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Take Calculated Risks To Enhance Your Career Progression

edisonThomas Edison is famously quoted as saying “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Maybe that is ok if you’re an inventor but if like most of us, you’re not, then 10,000 failures is most likely to result in you losing your job! This means that most of us face a constant predicament; I want to pursue a course of action that I know is potentially good but there are consequences that I’d prefer not to face if I fail. Understanding how and when to take risks is therefore important…as is knowing how to behave if things do actually go wrong.

For those still not sure if risks are worth taking at all, read “No Risk, No Fun? People who take risks more satisfied with their lives” from Sciencedaily.com and then come back to this blog! I know we’re focused on career development here but look at it this way, if you don’t take any risk at all, you cannot possibly enjoy your career and to be frank, it’s not going to develop into much if you only follow the status quo. Innovation is what drives business forward and innovation by definition requires some risk taking. You have to try things to see if they work. If they do, you could be next for promotion and if they don’t, well you just have to fearlessly get back up and find something that does.

So here’s how it works. Imagine that you have a deposit box and into that deposit box go credits when things go well and debits when they don’t go so well. Everything you do either adds to the credits or the debits and your balance is how well you’re doing. Knowing what you’re willing to risk really depends upon what you think you could lose. Be prudent. There is no way to move from second year in Sales to CEO in the immediate term. Credits must be built over time from multiple successes. There is though the possibility of catastrophic failure that could result in your immediate departure from the company. Therefore, in your early career, you take appropriate risks (ie: small) in order to build a steady stream of credits into your deposit box without risking too many debits. The more credit you have, the greater risk you might take in the future. Read More

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Everybody Screws Up…It’s How You Respond That Sets You Apart!

mistakeMost people will subscribe to the old adage that the best way to learn is from your mistakes.  Certainly, there is no time at which a process is more focused upon than when somebody breaks it.  Which means that from mistakes come improvements that would otherwise have been forgone.  Wisdom tells us that forgone, they could have led to even greater problems in the future.  And so it could be argued that mistakes are, for the most part, good!  Or so it seems, until the time that the individual responsible for them is you!  In fact, when it is you who is guilty of error, then mistakes are awful.  The thought of explaining the issue to your manager is a hellish proposition and the consequences of the problem, well they are much more significant because it means people will be looking at what you did wrong.  And none of us like to be under the spotlight for something we screwed up!  But as with every difficult situation in the workplace, there is a right and a wrong way to handle it.  Get it wrong and your mistake will haunt you and your long term prospects more than necessary.  Get it right and believe it or not, it could be a positive for your career!

Of course, I have to caveat my introduction by stating that if you’re guilty of gross negligence or willful neglect, then frankly, there’s no saving you.  Only you can tell whether this is the case but hopefully, it will not be.  And so, like everybody else who has ever built a career, you’ll need to face up to the problem you’ve caused and ensure your handling of the situation leaves a positive impression of your character with those involved in the post mortem investigation.  First and foremost is transparency.  Be 100% open and honest about what happened.  If you skipped part of a procedure, admit it.  The reality is that a procedure that can be easily ignored is not a particularly reliable one.  An investigation that understands where people can skip tasks can suggest additional checkpoints to prevent such behavior.  If you conceal the truth or play down what actually occurred, you’ll mislead the investigation and the necessary improvements will fail to materialize.  Nobody wins if this happens. Read More

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Making Difficult Conversations…well, Less Difficult!

difficult-conversationsIt is inevitable that at some point you will find yourself participating in what can be best put as a difficult conversation.  The when? where? why? what? and how? will all remain elusive until it strikes and by then the only thing that will matter is how you act.  In the case that you are the instigator, then you have absolute responsibility for making sure that things remain controlled.  However, if you are on the receiving end then you can often react based upon your natural emotional response to what is said to you.  Rarely will that be a good thing!  Whatever difficult conversation you start or are required to respond to, there is only one way to guarantee that a positive outcome can be achieved, and that is to be capable of acting according to a strategy that you have planned in advance.  Let’s call it your DCP (Difficult Conversation Plan) and let’s consider what it consists of.

Firstly, your DCP must address your personal response mechanisms.  As an example, let’s assume that through your eagerness to impress your work colleagues on a project you have taken the initiative to drive meeting agendas and distribute work.  You have even taken responsibility for updating senior management on progress.  Then suddenly during one of the project team meetings you have set up and are leading one of your colleagues responds to your group update by stating his disagreement to your approach and asking the question, “who made you the boss anyway?”  For those with a shorter fuse, Read More

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A Quick But Wise Career Choice…

quick-decisionIt’s that time of year when final year under graduates are intently focused upon what is likely to be their last round of examination and paper submissions before they escape the confines of education to tackle life in the ‘real world’.  For a small number, one of the few places on a recognised graduate training scheme will have been secured (whether this is actually wholly positive for them or not depends upon your perspective – see A Graduate Entry Scheme Could Actually Hold You Back) but for the majority, what lies ahead will still be unclear.  Choosing the right career track is difficult and without any tangible experience aside from a few weeks interning and perhaps a temp job as a shop assistant (to show you what you don’t want to do!), the array of choices can be daunting.  What many therefore do is take the first opportunity they find in order to have a job, a source of income and a platform from which to demonstrate their capability, at least until they figure out what they want to do.  And there is nothing wrong with this approach.  Unless while you work you fail to identify what you really want…at least for the early years of your career!

If you’re lucky, you will actually find that the first job you land opens your eyes to the breadth of functions, opportunities and challenges that exist in most companies.  If this is the case, even if you tire quickly of your early responsibilities, you’ll be able to soon assume others.  However, if you find that no matter where you look, what you do or who you speak to there really is absolutely nothing that makes you want to turn up for work in the morning, then you really are going to have to find something else.  The problem though is that this time you’ll need to find something that you’re going to enjoy or you’ll end up looking for something else in another years time.  Such job-hopping is not attractive on your resume!  And so to avoid this, Read More

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Is Your New Role Really Best for You?

new-opportunityI have received a number of questions recently from new grads facing dilemmas when faced with new opportunities offered to them by their current employers.  For most, sideways moves into equivalent functions have been asked of them as companies enforce role changes in response to changing business demands.  Others though have been pitched as development opportunities for which the recipient is supposed to be grateful when clearly they are designed with only one winner in mind; the company.  Of course, all change should be approached with an open mind and in all but a few cases the role changes suggested to the new grads I have spoken with have all been appropriate and of potential.  Nevertheless, it’s important to judge each opportunity (or suggested opportunity) on its particular merits and so I advise new grads to use the 4 P’s; Promotion, Positioning, Pay and Personal as a mechanism to help them understand the ‘what’s in it for me’?  The 4 P’s allow you to act as your own objective assessor when considering your next career opportunity.  They ask 4 simple questions: Are you moving upwards? Are you being groomed to move upwards? Are you being paid more (or likely to be)?  Are you benefiting from a personal perspective?  It is not necessary that the answer to all of these questions is yes.  However, should the answer to all of these questions be no, then you really should consider whether what you’re being offered is actually for your benefit?

Promotion is the first of the P’s to explore.  In the event that you’re being promoted and being asked to ‘step up’ into a bigger role, typically it’s in your best interests to accept the move!  Promotions normally result in greater experience, improved conditions and of course, they demonstrate progression on your resume.  But that said, if being promoted actually puts you in harms way, for example, if you’re asked to resolve an impossible situation where there is a high likelihood of career damaging failure and it’s clear you’re being asked as nobody else wanted the job, then it’s important that you ask questions of whether it’s right for you?  Accepting a promotion simply because you’re offered a title is a fools errand.  Important also is to consider the impact of the promotion on the other P’s.  Under normal circumstances, Read More

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Managing Your Junior Manager!

young-bossDo you sometimes step back and wonder why your manager made a particular decision? Do you ever find it hard to understand why your manager is asking you yet again to complete a task by hand because she has not reviewed the macro you wrote to do the job for you? Is it becoming ever more difficult for you to understand how your direct boss could be in a position of authority over you? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’ then you are not alone…many of us feel this throughout our careers. But rather than let frustration consume you, step back and think about the reasons for your frustration? And then consider whether your expectations are fair? After all, your manager has the right to be learning how to manage well just as you are learning how to best succeed in your role. The best course of action is to be aware of how and where your manager needs help and to assist them in their own development so they can help you in yours.

For new grads in the early years of their career, the chances are that you’re working under the supervision of a relatively junior manager. There are two types of junior manager that you’re likely to experience; the technical expert and the high flier. Each presents challenges for the new grad to overcome if they are to succeed themselves but both can prove useful allies if you can see past their limitations and exploit what they offer. The technical expert for example, is unlikely to empower you but rather, will see problems as an opportunity to demonstrate their ‘fire-fighting’ skills. You will struggle to compete with their years of experience or equally, gain the recognition of more senior management for problem resolution while you’re under their supervision. Read More

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A Low Bar Is Never Prestigious

retailI have spent the day wondering whether I missed the point of Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist blog entitled “The new post-college prestige job is retail”?  I know I didn’t miss the patronizing words on emerging adulthood and the somewhat bizarre suggestion that an individual who doesn’t know what they want to do in their 20’s is somehow lost (how can they be lost, they’ve not started the journey!) but what frightens me most about this post are the words, “it doesn’t take a lot of brain power” to describe a retail opportunity said to be prestigious.  And although the jury is still out, I’m leaning towards a verdict that I didn’t miss the point.  Rather, I simply think it is wrong!  For what is being suggested is the setting of a bar so low, that I wonder whether it was even worth those who attempt to reach it going to College in the first place?

It is not that I have an issue with new grads exploring opportunities in retail.  In fact, I think there is an enormous amount to be learned in retail, much of which is applicable across industries.  Customer service skills, marketing skills and analytical skills to name but a few can all be mastered by the retail employee.  What I have an issue with however, is the suggestion that new grads should opt for retail to make friends, work flexible hours (should I assume this means few?) while experimenting with multiple other career options until they find out what they want to be.  Worth particular consideration are the following:

1.)    Every hour you spend at work not using your brain power is an hour wasted.  If you want a flexible job and choose retail in the early months post graduation then gain something useful to your long term career from the experience.  Learn about point of sale marketing and implement change to increase demand for a particular product.  Read More

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How To “Do The Right Thing” for Career Success

decisionWhile at school, I remember being often advised to ‘play with a straight bat’. This metaphor, taken from the sport of Cricket, was used to encourage me and other pupils to behave in line with our school’s motto; Virtue, Learning, Manners. Many years later in the workplace, I now apply it to all manner of situations to help me focus upon ‘doing the right thing’. In your career, just as in all walks of life, you will encounter many opportunities where doing the right thing may not seem quite so necessary. For example, you might cut corners to meet pressing deadlines or you may prioritize work needed by a friend who is behind in their own particular job. Such minor offenses could, at face value, even seem positive. However, unless you’ve considered the right thing to do, you may have ignored the potential for negative consequence. Eventually, you’ll make a bad decision that will raise questions of your previously good reputation. And it is often said that a good reputation is a bit like a good credit rating…once it is questioned, it’s gone.

Of course, many issues do not present clear black and white choices where right and a wrong are absolutely apparent. Grey is a frighteningly frequent color in the workplace and in order to do the right thing, you will need to demonstrate one key competency; judgment. What differentiates successful individuals from others is very often their ability to judge the right thing to do, even when faced with the most difficult of dilemmas. This ability does develop with experience as the consequences of previous decisions reinforce successful behaviors. However, there are two skills associated with good judgment that will give you a head start in doing the right thing from your earliest days at work.

Firstly, to be able to clearly see the right thing to do, you must have an objective view. First and foremost, in any situation, you should step back and avoid making a snap decision. Customers, people from other departments, even members of your own team will frequently heap pressure upon you to act or make a decision and will lead you down a path to satisfy their needs if you are not strong enough to step back. And if you are no longer reliant on your judgment but are accepting of another, you can no longer be sure that you’re doing the right thing. The appropriate behavior at all times when faced with a pressurized situation is to Read More

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What To Think When Your Boss Quits!

bossIt’s very rare to find anybody who actually thinks that their boss is going to quit.  The boss typically stands before the team proclaiming the merits of the company.  They communicate compensation details, promotions, and performance reviews.  And you communicate to them when you have concerns or have work that warrants their review.  Recognition from the boss is a powerful motivator while their concerns have a level of gravity beyond that of other mere mortals.  Bosses, well good ones anyway, are the people who explain to you your future and help set your expectations.  They are integral to everything that exists in your perception of your company and in many cases, they can be said to actually epitomize your company for you.  There is a famous phrase in HR speak that seeks to demonstrate the power of managers in the retention of people.  It says, “people don’t leave companies, they leave poor managers”.  When it comes to new grads thinking about their bosses though, maybe it should read, “managers don’t leave companies, they leave that option to me”!  So as a new grad, what would you think if your manager suddenly disappeared to find fortune elsewhere?  It might be something of a challenging conundrum!  But actually, in reality it really shouldn’t be.  As with all change, there is opportunity to be gained.  If only you can focus on it.

It’s worth remembering that Managers are just like a new grad looking to develop their career.  The only difference is that for them to develop theirs (ie: to move up), there are often far fewer roles for them to choose between.  Equally, the roles that they might aspire to take are often filled by perfectly capable individuals who may or may not be motivated to develop further themselves thereby potentially creating a ceiling to your manager’s progression.  And so, even if role progression is absolutely appropriate for your manager, he or she could be on the inevitable wait list of candidates for a particular level of responsibility as positions get squeezed towards the top of the corporate hierarchy.  For the ambitious, the wait can often seem just too long (just as for new grads, the prospect of a second year in the telephone complaints department could feel abhorrent!) and therefore in order for them to achieve their personal goals, they opt for an alternative position most likely at a competitor.

Your reaction to such a move is important.  Firstly, you must realize that your manager was not the company but rather an employee of the company who whilst likely to be missed, is unlikely to be the cause of the company to close down!  Secondly, nothing has actually negatively changed for you if your manager leaves.  Potentially, you’ve lost a person who helped you develop your skills.  But it’s likely a new manager will be appointed who can do this too…and yet for the new manager, you’ll be able to demonstrate greater competency than you could with your first and therefore, will likely gain greater responsibility as a result.  And this is the crux.  Read More

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Success and Failure…2 New Grad Approaches to a First Job

2-new-gradsI’ve recently assumed responsibility for an additional business line and today I had the opportunity to meet a few of the team that supports it. Among them were two new graduates in the early years of their careers who between them managed to both inspire me and deeply concern me when they talked of their careers, their progress to date and their aspirations for the future. I suspect that their talking points will resonate with a large number of new graduates and so below is a synopsis of both meetings. They went something like…

New Graduate 1: Aged Mid 20’s, born in Asia but relocated to London for University and now is building her career in the Financial Industry. She is in her third year with the same employer since graduating. When asked about her career to date and aspirations for the future, she responded that she was keen to work in roles where she could develop her technical skills while working with a group of people who could assist her develop as a fully rounded professional. Whilst she had never expected to work for a big corporation, she found many aspects of the work interesting although at times the work was repetitive. She enjoyed the camaraderie of her working environment but also was positive about opportunities for her to make an individual difference. In the longer term, she aspires to achieve mobility both in function and location and feels that promotions and rewards will follow as a natural consequence of her commitment and effort.

New Graduate 2: Aged Mid 20’s, born in the UK but spent much of his childhood living in Asia. Attended University in the UK and since graduating 3 years ago has been working in London. When asked about career to date and aspirations for the future, he responded that he lacks any interest in the job or even the industry in which he is working. He does like his teammates but he doesn’t share their enthusiasm and therefore finds it difficult to really immerse himself in shared tasks. His motivation is simply to travel and his ticket is a transfer through the company. What he really wishes to do is teach. He has strong people skills and believes he could achieve much more in the long term if he were to utilize these skills in a different industry. But as travel is his current goal, he is putting that off until a later date.

I expect many people can relate to one of these stories, especially in the early years of their career. What perhaps not everybody realizes is that only one of these individuals is likely to achieve their goal. New Graduate 1 understands that she needs to develop both technical and people based skills and contribute to the team and as an individual. She enjoys the challenging parts of her work but accepts that not every day will be filled with exciting new experiences. She understands that benefits and opportunities find their way to the most deserving but it takes time to build the reputation to be recognized as such. New Graduate 2 however fails to recognize Read More

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