Handling a Voluntary Demotion

I think this is one of those questions where you are going to get different feedback and advice. Here’s mine.

There are a few things going on here. From a “you” perspective, it would be worth investigating what is behind this insecurity, and if there is anything you can do to work through it.

From a role perspective, dissect the executive job you hold and find out what areas, if any, you excel at, are comfortable with, and lastly, which are part of this insecurity. You may find that a significant part of your job is no problem at all for you. If that is the case, then a few avenues might be possible. One, a coach may be able to help you work through the difficult areas. Two, you may be able to renegotiate your role to have it redefined. Of course, that may not be possible, so the last course of action might be to look externally for a role at or around your new level that focuses on those things you are good at and comfortable with.

Now, you asked me a different question. Can you move down a notch and make it work? The good news is that this is a fairly common situation. What makes someone shine at one level may not mean that they are suited to the next level. In particular, when the promotion involves the addition of management responsibilities. I think it can work, but of course, it comes with risks.

Firstly, the success of the transition depends to a large part on you. How you communicate how you feel about moving back to the old role. You could send a message, consciously or not, that you couldn’t hack the senior level. Or, you could send a message that was a positive one instead. “I missed the work of my old job. The executive experience was great, but I discovered that this is the work that I was meant to do. You guys were great to manage, but frankly, I want to get back in the trenches and focus on my strengths.” The difference is moving towards rather than away from something.

Secondly, the culture of your team plays a part. There are some environments where this kind of action would be doomed from the start. However, I think in most teams, it would be workable.

Thirdly, it depends to some extent on who you will report to after you move down. A new boss could make it easy or difficult for you. You will need to manage that relationship closely. If there are early signs that you are going to have a problem, putting yourself on the job market might be a good idea.

A last point. I have seen situations where a new role is defined in this kind of situation. A role that takes advantage of some of your exceptional abilities, while minimizing the weak areas. The fact is, having spent a couple of years in the executive role, you have valuable experience and insight. It could be utilized in a new way, rather than the old way of moving back. It is about discovering role fit. It may not be possible in this situation, but it is a way to go, and may point to a role outside of the organization.

The key thing is to figure out where you will be most fulfilled and personally successful.

Inverse Correlation

One might reasonably assume that a significant number of days elapsed between blog posts and newsletters means that nothing is happening over here at BoldCareer world headquarters.

That wouldn't be the right assumption, but it is understandable.

Fact is, we are busy. Very busy. Serving clients. Creating new ways to serve you. And building some infrastructure to serve you better.

But, this blog has been dark of late. And I have lots of things to share and write about it. So, I will get at it.

Just wanted to check-in. Hope you are well.

Holiday Career Development Series

Last year, I wrote a series on how the holiday season doesn't have to be a career development wasteland, if you don't want it to. December and January can be a powerful time for career development.

There are 3 time periods, or natural phases that take place during the Holidays and each phase has its own inherent opportunities. They are:

1. The Social Phase

2. The Reflective Phase

3. The New Beginnings Phase

Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: career coach, career development, job search

Are You Ready to Take on an Executive Role?

Are you ready to take on an executive role? You need to examine the “Nuances” of breaking through into the executive ranks. Readiness to take on an executive role depends to a large extent on the facts of your career history, the messaging, your in-person presentation, and the opportunity fit.



The Facts: Your career history might result in a dynamic career trajectory, or the exact opposite, one that is scattered, or points to a lack of stability. The facts include the quality of the companies and roles you have worked in as well as your accomplishments therein. The facts also include the reasons for the transitions from job to job. And, if you are moving from being an individual contributor or small team manager, to an executive, the facts should point to evidence of the requisite competencies acquired to take on the bigger role. If the facts point to progressively more senior roles, and solid achievements delivering for your companies, then the facts are in your favour.

Technorati Tags: executive search, job search, career coach

The Messaging: How well have you created an authentic marketing message about your personal value proposition? This means making sense of your experience and translating it into solid evidence as to why the next logical step is a leadership role. Many people have the assets, or a lot of them anyway, but fail to communicate and sell them effectively in their resume, cover letters, networking, and interviews. What you say and how you deliver it are key.



Your In-Person Presentation: Everything else could be perfect, but if there is a disconnect between your goals, your messaging, and who you actually appear to be in person, then you have a problem. You need to walk and talk like an “executive,” but of course, that is a broad statement. It depends on your industry, and what the norms are for leadership roles. It also depends on the company size, stage, and culture. Communication style, interpersonal skills, and other “soft-skills” are of great importance.



The Opportunity Fit: The probability of taking that next step is partially dependent on what you have to leverage. For example, if you have built up serious expertise in a particular industry, then you have more chance of getting that big role in a company in the same or a related industry. The same goes for a specific kind of product, service, operational model, or market expertise. Any of these could be the lever that gets you that next step. The trick is finding the right buyer who will value and pay for that expertise.



The other lever of course is management and leadership expertise. If you can point to a track record of sales management, for example, and other leadership roles, demonstrating that ability to successfully steward a piece of the business, then you have something else to sell.



I could go on. This is about first knowing what you are selling, and second, knowing your market. If you pick a market that matches what you have to sell very well, then your chances of getting that leadership role are increased.

Preparing your resume for a promotion

When you are aiming for a promotion in your current field, the ideal resume is one that shows achievement in your current and past roles, a track record of successfully taking on increasing responsibilities, evidence of leadership at a level appropriate for the more senior role, involvement in areas that are directly related to the more senior role you are applying for, and through all of this, evidence of the appropriate skills.

Your resume needs to achieve a balance between projecting yourself into the more senior role, and solid evidence performance in current and past roles. It would be a giant mistake to identify the skills required for the Director role and simply throw them on your resume without solid evidence to back them up.

1. What skills are required?

If it is the next level above you in your field, the job requirements shouldn’t be a total mystery to you. Take a look at job postings and role descriptions for clues, either from internal postings, or from other companies with similar roles. If you have interacted with that level, you could also do some brainstorming around the kind of skills that might be required. Think also about what the current environment might require. A change agent? Someone with operational excellence? A developer of staff?

As you move up the organization, there might be less focus on technical skills, and more on soft, organizational, planning and project skills. Competency in interpersonal problem solving and conflict resolution, negotiation, team management and leadership skills, department planning, project management, presentation and public speaking, employee development, and performance measurement are the type of things to look for. Of course, it depends on the level and type of role, the environment, and the industry.

2. What are your selling points?

Now that you know what they are looking for, what do you have to offer? How can you show that you can do the job, and do it very well? What else about you would make you an interesting candidate?

Focus on your strengths and gather the evidence to support them. You have a unique selling proposition. Perhaps you have great operational strength. Or perhaps you are an outstanding team lead. Ideally, you have 2 or 3 areas that are your strengths relative to the role. You want to focus on these, and if applicable, show that you have some level of competency in the others.

Don’t forget that you must be able to defend whatever it is that appears on your resume. You must be able to prove it.

3. Degree of competency

Another thing to remember is that when it comes to competencies, what is important is the degree to which you possess that requirement. It isn’t necessarily a yes or a no. In the case of vying for a promotion, you may have some formal leadership experience and be developing in that area. Even though it isn’t as senior as what is required, you can present yourself as a viable candidate.

4. Write an achievement-oriented resume

Turn your resume into an effective selling document by focusing on your achievements. In particular, achievement in specific response to challenges, opportunities, projects managed, and formal expectations exceeded.

Writing an effective resume is much easier when you know two things: what you are selling (that’s you), and what your target market / job is. If you know these two things, and you have the track record, you are in a strong position to develop a resume that shows that you are a logical candidate for the more senior role.