Managing Your Career

Prepared for UCSD LAMP Program

5/6/2014

Instructor: Roger Colbath

So what is a career anyways?

…and why should I manage it?

According to Dictionary.com

ca·reer1. an occupation or profession, especially one

requiring special training, followed as one's lifework: He sought a career as a lawyer.

2. a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking: His career as a soldier ended with the armistice.

3. success in a profession, occupation, etc.

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Today’s Agenda

• Philosophy• Strategy

– The vision for your future

• Tactics– Activities to help position yourself

along the way

Philosophy

“To study , and when the occasion arises to put what one has learned into practice – is that not deeply satisfying?”

Confucius

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How the World Works…

Be DoHave

Considerations

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Management vs. Leadership

• Management – Relating to planning, organizing, execution,

and monitoring– Detail oriented– We manage things

• Leadership– Relating to vision, influence, and motivation– Big picture oriented– We lead people

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Which is More Important?

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Management vs. Leadership

• Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Peter F. Drucker

• Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

Stephen Covey

• “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.”

Thomas Peters

The Role of the Leader• The Leader– Agent of Change

– Policy– Initiatives and Projects– Process

• Why ‘Change’ is hard– Private agendas– Lack of WIFM– Autonomy

How to Get Promoted -The 3 E’s

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Education

Experience

Exposure

The 4th E - Effectiveness

Attitude

• At the end of the day we all work for ourselves

• The ‘service provider’ mentality• Cats vs. Dogs

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Curling

• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=curling+videos+download&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=06EE4186C05212BB280306EE4186C05212BB2803

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Strategic Thinking and Planning

Where do I want to go?

Two Types of Problems - Things• Typically driven by the laws of physical nature

– E=mc2 , PV = nRT

• Solution speed is usually advantageous– Although predecessors can exist

• Force vectors are visible or at least measurable• Solution requires ‘hard’ or ‘technical’ skill• Fastest solution is typically a straight line

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A B

Two Types of Problems - People• Typically driven by the laws of human nature

– Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, Self-realization

• Solution speed is also advantageous– But timing is way more critical than speed– Sometimes ‘wait’ is the next action

• Force vectors are not always visible or measurable

• Solution requires ‘soft’ or ‘people’ skills• Fastest solution is rarely a straight line

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A B

What is Strategy?• Strategy is a general, undetailed plan of action, encompassing a

long period of time, to achieve a complicated goal.• Strategy is conceptual, while tactics are aimed at implementation

– For example, marketing is primarily strategic, while selling is primarily tactical.

• “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

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"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organisation

through its configuration of resources within a challenging

environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations"

Johnson and Scholes

Sun Tsu

Strategic Thinking

• The higher the level of an action or decision, the higher the level of political involvement

• The ability to think and plan strategically has a huge impact in our ability to get the ‘Right Thing’ done

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Strategy Tactics

• Two choices:– Stractics– Tactegies

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Strategy

Corporate Directive

Tactics Tasks

Stractical Thinking Algorithm

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Stractical Thinking - Guidelines

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• Don’t underestimate the power of alliances – both for and against your ideas

• Try to maintain at least three moves ahead• Every step doesn’t have to involve motion

– Sometimes the right ‘action’ is to wait• The best solutions are the ones that meet most

of the stakeholders needs– Maintain your flexibility and objectivity –ideas can often

be improved– Look for opportunities to turn opponents into

supporters• Don’t let it get personal

– This is about ideas, not people• Don’t ever, ever, ever compromise your

integrity to get your way

Planning

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Career Planning AlgorithmDevelop Career

Strategy

Self InventoryUnderstanding of

the Company Culture

Identification of Potential

Opportunities

Establish Target Opportunity

Perform Gap Analysis

Develop Plan

Evolve Capabilities

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Evaluate Yourself

• Identify Your Values• Evaluate Your Capabilities• Determine Your Core Competency

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Useful Self-Evaluation Tools• Strategic Planning Worksheet

– Evaluation of key attributes– Focus on values

• DISC– Breaks down personality into 4 main types

• Dominance - relating to control, power and assertiveness • Influence - relating to social situations and communication • Steadiness - relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness • Conscientiousness - relating to structure and organization

• Myers Briggs– Based on Jung’s eight mental functions

• Extroversion/Introversion – relating to orientation of energy and management of information

• Sensing/INtuition – relating to how people take in information• Thinking/Feeling - relating to how people come to conclusions• Judging/Perceiving – relating to how people orient themselves to the external world

• Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI)– Breaks down personality as a blend of 3 main types

• Blue – Altruistic• Green – Analytical• Red – Assertive

– Presents probable behavior traits under stress

• 360– Feedback and perspectives from superiors, peers, and subordinates– Identification of blind spots

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Evaluate Your Company

• Understand the Values– What’s important?– How is it measured?

• Understand the Culture and Protocol– How do things get done?– How do promotions happen?– What are the rules of engagement?

• Determine the Direction – Growth– Technical– Establishment of new capabilities

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Identify Potential Opportunities

• Identify Potential Paths for Advancement and set goals– Long term goals – 5 to 10 years– Mid term goals – 2 to 3 years– Near term goals – 6 months to 1 year

• Who has the job at your company that you would like to have?

• Any emerging capabilities you might be interested in?

Tactical Execution

Creating and Executing ‘The Plan’

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Career Planning AlgorithmDevelop Career

Strategy

Self InventoryUnderstanding of

the Company Culture

Identification of Potential

Opportunities

Establish Target Opportunity

Perform Gap Analysis

Develop Plan

Evolve Capabilities

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Establish Your Target Opportunity

• Write your Mission Statement– Clear and concise– Affirmative

• Review the mission– For consistency with your values – For consistency with your talents– For consistency with your

organization’s values and direction

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Gap Analysis

• Identify the credentials and experience required for the desired position

• Compare against your self evaluation

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Create the Plan

• Create the plan to fill the gap– What will you need to accomplish by

the 5 year point?– What will you need to accomplish by

the 2 year point to enable the 5 year plan?

– What will you need to accomplish in the next 6 months to enable the 2 year plan?

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The Plan

• Design with enough granularity to execute with fidelity

• Use the ‘What’s the next action?”* method to break the ‘clouds’ into actions

• Keep a copy in view as a daily reminder

* See Getting Things Done by David Allen

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Evaluate Regularly

• Determine the interval for evaluation• Evaluate progress against the plan • Re-valuate your plan against the

viability of the selected mission– Things change– People grow– Life changes

• Make course corrections as necessaryStay flexible and keep an open

mind

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Stay Motivated

• Envision your success• Celebrate your accomplishments

– Then on the next goal

• Read a book– The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeff

Gitomer

The Toolbox

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Tools of the Trade

• Influence• Networking• Assertiveness• Odds and ends

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Develop Your Influence

• What is influence?• What are the character traits of

the influential people you know?

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Influence – 1 Perspective

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Credibility+Likeability

Self-Orientation

Influencing Techniques• Rational approaches to Influencing

– Logical persuading• Using logic to explain what you believe or what you want. • The number one influence power tool throughout the world. • The most frequently used and effective influence technique

– Legitimizing• Appealing to authority. • On average, the least-effective influence technique in the world• Can result in quick compliance.

– Exchanging• Negotiating or trading for cooperation. Most effective when it is implicit

rather than explicit. Used less often globally than any other influence technique, but it is sometimes the only way to gain agreement or cooperation.

– Stating• Asserting what you believe or want. • Most effective when you are self-confident and state ideas with a compelling

tone of voice.

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• Social approaches to Influencing– Socializing

• Getting to know the other person, finding common ground. • Second in frequency and effectiveness

– Appealing to Relationship• Based on the length and strength of your existing relationships. • Third highest in effectiveness globally.

– Consulting• Engaging or stimulating people by asking questions• Works well with smart, self-confident people who have a strong need to

contribute ideas.• Fourth globally in frequency and effectiveness.

– Alliance building• Finding supporters or building alliances to help influence someone else using

peer or group pressure to gain cooperation or agreement. • Not always effective but in the right circumstances may be the only way to

gain consent.

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Influencing Techniques

Influencing Techniques• Emotional approaches to Influencing

– Appealing to values• Making an emotional appeal or an appeal to the heart. • One of the principal ways to influence many people at once and the

best technique for building commitment.

– Modeling• Behaving in ways you want others to behave• Being a role model; teaching, coaching, counseling, and mentoring. • Fifth globally in effectiveness. Can influence people without you being

aware that you are influencing.

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Build Your Network• Internal

– Multi-level• Superiors• Subordinates • Peers

– Learn to ‘manage’ in all directions• Each level requires different techniques

• External– Professional societies– Classmates and professors– Peers at other companies

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The Uzzi and Dunlap Perspective

• Networks provide three unique* advantages:– Private information– Access to diverse skill sets– Power

• The importance of the ‘Broker’

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*from “How to Build Your Network” by Uzzi & Dunlap

The Network Spreadsheet

• A useful tool?• How big is your network?• Any insights?

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Analyzing a network is interesting…… but how do you build one?

… or repair a damaged one?

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Use Your Network• Learn the Organization

– Identify the sources of power and influence

– Get the ‘book’ on them• What’s their mission?• What motivates them?• What do they value?• How do they assimilate information?• What can you do to help them complete their

mission?“The strength of a network connection can be determined by how much they will do for you. How much they will do for you is determined by how much you have done for them.” Steven R. Hart

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Build Your Network

• Become an information broker– The elevator speech– Focus on the issues, not the people

• Build your business acumen– Who are your competitors?– What are the trends in your business?– Stay informed

• Read the WSJ, HBR, Fortune, Barron’s

– Learn to communicate in ‘business speak’

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The ‘Elevator Speech’

• Must be brief and concise• Must be in the language they speak• Must at the minimum contain:

– What?* – Description of the topic– So What?* – Why it’s important– What Now?* – Recommended next steps

* Adapted from Alex Zak

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Develop Your Assertiveness

• Assertiveness is the art of allowing others to ‘have our way’

• Assertiveness = Pushy• Assertiveness = Aggressive

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The 5 Steps to Assertiveness

• Understand clearly what you wish to accomplish– What exactly is it?– Why is it worth doing?– What’s in it for the organization?– What’s in it for them?

• Communicate it in unambiguous terms…– Say it like you mean it– Use direct language

• …with congruent body language– Make eye contact– Use your space

• Get their buy-in• Follow up

– Make sure that things get done…– …but avoid micro-management

Other Skills, Behaviors, and Useful Actions

Some Odds and Ends that might be useful…

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Generate Visibility

• Declare your intentions– Seek help in attaining them– Work within the protocol at your

company• Think at the ‘System Level’

– Know how the scope of your activities impacts the organization

– Take a business perspective• Ask questions

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Focus on Personal Growth

• Seek out a mentor– Someone who is experienced and

accomplished– Internal or external to the organization– Willing to be brutally honest

• Develop new skills/improve old ones*– Target some areas for improvement– Go after them

*I recommend FYI – A Guide for Development and Coaching – Lombardo & Eichinger

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Develop Your Leadership Persona• Get Organized

– Your appearance– Your office– Your project

• Develop good communication skills– Study the techniques of good communicators

and adopt their methods where applicable– Learn to tell stories

Develop Your EQ

• Measure and improve your Emotional Intelligence– Self Awareness– Self Management– Social Awareness– Relationship Management

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Discover Your Life’s Purpose• You have to know 5 things:• Who are you?• What do you do?• Who do you do it for?• What do they need or want from

you? • How does what you do impact their

lives?Adapted from “How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes”

A TEDx talk by Adam Leipzig

Go for the Extraordinary* Outcome• Understand your Life Purpose

– Explore your professional roles

• List all of the tasks that are required to succeed

• Rank them in terms of importance and priority

• Define the extraordinary outcome for each

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* Franklin Covey – 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity

Extraordinary Outcomes

So what is Extraordinary?

OrdinaryFunction Tasks Job Playing Disengaged Chicken

ExtraordinaryContributionOutcomesOpportunityWinningEngagedPig

Plan Your Workweek• Weekly planning – plan the week ahead

– On the weekend– Focus on what you want to accomplish

• Get it scheduled before the other stuff takes up your calendar

– Professional and Personal

• Daily planning and cleanup– Review the day’s accomplishments– Reschedule the stuff you didn’t get done– Reflect on what worked and what didn’t

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Create a Succession Plan

• Can’t move up unless someone can fill your current position

• Identify resources that can backfill you when you move up

• Develop them

Closing Thoughts

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Isaac Newton

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Questions

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Bibliography1. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey2. The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffery Gitomer3. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity

by David Allen4. FYI – A Guide for Development and Coaching by

Lombardo and Eichinger5. Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman6. The Art of War by Sun Tzu7. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell8. Introduction to Type by Isabel Briggs Myers9. The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams10. The Trusted Advisor by David Maister11. Financial Intelligence by Karen Berman12. The Now Habit by Neil Fiore