Along the way from functional doer to executive thinker, you have to cross a magic, invisible line, where on yonder side, things like knowledge of the company’s budgeting or on-boarding processes suddenly and inexplicably become… irrelevant.
What?! Did he just say “irrelevant?”
I did. Now be quiet and pay attention.
(And as a sweetener, at the end of this post I’ve included a link to the actual content of an entire book which lays out for you how you’re completely messing up your career, and what to do when you want to start getting it right. So hang in there, Sparky.)
I understand, oh ye careerist, that the Holy Grail of Executive Training appears to be a strategic finance class that shows you precisely how to calculate the impact of an increase in bad debt allowance on your Q3 P&L. I also understand that by the time you get to corporate executivedom, you will be so consumed by the relative merits of a bond offering versus a stock offering versus a sale that you will have little time for P&L reviews and will be forced to hire quality underlyings—with the mindset you have today, ahem—to handle such items.
So what are you to make of this mystical transition? How will you respond to my cry that thy vision of tomorrow’s job is no more than a cursed mirage, offering no respite from the desert wasteland that is your work life? How can you possibly prepare for such craziness?!
For starters, take advantage of the link below and start reading How to Self-Destruct: Making the Least of What’s Left of Your Career.
Here’s a little snippet from this week’s installment, from a chapter on screwing up an executive job interview:
I’m neither strategic nor execution-oriented, and I want to capitalize on my severe shortcomings in these areas [to self-destruct]. Any tips?
Don’t take the lead by anticipating questions.
If you get the gist of where the interview is heading, keep it to yourself! The willingness to take appropriate risks in pursuit of your goals is a desirable trait in leaders. In an interview, determining the pattern of the interview and then leading your interviewer along could get you the job by signaling such risk-taking.
What if I want to get the job?
Plan to answer every question from the perspective of the position you are interviewing for.
If you can’t see yourself in the new job, neither can the interviewer. This means you need to go beyond projecting confidence; it means you need to demonstrate deep awareness of the types of issues, struggles, opportunities, and decisions you will face in the new role, as well as an appropriately high-level perspective for addressing them. You need to do all this in addition to interviewing fundamentals like sitting up straight.
Want the rest of the book? Click here and scroll down. The first 5 chapters are already live… the rest are being posted one at a time each week.
Posted under Job Interviews, How to Self-Destruct
This post was written by Jason Seiden on November 12, 2008
