This Is Getting To Be A Drag

Ever since I can remember, there has been a “factoid” making its way around the career management world about how long someone should plan their job search will take. What I can’t recall and never remember seeing is the source from which this “factoid” came.

In any event if you are in a job search, you have probably heard it too. It goes something like: You should plan your search to take about 1 month for every $10,000 you seek in salary.

I haven’t the slightest idea nor have I ever seen statistics that indicate whether this rule of thumb is right, wrong or anything in between, and I have been roaming around the career management space in general since (dare I say it?) 1961 and with ExecuNet since 1988.

That said, in talking with ExecuNet members, this is a subject that comes up with great frequency. Certainly not surprising, as most executives tend to be more type A’s than B’s and as such focus on objectives to be reached within a specific timeframe and get pretty impatient if and when it doesn’t look like that's happening.

In addition, as leaders, they are used to being in control (more or less), and if things are not going the way they want them to and fast enough, they can make the needed changes.

In truth, I believe the foregoing is one of the major reason why we all find the search process so frustrating.

There is only so much of it we really can control, and a great deal of it that we can’t. When you are “action oriented” and you feel you are in a situation when you can’t “make things happen,” to say it is frustrating doesn’t do it justice.

Also, how much time a job search is going to take is also one of those questions where I am not sure that an actuary could really give anyone a meaningful answer. There are so many variables involved, such as geography, age, function, industry segment, compensation needs, and the economy just to name a few, and given what we're all dealing with at the moment, "economy" deserves a capital "E"?

Armed with the foregoing, hopefully you can understand why it is when someone asks me to guesstimate a timeline that I try to say this is one of those things where “the answer is, there is no answer.” But of course, most people think that this is just a cop-out on my part and ask for a number anyway.

At that point and using my own personal experience as a starting point, I am likely to say something along the lines of, “Well, I can tell you that whatever length of time you think it will take, you are probably underestimating it significantly.

It is kind of like when your wife says she is going to do some redecorating and she estimates the cost at X; as a seasoned pro you immediately make a mental note that it is much more likely to be at least 2X+.

While we can all try to smile at our spouse’s budget estimates, translating that to a job search isn’t so funny. It is, however, very important in this sense:

Part of trying to manage your way through a process as frustrating as a job search is to set realistic expectations. Without them, people tend to set goals that reality will make it very hard to attain, and when they are not attained, they feel it is somehow a sign that there is something seriously lacking in themselves when, of course, that is not the case at all. Easy to say but much harder to internalize and believe.

I talk with members almost daily whose searches have been going for several months and in many cases more than a year, and aside from looking for ideas on handling the frustration, they also want some ideas on what they can do to try and re-energize the quest.

There is a lot that could be said on this subject too and even more that’s been written, but for whatever it’s worth, here are a couple of thoughts for those who might be in this situation:

• Keep in mind that this is essentially a sales process, and as such, do what companies do if a product they have introduced to the market is not producing the results they expected – repackage it. As a candidate, that could mean a résumé makeover, tuning up your phone and/or in-person interviewing skills, making sure you are doing really thorough research in terms of target companies, and certainly working harder to expand your personal and professional networks.

• Make sure that because things have gone much longer than you wanted them to that you don’t fall into the trap of locking yourself in your home office and spending your days “clicking and praying.” It is counterproductive both strategically and emotionally.

• Get out, about and involved, both online and especially offline. Relationships can start online, but trust, which is the tipping point in personal referrals, comes much more often from face-to-face relationships built over time. If you are not already actively involved in at least one professional organization and one civic organization, do so. Keeping yourself intellectually “tuned in” is really important in terms of both attitude and energy, both of which are critical in terms of how others react to you, not to metion how you feel about yourself!

• Since most people get jobs as the result of a linkage process (i.e. networking), everything you can do to give yourself the opportunity to create those links is very much worth the time and effort. If you are a member of ExecuNet, you have long heard us talk and write about effective networking being built on a foundation and attitude of “giving, not getting.” Approaching both people and/or events with the idea that you’re there as a resource to others does a lot to get your focus on the right stuff.

• If you are someone who has trouble doing some or all of this revamping yourself, you might consider getting an executive coach to help. It is certainly nothing to be ashamed of and from an accountability and structure perspective can be very helpful in getting things back on track. At ExecuNet, members frequently ask our help in finding such a resource, and we are happy to refer them.

And don’t ever forget what every salesperson will tell you: every “no” is simply one step closer to “yes.”

Macro to Micro

4,830,000 was the number of hits that came up when I put "job search strategies" into Google.  Pretty big number, and my guess is considerably understated.  Indeed, given what I see come across Twitter on an hourly basis, I am not sure how big the number could get, but I'm sure it is considerably larger than what came up on Google.

If you review the bidding, most experts agree that there are essentially four (4) ways that someone makes a job change:

1. Via answering ads.
2. Via being recruited by a search firm.
3. Via a mass mailing of some kind - broad-based or targeted, and
4. Via networking.

With that being the case and considering that job hunting is certainly nothing new, it sort of makes you wonder what exactly is the "strategy" that people are looking for.

Now for sure you can make the argument that given the tough job market that there are more people looking for answers, and  for sure that is part of it, but I also think that there is another factor at work: the two-edged sword called technology.

What I mean is this: With the advent of the web, everything on the above list can be and has been empowered by technology but each in its own way can and has been hindered by that same technology.

Rather than setting out the pros and cons here (which I suspect are pretty obvious to most readers anyway) let me just comment on at least one that I think that has a major biggest impact.

Ever since I've been involved in the career management world (40+ years) the default "strategy" for the job hunter has been to answer ads.  Very understandable.  They are easy to find and don't require a lot of effort to react to.  Add the web to that picture and we all know the result, sites that trumpet thousands of openings. 

All good news except that the more visible obviously the more people who become your competition.  Worse, because responding is so easy many job seekers just play the numbers game and keep clicking and praying.  The results are all too often rejection that keeps coming in the form of silence.

So, here's another stat that comes as no surprise ~ 60-80%* of us end up making a job change via item #4 on the list, not item #1, and that fact has been the subject of many other posts both here and elsewhere.  It is also why since the day ExecuNet opened its doors in 1988, we have been banging the networking drum. 

This isn't to say that we don't encourage our members who are job hunting to invest time and/or energy in any of the other channels, we certainly do, but at the same time, we try to make sure that they are balanced in their approach and we provide them with resources in all areas but for sure, our focus is on providing the ways, means and tools to help people to expand their personal and professional networks.

All that said, it remains human nature to follow the path of least resistance, not the one that is more productive and which requires lots more work.  It usually takes a while before people decide to really put some real energy into #4.

So it is with that in mind that at least for the time being we offer up an important "tip" for those who are checking out postings: Look at the macro as well as the micro.

Here's what we mean: Most people who are in a search have very specific objectives they would like to achieve, one of which is usually not to relocate if they don't have to.  As a result, when they are looking over postings, they are focused on those openings that appear to be in the geography they want.

Certainly nothing wrong with that, but what they often overlook are the openings that say they are located elsewhere.  I would suggest from a strategic perspective this is a mistake. 

No matter what your geographic goal, the over riding goal is to get someone to pick up the phone.  Said a bit differently, if and when you see a posting where you would be a super fit save for where they say the job is located, I would suggest you raise your hand.

It's a free country, no one has asked you to move anywhere, and you can always say no if they do!

The key thing to remember here from a strategic perspective is that once a conversation begins, any number of things a posting says are "specs" can and often do change especially once you start to put real people against a job description. 

And while indeed today's technology can both help or hurt, one of the upsides is that "locations" can be "virtual" as well as "real". 

Over the years, I have lost count of the number of our members who have ended up in great jobs because they responded to a posting that initially had the job located in a place that they had absolutely no interest in even seeing much less moving to.  They stayed right where they were.

* The stats on networking as the source for people making a change can range all over the lot, but the 60-80% range covers most of the surveys I have seen for as long as I can remember.  ExecuNet's experience is in the 70% area.

Oxymoron of the Week: Working With Recruiters

So just for the heck of it, I googled working with recruiters and back came nearly 5.2 million hits give or take.

That was almost enough to make me think that writing about what was wrong with the Mets and Red Sox might serve a more useful purpose. But before cashing in my chips, I took out my Google user's manual and tried "working with recruiters" in quotes and felt a bit better when only 11,600 hits showed up.

Of course, even with that I knew I was only kidding myself that whatever my thoughts were on this subject it was hardly going to break new ground and more importantly probably wasn't going to change anyone's mind on the subject be they on the candidate side or the recruiter side.

Idealist that I am however, I thought what the hell, at least I can share an opinion because even with all that has been written about this subject, the sheer volume suggests that there continue to be lots of folks remaining who still go into a career change thinking that one of their prime strategies is going to one of "working with recruiters."

For sure it's a logical thought; unfortunately it just isn't reality. While it is true that recruiters whether they are internal to a company or hired by a company do, in fact, "recruit" it does not follow at all, however, that a person who would like to be hired simply decides to contact the recruiter and "work with them" in order to achieve the candidate's objective of being hired.

On the remote chance that you are not aware of this already, here's news:

Recruiters work for clients not candidates. Why? Simple: They get paid by the clients. Indeed, and to further rain on the parade, a fair amount of what they are being paid for is to screen candidates OUT, not screen them IN.

I know, maybe that sounds harsh, but most people I know who have been in the business world for more than a few years really do know this and probably have hired a recruiter to do exactly this, but somehow when all of a sudden they find themselves on the candidate side of the job changing desk their memory disk gets erased and they become incensed when they reach out to recruiters and hear nothing.

Too boot, if that outreach is made by responding to a posting somewhere (as is often the case) and silence is all they hear it just makes people even more ticked off. No surprise there either.

Unhappily and from my own personal experience along with being a part of ExecuNet for the past 22 years, it doesn't look like that experience is going to change any time soon.

So, why bring all this up yet again?

Answer: Because even though I thought everyone on the planet knows all this already, I keep getting reminded daily, if not hourly, that just because I thought that to be the case, the fact of the matter is that there are still thousands if not tens of thousands of poeple in an executive job searche who either don't know it or at least, don't want to believe it.

For sure I can understand their frustration. I've been there.

Both by phone and email (and sometimes in person) I talk with ExecuNet members who are PO'd beyond belief both at what they feel is an outrageous lack of professional courtesy not to mention the anxiety that comes from not knowing where to else turn.

Aside from trying to help them understand what's going on from the recruiter's perspective (and I emphasize "understand" as opposed to "condone") I offer up statistics in terms of the percentage of openings filled by the search world (maybe 12-15% tops) vs. networking where the numbers are more like 70%+ vs. the inordinate amount of time invested in "working with recruiters."

Of course building and effective network is a lot harder than "clicking and praying" or firing off emails and/or resumes to recruiters, stats notwithstanding.

So, if you still think "working with recruiters" is the most critical piece to the puzzle, then at least you owe it to yourself to get the best information and insights available on the subject.

If you are a member of ExecuNet then hopefully you already know that we have a special section of the site dedicated solely to this area. We call in Recruiter Connections.

If you want more info (along with additonal answers and ideas) then I know of no better resource to point you toward than checking out Nick Corcodilos and more specifically his book How To Work With Headhunters.

The book's tag line is 62 Myth-busting answers for fearless job hunters and believe me when I tell you he is not afraid to "break the myths."

Given his background as a recruiter coupled with his "tell it like it is" style, you will have no difficulty whatever in understanding his point-of-view and why he feels as he does.

All of which is to say, if you are going to invest precious time and energy in "working with recruiters" then arm yourself with information that can give you the best shot at a decent ROI but also which will help you channel some of that extra energy that comes from anger and frustration and apply it in directions that will shorten the "hunt" as well as lower your blood pressure.

Storytelling

When it comes to the world of career management these days, online or off, as we all know, the buzz word of the moment is "branding."

Translation: If I am looking to make a career change in this economy (either because I want to or have to) how do I make myself stand out from the rest of the tens of thousands who are trying to do the same thing?

It's a question that has been around for as long as I can remember no matter what the economy was doing. Sure it was easier to get air time when it was a seller's market, but that doesn't change the fact that the seller still had to "market" themselves and at the very least, make sure the interviewer walked away from that encounter with an impression that was not going to disappear by the time they got home for dinner.

It has often been said that fifty percent of getting a job is getting yourself across the desk from someone. I certainly would not argue that, and how one gets that opportunity is fodder for any number of posts down the road.

For this commentary however, I want to focus on the interview piece because I am fortunate enough to know someone who has come up with a concept that has helped a lot of her clients leave those interviewing situations feeling very comfortable that when that interviewer gets home for dinner they not only won't have forgotten you but may well be talking about you over dessert.

The "someone" is a woman named Judy Rosemarin. If you are interested in her background, you can check it out on her company website.

Suffice it to say that she has been in the career management world for more than 27 years. [Full disclosure: Judy has also been facilitating ExecuNet's NYC meetings for nearly 18 years, but the only connection that has to this post is that this is how I came to know her and hence became aware of her "storytelling" approach.]

I could take up a great deal more space here by trying to describe exactly how the "storytelling" approach works, but clearly Judy can explain it far better than I can which she did recently when she was interviewed on a radio program hosted by Dr. Zara Larsen out in Tucson, AZ called Circles of Change.

The interview runs roughly 20-25 minutes but is worth a listen if you or someone you know is still trying to figure out how to change an interview from an exercise of "been there, done that" into a memorable conversation.

Don't Get Mad, Get Even

My guess is that most everyone who stops by this blog from time to time will recognize the name CareerXroads. However, just for the record for those who might be experiencing short-term memory loss, CareerXroads is an enterprise founded in 1994 by Mark Mehler and Gerry Crispin.

For many years among other things, Mark and Gerry have published a newsletter called: CareerXroads Update. The name is appropriate for sure as it follows and comments on trends (both good and bad) in the world of recruiting. The result? It provides good reading for those on both sides of the recruiting process. It's free and if you are not on the distribution list, you can register by clicking here.

That said, what prompted all this was actually one of the articles that was included in the CareerXroads Update published last month. In it, was a entry entitled: The Candidate Experience Revolution. Let Them Eat Cake.

The central to item was an article written by Michelle Goodman who writes for the ABC News/Money site in which she writes about what she called the Five Worst Hiring Trends of 2009 from the perspective of a job seeker. It's a great read.

Mark and Gerry's comment was that the piece could easily have covered the "last decade" much less only 5 years. I could not agree more, and I am not sure that I would stop at a decade. If you are a candidate in this market, check out her list of topics and see what emotions it conjures up for you.

• Labyrinthine Job Application Systems
• Overly-Demanding Job Descriptions
• Unscrupulous Recruiters
• Endless Interview Loops
• No Follow Up With Finalists

Over the course of my career I have been on both sides of the desk and I would like to think that I have a pretty good feel for the rationale that is offered by the staffing side as well as the frustration felt by the candidate side, and certainly if I could wave the proverbial magic wand I would fix it all, because if there is one thing where there is common agreement it is that this stuff needs fixing.

That said, and probably as the result of wandering around the business world for the past 45+ years I long ago threw away those rose colored glasses they give you along with your degree.

Translation: I don't think much of this sort of thing is going to get fixed anytime soon, but that doesn't mean that those who feel it should be can't and won't continue to cause some discomfort for those who need to feel it.

Technology Is A Means, Not An End

Like many other businesses with a major online presence, we do lots of "live" programs which means there is no time for a do over. A few weeks ago, we experienced a techno glitch during one of our online programs. It was a sold out show and halfway through, our web meeting provider lost our connectivity. Not only was access lost, so were a few pounds from the stress.

Fortunately, these problems have been few and far between. Since ExecuNet was founded in 1988, obviously the business was built on the old fashioned forms of communication. We migrated online 15 years ago when the Internet was still a fledgling outlet.

Having gone through this migration, over the years we have seen firsthand how the Internet has the power to bring people together. Our members report deep and long-term networking bonds with each other, without ever having met in person. I also doubt that any of us would argue that contacts, referrals, introductions and advice are instrumental to getting help with both business issues as well as career management challenges and I would be lying if I didn't say that is has been deeply rewarding to be part of an enterprise where one of the fundamental goals is to help foster these relationships.

On the other hand, incidents like this one when we got "unplugged" serve to remind me more than ever, that as wonderful as all the technology is, businesswise or career wise, it is still about relationships that are built on trust.

This is one of the reasons why, even with all the electronics today, we still tell people, there is no substitute for face to face. It is also why our networking meetings are open to anyone be they members with us or not. Indeed, the whole purpose of the meetings is to give all those attending one more venue in addition to everything else one would hope and expect they would be doing to expand their personal and professional network.

All we ask is that people come with the attitude and spirit of helping each other. If you haven't checked out a meeting, come join us. You can always check out the upcoming events in your area by just clicking here.

Another Chicken & Egg Story

When it comes to the economy it has always been about confidence (or so the talking heads tell us). To hear them tell it, it is almost like a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we as consumers think things are getting better, they get better. If we start to lose confidence, then the charts go the other way.

Every day in the papers (what few are left) or on the crawling headlines on CNBC or MSNBC not to mention tons of tweets, we get the word:

Index on pending housing sales has gone up. (yea)

Oil prices are heading up again. (boo)

Fewer banks failed this month. (yea)

Number of people filing on-going unemployment claims declines for first time since January. (yea)

Unemployment rate jumps to 9.4% (boo)

and on it goes....

So what are we to believe? Beats the hell out of me, but in case you hadn't stumbled across it yet, and since everyone likes to look at employment as a key indicator, check this out:

Recruiter Confidence Climbs To Highest Level In Eleven Months

ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI) surged 16 points higher in May, as the executive search industry's outlook for the employment market improved for the third consecutive month amid signs that economic conditions are stabilizing. The RCI now stands at its highest level since June 2008.

Introduced in May 2003, the Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive search firms conducted by ExecuNet.

Designed to forecast job growth at the executive level, a reading above 50 percent indicates recruiters expect the number of search assignments in the next six months will increase. Independent analysis of the RCI has confirmed it is a leading indicator for the executive employment market

Yes, I know that the unemployment rate hit 9.4% and will likely keep going up for a while, nonetheless I am very encouraged by what our RCI is showing. Not just because it has made it back above 50, but more importantly because we firmly believe that it has proven to be a leading indicator as the copy above states.

I also know, based on our penchant for "instant" fixes, that there are still millions who are struggling to work through these tough times, and that the positive signs that we see (be they home-grown such as our own RCI data or whatever), the "good news" isn't going to happen fast enough.

Those who know me would probably tell you that I tend to be a half-empty type, but that is not my feeling at this point.

Manic? No. Euphoric? No. Feeling better? Yes. Press on, press on, press on!

You Are Better Than You Think

Dave,

I have been in the nonprofit sector for 24 years and am looking for a new career challenge.

What is the best way to do this?

I have been the CEO of a Foundation in Ohio for the past 10 years. I have achieved every goal set for me over the past 24 years. (I have boxes of awards)

Please advise a plan for me.

I am interested in working for UPS but I have done nonprofit work for so long I don't know how to market myself to a for profit company.

With not too much by way of changing some of the variables in the note you see here, the issue raised by this member is not unlike that with which many of our members wrestle and who contact us virtually on a daily basis. And given the current environment in which we find ourselves there are an awful lot of executives worrying about where I could go if.....

Not being a certified career counselor, I am not sure I could "advise a plan", but I guess I could share what I think based on my experience with ExecuNet for the past 21 years and which I have tagged onto the 25 years running around Corporate America before that.

So if I were talking to this guy, I would probably say something like this:

I don’t care if you have been working in the NFP world or not, the fact of the matter is that you have been running a business just like any other CEO has had to and I also suspect that if your organization doesn’t “make a profit” it would be out of business just like a company in the public or private sector would be. Said a different way, I think this is more about mind set than anything else.

I would guess if you thought about it, you would find that many of the problems faced by UPS or anyone else for that matter you have in some form or another faced in your career as well. It is a matter of degree to be sure, but the issues are not all that much different.

I am being a bit simplistic on purpose to try and make the point that the things that have made you successful as an organization head is what you are selling. Where you applied those skills really is beside the point. Yes it will be a challenge in some case to get some people to see that, but with some thought and practice, you will be able to find what resonates with those who in fact can be influenced, be they at UPS or somewhere else.

Is it easy to do? No. Is it possible? Yes.

Pain and Rescue

Listen to your Dad they say, and I do. Indeed, I am one of the multitude who listens to "Dad" GL Hoffman over at What Would Dad Say. If you follow these postings you will know that this not the first time you have seen him referred to in this space and I am sure it won't be the last.

Part of my admiration comes from the fact that more often than not Hoffman says what I've been thinking only faster, better and with more impact. Other than that he is nothing special.

Nonetheless, if you are not a follower, check out his recent post Pain and Rescue. He makes, as usual, a very good point.

While for sure much of the doom and gloom to which we are subjected 24/7 is very real, it is also true that attitude plays a big role in the mix and certainly has a good deal to do with how we all respond.

I am in no way suggesting that the "pain" isn't real - it is all too real. On the other hand I can't help but be reminded of the old and well-known quote attributed to everyone from Vince Lombardi to Billy Ocean: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

While the lion's share of membership here at ExecuNet is made up of executives who are currently working, for sure, and as you might expect, we have seen a significant influx of those who through no fault of their own, aren't.

Having been there a couple of times myself, and while I can't speak for how anyone else might feel or react, I would like to think that at least I can empathize based on personal experience.

As GL's post points out, the media in particular works overtime sharing all the bad news with us and very little, if any, of the "wins." Maybe the "wins" aren't happening as fast as any of us would like, but they are happening.

It is easy for us all to look behind us and wring our hands and kick the dog. In some cases that might be easier than facing an unknown future because bad as it might be at least with the past we are dealing with known vs. the unknown. On the other hand, the energy we invest in backward looks is energy that is not getting us to our future.

When I talk to our members about things like this, I keep trying to remind them that as tough as things might be right now, they need to remember that the skills that made them successful in their former lives were not driven by what the economy was or wasn't doing so much as what they as individuals brought to the enterprise.

Your expertise travels with you and while it certainly is not easy, the challenge and opportunity now is simply one of their deciding how and where you are going to take it and making sure that in the process you don't forget to bring along the positive attitude that helped you and others get there in the first place.

Getting From Here to There

ExecuNet is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and as a result, that sort of a milestone event has prompted a number of interview requests from various and sundry media wanting to know how this all happened and the details from ’88 to now.

As I have talked over the past several months with many different reporters and writers of many stripes, it has caused me to reflect frequently about the past 20 years and the transformation that I have experienced in my professional work life. It also got me wondering what the stories might be from others both inside and outside our membership.

In talking with our Executive Editor Lauryn Franzoni about this, she suggested it would probably be both fascinating and fun to learn more about other's “passages” so we thought a blog post would be one place to begin. So, in the interest of the “you go first” custom, here goes:

The short version is that the company I was working for as the VP of International Personnel was bought. For the first time in my life (at age 48), I found myself looking for a job when I didn’t already have one. In about the time it takes one to pull away from touching a hot stove I came to the conclusion that I didn’t like the way this felt at all, and the longer the search went on, the more I felt that the process was broken. What I thought ought to be a relationship based on a win-win outcome was one that felt like win-lose and very adversarial to boot.

After all, it seemed to my (then) naive way of thinking that organizations seeking senior-level talent and executives who were seeking stimulating and rewarding careers had the same goals in mind. Find the right fit for both.

Said differently, I thought that from a job seeker’s perspective, all I was asking for was the opportunity to compete for a real job at a time that was meaningful and to be treated with a reasonable degree of professional courtesy. Didn’t seem too crazy a notion at the time (and still doesn’t.)

Looking at it from the recruiter’s perspective (and having been in HR I thought I had a reasonable understanding of how that world worked), I knew I would want to be able to identify qualified candidates when I needed to, have confidentiality when needed, and not get into a fight with anyone over what “qualified” meant. That too did not seem to be a concept that was too far out of step.

So, how to try and become a Don Quixote lookalike and pick up the pieces of this broken process? The answer over time turned out to be an effort to create a community where both recruiters and senior level executives could come together in a career and business network not only with confidence but when needed, in confidence.

Reflecting on the experience, I keep thinking how very fortunate I was to have stumbled along the happenstance path of career planning and end up being able to make my living from something about which I was and continue to be passionate about to the point of obsession.

There is an old saying that I am sure most of us have often heard: “Luck: where preparation meets opportunity.” As I think about my own experience, that is a fair descriptor. In my case, I know that the 25+ years I spent in the corporate world certainly qualifies as “preparation.” What I didn’t know at the time was the “luck” was that my employer was bought and I was thrown into an uncontrollable situation. I didn’t immediately recognize the event as an opportunity.

So I am wondering what others’ experiences have been as they look back at their career over the past 20 years and what “learnings” or stories they might be willing to share in the comments section of this blog posting.

Where were you professionally 20 years ago?

Was there a pivotal event or person responsible for your leadership track?

Where are you professionally now?

As an incentive, I am willing to do this:

There was an incredibly interesting discussion that went on for several weeks recently in our General Management Roundtable. The discussion came from a member who was about to take on his first role as a CEO. His question to the roundtable was “What advice would you have for me?”

So rich was this discussion that Lauryn and her team created a whitepaper, Lessons from Leaders: Advice for a First-time CEO. Whether you are aspiring to be the CEO or already in the big chair, advice contained in this paper is something that any of us in a leadership position would find of real value.

You can give as many or few details as you feel comfortable, and as long as I have your email address, a copy is yours. If you are too much of an introvert to post it here, you can email it to me at dave.opton@execunet.com

Executive Tribune

How many blogs are there? Answer: Probably no one really knows, and if you start to pare them down to ones that are "active" versus those that are just taking up a few megs on a server somewhere, it might even seem like a number that we could relate to, but even then I am not sure. All of which suggests that most of us find the stuff we want to follow the same way most of us find our way to anything worthwhile - someone tells us about it. It's another one of the fringe benefits of networking.

There are, of course, exceptions, and in the case of the Executive Tribune Tribune, a blog that launched in early May, this one I knew was coming because it's author, Michael Simon, had called me about blogging before he launched.

After my failing yet once again to convince anyone of anything, he launched it anyway. If you are interested in things of importance to the career management at the executive level, you will be glad he went ahead. The tag line will give you a nice clue as to why: "Career musings and information for A-list, B-school & C-suite residents."

If you check out Michael's background it will become immediately apparent why he would be a valuable resource when in comes to career issues, especially at the executive level.

In the interest of "full disclosure" I should also reveal that when the company I was working for was sold and I lost my job at age 48, I selected Michael and his firm to help keep me focused as I tired to figure out what was next.

Just as I failed to persuade Michael that blogging is harder than it appears on the surface, he failed to convince me to give corporate another chance. The outcome was that I started ExecuNet and Michael and I have been friends ever since.

Even though all of this is true, anyone who knows me will tell you that if I didn't think that Executive Tribune was worth your time.....you can finish the sentence yourself.

Don't Let The World Happen To You

At this stage of the game, I don't think that even Pollyanna would be that bullish on the outlook for our economy. Economic forecasters, at least some of them, are still deciding if we are officially in a recession or not. Time will tell if the economic sky is really falling or if it’s just passing summer storm.

Since we our marking our 20th anniversary this year, ExecuNet has been around long enough to have gone through economics downs and up, so I guess it isn't surprising that we get questions from members on how they should approach the management of their careers when things are looking the way they are now. The short answer is that while the instinct for most of us is to hunker down, dodge the raindrops and ignore the old axiom "the best defense is a good offense." Instead they just hope for the best and wait for the world to happen to them.

Anyone who hasn't internalized by now that when it comes to your professional work life, no one cares about you more than you I would have to wonder if anything approaching a heartbeat would show up on their EKG. I come from the school that believes that proactive beats reactive every time. Point being that in good times or bad, the need for talent, especially with the factors impacting the executive market these days, is intense to say the least. Frankly, I think it is even truer in a down economy when the challenges to an organization both inside and out are even tougher to manage.

I doubt that any of this would come as a big surprise to anyone, at least on an intellectual level, but when it comes to what people actually do, it if very often a different story. Indeed, over the years, countless people have said the same thing to me: “I just can’t believe that I didn’t do something about this sooner.”

Don’t let it happen to you.

Networking II

Networking II is the title of a recent article appearing John Sumser's outstanding daily ezine Electronic Recruiting News whose reputation is such that it long ago became required reading for anyone who has any interest in the staffing world be they candidate or recruiter.

You should be able to find a copy of the entire article in the archive section of John's site. Well worth reading on a number of levels, but when I got to the section I have pasted below it immediately got my attention. Indeed, I went back and read it again. Why did I pause on it? In truth I would guess because like most people when I read something which supports my own point of view or philosophy, it of course catches my attention. I couldn't help but read this and say: "Right on big John!" Moreover, when it is someone with Sumser's reputation, it tends to make you puff up even more and say to yourself "see, even John Sumser says you are not crazy."

Anyway, this is the section that got me to sit up and take notice:

"Also, the theory that solid social networking involves giving without the expectation of an immediate return seemed to be hard for some people to understand.

Of course, social networks produce returns for their investors. People would never participate in them unless that was true. The trick is knowing that credit-taking and the expectation of specific return destroy the network dynamic. Networks work because their members receive unexpected benefits, because being in the network is better (for everyone involved) than being outside of it.

There's no escaping the fact that networks can only achieve effectiveness if the participants are willing to delay gratification. That's where the idea that you have to give without the expectation of return."

When we started ExecuNet way back in 1988, I can recall the conversations I had with each person who called then, and while the technology and times have obviously changed, the message hasn't:

Give first and results will follow.

Effective networking is about giving not about getting.

Help each other.

Every interaction you have reflects on you first and foremost, but it also reflects on your fellow members.

It's about being remembered and referred; make sure you are remembered for the right reasons.

Real career management is a process, not a program. It is not something that you start and stop.

When we began ExecuNet, there was, for all intents and purposes no Internet much less a term like "career-related website." Nowadays, the last number I think I saw Pete Weddle report was that there were more than 45,000 of them.

Over the years, I have been asked again and again, and even more so as the number of career-related websites continue to expand "how do you measure your success"? Reading John's Networking II article reminded me of what my answer has always been:

By reputation,

By the fact that the vast majority of our members still come to us by referral from current or former members, and

By how many search firms and companies keep coming back to post their senior level executive jobs with us

All of which translates back to what John has said in this piece:

"The trick is knowing that credit-taking and the expectation of specific return destroy the network dynamic. Networks work because their members receive unexpected benefits, because being in the network is better (for everyone involved) than being outside of it."

My belief is that this is not only true but is one of the key differences between being a "member" versus a "subscriber."

Thanks for the reminder John.