The Power Move

How are you characterized within your company and how do you want to define your future? • Define your current position. • Evaluate your performance and contribution to your company. • What are your professional goals and character defining principles? • How will you achieve your professional goals in the next 6, 12, and 24 months? As you answer the questions above, how do you advance from your current position while performing your current role, reporting to your boss, working with peers, superiors, and subordinates without creating a conflict? Let’s take some time to assimilate findings to date based on your investigative analysis in the prior chapters while outlining your professional goals. In chapter 3 we will take the time to define your professional goals and establish a detailed roadmap with associated steps to achieve your goals and advance. Assimilation of Critical Findings from Prior Chapters Your effort from prior chapters enables you to clearly articulate the key players of your current employer and their alignment in relation to your boss. Also, you are able to comment on the organizational structure of the company and should be able to list open positions within the various departments of your company, if any. Do not forget about the open positions not formally announce by the company; however, a key player(s) of the company is aware of such positions. By now, you should be clear on your performance as recognized by your boss. With confidence, you should be aware of your boss’ potential to advance within the company and/or externally. You should have, at least, a basic understanding of your company, in comparison to competitors, and overall market conditions facing your company. Also, you should know how the market, customers, competitors, and industry leaders perceive your company’s reputation. In summary, you have a well developed knowledge base. Clearly, you should know the basic vision of the company from the majority owner(s) perspective in conjunction with the key players of the company. In your overall evaluation, define in your own words a 3 - 5 sentence narration of your company’s outlook, financial viability, internal opportunities and your honest opinion of the opportunity for you to advance within the company. Completing such should be a simple task and more importantly, ingrained within you by now. What are your professional goals? As you have assimilated your findings regarding the company structure, key players, boss’ position, and personal outlook within your company, let’s take the time to update your professional goals at Task - 7: Your Opportunity and Career Advancement. Reconfirm that you have focused on your interests that motivate you, which may be aligned with your current position. Also, focus on items to be achieved over the next 6 to 24 months. In outlining your professional goals, let’s follow a simple process that will be utilized in the following chapter to structure your “Power Move.” In listing your goals focus on five (5) goals at the most, but no less than two (2) goals. As you list, be prepared to indicate the driving motivation to achieve such goal. What is your motivation? Why do you want to achieve each goal? Also, what has inspired you to conceive each goal and motivate you to achieve such? If listing your goals and motivation is challenging, assistance is available by scheduling an appointment or posting an “Assistance Request” at www.ThePowerMoveCommunity.com. In updating Task - 7: Your Opportunity and Career Advancement, much has been discovered about your company and your interests and professional goals. The result of your diligent effort should be a thoughtful understanding of the following: • How your company operates; • Your professional goals and motivation; and, • An understanding of the value of your contribution as seen by the key players and majority ownership of the company. Now, the stage is set to align your goals and long-term aspirations in regard to the potential of advancement within your company or with another company. Evaluate your performance, contribution to your company, and advancement outlook It is time to take an inventory of your standing at your company. Where do you place within the company? Review your “Personal Mosaic” that interlinks the tasks completed throughout the past chapters. So, how do you define your standing? Are you a key player? Is your boss a key player? What is your connection to revenue generation? Are you a “rainmaker?” Let’s take the time to review your “Personal Mosaic” and with an unbiased viewpoint articulate your standing at the company and the value that you bring to the company. Also, a very critical point to consider, the value that you indicate you bring to the company must be in line with the key players and majority ownership of the company. The point to be made is that the value you attribute to your company must be on par with the key players and majority ownership. If you work at a small or mid-sized company, making such a distinction may be easier, since there is a manageable employee base and limited layers of management. If you work at a multi-national organization with over 1,000 employees, your value contribution may need to be based on the department that you work at. You need to make such a determination. Before you make a decision, confirm that you grasp how your company operates and your professional goals are in line with the opportunities that exist within your company. The positive aspect of working at a larger company is the likely opportunity and ability to shift to a new role within multiple departments, divisions, or subsidiaries. However, the effort needed to understand your company may require additional work, in comparison to a small or mid-market company. If you determine working at your company is not in your future for various reasons. This is a breakthrough and you should savor the moment and take some time to enjoy that you proactively benefited your future and actively managing your professional career. The work performed to reach this clarifying understanding is an asset. The next step is to review all the details of your personal mosaic and assess all external companies that interact with your company (vendors, clients, suppliers, investors, etc.) and determine if you are interested working for one of those companies. If not, then use your personal mosaic to identify specific companies that would greatly value your experience, skills, and contribution and then exercise “The Power Move” for promotion at a new company. It is always easier and more relaxing to secure a position with a new company while being employed, since your new role is obtained on your terms. Let’s confirm why your current role and value to the company will support the achievement of your future professional goals for the next 6 to 24 months. Also, is there an open position at your company that interests you and formally announced by the company? Is the new position available; however, not formally communicated at this point throughout the company? Or is your desired position not identified as on open position and the company is not seeking to create such a position? Therefore, our next steps involve one of the following: • Confirm an open position exists and obtain a description of the open position. You may be fortunate enough to learn of the open position and work with a key player for you to fill the position without Human Resources formally communicating to other interested candidates; or, • Open position does not exist and therefore you need to find out if a position will be opening up soon or you need to design a new position and assemble a business case how your company will benefit, if you are able to take on the new position that you designed.