Virtue would not go far without vanity to escort her. -Franois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
A good part of my coaching practice comes from betrayed clients, who, despite their stellar work, lose out on good reviews, raises, promotions, and visibility in circles that matter inside their company. In almost each case an angry, defeated client comes with a story that is familiar: I came up with this great idea to develop a new product and worked on its development. When it was released it soon went on to become a major revenue and profit generator for our company, badly in need of both. Yet my most recent Annual Performance Review (APR) barely mentions it and with four areas of improvement for myself, including innovation. I did not get any raise this year to boot.
When you read this it almost makes your blood boil in anger and disgust. But, in corporate Americaand the world, overallthis is the norm. When I dig into the story deeper and try to understand what role the client played in their own plight I realize that they lost control over their idea as soon as it got traction within their company and as soon as the carpetbaggers within their circle of work got the whiff of where the next locus of glory was. Sadly, even their immediate boss can usurp this glory and use the clients success to elevate themselves.
So, what is my advice to such clients? Here it is itemized, in priority and sequence of how you should conduct yourself in such matters:
1.When you have an idea that is worth its salt, make sure first that it is sound and whetted enough to make it practicable. You may want to verify its merit by doing some analysis, research, talking to people or customers, and documenting your findings in a logbook with dates, names, and details.
2.Once you are reasonably satisfied that it is worth presenting to your boss make a well-organized presentation of your idea, the research you have done, and what it will take to implement that idea if those in the chain of command approved it. Make sure that you augment your presentation with inputs that come from your boss.
3.Make a business case for why your idea should be considered for implementation, with resources needed, timelines, and the impact of the outcome in business terms. At this stage a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate of such outcomes (savings, profits, increased market share, etc.) is acceptable. Often, once the idea gets the attention of the right people in the company a more rigorous analysis of these factors takes place through Finance, Marketing, and other departments. Make sure that you are involved in such proceedings and your name shows up in exchanges that take place during such steps.
4.Once your idea reaches this stage of attention it is on a serious track for action. Regardless of how confident you feel about its success it is time for you to put a stake in the ground by meeting with your boss and by getting an agreement that benefits you when the idea becomes reality.
5.The best way to reach this agreement is to use the data that came out of the analysis from Finance, Marketing, and others to present your demands to your boss and to get specific about what outcomes you want out of the success stemming from the initiative that you launched. It may go something like this: Marketing has estimated that once we release this product well be the first mover in the market and can get a revenue bump of almost 12% in the first year. I want to make sure that this benefit translates into something that helps my career. Id like to propose that once the product is released I am given the promotion to my next level (you can be specific about what that is) and a raise. Remember that you said, When the product is released, and not when it receives the 12% revenue bump. Often, you cannot manage what you cannot control. So, keep the ambit of your influence limited to your activity.
6.In most cases your boss will listen to your demands and reply by saying, I cannot promise anything just yet unless my superiors agree to this. You must not back down and respond back by saying, OK, please let me know what you hear and let us agree to what I get out of this for myself.
7.Once you boss gets back with a promise that accommodates what you requested (or some variation thereof) it is time to formalize that understanding. You go back and write an email to your boss exactly reflecting the promise that was just made and send it them. Unless you heard something very different from what was said your boss is not going to challenge that email.
Most bosses will NOT acknowledge such an email. So, what you do is insert something innocuous at the end of such an email and say, I also want to talk to you about some other matter that is personal. Can we meet at 3:00 PM today? When your boss responds by saying, let us meet at 4:00, instead. You have their acknowledgement to the message that really matters.
8.Once you have this understanding it is difficult for someone else to hijack the credit for your workeven just your ideaif what you started ends up making an impact in how your company benefits. So, by proactively managing your role in what you initiated you have protected your position and extracted a promise that can help you further your career.
9.The most important aspect of this lesson is knowing how to become proactive and protecting your interest in what you started. Merely assuming that youll be rewarded because your idea panned out is nave and misguided.
10.Throughout the time your initiative is underway make sure that you keep yourself plugged-in and visible regardless of how many others try to hijack that credit away from you. Fortunately, many would not be aware of the groundwork you have already done to protect your interest and any success that flows from it.
Always remember that you do not get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
Good luck!
| About Author | |
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Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader. |
Website: http://dilipsaraf.com/?p=2733
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