Success: It’s All in How You Answer the Questions

[Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | View Comments ]

For many professionals, our own questions impede our progress toward our career goals. Well, maybe it’s not just the questions, it could be our answers. There are certain questions we are faced with over and over in our career. The answers to the questions give direction to our career, sometimes good and sometimes bad. In this post, we’ll take a look at a few questions that just keep popping up as we trudge through the corporate world in search of our brass ring and how they can have an impact on our career.

After I completed my tour of duty with the military, I knew it was time to get busy working on my dream. I was a technical guy. Learning about science was my thing. I was going to become an electrical engineer. Some 6 years later, I had completed my master’s degree in electrical engineering and was ready to put these new skills to work.

I jumped into a medium sized company with about 17,000 employees. I was eager to make my mark and show the world I could do anything. Nothing scared me. Projects that no one else could complete were at the top of my most desired list. I figured that after I had a few successful projects under my belt, the company would realize they had a powerful resource at their fingertips. The accolades would fall from the heavens and I would move higher and higher up the corporate ladder.

It was just about 6 months after I started working there that the novelty began to wear off. It’s usually 6 to 12 months for most of us that this happens. This is the point I began to really take a close look at what I was doing. The excitement was over. My emotions were no longer the driving force behind my actions. Now, I could take a rational view of my career.

Over the next year, I completed many projects successfully. My reward for this success was a few harder projects. Here’s where my first question sprouted.

Am I getting a proper return for my efforts? I had been at this company for almost two years. I completed everything they asked and my reward was more work. I had even become a major contributor to the organization and all I got was more work. My peers and customers recognized my successes, yet my management didn’t. Now, this is just my interpretation of the events. It could have been much different than this.

The problem could have been that my expectations were too high. Once the company failed to meet them, I became emotional, which went unchallenged, and led to my becoming disgruntled. Some contributors to this could have been my assumption that my manager knew what my expectations were and was prepared to support them. I know I never communicated them to anyone. Yet, somehow, I thought they would figure it out.

Another problem with my expectations had to deal with time. Was 6 months really enough time to prove myself? I know it was to me.

Lastly, there must have been a misalignment of expectations. They picked me to work for them based on what they knew about me. They had high expectations for my performance. When I completed the tasks they put before me, I was only meeting their expectations. Did I ever exceed them? No.

Is this what I want to do? You can imagine what the answer to this question was. My emotions drove me to search for a new position. So I thought about what I liked and what types of jobs would let me do just that. Finding this ideal job should be easy, right?

The answer to this isn’t easy. I didn’t have a million job offers to choose from. I only got a few so my options were limited. Some were in the same state I was, geographically speaking, and some were out of state. I decided that one of the out of state jobs would be more fun and rewarding. Did I have perfect information on this job or company? Not at all. It was a risk I decided to take. I could have easily ended up in company just like the one I had just left.

Understanding a company’s culture and what your boss will be like is very hard to judge from outside the company. Even if I could determine what these were, organizations evolve and management changes. People move in and out of organizations. Sometimes you just have to gather as much info as you can and make the best decision. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll know in about six months to one year, when the novelty wears off.

Do I have the skills to do it? This was the next question I had when I chose my next job. It was what I wanted to do but I wasn’t sure I would be able to excel at it. It was a new industry and was heavy in research. I was doubting myself and it impacted my performance.

It took me about one year to get over the novelty and another year to become a good contributor to the company. Two years into this position and I began to sense that my career mobility wasn’t going to move. So, I did what many professionals do; that is, I went back to college.

I was on the five year plan to complete my PhD. After two years into this effort, I was performing at an all time high. Yet, nothing seemed to change. This caused me to question my logic. While the PhD would help me perform much better, it was necessary for my job. I had been performing well already.

The PhD wasn’t necessary. I incorrectly assumed that the additional education was important to management. Maybe they would promote me out of my current job into one worthy of my skill, so I thought. That would only happen if there was a need for it. My desire wasn’t sufficient. Again, my expectations were skewed.

The questions listed above aren’t just answered right when you graduate. You will face these questions over and over throughout your career considering we now hold 8 to 10 jobs in a career. If you feel you are unhappy in your work, you may leave the company for new job. If you feel your skills are lacking, you may dedicate a few years to academia to build new ones. Each answer sets your career on a new path. Is it better or worse than the path you were on? Often times we don’t think that far out. We just want to get out of the situation we are in. Managing expectations is a mental game that takes work and planning. My dad worked in one company for his whole career. Not much planning needed there. But if you change jobs 8 to 10 times in a career, you need planning more than ever because change truly becomes the only constant in your plan.

Author:

Todd Rhoad, MSEE, MBA is the Managing Director at BT Consulting, a career consulting firm in Altanta, GA. He is the author of Blitz The Ladder and the soon to be released book, The MBA Owner’s Manual. Todd can be reached at todd.rhoad@blitzteamconsulting.com.

For many professionals, our own questions impede our progress toward our career goals. Well, maybe it’s not just the questions, it could be our answers. There are certain questions we are faced with over and over in our career. The answers to the questions give direction to our career, sometimes good and sometimes bad. In this post, we’ll take a look at a few questions that just keep popping up as we trudge through the corporate world in search of our brass ring and how they can have an impact on our career.

After I completed my tour of duty with the military, I knew it was time to get busy working on my dream. I was a technical guy. Learning about science was my thing. I was going to become an electrical engineer. Some 6 years later, I had completed my master’s degree in electrical engineering and was ready to put these new skills to work.

I jumped into a medium sized company with about 17,000 employees. I was eager to make my mark and show the world I could do anything. Nothing scared me. Projects that no one else could complete were at the top of my most desired list. I figured that after I had a few successful projects under my belt, the company would realize they had a powerful resource at their fingertips. The accolades would fall from the heavens and I would move higher and higher up the corporate ladder.

It was just about 6 months after I started working there that the novelty began to wear off. It’s usually 6 to 12 months for most of us that this happens. This is the point I began to really take a close look at what I was doing. The excitement was over. My emotions were no longer the driving force behind my actions. Now, I could take a rational view of my career.

Over the next year, I completed many projects successfully. My reward for this success was a few harder projects. Here’s where my first question sprouted.

Am I getting a proper return for my efforts? I had been at this company for almost two years. I completed everything they asked and my reward was more work. I had even become a major contributor to the organization and all I got was more work. My peers and customers recognized my successes, yet my management didn’t. Now, this is just my interpretation of the events. It could have been much different than this.

The problem could have been that my expectations were too high. Once the company failed to meet them, I became emotional, which went unchallenged, and led to my becoming disgruntled. Some contributors to this could have been my assumption that my manager knew what my expectations were and was prepared to support them. I know I never communicated them to anyone. Yet, somehow, I thought they would figure it out.

Another problem with my expectations had to deal with time. Was 6 months really enough time to prove myself? I know it was to me.

Lastly, there must have been a misalignment of expectations. They picked me to work for them based on what they knew about me. They had high expectations for my performance. When I completed the tasks they put before me, I was only meeting their expectations. Did I ever exceed them? No.

Is this what I want to do? You can imagine what the answer to this question was. My emotions drove me to search for a new position. So I thought about what I liked and what types of jobs would let me do just that. Finding this ideal job should be easy, right?

The answer to this isn’t easy. I didn’t have a million job offers to choose from. I only got a few so my options were limited. Some were in the same state I was, geographically speaking, and some were out of state. I decided that one of the out of state jobs would be more fun and rewarding. Did I have perfect information on this job or company? Not at all. It was a risk I decided to take. I could have easily ended up in company just like the one I had just left.

Understanding a company’s culture and what your boss will be like is very hard to judge from outside the company. Even if I could determine what these were, organizations evolve and management changes. People move in and out of organizations. Sometimes you just have to gather as much info as you can and make the best decision. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll know in about six months to one year, when the novelty wears off.

Do I have the skills to do it? This was the next question I had when I chose my next job. It was what I wanted to do but I wasn’t sure I would be able to excel at it. It was a new industry and was heavy in research. I was doubting myself and it impacted my performance.

It took me about one year to get over the novelty and another year to become a good contributor to the company. Two years into this position and I began to sense that my career mobility wasn’t going to move. So, I did what many professionals do; that is, I went back to college.

I was on the five year plan to complete my PhD. After two years into this effort, I was performing at an all time high. Yet, nothing seemed to change. This caused me to question my logic. While the PhD would help me perform much better, it was necessary for my job. I had been performing well already.

The PhD wasn’t necessary. I incorrectly assumed that the additional education was important to management. Maybe they would promote me out of my current job into one worthy of my skill, so I thought. That would only happen if there was a need for it. My desire wasn’t sufficient. Again, my expectations were skewed.

The questions listed above aren’t just answered right when you graduate. You will face these questions over and over throughout your career considering we now hold 8 to 10 jobs in a career. If you feel you are unhappy in your work, you may leave the company for new job. If you feel your skills are lacking, you may dedicate a few years to academia to build new ones. Each answer sets your career on a new path. Is it better or worse than the path you were on? Often times we don’t think that far out. We just want to get out of the situation we are in. Managing expectations is a mental game that takes work and planning. My dad worked in one company for his whole career. Not much planning needed there. But if you change jobs 8 to 10 times in a career, you need planning more than ever because change truly becomes the only constant in your plan.

Author:

Todd Rhoad, MSEE, MBA is the Managing Director at BT Consulting, a career consulting firm in Altanta, GA. He is the author of Blitz The Ladder and the soon to be released book, The MBA Owner’s Manual. Todd can be reached at todd.rhoad@blitzteamconsulting.com.

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