Career Positioning Strategies

Presented by:John Nykolaiszyn, SPHR, MSHSA

College of Business AdministrationFlorida International University

Tonight’s Agenda

• Let’s Meet the Peeps:– Individual Contributor– Managers– Executives

• Size up:– performance traits– Next Steps, Weaknesses, & Flame Out

Factors

• Career positioning “Strategies” • Reddit Bonus (TL/DR)

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Individual Contributor

Performance Competencies:

• Action Oriented• Decision Quality• Informing• Interpersonal Savvy• Motivating Others• Peer Relationships• Planning• Process Management• Sizing Up People• Strategic Agility• Total Work Systems

• Creativity• Functional/Technical Skills• Intellectual Horsepower• Learning on the Fly• Organizing• Perseverance• Problem Solving• Drive for Results• Standing Alone• Technical Learning • Managing Vision & Purpose

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Individual Contributor

What’s needed for the next step:– Action Oriented – Perseverance

Most likely Weaknesses:–Motivating others, personal

learning, strategic agility, managing vision & purpose

Flame out factors:– Performance Problems

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Manager

Performance Competencies:

• Action Oriented• Comfort Around Higher

Management• Command Skills• Conflict management• Creativity• Customer Focus• Timely Decision Making• Decision Quality• Functional/Technical

Skills• Integrity & Trust• Intellectual Horsepower• Managing & Measuring

Work• Motivating Others

• Organizing• Perseverance• Perspective• Presentation

Skills• Priority Settings• Problem Solving• Process

Management• Drive for Results• Self-Development• Standing Alone• Strategic Agility• Time

Management• Total Work

Systems

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Manager

What’s Needed for the Next Step:

• Action Oriented

• Boss Relationships

• Customer Focus

• Decision Quality

• Informing

• Intellectual Horsepower

• Learning on the Fly

• Peer Relationships

• Drive for Results

• Time Management

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Manager

Most Likely Weaknesses:

• Dealing with Ambiguity• Command Skills• Conflict management• Confronting Direct Reports• Creativity• Developing Direct Reports (& Others)• Directing Others• Hiring & Staffing• Informing

• Innovation Management• Managing & Measuring Work• Motivating Others• Perspective• Political Savvy• Self-knowledge• Building Effective Teams• Managing Vision & Purpose

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Manager

Flame Out Factors:

• Poor Administrator

• Betrayal of Trust• Blocked Personal

Learner• Defensiveness• Lack of Ethics &

Values

• Failure to Build a Team

• Insensitive to Others

• Key Skill Deficiencies

• Political Missteps

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Executive

Performance Competencies:

• Dealing with Ambiguity• Business Acumen• Comfort Around Higher Management• Command Skills• Creativity• Customer Focus• Decision Quality• Functional/Technical Skills• Innovation Management• Intellectual Horsepower• Learning on the Fly• Motivating Others

• Negotiation• Organizing• Perspective• Political Savvy• Priority Setting• Problem Solving• Process Management• Drive for Results• Strategic Agility• Standing Alone• Strategic Agility• Time Management• Total Work Systems

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Executive

What’s Needed for the Next Step:

• Dealing with Ambiguity

• Creativity• Innovation

Management

• Motivating Others• Managing

Through Systems• Managing Vision

& Purpose

Let’s Meet the Peeps: The Executive

Flame Out Factors:

• Unable to Adapt to Differences

• Poor Administrator• Blocked Personal

Learner• Defensiveness• Lack of Ethics &

Values

• Failure to Staff Effectively

• Key Skill Deficiencies

• Non-Strategic• Overdependence

on a Single Skill• Political Missteps

Career Positioning “Strategy”

1. Increased Business Focus2. Personal Skills3. Change Leadership4. Network5. Build Credibility

Strategy #1: Increase Business Focus

1. Wear your business hat first. – How do we:• Leverage our

people/processes/technology and turn that into market value?

• Drive sales AND productivity?• Improve Customer service/retention• Improve Profitability?

Strategy #2: Develop Personal Skills

1. Increase your communication skills:– You must be able to communicate

up & down (executive to subordinates)• Are you able to discuss issues in a way

that understandable to all stakeholders?

2. Build & Foster relationships:– Do you play well with others? – Can you motivate, engage, and

have a strong positive impact on your team? With others?

Strategy #3: Become a Change Leader

1. You should be able to quickly identify a problem area, being able to suggest improvements.– Can you identify areas of improvement in

your unit/area/department?– Can you create an action plan? Execute on

the plan? Track results and show positive changes to the bottom line?

– “Change Management trumps project management”

– Are stakeholders/leadership aware of how you & your team solved the problems?

Strategy #4: Network(network, network)

1. Build relationships:– Are you a connector?

• Do you have relationships with various individuals in/across the business? Stakeholders? In the industry and outside the industry?

– Are you involved?• Do you belong to groups organizations? Do

you volunteer? Are you a leader in within these groups?

– Are you visible to other leaders?• Are you correctly sharing success across the

organization?

Strategy #5: Build Credibility

1. Periodically conduct self assessments.– Identify your gaps & make a note

of the skills of successful leaders compared to your own.

2. Build a reputation for developing staff & building great teams.

3. Become a change leader in your organization.

Reddit Bonus (TL/DR)

1. Be Honest: Tell the truth about who you are.

2. Be Self Aware: Know who you are.– Know what you are here for.– Know your gifts…

3. Be at Ease: Be comfortable with who you are.