Managing Your Career as an Investment!

One common trait I see in my clients is that they get too emotionally attached to their employer, their boss, and their job. So, when they are looking for a promotion or a better opportunity within their company they rely too heavily on the promises—expressed or implied—by their management. In most cases they work hard and go above and beyond in their duties, often sacrificing their family priorities to stay on top. Despite my admonitions they continue to rely on these promises, often shortchanging themselves and their careers. In most cases they are disappointed when these promises do not come through, and more so, when they have passed up other outside opportunities holding false hopes of earning what they were promised.

The same is true when a client makes a change and is getting ensconced in their new job. Within a few months after landing a new job, a recruiter or a hiring manager approaches them to see if they are open to yet another opportunity. In most cases I do not even hear about this from my clients because they do not bother to check with me on how to approach yet another change just a few months—or a year—after starting a new job. They just assume that I would tell them to stay put in their new job or that making such a change would be detrimental to their career.

This is myopic!

It is best to approach any opportunity presented to you first by looking ahead—and then back—on how making a change will look on your résumé. If your employer makes a promise about promoting you, then you must hold your employer accountable by making sure that the promise is specific and measurable. Merely hearing, “we’ll take care of you; just get this done,” is not enough.

In my previous blogs I have always maintained that you must extract a promise from your boss before—and not after—you take on something significant and deliver it.  After you are able to get a specific promise for your contribution, if the promise is not honored you must first approach the manager that made you that promise and reassess what your course of action now is. In many cases my clients walk away satisfied with yet another vague promise after hearing some excuses why the original promise could not be honored. You must treat the first broken promise—or an inability to make a specific and measurable promise—as a wake-up call for you to take charge of your own career. To deal with this appropriately you must get ready and launch your campaign in an appropriate manner so as not to jeopardize your current job.

Secondly, when you are new at a job and someone approaches you with another promising opportunity, regardless of how long you have been at your new job, you must explore this new opportunity, and then decide what the right course of action is for your career. Without this due diligence you are potentially wasting a promising opportunity merely because you are too emotionally vested in your new job.

In either case here is my guidance on how to manage your career:

1. Always maintain good momentum in your current role and make sure that you have good assignments that shine on your résumé. If you see yourself approaching a stretch, where your growth is in jeopardy you must take appropriate action for getting yourself the right assignments, or looking at alternatives, including changing jobs. Do not just assume that things will eventually work out.
2. When you propose a new initiative or get assigned to something critical, make sure that you have a clear discussion about the rewards you expect from this assignment. Make sure that the assignment is worthy of a career discussion. The promises you get from your manager must be specific and measurable. Document this discussion in an email to those who made the promise.
3. When you come through and the promise does not, meet again with your manger and remind them of what just happened. Ask for a recovery plan and make sure that the manager is now serious about honoring this new promise. As you watch closely what is going on to keep the new promise make alternate plans, including moving out of the group or the company.
4. Actively create options as the manager works to get you what they now promised. Assume that the promise is not going to come through, and aggressively work towards alternatives.
5. When you land a new job and your current manager counters you with an equitable offer, take a serious look at your career, your momentum, and what the right choice is. If your manager is luring you to continue at your company merely because they cannot afford to lose you to someone else, this is not a good arrangement. Opt in favor of moving out.
6. If you are new at a job (less than one year) and someone approaches you with a promising opportunity do not casually dismiss it. Explore it and conduct due diligence. Do not get emotionally attached to your new job and look at how this impending opportunity can improve your career.
7. When an employer approaches you make sure that you are clear about why they want you. Asking questions like, Please tell me what unique value do you think that I bring to your company that is causing you to pursue me! If the answer to this simple and telling question is not cogent, then you are just another employee to them. Act accordingly.
8. If an employer approaches you, taking you away from a new job, make sure that you protect yourself with an appropriate severance agreement in your next job. Most do not exhibit enough confidence to bring this up.
9. When leaving your new job for better prospects, make extra effort to leave on good terms with your current employer. If things do not work out your severance agreement and your past employer are your best insurance policies.
10. Always manage your career as if it is an investment; do not get emotionally attached to your job, employer, or your manager.

Good luck!