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Newsletter - December 2008

OI Partners

A Career Decree for 2009: Points of Differentiation

December 11, 2008 - Bill Crigger

Right off the bat, we are off to a bad start by thinking about making New Year’s resolutions.  Boy, would I love to have a nickel for every resolution that has been planned, written down but then ultimately disappeared.  Let’s try a different approach for 2009 by focusing on a Career Decree: Points of Differentiation.  How are you differentiating yourself from your internal (and external) competition within your current role?

  1. Here is a series of questions and approaches to challenge your thinking about your career decree process:
    • Have you recently (or ever) conducted your own, personal, serious, in-depth SWOT analysis? 
    • What are your Strengths, personal attributes, relevant skills, networks? List them in specific detail.  Who else in the organization will agree with this analysis?  Does anyone else know how valuable you really are to the company?
    • What are your Weaknesses, or personal and professional barriers that will keep you from achieving success?
    • Where do you see Opportunities? Consider internal and external issues and events that you can potentially leverage toward success, also known as the proverbial “low-hanging fruit.”  
    • Identify your Threats. Name the who, what, why and when of uncontrollable, internal and external factors that may work against you, e.g., the competition, economy, industry, etc.

    Develop a personal action plan to enhance, improve or implement change based on your analysis.

  2. Create a relevant message.  What is your Brand? Companies spend millions of dollars on branding and designing specific “sales” messages.  In the career transition business, we call it 30-60-90 second commercials.  But aren’t we always in some sort of career transition, getting promotions, new assignments, or working to keep our jobs?  When you meet others outside the company, or even inside the company, are you delivering a consistent, professional, marketing message?  What are others perceptions about you?  What do you say?  Yes, this is a form of networking – so are you interesting enough or prepared to engage others in conversation?
  3. Do you understand your industry, inside and out?  Have you continued to do research on your industry? Check out www.tradepub.com which features white papers and articles about a variety of industries. If you want to stand out you need to be an expert in your industry and its trends. With this knowledge you can initiate an interesting conversation, per item number two listed above. How many external webinars do you attend in a month? These are great suggestions to share with a boss or others.
  4. Within your own company, do you know…How the company makes money? How the company loses money?  How the company gains customers?  How the company loses customers?  And how your role/department can have a positive impact on these things?  Find a mentor and learn.  I will bet that no one ever has asked the CFO, Sales or Operations VP or Customer Service these specific questions. 
  5. Arrange your own visibility. Get out of your office.  Ask to attend meetings, join committees, and strategically participate in company volunteer efforts.  Meet people internally.  Meet people outside the company too.  Identify speaking and networking opportunities, join and participate in committees and boards of associations that fit your current or future role(s).  Get involved in Internet-based professional networks like LINKEDIN.
  6. Keep a journal.  At the end of each day, make a note of what went well; you will need this information for performance reviews. Make a note of what did not go well and develop ideas to move these items to the “went well column.”  What people do you need to revisit based on these lists and say “thanks for the help” or “based on our discussion yesterday, I wanted to clarify a few things?”  The right people will notice that good things are happening in your area; that things are getting done. Knowing others are talking about you in a positive way creates positive perceptions.

One of the great ironies of working for a corporation or business is that we get so busy doing our job that we often times do not get to keep our job because of some internal or external influence. If you were told that your job was being eliminated, at the minimum you would need to focus on the six items mentioned above during your job search to differentiate yourself from the competition.  Why not differentiate yourself from the current competition within your company, and move up as opposed to some other direction?

Bill Crigger is president and managing partner of OI Partners - Compass Career Management Solutions (Charlotte), a human resource consulting firm specializing in corporate outplacement/career transitions, organizational development, coaching and executive search. His areas of expertise include: Career Transition Coaching/Counseling . Small Business Management . Business Development . Training and Leadership Development . Succession Planning . Staff Development. Bill can be reached at 704-849-2500 or bcrigger@oipartners.net and bcrigger@compasscareer.com.