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Dilip Saraf’s Responses to ExecuNet Questions: Year-end Goals for Executives

Dec 5th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

These responses appear (launched with bolded phrases)  in the December issue of ExecuNet’s CareerSmart Advisor as a part of a bigger article to which Dilip contributed.
1. What are some organizational goals executives should focus on accomplishing before the end of the year? Should they revolve around team building, cost cutting, improving efficiencies?

By any standards, this year has been a whirlwind period with many sudden developments and some exciting changes. The financial headache that started late in 2008 came to full convulsion early this year with frozen credit to a point where even established businesses, which enjoyed AAA credit rating before, had to borrow cash from whatever sources available—as GE did from Warren Buffet’s personal account!—to keep their businesses financed. The new Obama administration brought with it its own excitement and anticipation—and uncertainty.

The result of these shifts was a major regrouping for most corporations, where they had to re-purpose themselves and put aside their carefully crafted yearly strategic plans just to deal with the tsunami. Now that the economy is on the uptick it is time to repair some of the damage that has been done as a result of this uncertainty and to revisit what they started a year ago to get back on track. The following is a checklist of what executives can focus on as the year comes to a close:
I. Most employees have been shell-shocked by witnessing the massive lay-offs of those around them and are facing “survivors’ guilt.” The managers who laid them off (and the HR people involved) are also suffering from “executioners’ shame!” Starting with the employees and managers it is a good idea to reassure them that better times are now ahead and that they should focus on serving the customer and that they should not worry about further lay-offs. This is an important step in stabilizing morale at the workplace.
II. Many companies ignored the customers during the tough times and got focused on cutting costs, reducing services, and treating customer as an impediment to their objectives. It is time to revisit that mindset and start repairing the damage caused by it. Everyone in the company must be reminded that they are in their jobs because of the customers and they must keep customers their top priority.
III. Many companies are working with minimal staff forcing those employed to put in inordinate hours just to keep up. Hiring additional help, even contract workers, will show that the company appreciates their extra efforts and is now ready to provide them some relief.
IV. Working with teams for finding avenues to make the entire organization more agile to deal with changes that cycle through economies, playing havoc if the organization cannot deal with them adequately. Agility is the next competency that all organizations are going to have to develop.
V. Providing employees some avenues of support for their own professional development—which was put aside for cost reasons during the year—must be brought back to develop loyalty and to increase employee value to the organization.
VI. Finding new ways to be more effective, not just efficient, to free employees from boredom at work and unleashing their creativity. Providing a work environment where repetitive and boring tasks are handled through automation and robust processes is one way to reward employees through better work environment.
Many of the initiatives that organizations undertake such as team building, cost cutting, quality improvement, and productivity enhancement, among others, as a reaction to changing environment must now be integrated in everyday workings as each employee’s habits. Managers must set up infrastructure, measurements, and provide incentives to make these habits a part and parcel of their job description. This is now required because the uncertainties that we saw in 2009 are going to be more of a norm than an exception. So, to deal with this every organization must have its act together to be able to succeed despite these uncertainties. The spirit of renewal must also suffuse through all executive actions as the year comes to a close. This will provide a reenergized outlook on the part of employees to rededicate themselves to their jobs in the coming New Year!

2. What are some individual goals an executive should now work to achieve? Do these include networking and other career management efforts?

On the personal front many executives suffered through a traumatic year because of their changed responsibilities during very tough times. In the processes their personal and family lives took a toll. The first order of business for most executives on their personal front is to bring back some balance to their work-life calculus. Work-life integration is a less stressful phrase to describe what must be achieved because work-life “balance” is almost impossible to achieve without causing stress by adhering to the very concept of balance.

The next priority is to build the friendships back and to nurture them where a good support system is once again available in times of crises. Networking with peers and professionals is the next priority. Because in these uncertain times you must have a strong network to land on your feet when going gets tough even for you.

If you feel burnt out and are looking for a career change this is the time to visit a career coach and get some guidance on how to pursue your passion to reenergize yourself and rededicate the next phase of your life to a new and exciting pursuit.

3. How can an executive best determine which goals deserve the most attention at this point in the year? How should he or she prioritize these goals, and perhaps designate some goals to instead work on in 2010?

The goals that deserve the most attention are those that allow you to keep your business going, especially because how little time is now left before the dawn of the new year. So, if the revenues are down and profits are suffering this year it is time to do some end-runs to achieve those goals to the best of your abilities. If your actions now will better position the business in the coming year it is time to focus on those so that as the new year approaches you are better positioned to move forward in earnest.

4. If these goals are related to tasks that executives don’t like or aren’t good at (and perhaps that’s why they haven’t accomplished them yet), what suggestions would you offer to help them get over their apprehension (or procrastination, if that is the true cause)?

Regardless of your affinity to doing a particular task or completing a favorite goal its importance to the success of your company must be well recognized. If there is a good correlation between completing the task/goal and the future success of the company then you must find avenues to completing that goal. Delegate the task, hire an expert, seek guidance, ask peers for help, find some inspiration from others who have completed similar tasks. You cannot afford to let your aversion to completing an important task get in the way of your company’s success. That is selfish and self-defeating. Besides, conquering something new by overcoming your aversion to a task that is abhorrent to you, but that which must be done as a part of your duty, is inherently rewarding!

5. Is now the best time to focus only on these goals or should executives also work on building (and attacking) a list of goals for 2010?

Time flows continuously. The yearly end of a business cycle is only for the accounting books and the Wall Street. So, if you have missed your numbers this year it is your duty to redouble your efforts to make-up for them in the coming year. Sometimes it takes a heroic effort to catch up before a deadline, but a lesser and more meaningful effort to make-up for missed targets over a longer period. So, keep the perspective and do not burn yourself out—and your organization—just to be a hero momentarily. Think long-term and save yourself—and your organization from burning out.

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Working with Difficult Colleagues

Aug 8th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

How to Make Points and Influence People

In your work life it is not uncommon to encounter colleagues, associates, and those around you who are unpleasant, even obnoxious, to deal with. Some display this trait overtly and others in more “subtle” ways. Such people have a tendency to bring out the worst in you and to even demean you in every interaction that they have with you. The ones that play this game in a more subtle ways come a slightly different flavor: they undermine you through their game-playing and through their backroom shenanigans.

You know within yourself that you are a reasonable person, who is willing to make an effort to get along harmoniously with the others to maintain good working relationships with those with whom you need to work, or even be regarded as a nice person to work with!

But, with some people—the difficult people—they operate on a principle that defies this civility. Their “operating system” is vitiated by their own imprinting and a self-centered yet cynical view of the world around them. Their modus operandi is to  bully you, intimidate you, manipulate others to get what they want without so much as even lifting their finger and take credit for what goes well and have an outward-pointed finger when it doesn’t! The worst part is that most people tip-toe around them so as not to raise their ire. Difficult people take delight in this response and treatment from those around them.

As you retreat home after a typical day when encounters with such people infuriate you, thinking of how you have been abused and demeaned beyond your ability to tolerate it, yet again, you reflect on how you might have responded, instead. As you are reaching home gnashing at the teeth and muttering all the things you should have said when this obnoxious person once again got the best of you, the same person is perhaps having a drink with your boss, talking about you, planting seeds for your removal from the scene!

This scenario is played out too often throughout the corporate world regardless of the size of an organization. It is estimated that nearly ten percent of the workers are difficult to work with-incorrigible-and of them, once again, nearly a fourth are diehard incorrigible! The interesting fact is that it takes only a few to create a toxic environment of suspicion, mistrust, and friction for an entire organization to function well below its capacity.

So, what is the remedy for such situations and those who perpetrate such situations?

The reason for the continuing nature of such behavior is that it is tolerated. Once uncivil behavior goes unchallenged the person exhibiting such behavior continues to behave in that manner because they enjoy being the bully. They get what they want, primarily because others abet this behavior and even perpetuate it by acquiescing to their often escalating abuse of others. Often, they rely on the fact that those who are subjected to such abuse often blame themselves for how they are being treated. The interesting effect is that such people develop their own circle of bullies who wreak havoc in an otherwise healthy organization. In such circumstances having more than a few who engage in such behavior legitimizes it and creates an aura of acceptability that shifts the behavior norms in the wrong direction for an organization that wants to behave in a harmonious way!

The root cause of why some people behave in this offensive manner is their communication style. Our communication style conveys to others how we wish to treat them in the way that we think of them. There are four distinct styles of communicators:

  • Aggressive
  • Passive
  • Passive/Aggressive
  • Assertive

Aggressive Communicators are driven by either anger or hostility. This can be either internal or external. In either case it does not matter where it comes from, but the way that it manifests is through the way they communicate with others. Their tone is often demanding, abusive, and demeaning, or sometimes, even condescending. The person with whom they are communicating usually feels intimidated by their language and its tone, and rather than confronting them about their behavior, they quietly truckle to their demands with the hope of avoiding any further interaction with them. Often, aggressive communicators succeed in creating the perception that if the person refuses their request or challenges them that they might explode and get out of control. This often helps them go unchallenged and results in their getting exactly what they want. In return, those around such aggressive communicators often shy away from them and keep their distance in their interactions with them. This is not a positive relationship.

Passive Communicators, on the other hand do not express their views. They quietly surrender to the situation and go with the flow just to get along. Passive communicators are often shy, easily intimidated, but are often hard working. They compensate for their inability to openly communicate by working harder than most and not making any waves when things seem to go awry. Passive communicators end up being time bombs that quietly tick away and explode in some insidious ways that surprise those around them. An extreme case of passive communicators is those that “go postal.”

Passive-Aggressive communicators use manipulation as a means of getting what they want. Rather than coming out openly and stating what is on their mind, passive-aggressive communicators often play games in achieving what they want. They will have hidden agendas; they usually get what they desire through insinuating, manipulation, and deceit. To those whom they perceive as insecure, such communicators use sarcasm to get what they want.

Assertive Communicators are interested in creating a win-win relationship. They first identify why the person with whom they are communicating would be interested in their proposal and then present it in a way that creates a positive opportunity for both. In such a dynamic assertive communication works even if the person “wanting” something from the other person is a superior and who does not need to use their positional authority to get their subordinates to do what they want. In such an exchange even the subordinate feels positive about the exchange! Assertive communication takes an effort to evaluate why the other person would engage in a meaningful exchange with them and then developing a strategy that makes it a reality. Both parties walk away feeling good in such a transaction.

In any organization there is a mix of communicators who belong to all these four groups. Dealing with any particular type of communicator will depend on the preference that the person communicating with them will display. Also, one person can display different dominant modes of communication style depending on a particular situation. The trick is to situationally evaluate what is happening to you and then take action so that you come out on top. This is a learned skill.

When you are dealing with an aggressive communicator the best strategy is to confront them and politely ask them in a language that you can deal with. If they are demanding or abusive, merely reminding them that there are better ways of asking what they are looking for and then asking them to repeat their request the way you expect is generally a good way to drive the point home. Smiling throughout this interaction always diffuses any ill-will the person may feel when you try this approach.

When you are dealing with a passive communicator, their body language speaks volumes on what they are really feeling about what is going on around them. Learning to read their body language and then confronting them usually works to your advantage. They typically do not expect anyone to challenge their thinking through the body language they unwittingly project.

Passive-aggressive people can be dealt with by looking at their past pattern of communication and behaviors and then confronting them when there is a potential for a conflict between what you want and how you expect them to react to what you want from them.

Once you begin to read how people communicate it is not difficult to codify their preference and then get them in the win-win mode by dealing with how you communicate with them.

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Guerilla Job Search

Aug 8th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

Introduction

Guerilla job-search methods employ non-traditional and highly leveraged approaches to go after an opportunity. Some of these can be considered as unconventional job search. Metaphorically, the guerilla job-search methods can be analogized to the oriental art of jujitsu, where speed, surprise, and strategic moves are used to overcome an opponent. In comparison, wrestling entails brute force and muscle power. The traditional job search can be compared to the art of wrestling.

The following discussion summarizes methods using a guerilla approach.

The Making of a Guerilla

Guerillas are generalists and not specialists. This characterization does not refer to your area of expertise—your content knowledge that makes your résumé. Rather, it refers to the mindset you adapt to your marketing campaign. You are required to become knowledgeable about a broad range of topics, well outside your domain knowledge, to be a successful guerilla. Guerillas think non-linearly but systemically¾backwards. This thinking involves from creating results to doing things that create those results. Since hiring decisions are made by humans, understanding how humans make decisions and the knowledge of their psychological make up are essential to the guerilla approaches in a job search.

The other aspect of a guerilla mindset is that guerillas do not approach their targets with a “shotgun” mindset. They use laser focus in how they approach the targets they chose, one at a time. One at a time does not mean something done serially. Several guerilla activities can be launched, maintaining them in their various stages of gestation, if one knows how to manage this activity. A shotgun approach is where someone interested in search of a job sends myriad messages—all generically crafted—hoping to hit some targets, not much different from the wrestling analogy already presented. They are often disappointed when their results are otherwise. Guerillas, on the other hand, pursue specific opportunities highly selectively, and then they embark on a campaign executed to a turn to get an offer that they want from their target, even though the job itself may not exist to begin with. Those who are after generating and measuring numerically governed campaigns (how many resumes sent, how many calls, and so on) are often at odds with the guerilla philosophy. After all, how many jobs does one need?

Although this backward thinking is at the heart of any guerilla strategy, their success comes from how they execute this strategy situationally: guerillas are tactical magicians and opportunists! One of the key aspects of guerilla tactics is how to translate emotional responses that result in “we want to hire you!” to a logical train of cause-and-effect tactics in each situation that interests them. Going back, a comparison between guerilla tactics for job search and the conventional approaches correctly suggests that the latter is a more methodical and brute-force approach, whereas the former as a mental game! Guerilla is a mindset. They must understand psychology.

Why?

Every a buying decision is based on some mind thinking that acquiring a particular talent or object and then executing that thought. But, to reach this mind, first, there must be a marketing message that gets its attention.  There are two types of marketing

  • Freudian Marketing
  • Skinnerian Marketing

Freudian approach deals with changing others’ attitudes (a mental act) about things and people so that they buy what is presented to them. This is an indirect approach to selling. The Skinnerian approach, on the other hand, is more direct and is based on the fact that you understand the behavior that results in acting the right way¾hiring you! This means saying, showing, or doing something that causes the employer you are interested in to hire you (a behavioral act)! This approach to marketing deals with hitting the target in the gut and approaching them viscerally once you have grabbed their attention cerebrally¾a more blunt and crude approach, but very effective. The Freudian approach, on the other hand, is based on appealing to the subconscious, the most powerful part of the person’s mind. If you can translate from the subconscious to the cerebral to the visceral, you can get action that much more quickly. One complements the other to create a final and right outcome—for you!

Thus, guerilla marketing combines both changing attitudes and behaviors in a quick way. It first impels the decision maker by creating a subconscious desire that quickly mobilizes into a mental prompt that, then, translates into a visceral act. This allows you to eliminate any competition you have potentially running for the same job.

One guerilla tactic may involve luring a potential employer to take a closer look at you, and then getting them to move to consider you a must-hire candidate. How can you lure a decision maker when there is so little interest (on their part) in a particular job? That’s easier than most realize. Researching the company, the department where you would land, and the job itself can shed a wealth of light on the situation. Looking at the business cycle the company is in, the market conditions, and general economy, it is not difficult to infer a forward-looking need that is not suggested in the job posting. Looking at the job trends and where the company needs to be in two-four years can yield interesting insights that can be presented in a cover letter. Similarly, a guerilla résumé also presents the message of value differently than a conventional résumé. Such résumés are about the target more than they are about the candidate.

Once you get their attention those on the hiring side can look at what you have to offer in a highly differentiated way because how you have positioned yourself. You can then intrigue them through the interviews to get to the point where it is between you and one more candidate. As you get to the offer stage if you sense some hesitation, you lure them by showing no interest in getting hired and suggesting that the employer does not appear ready to buy into the sophisticated approaches you presented. Now the employer moves in quickly to preempt the next move¾taking a chance on losing you. In the process you get hired immediately. This works more than most give credit for, and yes, it requires some guts and self-confidence! This is a classic guerilla tactic!

The following list is a partial compilation of some guerilla tactics that are effective:

  1. Always carry a business card with an intriguing tag line. Think of creating curiosity in the minds of those reading your card. Instead of saying “Jim Smith, Software Engineer” try “Jim Smith, Software Magician”
  2. When going to a job fair instead of taking your résumé, take that intriguing business card and explore the needs of the hiring managers. Send your response after you hear what they are looking for.
  3. Remember employers do not respond to just any job seeker; they’ll listen only to the jobseekers that draw their attention. Research a problem that when presented correctly hits them in the gut. Show that you not only understand their problem, but you know how to solve it! Now, you are the only candidate running for the job!
  4. If a company of interest is an “A” target, do not spare any efforts to research key factors and use that research in how you approach the hiring manager. Use a forward-looking outlook about the company’s needs based on your research and go beyond what the job description states to intrigue the hiring manager to contact you.
  5. For guerilla approach to work you must have the courage to tell the employers what you want them to do exactly. Lead them through the hiring process and what would get your interest.
  6. Employers do not hire bodies with skills that are in need for a job, they bring on board talent that creates value for them. If you can get their attention by articulating or suggesting value that even they have not thought about, you stand a strong chance of being noticed. Show your value and how it matches what the employer is trying to create for his company.
  7. Most decisions are made on emotions. Hiring decisions are no exception. Appeal to the emotions and then go for the kill with your iron-clad logic. This is the essence of the guerilla marketing.

There are many real-life examples of successful guerilla campaigns in the author’s The 7 Keys to a Dream Job: A Career Nirvana Playbook!

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You, Your Resume, and Your Message!

Jul 14th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

As the layoffs mount and as the job market gets tighter I often hear voices of frustration from my audiences when I speak before them. Most of my audiences consist of those working and looking for a change, those out of work looking to get back in, and often, those who are afraid that they are already on the chopping block, next in line for a round of layoffs!

When the question comes to marketing themselves, the most common refrain is that their resume does not get any attention or responses from their targets where they have sent it for consideration. When I ask them how they have constructed their message, I get puzzled looks and many sheepishly admit that they have merely documented what they have done in their jobs that they held to create a chronology of their past. By doing so, they have resigned themselves to continuing their past, albeit perhaps in a new role.

Herein lies the problem!

When the job market gets tighter hiring managers are looking for someone who can bring a new set of eyes and skills to the open jobs. Sometimes, the jobs do not even have to be open for you to be considered for a position. How? Not all jobs are identified in any company and many do not even know how they could structure new positions in a dynamic and uncertain economy to position themselves better. Here, you can define something that a company may be interested in and present it as an opportunity that the company can pursue to its advantage!

To be able to get such attention you MUST craft a message that is more than merely documenting your past and compiling an inventory of your chronological assignments in the past jobs. In fact, sometimes what you have merely done in the past can get in the way of your advancing yourself in a beneficial way.

How?

Unless you can show that you are much more than your past assignments you are consigned to the fate of all those who treat their resumes as merely a vehicle to document your past. This means that you want your future to be an extension of your past.

If you are lucky!

Why not command your own future with a message that is forward looking and that excites the reader to consider you as someone who is positioned differently from everyone else?

How is this possible?

The most dramatic example of this possibility is what Barrack Obama has done in his campaign. Here is a person who has barely got into his first Senate term, with little or no political experience, someone who has never drafted any significant legislation, who is from a minority community, who has admitted to using drugs, who has never served in armed forces, whose name raises doubts in some people’s minds about his origins and loyalties, and who has never had any executive experience. He systematically starts his campaign to run for the highest office in the country. With his current momentum I would not be surprised if he becomes our next president.

How did he do it?

  1. By focusing on the future and capturing people’s imagination. If he had relied merely on his resume (his past) he would not have got even to the first base!
  2. He told his story through his books and speeches. You can do that, too! Instead of writing dry bullets on your resume about what you boss told you to do and how you did it, tell your reader why you did what you did and how well you did it (a story of your leadership)
  3. Be persistent. Keep your message on target and do not waver from it. Capture the readers’ imagination by telling stories about your leadership and by showing what you can do that others cannot
  4. Separate your resume from your message (Barrack is the best example of this) and separate what you did from who you are. The resume is not about what you did but it is about the message that you want to send as to who you are!
  5. Be authentic in all that you convey and project. Without that authenticity all you have is a “campaign promise.”
  6. Keep tinkering. Keep your message fresh and relevant. Keep trying to gather feedback and update your message.
  7. Synchronize your message: your resume, your cover letter, your campaign, and your actions must all be in synch for others to believe in you!

No matter how tough the job market is there are always jobs and there are always opportunities that companies are trying to exploit. In fact, in tough times there are more opportunities than most realize!

Now go and conquer them!

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Mapping out Your Career and Making it Happen!

Jul 13th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there!”—Anonymous

A recent global survey of 16,000 professionals by a well-known consulting firm revealed that only about 14% of those employed are “in” their jobs; a vast majority, 86%, are “on” their jobs!

What does this mean? In simple terms this implies that a vast majority of those employed are merely working to earn a living, nothing more! This is a sad commentary on how we apply ourselves to a purposeful cause. Those who are truly passionate about what they are engaged in display a different attitude towards how they do their jobs. People around them can see their inner fire!

Why are so many professionals merely “on” their jobs?

It is perhaps because most lack a plan for their career. A vast majority of working people get to where they are by being more like a jellyfish! A jellyfish is one of the few creatures in the animal kingdom that does not have its own motive power. It merely floats in a body of water and lets the currents take it where they may. In the process the food that comes across its path is what it eats and survives!

Unconsciously or unwittingly many of those working appear happy being a jellyfish when it comes to their own careers. It is these people who go to bed thinking that their manager is lying awake wondering about how to advance their careers to help them grow!

Wrong!

Each person must take charge of their own career. The best way to do that is by taking stock of where you are now and what do you want to do with it. The next step is to seek some guidance from a career coach or a mentor and get going on a plan that can reignite your purpose in life!

Here are the steps that may help you get on track with your career plan:

  1. Do an honest audit of how happy you are about what you do. This will tell you if you are on a right path to seeking your purpose. If you come to the conclusion that the current job (not just where you are but anywhere you might do it) is merely a means of earning a paycheck with no means of energizing your being it is time to take some action. Soulful work energizes you even though you may be weary of it because of how much it demands of you! Do not confuse hard work with rewarding work.
  2. Draw a graph of where you are today (at the origin of X-Y lines intersecting). To the right on the time (X axis) draw key birthdays five years from today and so on, and on the Achievement axis (Y axis) write down the positions or goals that you want to achieve.
  3. Now take a significant birthday (say 40) and label that with a goal (or title) you want to achieve. Draw a straight line from the origin to this point.
  4. Now draw a series of steps from the origin to this goal and label each horizontal step with a sub-goal that will take you to the final goal you just identified (at 40). This will now tell you how you can achieve that goal in a finite number of steps.
  5. Write down an action plan for each horizontal step (sub-goal) and the actions you must undertake to realize that sub-goal. Also write down what must you undertake to overcome any obstacles to achieving the sub-goal (for example, to get a Project Manager job, I must get PMP Certification).
  6. Collaborate with a buddy on a similar plan and share theirs with yours. Help each other with their goals and actions to keep each person accountable.
  7. Seek the career coach’s help again in finalizing your plan and see that they (or some mentor at work) will guide you through your plans. This is yet another touch point for your plan to become real
  8. Check progress as you navigate through this plan of action and make corrections as needed.
  9. Proactively seek opportunities to get to the sub-goals on your map and approach higher-ups in your company on how to make that a reality. You can always find avenues to propose new initiatives that will give you the opportunities that you are looking for.
  10. Make adjustments to your plan as things change, but never abandon your plans for moving forward.

The word “career’ is also a verb and it means speed in a course. See if you can use this metaphor to put your career in high gear and get moving to attain your “full speed!”

Good luck!

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If You Can’t Reinvent Yourself, Reinvent Your Career

Jul 13th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

Much is written about reinvention and reinventing yourself to re-invigorate or even reignite your career. Well, the advice is often simple but implementing it is not always easy! In many cases a complete reinvention takes three years to develop full traction in the new career. In my own case I have completely changed five careers and I have witnessed the three-years of blood, sweat, and tears before knowing if the change was going to work for me! Often, people cannot wait that long before discovering that the new career is NOT for them!

A simpler–and easier–way to reinvent is to reinvent your career or your job! What does mean? It simply means that you redefine what you do on a day-to-day basis to reenergize your work. It is much easier than your reinventing yourself and it takes much less time. In this economic downturn making a preemptive move to redefine what you do may, in fact, be a smarter way to keeping your current job! If you agree, here are the guidelines:

  1. Do a careful audit of what you do and what needs really doing. Often, people keep doing what they did before to continue their activities and pretty soon they become part of the scene! If you look at how you create value in what you do and extract those parts that provide value to the next link in the value chain, then you have identified the pith of your work. Doing this with priority can often energize your work. Find meaning behind what you do!
  2. Approach your boss and discuss the different aspects of your work. Then develop an understanding that you would change your priorities to accommodate the high-value work and slowly wean from “busy work.” If your boss agrees with your assessment you are on to the next step of actually getting assigned to that work!
  3. In these tough economic times those who are not doing high-value added work are going to be the first to be shown the door. If you are ensconced in the right work mix, then it is less likely that you would be on the layoff list.
  4. Surround yourself with those who exhibit positive attitude and energy. At any place of work there are always the whiners. In tough economic times these whiners (Debbie-the-downers!) often congregate and are the source of vicious rumors that spread quickly through their own network. Stay away from such naysayer and surround yourself with those with a healthy outlook.
  5. Volunteer for jobs that are not getting done but those which are essential to the company’s success. These jobs are often customer-centric activities that do not get measured in many departments because their job is to make the widgets regardless of what the customer really wants. By taking on such important jobs you have made your company more market worthy and customer-centric.
  6. Take credit for your work by sending memos and acknowledging others who helped you achieve success. Send these emails to the higher-ups so that others know your contributions. Do not just assume that because you volunteered and did some thankless job that you’ll be given credit. You must claim it!
  7. Look for work that is similar to what you do in departments that are closer to the customer. For example, if you are a Failure Analysis technician, taking in the reports of failed parts from the customer, see if you can work in the customer support department that talks to the customer to solve their problems on an ongoing basis. Even in tough time customers are not going to disappear and a company cannot afford to ignore customer-facing needs.
  8. Make yourself visible by attending company events and where customer-facing events are held. Once you are seen by the executives as someone who is doing a customer-facing job, you are not likely to be “surplused.”
  9. Come up new ways of doing your job and share that knowledge with others to get them to support you. Once you develop a coterie of followers you’ll be seen as a thought leader and are less likely to be “surplused.”
  10. Act and look powerful. If you keep positive attitude others will assume that you are doing something important. This is called the law of attraction and it works well. Keep smiling, even when you do not know what you are doing!

Re-energizing your job in tough times is not that difficult. You just need to adjust your attitude to transform your perspective about your job and it is quite easy to do as you just saw. Now, go and do it!

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Want to Get Noticed: Some Simple Tips that Differentiate You!

Jul 12th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

Looking for a job is tough even when times are good. In a deteriorating economy it provides new challenges. But, then it also provides you new ways to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd. As a career coach I repeatedly encounter some behaviors that get in the way of clients being seen favorably by those who encounter them. Here, I am not talking about your job knowledge or your ability to overcome adverse chemistry with the hiring manager, but I am talking about many simple things that can make you stand out from the crowd. Here is a list:

  1. Always write a great cover letter in response to all “A” jobs that you want to pursue.
  2. Send your response in the required manner (Website, email, or whatever they have stated in the job posting) and, in addition, send it by some differentiated way to the hiring manager (US Mail, FedEx). You can even have it forwarded to the hiring manager internally through someone you know.
  3. Follow-up after a week and remind the hiring manager of the way you had delivered the response (“My package had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on top”). It is a memory jogger!
  4. When you send an email (to anyone) make sure that you completely identify yourself. It is best to have your complete name, email address in parenthesis next to your name, phone number, and even a clever tagline that defines you! This way if the recipient wants to call you right after they get your email they can simply pick up the phone and contact you. Even as a career coach I get over 300-plus emails every day. The ones I respond immediately are the ones with all these parameters I just listed. Others, I wait until I have time to look up who they are and their contact information. Hiring managers receive much more traffic because their regular job is not just to hire people! Make it easy for them to contact you
  5. Make sure that you have a personal greeting on your voice mail. Most have their mobile devices as their primary contact point. Most of these devices, too, come with a generic greeting identifying just the telephone number and nothing else, in a robot-like voice. Take the time to record your own personal greeting in your own voice and completely identify yourself. I cannot even tell you how many times when I call a telephone number that I get this generic greeting, leaving me to wonder if reached the right person or I simply misdialed. Not doing this makes you look lazy; not a good thing!
  6. When you have the first phone (or subsequent) interview try using the land line. Mobile connections are notoriously unreliable and you may lose key parts of your conversation with the interviewer. Even portable or cordless phones are not a good choice because they are noisy and can dropout when the power is out.
  7. Always send a thank you note after each interview (even phone). The note should also have some additional points about the interview to fortify your position.
  8. For important interviews send thank you notes by Mail. This is so rare that people will remember you, just for that!
  9. Do not leave an interview without knowing what the next steps are and holding that person accountable. “So, if I do not hear from you on Monday, I plan to call you on Tuesday. What is a good time?”
  10. Be positive, enthusiastic, and cheerful during each encounter. Even on the phone it is easy to “read” a person’s mood on the other end.

It is not that difficult to incorporate all of these habits into your life! Try them all and see how much difference it makes in how people respond to you!

Good luck!

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Handling a Referral in a Job Search!

Jul 12th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

As a career coach I have well-placed clients who are in executive positions at prominent companies in the Silicon Valley and elsewhere. I also have an extensive network on LinkedIn carefully cultivated over the years, which is my stock-in-trade.  So, when a client is looking for an opportunity at a company where I have some inside connection(s) I am always happy to introduce them to each other and let them take it from there.

The other day, an up-and-coming executive client was interested in getting into a growing company that has made a big name in the Valley and that had an open position that he was very interested in. I also had a senior executive at this company who has been my client and who was willing to help him navigate through the “entrance gate.” So, after I made the email introduction to them, I was hoping that the right things would transpire.

Well, they did not!

Without looking up the senior executive’s background, my client, who was in transition, sent him a short email asking him to look up both his LinkedIn Profile and the job that was open (of several) at his company, hoping to get a favorable response through this action. I was, of course, not aware of this and was quite surprised—and annoyed—when the senior executive suggested to me that my other client needed to be coached on how to handle such requests gracefully.

That got me thinking: How many times prospecting clients blow their introductions because they do not follow the most well-understood introduction etiquette, and not even know that they blew it; big time!

This etiquette requires that the person seeking a favor look up the contact and assess the tone in which he must handle the request, and all subsequent communication.  Showing proper respect and consideration, the supplicant must show enough care so that they ingratiate themselves with the contact to help them get what they are seeking, making them feel good for having done a beneficial deed. This is the social lubricant that keeps the moving parts moving without squeaks. Doing so reflects well on the person who made the initial introduction in the first place, too!

In this specific instance, my client in transition should have been graceful in his initial contact and should have shown adequate respect for the inside contact to get what he wanted. Such opportunities are often a gateway into your personality and in how you handle matters that deal with building and sustaining important relationships. Consistent with this behavior was that the client whom I introduced did not even send me note of thanks for making this introduction!  That is the last time I am going to introduce him to anyone else, unless he takes the coaching I gave him after this incident to heart!

So, those engaged in businesses that rely on introductions to other people to pursue their cause, please be mindful that, often, it is you that are making it easy for others to reject you!

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Driving Your Own Career

Jul 11th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

“You don’t know how far you can you until you go too far”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Most professionals believe that their manager has the responsibility for advancing their career! In fact some are under the illusion that their managers often lie awake at night wondering about how to promote their employees’ careers and how to make worth their while!

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Most employees (about 80% of them!) let their careers “happen” to them. This attitude of surrender or resignation occurs early in life. Their parents tell them what they should pursue; their neighbors influence them to think about what they missed out on; their professors inveigle them to pursue an exciting research idea, and so on. As a result many undertake a path in their careers which might be different if they had spent some time contemplating about how to pick the right path and what really excited them.

It is often true that early in life such insight may be difficult to get. Those who are lucky enough to have such insights and have the conviction of their beliefs about what they want to do when they grow up often make their dream a reality by their perseverance and by their hard work. But, what about the remaining 80% who resign themselves to be led in their careers by their fate, their destiny, and the vagaries of those in the immediate clutch of others?

It is not as hopeless as it may sound. Why? Opportunities abound at any time and many are there just for the asking. The fact is that most do not feel compelled to see the opportunity that is not manifest, take some risk, and follow their own will to own it. In any organization there are many opportunities that lay dormant because no one either sees them or that they do not have the courage to take their ownership to lead them to fruition. Most wait for their managers to present just one such opportunity as a gift as they await its arrival! With this approach you are controlled by the politics of the place, organizational vagaries, and managing your perception at levels that matter.

Managing perception is one of most challenging factors in one’s career. This includes not just merely doing great work, which is a prerequisite to moving ahead, but also how others perceive what you have done and are doing. Most assume that if they do good, honest work, people around them will take notice and remember their contributions. Alas, it does not always work this way in organizations, where people foist their agendas and cut down others who get in their way. Managing perception entails managing upwards and downward how other perceive what you do. This takes work and diligent effort.

Much of this can be trumped if you seize a compelling opportunity, make a case for it in the right circles, and show leadership in how you can shepherd it to take the organization in a different or new direction. Such initiative, regardless of its ultimate success, can propel a career to far greater heights more quickly than the endless politicking, posturing, perception managing, and making yourself visible.

So, to summarize my mantra for career advancement, the following list may help the self-initiated put their career in high gear:

  1. Identify what your next career stop is and find out what requirements must be met to claim that position. Proactively ask for assignments that provide you the opportunity for these skills.
  2. Prepare your resume ahead of time for the promotion you are seeking and find out how you can get such assignments under your belt. Don’t wait; ask!
  3. Uncover what is not happening and what the customer is experiencing. Do not wait for marketing or for the results of the latest survey to glean this information. Go out and talk to the customers, even though you may be someone far removed from such experiences.
  4. Propose a project or an initiative that will bring about the right change and transform the customer experience. Lead the effort, and, when completed, send out an announcement stating what you have achieved.
  5. Collaborate with upper management and work with those around you to flesh out what needs to be done that will change the status quo.
  6. Team up with others and see their help in improving things and give them credit for their initiative and help.
  7. Check your own market value by updating your resume and responding to jobs that are a step up
  8. Attend shows, conferences, and trade events to make yourself visible. Promote your brand relentlessly.
  9. Work on a time table for your advancement and let your boss know what you are seeking. It is amazing that simply stating what you desire and working towards it can get you what you are after.
  10. Help those below you to advance as you want to be helped in your own advancement. The law of good karma works universally!

Career advancement is NOT a mystery. You can drive your own career to destinations that you choose!

Good luck!

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Why Just Your Raw IQ Does Not Cut It Anymore?!

Jul 10th, 2009 by Dilip Saraf

When we were growing-up your intelligence (IQ) was your main asset: Your parents touted you for how much smarter you were than your siblings, in spite of the fact that this invidious comparison rubbed your siblings the wrong way and that they resented you for it; in school you were the first to raise your hand when the teacher threw a curveball question to the kids. This sense of superiority about yourself lasts as long as the role the IQ plays in what you do counts more than anything else. School work and getting your degree with top grades directly relate to your IQ scores. In fact, the correlation between high IQ and good grades is over 95%!

But, wait! What happens to these Mensa kids after they enter their careers and start earning a living based on their natural gift? Studies have shown that despite the high correlation between IQ and grades the correlation between IQ and success or even achievement is much lower—20%!

Why is that?

As you come in contact with the realities of living, other “Intelligences” increasingly play a greater role in your success. There are five different intelligences that go in shaping a person’s ability to deal with life’s challenges:

  1. Raw Intelligence (IQ)
  2. Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
  3. Political Intelligence (PQ)
  4. Cultural Intelligence (CQ)
  5. Contextual Intelligence (XQ)

In the scheme of things each factor contributes about equally to how we successfully deal with our own challenges. Now it is easy to see why the correlation between success in life and your IQ is about 20%!

Let’s briefly discuss each one.

1. Raw Intelligence (IQ): This is our divine—natural—gift and we are born with it. No amount of efforts you expend after your birth will help you improve your IQ. This is why it is so much harder to compete with anyone in matters that require superior intellect, no matter how hard you try. Academic and analytic problems need application of raw intelligence to their resolution. This is why highly intelligent and gifted individuals migrate to academia.

2. Emotional Intelligence (EQ): This intelligence is a nurtured quality. It has to do with how you relate to other human beings, not things (as IQ does). EQ itself has five components: Awareness of self, Self control, Motivation, Empathy, and Communication. Each of these attributes can be learned in dealing with others. Since success in life depends on your ability to getting things done through others EQ become increasingly an important factor in your success as you start relaying on cooperation from others for your achievements. This is not the case in school, where you alone could do the test or your homework using your raw intelligence.

3. Political Intelligence (PQ): This element is driven by how “politic” you are in dealing with others and in protecting their agendas. Politic means shrewd; if you show shrewdness in managing, contriving, or dealing with matters on hand when teaming with others you have high PQ. In the corporate world PQ plays a major role in how you move in the right circles.

4. Cultural Intelligence (CQ): This intelligence comes from being aware of how different cultures and those who come from them deal with each other with other cultures. In the increasingly global economy high cultural intelligence has become a main requirement for business success. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell cites stories of planes crashing because the crew did not have enough understanding of cultural differences between how the language exchange took place between the pilot and the control tower and among the crew members themselves.

5. Contextual Intelligence (XQ): Contextual Intelligence is an integrating quality that prompts you to know which intelligence is germane in what situation. XQ allows you to use the right “intelligence” in a given situation to create the desired outcome. It is often context-based and is a learned skill, as are the preceding four counterparts.

Now that you know the relative importance of IQ in dealing with your life’s challenges I hope that you ease up on yourself because of your moderate IQ and focus on working on the other four to get to where you want to go!

Good luck!

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