I have always said to people that if they issued a uniform at my place of work, I’d be ecstatic.
In the absence of that, I have my own version of wearing a uniform: skirts, crewneck sweaters, twinsets, and a necklace. In colors that mix and match. I have a uniform for weekends too: dark denim, turtlenecks, a jacket. It’s just easier. If they had Giranimals for adults, I’d sign up. Continue reading
Whenever I talk about my lessons learned, people always pick this one as one of their “so obvious, but we don’t do this” lessons.
Guilty. I don’t do this enough either. And I am always humbled by people taking the time to thank me for meeting with them, or holding a lunch and learn session…the heartfelt emails are terrific.
But what I save are the little handwritten notes. Because I know they went home and got out their stationery, and took the time to write something, and mail it back to me. These notes strike a chord in me: of a time when letters were the norm, not the exception, and what it means to have something that is more than just a quickly typed up message. There is something about the process of handwriting something that is so much more personal and authentic.
There are lots of ways to say thank you…and all of them are good. Some stay with you longer than you think.
So this has been getting a lot of attention in the press about how you need sponsors, not only mentors. I recently held a “lunch and learn” session with my real-life “sponsor”, and he told a great story that I think sheds light on what sponsorship means…
“Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it’s been.” Continue reading
This is a tough skill to master, but absolutely critical. This is figuring out the right balance between “inspecting” vs “expecting”. It’s knowing when you need to ask the questions, and when you don’t. It’s giving people enough latitude without micromanaging, but not so much latitude that you’re an absentee manager. Continue reading
“People do not change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat.”
Freda Lewis-Hall, Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer
So, assuming that you’re a good performer, and you’ve met your company’s requirements to be eligible for a mobility move, how does one go about figuring out what their next move should be?
Here’s a framework I suggest to people:
1. Assess yourself. Two categories of skills: capabilities and product/technical knowledge. Make a list of what you have in both these categories NOW. Capabilities are broad: people management skills, business requirements documenter, presentation skills. Product/technical is the deep detailed knowledge, like knowing a particular product. This is what you bring to the new job.
2. What do you love, what not so much? Write the elements down. If you don’t want to manage people, you need to write that down. This is what you want your future job to have.
3. Show your assessment to your manager and have a conversation to narrow down the options. If you don’t want to manage others, you’re not going to run a line. If you hate strategy, you’re not going to want to be in a planning function. The purpose of this is to narrow down all the options to the best few.
4. Once you’ve narrowed down the list of functions/areas, ask your manager for 3 names of people you can talk to. Often, the next move is about timing. You want to do your due diligence as well as make sure people have you in mind when an opening does come up.
5. When you interview for the role, there are 3 people you need to talk to: the hiring manager (but take it with a grain of salt since they’re selling you), your current manager (they probably know you the best, so their opinion is important), and someone who works for the hiring manager (“What are the 3 things you love about the job? What frustrates you?”) They’re most likely to be honest with you.
Lastly, be patient. It’s better to take longer to find the perfect next move, than move too fast and jump into the fire.
So there are five things that I can pretty much guarantee will make your manager nuts. I’ll translate what your manager is hearing when you use them. Continue reading
One of my favorite sayings…particularly when I’m working on a project. While it’s important to have the big picture, the strategic view, the long term perspective, what trips people up is the detail.
Why? It takes a long time to figure out that someone’s strategy is wrong. It can take years….and perspectives can shift dramatically depending on the circumstances.
But details can trip you up immediately. And visibly. So as you progress in your career, never forget that the details matter. I have found many times that if you spend 3 hours now, you’ll save 60 hours later. Mistakes are much harder to rectify the further you’ve gone down the road.
Stanford neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi died March 9th of lung cancer at the age of 37. So many things about his situation made him unique: being a doctor, being diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, being a new father. But most importantly, the kind of man he was.
In his article, “Before I Go“, he leaves this message for his infant daughter:
“When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.”
Work is important. But it’s not what’s most important.