The power of PLAN B

I am in the midst of reading this book called "What Men don't tell women about business" by Christopher V. Flett. A hilarious journey into the mind of an "Alpha Male". Yeah, you know who I mean...those strong (sometimes bullish) career magnets in your workplace. Often very charming and also very focused on results.


Anyway, I like a lot of the ideas the book has to offer. Especially at a time (like now) when I feel that my career might not be progressing the way I wanted it to. Taking command of my own ship (as Christopher says) is certainly the right thing to do. He says, every woman should have a MAIN PLAN and a PLAN B. Something we women could learn from men is to hope for the best but plan for the worst. That way you always have options. 

A few pointers for developing a plan B:
-Identify the situation (job, client, relationship)
-Determine the worst-case scenario
-Decide what steps you would take if you found yourself in that situation tomorrow
-Make a list of the steps you can take now as insurance in case this happens

The first point hits me personally. I struggle to find time to even properly identify my situation. Recognize the feeling? As a mother of two young children, a work that consumes both my time and energy, now who finds time to really think WHAT is going on. Well, the fact is if you have an intuition about something not quite being right, you are probably right. I trust my intuition a lot. With that in mind, I better start mindmapping my situation RIGHT now before it is too late. After all, Monday 5th in the office might start a new era that either makes things worse or better, status quo is not possible. 

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Sirpa's SATURDAY Tips

Sirpa's SATURDAY Tips on how to sharpen your saw in the workplace:


1. You women out there (me included!), learn to ASK for what you want. Bosses can't read your mind, in particular the male bosses (nothing new there hmm). First, be clear about WHAT you want and WHERE you are heading, then ASK.

2. Dont' be afraid to CHALLENGE yourself. You don't have to be 70% sure of your skills to accept a higher position. Be brave, jump in there and learn to live with the uncomfortable feelings while you are learning. It is all part of the process. 

3. Focus on results. Effort is not enough. Most bosses want to see RESULTS, however hard it might have been, does not really matter. 

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How to build those "Portable Skills"

February 2008 Harvard Business Review had a great article (by Boris Groysberg) on "How Star Women Build Portable Skills". The article claims that many star performers can't easily maintain their stardom if they change companies. But further studies have shown that WOMEN tend to actually perform equally well. Why is that? A few reasons have surfaced, namely, women tend to build competence via external relations with clients and the companies they have dealt with, rather than on internal relationships. Furthermore, women generally take greater care when assessing a prospective employer.

What is truly interesting is that women seem to take their work environment more seriously yet rely on it less than male stars do.

The downside of being too externally focused is that your career progress "inside" your company could suffer. Go figure. The article is food for thought.

 

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