In the story – Trapped in Unemployment – Scott Pelley indicated that today, there are over 4 million Americans who have been out of work for more than a year.

One of the individuals interviewed related being at home alone, in front of a computer, answering hundreds of job ads – but not receiving any invitations to interview. I found myself talking to him and the others – through the television – telling them what they were doing wrong!

Why are these individuals, some of your family members and friends – or you – out of work for a year, two years or more?

How do you crack the code and discover the strategies to prevent or recover from long-term unemployment?

Causes

• Applying to online job ads and expecting a call.
• Not paying attention to industry and company indicators.
• Not making a short- and long-term career plan.
• Allowing the skills and competencies for desired roles to become obsolete.
• Not having an online presence that documents knowledge, thought leadership, or memorable competencies.
• Not utilizing social media to its best advantage.
• ‘Key influencer’ contacts have decreased rather than increased.
• Not building long-term personal relationships with search firms and recruiters.
• Not volunteering and serving in visible leadership roles in industry associations.
• Not searching for and accepting broadening assignments.
• Not implementing external reputation enhancement strategies.  Not leveraging this enhanced reputation ‘capital’ internally.
• Not identifying and leveraging a leadership career brand.

Impacts

• Becoming invisible to movers and shakers in your industry.
• The possibility of being hired in a role of the same level, scope and compensation diminishes quickly after 60 days of unemployment.

Strategies to Crack the Code

• Develop LinkedIn contacts to include industry movers and shakers.
• Use Internet job sites to identify openings – then use your network to get an interview.
• Participate in a few free LinkedIn optimization webinars to learn how to increase your ranking.
• Google key words relevant to your role and your industry – does your name show up?
• Google your name – only to identify if there is adverse information.  Remember recruiters won’t Google your name until you are a bona fide candidate.
• Become a thought leader.
• Develop an external reputation enhancement strategy.
• Take action on your customized multiple revenue stream strategy so that all of your ‘eggs’ are not in one basket.
• Take a leadership role in a few influential clubs or associations.
• Re-tool, re-connect, re-engage, re-new.

A question for you to consider:

• Do you have a plan to prevent or recover quickly from long-term unemployment?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on career management/career transformation and strategic leadership development solutions.  To request a complimentary copy of Five Tips to Transform Your Executive Career  and to receive Is Your Career on Track? Assessment and e-Workbook  go to: www.christineglasco.com   Email:  cglasco@charter.net

Technorati Tags: 60 Minutes, Christine M. Glasco, Leadership Career Brand, Long-term Unemployment, Scott Pelley, Trapped in Unemployment

The step back could be voluntary:

• deciding to take a sabbatical;
• volunteering;
• fulfilling a public service or military service commitment;
• accepting a less complex (smaller) role;
• pursuing an Executive MBA (or the advanced degree best suited for your particular discipline) or
• taking the time to conduct a thorough review of your leadership career growth strategy.

The step back could also be involuntary:

• illness;
• responding to family needs;
• lay-off or
• termination.

It really doesn’t matter the reason.

For continued leadership career growth – when you need to take a step back… utilize elements of the Leadership Career Growth Wheel to ensure you obtain the greatest benefits:

A question for you to consider:

• When was the last time - you took the time - to take a step back?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on career management/career transformation and strategic leadership development solutions.  To request a complimentary copy of Five Tips to Transform Your Executive Career  and to receive Is Your Career on Track? Assessment and e-Workbook  go to: www.christineglasco.com   Email:  cglasco@charter.net

Technorati Tags: Christine M. Glasco, Leadership Career Brand, Leadership Career Growth, Leadership Career Growth Strategy

• A former corporate Marketing VP wants to leverage his market insight, Big Brand product management, strategy and ‘category first’ expertise into building a different type of marketing consulting practice
• A senior executive decided to research and ‘try on’ two interrelated roles and make a decision on moving efficiently into one or both roles
• A Global Business Consultant with excellent competitor analysis and developing and emerging (D&E) markets expertise needs to revise her business model by creating new options based on social media re-positioning and constructing new strategic alliances
• An executive with a sought-after professional expertise wants to move from a private consultancy to a larger firm or private company
• A senior manager who is in an economically unhealthy company wants to move to a larger role in a healthy company with future career growth opportunities

With each new client, as part of my – “What do you want to achieve by working with me conversation” – I normally ask:

1. What type of go-forward leadership career success model most appeals to you?
2. What is your value proposition for this model?
3. Do you have a leadership career brand? What are you known for?
4. If we were meeting for the first time, how would you summarize your career?
5. What do you want for your career five years from now?  Where do you envision your career progression to lead you by 2017?

It is interesting to note that all of these successful leaders who have been accountable for hundreds of millions in revenues – have trouble describing their leadership career brand and their value proposition.

Recently, I began a coaching engagement with a new client.  During our first meeting, he told me this story:

“Christine, I can remember sitting at the kitchen table, or doing chores around the ranch and listening to my father’s observations of his day; the problems he solved; the difficulties he had to overcome; his successes; how what he did mattered to the people he served; etc. Spending time with him and hearing his stories was inspiring and actually led me to discover the work I wanted to do in my career.”   

I told the client: “This is the foundation for your leadership career brand. Do you see the value of the early education and training you received at the kitchen table that led you to your current career?  Do you see how this sets you up very nicely to step into a trusted advisor role with a similar target client-type?  How can we utilize this story to help you position and communicate your brand value?”  — (BTW, this client did follow in his father’s footsteps and chose the same career path.)

Suzanne Bates, author of Discover Your CEO Brand advises: “A [leadership] brand is more than a word – it’s the beginning of a conversation.  What is the conversation that people [key influencers] are having about you?”

P.S.  I was just about to send this off for publication when another client called me over the weekend to tell me that he had not received an offer that he was expecting, for a role reporting to the CEO of a global company.  He received specific feedback that the CEO was slightly uncomfortable with his candidacy and style.  It is very unusual that a CEO provided such specific feedback. Normally, a candidate receives a call or email from the search firm informing him/her that the company is pursuing other candidates.

As a candidate for this particular role, my client’s distinctive brand actually got in the way.

He asked me: “What can I do with this feedback? This is who I am.”  I told him that his leadership brand is very recognizable and in this case, I believe it saved him from accepting a position that was probably not the right fit.

Was I right in my assessment?  I don’t know.  However, if you ever receive similar feedback, I recommend that you take the time to conduct a post mortem and identify what was right with the opportunity and what was problematic.

Questions for you to consider:

• What is your leadership career success model?
• What is your leadership career brand?
• What conversation SHOULD key influencers be having about you?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on career management/career transformation and strategic leadership development solutions.  To request a complimentary copy of Five Tips to Transform Your Executive Career  and to receive Is Your Career on Track? Assessment and e-Workbook  go to: www.christineglasco.com   Email:  cglasco@charter.net

Technorati Tags: Christine M. Glasco, Leadership Career Brand, Leadership Career Success, Suzanne Bates

She had an amazing, problem-free on-boarding into the new role and the company.   From Day One, she was on a fast-track to be named as a lead candidate for the C-level succession pool.  Excellent hire – right?

Wrong!

Here’s What Actually Happened:

Shortly after she joined the company – the bottom fell out of the economy and the company leaders decided that immediate innovation in every division was needed.

She was hired because of her core competencies, record of innovation and for her reputation of exquisite execution.

However, at no time during the interview process was she asked: “Are you an Agile Leader?”  Nor was she asked to provide examples of successes when she had to make major changes in a very compressed time frame due to swift market changes.

In a nutshell, she was unable to shift as swiftly and as effectively as required for the new company focus.

The Rest of the Story:

After wreaking havoc in her division for 12 months, starting and stopping numerous ‘major initiatives’ and communicating several innovations (re-designs versus new) that were never brought on-line; she left the company with a generous severance package in hand.

The Lesson:

Today’s leaders must not only develop the required competencies to ‘ante-up’ to enter the leadership game; but also must be flexible, supple and turn-on-a-dime agile in their approach to solving ‘in the moment’ revenue impacting problems.  Leaders are now required to be change-savvy, innovation-oriented and execution-ready in order to recognize and capitalize on unanticipated opportunities.

A question for you to consider:

• What do you need to do now to increase your leadership agility competency

Technorati Tags: Agile Leader, Christine M. Glasco, leadership, Leadership Agility, On-boarding

So let’s go back to the beginning.

What is strategy?

In his book, Crafting Strategy, Dr. Bob Frost notes most strategy theorists agree that “strategy differs from long-range planning…”

He further notes that strategy is based on five elements: setting direction; long-term success; competition; distinctive capabilities and sustainable advantage.  Contemplating these elements allow the right questions to be asked in order to design a great business strategy.

These elements also provide an excellent model for designing a leadership career success strategy.

Why Do You Need a Leadership Career Success Strategy?

When I started in my first professional role, I was entering grad school at the University of Michigan (U of M).  I stood in line at the U of M Employment Office perusing job openings.  A Recruiter (yes, a real person) asked if she could help me.  She invited me to her office and asked about my interests, my undergraduate major, my career goals, etc. Based on that conversation, she scheduled an interview for me with the head of Leadership Development at the university.  The rest, as the saying goes, is history!

Since my ‘fairy tale’ of career success would not happen in quite this way today, let’s look at Frost’s approach to business strategy and identify how it relates to designing a leadership career success strategy.

Setting Career Direction

Early in your career, mid-career or late career – you can set your direction – or others will set it for you.  I found my best career destiny as a result of someone observing talents and competencies in me that I did not know existed.  A discerning Recruiter determined the direction of my career back then — and it worked!

I wish there was an omniscient person who could lead everyone to their best career choices – but that is not reality.  Each leader must identify the best career success moves that optimize capability, skill and an X- Competency, a unique talent that may be unknown to the leader.

In order to design a leadership career success strategy, the first step is to ask the right questions:

Long-term Success

• What types of moves do I need to make (broadening assignments, lateral moves, additional education, etc.) to be successful?
• What is the best environment for me to leverage my talents?
• What is the economic outlook for my specific career interest?

Competition Analysis

• Who is doing what I want to do?  How did they achieve success? What is their brand signature?  How am I similar and at the same time – different?
• What’s my current leadership career brand?  What platform do I need to build to further showcase my brand?  What’s my brand signature?

Distinctive Capabilities

• What are my talents, competencies and skills?
• What is my X-Competency?

Sustainable Advantages

• What do I need to do in order to re-invent my leadership career every five years?

In order to design a leadership career success strategy, you need to borrow the elements of a good business strategy plan and ask the right questions.

A question for you to consider:

• What do you need to do now in order to design a leadership career success strategy?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on career management/career transformation and strategic leadership development solutions.  To request a complimentary copy of Five Tips to Transform Your Executive Career  and to receive Is Your Career on Track? Assessment and e-Workbook  go to: www.christineglasco.com   Email:  cglasco@charter.net

Technorati Tags: Christine M. Glasco, Leadership Career Brand, Leadership Career Success, Leadership Career Success Strategy, Leadership Competency

After coaching a large number of leaders through transition over the last 20+ years, I can very accurately predict those individuals who will quickly embrace and move through transition successfully and those who will struggle and come out the other side – worse off than before.  The individuals who are extremely successful as a result of a voluntary or involuntary transition seem to possess something I call Career Agility. 

Agility has been defined as: “acting with purpose and flexibility, collaborating with disparate stakeholders, developing creative solutions to complex problems, continually learning and changing.”

I define Career Agility as:

“The ability to experience success and satisfaction while traversing new, changing and ambiguous position (job) or career changes that allows the individual to achieve specific goals and leads to a fully actionable longer-term career optimization plan.”

Another way to understand this phenomenon is:

“Career Agility ultimately describes the leader’s flexibility in identifying creative alternatives to achieving unrealized career objectives and career goals and ‘landing’ in a more positive role than previously experienced –- resulting in new compensation/revenue streams, greater alignment (suitability/fit), the opportunity to develop new competencies and to try new roles, a chance to realize a lifelong dream, etc.”

Leaders who orchestrate the most successful transitions seem to have a success mindset coupled with a number of ‘positioning’ behaviors that tend to act as accelerators to career transition or career transformation.  Although the accelerators ‘look’ a little different in each person, they have an uncanny way of attracting supporters and unparalleled and unanticipated opportunities.

I think it important to note that the Career Agility Accelerators also have long-term impact on the leader’s career success.

Do you possess career agility?

Dan McCarthy is the Director of Executive Development Programs at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.  He relates the story of a high level executive who said: “I refuse to have career discussions with people who come to me looking for advice on how to become an executive. To me, the more important question they should be asking themselves is “what is it I want to learn?”

I am currently coaching several leaders who are voluntarily seeking to transform their careers.  They have each decided, for a number of personal reasons – to do something different.   From early indications, each of these leaders possesses some or all of the Career Agility Accelerators. I have asked them to focus on what they want to learn.  I predict that they will all be successful in transforming their careers!

Questions for you to ask prior to experiencing involuntary job loss or deciding to make a career change:

• Do I possess career agility?
• What do I need to learn to be successful in career transition or career change?

Note: Do You Possess Career Agility is the first in a series of articles on the concept of agility.  Future articles will focus on learning agility, leadership agility and actual case studies.

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on career management/career transformation and strategic leadership development solutions.  To request a complimentary copy of Five Tips to Transform Your Executive Career  and to receive Is Your Career on Track? Assessment and e-Workbook  go to: www.christineglasco.com   Email:  cglasco@charter.net

Technorati Tags: Career Agility, Career Agility Accelerators, Career Transformation, career transition, Christine M. Glasco, Success Mindset

At the start of a new year, we all have the best of intentions:

• To work on our physical body (to lose weight or to start exercising),
• To work on our personal/interpersonal life (to be more patient with our spouse or boss) and/or
• To work on our professional life (to take a leadership development course or write a Five Year Career Plan).

But as usual, we get caught up in our everyday commitments and we forget to focus on the actions that will accelerate development physically, personally or professionally.  When we lose focus in any of these arenas, we face certain threats.  I could write volumes on the threats we face physically or personally but my true expertise is in the area of leadership career success and leadership career growth.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked one of my long-term executive clients: “Why do you continue to engage my services as an executive coach?” He said: “Not paying attention to or not working on your leadership approach and your career can be as deadly as not working on your business goals.  You help me meet my leadership development and career advancement goals.”

There are a number of variables that positively impact leadership career success and just as many negative impacts.  Of all the potential negative impacts, I believe that there are 5 major threats to leadership career success as identified below:

To combat these threats and implement a leadership career success plan for 2012 … and beyond, it’s best to start by developing a Leadership Success Mindset and then invest in yourself by writing a dynamic One Page Career Plan. The Plan must:

1. Articulate your leadership brand
2. Include annual opportunities for acquiring new functional competencies and attendance in leadership development seminars and programs
3. Allow for a periodic organization culture/political landscape assessment with current contingency plans
4. Include avenues and protocols for you to develop an external presence and showcase your expertise and your value proposition, e.g., writing articles, leading an industry association, speaking, accepting a prestigious university appointment or guest lecturer in the executive development seminars division

A question for you to consider:

• Do you have a written Leadership Career Success Plan for 2012 … and beyond?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on strategic leadership and career management/career transformation solutions. She also provides coaching for coaches. www.christineglasco.com.

Technorati Tags: Christine M. Glasco, Leadership Career Growth, Leadership Career Success Plan, One Page Career Plan, Strategic Leadership

“No matter who you are – you don’t know everything, and the more successful you are, the greater the risks associated with blind spots and knowledge gaps.

Continued growth and development are a leader’s greatest competitive advantage – those who fail to recognize this will be replaced by those who do.”

Whether you refer to us as Executive Coaches, Leadership Coaches, Leadership Success Coaches or Management Consultants our primary focus is on leadership effectiveness and enabling leadership career success.  Ultimately, we all have same goal: to help the client identify, ‘try-on’ and incorporate new behaviors that will increase the potential for personal and organization success.

Done properly, the power of the coaching process often results in:

• Greater alignment between the client’s competencies/leadership behavior and the mission and goals of the organization
• Enhanced executive presence
• Favorable indicators that are associated with long-term leadership career growth
• Notable improvement in the client’s performance and goal attainment
• Exponentially multiplying the impact of the client’s learning through teaching the client how to better mentor and coach direct reports
• Acquiring new strategic, tactical and agility leadership competencies
• Identifying and executing legacy leadership goals
• Measurable impact on the client’s leadership career trajectory

I have coached leaders for more than 20 years.

Over this time frame, I have observed hundreds of leaders: some effective and some not.

What I learned about the traits, competencies and qualities of effective leaders:

There is no one size fits all – most effective way to lead.  The most effective leaders are able to lead by leveraging their own unique talents.

They possess an ‘X Competency’: an unacknowledged talent that is part of the leader’s brand and separates him/her from the crowd.

They are curious and observant.  They question everything and tend to see far beyond the scope of their responsibilities.

They have a strategic, long-term game plan which is mostly unspoken due to the short-term focus of their company’s top management.

They appreciate the nuances and understand the art and the science of leadership.

They are extremely agile and are able to bolster their knowledge very quickly when faced with unknown, unanticipated and unchartered problem situations.

When mishaps or career bumps/setbacks occur, they are able to weather transition, learn from mistakes and approach new assignments with a greater sense of their strengths and areas for development.

In order to demystify the role of a Leadership Coach, it’s important to understand the mindset and methodologies of the Coach and on the flip side – to understand some of the hash marks on the effective leadership yardstick.

Questions for you to consider:

• Are you an effective leader?
• Would you be more effective by engaging the services of a leadership coach?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on strategic leadership and career management/career transformation solutions. She also provides coaching for coaches.  www.christineglasco.com.

Technorati Tags: Career Trajectory, Christine M. Glasco, Executive Coach, Executive Presence, Leadership Agility, Leadership Career Success, Leadership Coach, Leadership Effectiveness, Leadership Success Coach

Greg Brenneman, former CEO of Burger King, former CEO of PwC and former President of Continental Airlines frequently gives keynote speeches and interviews on the virtues of developing a One Page Business Plan.

He advises leaders:

• To identify the two or three levers to pull that drive business results.
• To prepare One Page Business Plans for four areas: marketing, finance, people and product.
• The key to success is to constantly keep the plan ‘front and center’ and communicate frequently using a variety of platforms.
• To name it – leaders, managers and employees are all on the same page.
• The true value comes from consistency of message, intentional communications, targeted messaging and alignment.  This is the basis for attaining execution and follow-through results.

These same principles apply when you wish to make game-changing strides in your leadership career path.

The major levers that drive the achievement of leadership career growth are:

1. Write a One Page Career Plan.  Writing a plan – especially a one page plan – forces you to make decisions, to be focused and to only identify the people and actions that will actually impact results in attaining your career growth goals.
2. Define your Leadership Brand. Determine your strengths, what you are known for, your ‘promise’ and your Value Proposition.
3. Conduct a Gap Analysis. Review the Current State of your leadership career.  List Interim Targets you would like to achieve in two-to-three years.  Identify Future Leadership Career Targets (five-to-seven years out).  As part of the Gap Analysis, determine the Action Steps required for now, two-to-three and five-to-seven years out.  Develop a schedule for completion
4. Develop excellent Stakeholder Relationships (senior leaders/bosses; employees; internal and external customers and internal and external influencers).  Refine your messaging, know and communicate your story, and identify how you can be of service to others in new ways.
5. Be clear about ‘What’s Your ‘Why’ – how will achieving each goal contribute to your purpose or help you to be of greater service?  Will attaining your five to seven year goals positively impact your ability to practice Legacy Leadership?
6. Name your plan.  Give it a name that contributes to making it your compelling vision and mission.
7. Identify the Critical Success Factors and post your plan in visible ways to ensure that it is top of mind on a daily basis.

When you want to plan your future career moves, take Greg Brenneman’s advice and write a One Page Career Plan.

Questions for you to consider:

• Do you have a career plan in place?
• What should you name your plan?

© All rights reserved.

Christine M. Glasco consults to company executives, business owners and non-profit leaders on strategic leadership and career management/career transformation solutions. For a complimentary copy of Five Tips to Transform Your Executive Career to help you be more effective in your career, go to www.christineglasco.com  Email: info@christineglasco.com    Phone:  1.940.367.0837

Technorati Tags: Career Plan, Christine M. Glasco, leadership, Leadership Career Growth, Leadership Career Success, One Page Career Plan

What executives tell me:

• “Christine, I wonder if I am underutilized in my current role?”
• “Since the new CEO arrived, I feel less involved in the company’s major strategic decisions.”
• “I’ve been in the same company for (10/12/15/20…..) years – I wonder if there are opportunities in other companies that I am missing out on?”
• “I have had a successful run in XYZ Company.  Should I stay where I am (given the economy) or should I take a risk and look for other opportunities?”
• “Not much is going to change in this company in the next few years; is now the time to make a move?”
• “I am doing well financially – much better than I ever imagined at the start of my career – but I want more of a challenge.  What can I do to be sure that I will be hired into the role I want?”

Their underlying – but unspoken – question is: Do I have what it takes to land the top job in my current organization or in another organization?

A recent MoneyWatch article documents the differences in what 540 big-company hiring decision makers look for when interviewing executive candidates versus what 734 executive candidates emphasized during critical senior–level interviews:

Competencies Hiring Decision Makers Value in Executive Candidates

© CG Consulting Group LLC

The learning from these disparities — executives preparing for interviews internally or externally should not focus on middle management responsibilities.  Instead, they need to step up their game and emphasize strategic perspective; high integrity; business acumen and global outlook as well as the Top Five Leadership Competencies of Tomorrow, including Leadership Agility; Flexibility; Innovation; Communication and Messaging (including social media) and Managing Rapid (or Continuous) Change.

Questions for you to consider:

• Is it time for you to make a change in your leadership career?
• How should you prepare for internal and external interviews?
• During an interview for a senior-level role, what leadership competencies should you emphasize?

Technorati Tags: Christine M. Glasco, Executive Competency, Executive Interview, Leadership Competency, leadership development, leadership strategy, Strategic Leadership