Is Your Career Going Up? Or Down?

This week was chock full of incredible conversations with clients, colleagues, partners and prospects! All had wonderful ideas and goals. Kudos! One of the topics that I discussed with many of them was my theory that our world is changing.

It's not a new idea - everyone knows that the world is changing. It changes everyday. You have two choices:

RIDE THE ROLLERCOASTER OR DRIVE YOUR LIFE!

What will you choose? Let's look at each one:

RIDE THE ROLLERCOASTER

• It's easy. Someone else does all the work. You get to put your feet up and enjoy the ride.
• Someone else makes all the decisions for you. Some might not be beneficial to you.
• When you start to feel insecure about the direction you're taking, there is nothing you can do. Someone else is in control.
• When things start to go south and you definitely do not like the position you're in, tough beans.
• When the world around you starts to radically change - you can't do much - you're still on the ride.
• When you see all of your friends and colleagues move to better situations - you realize you don't know how to stop the ride.
• When processes, systems, whole ecosystems fail and fall around you - THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO.

This is happening right now in Publishing. Newspapers. Bookstores. Music Stores. Video Stores. Finance. IT. Travel. And many, many other fields . . .

Rollercoasters never really go anywhere. They go up and down, left and right, but at the end of the ride, you are right back where you started. Do you want your job to be like that? Your career? Your life? I don't think so. Let's look at an alternative:

DRIVE YOUR LIFE

• It's scary. There is no map. You chart your course.
• It has its peaks and valleys. You are energized when things are good and enervated when things are bad. But you can change the game.
• If you see other systems, people, processes change, you can assess what's happening and make modifications to your journey.
• You make all of your decisions. You probably get input to help you weigh each alternative, but in the end, it's up to you.
• You want to go left? Go left. You want to go right? Go right. You are in control at all times.
• You decide who you want to work with, who you don't want to work with, where you want to go, what you want to do - no one else. That may be energizing or scary.
• You are your own safety net. You catch yourself when you fall (or fail). But you pick yourself up and start again. It's a learning experience. Not a failure.

So . . . who do you want to be today? Start making THE DECISION. Your job, career, and life depend on it.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Getting tired of that rollercoaster? Let’s talk. I’ve worked with thousands of people who wanted to take assertive steps in their career — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

The Secret On How To Succeed At Almost Anything.

A lot of executives are out there looking for the 'holy grail' of success. They bulk up on education, they cajole and maneuver, they scheme and plan. In the end, it comes down to just one action — performed consistently. Over the past few days, I've been running a series of workshops for a Fortune 50 company. One story I tell is the one where I was a lowly coordinator in the Marketing department. One day, the senior vice-president announced that the executive team is working with a NYC agency to develop a self-running sales CD for all 1000 account executives. This CD would be a virtual brochure — showing how the company does it stuff with graphics, audio, and movies. The price tag was in the millions and it was going to 'change the way we present to clients." Candidly, the SVP was not too happy about this.

I went back to my small office and thought about what I just heard. Let me let you in on a secret . . . I am the king of Powerpoint. Back then (and today) I could do ANYTHING with Powerpoint, even cook you dinner. You have to remember — all Powerpoint slides were a series of bulleted items (and they still are today - a real crime). So I began to play around with it, developing a series of 5-10 slides that had our logos, graphics, audio, and movies (big stuff for 1995!).

After 2-3 hours (and some calls to close colleagues in sales to get their feedback), I knocked on the SVP's door. Let me say, he was blown away. He asked me to stay after work so we could talk more. When 6 PM rolled around, I was the only one in the office and in walks the CEO, CFO, and CMO of the company. My office! My VP says, "Rich, show them what you showed me this morning." So I walked them through it.

Cutting to the chase:

• They loved the idea that it was infinitely modifiable.
• They canceled the NYC agency project the next day.
• I received time, resources, and a budget to roll it out nationally.
• I then went on a nationwide sales training tour to roll it out (the most fun I ever had in business!)

I eventually received a promotion, an incredible raise, and won Chairman's award (10 out of 10,000) win it annually.

Hidden Secret? It was INITIATIVE. I didn't have to do what I did — I could've sat in my office and dutifully done my work.

But I didn't. I took a chance. I used my technical skills — I leveraged my relationships with colleagues — and I took a risk presenting it to the SVP of the department.

How are you taking INITIATIVE in what you do today? Have an idea? Make it reality. See an opening? Go for it. Most of the time, we are too tired, lazy or scared to take charge and change something. There is no special sauce to initiative — you just have to make  up your mind and do it.

So Go Do It.

Go For It. NOW.