Signature Strengths

One of my favorite books is Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton. I agree with the authors' theme of focusing on your strengths and managing your weaknesses.  I was impressed with their online "Strengths Finder" test and found it quite accurate in identifying "Signature Themes".

My top five themes are:
1) Strategic
2) Competition
3) Individualization
4) Command
5) Focus

One of the most significant self-realizations in my life occurred to me after I began paying attention to my signature themes. I noticed when I executed my signature themes in various daily situations. After a while, I began to notice more. When I experienced a deep feeling of satisfaction about my work or in giving advice to a friend, I realized that I was exhibiting one or more of my signature themes.  To use a sports analogy, it felt like catching a long pass or throwing a hard strike; doing what you intended to do and being appreciated for it.

As my self awareness grew, I recognized that my most successful moments and my most successful roles within a company were a direct result of utilizing more than one of my signature themes on a regular basis. The combination of being in the right role, with appropriately matched responsibilities, plus being surrounded by an environment that provided challenging opportunities was ideal for me.

The purpose of this post is to encourage people to identify what they are good at and look for opportunities to execute their talents on a regular basis. If you have hit a dead end in your current job, perhaps you should talk to your manager about taking on a new role, a role that matches your strengths to the opportunity.

Winning Managers

When an assistant coach or head coach resigns from a sports team to move elsewhere, it is viewed as a good move for the coach. Most of the commentary is how the move was strategic, i.e. the person moving will have greater control of the new organization they go to or the assistant will gain new experience that will ultimately move them closer to a head coach opportunity.

In my professional experience I have seen the same thing happen with Winning Managers. Think of Winning Managers as people who have succeeded within their role, i.e. reached their profitability goals, controlled team attrition, grew gross revenues with client accounts, etc.

I have noticed most Winning Managers want to be promoted to a Vice President role or Senior Executive - just as an assistant coach works toward a head coach position.

Like you, I have personally experienced career situations where I could not advance. The reasons vary for everyone and are typically one of the following: the position you are aiming for is held by someone who will not be leaving soon, your current boss is not capable or willing to help you grow to the next level, the opportunity is there but the company culture or their product/service is not what you are passionate about or the company you are with does not have a career path in place.

So what's my point? If you are a Winning Manager do not feel like you have to work with one company for the majority of your career in order to advance. Be careful of too many job changes on your resume but as long as you are taking on more responsibility, increasing your salary, and working for companies with recognized brands, you will get to where you want to be. So if you can not make it to the next level where you are at, it may be time to resign.

Moving On

In Fortune magazine's February 2008 issue there is a "100 Best Companies To Work For" article. There is also a nice article titled "How to Get Hired by a 'Best' Company". This article reminds me of many I have read over the years regarding tips on how to better your chances of getting hired or even improving your resume. Although I generally find these articles helpful, they can be overwhelming to the person who has not gone through the process of leaving their employer and searching out a new employer. For those people I suggest breaking down the process into segments.

First, have you decided to leave your current employer or can you salvage your situation? A good blog on this topic can be found at Resigning.

Once you have decided to move on you should update your resume and have someone (career manager/mentor) who will give you honest feedback look it over and offer criticism. Ideally, partner with a recruiter to assist you with this.

Next, identify the top 20 companies you would like to work for and then ask your network if they know any hiring managers at those companies. Direct contact with a hiring manager is important to increase your odds of a face to face interview.

Now the real work begins. Start applying through your contacts and the old fashion way if you don't have contacts at your targeted companies. Many of the people I know apply through a company's website and then wait. I often hear that they applied months ago and never heard back. This does not surprise me. There are many reasons why this process is delayed and inefficient but that is another blog for another day. Take the time to go into the company (if it is local) and drop off a printed copy of your resume and cover letter in a nice binder. Be sure to ask who the human resources manager is so you can follow up later with a direct phone call. Also, inquire if there are any interviewing sessions scheduled in the upcoming weeks.

After you have applied to all the companies on your list, set a schedule to follow up with each one. I recommend calling or emailing your contacts every three days until you have set an interview or learned that the company is not hiring. As you manage your follow up communication continue to look for additional companies to apply to. Don't assume you will find a new job among the initial companies you listed. Try adding two new companies each week. Remember, if you feel like you are not making progress don't despair - ask your career manager/mentor to troubleshoot with you.