I often get clients, who come to me asking for advice on how to do something about what is happening to their company because of a bad product decision, declining economy, bad management, global competition, or just general malaise! Their main focus in not so much the company, but it is their career. They feel that their career is going to tank with what is happening to the company, with a possible lay-off, which can exacerbate the condition of their already spiraling career.
It doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, when a situation is bad all around, there are a number of things you can do to protect your career, even become a hero in your own company, and get out to keep your career momentum protected. Here is what I tell my clients:
1. Stop gossiping and rumormongering, because perhaps that is what everyone around you is doing. Identify some very visible pain points under your belly wick and see what you can do to make them go away. Make a list of such initiatives and speak to your manager and her manager. Make yourself visible to the upper management as someone, who is concerned about the company’s plight and is willing to jump in to do something immediate and actionable. Your managers will thank you for taking this leadership role. In tough times employees avoid managers for the fear of getting laid-off merely because they are visible; turn the tables and avoid getting laid-off by becoming visible!
2. Clearly define your goal and seek support from those, who are willing to see the big picture and solicit their help. Influence through persuasion and show them how it is going to help them, the company, and their career if they participate in this recovery plan that you have proposed, no matter how insignificant it is!
3. A company or organization in a bad state of affairs can provide you a license to do things that you may not otherwise be able to do. So, take this opportunity to grow your own leadership by taking risks and doing things that you have not done before.
4. Do your regular assignment well AND keep the new initiative on track as if this were an assigned project to you. Lead others through your thought and action leadership. In troubled times you’d surprised how people respond to positive leadership!
5. If you assess that the company’s condition has now become chronic and is not acute, then you must decide to move out of the company as soon as you build some career momentum. What is career momentum? It is how your résumé reads with the most recent experiences that are on page-one. Just imagine how these bullets will read if you succeeded in your proposed initiatives! Not only will your colleagues and your managers appreciate your contributions, but they will also get inspired by what you have done (or are doing) to do something for themselves, creating a much bigger wave of recovery. Just imagine the power of a bullet that reads: Uncovered that the main reason for low and declining C-Sat scores was response time and technician knowledge, spearheaded a new initiative that mobilized fresh training and a revised product manual. C-Sats jumped 12 points in one month following the first wave of training!
6. Keep your LinkedIn Profile updated with new Recommendations and new people in your Network that belong in the area in which you want to grow or move. Keep yourself visible to those people who can pull you into their company because of what you have done in your own company.
7. Stay positive and upbeat. Attitude is contagious. Stay away from “Debbie the downers” and people who dwell on all the bad things happening to the company.
8. Post a blog about your new initiative on the company site or write an article in an internal newsletter, so people can see that despite all the gloom, there is a ray of hope for recovery and improvement.
9. When the time is right make your move and get out.
10. Get LinkedIn Recommendations from your managers, who can now write about your achievements during crisis times!
Good luck!
