“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!

Bravo, Katie!

Now, what about you?

We, as professionals, come to similar realizations throughout our career. Many do not admit that they have reached their end of shelf life at their job, as they get growingly comfortable in their own situation. A job becomes stale, a career becomes stalled, or one fails to see beyond the next promotion to where their career is headed. It is easy to be seduced by the “security” of your job, the ongoing increases in salary, and even an occasional promise of a promotion to keep your nose to the grindstone. Over the past decade, the job market has become increasingly volatile and jobs are getting re-defined, Banglored, and even eliminated resulting in an increasingly nervous job market. So, what is one to do to keep their career momentum on track and to keep themselves productively employed?

The following prescription may help those who are determined to keep their career on track and their job engagement fresh:

1. Look back in your current job and see how you have grown in the past two or so years. If you are not getting a new perspective and are not learning something new every day, then you are not fresh in your job anymore; you have reached the end of your shelf life.
2. Do not confuse the annual reviews and the raises you get with the learning and growth that you derive from your job. If you do what is assigned to you with your eyes closed, then your company is obviously impressed by your performance. So, merely getting high marks on your annual review does not mean that you are deriving the personal and professional growth that is critical to your ongoing marketability.
3. Look around and see what opportunities your company is missing out on and identify how you can re-scope your job or even re-define it, by sitting down with your manager and making it work for you. If your manager is not willing to give you that latitude, find other areas in your company that can use your initiative and skills to make a better name for itself in the marketplace. In such endeavors, having a first-hand customer input can be a selling point.
4. Look at the job openings in your industry and see how your competitors are filling similar positions. If comparable jobs require skills that you do not have, then you must learn those skills in your current job and make yourself more marketable.
5. Write your resume to address the skills that are required at other companies and then seek assignments that make those entries a reality. This is a proactive approach to career management.
6. Once you have identified the work that you want to be doing to continue your growth at your own company, it can take several months to realize that assignment. Each passing month makes you that much more stale in your current job. So, do not wait.
7. If you are gutsy, go ahead and position yourself beyond what is logically feasible. So, if you are manager in your job with enough savvy, but not the required experience, to fill a director-level position, go ahead and apply to where such an opportunity exists. Even if you do not meet all the requirements, neutralize the objections by presenting in your cover letter, forward-looking job skills that you bring to the position and ace that opportunity.

   In one example, my client, a senior IT professional, who was not quite “ready” for a CIO’s job, sent her resume with a cover letter addressing how the emerging trend of Software As a Service (SaaS) was going to change IT’s role in the next two years. She was able to articulate how IT’s role was going to shift with this change and how the company needed to prepare itself to empower the line and business managers to deal with this reality. She got invited to the interviews and the selection process is currently underway. Without such a message in the cover letter, she may have been passed over for the selection process because she lacked the number of years required at the executive position.

8. Do not let your “friends” undermine you in your pursuits. If you believe that you have the abilities to claim a job that is a step up from where you are now, go ahead and claim the job. You’d be surprised how, having a single-minded focus and determination can conspire to deliver the outcomes that you desire.
9. The only limit to how far you can go is your own limiting beliefs. So, if you are feeling stuck in your current position, check your limiting beliefs.
10. Do not be afraid to fail or get a setback. This is a good sign; it means that you have discovered when you have gone too far. As Emerson said, “Your reach should be greater than your grasp.” Do not confuse a setback with an obstacle; a setback can be a stepping stone. Only when you give up trying after a setback it becomes a failure.

Managing your own career today is mostly in your hands and you must proactively look for opportunities that may not be apparent to many around you. You must act as an entrepreneur in today’s environment and realize what others are missing.

Katie Couric’s evening news is not doing very well these days, after the initial fanfare wore off. Yet, she continues to re-invent how the evening news can be presented to the audience, with a soupcon of raillery and entertainment. Is she going to bounce back in her ratings? No one knows, but Katie is having the time of her life. And, so can you!

]]> http://blog.dilipsaraf.com/2009/06/katie-couric-and-your-job%e2%80%99s-shelf-life/feed/ 0 http://blog.dilipsaraf.com/2009/03/managing-upward-managing-your-boss/ http://blog.dilipsaraf.com/2009/03/managing-upward-managing-your-boss/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:54:00 +0000 Dilip Saraf http://blog.dilipsaraf.com/?p=88

“If you do not manage your boss, she cannot manage you!”—Anonymous

Managing your boss appears like an irony! Why? Most assume that it is the boss’s responsibility to manage you. Yet, Dilbert is the most widely syndicated cartoon strip that almost anyone who has worked in the corporate jungle can relate to in how they deal with their boss.

Why, then, is managing your boss such an important part of a job? One reason is that today’s role the boss plays is very different from the one they played during our parents’ time. With telecommuting and departments dispersed around the world your boss’s responsibilities are now very different as are their priorities. Under these conditions it is easy to fall victim to the “Out of sight, out of mind” syndrome!

If you feel that you are maundering through your job, getting no where, especially with your own boss, then you must become aware of how to manage your boss. Worse yet, if your boss is undermining your efforts and you are at the risk of losing your job, not because of what you did or did not do, but because of what your boss did, then you must awaken to a new reality.

Before taking for granted what your boss is going to do for you, or if you feel unappreciated, frustrated, dumped on, or set up for a fall, ask yourself these questions:

• What is my goal with this particular job or assignment?
• What is my superiors’ agenda and what is their style of managing?
• How will they know the real contribution I have made in advancing their agenda?
• What must I do to work within their framework so that I can be viewed as a valuable contributor without compromising my values?
• What can I do to rise above my colleagues to make a positive impression on my chain of command?
• If I stay and commit myself to the current job, what can I do to help myself and to help my boss to succeed?
• If I decided to move on how can I prevent getting into a similar situation—or even worse—with my next boss?
• Can I change my boss? (Ha! No one has changed anybody)

The following list is provided to help those who wonder about the process of managing their boss:

1. Have an initial meeting with your boss as you come on board (or if you get a new boss midstream).
2. If you have not had such a meeting to begin with, it is never too late to have one.
3. In this meeting clearly lay out roles, responsibilities, expectations, measurements, rewards, and deliverable. Boss’s role and responsibilities must also be made clear in this meeting.
4. If you are in a matrix organization with two (or more) bosses, make sure that you keep them in the loop. Have individual meetings regularly. If you do not agree with the way things are going with the project boss (the one to whom you are assigned) meet with your functional boss (the one who writes your reviews and manages your salary) and get their support.
5. Agree on a scheduled reporting structure and the method of reporting. A weekly summary of progress and issues can be sent to the boss by email every Friday afternoon. If any items need attention or help, they must be at the top of this short message that is more in a bulletized form than as a long narrative. Also, it should be presented as an exception report than as a status report.
6. Under promise and over deliver. Move from managing expectations to managing excellence.
7. Periodically meet (or you can also have a cyber meeting) with your boss and ask for their ongoing agenda and how they are driving it. Ask how you can help in their success and show how you have been helping them already. Do not assume that because you work for them that they already know this.
8. It is not unusual that your boss will act so busy that there is never time to get together. In that case send an email and calendar a meeting. If the boss ignores it call and leave a voice mail and, failing a response, write a follow-up note. Check with your peers to see if they are having a similar experience. If the boss continues to ignore, inform your boss that you are going to get in touch with HR and the boss’s boss. Wait a few days and then “meet” with them to show them your notes. Better yet, let the HR representative take care of this. By choosing to take this route, however, you have compromised your relationship with your boss.
9. Without getting personally close to the boss, develop a relationship of trust and respect. The ideal relationship is when the boss comes to you asking for help in shepherding their agenda or just comes and chats with you when they are having a difficult day.
10. Every quarter schedule to have a substantial meeting (1-2 hours) with your boss. Going out to lunch is a good way to conduct such a meeting. Treat your boss to a nice lunch.
11. If you get a chance to spontaneously compliment your boss for something that they have done well, bring it in a meeting with their superiors and comment on that achievement. Nothing is more gratifying to a boss than when a subordinate conveys to their superiors their great work! Such occasions can quickly change your boss’s view of your relationship with them in a very positive way. Just make sure that the compliment is genuine.
12. Figure out your manager’s blind spots or weaknesses. Collaborate with them to neutralize those weaknesses so that your boss looks good to their chain of command.
13. If you do not agree with your boss’s stand or views on an issue, do not contradict them in a public meeting, especially when superiors are present. Even if they are not, someone in the meeting will rat on you to elevate themselves.
14. Volunteer to take on jobs that your boss avoids.
15. Request a formal acknowledgement of your contribution from those who benefited from it, especially when they volunteered that information as a compliment. Ask those who can influence your chain of command with inputs about you that can set the tone of your future course of work at the employer. Asking for something in writing to be sent to your chain of command is never a bad idea. It is how you ask that sets the tone of how people respond to it. Also, acknowledging someone, whom you want, in turn, to acknowledge you, can work wonders, both ways.
16. Engage in “straight talk” with those who are undermining your efforts to make things better.
17. Keep your boss informed about what you know is happening around your own circle of awareness. Do not assume that your boss knows what you know. Although gossiping or spreading rumors should not be what you have to resort to, if there is some trouble brewing that affects your boss, keeping your eyes open and then communicating what is happening to your boss can only help your relationship.
18. Focus on the organization and place its agenda ahead of yours or your boss’s. Always keep the big picture in mind in every action you take.
19. If you are expecting a child or are pregnant wait until a few months before the child is due to announce it to your boss. If possible do this in person.
20. If a task or the job itself does not work out, do not personalize the failure. May be changing the place of work is your best option. Find ways to put the best face on what you have done and honestly discuss with your boss what might be done better. Move on with a positive outlook, without blaming anyone, especially your boss.
21. If your boss sees you as a threat because, perhaps, you are an overachiever or that you have more to offer, slow down and see if you can collaborate with others, including your boss, to improve the situation. If this does not work move on.
22. If your boss is like Dilbert’s they are riddled with insecurities and self doubts. Do not openly challenge them or threaten them, this makes their insecurities worse. Because of the power they hold they can make you pay for your criticism.
23. Always show respect for your manager’s position, if not for them personally. Remember, they are the manager and hold the power of employment over you!
24. In today’s world, every employee is expected to do more. Always be on the look out for learning something new and increasing your value to your boss and the organization.
25. Avoid going around your boss to their superiors. If you must or that if it happens because the superiors initiate it, make sure that your boss is immediately apprised of this and the circumstances. When this happens do not get ahead of yourself by undermining your boss.
26. Find out what your boss does for fun, charity, or hobby. If you can connect that way, it is always a plus.
27. It is a good idea to explore your boss’s Type by directly asking and then looking at how you can manage your interaction. For example if your boss is ISTP and you, an ENTJ, then make sure that when you present an idea, go with data (she is an “S”), do not force a decision (she is a “P” and you a “J”). Such strategies generally work well to increase your “compatibility.”
28. Remember: An ounce of loyalty is worth more than a pound of cleverness!
29. Act positively and smile often. People often wonder about those who smile and it annoys other enough to make it worth your while.
30. If all of this sounds basic, it is. But, how many do not follow this simple prescription and suddenly get surprised by a “Notice of Concern” or a sudden and unexpected termination or a layoff?

This article addresses the age-old problem of how to position yourself for that promotion that you so richly deserve and to get the title that will make you proud! The following suggestions may be helpful for those who need to know how to navigate through the promotion maze.

Be clear why you need the promotion. If you merely want a fancier title on your business card for prestige, you may not really need a promotion with all its responsibilities. Likewise, if you want to be promoted solely to earn more money, that, too, is a different matter. Either of these parameters can be more easily accommodated than a job promotion.

1. If you want a “fancier” title, see if you can negotiate with your boss to get it just for your business card. Some companies allow their employees multiple titles: a person functioning as a senior software engineer may be responsible for a project or a program. See if your boss will let you get business cards with “Program Manager” as your title.
2. Career professionals often underestimate the demands of a promotion. Before the promotion, everything is viewed through rose-colored glasses. In most cases, responsibilities increase exponentially with authority, and those who do not see the liability that it can create often lament the promotion. Then they look for ways to revert to their previous status – a difficult move that can damage an otherwise good career.
3. Before pursuing the promotion, visualize yourself performing the job that the promotion offers-not in the way the incumbent is doing it now, but the way you would do it. This may place unexpected demands on you that may shift your work-life balance to your detriment. Carefully review the implications of that shift.
4. A well-written quote by Emerson is often a good reminder when contemplating a promotion: We judge ourselves by what we are capable of doing; others judge us by what we have already done!
5. In promoting someone to the next level, the employer is taking some risks. It is best to evaluate what potential risks the employer perceives in your case. This can be done with a discussion with your manager. Not all risks will be openly discussed. But, the ones that are discussed must be addressed in a serious vein. Asking your manager what you need to change to assure that you are aware of the risk, and are willing to work on it to mitigate it, can be a good start.
6. If you want to be promoted to the next level with its title, then you must make that intention clear to your manager and state why you deserve the promotion. Your argument should be based not on mere performance superiority, but on how your being at the next level will benefit the company. Find out what makes for an effective candidate in that position and start being that person well before you start making a case for the promotion. It is much easier for your boss to formalize your role if you are already functioning in that capacity. This role-assumption has to do with the strength of your leadership, not your ability to bully those around you. The best kind of promotion is that which, when announced, does not surprise anyone.
7. Those who are considered for a promotion (especially at executive levels) display a good balance between the “three Qs.” The IQ, your Intelligence Quotient, pertains to your job skills  and content knowledge. The EQ, your Emotional Quotient, describes your self-awareness and how you relate to others. The PQ, your Political Quotient, is your ability to deal with critical situations. PQ has little to do with playing politics.
8. A related issue is your self-image. This is the package that you represent. If you consider yourself worthy of being part of the group to which you will belong, once promoted, you must be able to identify with their common characteristics and represent those norms. You cannot be an aberration. Senior executives often retain image consultants to help them.
9. One key factor in promotional consideration, especially at higher levels, is your ability to conduct effective meetings and to persuasively articulate your views. If you find this daunting, you may have to wait until you are able to master this skill. Public speaking and effective communication are related skills. Joining Toastmasters International, or participating in a communications workshop, can be a good way to learn how to do this well. Your company may already have such courses available for you!
10. While you are positioning for the promotion, do not lose sight of your current responsibilities. You must deliver on your commitments in addition to playing the higher role until your promotion is formalized.
11. When you are positioning for the promotion, do not forget that you will continue to need your colleagues’ support in your new role. If you trample their sensibilities in the rush to get your promotion they can easily sabotage your success once you get there. This can be career suicide.
12. If you are currently able to “lead” your peers, you already are being seen as their leader. Do not bully them to exert your will. That will backfire.
13. The best way to get into your boss’s job is to move them up. For them to move up, you must make them look good to their superiors. Openly discuss with your boss what you might do differently to make this happen. Develop a highly trusted relationship with your immediate superiors.
14. Increase your visibility throughout the organization and the company. Attend outside events that showcase your company. Present at some well-attended conference or event, or moderate a panel with industry leaders. Volunteer to participate in activities where higher-ups normally gather, and mingle with them with effortless ease.
15. One of the most difficult promotional “rungs” is moving up from being an individual contributor to a first-level manager. Most professionals assume than doing a great job in their role as an individual contributor entitles them to that all-important promotion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Managerial functions are quite different from that of an individual contributor. A manager is responsible for four critical functions: Lead, Plan, Organize and set up Controls. The manager’s role is at odds with that of the individual contributor, although having a good understanding of technical content is very important for the first-level manager. To be a candidate for consideration, the individual contributor must show aptitude for these functions.
16. The best time to bring up your intentions for getting promoted is at the time of the annual performance review. Explore with your immediate supervisors how they see the possibility and ask them what you might do differently to achieve that brass ring. This is a good way to establish your candidacy. This does not mean that your efforts should be episodic. You must think, act, and project as if you already are in that role with constancy, without turning off those around you-your colleagues.
17. In some companies promotions happen at regular intervals, between annual reviews. Keep your manager (and others) apprised with weekly and monthly progress reports highlighting your achievements, identifying where you might need help in your ongoing success. This discipline will help you especially when there is managerial turnover.
18. Whenever the opportunity arises to represent your superiors, go for it. Introduce yourself by saying “I represent the engineering department” on such occasions. If this happens often enough, others in those circles will remember you as someone already working at that level. Now you become a shoo-in for that promotion. In such meetings, you must show your complete loyalty to your boss, even when you may disagree with their decisions privately.
19. You are psychologically ready for the promotion when you are able to have an easy conversation on any topic (not just work) with the person at least two levels above you. In addition, not being intimidated by executives at any level can further fortify your candidacy. This is a learned skill.
20. If senior executives, as a group, come from a different national culture, understand their needs and expectations through their cultural norms. Establishing ethos with those belonging to a different culture can accelerate your candidacy. This understanding must be developed in a subtle, caring way. Likewise, showing ignorance or indifference to cultures can be detrimental not just to your promotion, but also to your career.
21. One of the key ingredients for success at higher levels is having a unique perspective. This means developing an ability to look at a situation and confidently being able to give your own assessment without being intimidated or bullied by others at levels much higher than yours. Having a clear vision on how you would make things batter and having a strategy that goes with that vision can help drive your success.
22. Seek yourself a mentor or a professional career coach who can give you objective feedback and round out your skills as a manager at the next level of responsibility.

Getting promoted to the next level is not a spectator sport. You must jump into the arena and compete fiercely with others to get that brass ring. Now you know how!

The following prescription may be useful:

1. The conventional wisdom is to challenge the boss and to make them feel even more insecure. This does not work because then they can find ways to make you irrelevant or even make you lose your job. Remember, insecure people are manipulative magicians. They can even set you up for a fall and that can hurt your resume.
2. Others retreat when they come to realize that their boss is a feckless aberration in the scheme of their organization’s hierarchy. They quietly resign to their fate and stay out of sight and off the radar screen. This is a mistake.
3. One strategy that can work with an insecure boss is to meet with them privately and to ask what their agenda is. This must be done tactfully. If you already have had an adversarial or confrontational relationship with them it is time to recognize that this must stop.
4. In this “agenda discussion” see if you can slowly open up the dialog to bring in the broader aspects of the job: the department, the company, the customer and the relationships your company has with them, and so on. Generally starting a discussion from the customer’s vantage point can work well. You just need to connect the dots between the customer expectations and your team’s behaviors that accommodate those expectations.
5. Because insecure people are suspicious by nature, do not drag others from your department in these discussions. Any negative remarks about someone, especially, their favorites can scuttle your mission. Stay objective, focused, and non-judgmental. Even if they ask about someone else, if you do not have a positive thing to say about them, pass on the opportunity.
6. You may need to have a series of dialogs in this vein just to bring the boss to think that you are there to make them look good. Once that trust begins to develop you may want to start setting things up so that your ideas on how to repair customer relationships or to improve department’s performance slowly become your boss’s ideas.
7. Collaborating with your boss start implementing the ideas to improve things and to give your boss credit in departmental meeting or even in larger venues. Insecure people like nothing more than to be acknowledged for things that happen despite them.
8. Once the boss start feeling secure in your relationships with you, you have taken charge of that relationship. The boss will continue to get credit and feel increasingly more secure in their ability to do things that are happening in spite of their insecurities. As you turn up the gain on your initiative the chain of command will come to see the change and the progress in areas that had tanked in the past. If the chain of command is otherwise smart, higher ups will know who is really pulling the strings.
9. Once the higher-ups come to know what is going on, you need to decide whether you want to gradually expose your ideas to these managers, thus making your boss gradually irrelevant.
10. If your chain of command is not smart enough to see this, you must update your resume (make sure the updates include this achievement) and get out.

It is estimated that more than 50% of the managers reflect some deficiency that is based on their inability to lead. Working for such feckless managers prevents your own growth, especially during your early career and as you are looking for opportunities to expand your reach.

Good luck!