Defining Moments

Career progresses not linearly. After few years, you have become proficient with your job, how does it go from here? Where do you break out from this current path?

Corporate ladder is more like a pyramid. There are fewer and fewer positions as you move up. With each rung, there are only a fraction of people who will advance. How would you be the one that get chosen? More importantly, how is the selection done? Without knowing the rules of the game, how is it possible for you to win?

I frequently tell the old Chinese folklore of waiting for the rabbit (守株待兔).

There was a farmer who was resting under a tree after a long morning's work. A rabbit dashed through and crashed into him. The farmer was pleasantly surprised. This made up more than the rest of the work. He took the rabbit and enjoyed the meal.
The next day, the farmer chose to wait under the tree for another rabbit. It did not come. But the farmer kept on waiting, day after day.

Imagine you are one of a group of farmers waiting for rabbits. There is a luck element here. If it ran the other way, someone else will get it. You will just keep on waiting.

If, however, the rabbit comes your way, are you skilled enough to capture it? Are you nimble enough? Do you design traps? Do you work with the ones next to you to optimize the chances for both of you?

First thing a manager must do is get better with what he does. Everyday, think how can you do better, what skills do you need to acquire, and who can do it with you? There are few basic skills every manager must have. Review them. Ask a mentor to give you candid feedbacks.

And when the rabbit comes, what I call the defining moment, are you sure you know what it looks like? Surprisingly, a promotion opportunity is not that recognizable. You should train to recognize them.

Most common opportunities come in the form of a resignation. A peer or someone a level higher quit. That causes the organization to shift. This means you can benefit from it. Obviously, it will be much better if you learned about the departure ahead of the time. A good resignation is done secretly. Very few people will know about it. But the big boss is always in the knows. He either has a plan or will need a plan quickly. You may be just what he needs. But your timing must be perfect so that he can plan with you as an element.

Second form is a reorganization. Companies today must be agile to deal with the dynamics of the market. As the result, they re-align their resources to enhance the chance of achieving the goals. Since the market changes frequently, the goals, short- and long-term ones, shift priorities. Re-org is when new priorities are recognized officially. What exactly are the new priorities now? How would your skills be applied, differently, now? Make that known to the decision makers so that your skills can be better utilized.

Expansion is clearly the easiest one to recognize. But getting promotion from it always comes with a price. All major expansions begin with some studies, but not all studies lead to real, funded expansion. Those who contributed the studies, investigation, or prototyping are frequently tapped to participate the expansion project when it is funded. Why are you not there on “ground zero?” Two possibilities: your skills were not required in the early stage or you did not show willingness to contribute without assured return.

Downsizing is such a dreaded word that few recognize its benefits. If done properly, downsizing can be great career opportunities. Downsizing means the cancellation of projects that are large enough to meet the financial target. The surviving groups usually end up with slightly more resources, therefore, it is actually expansion for them. Again, if you are skilled, there is nothing to worry about.

Build your skills relentlessly, answer the door when opportunity knocks. It hurts when the rabbit comes and you are not ready. It hurts even more when someone captured a herd of geese and you did not even know what is a net.