Pull the Career Comeback Levers - Overdeliver, Volunteer, Attitude, Change

6/13/14

The advice in Jack & Suzy's LinkedIn article would be very useful to anyone who has faced a slow down in their careers.  Better still, by pulling these levers consciously, a slow down can be avoided in the first place.

Of the four levers, I believe change is the hardest thing to do. Inertia is a common detractor for most of us. Not wanting to upset the apple cart and blindly hoping "it will change" and taking a "ride out the down turn" approach invariably allows status quo to continue. Secondly, important external constraints can keep one stuck and stalled. The cost of making a change may outweigh the benefits in such cases. Finally, fear of making a wrong decision is a key factor.

What I learned from observing Jack Welch is that he is never satisfied with status quo. "It won't change, so MOVE", he booms in a class video. Amazingly, that video did help me push myself in making some major decisions. Also, Jack does not let fear block decision making. Instead, he relishes making changes continually to improve from status quo.

Ways to Make a Career Comeback
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Welch & Welch, June 2014

(1) Overdeliver
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- Do what you are doing better and faster
- Expand the job horizons to include bold new initiatives
- Create new concepts or processes that improve overall results across business units
- Surprise everyone

(2) Volunteer at cutting edge
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- work on tough new projects
- take global assignments
- prove you are willing and able to go extra mile

(3) Adopt " Yes, can do" attitude
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- Preserve Political Capital: stop disparaging fellow employees even in jest

(4) Change before you have to
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- Jump before you get pushed
- Find a company with a better fit doing work you like
- Build results and reputation from day one

This is great advice to reboot careers.
Dr DP

Reference
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140610102118-86541065-three-ways-to-make-a-career-comeback?trk=mp-details-rr-rmpost