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 If not now – when? Building a long-term executive career
As an executive career consultant, I have noticed that although most senior managers conduct due diligence when buying a home or a vehicle, these same individuals often do not value themselves enough to invest the same time and effort into their career. For a variety of reasons, these individuals have put their job search strategy on hold. They assume they can kick-start their plan as soon as they lose their job, their finances get tight, or their severance runs out. There is clearly a lack of foresight on the part of these executives. By the time they get to me, they are desperate and behind the eight ball.
Connect with Diverse Professionals to Plan AheadThe recession started to force people to rethink this perspective. The economy however, is not the only contributor to this paradigm shift. Times are changing. How you conduct business and navigate the career landscape needs to change too. Rather than moving from one opportunity to the next through a process of osmosis, you can plan ahead to stay ahead. One of the critical areas in any job search comes from remaining current with business. You need to keep pace with trends to have a broader perspective than in the past. A simple way to do this is to put together your own board of directors designed for personal career management. Your board would consist of various professionals who bring diverse perspectives from different sectors to the table. Collecting input from these connections allows you to stay current and keep a finger on the pulse of today’s trends while gleaning insight that would help forecast future challenges and changes. This venue will also provide an arena for brainstorming best practices and sharing forward-thinking ideas that may otherwise take years to transcend from one industry to another.
Connect with Like-Minded Professionals to Stay CurrentChange is not only happening more rapidly than ever before, the transition has become multi-layered. Innovation is at warp speed. Technology is constantly being upgraded and the latest version of the newest gizmo is short-lived. I’m sure you have heard of Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. How about blogging, wikis, and an infinite number of other online applications loaded with buzz words? To succeed in the future, your computer, internet, and social media skills need to stack up. You must leverage these tools to facilitate your career development and keep up with the ever-growing tech explosion. Jean Nidetch recognized the value of peer-to-peer collaborative processes. She founded and went on to successfully grow Weight Watchers International built on this premise. By bringing together a group of like-minded people with common objectives, people can join forces to accomplish their goals, or as the saying goes, “two heads are better than one,” certainly applies here. At the rate today’s resources are becoming obsolete, there is no way for any one person to stay current on their own. Organizations develop partnerships and alliances as a way to build and maintain a competitive advantage. This business principle is very much applicable on a smaller scale. You can and should develop relationships with your colleagues where you can share technical expertise in the pursuit of excellence.
Connect across Diverse Cultures to Stay RelevantAs the world shrinks, so do business markets. It is becoming increasingly necessary to have an understanding of diverse cultures. We once worked in local communities where everyone knew almost everyone, and everyone lived within a particular geographical area at the very least. Today, we regularly travel physically or virtually around the world to do business. Outsourcing and off-shore operations have become paramount in the strategic planning of organizations. These alternatives are natural offshoots to a world where businesses protect their bottom lines. There is just no way to accurately predict how all these markets will turn. However, if you are connected with people at multiple levels, you’ll gain a better understanding of what is happening in business at a larger scale. Make these connections now, even if your company is serving a local or smaller market today – because tomorrow, you may be the small fish swallowed by the gigantic whale. You can prevent your skills and experience from becoming suddenly inadequate.
Connect with Us and Create your Career RoadmapFar too often, executives sit comfortably with little to no thought about career and professional development until it is too late. For some, all the hard work that went into an extensive education followed by years invested in business is enough. They sit back and expect the next opportunity to come to them. Others take a proactive approach to help them meet and exceed their objectives. Recently, one of my clients mentioned the idea of a career road map and asked whether or not having one made sense. My immediate reply was “Absolutely.” If you do not currently have a career road map designed to accommodate the next five to ten years in your career, start to develop one now. Take the first step in developing your career road map by participating in Graham Management Group’s newest survey OUTLOOK 2010: Competitive Career Intelligence for Six-Figure Canadians. You’ll receive a complimentary self-study program entitled Strategic Planning for the Six-Figure Professional from Sharon Graham, Canada’s Career Strategist. You’ll also get free access to Graham Management Group’s Canadian Competitive Intelligence Report and you’ll receive a $100.00 credit on any resume portfolio development services from Graham Management Group in 2010.
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