At some point the world will change and you will be in a re-organization.
Get support before you get buried
When I talk about my DO Better, LOOK Better, CONNECT Better model, I know people struggle with this (support) part.
They sigh and think, I really should do this, but I don’t have the time.
It gets put on the back burner, because it doesn’t feel like part of the day job.
Excellent work alone does not protect you
It’s happened to me. I’ve been buried. My results were outstanding, but they were not visible or relevant to the people making the decisions. My work mattered to me and my team, but not to them.
The world changes and you get pushed down a level, or your job gets smaller, or you’re pushed out entirely.
My heart always goes out to people in this situation, and when they ask me for advice, and I give them some ideas about what they can do to make the best of it right now. But then I reluctantly tip-toe into that, “Take this as learning, and don’t let this happen again”, place.
My annoying lecture goes something like this:
Air Cover
If you had been creating more air cover (people at high levels that know you and care about your career), and building your credibility and relevance over time, you might not be in this position…
Someone in a position of power might have said, Wait, we need to watch out for this person.
This person is really valuable, and if we just put them somewhere organizationally convenient for us, but bad for their career, we run the risk of losing them. We need to create a spot for them in the new organization that does not feel like a step down.
That’s what you want to happen in a re-org.
If you want some additional help building this type of support, check out the free resources at the bottom of this article, but in short…
How to build support
Let’s face it, the urgent stuff typically falls into the DO Better category – get the work done, deal with the crisis, close the deal, respond to the customer.
Then the tasks to build support both in LOOK Better — necessary to build your credibility and relevance, and in CONNECT Better — to build a strong network of support, get pushed aside.
A tempting trap – the “high ground”
It’s tempting to work this way because it feels like you are doing the right thing because you are working really hard and delivering results.
Or sometimes people feel like they don’t want to be one of those people protecting their job, instead of doing their job. That is not what I am talking about.
Take care of the future now
OK, so since we can’t travel back in time, let’s work on taking care of the future. Don’t wait until you are in a bad situation.
Act now:
- Do an Assessment. How much air cover do you have? Do you have a relationship with your boss’s boss or boss’s peers? Do you have relationships with people running other organizations?
- What is the context for talent assessment in your company? Who is in the room when people at your level are talked about? Do you have a good relationship with any of those people? How many of them know who you are?
- Do you have a mentor?
.
Start finding ways to meet and engage with these people, and get at least one of them to be a mentor — to officially care about what happens to you.
It’s not just politics
Before you start heading for high ground again and saying, that’s politics. I don’t do politics. Remember that high Credibility and Relevance are not just about protecting your job. They as much, or even more about increasing your effectiveness.
They let you get more, higher value work done. They are necessary to deliver the RIGHT results that decision makers care about.
Even though you are really busy with the work, it’s important to remember that this is a vital part of your job longevity and success.
Communicate with Stakeholders
In my Career Workshop, we cover the concept of a Stakeholder Communication Plan™
Know who your stakeholders and influencers are and communicate with them on purpose, consistently, in ways that they find valuable. Be relevant, to them by visibly working on things that matter to them.
Build your credibility by having a strong Personal Brand, clear communications and executive presence.
You are better off
This is not a perfect system. For example, when a company gets acquired it is often assumed either that 1. all the people in the acquired company are stupid, and all the good jobs go to managers in the parent company, or 2. that all the incumbents are stupid, so all the good jobs go to the people in the new company and all the “legacy” people get pushed out.
Or sometimes your mentors retire, or your Air Cover leaves the company and you need to start again.
You can’t always stay on top in an re-org, but you are always much better off if you have relationships and air cover than if you don’t.
With the right support there is a chance you will land on your feet.
Have a head start, at least
Even if you don’t land well in the new organization, you have a huge head start of connections, useful knowledge, relationships, and good will in your network, with the people who can quickly help you find a different job.
I encourage you to spend a few hours a month on these things to put yourself in the strongest possible position, and to develop relationships with key people BEFORE you need their help.
Some FREE Resources to build Air Cover
I’ve collected some articles below that can help you focus on the LOOK Better and CONNECT Better aspects of building enough air-cover so that you will have more organizational clout and support when the world changes.
Communicating with Stakeholders
Do you stand out enough?
Don’t be boring
Fight the Bull
Don’t bury the lead
Being Relevant
Responsive or Reactive?
Be more Relevent
Bulding Credibility
Executive Presence
Tuning your Personal Brand
Building Support
Authentic Networking
5 Mentors Everyone Needs
Additional Help
If you want some help fitting this type of work into your schedule, check out:
Career Year of Action Guide
The Career Year of Action Guide will help you plan your time to optimize your DO Better tasks, to get more of the right, highest value work done, AND help you make time for the necessary LOOK Better and CONNECT better tasks, to build credibility, relevance and grow your network of support.
Membership
And if you want to get monthly reminders and direct support from me to keep your career on track, become a member.
