by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
Lou’s job turned out to be another casualty of business’s “new normal” so that meant it was personal reinvention time for him.
For Lou, losing his job wasn’t anything close to what he’d previously defined as normal. He’d always been the one leaving a job for the next great opportunity.
Being downsized was an unwelcome experience because it didn’t align with his vision of himself. He saw himself as a force to be reckoned with, a power broker, someone who could sell anything to anyone.
Twelve months into an unsuccessful job search, he reluctantly sought career coaching. Lou and his coach explored what activities he had taken so far and examined why he had such little success.
As his coach pointed out, sometimes “a force to be reckoned with” needs a new script. His coach asked him if he might be willing to try a different approach…one that was softer and a little more giving. Desperate and humbled, Lou agreed.
5 ways to re-invent yourself…in a good way
Lou’s softer, less in-your-face job search strategy now has some new elements:
1) Proactively sharing your “A” game in new venues.
Be a volunteer, a mentor, a coach to someone in need of knowledge and skills that are in your tool kit. Share your expertise, your time. Be amazed at what giving can do for your career…and your spirits.
2) Look forward, not backward, to find new wins.
Perpetually telling people how good, how important, how powerful, you used to be gets, truthfully, to be a big yawn after a while. Value the past yet live in the moment.
3) Find new ways to add current value.
Take on a project, work as an intern, volunteer at a nonprofit, spend time at a local school. Build a new value proposition for yourself and those around you. Think more about we and less about me.
4) Be realistic.
Revel, delight in the large salary you used to earn, and glory in the fact that you got to enjoy it. Then get your head and heart in a positive space and be willing to accept a lesser salary that’s more aligned with the realities of today’s marketplace.
5) Be reciprocal.
This applies to recommendations on LinkedIn (and anywhere!). Always asking for favors, always taking without giving is another big turn-off. Surprise someone with an unsolicited recommendation (a good one, of course, and true!). Make their day and perhaps they’ll return the favor…and your calls!
What other new approaches would you recommend to Lou as he finds his way in his new direction?
Image source: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
“Andy, I’m so bummed, ” said Kevin. “That new dude in the department got the promotion I was hoping for. What do I do?”
“Did you ask the boss why the new guy got the job instead of you?”
“Yeah. He said the new guy had better skills.”
Feeling let down and perhaps even a little angry are normal reactions when you’re passed over for a promotion. It’s OK to be disappointed, but monitor your emotions because coming across negatively won’t help your chances for future opportunities.
7 strategies for getting a promotion
If you’re gunning for a future promotion or were passed over for one like Andy, consider these strategies to get yourself better positioned for the next time.
1. Have all the hard and soft skills.
Ask your boss what knowledge, skills and/or abilities you lack, either for your current position or the one you were seeking. Work with your boss to create a development plan to fill in the missing skills.
Some items to be included in your skill improvement plan might be: volunteer for projects, attend training programs, work with a coach, read books, take classes or ask for a mentor.
2. Be a team player.
While you may have all the right skills, how you act might be holding you back. Both what you do (task completion) AND how you do it (your interactions with others) are equally important.
Do you have a reputation for being difficult? Do people want you involved in their projects? Are you self-centered? Do you throw colleagues under the bus? Technical brilliance alone won’t get you promoted. You need sincerity, authenticity, top-notch interpersonal communication skills and the ability to build relationships.
3. Build a solid and strategic network.
It’s important to be connected with individuals at all levels within the organization: people who know you, know what you do and who actively support you. It’s pretty powerful when someone from another department is talking with your boss and they praise your work.
Leadership is something that happens up, down and across the organization — make sure you’re playing equally well in all directions.
4. Demonstrate a strong work ethic.
Consider both the quality and quantity of your work. Do you do just enough to get by, or do you regularly go above and beyond? In today’s new normal, employers value people who do more with less.
5. Look the part.
We all know the days of the three-piece suit are long gone, yet looking clean, neat and appropriate never goes out of style. Observe what senior leaders at your company wear. A good rule of thumb is to dress for the job that you want.
6. Be visible.
All too often, we believe that hard work will take us to the top. Yet hard work alone isn’t the answer — your boss and others in your company must know about your contributions.
Many of us are taught not to brag and feel uncomfortable talking about our accomplishments. The workplace reality is that you must tactfully tell people, otherwise they’re not aware of your great ideas or output.
7. Know the company culture.
Every company has its own ways of decision-making, rewarding good performance, communicating up and down the ladder, handling conflict, etc. Get plugged in to how work gets done at your company so you’re working with the flow, not against it.
What promotion-getting strategies have worked for you?
Image source: Gratisography
by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
It was a moment right out of the movie I Robot: the logic was irrefutable.
Brad, the two-hundred-employee firm’s president, had just spelled out the newly revised process—created by a small hand-picked team of three people—for manufacturing the company’s flagship product.
No process detail had been omitted.
Every possible process contingency had been evaluated and factored in. The work flow sequencing was precise, scientific and measurable in every aspect.
The logic was impeccable. (more…)
by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
“My boss doesn’t think my decision to implement a new performance review system was a good one.”
“Did he offer a reason for his position?”
“He said he thought I didn’t look at other options or involve enough other people.”
“Did you do those things?”
“Sure, I did some research, albeit not a lot, and talked to a few people but what I really did was my job: see a problem and fix it.”
Hmmm…danger signs at the intersection of autonomy, decisions, and collaboration!
Reconsider, v. To seek a justification for a decision already made. ~Ambrose Bierce, short story writer and journalist
In his thought-provoking book, Motivation, Daniel Pink points to research detailing — not surprisingly — that we’re stimulated by purpose, mastery and autonomy.
Yet, if we’re going to be successful in being a leader, we have to balance the autonomy portion of that equation with collaboration.
While there are times when a party of one is the best decision-maker, most times it’s more beneficial and productive to invite more people to the decision-making party. Results include diversity of thought, inclusion and participation.
Making good decisions
I’m not advocating for reams of analysis and organizational paralysis…that’s sooooooooooo awful.
What I am advocating for is a simple process that assures involvement and a rich, thoughtful outcome. That’s not so hard!
Create a constructive environment.
Have a focus group, take some folks to coffee, mingle after the staff meeting — all good locales for sharing your preliminary thoughts and inviting alternate points of view.
Generate and explore good alternatives.
No doubt, creating solutions is part of your job. Just be sure that you’ve read enough, talked enough, and turned over enough rocks to have a full picture of both the problem and potential solutions. Sometimes you find out that the problem you’re trying to solve isn’t the problem at all. As you explore, challenge (in a positive, professional way, of course!) the thinking of those involved as healthy debate is integral to productive brainstorming.
Select the best outcome.
Be thoughtful in analyzing the pros and cons of each solution. Ferret out unintended consequences before they happen. Balance the three-legged stool of people, principles and profits.
Check your decision.
Bounce the problem and proposed solution off an impartial third-party, someone with no skin in the game. Get a truly unbiased view of whether your solution is on the mark or misses it. Park the ego, and be willing to return to square one based on what you learn.
Communicate.
Double-back with stakeholders (at all levels within the organization) to assure their buy-in. Talk to people who will be affected by the new system, process, etc. and weigh their feedback. Play angel’s advocate with yourself and with the decision-party team to test your assumptions and solutions to see if they hold water.
Make it happen.
Put the plan into place, create success measures (both quantitative and qualitative as appropriate) and use a thoughtful plan to monitor progress and maintain ongoing communications.
If you’ve followed this process start to finish, then you can say “I’ve done my job!”
What else would you add?
by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
“Tell me why you didn’t say anything to Kyle about his performance problems.”
“I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
This feedback exchange happened during legal discovery in an unlawful termination lawsuit. Fed up with an employee’s ongoing failure to meet job requirements, the supervisor had fired him. The employee believed he was fired because he was older than the rest of his department.
If you supervise or manage others, candidly and caringly talking to people about their job performance is a must-have skill in your leadership toolkit.
I remember the first time I had to tell someone their job performance was missing the mark. I had postponed the discussion probably a dozen times. The time lag only made me more uncomfortable and dashed my secret hopes that the employee could/would read my mind and would miraculously start doing a better job…or gift me with their resignation letter given they’d found a better position.
As the possibility of that miracle receded further and further, I talked to a respected colleague. He asked me what I was afraid of.
“I’m afraid of hurting his feelings.”
“What will happen if his performance doesn’t get any better?”
“I’ll have to let him go.”
“What about his feelings then?”
Ooh!
My colleague went on to tell me that really good leaders talk frankly and frequently about performance with their employees. That those discussions come from a place of caring, not a place of belittlement or forced obligation (the form is due to HR stuff).
I jumped off the cliff and spoke candidly and compassionately with my employee. We talked about what he did well and what he did poorly. We explored things he needed to do better to improve his performance. There weren’t any threats or demands.
Giving honest feedback
As a leader, you own developing your people just you own production or sales numbers or whatever other metric is used as the yardstick to assess your work output. To make that happen:
Give your employees regular, ongoing coaching and feedback about how they’re doing because their insights, growth and performance evolve over time.
Be really specific in describing in good work and what needs to improve. Give feedback (high fives and otherwise) often so it becomes a normal practice for you to do and for your team to receive and respond. Build a culture in which your employees give feedback to each other as well. There’s nothing that says that feedback can only come from the boss!
Some examples:
- You need to be nicer to customers isn’t descriptive enough and is open to lots of interpretation. Say instead, Smile and make eye contact when you greet customers. Use a friendly tone of voice and ask how you can help them. That feedback paints a much clearer picture of what performance you expect.
- Saying Good job! is good recognition yet it doesn’t give enough specificity to help develop particular skills and/or behaviors. Great job on that presentation to the boss! You had all your facts, had analyzed them well, had anticipated her objections and was able to deflect her pushback with appropriate humor…well done! See the difference?
As for that employee who was my first “feedback guinea pig,” he thanked me for being upfront with him and went on to become a star performer.
What other tips and techniques have you experienced that worked well for you in giving honest and meaningful feedback?
