WELCOME TO OTIUM

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Introduction

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Project roles and strategic initiatives can significantly accelerate your career. They offer opportunities to connect outside of your functional area or business unit. They also provide possibilities to broaden your skills and to enlarge your understanding of the strategic challenges of the company or the organization you work for. Let’s see how Luigi took advantage of that and how his interpersonal skills allowed him to step up.

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Luigi’s story

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Luigi studied business administration and started his career in the controlling function of a large multinational company. He was part of the local finance team of one of the business units of that company. During the first couple of years, he did not stand out particularly. He was what could be qualified as a good but average performer. He was well appreciated by his teammates and by his line management. Luigi did never miss opportunities to show up in company events and to network with his colleagues. He found it easy to engage and had no barrier to connect also with senior management within his business unit. His friendly and engaging personality was well appreciated.

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His role in controlling opened Luigi doors within his business unit. He showed interest in strategic projects outside his role and progressively he got access to information beyond his function. He had the talent to be at the right place at the right moment. Leaders from the business unit got used to see him around and gained confidence in him. He was always willing to share his views openly, which was well appreciated. He was also happy to offer support, for example for the organization of company events. This gave him further access to senior management, and it was not surprising to see him at lunch with members of the BU leadership group.

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Luigi took great advantage of the possibility this gave him to get career advice and he started to seek new opportunities for himself. It was clear to him that he wanted to get a broader perspective. When a role in internal audit was published on the career page, he immediately consulted with some of the leaders he knew. They recommended that role, he applied and moved into audit. This was exactly the right step for him because his missions gave him access to the other business units of that company and he was even sent abroad for certain projects. Luigi was now operating at a completely different level. He kept very friendly relations with his former managers but was now talking to them at eye level. His playing field was now the corporate center. He applied the same approach to connect at that level and was thrilled to be able to interact with corporate executives. He was highly interested in the company’s strategic challenges. His finance background allowed him to understand the requirements related to financial markets and he followed this very carefully. He was always up to date and could surprise people he spoke to with information from the stock market that they had not yet received. That was a great topic for informal interactions in company events and Luigi naturally moved closer to the members of the board, whose confidence he gained.

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Thanks to his network, Luigi was one of the first to hear about a major acquisition opportunity that was being assessed. He was fascinated by the magnitude of this project, which was seen as a potential game changer for the company. Luigi decided to make a bold step. He contacted the Chief Financial Officer, who he had only met a couple of times in meetings. He got a 15-minutes appointment, during which he offered to support this project. That came right on time, because the CFO had an appointment with the Chief HR Officer and the CEO on that same day to put a task force team together. Luigi’s name was mentioned. The CFO had appreciated the initiative taken by Luigi, which was a bit unusual in this rather hierarchical organization. He thought that his profile would be helpful in the task force and his board colleagues agreed. Two weeks later, the nomination of the task force members was published to everyone in the company and Luigi was on it. This gave him massive exposure. It was clear that this was the most important project for the company, that it was directly sponsored by the CEO and the board and that it could change the company’s future. Luigi was suddenly in the center of power and influence, even if he held a junior role in the task force.

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Thanks to his network, Luigi was always the one who knew who to contact and what connections to establish. The project team used this and he was frequently tasked to reach out to people to get information or to ask for analysis. Luigi gained in self-confidence. He did not hesitate to instruct others on what they were expected to do to support this M&A project. Even the executive leaders at Global Business Unit level, those he was looking up to only a few years earlier, were now following his instructions diligently. Something changed in the way Luigi spoke. He could at times be very sharp and to the point.

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Luigi did not shy away from being very clear if people were questioning the relevance of certain requests. Luigi learned to make other understand the power he had as a member of the task force, even if he had no direct line management responsibility. Luigi enjoyed this position. This was clearly the environment he felt comfortable in. He worked extremely hard. The project was a great success. Luigi became the chief of staff of the CEO for a couple of years and was later nominated General Manager of one of the smaller countries. From there he moved up the ranks within one of the business units and was seen as a leadership talent for the organization.

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What can we learn from Luigi’s story?

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Not everyone has Luigi’s talent to connect with others. His interpersonal skills are certainly quite exceptional. But there are nevertheless a couple of lessons we can draw from his story.

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Company events and strategic projects offer opportunities to show engagement and to be visible

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It is advisable to show interest for such topics that are outside of your direct scope of responsibility.

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Networking is important. Do not shy away from using informal opportunities at company events to interact with leaders, even if they are at a significantly higher level. They will most likely be happy to hear the views from other people in the organization and to connect.

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Strategic projects can offer exceptional career opportunities. You may consider getting involved in such initiatives.

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Being bold and volunteering for project work might allow you to reach a level that would not be accessible through a linear career progression.

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Being selected for such strategic projects might allow you to develop your leadership skills much faster. But be careful not to lose your humility even if you access to power.

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More information in my book:

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Sven Sommerlatte : Successful Career Strategy – An HR Practitioner’s Guide to Reach Your Dream Job (Springer, June 2023).  ISBN: 978-3-662-66790-3

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Click here to find my book

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Introduction

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Job interviews are highly decisive moments. This is your unique opportunity to position yourself for a role, where you will most likely be in competition with other candidates. But this is of course simultaneously your opportunity to find out more about the job itself and about the company. As you will see in the example of Alicia below, these two aspects of “selling yourself” and of obtaining relevant information are not in contradiction if you manage the interview situation really well.

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The story of Alicia

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Alicia was working in Communications. She had 15 years of professional experience and had worked in different industries. Her dream was to become Head of Communications because she wanted to have the possibility to shape the communications agenda of a company. She was convinced that she could really make a difference and that she had the leadership strength that was required for such an exposed position. But she also knew that there was a tough competition out there for these executive level Communications roles.

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Alicia had been monitoring job offers for 2 years and had applied for a couple of Executive Vice President Communications positions without success so far. She found a job add from a well-known kitchen equipment company on LinkedIn that draw her attention. Alicia had a passion for cooking and eating and she loved high end kitchens. During weekends she sometimes went to kitchen stores simply because she was fascinated by the sophisticated products they were selling. That brand that was now looking for a Head of Comms was one of her favorite. Alicia was super excited. She felt slightly overwhelmed, because so much was at stake for her.

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Alicia took the firm decision to make all the efforts to compete for this position. She established a plan to ensure she would be best prepared for the job interviews. She had 3-weeks time. Alicia first started to collect as much information about the company and its products as she could. But that was quite random, and she understood from the advice of a friend working in HR that a more structured approach would be required. This is how she organized that preparation phase:

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1) Analyze the job description carefully

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Alicia read the job description very carefully and identified from this document all the requirements. In addition to that she checked other job descriptions for Head of Communications positions to be sure that she had a very clear understanding of what was expected in such a role. She felt that some of the aspects were not fully clear in the job add and listed these as “questions for clarification in the job interview” on a separate list.

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2) Compare your profile with job expectations

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Alicia then compared her profile with these expectations. She tried to be as objective as possible to identify those areas where she clearly had a strength, and those expectations from the job description that her own profile was not perfectly matching with. Her main “areas for development” were team leadership (because she had not yet managed a team of that size) and the strategic leadership dimension (because she had so far focused mostly on execution). Alicia was very self-confident, and she knew that she had the passion and the drive to overcome these “weaknesses” because she was willing to go the extra mile for that job. She reflected about similar learning opportunities she had in the past and how she had managed them. She placed this position into the context of her career strategy to clarify how that role was matching with her development plan.

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3) Assess the company and its industry sector

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As a next step, Alicia put herself into the shoes of the CEO of that kitchen equipment company to take a helicopter perspective. She analyzed the past performance of the organization and read a couple of annual reports with the support from a friend who was in Finance. She also read online reports from financial analysts to understand the macro-economic trends of that industry, the challenges it had and how this player she wanted to join was positioned. It was obvious that the company had a solid performance, but she also understood that the pressure from low-cost manufactures and the digitalization were potential threats. Alicia found a document from a consulting company that was offering interesting recommendations, and she took note of that as well. She also listed a couple of strategic questions that she wanted to ask in the job interview and added them to the “questions for clarification in the job interview” document.

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4) Check the company culture and purpose

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Beyond the economical and financial aspects, Alicia collected information on the company’s culture through Glassdoor and other social media. This allowed her to get confirmation that the purpose of that company was matching with her own purpose and she got the reassurance that the ways of working were aligned with her personal preferences. But she decided to double check these aspects as well during the job interviews and added that to her question list.

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5) Conduct a stakeholder mapping

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Finally, Alicia completed the analysis with some stakeholder mapping. She was expecting to be interviewed by the Head of Marketing and by the Head of Sales, by the Chief HR Officer and by the CEO himself. Alicia collected information on these individuals to understand their perspective and needs. She found quite some information online because they had participated in industry conferences and given interviews. One of them even had a blog about trends in the kitchen equipment industry that was very helpful for Alicia. She realized that she would not have found that great source of information if she had not conducted this stakeholder analysis. Alicia prepared the discussions with each of them. She wrote down what aspects from her own profile would be of relevance for each of them. She also thought about the questions or concerns they could have with regards to her profile and how to best respond to these concerns. By that time, Alicia had the feeling that she already knew these individuals, even before she had personally met with them.

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6) Rehearse the interviews

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One week before the interviews started, Alicia conducted a rehearsal. Her HR friend had offered her to participate in this. She had also asked a friend who was working in consulting to help. Alicia shared the information from her intensive preparation phase with them and asked them to be as tough as they could with difficult questions. Alicia took the decision to be very open and transparent about her strengths and her areas for development. She made also sure that her passion and commitment were coming across and that the interview partners would clearly perceive her learning agility. They spent a full day and played all the interview through.

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7) Get rest

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Then Alicia stopped this preparation phase. She took 2 days off to have a long weekend. She exercised a lot and had good sleep. Alicia had the confidence that she had done everything she could to be well-prepared and that helped her not to think too much about the interviews and that job.

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This allowed Alicia to be very relaxed on the interview days. The questions from her “questions for clarification in the job interview” list were very helpful. The interviewers noticed how well prepared she was and how much she knew about the job itself, but also about the company and the industry. They were very happy to engage and to answer these questions. The interview was much more a dialogue than a one-way interrogation. The interviewers were also impressed by Alicia’s self-confidence. She brought her areas for development up very directly and did not miss the opportunity to outline how she was going to overcome them. They thought that this courage and determination would make up for the missing team leadership experience. The strategic perspective she demonstrated in the interviews convinced them that she was able to operate at that Head of Communications level. Finally, her passion came across loud and clear.

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Long story short: it was a very tough race. Alicia was short listed, but she knew that another candidate was still in the race as well. It was probably her calm and determined personality that made the difference in the end. She was able to connect with the CEO thanks to her stakeholder mapping in such a way that her last conversation was already focusing on the immediate requirements in that new role and how she would address them. She had managed to establish that level of trust during the interviews and this made the difference in the end. Alicia was selected for her dream job. Imagine her joy. This was celebrated with her friends who had supported her in the process.

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What can we learn from Alicia’s story?

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The key lessons to learn from that story are:

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• Make sure you understand the job requirements really well.

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• Compare these job requirements with your own profile to see where it is matching and where gaps may exist.

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• Be clear about your development opportunities considering the job expectations and think about how you can overcome them.

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• Analyze how that position is matching with your career strategy. What skills and experience do you expect to gain in that role? How is this supporting your longer-term career plan?

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• Be clear on your personal constraints (such as travel requirements and distance between home and office).

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• Specify your compensation and benefit status and expectations.

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• Assess the company and the industry sector in terms of performance and strategic challenges. Be vigilant to check if any major business disruptions are to be expected.

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• List all your questions and bring them into the interviews.

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• Conduct a robust stakeholder mapping.

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• Ensure you get rest before the interviews.

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• Be open, engaged and self-confident during the interviews.

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More information in my book:

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Sven Sommerlatte : Successful Career Strategy – An HR Practitioner’s Guide to Reach Your Dream Job (Springer, June 2023).  ISBN: 978-3-662-66790-3

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Click here to find my book

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Introduction

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Our deep desire should be the north star for our career strategy because this is what will give us true satisfaction and fulfillment. As we will see in this story of Magdalena, we are sometimes disconnected from this deeper desire and we follow predefined career pathways. We will see how Magdalena found her true career aspiration.

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Magdalena’s story

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As teenager, Magdalena was a passionate athlete and was part of the national team in her discipline. Competition, performance, and camaraderie – this is what she felt passionate about. When she started her professional career in HR, she kept a close link to her sports club, although she could not continue to compete at the national level. In her job she specialized in personal development and became a certified business coach.

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She could see a link between the challenges top athletes are confronted to and the challenges corporate leaders are facing. Just like athletes must prepare mentally and physically for competition to reach their top performance, managers must prepare for challenging situations the face. Just like an athlete, the leader has to have that self-awareness to know how to master high stress situations in order to be able to best cope with challenging business requirements.

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But after 14 years of career in different large corporations, Magdalena had the increasing desire to return to her first love: the world of sports. She offered her sports club to use her expertise as corporate coach and made the constatation that she could easily transfer her professional expertise to sports. Two years later, a restructuring gave her the possibility to exit her company with a severance package. She became a freelancer and specialized in coaching for athletes. Today she is very successful and recognized in this field.

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Today she is extremely happy that she could combine her passion for sports with her processional activity. Sometimes she wonders, if she should not have paid more attention to her deep desire already earlier. Maybe she could have made that step already earlier.

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What can we learn from Magdalena’s story?

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Magdalena never gave up trying to stay connected with this passion that she had since her childhood. She finally found a way to place this passion for sports back into the center of her professional activity. The voluntary leave plan was probably a rupture that made her think more deeply.

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It is indeed sometimes difficult to connect to our deep desire, although it is of such important for us. The reason is that it is deeply rooted within us, and it is therefore sometimes a bit hidden. It is not something tangible. In addition, we are focused on what we need to achieve in the weeks and months to come. That makes us blind to our more deeply rooted aspiration.

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Connecting to our deep desire therefore requires introspection and self-awareness. I would suggest reflecting about: What are you enjoying most? What offers you pleasure when you need to refill your batteries? What doesn’t cost much effort, because it is something you have a natural talent for?

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You may also think back: What have you always been better at than your friends and classmates? What you are good at? What are your strengths? I don’t suggest doing that in a competitive sense, but in the sense of exploring what is the natural inclination that you have. This is usually directly connected to our deep desire, because we like what we are good at. A root worthwhile exploring!

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More information in my book:

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Sven Sommerlatte : Successful Career Strategy – An HR Practitioner’s Guide to Reach Your Dream Job (Springer, June 2023).  ISBN: 978-3-662-66790-3

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Click here to find my book

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We are in the daily race for higher objectives, and we constantly strive to over-achieve. Sometimes that ambition overshadows what we truly aspire to. Aspiration is related to our deeper desire. The closer we get to our aspired state, the more fulfillment we experience.

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We should of course have a healthy dose of ambition. But we should be careful not to get trapped in our ambition and lose sight of our true aspiration. It requires some efforts to connect back to what we truly aspire to. We should be careful not to miss this in the rush of events.

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What is the difference between aspiration and ambition?

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ASPRIRATION is rooted in your deep desire. It is like an inner force that pulls you to aim for higher goals. It is more deeply connected to who you are. It is connected your deep desire and to what you truly value (e.g. the wine yards and not the life in corporate finance, as outlined in the example above of Eugene). Reaching these goals will provide you with fulfillment, meaning and profound satisfaction. It will allow you to become the best version of yourself, because the closer you get to the state that you aspire to the, more you can leverage on our talents and strength. You will be able to operate in “your space”.

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This could ultimately get us closer to what the Greeks have called ataraxia: the absence of desire for more. The state of fulfillment where nothing more is needed, where we are serene and generous.

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The starting point of an AMBITION is usually a competitive spirit. It is related to standards and over passing these standards. It is about outperforming others.

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That motivation is a less deeply intrinsic one, because it is triggered by a specific situation or context (e.g. the launch of a new product or a sports game). Very often certain external factors reinforce that “will to win”. That is the case for example if an audience is watching (e.g. in a sports stadium). Ambition is largely a performance in the eyes of others. In the case of an ambition, the objectives are usually explicit, and success is highly visible.

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We see here the difference to aspiration, which is more something we achieve for ourselves. It might go unnoticed for the others. They might simply see a greater happiness or serenity but may not perceive what is triggering this.

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What are the implications for your career?

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There is of course nothing wrong with ambition. In sports for example this has tremendous virtues. It is thanks to the encouragement of others that athletes break the records; there is for example a real positive symbiosis between the football players and the supporters in the stadium.

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But if your career has this as its main source, complete fulfillment may not be reached for two reasons:

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Because the ambition is calling for always more. You have hardly reached one objective or beaten one record when you want already more.

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Or, because once you have reached the goal, there is nothing more to aspire to and you might fall into an empty hole (“what am I going to do now that there is no objective anymore to run towards?”).

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Ambition is an energy that vanishes once the ultimate target is reached. Aspiration in the contrary is an energy that sustains once the desire state has been reached.

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The example of Fabien

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Fabien wanted to be a pilot since he was a kid. After many years of studies and a tough selection process he finally reached his career goal. For a number of years he was excited about this new life and about the successes he had in the airline, where he was promoted to larger aircrafts. But deeply inside, it became clear for him that he had achieved what he wanted to achieve and that this job was no longer offering him real satisfaction. He progressively lost interest in his job started to look for satisfaction in his hobby: cooking. First, his friends had the pleasure to enjoy his talent in the kitchen. Finally, Fabien decided to change jobs and to make a living out of his hobby. He invested his savings to buy a restaurant. Very soon, the success of the restaurant had proven he had been right in making this courageous decision. Fabien, who had become over the years sometimes a bit moody, was again the “old one” as we knew him for years: a very relaxed and engaging person who loved to be with people. Quite obviously, this new job was offering him the deep satisfaction and would likely be fulfilling in the longer term.

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Conclusion

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I believe that this has quite important implications. We should of course have a healthy dose of ambition. But we should be careful not to get trapped in our ambition and lose sight of our true aspiration. It requires some efforts to connect back to what we truly aspire to. We should be careful not to miss this in the rush of events. Working on your personal career strategy is a good opportunity to connect back to your deep desire.

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More information in my book:

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Sven Sommerlatte : Successful Career Strategy – An HR Practitioner’s Guide to Reach Your Dream Job (Springer, June 2023).  ISBN: 978-3-662-66790-3

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Click here to find my book

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Usually, the CV reflects what we have done in the past. But you can use that CV format also to plan your career development.

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Many find it difficult to project themselves into the future. The REVERSE CV is a simple and pragmatic career planning tool, which can help you define the career steps that you should aim for to reach your dream job.

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How does it work? It’s very simple:

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• You should start defining the dream job that you aspire to reach in your career (how to find your dream job). This is the starting point to write your CV strating from the end.

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• As a next step, you should specifiy the experience and knowledge that is required for that job. You will find this information in the job profiles that are available online.

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• You should then work yourself through backwards step by step by asking yourself the question: What are the different positions I need to take in order to gain these required skills?

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It is likely that you will need to reach out to people who can advise you in this exercise because they have more experience and information on these career pathways. Please do not hesitate to do so, you will find out that people are very often happy to share their experience.

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Be audacious. Give yourself permission to write your ideal CV and include your dream job into it. Maybe you will conclude that it is not so far away from what you can achieve. Maybe having written it on paper will allow you to overcome a mental barrier that gave you the impression that this is something you can’t reach. Maybe you’ll stop thinking that this level of responsibility is simply not for you.

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Finally, you may write more than just one life CV. There could be different development options that you want to consider. Write them down. Project yourself. Try to imagine your life within those different scenarios. Try to be as clear as possible about how you would feel in those different career trajectories.

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• Is this really what I aspire to?

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• Is that the type of life I want to live?

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• Are these activities in line with my deep desire? Maybe you will discover the CV you really aspire to.

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Give yourself permission to write your ideal CV in view of your career aspiration!

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More information in my book:

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Sven Sommerlatte : Successful Career Strategy – An HR Practitioner’s Guide to Reach Your Dream Job (Springer, June 2023)

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Click here to find my book

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Die Bedeutung der Unternehmenskultur wird häufig unterschätzt. Man lässt sich auf einen neuen Job ein, weil er attraktive Bedingungen bietet und versäumt es, zu hinterfragen, ob man sich in dem betreffenden Umfeld wohl fühlen wird. Sollte man dabei an ein Unternehmen kommen, dessen Unternehmenskultur einem nicht liegt, kann das erhebliche Folgen haben. Meist fängt es mit einem wachsenden Unbehagen an, welches man sich häufig zunächst nicht eingestehen will, das aber mit der Zeit die eigene Leistungsfähigkeit und Belastbarkeit beeinträchtigen kann.

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Dann kommt typischerweise der Punkt, an dem mehrere Schwierigkeiten zusammenkommen und dies zu einem Bruch führt. Etwa eine Stresssituation, die unter anderen Umständen schnell vergessen worden wäre, dann aber zu einer Eskalation führt bleibenden Spuren des Unbehagens hinterlässt. Der Job macht immer weniger Spaß und schließlich beschließt dann schließlich das Unternehmen zu wechseln. Das ist bedauernswert, weil man möglicherweise einen gewissen Leidensdruck hätte vermeiden können, wenn man sich bereits in der Bewerbungsphase mit der Kultur des Unternehmens auseinandergesetzt hätte und dann schon im Vorfeld die Warnsignale erkannt hätte, nicht in dieses Unternehmen einzusteigen.

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Es ist aber gerade auch deshalb bedauernswert, weil möglicherweise andere Karrieremöglichkeiten, die besser gepasst hätten, nicht wahrgenommen wurden und auf diese Weise wertvolle Zeit verloren gegangen sein könnte. Wenn ich Dich von der Bedeutung der Unternehmenskultur habe überzeugen können, wirst Du Dich jetzt sicher fragen, welche Formen der Unternehmenskultur es gibt und wie man sie bewerten und erkennen kann. Mehr dazu findest Du in meinem Buch „Erfolgreiche Karrierestrategie – der Weg zum Traumjob“, aber ich möchte hier einige Hauptpunkte zusammenfassen.

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Der aus meiner Sicht wichtigste unternehmenskulturelle Unterschied zwischen Unternehmen liegt auf dem Kontinuum zwischen sehr Konsensus orientierten Organisationen (in denen der menschliche Zusammenhalt sehr geschätzt wird, wo aber häufig die politische Dimension recht ausgeprägt ist) und der anderen Seite dieses Spektrums einer ausgeprägten Wettbewerbskultur, die leicht zu dem „jeder kämpft für sich“ führen kann. Die meisten Unternehmen liegen irgendwo zwischen diesen Polen. Mache Dir zunächst Klarheit über Deine eigenen Präferenzen (z.B. in Sachen Wettbewerbsdenken und Konfliktbereitschaft) und versuche dann Informationen über die Kultur des betreffenden Unternehmens zu erhalten.

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Dafür gibt es vielerlei Informationsquellen. Der direkteste Weg ist die Kontaktaufnahme zu Leuten, die aus eigener Anschauung das Unternehmen kennen. Vielleicht kennst du Menschen, die in dem Unternehmen tätig sind bzw. tätig waren. Auch Berater, die in dem Unternehmen gearbeitet haben, könnten Dir Auskunft geben. Darüber hinaus bieten soziale Medien, wie beispielsweise Glassdoor, reichhaltige Informationen, die häufig von den Mitarbeitenden des Unternehmens kommen. Schließlich solltest Du auch die Bewerbungsgespräche dazu nutzen, um mehr über die Arbeitsweisen und das Miteinander im Unternehmen zu erfahren. Versäume es nicht, der so wichtigen kulturellen Dimension voll Rechnung zu tragen, um das für dich passende Unternehmen zu finden, indem du dich gut entfalten kannst.

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Mehr zu diesem Thema in meinem Buch « Erfolgreiche Karrierestrategie – Der Weg zum Traumjob » Link zum Buch

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Der amerikanische Präsident und Oberbefehlshaber der alliierten Truppen, David Eisenhower hat gesagt: Ein Plan selbst ist nicht viel wert, viel wichtiger ist der Prozess des Plans. Genau das trifft auch auf deine Karrierestrategie zu. Es ist selbstverständlich wichtig, einen Karriereplan zunächst einmal aufzustellen. Aber der sollte nicht statisch sein. Du solltest vielmehr regelmäßig die Annahmen, die diesem Plan zu Grunde liegen, hinterfragen.

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• Hat sich vielleicht an deiner Interessenslage oder haben sich deine persönlichen Umstände verändert?

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• Hat sich deine Karriere unerwartet anders entwickelt, als du es ursprünglich vorgesehen hattest?

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Du solltest im deinem Karriereplan auch deine neu gewonnenen Kenntnisse und Erfahrungen einbeziehen. Und schließlich ist sehr nützlich, diesen Plan auch mit anderen zu besprechen, und deren Ratschläge aufzunehmen.

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Dein Karriereplan sollte also ein „lebendiges“ Dokument sein, das du im Laufe deiner beruflichen Entwicklung fortlaufend aktualisierst. Ich würde empfehlen, diese Überarbeitung mindestens einmal pro Jahr vorzunehmen.

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Mehr zu diesem Thema in meinem Buch « Erfolgreiche Karrierestrategie – Der Weg zum Traumjob » Link zum Buch

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Steakholder-Management ist ein entscheidender Bestandteil der Karrierestrategie. Du solltest schon im Vorfeld einer Bewerbung aktiv daran arbeiten, die wichtigsten Entscheidungsträger für Dich zu gewinnen.

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Denke bitte über folgendes nach: Wer sind die Personen, die auf eine Karriere Entwicklung einen Einfluss haben können? Nimm dir jede einzelne dieser Personen vor und frage dich, wie sie dein Profil mit Blick auf deine nächsten Karriere Schritte bewerten könnten. Welche Aspekte würden Sie als deine Stärken einschätzen und welche Aspekte deines Profils würden Sie eher als Schwächen bewerten? Etablieren auf dieser Basis einen Gesprächsleitfaden für jede einzelne dieser Personen, indem du deine Stärken mit konkreten Beispielen hervorhebst und Argumente anbringst, die die negativen Punkte entschärfen könnten.

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Mehr zu diesem Thema in meinem Buch « Erfolgreiche Karrierestrategie – Der Weg zum Traumjob » Link zum Buch

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Die reine „zur Kenntnisnahme“ der eigenen Schwächen oder Entwicklungsbedürfnisse mag in den Augen deiner Gesprächspartner bereits ein positives Signal sein. Sie sehen dann, dass du dich offen mit deinen Schwachpunkten auseinandersetzt und diese überwinden willst. Vielleicht kannst du aber auch Situationen beschreiben, in denen du bereits anders handeln konntest oder die du gezielt als Lernanstöße hast nutzen können. Der offene und souveräne Umgang mit seinen vermeintlichen Schwächen gilt gewöhnlich ohnehin als eine Stärke. Zeige also keine Scheu, sondern selbstbewusste Offenheit und Lernbereitschaft.

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Nimm dann mit den Personen, die du als wichtigen Stakeholder identifiziert hast, Kontakt auf und suche das Gespräch mit ihnen. Versuche zunächst gut zuzuhören, um deine ursprüngliche Einschätzung ihrer Sicht was dein Profil angeht, zu bestätigen oder gegebenenfalls zu korrigieren. Teile Ihnen dann deine Sichtweise mit. Sei dabei, wie oben erwähnt, ganz offen und versuche nicht, deine Schwächen oder Entwicklungspunkten zu verdecken, sondern versuche deine Gesprächspartner davon zu überzeugen, dass du sie überwinden kann.

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Du wirst sehen, dass die Menschen in den allermeisten Fällen dieses proaktive Gespräch sehr wertschätzen. Du kannst auf diese Art und Weise deine Chancen stark erhöhen, deinen nächsten Karriere Schritt erfolgreich zu erklimmen und dich so deinem Traumjob zu nähern.

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Many of the issues we encounter in our organizations have deeper cultural root causes. Just fixing the visible part of the problem is not enough. We know this, but we rarely include a cultural diagnostic into our problem-solving approach. Instead, we end up addressing only the structural aspects of the issue. Consequently, the problem usually comes back quite soon. You will find here a simple and practical tool to assess cultural root causes as part of your problem solving. In addition, I have outline 4 concrete examples to illustrate how the approach works.

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Why to include a cultural diagnostic into problem solving?

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Many of the issues we encounter in our organizations have deeper cultural root causes. Just fixing the visible part of the problem is not enough. We need to go deeper into the root causes of the issue.

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We know this, but we rarely include such a cultural diagnostic into our problem-solving approach. Instead, we are tempted to rush to quick fixes, and we end up addressing only the structural aspects of the issue. As a consequence, the problem usually comes back quite soon.

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Why is this often not done?

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As a matter of fact, we lack a practical tool to conduct this deeper root cause analysis in a simple and efficient way. Wouldn’t it be great to have something at hand that can be used in any circumstance and without a massive time commitment? This is precisely what you will find in this article!

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The famous iceberg concept

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But before we look into that, I would like to quickly remind you of a framework for company culture that many of you have certainly heard of before. It is the famous iceberg concept.

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In the iceberg you have the part that is above the surface. That is the visible part. And that is typically related to the organization structure, to processes, systems and capabilities.

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Below that there is the invisible part of the iceberg. This is the company culture, which has several levels. I use the A-B-C framework to describe the 3 levels that we usually differentiate concerning company culture (see also my article on the Unwritten Rules of the Game).

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A level: Assumptions and attitudes

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The first level below the surface – The A level – is related to and assumptions and attitudes. That is basically the perspective people take on things they can observe in the organization. With other words, it is their point of view on these events.

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B level: Believes

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Below that you have the B level. These are the believes. That is how people make meaning of the things they observe. It is how they come up with an interpretation and how they distinguish between what they believe to be true on not true.

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C level: Core Values

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At the lowest level you have the core values. These are the underlying core values that people have. These are usually influenced by our education as well as the religion and broader cultural environment that we have been bought up in. Those core values exist at the individual level, but there is also the collective part of these core values that are shared within the organization.

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Get started for the interviews

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The approach that I would like to outline works the following way: you should identify approximately 20 people who are involved in the situation where you encounter the problem. You should select people who are aware of that situation and who have an understanding of the issue. These 20 people should then be interviewed separately. One-hour interviews are usually sufficient.

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Description of the problem

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You will first ask them to outline the problem to you and to share their understanding of this issue. A way of asking that question could be: “Please outline a concrete situation where the issue that we need to resolve has occurred and make that description quite specific. Additional questions may be:

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• What is the context in which this issue occurs?

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• Who are the people involved?

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• How could the issue be observed?

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• What are the consequences of this problem for your organization?

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You will then ask 3 “why” questions. This is the reason why I call this the 3-why-approach.

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First “why” question

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In the first “why” question you should ask your interview partners to outline why the problem is existing in the organization. You could formulate that question for example as follows:

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• Why do we have this issue? What is causing it?

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• Why do you believe that this situation occurred the way it did? What has triggered this?

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• Why do people behave in a certain way, if that is not helpful for the organization?

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Here you will usually reach the first level of cultural causes. It is important to capture the words people use, because in the second “why” question you will address those first level root causes.

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Second “why” question

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In that second “why” question you will ask why these fist level cultural causes actually exist in the organization. An here we usually move further down into the company culture and we reach the level of the believes. You could formulate this for example in the following way:

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• Why do people operate in this dysfunctional way? What drives them to do so? What triggers these behaviors?

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• Why is your organization struggling to overcome that problem? What contributes to stabilizing it as a pattern in the company?

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Third “why” question

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As you can now certainly guess, the third question is again a “why” question. You will ask the person to outline why the 2^nd level causes exist in the organization. Here we should be able to touch on some of the core values that are the driver of everything people do in the company.

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You may ask:

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• Why can we not break free from the patters outline before?

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• Why do people believe that they behave in the right way? Are there certain indirect benefits that could be perceived in some parts of the organization not to challenge the status quo?

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So you see that with 3 very simple questions you can actually dig deep into the company culture. You don’t need to outline that A-B-C framework, but to your interview partners, but you will certainly have it in mind and it will guide you.

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4 examples

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You will see here 4 concrete examples that illustrate what findings you can obtain using the 3 why approach.

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Bring the cultural root causes to peoples attention

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The next step after having conducted the interviews is to summarize the interview outcomes and to share these findings with the team. That will allow you to put these cultural root causes on the table that people usually don’t see because they are under the surface.

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The simple fact of bring these cultural root causes to the daylight allows people to become conscious of them and to start reflecting about these aspects. This will help them understand what the relation is between the deeper cultural root causes and the issues that the company is confronted to. That awareness of the team will in and of itself already contribute to the problem solving, because it might trigger behavioral changes that will be beneficial for the organization.

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Connect your action plan to the cultural root causes

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On top of that, you will of course define a more detailed action plan with specific corrective actions. And all these actions should be connected also to the deeper cultural issues that you have identified. You will be able to enrich the aspects of problem solution that are related to the visible part of the iceberg (structure, process, systems) to the more deeply rooted cultural dimensions that are related to that problem.

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I hope that this will help you make your overall problem solution much more powerful and much more sustainable.

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In this article I would like to outline a simple framework to assess job opportunities. This will hopefully be useful for you to make the right choices in view of the career opportunities you wish to peruse, and as a side effect this can also be a great preparation for the interviews if you decide to apply for a given role. It’s a 6-step approach.

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Step 1: Read the job description carefully

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It is important to take the time to read the job description really carefully and to ensure that every part of it is fully clear to you. It is very likely that you will require more information about certain of the expectations or requirements, because such a job description is obviously a summary. Take the time to put down all these questions you may have.

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I would also recommend that you project yourself into the role based on that job description and that you imagine how you would go about certain of the tasks that are outlined there. This might also trigger questions or points for clarification, because you might want to check if the way you would plan to tackle certain of the requirements would actually correspond to the expectations.

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All of these questions should of course be used in the interview process. The fact that you have taken that time to really think more deeply about each one of the aspects will most likely be perceived very positively and this will help you ensure that you have a robust understanding about the role before you make a decision. So you see here that this first step of the assessment is indeed a good preparation for the interview. But above all it will help you understand if that role is attractive for you.  I would recommend that you pay attention to your gut feeling and that you capture your first impressions. These will be useful in the subsequent assessment steps and can easily get lost, if you do not write them down at that first reading of the job description.

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Step 2: Conduct a due diligence of the company

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In a second step you should conduct a thorough due diligence of the company. You will most likely find a lot of information online about the company, its structure, strategy and products. In addition, you should search for information about the market sector that company operates in to understand what the future growth perspectives are and what market or technological trends might impact that sector. It is obviously important to analyze the competitive positioning of the company and what its financial health is. You should be able to find information about this in the publications of financial analysts, especially if that is a publicly listed company.

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I would suggest that you follow the recommendation from Warren Buffet, who does invest only if he understands the company strategy. The same applies here, because a career decision is at least as important as an investment decision. You should consider applying only if you have a positive overall impression about the current and future positioning of that organization.

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Experience shows that it is much more fun to work in a company that is doing well instead of a company that is struggling or even fighting for survival. Your due diligence will help you assess this.

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And you should of course here again capture any questions you have which will show that you have well prepared the interview in case you apply for the role.

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Step 3: Purpose, values and company culture

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Please ensure that you dedicate enough time to understand the purpose and values of that organization as well as its company culture. It is crucially important to ensure that these aspects match your needs and expectations.

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As an example, some companies have a very high level of internal competition. This might suite some candidates who might find this stimulating, but it might not work at all for others who might look a more friendly company culture.

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You can find a lot of information on these aspects in social media and through testimonials of employees. But you might also have the opportunity to leverage your personal network to reach out to people who might know the organization from within and who can share their impressions.

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In case you still have points that need clarification concerning purpose, values or culture, it is also possible to bring those up in the interview phase. The recruiters will usually be willing to share the information you need to make the right decision for yourself, because that is also important from a company perspective.

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Step 4: Self-assessment

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As a next step, I would recommend that you put yourself into the shoes of the recruiting manager and that you assess yourself. You can take the job requirements and the specifications concerning the profile as they are outlined in the job description and compare this to your profile. Do you have the required technical expertise? What is the past experience you can bring? How have you dealt with certain situations in the past that were similar to what is expected in that job? What is the leadership and people management experience that you bring and does that correspond to the level that is expected here? How does your personality match with the specifications?

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This self-assessment will help to understand if that role brings the right level of stretch. In case the gap is too big, you might struggle. In case your current experience level is too close to the role, that will not be a sufficiently stimulating learning experience. It is therefore helpful to assess this carefully and to be able to check the different facets of the role to get a more detailed understanding of the gap in view of both the technical and the leadership related requirements.

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This will of course also help you understand where your strengths are and that is obviously helpful again for the interview preparation.

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Step 5: Career strategy

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I have outlined in a number of my videos how to define your personal career strategy. I have emphasized the importance of defining this strategy because it will serve as a compass for your future career choices. It will help you evaluate if a job opportunity is a relevant step in view of your career aspiration. With other words, it will allow you to go beyond just assessing a job opportunity in view of the short-term future, but it allows you to understand if that next role matches with the overall career plan that you have established for yourself.

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One of the key questions concerns the experience base: does that role offer you the possibility to expand your experience base in such a way that you will be better prepared for subsequent steps that will bring you closer to your career aspiration? Does it bring you the relevant additional functional, managerial or international experience you will need to be ready in the future for the job you want to reach?

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Step 6: Personal aspects

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It is important not to neglect the personal aspects related to a specific job opportunity. That includes for example the question of location and of distance between the workplace and your home. You should also carefully consider what life-work-balance that new role would offer you.

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You may want to check the travel requirements, if that is relevant and it could be worthwhile understanding possible international mobility expectations the company would have related to that specific role or even possible future roles you would aspire to.

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I guess it is needless to say that here again, any of these points that cannot be clarified based on the information that is available before the job interview should be asked when you will meet the recruiting team. Being clear about your personal needs is an important basis to make the right career choices for yourself.

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These 6 steps should allow you to gain all the necessary information you need to apply for the right positions and to be best prepared for interviews, in case you decide to compete for a role. I wish you every success!

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