Category — career

Apply the experience of excellent companies to your own career

I love the work of Tom Peters whose star rose when he penned In Search of Excellence and has continued to shine ever since. His web site is full of all sorts of great inspiration and insight. To that end I feel somewhat pleased that I bumped into some of his writing that seems in line with my post the other day about how to be more productive than the next person by picking one important thing and just getting it done.

As I was lookng around Tom’s site I noticed his key phrase - “Too Much Talk, Too Little Do” or as he put it in his 8 basics of excellent performance - “A Bias for Action.”

“at ‘excellent’ companies there was lot less emphasis on strategy - but there was a persistent focus on ’simply doing stuff’”

Too many people and too many organizations spend far too much time thinking, planning, talking and too little actually doing. You may not realize it happening at work, but I’ll bet you do when the government spends all your tax dollars talking. How do you feel when they call yet another Congressional Inquiry, investigation, or Royal Commission into something that we all know they should just DO. In the corporate world, while you are planning your next brilliant move, your competitors are out doing, outmaneuvering you. There’s no point having that brilliant strategy if the market has passed you by.

Peters states that when he was researching his now-famous book he found that at “excellent” companies there was lot less emphasis on strategy - but there was a persistent focus on “simply doing stuff” rather than talking it to death. Or put another way I first heard in the Education world from Richard DuFour , be a “ready, Fire, Aim” kind of person - not the more typical “Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim…”

Whether we are talking about the strategy of your company, or just your own work inside a company, it’s better to get on with it and risk making a few mistakes than never to be called to action at all. Do you pour over sales reports planning the perfect strategy for days (weeks?), when the next person might just pick up the phone and call his best customer to talk. How many customers could you meet with, show some special attention and learn their needs, while you were looking at those reports and planning strategy?

This reminds yet again of the 80/20 rule whereby 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients - usually more than 80%. You know who the 20% are. Get on with working better with them and identifying who else meets their profile so that you can find the next member of that group. Don’t waste time planning the perfect way to leverage the bottom 80%.

In the office you can bet 80+% of the value you have to your firm, 80+% of the opportunity you have to impress your superiors comes from less than 20% of the work. Get on with it! Let the other 80% take care of itself. Allow yourself to drop a few of those balls - they don’t matter in the big picture - and get on with maximizing your returns.

Quick - what’s the most important thing that you could do for your company right now. Go Do It!

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It seems like a simple piece of advice. Don’t burn bridges. You never know whose support you will need one day or how life’s circle may bring you back to someone. IT really can be more important than you think. In fact a bridge burnt often multiplies into bad feelings that last for many years and even with people you have never met.

Nobody would advocate leaving a job with bad feelings. The oft dreamt departure where you tell your employer exactly how you feel is never a good idea. As you well know building a career and a reputation is all about personal relationships and connections with others. Don’t care to preserve this particular relationship? Fine. But chances are your employer has built up a strong network and you are part of an industry that is smaller than you think. The “it’s a small world” experience comes up often for a reason. So if you hate your employer as you move on, or if you hate a client you ended badly with, they will probably have similar feelings about you and spread the word in your industry. Harming one relationship can have devastating results as your career progresses.

“…you want to be remembered as a person of character, someone who in difficult circumstances takes the high road.”

Think about people who have left your company on good terms. They may well have been quietly let go, but did so with dignity. Chances are no matter what happened they are remembered as a decent person. The talk of their departure fades.

Those that leave with difficulty, on the other hand, are remembered poorly. Their character flaws are often magnified - after all people gossip far more about the bad things. New people join your company and learn of the difficult history. The person who left takes on a bad reputation with people who have never even met them. The talk lingers for a long time.

No matter why you leave a job, or stop dealing with a client or customer end with grace. Your paths may well cross again one day. You may want to use that person as a reference or their work in a portfolio. More importantly you want to be remembered as a person of character, someone who in difficult circumstances takes the high road.

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Corporate branding is all the rage these days. High priced consultants are brought in to help companies establish and publicize their brands. Logos are redrawn, slogans developed. Policies are put in place so that everyone toes the brand line in all things that go out the door.

Have you ever stopped to consider your personal brand? I’m not talking about the fluff that goes with branding. I don’t mean go out and get your own logo and hang it on your cubicle or getting a personal business card to share around the office. I don’t mean to introduce yourself with a slogan - “Hello, David Hutchison, Quality Leadership for Your Organization.”

But consider what the substance of what branding is. When you aren’t around, how would people think of you? How would they describe you in a few short terms? In your company, what do you stand for?

This is a very useful exercise. Sit down and think to yourself with absolute honesty - what do people think of me? Creative? Hardworking? Intelligent? A Leader? An Analyst? Positive? Energetic?

Of course there will be some negatives on the list as well.

“Like a strong company that stays ‘on brand’ you should do so in the workplace as well. Doing so will ensure that you focus your career on the things that you do best.”

Now add in where you want to go in your career. What is your career goal? What do you want to achieve 5 or 10 years from now?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Do the lists fit? Are your positive traits as people see you in line with your career goals? If leadership is one of your traits and you want to be a CEO, then good for you. If you are seen as Creative and you want to be an art director, then great! If they don’t line up well…you are a role player who wants to lead, you are an analyst who wants to design, then you have some thinking to do.

Assuming all is as it should be and you are on the right track then you need to look at the one or two key traits that are on your side, and a few of the negatives as well and then get to managing your brand!

If you have a choice of opportunities - roles on a team, projects that you take on - stick to your brand. Go for the option that fits your strong traits - and the ones that you want to be recognized for. Like a strong company that stays “on brand” you should do so in the workplace as well. Doing so will ensure that you focus your career on the things that you do best. You will make more powerful use of your time and you are more likely to be noticed for the things that you are trying to leverage in your career development.

This extends to all areas of your life in the office. Do you want to be in a role that demands an outgoing personality? If so, then you had better be that way with everyone - be the person that enters the office in the morning with a smile on your face and a good word for everyone you meet. Are you wantign to be seen as a strong manager? Be the logistical queen of the company - if there is organizing to do in the smallest of ways, step up to the plate and take it on.

Now if your brand is creativity then maybe go home and make up that personal logo and business card. You might come across a little strange if you pass them out at an ofice party - but on a wall at home they might be great reminders to motivate and stick to your brand!

More on personal branding from Gill Corkindale’s Letters from London Harvard Business Blog

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Everyone has to tip the scales of work-life balance away from their family on occasion. But for career success and a healthy life you should control when that balance is tipped. Pick your spots and your career might even advance faster than the company work horse.

I am the first person who will preach work-life balance to you. Family comes first in my life and I would never have it any other way. Or to use the old adage - nobody ever laid on their death bed and said “I wish I had worked more.”

True enough, but many people have regrets about opportunities lost, paths not taken, careers not explored. Don’t forget that there is work in work-life balance. Without it you cannot live in every sense of the word. You cannot provide the life for your family that you want. You cannot share the things that you want with them. You cannot be the person that you want to be who feels satisfied with their personal growth and accomplishments.

So, how do you keep them in balance? That is not for me to answer - it is a personal thing without doubt. I will give you one “hack” though that will help tip the balance in the direction of life - helping you achieve in your career without spending your life at work.

Assuming that you are a strong worker who can handle the day to day pressures of your job, if you want to advance your career you need to show that you can handle more, or that you can handle greater challenges. There is more than one way to be seen as a key member of the team.

“…like the power hitter, every once in a while you have to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park. Preferably when it counts most.”

Some baseball players make careers out of being incredibly dependable. They hit .270 year in and year out with lots of singles and get on base by any means possible. They make all the routine plays in the field and very few errors. Nothing spectacular hitting or fielding, but they are always there - they might be called “workhorses.” It takes a long time, but they are eventually seen as indispensable.

Are you planning on being a workhorse to build your career? Are you in the office first and out last? Do you take on every task you possibly can without ever suggesting your plate might be full? Are you working so hard that you can’t possibly do your best on everything, but find yourself getting lots of walks and singles?

This works for sure. You will be noticed and as the dependable person you will be given more and more responsibility. It takes time. You aren’t seen as a star, but your stock rises. You invest heavily in your career and chances are you pay for it in your personal life feeling the pressure and living your job.

I’d like to suggest becoming a home run hitter. They’re the kind of player who can be forgiven the occasional fielding error or strikeout because their impact on the team is so great with one swing of the bat. Now, please don’t take this too literally. I’m not suggesting that you create a reputation as a person that will screw up on occasion but is quite valuable - far from it. I would equate the errors and strikeouts more with moderation in what you take on. Develop the ability to say no - that’s a whole different skill and blog post. You should do every bit of the work that is reasonable to expect of an effective employee - but don’t try to be the workhorse doing the jobs of two or three people.

Then, like the power hitter, every once in a while you have to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park. Preferably when it counts most - in the late innings with men on base - or in business sense, on a key project that a superior has given you responsibility for. You can even choose the right time to step up and say “pick me”, give me the chance now to help. That’s the time you sacrifice. You stay late or all night. You do everything it takes to accomplish the task beyond anyone’s expectations.

Every project counts you say? They are all key? You can look at it that way, but surely a few times a year a special situation arises where you are going after the dream account, or your bosses boss needs your help, or the results of your project will be especially public. Everyone must have the chance to pick their spots and really go for it. When that time arises you need to tip the balance hard in the work direction and be sure that you don’t miss. Pull out every trick you have, every favor available and every minute of your time to deliver perfection.

The power hitter will be noticed and given the big opportunity. The singles hitter in the office won’t even be able to step up to the plate because they are already working way beyond capacity. Even if they go for it on the special project, they will drop a few balls elsewhere. But you will be seen as a clutch performer who hits a home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth. And guess who gets the big contract?

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Everyone knows more than one person who doesn’t care how they look, and don’t worry what people’s perceptions of them are. The one who dresses down, or inappropriately, and justifies it in private expecting employers to look beyond and focus on what they do, not how they look. They like to point to Steve Jobs and his black turtle and jeans and say “look - Steve doesn’t wear a suit!”

OK, but he wears a very nice turtle. He has very nice jeans. He trims his beard and has a nice hair cut. In business you give impressions, like it or not. If you dress down when expectations are otherwise you are raising a big flag that says “not a team player.” You are also putting yourself first, when in reality you must put the customer first. If you are trying to advance your career you are just shooting yourself in the foot.

Perhaps there are some very liberal employers out there, but chances are that if you think yours in one of them - you are wrong! People are forming opinions behind your back and not sharing them with you. Leaders are doing you a disservice by not addressing it with you for fear of upsetting you.

Your goal if you are reading this site is quite likely to advance your career. You are trying to sell yourself professionally to someone - your superior, another firm, or a client. Accept that people form impressions, even if you disagree with them. Try this instead - dress for the job you want.

When people look around the office for the up and comer they are really looking for the person who already looks like they can handle a job. You probably haven’t done all the things they are looking for yet, so for the easy things you want to make it simple for those making decisions. If you “look” the part you have a leg up on your competition. If you “look” like a person I want to do business with I will look a little closer. Rightly or wrongly, if you don’t look the part, I will probably not give you any more notice.

You are not trying to win a fashion competition though. You do not want to look like you belong on the Board if you have yet to supervise a single person - frankly people will wonder about your ability to budget and allocate resources! You aren’t trying to overtly “one up” people. You are simply trying to look the part and make it clear that you belong on the next rung of the ladder. If everyone walks around all day in shirt and tie - make sure your tie is crisp, your shirt matches, and often even if it isn’t called for - put on a jacket. It does not mean that if your buddy wears Land’s End you need to go Armani. But if your buddy closes the catalogue after shirts - do a little browsing in the jacket department too. Ladies, I’m afraid I’d be making a mistake to try and find a similar comparison, but I trust you can interpret this advice in a similar way.

Set A Goal: Every day next week dress a little beyond where you do today. Put on a jacket, wear a suit. Whatever the standard in your office, exceed it a little.

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