There are four types of networking that help accelerate our career development. Do you know what they are? And if so, are you spending enough time on each? In previous blogs I identified the importance of exploring the possibilities and communicating our value as two of three keys to finding …
Want a Great Job? Communicate Your Value!
Want to find a great job? Be a great storyteller. The ability to communicate the value you offer an organization is a critical skill. Interviewing well, receiving plum job assignments, and getting promoted are a result of good preparation that allows you to distill a lifetime of experiences into …
How to Explore the Possibilities
In a previous blog I identified the importance of exploring the possibilities as one of three keys to finding the right job (communicating your value and activating your network are the other two). Readers have asked me to share more about what “exploring” means, and how to do it well. I will …
Dreaming of Great Talent Development
The Beatles had seventeen #1 songs and thirty-eight Top-40 songs on the UK charts, but “Yesterday” is the most covered song in The Beatles’ catalogue. Recorded in 1965 by Paul McCartney on an acoustic guitar, the song was simple, but beautiful. After hearing it the other band members – John, …
Is This Job Right for You?
Taking a job without assessing its fit is like marrying someone because they like you. It’s okay to go out on a blind date but getting married is a commitment. Before you walk down the aisle with an organization evaluate your fit with the company on three levels – strategic, political and …
Stop with All the Teams!
Over the past three years the pandemic has changed our workplaces. According to a McKinsey report The Future of Work After COVID (link), the pandemic accelerated existing trends in remote work, e-commerce, automation and people switching occupations. Employees deemed essential workers, remained on …
Leadership is Strategic Execution
I just finished an excellent book on strategy – Plan to Pivot by Gerry Starsia (link). I highly recommend it to anyone starting out in the strategic planning field. Gerry mentions that in the past it was common to put leaders into three buckets: visionaries and operators, planners and …
Two Plus One Principle
I’ve observed and worked with many successful leaders across business, government, and philanthropy. Many of them develop a towering strength over time. But I’ve noticed that highly successful leaders develop a second strength which is unusual for their field. This, coupled with emotional …
Transitioning To A New Industry
One of the toughest challenges for job seekers is transitioning from one industry to another (e.g., from retail to banking), or from one role type to another (e.g., from marketing to information technology). Job seekers attempting to make the transition express frustration, anger, hurt, and …
3 Keys for Identifying Entrepreneurs
I recently watched a Warren Buffett YouTube video (LINK), where he shared the list of the 20 largest companies in the world by stock market value as of March 31, 2022. Apple topped the list with a $2 trillion valuation and LVMH MOET of France was twentieth at $330 billion. He asked the audience to …
3 Keys for Identifying P&L Leaders
Building a strong pipeline of P&L leaders, people who can manage the generation of revenue and profits for the organization, is a constant focus and worry of CEOs, CFOs and CHROs. I’ve facilitated many talent management discussions with boards of directors, executive teams, and business unit …
Learning from Our High School Cliques
We’re all grown up now. We are responsible, dress professionally and go to work with purpose. But when it comes to career development and progression, we benefit from taking a trip back to high school. Remember the cliques? The jocks, nerds, stoners, goths, etc.? In large organizations they did …