How do you get ahead and accomplish your career dreams when there is so much politics in corporate America?

Here is another question I got from the audience at HP.

Q: How do you get ahead and accomplish your career dreams when there is so much politics in corporate America?


A: There are politics wherever there are people - in for-profit AND non-profit organizations. Most of us think of office politics as a dirty game, and it can be. Although I don’t encourage people to participate in the game, I encourage you to understand and manage politics because it is part of our lives. If you think of politics as a way to create relevancy, convergence and alignment, then you might have a slightly different perspective on it. Politics is about understanding the context in which you operate. Try to understand the corporate culture, the risk tolerance, the predominant problem-solving approach. This will help you to frame your idea in a way that is appealing to them to reduce confrontation. Try to listen to other people’s concerns and understand why they are feeling insecure. Anticipate the push-backs and be prepared to address those concerns will help you achieve your goals and gain visibility. As I said in my presentation, focus on abundance rather than scarcity. Politics can be many of the challenges that you would face in achieving your career goals. Use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Use what you have to obtain what you don’t have.

Do What You Love. Love What You Do

I once asked a friend who has a succesful career about his secrets to career advancement. The first thing he said was "Love what you do." It may sound like cliche but he could not be more right.

Think back at a time when you were doing something you were passionate about. Did you notice how it brought out the best in you? You became creative and resourceful, and were determined to finish it or move towards your goal.

Steve Jobs talked about the time he was fired by Apple at a Stanford commencement -

"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

What are 3 things that you love about your job, your marriage or whatever is important to you? If you can't name them, what are the 3 things you would look for in the next job, marriage etc? What can you do in the new year that you haven't already done to bring the 3 elements into your life?

Mark Twain said "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed in the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore....Dream....Discover."

To a brave and passionate new year!

Change Perspective Change Outcome

I was on a panel yesterday. At the end of the discussion I was asked to give one final advice to people who are going through career transition.

"Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have. Focus on what you can, not what you can't!" I said.

There was a company that wanted to find out why they had more men in management position than women and why men were more likely to apply for open positions in the company than women. The findings were interesting. The survey showed that men felt that they were qualified to apply if they met 60% of the requirements whereas women felt that they were qualified only if they had met something like 80 % of the requirements.

You see, one group of people were focusing on what they had. That gave them a lot of confidence to apply for the job. On the other hand, the other group, or the women, were concerend about what they didn't have so they would not apply unless they had about 80% of the qualifications.

A shift in perspective can change the outcome. When you change how you look at things, the things you look at change. Many years ago I worked for a personal care company. I managed 3 product categories. I was baffled why the company had always put most of the marketing dollars into just one category leaving the other 2 categories with little marketing budget. So I took a look at the 2 "orphan" categories. I noticed that although the overall markets for these 2 products are smaller than the "favorite" category, they were growing much faster and growing steadily. We had a product that had stayed #2 in the market for over 10 years. I was curious why it had been #2 for so long without ever making it to #1 position. I did a little research and got a pleasant surprise. Our product had everything that consumers were looking for in this type of product but the company never realized the strengths of the product and never positioned itself as the brand leader. I convinced the management to change the marketing strategy. In less than 12 months, the brand became #1 in the market.

"Believe in yourself so that other people can start believing in you!" I said to the audience.

What is one assumption you have about your life that you could challenge to open new possibilities?

If you believe in what you want to do, you will make it happen.