At a recent breakfast with other career professionals, we got into a discussion of the characteristics of who is likely to be out the longest when unemployed.

The most common trait: Too little awareness of his/her value to the businesses he/she has come from versus other available resources.

In my practice, these folks fall into two sub-segments:

The Traditionalist:
• Someone who has worked for a single company for 10-20 years and after being laid off, has had no luck getting back in. Doesn’t know why.
• Doesn’t really know to what degree or when he exceeded expectations at the last employer. Not sure how he was ranked versus other employees, except that he was kept on many years and made quotas most of the time. “My boss/company took care of me.” To be fair to this person, education (and religion) in this country breeds workers to let their companies manage their fate.
• Is pretty sure he is out of work because of big business, the Democrats, Republicans, or “poor management.”

The Arrogant:
• This person has progressed through the ranks and has successfully held a number of (3-6) of senior titles such as Director or VP. But now has been out over a year and gets interviews but no offers.
• Since he achieved Director+ level, is pretty sure it can’t be his fault. On the other hand, seems to have forgotten that, at the top of the pyramid, there aren’t enough chairs for everyone to be assured a chair when the music stops. The music has stopped a lot in the last 5 years.
• Talked to one of these the other day. Has achieved CEO and President of several medical device start-ups and companies under $30 million. But in his resume all he says is “I was CEO.” Describes the mergers and acquisitions that occurred while he was at the helm but doesn’t show what mission critical strategies he owns versus other senior staff involved in the same M&A. Makes no effort to show for which future companies and problems he is the best ROI (return on investment.) Doesn’t think he should have to.

By the way, the folks with these problems are more likely to be male (women are usually more self-aware and/or paranoid,) and very likely to be over the age of 50.

So if you suspect you have a bit of these traits, what do you do? Go back to former co-workers and bosses and identify what you did better/differently than other people they have interacted with at the same title and experience level. This is not the time to ask people who will say nice things to you because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Learn to craft the arguments that will set you above all other pitches for whatever segments you can be the best ROI for. I know how to do that if you don’t.

Be willing to admit that in today’s market we all need to sell ourselves to our workplace, industry, family, and community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Topics: branding + positioning, communications, getting ahead, leadership, selling skills | 3 Comments »

Back around 1870, automation shifted the production of most goods consumed in the US to centralized factories. Factory owners needed workers who would contentedly stand in an assembly line for hours on end at low pay. Schools bred workers who were compliant and not trained well enough to have higher aspirations. The paternalistic employer offered workers life-long stability and benefits to keep them content. Unions guaranteed minimum working conditions. Detroit auto workers are an example of this co-dependent culture.

This education model continued through the 1970s when high tech innovation, and the increasing shift of low level manufacturing overseas required that most US workers needed a college education to succeed. Simultaneously, workers began to have higher aspirations for themselves in their relationship with employers. An engineering degree was a ticket to success and long-term approbation.

Fast forward to 2011. Innovation and globalization are well-known phenomena. I think we all understand that the rate of both is accelerating. The average permanent job is lasting 2-3 years as business owners must constantly re-group to meet competitive threats. Yet, workers have become increasingly less engaged, crabby that the employer is not taking care of them, threatening to move on at the first opportunity.

•  69% of employees describe themselves as under-engaged or un-engaged.
• 30% of executives describe themselves as under-engaged or un-engaged.
• 47% of engaged high potentials say they will leave “at the first opportunity.”  (#)

I don’t understand the disconnect. I talk to folks every day who proudly threaten they will move on within the next 12 months to a “nicer” employer.

Why do you think the next employer will be radically better? The phenomenon we are caught in is happening to all of us, employer and employee alike. Yes, the employers could be nicer in many instances. CEOs should not make so much more than the rest of us. However, the bigger trend is that employers will have less and less choice to nurture the relationship with employees in the way you are all accustomed to. Companies are being pushed into decisions that will make the relationship with employees more and more transient.

So what are you doing about it? Showing disengagement to your current employer or a hiring manager is likely to put you high on the first-to-be-fired list. Feeling disengaged is counter-productive, a dead end. It won’t get you promoted.

Instead, you need to learn how to succeed and shine versus other employees in the future or work for yourself.

(#) http://www.workforce.com/section/hr-management/feature/special-report-employee-engagement-losing-lifeblood/

Topics: career strategy, solving problems | 2 Comments »

I have noticed that among the women execs I know there are “feminine” traits that sometimes get in the way of success in the corporate world. I value that women and men frequently process information and decision-making differently. The business world (and society) will benefit when 50% (or more) of the executives in the C-Suite and on the Board are female. The best answer for a company will always result from looking at a situation from many diverse perspectives.

However, if I look at the collection of women I know in executive roles, many of them have put up their own roadblocks to rising up the ranks even more quickly by expecting a higher standard of emotional synchronization in the office than most men require or know how to interact with. Several of these women have passed on $200+K jobs because the cultural fit wasn’t perfect, when a man would have taken on the same business challenge not caring if he was a very different style from the other people around. No culture is perfect. Focus on the question: “Can I make a this business better?”

It is true that a strong corporate woman is frequently called a “bitch” when a man using the same style might have been praised. Nevertheless, top management will promote the person who can “separate the wheat from the chaff“ and make the right business decision for the situation. Consideration of culture and feelings may be a luxury not affordable here.

Will you be called a bitch more often? Maybe. Probably! Once you have arrived in the C-Suite you won’t care so much.

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy, solving problems | No Comments »

Consider that if you explain the value proposition of your ideas and strategies well enough, demonstrating the “obvious desirability” of strategies you understand well, you may be able to skip a title or two and move to a much more strategic role regardless of how much money you made last year or what your title was. I would stop thinking of yourself as having to progress through time and grade stages others are subject to and talk your ideas without stating last year’s pay level. Assess the value of your strategies on the open market. You may be able to increase responsibility dramatically with a hiring manager who has great need for your wisdom. Target the hiring managers and companies who have the greatest need for your expertise.

Think more like a consultant and less like an inside resource who is humble to more senior people who may know less about the particular startegy.

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy | No Comments »

Here is my New Year’s resolution:

I promise to try one new idea per ___ that I have never tried before, to build my business. I will track responses and see if it works better than my current techniques. This can be applied to the script I use on the phone to reach out to people I have never met, a cover letter, elevator speech, resume, or whatever.

I will survey my customers after every meeting to see what I can do better. Feel free to tell me what I could do.

At the end of every conversation with a friend, client, or stranger I will ask each of them “How can I help you?” Thank you, Alex, for NEVER failing to do this.

I will volunteer my time to those less fortunate. I helped make sandwiches for the homeless last Sunday. Thank you, Jennifer, for putting the event together. If you would like to help, email Alan Law at info@363days.org. He is a retired teacher who hands out sandwiches 363 days a year. He needs volunteers who have time to help assemble sandwiches or deliver them in bulk to homeless shelters. If you are an out of work executive, it is a good way to put your own problems in perspective.

What is on your list?

Happy Holiday and Happy New Year!

Topics: career strategy, networking | No Comments »