Month: March 2010

In a Forbes interview
with older women starting over
in the corporate world,
a former Wall Street executive says
“The hardest part
is that the man working next to me
does not know that I had another career,
that I was president of a division.
He only knows me
as a junior financial advisor.”

This is something I,
as a hired gun,
deal with every day.
The person hiring me
may know my rather impressive resume
but no one else on my team does.

So I have to prove it
with every single contract gig.

There are tricks to accomplishing this.
I wear suits.
I act professionally.
I take charge of emergency situations.
I don’t get emotional.
I add insight as to
what other companies have tried.
Most of all, I achieve
and I achieve quickly.

I like this environment.
I can’t rest on my laurels
or my glorious past.
I have to bring my A game
to every assignment.

Don’t wait until you’re a consultant
or start a new career to do this.
Prove your worth every single day.

I’m working in the General Ledger section
of a finance department.
GL does a lot of things.
We post the unusual journal entries.
We track fixed assets.
We file commodity taxes.
We complete reconciliations.

With all these tasks to do,
however,
we only truly have one job…
to ensure that the financial statements
reflect the state of the business.
In other words…
our numbers have to be strong enough
to pass audit.

If my company passes audit,
I’ve done my job.
If my company doesn’t pass audit,
I should be fired.

To live to play another day
in the corporate world,
you should figure out what your core job is.
Ensure that this is covered
(with buffer, preferably)
THEN work on all the superstar projects.

One of the first things you should do
as a new hire
is do a walkaround.
You go from desk to desk,
introducing yourself
to as many people as you can.

Ideally you’re accompanied by your manager
or some other person
but if no one offers,
you should do it yourself.

Why?

Because clerks, managers, the guy in the mail room,
they all will contribute to your success
at the company.

Actually the guy in the mailroom,
along with the employee at main reception,
are some of the FIRST people you should meet.

If they don’t remember you work there
(and putting a name to the face
helps people to remember),
you’re not getting your mail OR your calls.

Do the walkaround.
It doesn’t matter if,
after meeting a thousand people,
you don’t remember THEIR names,
as long as they remember yours.

A friend of mine is so good,
she’s being considered
for two different positions.

She really wants one of those positions.
Has she spoken up
about her preference?
Nope.
She’s waiting to be asked.

I doubt anyone will ask her.

Managers are not mind readers.
They don’t know what you want.
They don’t know what you need
to be happy in your career.
They EXPECT you to tell them.

Ask for what you want.

Not everyone wants a promotion.
Not everyone wants
to progress to the next level
or to progress… period… in their jobs.

That’s not a bad thing
for a manager
as long as that position remains needed.

I have a junior analyst
who never wants to be a senior analyst.
She is great at her job.
I don’t have to worry
about opening a senior position for her
or about her looking for another job.
She is happy doing her current job.

I’m conscious about keeping her current.
I am slowly cross training her
so she has a wider skill set.
I am also careful
about changing her job
too drastically
too quickly.
She doesn’t want that
and I’m happy keeping her happy.

It is difficult for ambitious people
such as myself
to understand
but wow, is it a relief
as a manager.

If your employees are happy
in their current positions,
ask yourself
why you’re pushing them to progress.
Is it what they want
or what you think they SHOULD want?

A manager was venting
about her problems
with a shared junior analyst.

That surprised me
because I was overjoyed
with this analyst
so I asked how she was coaching her.

Her reply was
“I tell her things again and again
but she doesn’t get it.”

“But how are you COACHING her?”
I repeated.

Telling is quick and easy
and oh so tempting to do
but it is NOT coaching.

Telling is pointing “Go there!”
Because the employee
doesn’t know why or when she should go there,
she ends up having to ask
if there is any variation however small
in the process.

Coaching is creating a map together
and then walking beside the employee.
The employee then has a map,
she can refer to it
when other situations arise.

Telling is quicker short term.
Coaching is quicker long term.
If your employee is a long term investment,
coaching is usually your better option.