Think As Inc

PRICING YOUR PRODUCT

In addition to knowing your product, you also need to price it.  The salary of your current job is one indication of your market price.  It is always good to know the going rate for your function, level/ title, and industry.  However, salary reflects what your skills and experience are worth in the specific context of your industry.  You also need to consider your worth if you switch industries (e.g., the teacher who moves into corporate training), switch functions (e.g., the English teacher who becomes a writer) or strike out on your own (e.g., the teacher who starts a tutoring company).

It is critical to understand how your product would be priced if you did strike out on your own.  For the teacher, a move into training is only one example of another potential product offering.  Online education, community/ adult education classes, tutoring, writing training manuals, even coaching are other possibilities.  Think even broader.  A teacher is comfortable leading groups.  Giving tours and public speaking training are also possibilities. 

Now that you have a sense of the range of products you could offer, you can check the market price for all of these.  How much do corporate trainers earn?  What’s the rate for online class teachers, community workshop leaders, tutors?  Pick a product offering that really appeals to you and build it out even further.  If you were to build a touring company, what kind of tours would you offer?  What would be your business costs?  How would you market it?  Do you need staff?  What resources do you need?  How much would you charge?

Thinking like an entrepreneur does not mean being an entrepreneur.  You may decide to stay in your same job, company and industry. In that case, pricing your product (i.e., a salary check) ensures you are equitably paid.  However, the exercise of pricing your product is an effective way to understand exactly what your products are.  It is a reminder that you can survive outside of your current role.  It gives you ideas outside of the specific function and industry you are in.  It opens up new possibilities.

IDENTIFYING YOUR PRODUCT

Every business has a product (or service) line to offer its customers.  Do you know what your product line is?  Do you know what value you add to your employer, your relationships, and your community? 

If you are already a business-owner, you are probably used to identifying your value proposition so you can do effective sales and marketing.  But as an employee, you may not have the mindset that you have a specific product line to sell.  This puts you at a disadvantage in today’s labor market, where employers want to hire candidates who know how to impact the bottom line.  Therefore, it is critical that you identify your value:

YOUR VALUE IS IN YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION.  Write a job description for all that you do.  Focus specifically on what results you produce.  If you are a receptionist, your tasks may include fielding phone calls, but your value is really in being the first line of contact for your employer (marketing) and in managing incoming calls (organizing).  Your product line then is a good first impression and a sense of organization.  Where else can you sell your services?  Reception is but one client.  In what other jobs might these skills add value? 

YOUR VALUE IS WELL-KNOWN AMONG FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES.  Ask colleagues and close friends about your best attributes.  Specifically, find out what you are the go-to person for.  Everyone understands the concept of go-to people.  On a personal level, if you’re blue, you want your funny friend.  On a professional level, for your heavy analytical project you want the number-crunching dynamo on the team.  What do your friends and colleagues go to you for?

Even if you are accustomed to identifying your value at a professional level, it is helpful to take this to a personal level.  When you focus on what makes you a good spouse, friend, citizen, then you offer the best to your personal customers as well.

THE DANGER OF DELAY

One of the downsides of fear is the delay it causes.  You don’t jump in at the meeting, only to hear your brilliant idea espoused by someone else.  You had a fear of being wrong or speaking out of turn so you hesitated, and then your moment was gone.  You don’t lobby for the promotion, and then see it go to a peer.  You were afraid you weren’t ready, but opportunities may not wait till you are ready.

Career success has a strong timing element.  Hiring is based on a candidate’s skills and interests PLUS how these meet what is available at the time.  Interviews turn on how prepared you are PLUS how receptive the interviewer is at the time.  Promotions are granted when employees are ready PLUS there is a need for a higher level at the time.  It is rare to have your opportunities aligned exactly with your readiness.  In most cases, you will have to reach for the opportunity — sell your achievements, stretch your abilities, take a risk, and thus encounter fear.  If the fear causes you to delay too much, the opportunity may pass.

Understanding the danger of delay, then, may help you mitigate your fear.  You realize that you not only have to overcome hesitation but you have to do it as quickly as possible.  Ask people what their biggest regrets are, and they usually are not things that they did, but things that they didn’t do.  You have the benefit of their hindsight.  Jump into your career.  Don’t delay your potential success.

We cannot put off living until we are ready.  The most salient characteristic of life is the coerciveness:  it is always urgent, “here and now” without any possible postponement.  Life is fired at us point-blank.  –  Jose Ortega Y Gasset

INVEST YOUR TIME

Each one of us, from the CEO to the unemployed, has 24 hours per day to invest.  If time is spent haphazardly, then it is easily squandered.  A few hours per day in front of the TV equates to a part-time job watching TV.  If you’re not proactively making choices about what to do with your time, it slips away unnoticed.  One way to become more conscious of your time investment is to constantly ask yourself what you want from your time.

How much time do you want to invest on your career versus other priorities?  You may have relationships, community/ religious activities, personal interests, and other priorities than just career.  How high does your career rank on your list?  Is the time you invest on your career consistent with how valuable you say your career is to you?

How much time do you want to invest in your current career versus your future prospects?  You always need to do both because living in the moment and preparing for the future are both important.  However, if you’re unhappy where you are, you might want to do just enough to get a good reference and focus more on your next move.  If you’re in your target career, then you want to excel where you are.  How much time are you investing on prospects?  Is this consistent with your current satisfaction level?

How do you want your time to be split between doing your job, networking for future opportunities, developing your skills, and enhancing your professional image?  What area is a strength, a weakness, a fear?  Are you touching each area or neglecting one?  Before you collapse in front of the TV after a hard day’s work, ask yourself if you’d rather invest that time in one of the above.

EVERYONE NEEDS A BRAND

Be yourself is about the worst advice you can give to some people. – J.B. Priestley

Maybe you think you don’t need a “brand” because you can just “be yourself”.  Maybe you think branding is superficial or manipulative.  When it comes to branding, Priestley’s right in that “be yourself” is the worst advice.  While your brand should be a reflection of who you are, it is not an excuse for anything goes.  Being ourselves means good and bad.  We all have our moods, our off-days and our blind spots.  We don’t need to share those with the world just to be authentic; we can do that with our friends and family.  We need a brand to always put our best foot forward.

Research has shown that people weigh negative information more heavily than positive when it comes to first impressions.  This suggests that it is harder to overcome a negative first impression than a positive one.  By managing your brand you manage that first impression.

By managing your brand you are proactive about your strong points.  You can still be yourself, but you lead with your strong self.  Your brand may be reflected in your wit, your fashion sense, your knowledge of pop culture.  Your brand is still authentically you, but focused on the traits that you consciously wish to share.

Think of people with strong brands (e.g., Donald Trump, Michael Jordan), and you’ll think of confident and alluring people.  You may not agree with 100% of who they are, but their message is clear and therefore exudes confidence.  When you go for that job, that raise, that next life step, you want to exude confidence.  Send a clear message:  manage your brand.

CAREER PLANNING FOR THE CONTENT EMPLOYEE

If you are happy in your current job and have no plans to leave, then you might think career planning does not apply to you.  This is a common and serious mistake.  Circumstances change.  Your job might grow less fulfilling over time.  Your current environment might be negatively restructured.  You might be laid off.  Even if you are completely satisfied with your job today, you need to be proactive about maintaining this.  You need a career plan to maximize your happy situation.

Increase your added value.  Know what you add to your employer’s bottom line, and add more.  This means developing and adding skills, tackling challenging assignments, and increasing productivity.  Companies invest in R&D to innovate and create new products.  Include personal R&D in your 2010 career plan.

Maintain visibility.  It doesn’t help to do a great job if nobody knows about it.  Know the decision-makers of project assignments, promotions, raises and bonuses.  Know what projects are important to these decision-makers.  Get on these projects, and let these key people know what you are contributing.  Companies actively market their products; they do not assume customers will just know how great they are.  Include personal marketing in your 2010 career plan.

Strengthen your foundation.  You may love your job, but you should not need it.  Confidence attracts.  Desperation repels.  You may not be financially free, but you don’t necessarily need this current job if you have:  a ready network of contacts to help launch a job search; a clear value proposition and an updated resume to market it; a nest egg to support you; and friends and family for emotional support.  Include personal finance, personal development and personal relationships in your 2010 career plan.

KEEP YOUR LUNCH DATES

Last week, I had a lunch date with a colleague who like myself is a busy working mom.  We work in the same department but in different roles, so lunching is mostly for fun but also a chance to learn about what is happening around the department and trade work/life tips.  About five minutes before our appointed meeting time, she was hovering outside my office trying to get my attention.  Extreme punctuality?  Actually, she was canceling at the last-minute.  She had an all-morning meeting and came back to a stack of emails, so surely she couldn’t lunch. 

This colleague always cancels last-minute.  She thinks that the hour she saves by skipping lunch keeps her from getting overwhelmed.  Actually it is just the opposite.  I keep one or two lunches a week open for last-minute additions – e.g., a professional meeting that has to be over lunch, a personal errand that is time-sensitive.  But I typically have my lunch hours booked two to three weeks in advance.  I try to balance my lunches between internal appointments (current colleagues in my department and in different departments) and external (colleagues in the industry, colleagues from a former company, informational interviews).  I also try to balance my lunches between current goals, future goals, and fun.  Lunch is time for myself – for sustenance, career reflection, career promotion, and catching up with old friends.  Rather than overwhelming myself, planning my lunches in such a way provides a substantive break in the day.  It helps my long-term career management.  I don’t just react to the stack of messages that come in.  I have plans.

Of course, the benefit of lunch dates only works if you keep them.  The strategy is common sense (how else can you get to know your colleagues) but the execution is key.  How many busy executives feel like they are being too reactive in their careers and yet cannot plan and keep their lunch hour?  Before you make grandiose plans about the next promotion, building a side business, or looking for your dream job, practice taking your lunch hour.  You’ll get a midday burst of inspiration and welcome practice in follow-through.

FUN CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

I’ve seen statistics that show Americans watching anywhere from 4-8 hours of TV every day.  If your idea of fun is watching TV, then I can’t confirm that having fun yields career development opportunities.  However, if you’re willing to turn off the TV and put in a little planning, then you can have extra-curricular activities that are both fun and good for your career:

Exercise.  This can mean taking aerobics class, working out at the gym, or joining a sports league.  This can also mean dance class, weekend hiking trips, or hiring a running coach.  Exercise has direct career benefits:  it relieves stress, increases energy, and maintains focus.  It may lower your healthcare premiums or decrease your need for sick days.  It can increase your confidence, improve your posture and make you a more attractive employee inside and out. 

Volunteer.  Get on the board of a non-profit organization.  Participate in the planning of a community event.  Tutor at your local Y.  Volunteering gives you the chance to learn or hone skills in a positive environment.  You also gain networking opportunities.  Finally, you get the perspective of an environment or industry outside of your day-to-day job.

Read.  Reading biographies will give you success traits and strategies without having to invent them firsthand.  Reading business books in your industry will enable you to see the bigger picture outside of just your job.  Reading anyting, whether fiction or non-fiction, expands your imagination, your perspective, and your knowledge base. 

Take a class.  Improv class completely changed my professional demeanor – I think better on my feet, listen to my clients better, and handle curveballs better.  Sewing class added valuable time to my schedule; I learned that I hated sewing so much, so I saved time by no longer reading those crafts magazines and dreaming about what I would make.  Take a class in whatever interests you.  You will learn something.  You will meet people.  You will get closer to what truly interests you. 

Career development is about learning skills, networking and honing your passion.  The above suggestions are fun but offer all of these career benefits as well.

MAINTAINING YOUR NETWORK

No one wants to be contacted only in times of need.  That’s what gives networking a bad rap.  The best way to build a solid network is to contact people when you don’t need anything.  Maintain your network by keeping in touch with people regularly, “just to say hello”.  Here are some creative ways to say hello:

SPREAD HOLIDAY CHEER

Send holiday cards, and include some information about yourself to keep people updated.  Remember to note information you receive in return (e.g., changes of address, changes of employment). 

ANNOUNCE A LIFE CHANGE

You might announce a new baby, entry to a graduate degree program, a promotion, or just an email change.  When you send out the news, include news about other areas of your life. 

OFFER AN INTERESTING ARTICLE

If you find an article that could be interesting to people in your network, email/ send a copy.  This works well for professional contacts, who are not familiar enough for a holiday card or personal announcement.  An insightful article lets the contact know you are thinking of them and you understand what’s important in their industry.

INTRODUCE A NEW CONTACT

When you make introductions to other people in your network, not only do you expand the contacts of the person you introduce, but you also get an opportunity to catch up with your network.  Like an interesting article, an interesting referral lets the contact know you are knowledgeable about their needs and willing to help.

SIMPLY SAY HELLO

Sometimes a person just pops into your head.  Maybe they resemble someone on TV.  Maybe you heard a joke they would enjoy.  Follow your instinct and call/ email to say hello.  It’s always nice to know people are thinking of you.

START FROM WHERE YOU ARE

We’re coming up on the first week of the New Year, a common kick-off time for all sorts of projects.  Maybe you want to lose weight, get a promotion or switch careers.  Even when people share the same goal, different strategies will work for each person.  Losing weight requires shedding 3,500 calories per pound.  That equation doesn’t change.  But the process for someone losing those last stubborn pounds versus someone just starting out is very different.  Therefore, whatever your goal, start from where you are. 

If you are new to this goal, spend your first month just practicing discipline – maintaining a routine, keeping appointments.  For example, if your first month is about getting to the gym two times a week, don’t worry about what to do there.  Just get to the gym two times a week faithfully.  Go, even if it’s too late for the class you want and you end up standing in the lobby reading the fitness bulletin the whole time.  Go, even if you end up coming right back.  You are practicing the routine of getting there.  Once that’s down, you can worry about what you do there. 

If you are already good about sticking to a plan, make sure you have plans to stick to.  It takes approximately 21 days to make a habit.  What is your action step each 21-30 days?  If month one is getting to the gym, is month two adding a nutrition piece to the exercise routine?  Is month three adding additional exercise?  What about months four, five, six, etc?  You may have to adjust the plan if certain steps take longer or shorter than expected, but you should have some outline to follow.

If you are in the final stretch, your focus is to keep the momentum and avoid plateaus.  If you have been working on a goal for a while, you might be on auto-pilot and not pushing yourself to the next level.  Hire a trainer for one or two sessions to draft a new routine.  Try a different area within the goal – e.g., meditation, stretching, a team sport.  Perhaps you need to switch your goal for a few months.  Of course, maintain what good exercise and nutrition habits you have this far, but focus the next few months on a finance or career goal.  Do what you need to do to keep it fresh.