Category Archives: Promotions

Job traps and how sneaky no good cops set a trap for me

Posted on May 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

A cop turned on his flashing red lights.  He pulled me over and told me they just put up new “No Left Turn” signs.  I got a ticket for $105.  It wasn’t even 7 a.m. yet and he ticketed me for turning left during a prohibited time.  I got upset.  It wasn’t fair.  I complained to my daughter.  She mentioned she had seen the signs.  My wife said she had noticed them too.  So I went back and checked.  There were actually three signs including the one 100 feet before the intersection.  And I found out the signs had been up for 3 months.  I guess maybe it wasn’t “sneaky no good cops” setting a trap.  It was me.  I didn’t see the warning signs.

I am amazed at how many people don’t see the warning signs at work.  Hiring authorities and Human Resources (HR) departments often tell outside recruiters  months before they fire someone so we can keep our eyes open for replacements.  We always ask them, “What are you doing to let the person know they are in trouble?”  The most common warning signs are:

  1. A raise below the inflation rate
  2. Lower annual review scores
  3. Closer supervision and more reviews by their boss
  4. Being told EXACTLY how to do something they commonly do
  5. Passed over for promotions
  6. Passed over for requested lateral transfers
  7. Taking away people or geography they oversee
  8. Giving major parts of their project to someone else
  9. Sometimes written probation

Formal written probation is last on the list on purpose.  People are often fired without formal written probation.  One reason is that it is easier for them to find a new job if they are not on probation.  Another is that they are expected to be sensitive enough to pick up on other signs and fix the problem.

“I never saw it coming”, is a moan we often hear.  When we go over the last 6 months of their job, the signs are always there.  Lots of them.  When we check references their coworkers usually saw the signs.

Don’t let those sneaky no goods set a trap for you.  Watch for warning signs.

Something To Do Today

A little paranoia can be healthy.  What signs do you see that your performance is below expectations?

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Next week:     Katrina, FEMA and who’s in charge of you

Later:              A surprisingly great trumpet appeared

Brass knuckles and the law

I only allow reality on my desk

Double your value, make more money

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Posted in Accomplishments, Promotions, Quitting or Fired

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Your scarcest resource hunting a job or working

Posted on April 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.  (Will Rogers)

Time.

Studies show that the Japanese “salaryman” puts in more time at the office than American “workers”.  They also show that American “workers” spend more time working. The “salaryman” spends a LOT of time around the water cooler and playing solitaire.  Americans work.

Time is your scarcest resource.  Every minute you use or waste is gone forever. You can’t save time and use it later.  The next hour will be gone in 60 minutes no matter what you do.  That’s a scarce resource.

In your job search are you a “salaryman” or a “worker”?  The “salaryman” job hunter spends his time seeking out new internet job boards and looking for new newspaper ads. It isn’t a total waste of time.  But it quickly becomes redundant.  The same jobs and agencies seem to be in all the boards and ads.

The “worker” job hunter uses the internet job boards and newspapers as a part of his job campaign.  Some researchers say that between the job boards and newspapers, only 25% of jobs are filled.  So spending 25% of your time on those methods makes sense.  The rest of the jobs are filled before they are advertised. So if you want to get a really great job you have to look where most of the really great jobs are filled.

Most really great jobs are filled by networking, calls to managers at companies that aren’t advertising, recruiters, and getting famous.  I’ll be talking about these methods in a few days.

Something To Do Today

In your job search are you spinning your wheels?  Keep track of what your job search time is spent at, and what you find.  If you keep turning up the same useless leads over and over, you need to change your attack.  Time is too precious to waste in ineffective repetitive motions.

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Tomorrow:     Short term rewards

Later:              What motivates me

Waiting for the “help wanted” sign

Networking

Calls to companies

Intelligent use of recruiters

Get famous, get a job

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Posted in Accomplishments, Finding jobs, Focus, Job Boards, Promotions, Time management

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Politics (is networking)

Posted on April 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.  (Henry Kissinger)

You have to understand office politics to understand networking.  Here is an example.

“Don’t get Joe in the IT planning office upset.  He can delay any project by 6 months.  Now that I think of it, he can kill any project.  He’s politically connected to everyone in the company.”

Everyone, including the boss, who lets Joe “get away with it” think they are doing what is best for the company.  And they really may be.  Often you don’t see the power struggles at upper levels.  When someone becomes the traffic cop and decides which projects get done and which get delayed, it is because of their networking ability. They know how important each person and project is.  They know the alliances between leaders and departments.  They know who has the “golden” projects that take precedence over all else.  They know what combinations of projects are also essential.  These political “beasts” are the ultimate networkers.

CEO’s cannot take the time to make decisions on every project.  They tell others to make decisions.  Those people, in turn, tell others to make decisions.  Inevitably resources become scarce.  The scarce resources can be clerks, programmers, salespeople, floor space or money.  The person who controls the scarce resources becomes the center of a very strong network.  They have to bow to the will of many people, but control the projects of others.  They are often the most abused figure in a company.  Occasionally they are the most abusive, for a while.

There are several things to learn from these people.

  1. Controlling scarce resources gives you power
  2. Dealing with that power can get you entrenched, promoted or fired
  3. You always control one scarce resource, your time

The first two have just been discussed.  The third point is fodder for several more days. Politics may get ugly, petty and mean.  It may also preserve the company you work for.  Instead of avoiding politics, network.  Through building a network you will find out who to worry about and who to avoid. Politics always includes networking.  Networking can help you rise above petty politics.  Networking can help you get your projects done.

Something To Do Today

If you dare, ask around.  Find out who the political masters are.  Ask them to lunch and find out why they got their reputation and power.  You may be surprised at their attitude.  They may be visionary, vindictive, or both.

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Tomorrow: Your scarcest resource

Later:  Short term rewards

What motivates me

Waiting for the “help wanted” sign

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Posted in Focus, Networking, Promotions, References, talent

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How to read a useful book

Posted on April 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

In school I always felt guilty if I skipped one sentence in a reading assignment. Books must be read in their entirety.  I got the message.  Too bad it was the wrong lesson.

In a college class I only needed to get two answers right on an extra credit test about a book to convert my grade to a solid “A”.  There were 10 questions.  I picked up the book and looked at the cover.  I realized I had heard a review of the book and its contrarian theme the week before.  I decided to take the test without ever opening the book.  I got 6 questions right. It was an easy “A”.

Did I cheat?  No!  I knew the author’s bias.  I knew what he would say about historical events.  I didn’t even need the “Cliff Notes” to get what I needed out of the book.  I only needed two correct test answers for an “A”.

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read. (G.K. Chesterton)

You are out of school. Now you need to learn for a living.  You need to learn things that will help you financially.  You need to be effective and efficient. Your next pay raise depends on it.

Before you read a book, read the cover and intro.  Read the table of contents.  If you are not sure you will get much out of the book, read the first and last paragraph of each chapter.  Look at any charts or illustrations.  Go back and only read the chapters that you will learn the most from.  Don’t be afraid to use your time wisely.

Time is a precious commodity.  Every hour you spend learning about your career will pay off in the long run.  Spending those hours carefully will give you a much greater reward than slogging through books that aren’t really going to help you.

Something To Do Today

Make a list of books that will help your career.  Get the first one today.  Preview it.  Read the book, or the parts of it that you can learn from.

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Tomorrow:     Politics (is networking)

Later:              Short term rewards

What motivates me

Waiting for the “help wanted” sign

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Posted in Promotions, talent, Time management, Training

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Why not go for the CEO job? Really, here’s why NOT to

Posted on February 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

Too many people climb the ladder of success, only to find it is leaning against the wrong wall. (unkn)

Why not go for the CEO job?

Jim just took a job as a manager of a small company.  He’s been a CEO before.  He took the lowly manager’s job because he likes it better than being CEO.  He didn’t even put his CEO experience on his resume. He got the “lowly”  job he really wants because he left the word CEO off his resume.

I can tell you the same story, with the exact opposite twist, of technicians and engineers who worked their way up the technical ladder, only to finally figure out that they should have quit and gone to work as the CEO of a small company.  These are guys making $150,000+ as technicians.  Not bad money at all.

There’s a way to find out if you really, truly, in your gut would like to be a CEO.  Get a couple of practice jobs.  First, become a team leader or manager where you are. Also get involved in your local or national trade association.  While you are at it, volunteer to head a charity organization.  Your local school has a PTO, swim team boosters, band boosters, etc.  The YMCA, Boys and Girls Club and Scouts all need people who are leaders. Another great way is to run for the school board, town council or state legislature.

Leading any of these organizations will help you see if you like management.  In them you need to set your own goals and agenda.  You need to persuade people to work with you.  Selling others on your ideas is essential. You’ll also build a network of people who can help you become a CEO.  You’ll get to show true executive leadership.

If you talk to CEO’s, you’ll find that many of them evaluate executives in their own and in supplier companies by how they perform in volunteer posts.  Being a CEO isn’t just telling people what to do.  It also includes creating a network that will draw talent and contracts to your company.

If you want to be a CEO, get started now.  There are teams, associations, charitable organizations and political organizations looking for leaders.

Something To Do Today

If you have any desire to be a manager or a leader, make a list of places where your leadership could have an effect.  Go out and get started in those organizations.  You could easily be the “CEO” in 2 years.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Finding jobs, Focus, Promotions, talent

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Why career plans don’t work

Posted on November 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Career plans often fail because people don’t know what they really want.  Do you want security?  Challenges?  Thrill rides?

The hottest technology today is the Amazon Kindle Fire.  It is simply a small computer. Its rise was carefully planned.  The most significant pieces of the plan included a snazzy look, rugged portability, and simple secure paid download of books, movies and music. Amazon, the creator, has a plan to continue making money forever.

Now is the perfect time for Amazon’s hottest talent to abandon their jobs with the Kindle division.  Now is the time for Amazon’s best job-security conscious talent to move in and take over. Why?  Because the market will be saturated with Kindles.  The Kindle is becoming a commodity.  Prices are dropping.  Even the music distribution system has stronger competitors like Apple.  Kindle is no longer innovative genius.  It is now a cash cow. Cash cows are less exciting, but fairly secure for employment.

Kindle and other once hot products like Apple’s  iPod, iPad and iPhone are no longer what the bold innovators want to be working on.  They need a new challenge.  Kindle is now the perfect product for the long term managers. Of these 4 products, only some aspects of the software are cutting edge now.  All the rest is in maintenance mode.

Your career plan will be a rousing success if you focus on your personal growth curve.  Do you want to innovate and take outrageous chances for outrageous reward?  Do you really want technical challenge?  Is your goal to make enough money, but have a lot of free time for your skiing?

When you know what you want, you can plan your career successfully.  However, what you want will change time and time again.  So you need to be prepared to change your career plan as you see changes beginning in yourself. Your personal growth curve will tell you how fast you are getting to where you want to be in your career.

Career plans work.  They work when they are reviewed every year or more often.  They work when you review your real personal desires at the same time.  Career plans absolutely fail when you think you want what someone else has.  You have to want what you really want.

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Useful career plans (unlike yours)

Posted on November 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Most career plans don’t include the most important element in job advancement.  Let me show it to you.

An usher at the movie theater I worked at wanted to become the lead usher.  After the movie started he would always be the first to grab a broom and start sweeping the lobby.  Once he even told me I was sweeping too early so that 30 seconds later he could grab a broom and be seen by our boss as the boy with the most initiative.  He got the job.  I got laid off.  He had a career plan at the tender age of 14. (He was also a little deceitful, which he didn’t need to be.)

A useful career plan needs to have long term goals, as well as much shorter term tactical objectives.  If your 1 year goal is to get promoted to team leader, you have to work every day at short term plans to get there.  If you want to become a partner in your firm, you have to do something different from the crowd every day.

The biggest secret to daily, weekly and monthly career plans is to set yourself up to act like you already have the job you want.  Start acting like a senior technician by getting certifications and asking your boss to allow you into design meetings. Pretty soon you’ll get the promotion.  A partner in most firms is required to be either a leader/manager or a rainmaker/salesman.  If you want to be a partner, act like one.

To start taking over the job you want, you have to have a clear idea of what the job entails.  Your first career plan should be, “I will find out what the job I want entails.”  Make sure you find out what the most successful inhabitants of your target job do. What makes the most successful people different? You should generate a weekly and monthly written plan of how you will find out more about the job you want. Put it in your job journal.

Now write a weekly and monthly plan of how to educate yourself for the job.  List the courses you can take, certifications you can get and books you can read.  Ask the people you admire for advice. The list should go in your job journal where you can add to it later.

Finally, write that weekly and monthly plan on how you will take over the job.  90% of authority is seized, 10% is granted.  Go out and take over some responsibilities.  Even if you are reprimanded for over reaching, your initiative will be noticed.  A plan written in your job journal will focus your efforts.

Remember that boy who wanted to be lead usher.  He was always the first person out in the lobby cleaning up. He wanted to show initiative.  To advance in a technical, managerial or sales position you need to show the same initiative.  You need to be the first person seen doing important jobs.  Make a plan and do it.
Something To Do Today

Just today, seize authority.  Find some important job and make yourself the custodian of that job.  Be the first to start doing it, direct how it is to be done, or ask one of your subordinates to do it.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Focus, Promotions

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5 steps to acclerate your personal career growth curve

Posted on August 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

When I started at EDS I was learning at an incredible rate.  Pay raises came quickly and easily.  By my third year things slowed down.  By my fifth year I settled into a dreary cycle of little new personal growth and cost of living raises. I managed to get assigned to a new team using a new technology and my growth accelerated for a year, then it dropped back to the dreary level. That’s an example of my personal growth curve.

How fast you are growing to get where you want to go is your personal growth curve.  Once you stop growing you are flat-lining.  In hospitals flat-lining means there is no pulse, you are dead.  In your career, flat-lining means that your career has stopped completely and the business world is starting to pass you by.

To get growing again you need to learn, get new responsibilities and get recognized.  At EDS I volunteered and pestered my managers for the chance to use new technology.  Since no one else had a clue and I had read a couple of books on the subject, I got to become the “owner” of that technology.  Preparation and repeatedly selling myself to my managers preceded my advancement.

Whether you want to grow as a manager, salesperson or technician, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Find out what is going to be needed IN THE FUTURE
  2. Study and prepare to fill that future need
  3. Sell yourself repeatedly and constantly to get the new responsibility
  4. Excel at your new job
  5. Start over

Step 1 and 2 can always be done at your current job.  Often they will pay for the training and help mentor you.  Step 3 should be attempted with your current company. Sometimes it just can’t be done where you are.

Companies have their own growth curves.  At a company that is flat-lining, your chances to grow will be limited.  While you are preparing to grow, open your eyes.  Is your company ABLE to let you grow?  Do you need to move to a company that is changing its growth curve while you change yours?

A job change becomes a career enhancing move when you move to a company whose growth curve will allow you to accelerate your own growth curve.  If you are willing to learn and grow, you will have growth in your career.  If you are willing to change jobs when necessary to re-accelerate your career growth, your future has no limits.

Something To Do Today

What is going to be needed in the future?  What interests you?  What will help you accelerate your growth curve?

Don’t expect your boss to magically know what you fail to tell him repeatedly. Expect him not to understand.  Even if he sees you doing something new he may not recognize what it means or its usefulness unless you have told him five or ten times in the last six months.

Each Friday is the time to write down what you did this week and this month in your job journal.  Give a report to your boss in a format he can use for his own reports to his boss. A written copy of your accomplishments will reinforce what you have told him

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Posted in Accomplishments, Perseverance, Promotions, Training

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Can taking 3 shortcuts speed up your career?

Posted on August 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

The modern age has been characterized by a Promethean spirit, a restless energy that preys on speed records and shortcuts, unmindful of the past, uncaring of the future, existing only for the moment and the quick fix. (Jeremy Rifkin)

Lufkin is the premiere maker of the pumps sucking oil from Oklahoma’s prairies.  In 1981 used Lufkin pumps were selling for more than new ones. Fancy business school graduates said Lufkin was nuts.  They could sell the new pumps for much more.  “Take your profit now!” they said.  The owners of Lufkin said, “We’ve been here a long time.  Demand goes up and demand goes down.  We will service our customers the best we can. We won’t take advantage of them when they are desperate. When the bubble bursts we will still be here. We’re in this business for the long haul.” Today, after a 20 year recession in their business,  they still make a solid profit.

In the recruiting business one recruiter said, “I take people out of one rut, and put them into a different rut.”  Some recruiters don’t care.  I do. I find people in good jobs who could do significantly better.  I then place them in a job where they can more quickly meet their career goals.  I help people shave years off of their career growth. I move them into a better long term opportunity.

Be mindful of how your resume looks.  People who have changed jobs 3 times in 2 years  have a hard time getting a great job. Later, even after 3 or 5 years in one job their resume is tainted. The manager hiring for a great job wants someone who will be there a long time.  He knows he can attract bright stable workers.  Why should he settle for someone who may be gone in 6 months?

A new job should give you a significant LONG TERM advantage.  It should help you take charge of your career.  Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. In 2005 he only won one day out of 21 racing days. On one day he was 20 minutes behind the fastest bike. But he was always mindful of where he was in relation to his competition. He made sure he had the best bike and the best team even if he wasn’t getting the glory of being first over the finish line.  Looking for the long term advantage is how he won.

Find the best team and opportunity you can.  Get in it for the long haul.  Go win. You cannot speed up your career by taking 3 shortcuts.

Something To Do Today

Write down your career goals in your job journal.  Where do you really want to go?  Can your current team get you there?  If not, time to change teams.

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Posted in Perseverance, Promotions

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How to decide what NOT to do

Posted on August 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Are you trying to be successful doing the work that successful people throw out? This true story is about more than salespeople. It is about accountants, programmers and managers too.

Paul, beginning his job in sales, told me, “My manager seems to be able to make a sale every time we go on a call together.  All the people we visit want to buy.  He sells as much as everyone else in the office put together.  When I take the leads he gives me, I can’t get them interested at all.  What am I doing wrong?”

Paul was doing nothing wrong.  His manager was visiting only high quality leads.  Paul was visiting everyone that his manager didn’t pick for himself.  His manager got the golden leads and Paul got the brass. Worse, Paul refused to look for the best quality leads in what he was given.  He just went out and visited everyone.

Successful salespeople, accountants, programmers, managers, secretaries and septic tank cleaners all know what sales leads, jobs, duties and knowledge are most important.

Pick out the most successful person you know who is doing the job you want.  Invite him out to lunch.  Ask him, “What do you do that is different from less successful people?”  Take notes.  Don’t let him stop with one quick answer.  Ask about what he reads, what he does, and the jobs he refuses to do.

If you really pry, you will find out that he no longer does a lot of things he used to do.  Ask him, “What have you stopped doing because you no longer have the time to do it?”  You’ll find that successful people really do work differently.  They are picky.  They find ways to get drudge work assigned to others.  They study particularly difficult problems so that they are assigned the most interesting projects.  They also invite themselves into meetings where thorny issues are discussed.  They go prepared with fresh information.  That’s how they get reputations as problem solvers.

If you want to become a guru, act like one.  Do what the gurus do.  Just as important, find a way to get out of the work that successful people throw away.

Something To Do Today

Make that call to a successful person doing the job you want next.  Find out what they attribute their success to.  Also find out what they no longer are doing.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Promotions, Time management

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