Your Career

Leaders,

It’s been a while.  I’m back fresh off of vacation, refreshed, and ready to go.  Hopefully you all have also had a chance to get some vacations in over the summer.  While the importance of vacations deserve a discussion on its own, we’ll talk about that topic at another time.

Today I wanted to reach out and remind you all that you and only you are responsible for your career.  Our company and any company you work for has an obligation to ‘help’ you progress your career but it’s not actually the company’s responsibility.  This obligation can be almost nothing to extreme and it will differ based on the company, your position, recognized talent, or needs of the company.  While the company can ‘help’ the true obligation and ultimate responsibility falls on you. 

I recently found myself in a discussion on career advancement with some very high potential employees.   It was astounding to me that some of the people in the group did not seem to know how to get promoted nor did they seem to fully understand that they were responsible for their own career.  After some direct and passionate discussion (primarily by me) several comments were made to the tune of “why hasn’t anyone ever told me this?” and “I never realized that.” 

All of you should know these things but if not, I’m going to go over them again with you.

·       You and only you are responsible for your career.  Nobody is going to help you if you don’t help yourself.   You should not wait for the company to send you to training or tell you what your next promotional step is.  You should identify it and start getting yourself ready for that position, whatever it is. 

·         Tenure alone is not a ticket to advancement.   You cannot sit idly by and expect to get promoted on tenure.  While it may have worked in the past, and maybe it works within the government, this is a horrible strategy for your career as well as the company and one that is going to most likely lead to your disappointment and wasted years.

·         You should be developing for your next position, not your current one.  Unless you’re just a technology focused individual who wishes to stay technical, you should be training and learning the skills for your next position.  If you’re a supervisor you should be training and developing to be a manager.  Your development should always be on the next job, not the current one.  When you get the promotion, you should already know how to do the job and hit the ground running.  I should point out that you must continue to do an outstanding job in your current role but you need to be developing for your next role.  If you do this right, you will stand out as overqualified and ready for advancement in your current role.

·         There are only so many leadership jobs available, you must be ready when one becomes available.   Bluntly, if you’re not ready, you likely will not get that job – it’s really that simple.  You have to be ready when the job opens up.  This goes back to what I mentioned previously, you have to train for the next role not your current one.   If you haven’t developed your skills, someone who has will be rewarded the open position.  Leadership positions are few and far between and by the time you do acquire the skills, IF a position opens up, there will likely be even more candidates applying for it. 

·         Have a conversation with your leader and tell them your goals.  Your current leader is your biggest opportunity for advancement of your career.  They can tell you where you need to develop, they can help you develop, and they can promote your name/brand to other leaders.  None of that is possible if you don’t have a discussion with them and tell them where you want your career to go.  On the same topic, if your leader doesn’t help you or doesn’t see leadership in your future, you must understand why they feel that way and what you need to do to change that perception/truth.  If you completely disagree, you need to move to a different leader or move on if your career is that important to you because if your current leader doesn’t see leadership in your future, there’s a strong chance it won’t be in your future unless YOU make some changes.

·         Be aggressive with your career.  There are people out there, people like me, who will not politely sit by and let you simply have the next position without contending it because you ‘deserve it’.  If you can’t compete with them you are not likely going to get that position.  I’m not talking about physical altercations or back stabbing or other negative effects of aggressiveness.  I’m talking about letting everyone know you want the position, talking with leaders about it, doing that extra work to get it, taking the time (even personal time) to learn about the area, showing everyone you want that role and you have the confidence and skills needed.  You have to be aggressive because you’re competing for a limited number of spots and if you’re not, there are a lot of others who will be. 

If that’s not enough for you to take your career in to your own hands, think about this.  I love this diagram and I’ve shared it with many of you over the years.   One of my mentors shared it with me and it’s had a lasting impression on me. 

Of the workforce we have, only a small portion will ever be front line leaders (supervisors.)  This is hard truth and one that is not really discussed publicly.  Of those, only a few will be mid-level leaders.  Of those, only a very small portion will be executive or senior leaders.  I’m likely being generous with the size of the pools in this diagram but if I made them any smaller or more realistic you wouldn’t be able to see them.  The pools are small and they get smaller as you progress and this is why you cannot afford to let someone else be responsible for your career if you have ambitions for advancement. 

One other thing I’ll leave you with.  It was brought up in the above mentioned discussion that because times are tough, should people be focusing on development for leadership jobs as it seems a lot of leadership roles are being eliminated.   YES YES YES!  YOU MUST CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON DEVELOPING YOURSELF EVEN WHEN TIMES ARE HARD.  If some of our leadership positions have been eliminated that means there’s even fewer for you to apply for which means more people just like you applying for those roles.  Instead of 3 good candidates it may mean 6 or 7.  You have to be ready when these positions become available, more so now than ever.  Just because we’re in a downturn does not mean you put your career and career ambitions on hold, now is the time you develop yourself further!

Your career is your responsibility.  While it’s not marketed as a competition, it is and you need to be prepared to compete for those limited number of positions when they become available.  All of you have been identified with leadership potential or leadership ambitions, all of you should be preparing for your next role!

I hope the summer has been good to you!  -don

Building Fences

I have a Jack Russell Terrier named Molly and she loves to play fetch in the front yard.  I typically launch the ball 2-3 houses down the street and she takes off after it running through the neighbor’s yards and driveways as she sprints to catch up with the speeding ball.  We repeat this a dozen or so times until one of us has had enough, typically that’s me.  While we enjoy this game, I sometimes wonder if I’m encroaching on my neighbors by allowing little Molly to run across their yards.  While they have no fence up nor have they told me not to use their yards for our game, I can’t help but ponder whether they take issue with this; after all, it is their yard.

Today we’re going to talk about setting boundaries and expectations with others.  We’ll use my fetch story.  Realistically I know I don’t own those yards nor do I realistically have any business allowing my dog to run through them but I allow her to do so anyways.  If they told me to stop I would.  On the neighbor’s side maybe they don’t care, I’m assuming they don’t, but what if they did?  I’m simply going to keep taking advantage of them (or in this case their yard) but what if this was causing them stress or anxiety?  What if they have dog phobia or allergies to dogs?  What if they’re worried about their kid or their pets? 

If they did not like me using their yard and they’re politely not saying anything to me they aren't doing either of any favors.  Chances are they’re building up anger and/or resentment toward Molly and me, and I’m simply stoking the fire by continuing with my actions.  I know it’s not my yard but I’ll keep playing in it until they tell me otherwise.  As with all events like this, eventually it’ll come to a head and typically in an explosive manner.  Afterwards we’ll likely part ways and be adversarial for a few months until that dies down.  Meanwhile all the neighbors around us will feel awkward when we’re both around. 

Great story Don, but what does Molly have to do with leadership?  We all have those people in our work and personal lives that like to push into our “yards” and seemingly take advantage of us or our lack of formal boundaries.  Sometimes they do this because they don’t know any better but sometimes they simply do it because we let them.   It’s so easy to resolve this and yet we seldom do for whatever reason.  Typically we’d rather let it slide, get a little more frustrated, let it slide again, get a little more frustrated, and continue this cycle until “BAM” that last straw happens and things get messy. 

These messes can easily be avoided by simply setting boundaries and expectations.  If someone is doing something you don’t like or intruding on your space or getting in to your business, let them know.  Do it nicely but let them know.  There’s a really good chance they had no idea they crossed a boundary.  Take a moment and set some boundaries with them.  These can come in the form of expectations, rules, or just an FYI.  Make sure you let the person know you are not okay with what they’re doing and you don’t expect it to continue.  If they don’t know they've violated a boundary you can’t expect for them to not do it again.  Once you set the boundary and the person violates it, you can remind them.  If they continually violate this boundary then you know you have an issue and you can seek further action though that's a topic for another day.

Take care -don

This Too Will Pass

There’s a great  short story I want to share with all of you.  The story is about a king who asks these scholars to create a ring that will make him happy when he is sad. After deliberation the group creates him a simple ring with the words "This too will pass" etched on it, which has the desired effect to make him happy when he is sad thus it became a curse whenever he is happy.  This story has a lot of different ways it’s told but the just of it is simply that regardless of what mood you are in, it will pass.

I like this story and can’t believe it took me so long to hear about it.  One thing I've learned in work, at home, and in just about anything I do, this present situation will pass.  Mad about the jerk who cut me off on the way home, my anger will soon pass.  Can’t stand the pain of passing a kidney stone, literally it will pass.  Frustrated with a situation or person at work, this too will pass.  Embarrassed about something I did, it’s going to pass.  Happy about winning a bike race, sadly this will pass.  Really happy about the 7 beers I just drank, this too will pass (and likely lead to a headache tomorrow.)

Last month I sent a really stupid email that was the subject of our last leadership topic.  Man, I’m still embarrassed by that but after it happened I was so angry at myself, for days.  I was mad at the situation it created for me, my team, the project, and my management.  The thought to quit did cross my mind and how much easier that would be (though it would have been a very temporary fix that would have led to even bigger problems.)  In the end I remembered that this too will pass.  It didn’t pass fast enough but it did pass and I’m thankful to be out of that situation.

While we all probably wish we could stay on the highs and fast forward through the lows, it simply doesn't work like that.  Nothing really works like that.  If it did these highs wouldn't be highs anymore, they’d just be normal everyday events.  Think of a drug user.  A person starts out using a toxic substance until eventually their high becomes a normal state of being and then for them to get high on this new state of being requires even more of the substance until this too becomes the norm.  The cycle continues until they are classified an addict.  This is an extreme case but hopefully you get my point, staying on a high is not sustainable.

I like to believe that the lows we experience make us better appreciate the highs and the norm.  When you’re going through a low or a time of frustration or whatever uncomfortable state you are in, it’s hard to think about the positives of being in such a state because typically we’re focused on getting out of it.  These uncomfortable states will pass just like the euphoric ones we crave will also come and pass.  Until it passes, we often look for a quick fix out of the discomfort.  In my example above quitting was a quick fix but it didn't really get me out of the situation and ultimately would have created more and bigger issues.  Ultimately I had to work my way out the old fashion way and take my lumps along with it.

Next time you’re dealing with a tough situation that isn’t necessarily ideal or what you envisioned, try to remember that this situation will pass.  As a leader you’re going to have to deal with a lot more of these situations than you may desire to deal with.  Recognize this too will pass and start working your way out by addressing the issue and not just the discomfort of being in a low.  This brings me to another great story about eating an elephant but I’ll save that one for another time…

Beliefs

Leaders,

I thought I’d talk today about beliefs.  Dictionary.com defines beliefs as something believed; an opinion or conviction.  It also defines conviction as a fixed or firm belief.  For the purposes of this discussion we’ll call beliefs the assumptions, opinions, and understandings one has in regards to something.  Beliefs can be strong enough to die for (think of a jihadist) or passive enough that they don’t really matter (strawberry is better than chocolate.)  It’s easy to form beliefs and they are the basis for how we make our day-to-day decisions big and small, conscious and subconscious. 

While this topic on beliefs could go in many different directions, for now I want to focus on two areas.  The first is awareness that if you are in disagreement with someone, you may not be able to bring them around to your beliefs on the subject.  The second is for you to be aware that your beliefs may be wrong and could be causing you some undue stress. 

Since our beliefs are built around our experiences, conclusions, assumptions, learnings, and just life itself, we will often have different beliefs than someone else.  Because our beliefs are built around what we know (or think we know) it’s in our nature to believe we are right and anyone who has a different take is wrong.  When this happens we will typically try to tell the person why our beliefs are right and why theirs are wrong.  If you’re anything like me your beliefs are always right and anyone who thinks otherwise is just wrong!    I don’t care what your story is or why you believe what you do, you’re just wrong and I’m going to tell you why.   Sound familiar?  What happens if the other person also thinks like me? 

What happens when you have two or more people with differing beliefs?  You get friction.   Maybe even conflict.  If you believe a Ford truck is better and I believe a Chevy is better we’re not in alignment.  You could tell me all day long how you grew up with Fords, Chevy’s are junk, your uncles Chevy was always in the shop, your Ford hauls a trailer better, etc.  This is what we typically do when we’re not in alignment, we tell the other person they are wrong and that our beliefs are right.  Then we proceeded to tell them why we are right in some far out hope that they somehow see the light and instantly switch their beliefs.  This seldom if ever works yet 9 times out of 10 we do this very thing.   Ever try to tell someone why your religion is better than theirs?  How about trying to get your friend or a stranger to believe that your spouse is the greatest spouse on the planet?   From your prospective you do believe your religion is the best religion and if you’re married you better believe your spouse is the best on Earth, you hold these beliefs to be true.  If these are indeed true, how can someone else with a differing belief tell you they are not and be right in their mind?

What I’d like for all of you to take away from this is that sometimes you have to recognize that you aren’t going to change someone’s beliefs.  In the rare case that you do it’s not because you did the work, it’s because that person decided to change their belief(s).  While you may have all the evidence in the world that you are right, until that other person is ready to change their beliefs you two will continue to be out of alignment.  While certainly uncomfortable and frustrating it’s okay to be out of alignment.  Understand that by trying to “convince” the other person why they are wrong or why they need to change their belief is likely going to cause you more discomfort and frustration than if you simply accepted it for what it is.  You cannot change a person’s beliefs, only the person can change their beliefs.  This is where openly listening to the other person and their reasoning for a belief without judgement comes in to play and this skill is key to be a good influencer and a leader.  This takes us in to our second topic.

The last thing I want to talk about is your own beliefs.  You are who you are based on your beliefs.  Everything you do in your life consciously and subconsciously is based off of your beliefs.  Our minds are constantly looking for proof that our beliefs are indeed true.  Our mind seldom works to disprove our beliefs.  It’s important that you understand this.  You need to be aware of your beliefs and sometimes you need to question them.  For example, suppose you believe one of your coworkers to be dumb.  You will consciously and subconsciously continually look for things this person does to back up your belief.  You won’t naturally look for or notice things that disprove your belief; but you will continue to look for evidence confirming your belief.  There’s a lot of science and history behind this and I’ll leave that to you to track down if you’re interested. 

Using some more examples, I’ll give you all a little bonus section that could help you today.  Perhaps some of you may have a problem with a co-worker, friend of a friend, and maybe you think such-and-such is out to get you?   Maybe you think your spouse is cheating (I hope this isn’t the case for any of you)?  Maybe you think our company is going down the drain?  When you have these kinds of beliefs or any other belief that weighs heavily on you, ask yourself is this true or am I simply looking for things to confirm my unfounded belief?  Are their signs you are overlooking to disprove your beliefs?  Are your beliefs grounded in fact or subjective tidbits?  When you take some time and think about these things you might find that indeed your beliefs were just wrong and you were getting worked up for nothing.  In the case that your troubling beliefs are true, that’s a topic for another day.

Some of you who worked with me in the path know about my epiphany I had last year.  Sometime last year I finally realized my beliefs were getting the best of me.  I firmly believed that some people in our organization got up in the morning with the sole desire to come to work and screw things up.  I started looking for things they did to confirm this and I found a lot of confirmation.  The truth is, while it’s really easy to believe, nobody actually gets up to come to work to screw things up.  I was just focused on reaffirming my beliefs of these unfortunate people.  They may be less than great at their job but they don’t intestinally get up to come in and screw things up.  More importantly, it was me who was causing myself and others a lot of undue stress by letting my unfound beliefs run amuck.  When I realized this it really helped me grow as a leader and a person. 

The takeaway for today is for you all to be a little more aware of beliefs and the challenges they can create for you and those around you.   Remember that you aren’t going to easily change someone’s beliefs.  If someone does change their beliefs it’s because they decided to not because you changed them.  (There is actually an art to helping others change their beliefs but it’s outside the scope of this writing.)  Respect the other person’s beliefs even if they aren’t in alignment with yours.  Lastly, make sure your beliefs aren’t unnecessarily leading you down a path of added stress and frustration.

The Scorpion and the Frog

One of my favorite little fables is about the Scorpion and the Frog.  In the story, a scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too." The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp "Why?" Replies the scorpion: "It’s my nature.”  I like this story because it makes me think about myself and some of the dumb things I do because it’s my nature. 

We all have those things that are just in our nature.   These are typically bad habits that are detrimental to our success.   For me, this morning, I’m sitting at my desk shaking my head and beating myself up over something I did that is just in my nature.  I sent an email when I was angry.  I know better than to do this.  I’ve done it before and yet despite the experience of living through the repercussions of past emails in anger, despite knowing better, I still sent another.  The current one is probably one of the worst.  I own it; I did it; now I have to live with the fallout as well as all those it affected and those who have been drawn in to my irresponsible action. 

Abraham Lincoln once wrote a letter to General Meade after the battle of Gettysburg.  Lincoln was so angry with Meade he was going to relieve him of his command and ultimately his commission.  Lincoln sat on the letter and never sent it.  Ultimately things worked themselves out.  Lincoln was known for taking time to cool off before he responded to situations.  This story is often cited in communications training, books, and lectures as an example of waiting 24 hours to send an angry response.  I know this rule, I can tell you the story of Lincoln, I know waiting 24 hours is the thing to do and yet it’s in my nature to do what I did – not wait.

I don’t know why I sent that email.   Ego?  Pride?  Frustration?  I sat there hovering over the send button knowing it was dumb.  I knew not to do it.  I knew I’d regret it and yet I still hit send.  I did this in the airport terminal as I was leaving the country for vacation.  The whole time I was on vacation this email and its fallout were on my mind.  While I may have been on vacation my mind was in its own little prison as I continually beat myself up over sending the email.  Today is my first day back in the office and there is indeed fallout.   Not only have I damaged relationships, I’ve put a few of my people in a tough spot and I’ve put my chain of command and a few friends in similar tough spots.  It was just dumb, senseless, and completely uncalled for.   I embarrassed and ashamed of my actions.  I’ll likely be working for months trying to fix this stupid mistake.

I share this with you first as an example of what not to do.  Regardless of how mad, frustrated, or hurt you are, give yourself a chance to calm down before you respond to the person who set you off.  Second, use this as a reminder that angry emails and communications should never be had.  Again, you should take the time to cool off and think before getting drawn in to such a conversation.   Next, take a minute to identify your negative “it’s my nature” habits and be very aware of them.  Work to make them no longer a part of your nature.   Lastly, when you do this kind of thing, take responsibility for it and own it.  It doesn’t help the situation looking for a place to put the blame or trying to deflect it.  Simply own it, apologize, and start rebuilding the havoc you created.  With that said, it’s a lot easier to simply just not do it in the first place…

Business Acumen

Leaders,

In my work on the committee of a diversity group focused on woman I have learned quite a bit in regards to diversity. It’s interesting that a lot of the material that we go through to help woman can equally bring value to anyone who wishes to advance. One of the areas we (the council) are looking at is the subject of today’s email, business acumen.

In a Ted Talk labeled “The career advice you probably didn't get”, Susan Colantuono talks about how many woman leaders and hi-potential candidates focus too much on soft skills. Ultimately Susan believes that they don’t have the business, strategic, and financial knowledge (I’ll sum these three up as business acumen) that is expected of them to obtain higher positions. While this talk is geared toward woman, it easily applies to anyone who is looking to advance.

When I was in IT I thought I knew quite a bit about our business. Where IT people are concerned, I did know a lot. The reality of just how little I knew came quickly when I moved to Operations. Operations has shown me that there are so many more moving pieces to our organization and while I had a nice high level understanding of our company, my understandings were not entirely correct and in most cases they were quite incomplete. Today I am working to fill the gaps and create a more complete understanding of our business. I don’t believe it would have been possible had I not been given this opportunity because I simply had no idea how little I actually knew.

Do you know how we make money? It’s a simple question but do you understand how exactly we make money? Do you know how much money we actually make off of what we do? Do you know where all the money we make goes and how it is spent? Do you understand what part corporate plays in our business unit's operation? Where does your individual contribution hit our organization’s financial sheet? Is your contribution in line with the company’s current financial situation and strategy? Do you know how to align your duties and strategies or those of your team, to the company’s? Can you relay to your people these things and help them see how their work and contributions are in alignment (or out of alignment) with the company’s strategy?

I won’t ask if you all know the health of our company. If you’re on this distribution list and you actually read it, you’ll know that. Are you using the company’s health as a guide to what you should be doing in your role? You must learn to do this now. If you can’t align people as a supervisor or manager, how will you be able to do it as a manager or director? Even more powerful, those of you without a formal people leader title, can you align your co-workers and maybe your supervisor without having the formal title?

All too often we focus on how to be a great leader, great communicator, and similar skills that most of us attribute to being advanced. I’ve spent the last 8+ years reading all the management, leadership, and communications books I could find. While these are critical, there are other parts to being advanced and I now believe business acumen is one of the most critical. It's expected that you simply have business acumen. If you don’t have this critical piece it will be very difficult to advance to or past the role of manager.

Let's have a great week -don

Taking A Break

It should be noted that at the end of November I transitioned from IT to Operations.  Between November and February I was consumed with getting up to speed in my new role.

This is a great career opportunity for me and I expect it will help solidify my future career ambitions and needs.  Above all it gives me the opportunity to get out of IT and do something different.