on). If you are looking to make a permanent change, go for it. If
you are thinking that you will give your new venture a try and go
back into your corporate career if things don’t work out, not so
fast. Potential employers have a difficult time figuring out if you
are simply coming back to corporate life until your other career
prospects brighten or, alternatively, that you have learned your
lesson and are back for good. Hiring decisions often hinge on risk
reduction. If you are a higher risk option than your competitor
candidates, another candidate will often get the nod, regardless
of qualifications.
Going international
Go West (East, North, or South), young person (don’t you hate
political correctness?)! We now operate in a global marketplace.
Thus, experience in the international arena is increasingly vital
in order to maximize career options. A 2006 report on the CEO
backgrounds (of FTSE 100 UK execs) found that whereas 42
percent of CEOs surveyed in 1996 had completed an overseas
assignment, 61 percent had in 2002, and 79 percent had in 2005.1
I suspect that the rate of change is similar for executives in other
nations.
Movin’ on up
The reality is that rate of progression matters. To give credit
where due, this fact was highlighted by a previous boss who made
it a point to map career progression against years-in-career. Our
workgroup referred to this concept as “Farrow’s Grid” (the boss’
last name was Farrow). The most desirable candidates have a
steady or meteoric upward climb to higher levels of responsibil-
ity. The least desirable candidates have been in the same job for
much of their career.
If your career looks like the second description, better take
stock immediately. The culprit is either your company or you! If
it is the company, the time to leave is now unless you want to top
out at your current level. If you are the culprit, please soak up the
balance of this article!
Understanding “the game”
In my experience, successful people understand “the game.”
They realize that every company has cultural rules. You break
the trenches at 6 p.m. He was curious to learn which of us was
still in our office. We called it bed check. Those who stayed until
6 p.m. were defined as the hard workers, those who left prior to
6 were not. Sensible? Not really. But rules are rules, and most of
us stayed until bed check was complete.
Companies have myriad rules. They may dictate the way infor-
mation is conveyed upward, how people or issues are challenged
in departments outside your chain of command, and how to gain
recognition. A great example of understanding the rules is exem-
plified by the conventional wisdom in the U. S. A. (the squeaky
“Successful people under- stand ‘the game.’ An easy
example is ‘bed check.’ ”
wheel gets the grease) versus the old Soviet Union (the squeaky
wheel gets replaced)! These sayings acknowledge a key rule of
the respective cultures.
Your boss also has rules. I had a boss whose number one rule
was “home on the range.” This saying comes from an old song
that includes the lyrics
“where seldom is heard
a discouraging word.”
Translation: Let’s not
bad mouth the company
or spend time dwell-
ing on negative things.
People who did were
viewed as whiners. What
principles can help you
manage the game?
#1: Figure out what the “rules” are. I suggest that when you are
in a new situation (new boss, new job, new program), keep your
mouth shut until you understand the rules. This takes focused
observation, but there will be plenty of fools who rush in and
unveil the rules for you by their own trial and error.
#2: Decide what to do about the rules once you understand
them. Have you ever run into someone who says, “I’m too [old,
smart, experienced] to follow someone else’s rules”? You will
often find them wondering why they are still unemployed or why
they got passed over for promotion. On the other hand, there are
legitimate reasons not to follow the rules. Challenges regarding
ethics, legalities, or personal standards may be reason enough
to keep your head down or move on to a more palatable situ-ation. There is also the possibility that someone in your chain
of command has this rule. “You can never be good enough to
please me.” This is another good reason to look for opportuni-ties elsewhere.
“A related career enhancer is learning how your boss
and her/his boss absorb
information. ”
Communicating information
A related career enhancer is learning how your boss and her/
his boss absorb information. There is plenty of research indi-cating that some people learn via sight, some by hearing, and
some by doing. Some people love to talk through half-formed
ideas in a give-and-take fashion. Others crucify subordinates
for bringing in ideas that are not totally thought out and accom-panied by financial analyses and detailed best and worst case
scenarios. Some bosses want the “bottom line” accompanied by
only enough detail to satisfy the question of whether you really
understand the full situation. Others bosses want all the detail
upfront followed by the bottom line. Find out how your boss
absorbs information before you enter the door or you will die
in the ensuing bloodbath.
Adopting successful behaviors
Did you know that certain personality characteristics tend to
correlate with higher earnings and promotions? An interesting
study was completed in 1999 that looked at workers over an ex-
tended time period. 2 The researchers collected data on the “big
5” personality traits, namely:
extravert (socially outgoing, dominant, ambitious, adventur- •
ous, assertive)
agreeable (caring, trusting of others, likable)•
open to experience (philosophical, intellectual, imaginative, •
nonconforming, autonomous)
