When Karen
called to talk to me about her failure to obtain jobs, for which was qualified,
we began a discovery process that had significant implications for her career
success or failure.
First
step – examine Karen’s process
Did she
research the organization prior to her interview?Yes.
Had she
demonstrated her understanding of the corporate mission in her discussion with
the interviewer. Yes.
Second
step – examine Karen’s responses to the interviewer’s questions
One by one,
we considered each response and each was appropriate and on target. She
appeared to have demonstrated her ability to do the job and her skills
proficiency level.
Third
step – examine Karen’s confidence level
Karen
indicated that she felt very confident because, from her viewpoint, she was
more than qualified for the position. In fact, as we continued to examine her
situation, we both came to realize that Karen felt the positions were beneath
her. As we examined that belief, Karen acknowledged that she had gone into the
interviews with a feeling of superiority and that as she looked back on the
event, she believed that the interviewer picked up on it. It was only in
hindsight and with reflection that she realized this was the case. That
important insight dramatically affected how Karen continued her search.
Self-awareness,
as described in Daniel Goleman’s work on Emotional Intelligence*, is a
competency that includes the ability to recognize our emotions and their
effects. It was clear to Karen, after further reflection, that she had not
realized how her emotions were affecting her interactions with others. It was
not what she said – she knew what to say – it was her overall demeanor, demonstrated
in subtle but highly impactful behaviors. It had shown up in her non-verbal
communication and her inability to make a personal connection with interviewers.
She realized that she had “talked down to them”. That was the bad news. The
good news was that Karen now recognized it.
There are
many theories about what qualities lead to career success and Daniel Goleman’s
work is just one, but I believe that the Personal and Social Competencies that
he describes are essential to career management.TalentSmart (www.talentsmart.com) has produced white
papers on the business case for Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and has developed an
appraisal instrument for measuring EQ competencies. A google search will
produce additional research results.
For some
years now, prior to their performance reviews, I have had conversations with
several clients. We review the year, we assess the Return on Investment (ROI)
received by the organization and we plan the conversation. I am in awe of how
well prepared these folks are for demonstrating their value. How do they do
that? Well, briefly…here are some pointers:
Maintain a “superstar” file.
Throughout the year, whenever you do anything that is beyond your typical
duties, drop a summary note in that file. If you take on additional
responsibilities while the supervisor is away, if you train new people, if
you make a suggestion that management adopts, if you stay late to finish a
project, if you find a way to improve a process, etc., etc., etc. – record
it.
If you have added to your
skills by taking a course that increases your value and shows your
commitment to professional development, record it.
3. If you have an outstanding record of dependability, find a way to highlight that in the review.
Finally, when you have the data
collected, practice how you are going to beduring your performance review
meeting - confident, defensive, detached, assertive? How will you communicate? The
right language and tone are essential. That’s why I get those calls each year.
Just a little bit of practice makes all the difference.
In his recent newsletter, Peter Weddle (www.weddles.com) suggests that readers spend
two hours in a private conversation with themselves to examine the state of
their careers. He suggests addressing the following questions:
1.Is
your current job providing an opportunity for you to improve your current
skills or to acquire new skills?
2.Are
you performing at your peak in your current job and are you doing so every
single day?
3.Have
you taken advantage of the educational resources in order to keep your career
expertise at a state-of-the-art level?
4.Are
you using online and off-line opportunities to network with peers and maintain a
strong system of professional contacts?
5.Have
you acquired any additional skills outside your primary field (e.g., using
productivity enhancing technology or speaking an additional language) that
would expand your on-the-job contribution?
The secret to shining at your review is no secret; simply preparation, preparation, preparation.
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