Make 2012 Your Career Year

Today's Business Tips

 

 

 

10 Career Strategies

Make 2012 Your Career Year

Unleash a leaner, meaner, more effective, and more powerful you this year—and reap the rewards

By Gil Schwartz, Illustrations by Dan Winters

NOT LONG AGO, A NEW GUY MOVED up to our floor. I'll call him Geoff. The office he moved into had been empty for a good long while and was perhaps the most precious real estate in our corporation. In fact, so sought after was this enclosure that nobody could have it—at least not without approval from Bob. Yet there was Geoff in the office, with his autographed football helmets and his big posters of past product rollouts. He was hobnobbing at the executive urinals and grabbing coffee from the amenities bar.

How did Geoff do it? Simple. He mounted a strategy and executed it. He began by spending time on the executive floor, holding meetings and looking like he belonged. He built a supercordial relationship with Bob. When the time was right, he skirted Office Services and simply asked the boss if he could have the office. Bob said, "Yeah, sure." He was in there by morning—and isn't leaving.

We all want 2012 to be the year we take our act to the next level. We're ambitious. We want to do better than we did last year. There are two kinds of guys in the world—the ones who seem to progress, and the guys who complain that they don't. How about we make 2012 the year we all join the first group, which we'll simply call Winners? Use these 12 strategies to make sure you do.

Pump for better gigs.
 

When I was a pup, I dived into any assignment nobody else wanted. This included stuff my peers wanted out of. I did anything that would put me in contact with the executives. Pretty soon I was hanging out with people who were miles above me in rank. Why? Because I did things for them. Bosses like that.

Look out for number one.
 

I wish it were otherwise, but it's always the dicks who do better. Walter Isaacson's book on Steve Jobs shows how much the Apple guy enjoyed pitting people against one another and saw others as tools to be used for his lofty purposes. It worked. So be you. Pursue your objectives without guilt. Stop being polite and start rolling over people on your way to your destiny. In fact, start believing in your destiny! All the great ones do. If you can't, then 2012 will be just another year.

Move your own cheese.
 

If you stay forever in the same place with the same desk, you will always be the same person. Take my friend Bruce, who was supremely bored until about a year ago. Then he began to find reasons to head West. It wasn't a stretch: He had work there. Then he started seeing a woman. As of last month, he formally moved his office to the Left Coast. Stopped wearing a tie, too. You may not be able to do that. But you can do something. A few years ago I had my office repainted. It made for a much better year. Even a simple move down the hall can work—adding a window or space for another chair. And other people will start to see you differently.


Strive for balance.
 

Industry gatherings. Management getaways. Conferences. These can be tedious—or they can change the way you look at things, and the way people look at you. Not only is a crazy gathering of industry types a good chance to troll for a better job, but it's also a setting in which management lets down its hair, if it has any. About 5 years ago I was at one of these things and saw a midlevel manager type from another company sitting with his superiors. He was drunk and he kept screaming "F—-you!" to people he really shouldn't have. The weird thing is that after that, everybody started laughing affectionately whenever they heard his name. That corporation has had, like, 10 "reorganizations" since then, and this bozo survived every one. That is because he formed the all-important Bond of Stupidity with his superiors. It can last a lifetime—if you survive in the first place. Other guys are content simply to get out of the office, distinguish themselves in the field, and have a bit of fun. Any way you do it, one of these events should be a part of your 2012 strategic plan.

Destroy one adversary.
 

Think of all the successful guys you know. How many of them spend at least 20 percent of their conversation time talking about the people they intend to kill soon? I don't know a single heavy hitter who doesn't have blood in his eye. Sometimes he has a competitor in mind; sometimes it's another executive. It doesn't matter. They all have somebody who needs to die. And there are many ways to undermine an enemy. You can point out shortcomings to your foe's associates, and later to his bosses. You can make sure he's on the seventh floor when the meeting is on the 17th. It all starts with the proper, vicious frame of mind. So come on. Isn't there somebody standing in the way of your excellent 2012?

Expand your circle.
 

You need friends in every department of your company. Such sociability would deliver many benefits. People in sales, for instance, are merry, and if they develop a need for what you do, they can take you with them in the tremendous updraft that comes with the revenue they generate. Public Relations people are bright, witty, and excellent at expressing other people's thoughts. If you have none, they can give you some. Lawyers are very grateful that anybody outside their function would want to be their friend. Human Resources people fill jobs throughout the company. They tend to make people nervous and have few friends outside their function. Adopt one today.

Look better.
 

I attended a dinner last month with a bunch of people who have been at the company for a long time. The room was full of people I know, since I've been here from the dawn of time. The room was filled, in short, with Winners and Losers. I'm going to tell you that the Losers were at least 50 percent fatter than the Winners. I'm sorry. That stuff counts.

Create a problem only you can solve.
 

I can't tell you how many guys I know who have made it to the highest levels of corporate power by inventing horrendous crises and then riding in to save the day. My friend Artie is in IT, for instance. He is in a perfect position to occasionally scare the daylights out of everybody over hacking, piracy, or some other encroachment on our digital assets. He does this occasionally. I'd never say he invents the stuff that he alerts us to. But I have been at more than one meeting when people said, "Thank God for Artie" after he had resolved yet another of these issues.


Invent a new title.
 

No raise? Your boss may agree to pump up your title instead. My pal Izz got his department head to issue a short, internal memo announcing a small increase in title that went along with "expanded responsibilities" that were actually quite unclear. He now has a drawer full of congratulatory e-mails and a much higher profile. Potential fictional titles that cost the corporation nothing but may improve your internal branding: Senior Manager, Senior Executive Vice President, and Executive Senior Executive. Be creative!

Visualize your goal.
 

So here's to the new year. The Mayans say it will be our last, but I don't think we can count on that. And if it's not, there's absolutely no reason you can't leave in better shape than you are now. The only thing standing in your way, as always, is you. And that's one crucial entity that is in your control no matter what year it might be.

SCORE YOUR BEST RAISE EVER

Your boss isn't going to simply give you more money—you need to ask for it. Make sure you're taking home the cash you deserve.

TIME IT RIGHT
 

Make your move after the company wins a big account you're involved in, says Cynthia Shapiro, a business and career strategist. Just don't ask right after your annual review, even if it's glowing. Most people ask then, so competition is fierce.

PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS
 

Make a list of your projects, Shapiro says. Emphasize the new responsibilities and leadership roles you've taken on. Prepare as you would for any presentation. If you prove in clear, concise terms that you're an asset, the result could be a big payoff.

MAKE AMENDS
 

The relationship you have with your boss is key because he's the guy who makes the final decision, says Shapiro. If you two don't get along, spend a few weeks (or months) repairing the relationship; volunteer to take tasks off his plate or ask how you can help.

MAKE A JOKE
 

Start with a ridiculously over-the-top figure, says psychologist Todd Thorsteinson, Ph.D. In his recent study, candidates who joked about, say, million-dollar offers before moving to a serious suggestion made out better than candidates who started out realistically.

--KASEY PANETTA

http://www.menshealth.com/fiscally-fit-man/2012-career-year