5 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do

I have had the privilege of doing a number of different functional roles in my career and throughout all of them, I have have found the following five skills critical in all of them:

1. Gather Requirements

Of course, you'd expect those in product management or market research would need to know this skill, but frankly, it is critical across all functions and in all organizations.  Being able to understand the needs of the customers (internal or external) and identify success metrics is absolutely critical to every role, even those in executive leadership where resources are allocated and capital is obtained to fund the work.  This requires the ability to ask good question, perceive needs, and broker ideas from one part of the business to another.

2. Identify Decision Makers

Professional sales people make their living by understanding what, but more critically who, stands between them and a sale.  They understand how to work with champions, financial buyers, and other profiles to achieve results and make certain that the customer is getting full value for their purchases. But in my experience it is not just account managers who need to have this skill.  Knowing this avoids wasted time and effort convincing people with no purchase power or decision making authority on the merits of your offer.  Whether you are advocating for an internal proposal or influencing key suppliers, everyone should know how to determine who the real decision makers are.  Often this is achieved through a combination of observations and questions.  The best sales people are ones who can tactfully ask who needs to be involved in the decision and process by which decisions of this type are made.  Those are good questions for everyone to be ready to ask.

3. Tell the Truth (in love) 

I consider the truth a gift and regularly remind my staff that I rely on them for their candor.  I sincerely hope they take me up on the offer to listen to their complaints or suggestions with an open mind and a willingness to change, if necessary.  Being able to receive the truth is a made a lot easier when the truth teller is gifted in this area.  The effective truth teller strikes a balance between frankness and concern for the individual.  They speak the truth in love, as the writer of Ephesians penned.  

And it is easy to lose that balance.  Taylor Swift's song "All Too Well" poetically describes the person who emphasized truth over love:

Hey, you call me up again just to break me like a promise.

So casually cruel in the name of being honest.

Being able to deliver a tough message in a tender way is a very useful skill for any professional.

4. Advocate for Yourself Resourcefully

We often employ our full range of resourcefulness on tasks at worth, without taking stock on how we might marshal the same energy to advocate for ourselves.  No one else will do it for you (no, really, it is true).  It's up to you.

5. Identify Opportunities for Personal Growth

And part of advocating is knowing what to advocate for.  This is why it is critical that people continue to grow and be on the look-out for professional opportunities.  They don't have to cost money or take a lot of time.  They can be as simple as asking the advice of people you admire or reading a blog or book on a topic of interest.  Being intellectually curious is one of the things that sets the the high performers and high potentials apart from the crowd.

5 Things I Wish I Knew in the First 5 Years of My Career

In my career in technology, I have helped many customers create wayfinding systems—the touchscreen-enabled systems that allow people to chart where they are and where they are going as they navigate a shopping center or college campus. Wayfinding is a lot like the lifelong effort of shaping a career.

The first step is to identify where the “You Are Here” pin might be and to determine what direction might be a good next step. Unlike the touchscreen map in the shopping mall, however, one’s entire career landscape typically isn’t visible. This is because people create their careers as they go, and the total career map is only available in hindsight.

As my own career approaches two decades (and spans two millennia), I have been reflecting on the things I wish I better understood in the early years of my career. Here are some of the top insights:

1. Don’t wait for permission to get the experience you want.

Finally, you don’t need to wait for a specific job opening or opportunity to get the experience you want. In today’s world, it’s easier than ever to proactively develop your experience.

Do you want experience planning a highly visible event even though your company doesn’t have that need? Volunteer for a non-profit that puts on a fun run or festival.

Do you want to put your journalism degree to work even though your current job doesn’t require writing?Start a blog.

Do you want to learn a new skill, like programming iPhone apps? Take a class, read a book or join a local hack-a-thon group.

Are you not getting what you need from your manager to help you take your career to the next level? Join a professional development organization or seek out a mentor.

2. Whom you know isn’t as important as who knows you.

Knowing a lot of people and building a network is key, but it is also critical that they know you—to allow people to get to know you including what you’re good at, what you’re curious about, what you’ve done and what you’d like to do. This puts other people in a position to help you.

One way to get people to know you is by developing a special area of expertise. As an appreciator of artistic talent, I am often struck by how many famous artists get known for a particular style of art even though they can often paint in a variety of styles. Vincent van Gogh built his brand on the rough brush stroke style depicted in his Sunflowers and The Starry Night paintings, not his more realistic paintings of potato farmers. The artists who achieve prominence do so by getting known for doing one thing. They have talents and interests outside of that focus, but they develop a signature style. The same thing is helpful in your career.

When the industrial design firm IDEO hires new staff members, it looks for “T-shaped people”—individuals with a broad span of curiosity and experience (the top of the T), but a deep expertise in a single area (the base of the T). Think about your own experience and interests. Decide what your T looks like and reinforce it in your communications with other people.

Another way to get people to know you is to ask for advice. There’s nothing that makes you look smarter than asking smart people for their counsel. So put yourself out there to learn more from others on both small and big things. Ask the Excel expert in your office to show you her most useful tips and tricks. Ask someone in your circle his advice for graduate school programs. And even after you land a position, continue the informational interviews and other networking techniques you learned in college. An ongoing curiosity will serve you well. Not only will you learn, but the people you meet will get to know you on a deeper level.

3. What you know isn’t as important as whom you know.

Everyone has heard this maxim before and it is generally true: You are more likely to hear about a job or be given an opportunity from someone you know. But it goes further than that. Second-degree connections are of critical importance as well.

Early career individuals often seek to build a network of people who are hiring managers or executives, and as a result, they might miss the networking opportunities that exist with their peers. When I was in graduate school, I found that I often learned more and had more relevant professional connections with my classmates than my professors. The same is true in the business world. If you go to graduate school, join a company or volunteer for a non-profit, pay special attention to those whom you will be working alongside and attach yourself to the talented, smart, high-potentials in that group. You can grow your future network in this way.

4. Nothing is a life sentence.

It’s common for college students to feel like their selection of a major is setting them on a career path that’s more defined than it actually is. And many new college grads bemoan getting a job “outside their major.” But this is not a tragedy. Instead, it illustrates how fungible one’s career path and choices actually are.

In your lifetime, you may have several distinct careers. You will likely work for multiple companies, or at least multiple groups and managers, and although there will be skills gained from one assignment that you will use in others, the path will only be clear in hindsight. Don’t be afraid to take a leap and do something new, pursue your interests and have those take you in a different direction. Don’t be afraid to take on new responsibilities.

I often hear early career professionals say they feel pressure to pursue a defined career path despite not fully knowing what they want to do. The truth is you will always have additional choices and nothing you start doing today has to be forever.

5. Know how the score is kept and lead with it.

Any business—whether it’s a services firm, technology manufacturer or even a retailer—uses a common scorecard for measuring success: financial results. Sure, some organizations are starting to track triple-bottom line results in recognition of their impact on the community and the environment. But those factors typically supplement the traditional financial statements and metrics that allow all organizations to measure their results. It is critical that you understand how the score is kept.

If you want to obtain more responsibility in the organization, lead with the financials when making a proposal, explaining an initiative or presenting alternatives. Overall, you will be more strategic.

Career Wayfinding

In my career in technology, I have helped many customers create wayfinding systems—the touchscreen-enabled systems that allow people to chart where they are and where they are going as they navigate a shopping center or college campus. Wayfinding is a lot like the lifelong effort of shaping a career.

The first step is to identify where the “You Are Here” pin might be and to determine what direction might be a good next step. Unlike the touchscreen map in the shopping mall, however, one’s entire career landscape typically isn’t visible. This is because people create their careers as they go, and the total career map is only available in hindsight.  

Wayfinding your career is more like this sign (below) I saw posted at a hotel in which I recently stayed which mistakenly read "You are Her."  I liked the misspelling.  It isn't about being "here".  Wayfinding is about self-discovery.  About being "her."

As my own career extends two decades (and spans two millennia), I have been reflecting on the things I wish I better understood in the early years of my career. My article entitled "Top 5 Things I Wish I Knew in the First 5 Years of My Career" was just published with Women on Business.  Read article.

Sending the Elevator Back Down

The other night I watched the talented actor, Kevin Spacey, on David Letterman and he quoted his late friend and mentor, Jack Lemmon, who said that once you acquire a level of success in your field it is is your duty and privilege to "send the elevator back down" for others who could benefit from your mentoring or support. 

I would say that it is necessary, not only for those in the top of their fields, but everyone along the way.  Generosity is a value that is worth cultivating throughout your life.  If you want to be mentored, be a mentor.

Photo courtesy of Gideon Tsang.

The Aptitude of Attitude

This was a quote from a Star Wars book which is very fitting to a number of situations that people face in life and business.  In my experience, it is best to have both: a plan and an attitude of abandon that makes the results possible.