Soft skills

Office Politics – Should I leverage it to further my career?

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leverage office politics

Early in my career, I have been burnt by office politics but not in the way you think.  I didn’t feel burnt because someone else sabotaged my job.  On the contrary, I concluded, I burnt myself because I didn’t understand or appreciate office politics and the importance of using it fairly and skillfully to protect and build my career advantage. ...  read more

Mentoring Model – Mutual Mentorship or Paying it Forward?

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Yesterday, one of my friend sent me this article written by Steve Blank about  Mentors, Teachers, and Coaches.   I wanted to shared it with you to get your perspective.  Steve makes great distinctions about the difference between mentors vs. teachers vs. coaches.   I completely agree with this.  He says

  • Teachers, coaches and mentors are each something different.
  • If you want to learn a specific subject find a teacher.
  • If you want to hone specific skills or reach an exact goal hire a coach.
  • If you want to get smarter and better over your career find someone who cares about you enough to be a mentor.

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    How to Answer – What is Your Salary Requirement?

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    The “what is your salary requirement” question is always a tricky and awkward one to answer.  The best way is to avoid answering it tactfully for as long as possible.   I recommend the following strategies in address the salary requirement question.

    1. Try your best to not provide any numbers – because you want to avoid either being too high or underselling yourself. Most recruiter friends always tell me “don’t be the first to draw blood”
    2. Re-focus the discussion on how the company reward above average performers, whether this company is the best fit, etc…This signals to the company that you believe you will be a top performer and that you can more about this role than just compensation
    3. Re-direct the question back to find out what the salary range is for this position? Therefore, making them show their cards first.   This is always a great way to deflect this question as well as find out if what they had in mind fits within what you expected.  If it does, you can respond vaguely and say “let’s focus on whether I am a good fit first and then hopefully we can talk about the right compensation based on my experience and skillsets”
    4. Tell them you are excited about the company – this subtly negotiates on your behalf, and if the company likes you and they don’t know your salary requirement, they may make you a salary offer on the higher end to make sure they can secure a positive response from you.

    Here are some examples of salary requirement answers that have worked for me or my clients.

  • “Salary is only part of the picture. My number priority is finding the best fit for my career. I am very excited about this opportunity. I think I can be a valuable addition to this company. What is the salary range that the company is looking at for this position?”
  • “San Francisco is an expensive city to live in so starting salary is important, but what is also important to me is how this company rewards high performers. What is the bonus structure? How will compensation progress in a year or two?”
  • If pressed to provide a number, then try this “I hate to overshoot and be disqualified for this position, but if you need to know then the minimum I would accept for an ideal position is … ”

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    Self Promotion Ideas

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    In a previous post I wrote "Hard Work Does Not Guarantee Success." I still believe it but it begs the question - Then what else do you need to do to guarantee success? One answer that many people would agree with is - self promotion - make sure important people (like your boss and their boss) know what a top performer you are. That's easier said then done. How to finesse self-promotion without coming off too boastful or self-centered is tricky.

    How to Have a Career Discussion with My Manager?

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    career-discussion

    To be successful, you not only need to be able to work smart and be recognized for it, you also need other skills to help guide you in your career progression.  One of these skills is the ability to discuss your career plan with your boss without seeming like you are complaining about your position, or looking to move on.

    Your boss holds an important position in your career.  They can support you in your career goals or they can get in your way of your career goals.  Therefore, in addition to communicate with your boss about your work, you also need to be able to have effective career discussions.

    This can be tricky.   You should not just talk to your boss about your career when you are unhappy at your job.  You should try to do it on a regular basis, every 6 months perhaps, so you can communicate both what your goals are and figure out where your stands.  Therefore, it is important to not come off like you are complaining about your job when you discuss where you are headed in your career.  No boss likes that approach and that would immediately put them on the defensive.

    I would suggest setting up a meeting with your boss to ask for feedback on your work. You can title the meeting “Feedback and career progression discussion.” You are asking for feedback. This will not put your manager on the defensive. On the contrary, he or she will feel good that you are proactive and want his/her advice.  During the meeting, you can ask him/her a few key questions like the following. May even help to put these questions in the meeting request so that he/she can think about what to say beforehand

  • I have worked in this job for xx months, I would really like to find out how I am doing? What is my strength and where I can develop?  Ask your manager for specific examples to truly understand his or her perception of your work so far
  • You have been working at this company for awhile.   I would really like your advice on my potential career here. What do you think my career can look like in this company? Where do you think I could be in 2 years, 5 year? What options do you think I have?

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    Second Most Common Mistake People Make at Work

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    asking for help is a strength

    If you want to succeed, you need to be able to accomplish everything on your own.  Is this true? I don’t think so, but this is a common misconception, especially among recent college graduates.  School was all about doing your own work.  If you turned in a test or homework after asking someone else for help, it is considered cheating.

    After 16 years of conditioning at school to make sure you do everything on your own, no wonder many people join the work force and still carry with them for many years the notion- asking for help is bad or a sign of weakness.  This is NOT true!  It’s great if you can handle the work and don’t need help, but most people take jobs that has a ramp up time and a learning curve or jobs that have constant new challenges throughout.  A job is suppose to challenge you and help you learn.  Inevitably, at some point, you are going to need help.

    As you struggle to figure out how to succeed in any job, don’t do it alone and no one expect you to.  Here is why

  • If you do well,  your manager also looks good. No one cares about how you became high performing as long as you get there.  If you need to ask your team to help you ramp up on knowledge or your boss to give you advice on certain situations, do it.  They will be glad to help as long as you drive the process.
  • If you screw up, you just dumped the problem on your manager.  It’s a lot worse to struggle lone and suck at it and then your manager is forced to be brought in to clean up the mess.  Now your manager has one more problem to solve.  Prevent this from happening by asking for help before you get too lost.  It’s okay to admit you don’t know everything.  I much rather manage a person who knows when to ask for my help than one who wants to be perfect and then surprise me with a big “mess” later on.  The person that asked for help shows me that he is still in control and on top of the problem at hand.  I only need to give him the parts he needs to continue forward.
  • It’s less costly for the company to develop people than to hire a whole new person. Once a company hires you, it’s in their interest to help you succeed at your job.   Hiring a new person takes time, money, and has it’s own risk.  This is especially true if you have been at your job for a period of time already.
  • Asking for help shows maturity and strength. You show that you are not giving up and you have the self-awareness to know that you have limitations.  It especially helps if you are very specific about what help you need from which people – again showing you are driving the process and have a plan on how to get through it with other’s help.

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    How to Communicate Bad News to Your Manager

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    I don't have to tell you that not everything at work is always smooth sailing. Sometime things are delayed, mistakes are made, wrong numbers are published. It may be your fault, it may be a bad circumstance, or a combination of both. What do you say when your boss wants a progress report and things are not going so well?