The Corner Office

Early in my career, I mean decades ago, I had a boss from hell. Oh sure, I’ve had lots of dysfunctional bosses. I was a pretty dysfunctional boss myself. But this guy was different. I’m talking serious lunatic stuff here. It was so traumatic that I sort of blocked it out of my memory. But as is often the case with tragedy, there was also a comic aspect and maybe even a lesson to be learned. 

Let me set the stage here. John - we’ll call him John - ran a regional office for a huge multinational technology company based in Asia. That’s where our products and services were developed. These folks in Asia had no idea what they were doing in the U.S. market. I mean no idea.

John’s boss and the rest of the company’s U.S. management and headquarters were in another state - California. John’s boss was a savvy executive who made it big down the road, but the rest of the U.S. folks were, well, they were idiots. And they were our principal interface to the folks in Asia who were clueless about the U.S. market. (more…)

Everybody I know - myself included - has hit at least one snag in their career. After all, nobody’s life, business, or career goes straight up and to the right. You may think you’re on the right path, then something changes and you’re suddenly thrown off course.  

A couple of weeks ago a good friend - a senior-level manager at a big company - found out he’s getting laid off after 20 years there. Time for a new plan.

The last four jobs another senior executive friend has taken have been with companies that, for whatever reason, get acquired a year or two later. Poof, he’s back on the street again. He’s getting on in years; can’t keep doing that forever. 

But you know what? Highly accomplished professionals take their careers very personally. People who pride themselves on their ability to grow businesses and companies sometimes have a hard time seeking advice from others when it comes to their own careers.

Unfortunately, successful career change requires a certain level of objectivity that most people simply aren’t equipped with. After all, we’re only human and we inevitably see ourselves through a subjective prism.

Look at it this way: would you attempt a corporate turnaround or restructuring without an objective analysis of the situation or without getting input and feedback from a variety of sources - board of directors, employees, customers, analysts? Of course not. Well, the same goes for your career. 

In fact, thinking of career change as a sort of turnaround or at least a strategic planning process is absolutely the way to go. Think about it; the methodology works:

The 5-Step Career Turnaround

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I work in a jungle. Not metaphorically. I’m talking about a real jungle.

Right now I’m watching a 75 pound Rottweiler squirm around on his back, making funny noises, trying to bait a Boxer into playing. The Boxer just sits there and yawns. I have no idea what that means, unless maybe he’s bored. 

As I recline in the office La-Z-Boy - where I do much of my writing - my head rests lightly on a fluffy black pillow named Clyde. He likes to just lay there while I work. Once in a while I reach back and pet him and he purrs. That I get.

If you think this is bizarre, I don’t blame you. I think it’s bizarre too. But still, I’d bet my office environment is tame compared to the jungle you work in.

Sometimes people ask me why I gave up working in corporate America at such a young age (I don’t think I was young - I was 46 - but that’s what they ask). Well, I have a few canned answers, like:

“The workplace has become too PC for a dysfunctional control freak like me.”  (more…)

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If you really want to learn how to move up in the business world, you’ve got relatively few sources of expert information. And when you’re done with all the MBA BS, the business self-help books, and God help us - the life coaches - ask somebody who’s done it, and he’ll tell you.

Come to think of it, if you think you can learn what works in the real world from anyone but someone who actually succeeded in the real world, well, let’s just say you might want to rethink your management potential.

In the past we’ve talked about all kinds of management tools and leadership qualities, but this time, we’re going to cut right to the chase. You won’t find these five tips anywhere else, since you’re the first ones to read them. Moreover, these are indeed CEO best practices that I’ve observed in few middle managers - those with CEO potential.   (more…)

The first time I was considered for a CEO position I actually got the job, which surprised the heck out of me. When I asked the executive recruiter why I was chosen over what I thought were more experienced candidates, one of the things he said was that I had “CEO presence.”

Admittedly, I’m not 100 percent sure what that means. But I have worked with hundreds of CEOs and other executives, so I thought I’d take a stab at what constitutes “executive presence.” Whenever I attempt this sort of thing, the results are often counterintuitive, if not downright surprising. This is no exception.

One conclusion is that executive presence has nothing to do with polish, poise, sophistication, or even use of body language and gestures. In my opinion, executives with presence are just as likely to not posses those qualities. In this day and age, executive presence comes in lots of shapes and sizes, including some you wouldn’t intuitively recognize. 30 years ago, who would have thought a nerd like Bill Gates could have executive presence? But he does.

Another conclusion some may have a tough time swallowing: I don’t think any of these qualities are easy to learn or practice. I’m sure you can cognitively develop and improve some of them, but not by much. Not that anyone’s born with them; they develop over time with experience and maturity. (more…)

The most common career mistake managers make is taking a lesser job than they should. Personal issues aside, too many managers and professionals are too risk averse, pulling the trigger on that critical decision sooner than they should.

It’s a common enough story: a friend of mine - a director-level employee at a Fortune 500 company where he’s worked for 20 years - gets laid off. To me, this is a blessed event. After toiling in the agonizingly stifling and stagnant shadows of big-company middle management, he finally has a chance to shoot for a top job at a smaller company where he can really make a difference.

We chat for an hour or so about his options and opportunities, when I finally come to the most important point I want to get across to my friend: 

“Don, under no circumstances should you even consider a job beneath executive staff level.”

“Oh, really?” Don says, surprised. (more…)

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Language is a relatively effective communication tool. I say relatively effective because, well, let’s face it, it’s highly subjective and open to interpretation. And you know what? We make a bad situation worse by using labels.

Sure, labels are great shortcuts, but they have a big downside. They’re more subject to misinterpretation than if you were to describe what you’re talking about in detail.

For example, telling somebody you’re a “marketing guy” narrows their interpretation of your capabilities to oh, about 500 possibilities. Steve Jobs is a “marketing guy.” He’s also a CEO of one of America’s top companies. My phone just rang a few minutes ago. It was a “marketing guy” offering a special credit card rate. Big difference.   

Politics? Don’t even get me started.

When you’re being interviewed for a job, negotiating with a customer, or speaking with a potential client, do you really want to leave their impressions up to subjective interpretation? Of course not. And make no mistake: people base a lot - even big decisions - on first impressions. Don’t you? (more…)

When everything’s going well, people manage to find things to whine about. And when there really is something to whine about - like record unemployment, national debt, deficit spending, bonus pools for bank executives - look out below.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Complaining does give us all something to do instead of worrying, something to feel in control of even if we’re not. Which I guess is why we do it.  

And while it does afford us some amount of temporary relief, it doesn’t really change a thing except annoy everyone around us. Instead, you might consider actually doing something to help fix the economy and accelerate its return to normal, whatever that means.

No, I’m not talking about spending money or creating jobs. Anybody who tells you to do that is an idiot. You’re going to do that when you feel it’s in the best interest of your company, shareholders, family, whatever.

That said, there are three things each of us - as business leaders and managers - should be doing, actually need to do. Sure, they’re not easy, but none of the most important things in life are. Besides, we didn’t get to this point overnight, and we won’t recover overnight either. Just put one foot in front of the other, starting here: (more…)

Regret is a bitter pill to swallow. That’s why, in terms of your career, it’s a good idea to understand opportunities missed and mistakes made in real time. They don’t age well.

Unfortunately, when it comes to career moves, insight can be elusive. And the good moves can be just as perplexing as the bad ones. I’m not sure what’s worse: having one success and being completely unable to duplicate it because you don’t understand how or why it happened, or not facing the fact that you made a bad decision and blew it all on your own.

That why you really have to take a hard look at both the good moves and the bad for them to be of any value. To that end, here are my best and worst career moves and lessons learned. They’re amusing and insightful all by themselves, but in exchange, we’d all like to read and laugh at … I mean learn from yours. That’s the deal, okay? (more…)

A survey of the nation’s top CEOs indicates business conditions are improving. I don’t know about you, but I’m not feeling it. So who, exactly, is benefiting from the bullish outlook?

If you work for Goldman Sachs, which today announced quarterly profits of $3.2 billion while setting aside $5.4 billion for compensation, you’re a happy camper. But if you’re among the 9.8 percent of Americans that are unemployed - a 25-year record - you’re probably not in the mood to celebrate just yet. (more…)