Download - The A to Z of careers

THE A-Z OF CAREERSThe nature of careers appears constantly changing. Waldemar

Schmidt provides a unique take on your career reality

© Copyright 2014 London Business School

BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 2

AMBITIONSTo move up the career ladder, you must beambitious for your team and, crucially, thecompany you work for. Ask not only, “What canthe company do for me?” but also, “What can Ido for the company?”


BLAME GAME If something goes wrong, don’t blamesomebody else. Good bosses can take badnews – if it is explained properly – so tell yourswhat went wrong, why it went wrong, what youhave learnt and how you are going to fix it.Great leaders take the blame when somethinggoes wrong and attribute successes to theirteams.


CELEBRITY CEOThe business world is littered with so-called‘celebrity CEOs’, who are perceived to besuccessful but are often not seen in this way bytheir shareholders and colleagues. Nobody dares‘touch’ them. The symptoms are that their resultsand achievements are mediocre. However, theyspeak well, address all sorts of conferences, siton too many boards, spend too much time withpoliticians, are media darlings, have an opinionabout everything and may arrange to have theirbiographies written. All of this activity means thecompany’s performance suffers.


DIVERSITYWe all have a strange tendency to recruit peoplesimilar to ourselves. However, we must remindourselves that diverse teams produce muchbetter results than teams where all membershave the same profile as ourselves.


EVALUATIONEverybody likes to know whether or not theirboss is happy with their performance,particularly if they are ambitious. Having aperformance-based business system has manyadvantages, one of which is to ensure thatmanagers always know whether they are doinga good job or a bad job. This avoids bigsurprises when formal evaluations are made.


FINISHEDSome people unconsciously work with threeversions of the word ‘finished’ when you ask ifthey have finished the project for which you arewaiting eagerly. You have ‘almost finished’,‘finished’ and ‘completely finished’. Being ableto tell your boss that your project is ‘completelyfinished’ will benefit your career.


GOALSSetting the right goals is crucial though difficult.Both near-term and long-term goals have to beambitious but achievable. If you always reach yourgoals and always get 100 per cent of yourpotential bonus, then the goals are not sufficientlyambitious. If you never hit your goals and get nobonus, they are too stretched or your team isunderperforming. The ‘hockey stick budgets’,where near-term goals are undemanding, andlong-term goals are unrealistic all need to beturned down every time you see them. Goals mustbe demanding but realistic.


HUMOURAlways remember that a bit of humour and funin the workplace will increase productivity.Sarcasm always has the opposite effect andshould be avoided.


INITIATIVEGreat leaders take initiatives, relevant initiatives– and see them through to fruition.


JUDGEMENTThe ability to make good judgements is key ifyou want to become a successful CEO. Somehave it, others don’t. Your ability to make goodjudgements increases tremendously if you havea competent team, know your industry and yourcompany really well and have your basic factsavailable. Don’t ever think that you can find thetruth that you need for your judgement in aspreadsheet, in a model or advice from aconsultant.


KNOW YOURBUSINESSSuccessful global CEOs know their businessintimately because they have worked in anumber of different functions and differentcountries before they reached the top. Whenthe boss knows his or her business, discussionsabout big decisions become objective and tothe point.


LEADERSHIP STYLESThere are many styles of leadership and manybooks written about the subject. The stylesspan from ‘dictatorial’ to ‘abdication’. Neither ofthese extreme are found in great leaders, whoare characterised by the ability to make greatstrategic decisions and the ability to assembleand inspire great teams to execute. Greatleaders are great because they have a clearstrategy and consistently deliver great results bygetting the best out of people.


MEDIA ATTENTIONWhen your success as a leader becomes knownand you are CEO of a large company, the mediawill become interested in you. We all like to seeour picture in newspapers and magazines – atleast in the early years when everything goes well.But when disappointing things happen, most of uscould do without it. Therefore, you should onlyappear in the media when it really matters for yourcompany. Don’t be one of these CEOs who iswilling to comment on anything. Even businessjournalists speak disparagingly among themselvesof ‘media tarts’.


NETWORKBuilding and maintaining a network of relevantpeople is very important in your business life aswell as in your private life. But remember that anetwork can only be sustained if it is based ontwo-way communication. If you receive, youalso have to give.


OPPORTUNISMThere are business situations where you have to beopportunistic. If a business opportunity that is notforeseen in your plans emerges suddenly, and yourbusiness instinct tells you that ‘this is really interesting,an opportunity we should not miss’, then you shoulduse your business acumen and go for it. This should bean exception – not the rule. You may also, out of theblue, be offered a job opportunity in your company or inanother fine and relevant company which was not inyour career plan. Use your judgement and instinct tomake a decision. Don’t just ignore the chance. Mostpeople only get one or two ‘fantastic’ careeropportunities in their lives


PATIENCEGreat leaders and successful CEOs arenormally not very patient when it comes toperformance. But during your career there aretimes when being patient pays off. If you feelthat your next promotion is overdue, you maystart looking for opportunities elsewhere. In bigorganisations, however, unexpected thingshappen all the time. Some degree of patiencetherefore may pay off.


QUALITYMake sure that the quality and detail of yourwork is high.


REORGANISATIONIn the dynamic global world we live in there willbe times where you have to reorganise. Somepeople see reorganisations as a threat to theirposition. People who want to become greatleaders often see reorganisations as anopportunity to grow and learn.


STRATEGYSuccessful CEOs embed a strategy within thecompany that is deeply rooted in theorganisation and which creates a sense ofpurpose for all employees. Strategies shouldcome and go with CEOs.


TIME TO GO?There are two time-to-go situations to think about: one is atthe end of your career; the other can be during your career.Both are extremely difficult to deal with as you cannotopenly talk with anybody at work about them and youshould not let anybody get the sense that you may beconsidering leaving your job. This is a situation where allyour skills and senses will be tested. You depend on yourown judgement, ideally supported by your spouse and/or agood friend. The moment your decision to go becomesknown in the organisation, you become a lame duck—nomatter what people tell you and what you want to believe.When you have decided to go, do so with elegance. Getthe timing right and make sure that you have verycompetent successors in place. Make the transition as briefas possible.


UNIONSUnions have a role to play and they will not goaway. You should consider them asstakeholders and deal with them accordinglythrough constructive and transparent dialogue.


VALUESEvery company has its formal and informal valuesabout how they do and don’t do business, ethicalstandards, etc. Values are created, carried andcommunicated by people. They are about what youdo; not about what you say or write in your manuals,brochures, annual reports and so on. You mustidentify with the values of your company. Whenconsidering moving to a new company, you shouldmake an effort to understand the values of your newemployer by talking to as many people as you can toensure that you can. As a CEO, you are very muchthe role-model when it comes to values.


WORK–LIFEBALANCEThere are many terrific books about thisimportant subject. The simple version is that it isa matter of priority and mind-set. If you reallylike your job and want to become a CEO, youmust set priorities – not necessarily sacrifices.You can do a lot but you cannot do ‘everything’


XNever use an informal ‘x’ to sign off a documentunless you’re writing to family members or veryold friends.


“YES, BOSS!”This mentality does not exist in companies withgreat leaders. Great leaders employ smartpeople who are expected to express theiropinions.


ZERO–TEN SCALEA simple method to determine what matters isto ask: “On a scale from 0–10, how important isthis?” A CEO presenting an acquisition to hisboard was posed this question. He paused fora long time and finally said, “Five,” and added,“I no longer think we should make thisacquisition.”


The full A – Z was published in Business Strategy Review

Volume 25 Issue 1 2014

Visit our website www.london.edu/bsr

Download - The A to Z of careers

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