Exploring a Career Change
Q:
Hi,
After being in information technology for dozen years I think it is time to move on. But I am not sure if its the right move and how will it affect me and my family? To give a back ground I do have Engineering degree and experience with dealing people and technology. How do you think I should explore and plan for this? I am in my mid 30s.
Thanks,
Yamini
A:
Dear Yamini,
It’s hard to offer a lot specific advice based on the information you’ve included in your question. But let me suggest a couple of ways to think about your future plans.
Is there a way to shift half your job? By that I mean, move to a role in which half of what you do is based on your current strengths and half the role depends on stretching into new skill sets? The obvious move would be to move to a management role or relationship role related to IT. But there may be other options, if you think about it this way.
Is there a way to leverage the reputation and social capital you’ve built up in your current organization to help you move into a different field? Often the company that’s most likely to support your moves is the one that already trusts and respects the contributions you’ve made to the organization.
Is there a way to begin a new career on the side? Perhaps by starting up a small business nights and weekends while you maintain your current day job?
Could you leverage this recessionary period to your advantage by negotiating a reduced time arrangement with your current employer? Perhaps they’re looking for ways to cut back on staffing and would be happy to have you move to a part-time position. This would allow to look for a part-time job in a new field. As the economy recovers, the track record you’ll have gained in the new field should allow you to switch into a full-time role.
I hope these suggestions are helpful and wish you all the best!
Warmly,
Tammy
Creating an Electronic Portfolio and Learning New Tools
Q:
I’m hoping you can give me a suggestion or two for targeting my current employment search.
I’m a 55 year-old boomer (with GenX tendencies) with a masters degree in engineering, and quite a number of years of consulting experience, mainly in telecom and IT. I enjoyed my choice of projects, for the most part, from 1991 through 2001. Because of rapid changes in the global economy and technology, I have been increasingly running into what seem to be a pattern of roadblocks to gainful employment. For instance, many of the job opportunities I’m interested in now seem to require electronic portfolios or samples, and/or a variety of development tools which I have yet to learn. Moreover, job designs have changed drastically. In addition, since almost all of my work samples are not of the online variety, I can’t seem to get past the recruiter, gatekeeper, or the first phone interview. I suspect that there are generational forces at work, as it seems many of these first contacts are with Gen Xers who don’t seem to understand what I can bring to their organizations. I am willing to make changes to get a different result. Should I get some coaching and support to create an electronic portfolio that can compete in today’s marketplace? If I do invest the required time and effort, how can I be sure that I will be seriously considered? It’s clear to me that in many instances I’m competing with, or looking to be hired by, Gen Xers who may not see the potential that I see. Should I take a different approach altogether, and if so, what should that approach be? Am I looking in the right places? How can I increase my chances of success? I appreciate any suggestions.
PS: I don’t plan on retiring, ever. I am extremely intelligent, focused, productive, and motivated. That’s part of why this experience is so very frustrating for me, in contrast with much of my prior work history.
Josephine
A:
Hi Josephine,
I’m really sorry to hear that your experience has been frustrating. It’s wonderful to find a field that you can pursue with such passion as you clearly feel for your area of work.
Should you create an electronic portfolio? Unequivocally, yes. If that is the way business is now being done in your industry, you must keep pace—or even be a bit out ahead. You should not only catch up, but make sure you’re pushing pretty close to the front of the pack in terms of your technical sophistication and understanding of the latest development tools. I’d be cautious about attributing your frustrating to a generational difference—it may come into play, but it is much more likely that they’re gravitating to candidates with more up-to-date skill.
Good luck—I hope you’re soon back doing the work you love.
Best wishes,
Tammy
Blending Vision and Relationships for Success
Q:
I just saw your CLR powerpoint presentation for Boeing and really tracked with it. Well done!
It reminds me of my mssion statement - that goes over most people’s head—My mission is to ignite the synergy between vision and relationships to fuel success.
Sharon Rolph
A:
Thanks, Sharon. What a great role you have! It’s unusual to find someone who explicitly defines their mission the way you do. But you’ve got your eye on the critical elements of success in today’s economy. I think of a leader’s job today as being that of encouraging just a few more people every day to invest just a little more discretionary energy toward the organization’s goals. Doing that requires both a compelling question (or vision, or quest) and trust based relationships among individuals.
Warm wishes,
Tammy
A Feminine Perspective on Leadership and Innovation?
Q:
Hi Tammy,
I would like to read more about leadership and management as well as innovation ideas from a feminine perspective. I have been reading a lot of Kotter, Hamel, et. al., all of which has been very inspirational and thought-provoking. However, I wonder if there are ideas of the same vein presented by women. Please advice.
Thank you,
SP
A:
Dear SP,
That’s an interesting question. There are a number of extraordinary women thought leaders in the area, but I’ve never considered whether there is a distinctly feminine perspective on innovation and leadership. Let me offer some suggestions regarding people whose work you may enjoy exploring – I’d love to hear from you whether you find a shared point of view among their perspectives.
Lynda Gratton, a professor at London Business School (and, in the interest of full disclosure, a dear friend and frequent co-author) studies organizations that excel at innovation. Her book Hot Spots, based in part on research that she and I conducted together on team collaboration, outlines the characteristics of teams that have that special spark of creativity and commitment. She has written a number of other books on leadership; one of my favorite is The Democratic Organization, in which she outlines the challenges posed by today’s work environments.
Herminia Ibarra is a professor in Leadership and Learning and faculty director of the INSEAD Leadership Initiative. She is an expert on professional and leadership development and has written a wonderful book called Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (Harvard Business School Press, 2003) that documents how people reinvent themselves at work, as well as numerous articles on innovation, networking, career development, women’s careers and professional identity.
Teresa Amabile is a professor at Harvard Business School. Originally educated as a chemist, she investigates how life inside organizations can influence people and their performance. Originally focusing on individual creativity, her research has expanded to encompass team creativity and organizational innovation.
My first book, Third Generation R&D, focused on building innovative organizations. Two of my recent articles, both co-authored with Lynda Gratton, address important aspects of this topic: “What It Means to Work Here” Harvard Business Review, March 2007 and “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams” Harvard Business Review, November 2007.
Happy reading!
Warmly,
Tammy
A Bad Boss—And a Damaging Performance Review
Q:
Hi Tammy,
I’m a finance manager and I love my work. But my company was recently been acquired by a large company and I was transfer to a report under a new boss. I soon found out this boss is terrible, he lies, makes up numbers and mean. I was so upset with his behavior that I got into a private heated conversation with him (argument). Now our relationship is damaged and he gave me a terrible review due to this. The company required that I acknowledge the review, but the things he wrote was not acceptable. I refused to accept the review, but he continues to asked me to acknowledge it. He’s my boss and I have to be nice, but the things he wrote was terrible and it doesn’t represent my talents, accomplishments or my truly contribution to the company. I can fight back, but it doesn’t do me any good since he’s my boss. What do you recommend I do? I thought about leaving, I though about walking out, I been looking for a new job but it’s especially hard during this time. I am not sure what to do next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mlletttle
A:
Dear Mlletttle,
I’m so sorry to hear you’re having such a difficult work experience.
I can’t offer extremely specific advice based on the information you’ve provided, but let me offer some thoughts that I hope you’ll find helpful.
First, before focusing on your career, you need to consider your ethical responsibility to the company. Depending on how serious or widespread your boss’ actions may be, it may be necessary for you to bring his actions to the attention of those higher up. Employees who lie are never in the best long-term interests of an organization. Certainly, someone in the financial department who lies and makes numbers up would be a very serious liability. On the other hand, allegations of this sort are very serious. You need to consider whether his actions are detrimental to the ethical integrity of the company and how certain you are of your views and, if appropriate, discuss your concerns with others.
Second, assuming your boss’ actions do not represent ethical violations, let’s turn to your performance review. Most company’s processes allow the employee to add a note that expresses your own perspective. Is that possible in your case? Ideally, you should acknowledge that the review has been discussed with you, but also offer a short, non-emotional note that conveys your view of your performance. Perhaps most importantly, most review processes also include an opportunity to document next steps and development plans. This may even be an opportunity to get back on track with this boss, if possible, by outlining activities and metrics that you can both agree to.
And finally, it is probably wise to begin considering other options. In many cases, an acquisition imposes a different culture on an organization – one that may be very different from the culture that attracted you in the first place. At some point, it makes sense to decide whether or not this organization will be one that will engage and excite you. If not, you owe it to yourself and to the organization, to lay the ground work for moving on – not necessarily urgently, but determination to find a work environment that works for you.
Best wishes,
Tammy
