline the task. If you feel like you don't have the option to say "no" or if there is some other reason to say "yes", consider using it as leverage in negotiating to be given tasks that ARE in alignment with your IDP as well. When you lead a team, there are often requests from other organizations. Saying "no" is often about ensuring that your team's work is in alignment with the team's assigned goals. Saying "no" could also be about protecting your team from overwork and burnout. At the executive level, "no" is almost expected. Decisions are often made based on limited budgets and resources and considerations must be made to the corporate strategy as well, so every decision is about making trade-offs. Without strong justification and payback, "no" is often the default. There are plenty of reasons to say "no" when an opportunity is presented. And if approached properly, can keep you on track to the advancement you are looking for. If you haven't requested your FREE IDP template, go to the ManagingACareer.com contact page and request one today.…
Networking is not about the quantity of connections, but rather the quality and depth of those connections. It's not just about amassing a hundreds of LinkedIn connections; it's about nurturing meaningful relationships that add value to both parties involved. Genuine connections can provide insights, support, and access to resources that would otherwise be out of reach. After all, your network is not just a collection of contacts; it is a web of potential collaborators, mentors, and champions who can help you navigate the twists and turns of your career journey. Professional organizations or conferences specific to a certain expertise or industry are filled with people who are specifically involved in order to build their network. These events offer many ways to expand on those skills and capabilities through seminars, workshops, and access to specialized publications. Additionally, the specialized membership can help you meet people that can serve as mentors or experts in that field. The downside is that you may need to work harder to meet people when the organization or conference is at a national scale. If the organization has a local regional chapter, it may make it easier to form a relationship with key connections. If the scale of a national organization scares you, you may prefer to start with more informal groups such as those that you can find through a site like MeetUp.com . The local groups are usually less structured, but the smaller, more intimate meetings can alleviate the stress of meeting new people. Another place could be online groups. Sites like LinkedIn have groups targeting many different industries and sub-industries. Participating in the conversation threads can raise your profile and over time, you can identify people that you'll want to add to your network. As you look for online groups, make sure it's fairly active with a strong core group of members. Just be aware that, due to the anonymity of the Internet, it could take longer or additional work to build meaning relationships in these groups. But the easiest way to see the power of a network is to leverage your current network -- friends, family, and co-workers -- to grow your network. In the early days of the Internet, there was a game that was started called Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The basic premise is that every actor is within seven degrees - or seven connections - away from Kevin Bacon. With a more globally connected world, that concept has been extended to all people. In 2011, a study showed that everyone was now within four degrees of anyone else thanks to social media . So, if there is someone you are looking to connect with, figure out who in your network can put you one step closer to the connection you want to form and ask for an introduction. And don't discount finding connections in unexpected places. I met my business partner because his wife and my wife were working towards their degrees and were in several classes together. I met someone in my bowling league that I can talk to about programming problems. Being open to meeting people, for example through social clubs, civic organizations, or religious groups could create opportunities you didn't know existed. Regardless of which approach appeals to you, think about how, in the next month, you can expand your network. Then, make a commitment to yourself to meet at least 10 new people.…
As always, it's good to periodically look back and review your accomplishments and progress. So, every few episodes, we take a look back and call out the highlights of the recent episodes. In Episode 022 - Interviewing Candidates I cover how I evaluate candidates for positions by focusing on critical thinking and a desire to learn and share. As you progress through your career, it will often be necessary to help bring in new team members to take over responsibilities that you've progressed beyond. Next, we took a look at how you can be successful while working remotely in Episode 023 . Focusing on being active and visible in remote meetings and putting the effort into building relationships will keep you front of mind for those you work with. While there is talk about RTO - return to office in a lot of companies, there are still a lot of people who will continue to work remotely and building the skills required to continue to progress will become critical. Even if you do return to the office, you may still have team members who work in other cities or even countries, so those same skills will be beneficial in those situations, too. The next four episodes as a unit are all focused on aspects of the end of year process and the value that you've provided to the company. In Episode 024 , I provide a framework for gathering the information that you need to provide in your self-assessment and preparing for next year's goals. Documenting the plan forward for incomplete goals, seeking feedback from your peers, and showcasing the value you provide will help make your annual review a positive result. Episode 025 - Who is driving your career covers how being proactive in your development and pushing towards more fulfilling goals will keep you more motivated leading to generally faster progression as well as overall more job satisfaction. And in probably the most important episode to date, Episode 026 , I talk about key things to consider about whether you should be considered for a promotion. It's not just important to perform your duties well, sometimes you need to help your manager make a case for your promotion. Make sure that you are visible within the organization. Provide value and document it. Set yourself apart from your competition. Show interest in advancement. Position yourself on a growing team. And build a network of champions. And last week's Episode 027 - Knowing Your Worth covers tracing the value you provide back to the key metrics of the company - revenue or expenses. By giving your updates in terms of the value to the company, it becomes easier for your leaders to justify your advancement. That was a lot in the past six episodes. One of the reasons that I keep episodes short is so that you aren't overwhelmed with too much information at once. But, when you step back and look at everything together, you can start to see how they all fit together to give a clear roadmap towards driving your career forward. If you know someone else who could benefit from this podcast, help them to subscribe to Managing A Career in their favorite podcast app.…
When most people think about providing a status on their work, they usually think in terms of completed tasks. At some level, this is relevant to ensure that projects remain on time. But if you'd like to set yourself apart from others, consider framing that status in terms of value provided. Obviously, not every task is going to provide easily measured value in terms of dollars or time savings, but there should be some identifiable value to the company……otherwise, why are you asked to do it? Most companies are for-profit entities, so the true measure of value is ultimately going to be how much profit is generated. Since profit is revenue minus costs, you will need to evaluate how your work relates to at least one of those two factors. For some people, there is a direct, one-to-one correspondence from the job they perform to the profit of the company. For others, you'll have to take a deeper look to understand how your work relates to the revenue or costs of the company. If there is no direct relationship, your role is often classified as overhead and your primary statement of value will be focused on how the results of your work has saved the company time or money. Let's take a look at a few of these roles and how you could frame the results of your work in terms of value to the company. If your roles is in sales, it should be easy to detail the value of your work. You're very likely already measured by how much revenue you generate because your compensation is tied to your quota. If you don't already report your status in terms of revenue generated, I would be surprised. If you also have authority to negotiate deals, you can also impact profit based on how those deals are structured. For someone who creates the product sold -- for example manufacturing for physical products or programming for software products -- the faster or more efficiently you create the product, the more you contribute to the profit of the company. When reporting the status of your efforts, instead of just listing the number of widgets produced, report on how that compares to average production rates and report how much additional profit can be generated by those production levels. Documenting your value when there is a direct connection to revenue or profit is easier and more straightforward, but what if your role is less direct -- more traditionally overhead? If you work in a department such as accounting or finance, speedy and accurate results can allow operations to better manage inventory or understand when to discount certain products. Finding opportunities to reduce costs or to spend more efficiently can further increase profits. These are the types of activities that you will want to highlight in your status reporting. Working in information technology, your tie to profit and revenue is through the business unit that you support. Providing software that allows that business unit to perform their tasks more efficiently can be calculated in terms of hours saved times average salary. Software that implements new processes could facilitate expanding product offerings or new markets. As you give status on your tasks, be sure to emphasize these impacts to your leaders. These are just a few examples of how ones work can be tracked back to either revenue or profit, but if you apply the same lens to your work, you should be able to find similar connections. As you focus on documenting your value in these terms, it becomes easier to justify your advancement. How has your value increased by listening to Managing A Career? Access the Community and let me know!…
As we approach the end of the calendar year, it's the time of year when many employees are evaluated against their goals and considered for merit increases and potentially promotions. Have you positioned yourself to be one of the ones to be promoted this year? Let's take a look. The first question you have to ask yourself is whether you are ready for a promotion. Early in your career, this primarily means mastering your current role and having "paid your dues" in terms of time. Later in your career, you will need to continue to exhibit mastery of your current role, but also begin to show signs of leadership and eventually to show that you are capable of the next role. Review Episode 017 - The Corporate Ladder for more details on this progression. If you've mastered your current role and are starting to take on projects with a larger scope and a bigger impact to the company, you may feel like you've done everything you need to do to be promoted. If your promotion is solely within the control of your manager, this may even be enough. As I mentioned in Episode 17, being in a specific level (junior, mid-level, or senior) may have multiple titles such as "Analyst 1" and "Analyst 2". These "in-level" types of promotion are often solely at the discretion of your manager. If that is the case, just by doing "more" you can often justify the promotion. But, when the promotion is across levels, the decisions are often considered by a larger committee. Moving between levels becomes a harder task. Think of the levels as a pyramid. There is one CEO. There are a handful of Chief "something" Officers that report to the CEO. There are slightly more Presidents and Vice-Presidents. And so forth and so on. Transitioning between levels often means competing against all of the other candidates. And the higher the level, there are more candidates competing for fewer roles. You may even need someone ahead of you to leave a role -- either through promotion or leaving the company -- to even have an opportunity for a promotion. So, when the next promotion is one that moves you from one tier to another, the next question you have to ask yourself is whether you've done enough to be promoted. Beyond just mastering your role and taking on larger projects, you need help your manager make a strong case. When there are ten people competing for two promotions, you need to be the "obvious" choice. What does it mean to do "enough" to be promoted? How can you help your manager make a strong case? I think there are six things to consider. Are you visible? Have you engaged with other teams in your organization in such a way that the other members of the committee know who you are? Do you attend and participate in corporate events and work on your networking? If your name is brought up to the committee, you don't want them saying "Who?" you want them saying "Oh! Them!". Having multiple champions in the room increase the chances that you receive the promotion over the other candidates. Have you shown value? Most companies are for-profit entities. Have you shown how your work contributes to this profit either by increasing revenue or decreasing expenses? Project assignments plays some part in this, but if you are performing well, you will typically be assigned more and more valuable projects. And if you are specifically trying for a promotion, you should be requesting those projects that allow you to provide the most value. Do you bring something unique? As I mentioned, you're competing against others in a similar position. What makes you a stronger candidate than them? Have you brought something unique to the role? New approaches? Stronger decision making skills? Better leadership? What sets you apart from everyone else? Have you expressed interest in the next level? This may seem simple, but have you communicated with your leader that you feel like you are ready for a promotion? When the leader has to make a case before a committee, it may feel to them like a lot of work. If they aren't being pressed for a promotion, even if they submit your name, they may not put the same level of effort into making a case before the committee. By expressing your desire, they are more likely to put together a stronger statement for why you should be considered for a promotion. Is your company or group growing or shrinking? It's far easier to receive a promotion during times of growth than it is during tougher times. If your company is growing, there is often higher budgets for promotions; there are also often more projects needing more leaders. If your company is stagnant or struggling, projects are cancelled and there will be fewer positions making competition harder. Just because your company is growing or shrinking, your group could be doing the opposite, which also needs to be taken into consideration. In addition to the points I've made here, review Episode 018 - Selling Yourself for ways that you can increase your chances of a promotion. So, if you're ready for a promotion and you've done enough to be promoted, one thing you can do to help you manager is to help them prepare for the committee. Go back to Episode 024 - Preparing for the end of the year and make sure that everything is properly documented so that when your manager presents your case, it's all organized and nothing is forgotten. Has Managing A Career helped you be in position for a promotion this year? I'd love to hear about it. As I mentioned in Episode 002 - Individual Development Plan , it's important to celebrate success. I would love it if you go to the Contact form at ManagingACareer.com and let me know how this podcast helped you get ahead so that I can celebrate those successes with you.…
Today, we're tackling a question that's crucial for everyone navigating the professional landscape: how much faster does your career progress if you actively own it instead of waiting for your career to happen to you? To truly grasp the impact of taking control of your career, let's start by understanding the consequences of a passive approach. Imagine sitting idly by, waiting for opportunities to fall into your lap without actively seeking ways to enhance your skills or expand your network. In this scenario, the clock ticks on, but your professional growth remains stagnant. You may eventually get promoted, but it will depend more on hitting "time in grade" limits for your current pay grade or when people ahead of you move on and you're just "next in line" and promoted by default. However, the narrative shifts when you decide to take the wheel. Proactivity becomes the driving force behind your career journey. Instead of waiting, you start identifying your career goals, mapping out the steps needed to achieve them, and actively seeking opportunities for growth. This mindset shift can trigger a significant difference in the speed and direction of your career progression. This is essentially the process I detail in Episode 002 - Individual Development Plan . But how exactly does this proactive approach fast-track your career progression? It's about taking strategic action. By actively owning your career, you're more likely to set ambitious yet achievable goals, create a clear roadmap for professional advancement, and actively seek out opportunities for growth. This intentionality and focus lead to quicker skill development, increased visibility, and a stronger professional network. Additionally, owning your career allows you to become a master of your own narrative. Instead of being defined solely by external circumstances, you shape your story through your actions, achievements, and perseverance. Your proactive approach enables you to showcase your capabilities, expertise, and potential, positioning you as a valuable asset in your field. It's crucial to recognize that owning your career isn't just about speed. It's also about direction. Taking charge of your professional trajectory empowers you to align your career path with your passions, values, and long-term aspirations. You can steer your journey toward roles and opportunities that resonate with your true calling, leading to a more fulfilling and purpose-driven professional life. But it's not just about career advancement, by owning your career, you also contribute to your overall job satisfaction. When your career aligns with your personal goals, you will be more fulfilled. Even when you face challenges, they will be more enjoyable because you know they are helping you reach the next level. It's building on YOUR vision and not someone else's. Owning your career demands dedication, resilience, and adaptability. It requires a willingness to step out of your comfort zone, embrace continuous learning, and navigate through obstacles and setbacks. However, it's precisely these challenges that foster personal growth and resilience, ultimately contributing to your overall career acceleration. The speed at which your career progresses is intricately tied to your level of ownership and proactive engagement. By taking the initiative, setting goals, showcasing your value, and aligning your path with your aspirations, you not only accelerate your career but also shape it in a way that aligns with your true purpose. Remember, your career is a journey you actively shape, not a destination someone takes you to. Just by being a subscriber to this podcast, you've already shown that these things matter to you, take the extra steps of building your IDP and communicating it with your leaders. If you need an IDP template, I have a free template available by request. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and request the IDP template via the contact form.…
For many companies, the end of the year is a time when employees have their annual reviews. Today, we'll talk about the things you can do with what's left of the year to prepare. Review your incomplete goals. Start by looking at the goals that were set for you at the beginning of the year. If there are any that are incomplete, are you on track to complete them by the end of the year? How do your current priorities align with completing them? If your priorities have changed, can you negotiate updates to your goals? These conversations should be ongoing throughout the year, but as you approach the end of the year, it's even more important to address them before your annual review. Prepare your self-assessment. For most people, writing a self-assessment generally feels like a chore, but for those looking to get ahead, it should be an opportunity to make your case. Obviously, cover all of the goals that you have been able to complete, but also use your self-assessment to document the value that you have provided during the past year. If your tasks can be traced back to key performance indicators such as revenue or profit, showcase your contribution. If your work impacts the number of widgets your company produces, document how many additional widgets were produced because of your actions. For the goals that will not be completed by the end of the year, document why they weren't completed. If possible, you will also want to document what changes you will make so that you'll be able to complete them in the future. Seek peer feedback. If your company does not include a formal peer review process, make an effort to collect feedback from your peers to be included in your self-assessment. Have them describe what it was like to work with you and how you contributed to THEIR success. As covered in Episode 016 - What does it mean to be a leader , being a leader is about enabling your team to do MORE; feedback from peers is a great way to document your leadership skills. Be sure to review Episode 012 - Receiving Effective Feedback to make the most of the comments from your peers. Prepare your personal goals for the coming year. Closely associated with the annual review is the goal setting process for the following year. If you have incomplete goals from this year, include goals that address the deficiencies that lead to them. Also, instead of just relying on corporate goals, include personal goals for next year. This will ensure that both you AND your leader are more invested in accomplishing them. As you prepare for your end of year, I'm in the process of planning the next year for Managing a Career. In order to best help you, I need your input. What episodes have been the most beneficial? What topics would you like to hear more about? Head over to ManagainACareer.com and leave me a message. As Tom Cruise said in Jerry Maguire, "Help me…..help you."…
During a recent one-on-one with a member of my team, the question came up as to whether someone can be successful when working remote. I'll start with the answer. Yes…..assuming your work can actually be done somewhere other than the office and if you put in the work, you can be successful working remote. But that caveat -- if you put in the work -- is the important part. So, for the rest of the episode, I'm going to dive into that in more detail. Obviously, the first question is are you able to complete your actual work when you work remotely. If you need the structure of an office environment or if you have too many distractions at home, you may find it difficult. But, if you have a way to remove the distractions such as having a dedicated office and have sufficient discipline completing the tasks regularly assigned to you shouldn't be an issue. Regardless of where you are in your career, your success when working remote will be predicated on your ability to build relationships with others at your company. The types of relationships will differ based on the phase of your career, but ultimately, it will boil down to building and maintaining relationships across your company. To start, humans are visual creatures. Utilize your webcam as often as possible. There's something to be said for the adage of "out of sight, out of mind". By working remotely, you aren’t going to be there for others to observe. By using your webcam in every meeting, you can offset some of that perception. If you're worried about people seeing where you live, look for a way to position your camera so that your room is shielded, either by putting a wall behind you or hanging some sort of backdrop like a sheet --- or even purchasing a green screen. They have products that include a stand so that they can be easily put up and taken down if you don't have the ability to keep it up all of the time. When you are early in your career, you are learning. Learning how the company works….how to do your work…..what are the processes you need to follow. When this information is not readily available in the SOP documents provided by your team, you will need to be able to reach out to more senior members of your team to get their insights; this will require that you have a good relationship with those senior members. When you work in the same office, these types of relationships can be fostered through casual conversations that happen during down time such as lunch of a coffee break -- or even just in the hall when passing. In a remote world, you can build these casual relationships by being ACTIVE in every team and project meeting. If you're quiet, can be overlooked or forgotten; make a point of speaking up and providing input. If there are non-work conversations -- either before or at the end of a meeting -- participate. Pay attention to the answers given by the group and reference them in the future. If you show an interest in people, they'll take an interest in you. Don't be afraid to schedule regular virtual coffee breaks with members of your team. It may be awkward at first because they don't have the impromptu nature of in-person coffee breaks, but over time, things will normalize and they can be productive in building relationships. Lastly, be helpful to others. People will reciprocate when they receive help. As you transition from a more junior role to a more senior role, you'll still need to build relationships within your team, but you also need to begin building and maintaining relationships with people outside of your team. When those people are still peers, building those relationships is still just a matter of the same guidelines as before -- participate in project meetings, schedule virtual coffee breaks, and in general, show an interest in the other people. However, when the people you need to build relationships with are leaders or executives, you might need to take a different approach. Many leaders sponsor or champion initiatives within the company. These initiatives often fall into categories called Diversity Councils or Employee Resource Groups. They have other names, but these groups are often "extracurricular" groups that gather to support various sub-groups of the employees at the company. If you can determine which groups the leader is involved with, you can join those groups and BE active. This will lead to visibility and can be a catalyst to creating the relationships with those leaders. If you have the ability, even when working remotely, try to schedule some days that you can travel to the office, even if it's only once or twice per month. Schedule your in-office days to maximize your in-person meetings with those you need to engage with. Schedule a lunch with someone you don't have project related meetings with. In the days that you are in the office, put a priority on relationship building activities -- even over completing actual work. As you've seen, there is a lot of work in building relationships remotely, but by putting in the effort, you can still build real meaningful relationships. With strong relationships, you can be successful while still working remotely. I'd like to hear from you about how you are maintaining relationships while working remotely. Go to ManagingACareer.com and leave me feedback telling me the strategies you are using.…
If you are in any of the LinkedIn groups related to your profession, you've likely come across posts that list questions and answers that are core to your field. These are the types of questions I would expect to see on a university or certification exam. These questions are intended to show a level of mastery but, as evidenced by the number of posts offering common examples, a candidate can study for the interview whether they have any first-hand knowledge of the content or not. I have been interviewing candidates for over twenty years and have never resorted to using this "test question" style of interview. In that time, I have had very few "misses" in terms of choosing a candidate that is successful within the team. Instead of asking a lot of test questions, I simply have a conversation with the candidate. My field is software development, so the conversations I have with candidates is to have them describe the projects they've worked on and what design decisions were made to create it. I'm not listening for the specifics of the project but to see if they understand the constraints that lead to those decisions. There are often multiple ways to solve a problem and each one has pros and cons. If they understand the relationship of those criteria and how the environment of the company influenced them, they are showing more critical thinking than just being able to recite the nuances of any particular design pattern. Your field likely has similar types of decision points and hiring a candidate with good critical thinking skills is far more important than someone who knows the answers to some contrived questions. In the real world, people do not work in a vacuum and they have access to various resources such as search engines and books that and provide the specifics of industry accepted practices…..which often change over time anyway. If you watch for non-verbal cues as they describe their previous projects such as when their eyes glint from excitement or the cadence of their speech quickens, you can see what concepts they understand best without directly asking. If you're asking test questions, these cues will be harder to discern as they'll be focused on the correctness of their answers. The other things that I look for in a candidate are the desire to learn and the willingness to share knowledge. With the desire to learn, I know that even without specific experience they'll still be able to be productive over time as the learn the processes of the team. And because the other members of the team were hired for THEIR willingness to share knowledge, I know that the team will support the new member to help them progress quickly. What I've found is that with these three attributes -- critical thinking, desire to learn, and willingness to share -- a candidate will usually fit in with the team and have the potential to be a top performer. So, what attributes do you look for when you are expanding your team? Hop over to the Managing A Career community and tell us what you think is important.…
These past six episodes have covered a lot of good content. Have you spent any time implementing the ideas in your career? Episode 015 - Asking vs Guessing was about how some people default to Ask mode where they will ask for everything expecting to get a "Yes" only to the things that really matter. Whereas other people default to Guess mode where they try to guess when they will get a "Yes" and only ask then. But, asking a guesser or guessing with an asker can lead to potential team dynamic issues that you'll need to correctly navigate. In Episode 016 - What does it mean to be a leader? I cover some internally focused activities you can engage in to show leadership and then I cover some externally focused activities. As your career progresses, you will need to make the transition from internal to external facing leadership in order to reach higher levels. I spend some time talking about The Career Ladder in Episode 017 . Looking at Junior Level, Senior Level, Management Level, and Executive Level and the expectations in terms of responsibilities as well as length of tenure should give you an idea of where you are and where you should be based on typical progression timelines. Episode 018 - Selling Yourself provides a lot of insight into how providing a strong message of the value you provide to the company can set you apart from other people when it comes time to get ahead. Start by having something to "sell", so build up your skills and deliver on your projects. Know your strengths because those are going to be the aspects that you showcase. Identify your value to the company and make sure that the key decision makers are aware of it. And lastly, look for a champion who can vouch for you. Probably the most important episode of these last six weeks is Episode 019 - Work / Life balance . Make sure you are spending an appropriate amount of time on non-work related activities and relationships to ensure that you don't find yourself in a position of burn-out. And the last Episode, number 020 - Re-organizations , I talk about how this time of year is when companies like to start talking about shaking up the organization. If you are prepared, it can be a time of great opportunity to gain new and higher-level responsibilities. This can put you on a faster path to the next level. If you missed any of this information or just need a refresher, the links to each episode are in the show notes as well as on the website at https://ManagingACareer.com . Click back through and listen to them again. The episodes are short, but are dense with information.…
If you're listening to this podcast in real time, the calendar has just flipped to October. This is often when discussions begin within a company that a reorganization (often shortened to "reorg") might be necessary. Many reorgs take effect as the fiscal year changes for the company and the fiscal calendar for many companies follows the regular calendar. With all of the holiday and vacation time taken in the final months of the year, initial discussions typically start in October. Let's take a look at the various reasons why a company may decide to reorganize and what sort of personal impact each reorg could have for you. The first reason for a reorg is a significant change in the business. This could be something like a merger or acquisition or changing market conditions. These reorganizations are focused on streamlining the business and bringing functions that are closely related under a common management structure. This allows for decisions that optimize these functions to be made faster because they can be made at a lower level of management without needing to escalate everything to the executive level. Another reason that could lead a company to reorganize is when they change their product mix. This could include eliminating an obsolete product or launching a new product. Similar to a merger, these reorgs will often be focused on higher level changes with less impact to the individual teams unless the team is directly involved with the products being changed. The third condition that could lead to a reorganization is change in executive level personnel. When a new high level executive takes the reigns, they often have their own ideas of how their department will work best. These reorgs are often more disruptive to the management chain because they are changing the fundamental method by which teams are formed. For example, teams could be organized by function or by region or by product line. Regardless of the fundamental reason for the reorganization, there are several ways that you can use them to your advantage. The first and most obvious benefit is that if decisions are pushed to lower management chains, you can look for opportunities to either contribute to or possibly even completely own larger decisions than you previously did. Pay attention to the changes going on above you and see which responsibilities your management chain is gaining. Look for new and unexpected challenges and proactively offer solutions. Another thing to consider is that any time there is chaos, look to see what is falling through the cracks. What processes are lacking an owner? Claiming these overlooked processes can show initiative putting you on a fast track for advancement. For large enough processes, you may even be able to carve out a team, giving a chance to transition from an individual role to a management role. Just be careful to make sure that the process isn't one slated to be eliminated or replaced as part of the new structure. If you find yourself part of a newly formed team, it's time to establish yourself as a decisive leader. Grasping new responsibilities quickly and leading by example can help you stand out. When your manager is new to the team you can become the trusted confidant gaining prestige within the team. Lastly, during times of reorganization, look for ways to expand your network. Leverage your former teammates to be introduced to their new management chain. Also, join cross-functional transition teams to be exposed to people across the new organization. And, of course, build relationships with your new team. Reorganizations bring change an uncertainty, but they also bring opportunities. As I covered in episode 013 - A Little Bit of Luck , luck is when preparation meets opportunity. If you are prepared to take advantage of the change, you can use the opportunity to get ahead. If you are getting value from this podcast, I would appreciate if you help me spread the word. One way to spread the word is to provide social proof through ratings and reviews. Use your podcast app to leave a review or go to the review page on ManagingACareer.com and leave a review. I'm always looking to improve and all feedback is appreciated.…
This week, we take a break from looking at career advancement and we focus on the "life" side of the work/life balance equation. While everyone has a different idea of what their non-work life should look like, ensuring that you have adequate time to spend on it will actually help your career. If work consumes all of your waking hours, no matter how much you enjoy it, you'll eventually face exhaustion and burn-out. Your health. When you're exhausted and your body is run down, you're more susceptible to illness or other conditions that could impact your ability to perform your job. Be sure to get adequate rest and proper nutrition. If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, look for ways to take a mental break. Your family. There's been a meme going around recently that more or less says "the only people who will remember that you worked late are your family". While family may be WHY we work, most people don't perform work that is so important that we shouldn't prioritize family. Does this mean that we need to spend as many hours with the family as we do on work? No. But it does mean that you should consider the impact to the family when spending extra hours on work. Relaxation and fun. Everyone should have some sort of escape that allows them to take a mental break from their job. The lists of possible activities is long, but just being able to change your focus away from work gives you a reprieve and allow your subconscious time to grind on any issues that you're facing. Health, family, and fun are the components of a balanced life. But how do you ensure that you have time to spend on them? Compartmentalize. The number one technique is to find a way to separate work from home. If you commute to work, use the transition to switch between home and work modes. If you work from home, try to isolate the area where you perform work and close it off as you end your day. If you receive notifications such as on your mobile device, try to turn them off or limit how often you review them. If necessary, create a schedule and make clear the lines between work and "life". Understand that your work is not *THAT* important. For most people, the output of their work is either directly or indirectly to generate money for the company they work for. If your project is late it isn't life or death and just results in less money for the company. When work is placing demands on you, try to negotiate how those demands are fulfilled. Can you work those overtime hours from home after your kids go to bed? Can you get extra time off at the completion of the project? Focus on quality. In any given work day, you only have 24 hours. If 8 hours are spent sleeping and 8 hours are spend working, that only leaves 8 hours left for commuting and eating and errands and "life". That's not going to be very much time that you have to spend on either your family or your hobbies. With what time you have, make sure you spend it well. Communicate. When the life side of your equation involves other people, check in with them often. Make sure they have a say in how work encroaches on THEIR time. When the work side of the equation is making additional demands, let them know when you have family commitments or what it "costs" in terms of your family relationships. It is possible to have a successful career and a healthy balanced life. So, this week, my call to action for you is to go out and have fun. Don't think about work. Be all in. If you have a family, include them. If you can afford to take a day or two off.…
Whether official policy or not, in many companies in order to be promoted, you have to have already begun doing the work of the next level. When that next level is a position of leadership, it isn't always easy to have that work line up with your daily duties but mentoring is a one way you can exhibit those leadership skills. Some mentoring relationships are focused on expertise; what you know about the job. In these instances, focus on less experienced team members or people outside of your group who are new to the field. You will be sharing your expertise to help them grow their skills and become capable of more advanced tasks As you help them learn and grow, concentrate on answering WHAT to do and not HOW to do it. This gives them more opportunity to figure things out and not just become reliant on you providing the answers. Your goal isn't to take on their work but to get them to a point where they are capable of being more independent in their duties and eventually taking on higher level work. Only when they are struggling, would you then give them the specific answer instead of guiding them to the answer. Another technique that can be used in this expertise based mentoring is being a sounding board. When your mentee encounters a problem, have them explain the problem and multiple potential solutions and explain why each one is a good choice or a bad choice. Along the way, challenge their assumptions, point them to educational resources, and push them to think more critically. Ultimately, they will learn to be more self-sufficient. For you, The benefit of this type of mentoring is that your peers will trust you more; not just the person you're mentoring, but other teammates, too. Your teammates will realize that explaining things to your mentee implies that you have a thorough understanding of it, leading them to respect your expertise. They'll also see you as someone who is a team player who is interested in the betterment of the team and not just looking out for themselves. An additional benefit is that your manager will recognize you as a leader and an expert. Another type of mentoring relationship is one focused on experience in the job, particularly your experience within the company or industry. This involves helping someone develop soft-skills and build relationships that can help them do their job better. This type of mentoring should focus on peers who are new to the company or new to the field. In these instances, look for opportunities to explain the nuances of processes that may be unfamiliar to your mentee. At a high level, most processes are similar from one company to another, but there are always distinctions such as which group owns a particular step or the order that steps are performed. Introducing your mentee to key players in the process and explaining how to best interact with them allows your mentee to borrow some of your status in order to complete those processes more efficiently. Another activity you might engage in with experience based mentoring is helping someone understand what it takes to advance in the job or the company. You can do this by sharing anecdotes and introducing them to decision makers. Additionally, you can share what actions are valued by the leaders or the organization which can lead your mentee to faster advancement. Regardless of what type of mentoring you engage in, use it as an opportunity to learn from your mentee as well. The questions they ask may help you revisit complexities of your job with fresh eyes. Maybe that can lead to opportunities to optimize a process. Experience based mentoring could give you a taste of some of the responsibilities of being a manager. Take the opportunity to expand your network through your mentees. Or maybe just get a positive feeling knowing that you helped someone else. Mentoring doesn't have to be a one-way relationship and there are many ways that you can benefit. There is a lot more to mentoring and this just touches the surface. If you'd like to discuss it further go to ManagingACareer.com and access the Community.…
An individual development plan is a document that YOU create and YOU own that documents how you'd like your career to progress. It's main purpose is to facilitate communication with your leaders on your career goals - both short term and long term - and the progress you are making on those goals. Once created, plan on reviewing its contents at least once per quarter in a one-on-one with you manager. The IDP consists of three major sections: The vision and road map; the assessment, and the action plan. And then, it wraps up with the Successes section that tracks your progress on the action plan as well as your overall goals. The first, and probably most important part of the IDP is the career vision. I like to call it the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" section. This part is a roadmap to your entire career. Start with the end goal in mind and think ahead as far as you can……when you retire from work, what sort of position will you hold…..where do you see yourself in 10 years……or maybe you can only see 2 or 3 years ahead? However far ahead that is, what sort of role will you have? Will you remain in an individual role or will you run a company or somewhere in between? Once you know the end goal, work backwards from that goal to your current position and determine what steps you need to take to get there. Sometimes those steps involve promotions, and others, it may involve lateral moves or job changes. That's really going to be dictated by where you are and where you want to be. This section is not about specific timelines, just about the stops along your journey how long you should be in each position before progressing to the next. Once you have set the vision, the next section is an honest assessment of where you are in your current role and how that compares to the next stop on your journey. This assessment is different from your annual review, and is focused less on performance but more on ability. Look at the responsibilities from the job description of your current role. Identify your Strengths and Competencies as well as Weaknesses, and Opportunities for improvement against those responsibilities. It may be helpful to solicit feedback from your trusted peers and leaders to help with this assessment. Once you have made the assessment against your current role, do the same exercise for your next role. Pay close attention to any weakness or opportunity that continues to be so for the next position. Also look for strengths or competencies that, due to changes in responsibilities, become weaknesses or opportunities. The third section is your action plan. After you have identified the areas of weakness and opportunity, create a set of actions to turn them into competencies or strengths. Focus on the areas that overlap between your current role and next role. Suggested actions would be trainings and types of assignments or participating in a mentoring relationship (either as a mentor or a mentee, depending on the skill being worked). Regardless, each action item should detail the activity to be performed, the weaknesses and opportunities that are being addressed, and a target timeline for completion. This would be a good time to speak with your manager about the items in your action plan to ensure that you are given time and assignments to progress on them. Any actions that do not align with your job duties may require you to seek opportunities outside of your working hours (such as attending night classes or volunteering for community projects in your area of interest). At this point, your IDP is complete in terms of content, but there is one more important section. Your Successes section. As you complete items in your action plan, celebrate them and move them from the action plan to the success section. As you progress to your next role, document that, too. Your Successes section is a good way to reflect back on the progress you've made from when you started your plan to today. Use this section as a way to remind yourself that progress is a journey and doesn't happen "overnight" and without hard work. Your IDP is a living document. You should revisit it at least once per quarter. Update your action plan and your successes often. As you progress through your career, reassess your strengths and weaknesses against your new responsibilities. If you decided to change your end goal either because you can see further ahead or you've changed your mind about where you want to go, that's perfectly fine, but update your vision. Nothing in this document is set in stone and you can update it whenever it's appropriate. Now that your IDP is complete, review it with your leaders. Use the action plan to help set your annual goals. Use it to negotiate project assignments. Get the support of leadership to help you reach the next stop in your career journey. If you would like a free IDP template, go to our website at ManagingACareer.com and fill out the contact form and mention the free IDP template in the notes. While you're there, feel free to ask career development questions or suggest show topics to be addressed in a future episode.…
If we look at your day to day activities, some of your tasks are process driven. They are driven by standard operating procedures (SOPs) that dictate what needs to be done. There may be associated flowcharts and decision trees which direct your thoughts on the task at hand. These tasks are necessary to the job. Other than "do or do not", there really isn't much control that you have. When you are new to the role -- either due to newly entering the field or being recently hired -- you're primarily focused on performing these tasks as detailed in the job description and these process driven tasks often consume much of your working time. When you're not working on process driven tasks, the other type of tasks you perform involve discretion and judgement. They typically involve creativity, problem solving, strategy, and decision making. There is no standardized approach that works in all cases. To perform these activities, you often rely on your education and experience. The more senior you are on the team, the higher percentage of your day is spent working on these higher level tasks. Your goal, in order to get ahead is going to be to figure out how to transition from doing primarily process driven tasks to working on these higher level tasks that allow you to shine and show your true capabilities. In the corporate world, there is often an unwritten rule that you have to perform the job before you're promoted to the job. By taking on the higher level tasks that your current role calls for, those around you will be better able to see the strengths that you bring to your role. This will put you in a better position for that future promotion. When you're early in your career, it may seem like you're so focused on these process driven tasks there's not a lot of opportunity for creativity, problem solving, strategy, and decision making -- the higher level tasks that lead to a promotion. One thing you can do is focus on the processes that you are responsible for. Is there room in that process to provide some efficiencies or streamline it in some way or some other optimization -- or adjust it to handle a case that hasn't been handled before. That's one way to showcase your problem solving skills. Alternatively, look for opportunities where other, more senior members of your team have so much on their plate that smaller decisions are falling through the cracks. Volunteer to take on these decisions showing that you are both a team player but also someone capable of taking on more than your current responsibilities. Even if your teammate has final say in the decision, by doing all of the leg work -- all of the research and analysis -- and providing a final recommendation, you'll have shown ownership and initiative…..qualities that will set you up for success. Another opportunity is to look for those smaller projects that noone is working on. If you have the bandwidth and flexibility -- especially if you've optimized your process driven tasks -- you can take on these smaller projects. Later in your career, you'll have made the transition from process driven tasks to higher level tasks, but the next question you have to ask yourself is "what scope and scale do the decisions I participate in have to the organization?" If those tasks are shorter-term focused and team level impact, those decisions are important, but your goal should be to look for tasks that have a wider, longer-term impact. One way that your decisions will have a bigger scale and scope is to be involved in tasks that are more important rather than urgent. Leave the urgent tasks for team members that are earlier in their career and looking for a chance to showcase their abilities. Urgent tasks tend to be more tactical in nature and the impact not long lasting. Once the urgent task is resolved and the urgency has passed, normalcy will return and the focus will shift back to important work. Important tasks might include projects that will improve processes, increase efficiency, or drive growth. Higher level tasks are often those that are most closely aligned with your organization's mission, goals, and values. By focusing on tasks that reflect your company's values, you can help create a sense of purpose and meaning for you and your team. As a manager or leader, your responsibility is to look for ways to bring higher level tasks to your team overall. Much like an individual, you're trying to grow and challenge your team by bringing bigger and bigger opportunities. Look for projects and engagements that will allow you to stretch the team, stretch their skills; challenge their capabilities -- helping them develop new skills and build their confidence. Find those projects that are more impactful to the organization and in doing so, you're going to get your team into a position where they can all advance. You can also look for opportunities to delegate your lower level tasks to your team. As a leader, your tasks have wider impact to the organization that the tasks of your team. Your responsibility to your team is to develop the team and help them advance along their career path, so by delegating less critical tasks to members of your team still gives them an opportunity to expand beyond their current scope and frees you up to focus on the most critical items such as finding higher level projects for to help the whole team grow. So, we've seen today that the focus should be on figuring out how to get a bigger impact; a bigger sphere of influence across the organization by transitioning from process oriented tasks to higher level tasks. I think that by doing that you should set yourself up for success and put yourself in a position to get that promotion when you're ready for it.…
Welcome to Managing a Career, I'm Layne Robinson. This podcast is aimed to help you navigate the path to professional success. Whether you're a recent graduate still searching for your place or a seasoned professional with years of experience, the knowledge and insights I will be sharing can show you how you can position yourself for growth and career advancement. I've been a software developer for multiple Fortune 500 companies and spent time in the software consultant world, too. The past few years, I made the transition to management and currently lead a team of over 40 developers across the globe. In my 30 years, one thing I've realized is that most managers spend the majority of their one-on-one time focused on project status and not on career development. It's usually left for the individual to figure out how to progress. I have found that I actually enjoy mentoring and coaching and my teams are consistently recognized as some of the top teams in the company. So, whether you plan on transitioning to management like I have or enjoy the "real" work too much to move away from an individual role, I'm sure to cover topics that can help you learn and grow. So, subscribe in your podcast player of choice and head over to ManagingACareer.com where you can access our community, submit show topic ideas, or use any of the other career development resources you'll find there. It's YOUR career and the only person who can take control of your career is you; no one else will do it for you. So, go out there and take charge of your career. For Managing A Career, this has been Layne Robinson.…
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