YOUR BUSINESS
What's your career "return" for your hard work?
When I was a new manager it seemed there were many new manager trainings and lots of information and guidance available to me. Also later, when I became a CEO, it seemed there were again, many places to go for insights and ideas.
But in between, I felt like you were pretty much on your own to navigate the waters of Department Manager, Director, Senior Director, VP, etc.
Although my career would be labeled as highly successful, by the positions I achieved, the results I delivered, and the income it provided me, I too, went through periods of despair where I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere.
I was not getting recognized or rewarded, I was getting passed over, and I was working really hard and making sacrifices in my personal life – but without the payoff. It's a really crappy feeling.
These days, companies are shrinking their HR departments, and business leaders are strained to provide career development at any level. So you really are on your own.
I was very fortunate to have mentors who showed me the way. As I have discussed in the June 2007 issue of The Desired Outcome on Mentoring, mentors can not only help you learn things, but expose you to opportunities, and connect you to the right people --all of which are critical to getting recognized and getting access to the big jobs.
Part of what I want to do in my business is share what I have learned, with others wanting to get more payoff from the effort they put into their job, which seems to fall into two categories. People want either:
- Advancement to the top job -- big job, big income.
- To be more effective in their current job by figuring out how to get more of what they want and need. That can be more results, more recognition, more pay, or more life in their life.
I have made lots of resources available to people seeking to get more career and life payoff from their work from Career Development Workshops, and Whitepapers to other Articles on the site.
But the main insight I would like to share here is that the most successful people are the ones who figure out how to make room in their jobs for other things.
Everyone has an overwhelming amount of work to do.
YOUR PEOPLE
Is your team ready for your success?
Advancing in your career has more to do with the people you surround yourself with than almost anything else.
I have recently learned this lesson again, as I just completed a meeting of my advisory board. The quality of the discussion and the resulting strategies and outputs were extraordinary. I could not have come close to the amount of value created for my business without working with my team.
As a manager, I have always had a focus on creating the best team possible, and then doing everything I could think to make them successful.
That's certainly not a new thought, but as this month's issue is about Executive Career Management, I want to share I few things I have done in forming and leading my teams that had the biggest impact on my own success.
YOUR PUBLICITY
Who knows YOU?
Managing what you are known for is probably the biggest area to focus on for career advancement, and the one thing that most people leave to chance.
I discuss many aspects of this at length in my Career Development Workshops and also in the Whitepaper: Getting the Top Job.
For now, I will focus not so much on the WHO in “who knows you” but on the YOU. Who knows the “you” that you would hope people know? How would you define it? And what are you doing to make sure it happens?
YOUR LIFE
Top executives are not "used up".
I used to think that the secret to success and happiness in life was time management --specifically making time for the things that make you most happy.
I still believe this is important, so even when you get most busy, you have allocated some (non-zero) amount of time to be doing the things you love.
My thinking has evolved on this to also include “energy management”. Energy management comes into play to increase positive energy, which is great both for getting things done, having more to give to the people in your life, and enjoying your life more. And sometimes it doesn't take a lot of time, it only requires a change in your point of view.
I hope you have found a few useful ideas that you can apply right away to start building core value in your career and business. Contact me if you have feedback, or if I can help you with a mentoring program or workshop for you or your organization
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About Patty
Patty Azzarello was the youngest general manager at HP ever at the age of 33. She ran a $1B software business at the age of 35 and was a CEO for the first time at the age of 38. Patty is known for her personal leadership qualities, her straightforward and practical manner, and her genuine interest in making a real connection with people to help them to advance their career and business, and to find ways to enjoy their life more.
Patty Azzarello is the CEO of Azzarello Group, www.AzzarelloGroup.com a unique services organization focused on helping business leaders actually get done what they want to do, and get a bigger payoff from their hard work. Azzarello Group delivers practical, experience-based tools to business leaders, through products and services including articles, e-books, mentoring programs, executive coaching, public speaking, small business retreats, and business execution workshops.
