Catapult Your Career in 2011: 4 Steps to Take
After the near collapse of the financial system in 2008, the U.S. economy finally is turning a corner. This year, as businesses begin aggressively expanding and adding staff again, professionals will face two stark possibilities: They will either become high performers who capitalize on the unprecedented opportunities in their midst, or they will become the laggards, the almost-rans who just tread water and eventually get left behind.
The former group-whom I call the opportunity miners-will be landing lucrative jobs, starting great companies or so vastly improving upon what they already have that they will end up in orbit, if not exploring the solar system. As for the laggards, they will see their sparks of opportunity fizzle out before they can grab them, and their network of friends and advisors will similarly see their hopes dashed.
Want to ensure that you become an opportunity miner in 2011? Follow these four steps.
1.Sell Others on Who You Really Are–Not What You’ve Done
Many people assume opportunities comes to those with killer résumés and great experience. That’s, at best, an exaggeration. The truth is, colleagues don’t care about the details of your past accomplishments–which awards you won, or how quickly you were promoted to vice president. They just want to know enough about you to be convinced that you’re a “player.”
Don’t believe it? Here’s a little game to play that will convince you. Think of someone you admire, a coworker or acquaintance higher up the ladder than you. Got the person in mind? Now, ask yourself these questions:
· Where did s/he go to school?
· Where did s/he work before the job he has now?
· What’s the biggest professional award the person won in the last three years?
Don’t be surprised if you can’t answer even one question. Most people don’t care about the specifics of their colleague’s resume-they just want to know enough to be reassured it won’t be a career limiting move to be associated with that person. So stop focus on racking up accomplishments that others-even your admirers-wouldn’t remember.
In 2011, here’s what you need: the ability to look an executive straight in the eye, and say with complete confidence that a certain opportunity is perfect for you, that you were put on earth to do that exact job. How do you develop this conviction, this rock solid belief in yourself? By understanding what are your core values. What do you stand for? What principles, if violated, would cause you to walk away from even most lucrative opportunities? Once you’ve identified these values, list the different opportunities that you see, or that you could create, and put them into one of five categories: “worthless,” “ok,” “good,” ”great” and “amazing.” The “amazing” opportunities are perfect manifestations of your values.
You will land these amazing roles by selling everyone, in addition to yourself, on the fact that you are on Earth to do this job.
Think about it. Who else but Richard Branson could run Virgin? Who else but Bill Gates could have founded Microsoft? In both cases, their roles perfectly expressed their values.
So your challenge is to identify your core values. Many tools on the Internet that can help you, including this one.
2.Re-imagine Your Future
Most people don’t know it, but their future is already written. Not by God, the stars, or even their bosses, but by themselves. This “default future” is composed of your past–last year’s hopes, dreams, disappointments, victories and defeats. And, the default future guides your actions, in the same way the default font determines what will appear on your screen when you type unless you go into settings and choose something different.
Because the past few years have been so trying, most people have a default future that is infused with pessimism. So they will work really hard, then succumb to the inevitability of joining the “left behind” group.
A friend who is a therapist and counsels couples often asks patients in troubled marriages to explain what they think the “default future” of therapy will be. Often one spouse will blurt out “divorce,” which surprises the couple. “Ok,” my friend will say. “If divorce is the default future, what actions will you automatically take, without thinking, to get to this end?”
The response is usually along lines of: “Disclose just enough to have tearful moments, and no more.”
“And if you take those actions, what will happen?”
The couple will say, “Divorce, and then we’ll be able to tell our friends and family that we did everything we could.”
Then the question my friend asks the question that everyone needs to ask themselves: “Is this the default future that you really want?”
Want to figure out what your default future is? Take these two steps:
1. Ask yourself, “What’s likely to happen in my career this year if nothing unexpected comes along?” Write it down-all of it-the good, the bad, and the ugly.
2. Then ask yourself, “If this future were pre-ordained, what actions would you find yourself taking, without even thinking?“ Jot those down, too.
Only when you identify the default future that is driving your actions, can you decide you want something different-a new future that articulates your deepest aspirations. The source of the default future idea is The Three Laws of Performance that I wrote withSteve Zaffron.
3.Find People Who Want to Succeed As Much as You Do
3.Find People Who Want to Succeed As Much as You Do
The research is clear: Maintaining strong connections-a close tribe-is vital not only to your health, but your professional success. A group, or tribe, can have as few members as 20 or as many as 150. What’s critical is the quality of the relationships, not the quantity.
People form tribes without thinking, just as birds flock without being told to do it. The problem is that 75% of tribes have cultures that allow, or even encourage, defeated and resigned communication. Only one in four is set up to succeed, and only 2% are capable of changing the world.(Watch BNET’s excellent video summary of this idea.)
Here’s how to upgrade your tribe, and add the connections you need to ensure that 2011 will rock:
1. Identify colleagues who share your values and want the same success.
2. Cultivate relationships with and between these contacts, by pointing out mutual interest and shared commitments.
3. Ask the members of your emerging tribe who else they know who would make good additions to this group.
Want to take tribe-building to the highest level (to get to the top 2%)? Learn about a technique called social fusion.
Forget the five-year plan. Long-range plans don’t work for careers because life is unfolding now, not four years and six months from now. New Year’s Resolutions, good intentions, and slogans are equally useless because none offer robust, actionable strategies. What works: specific 90-day strategies.
The best run tribes that I know plan as a group in 90-day chunks. One tribe created-from scratch-an investment bank in 90 days. Another launched a terrific business, crowdSPRING.com. Ninety days is long enough to make something remarkable happen, while short enough to maintain a sense of urgency.
In order for your 90-day strategy to be successful, though, you need to make sure you and your “tribe” or network ask yourselves these three basic questions:
1. What is it that would make our careers amazing, 90 days from today?
2. What assets, as individuals and as a tribe, do we already have? (Write down the list.)
3. What steps will we take to use our assets to accomplish our goal? (Write them down!)
Before moving forward with the strategy, conduct a reality check. Ask yourselves:
1. Is your list of assets sufficient for the goal you set? If not, change the goal or find more assets.
2. Will your list of steps in #3 lead you to your goal? If not, add more steps.
Want some more inspiration? Check out some of the other resources to help you achieve greatness, one 90-day segment at a time.
This four-step tribal strategy may seem unfamiliar at first, but it will enable you to realize your values and make a compelling future, along with a group of people who want to succeed-and see you succeed.
Deciding to make 2011 your best year ever? I hope you’ll add a comment below, or shoot me an email.
No comments:
Post a Comment