career — Blog — Rob Thomas

I enjoy having the opportunity to discuss and explore career options/goals with a number of people. I captured some of those learnings in my career decisions blog. But, sometimes the discussion is not at all about decisions, and is more focused on career progression. Said another way, people ask, "How do I get ahead in my career?"

I tend to think that getting ahead is a matter of 3 items:

1) Exceeding your business targets consistently. (whatever they may be)
 2) Performing tasks beyond the scope of #1 (pro-actively) and exceeding expectations on those too.
3) Distinguishing yourself as an A-player, in any and all endeavors.

  I think most people typically concern themselves with #1, ignoring the other two. That may be acceptable in the short term, but will likely catch up to someone that is interested in career growth, over time.

To help you think about personal development, I want to share my view of the principles of great performance. This is primarily relates to #3 above. You've seen many of these before. These are the kind of things that probably don't fit in a performance review per se, but they do directly relate to your ability to have an impact on any business. I don't take credit for penning all of these, but I have found them to be good guideposts for success. Lastly, no one can do all of these well, But then again, aspiring to achieve them is half the battle...  

Principles of Great Performance  

1) Study and read often. Be the smartest person in the room on your topic. Have a point of view, grounded in facts.
 
2) Be proactive, not reactive, in all matters.
 
3) Leverage your management and executive team for timely escalation of critical topics. On the other hand, don't cry wolf.
 
4) Differentiate yourself: Be responsive, Be decisive, Be passionate for the business, Have a bias for action, Understand details and be organized, Prioritize, Contribute to the overall team. Don't just go through the motions, Show a sense of urgency. Be an active participant.
 
5) Be on time and prepared for all interactions. Whether internal or external, be prepared and ready to contribute in a professional manner.
 
6) Demonstrate a capability for effective "straight talk," so that tough or controversial problems are dealt with directly, with the relevant party, rather than indirectly or not at all. The ability should be demonstrated inside and outside of your company.

 7) Communicate swiftly and concisely. Expand into detail when prompted or when needed.  Brevity in communication leads to greater impact.

8) Develop productive relationships across the company, leveraging them to solve problems at the lowest level possible in the organization. 

9) Complete assigned tasks in a timely manner, without requiring reminders. 

10) Produce grammatically well written documents, notes and presentations with simple and clear communication. Same applies to verbal communications. Strive for clarity of all messages. 

11) Take risks, make mistakes, learn from them, and strive to not repeat them. 

12) Accept accountability and responsibility for all actions (committed and omitted).
 
13) Measure everything important and know where you stand versus those measurements. Measure goals on a consistent and excuse-free basis.
 
14) Exude optimism and confidence, but not hubris.
 
15) Lead, don't manage. 

16) Have an Edge, in everything you do. If you don't have the Edge, someone else does. 

17) If you are a manager, it's not about 'You', it's about 'Them'. 

18) Develop a superior external network. 

19) Work with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. 

20) It's better to be a pirate, than join the Navy.
 
21) Plan, Prepare, Plan, Prepare...repeat.
 
22) Master the art of motivating others. 

23) Be a contrarian, with facts to support your position.

24) Develop a core competence or skill. Become 'known' for it. 

25) Panic is not a plan. Don’t panic. Just plan and then improvise.

26) Confidence is a learned skill. It’s developed through practice.

27) Avoid the ABC’s of personal and business decay: Arrogance, Bureaucracy, and complacency.

28) Share your expertise actively with modern social tools: blogging, twitter, connections, etc.

29) Make your family and personal relationships a priority, despite your career goals and the demands of the job.

The Village Vanguard is one of the oldest jazz clubs in New York. A beat writer wandered into the Vanguard one afternoon in the middle of the week, to sample some of the local sounds. Surprisingly, coming out of a break, Wynton Marsalis walks out on stage and starts to play “I don’t stand a ghost of a chance with you”. At the climactic moment of the song, someones cell phone goes off. The patron with the ringing phone, very embarrassed by the episode, quickly runs out of the place. However, Wynton, ever the professional, immediately launches into an improv riff, based on that cell phone ring.

It was an interruption in a moment of glory, but the improvisation was even more special. Nothing was going to stand between Wynton and success, in that moment.

There are three traits of resilient people:

1) They confront staunch reality

2) They find meaning in what they do

3) They have the ability to improvise

Each of those were present at The Village Vanguard that day. This is the type of resiliency and flexibility that it takes to build a meaningful career.

***

I've had a number of discussions with people that are pondering a change in their career. While I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts and advice, I often find that I learn as much, if not more, from the discussions. Here is a framework for career decisions, that I have developed through these discussions:

a) Understand and write down your career goals. A 5-year and 10-year view are helpful as a guide. If you don't know where you are going, it is impossible to chart a course. That doesn't mean that the goals won't change/evolve, but all career decision points can use the written goals as a guidepost.

b) Never CHOOSE to take a lateral move. A lateral move is anything that does not change the scope or level of responsibility that you have. When you change roles for an increase in responsibility/scope, your career moves forward. When you take a lateral, I'd argue that you move backwards. There are situations where a lateral move is wise, because it is part of a larger career plan (i.e. skill and experience building). However, that being said, I still don't think people should CHOOSE a lateral move.

c) Careers advance when a person distinguishes themselves. Unique contributions, recognized and rewarded by an internal support group, create moments of distinction. You must decide where you have the best opportunity to distinguish yourself. Note: the environments with the most challenges often present the best opportunity to distinguish oneself.

d) Career growth in most mature companies is a product of i) your performance appraisals, ii) your executive support (i.e. are those that can promote you, personally invested in your success?) and iii) the opportunities available to you (largely dictated by a and b). You must consider where you have the best support and how confident you are in that support. To some extent, this is about managing career risk.

e) In a career, you will largely get whatever you ask for, assuming letters (c) and (d) above. This puts the responsibility on the individual to have clarity of their goals/desires and to share them...and to then be reasonably patient. This then puts the responsibility on their bosses to keep them challenged.

f) All risks that you choose to take must have clear and meaningful upside. If you can capture upside opportunity, without taking risk, even better. Don't ever let risk/reward get out of balance. For example, if you currently are employed and have equity built up (unvested equity, salary level, relationships, etc.), I would generally not advise that you simply walk away from that equity. Find a way to trade it up.

g) Don't ever make a career move for the 'promise' of a job. If you are being told to take 'job A' for now, and then you'll get 'job B' in 6-12 months, then you should assume that 'job B' will never materialize. I see many people consider this, even when they know that 'job B' is the only reason they would take the role. Yet, they don't realize that the promise of 'job B' is very different from 'job B' itself. It comes back to managing career risk. As the saying goes, 'Good judgement comes from experience, which comes from bad judgement.' Use good judgement and please don't ever take the 'promise' of a job.

h) The primary reason to take a role is to work with a great manager and a great team. Together, they determine nearly all of your happiness in a job. This means letting go of your assumptions about title and money. Making this tradeoff will pay off in surprising ways. Note: I stole this one from somewhere.

i) Consider the qualitative aspects and implications: Will you travel more or less? Is that good or bad? Will you be in the same city as the headquarters? Is that good or bad? Is there an expectation that you relocate? If not now, will there be one in the future? Is that good or bad?

j) When you are on the wrong hill, it is enticing to simply leap off. Before you do, please re-read (a)-(i). There is rarely a reason to make a critical decision quickly. In fact, if you are getting pressure to do so, I would question the intent of those that are pressuring you.

k) You are more invested in this decision than the company you are leaving AND the company that you may be going to. They are only as invested in you as your recent performance or your promise of performance. Never forget that.

***

Career success is all about careful planning, unvarnished commitment, having a positive attitude and resiliency. The better you are, the more times you will face a decision point. Hopefully, this framework helps you through the decision process.