Carnegie Hall – with the Mark Howell Singers

Blog for Week Feb 7, 2011 – Creating Performance Currency

Work on Purpose/Work with Purpose: Creating Performance Currency

As I discuss in Chapter 2 of Expect To Win, it is important that you have an agenda if you want to maximize your professional success. Know WHY you are doing what you are doing? Did you take the seat that you are in because you wanted a specific experience, a certain salary, to build a network of colleagues, mentors, sponsors, etc.?

As I have said countless times in my speeches, if you have an agenda and you know why you are doing what you are doing, then it will help to keep you focused on delivering excellence in everything that you do , avoid internal and external distractions and will keep you from making emotional decisions about your career. No matter what is going on around you, you will be able to stay the course because you are prosecuting YOUR agenda.

This week, I ask you to work ON purpose and work WITH purpose. In all that you do this week, remind yourself that you are choosing to be in the seat that you are in, you are choosing to expend your energy in this profession, at this particular organization, and with the people that you are working with. Therefore, if you are making those choices, you should deliver whatever your job is with excellence. As the old saying goes, “if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.” Anytime that you consistently do an outstanding job, no matter what your task, you create performance currency for yourself.

Performance currency helps to position you for better job assignments, for greater responsibility, for higher pay and for new and myriad opportunities both internally and externally. You should be deliberate about doing an outstanding job at all times so that you can create flexibility for yourself, in other words, WORK ON PURPOSE. Do a great job on purpose so that you can use the performance currency to negotiate or “purchase” greater success. You will not be able to ascend in any organization using political currency alone. Sure, political currency is valuable and it can and will help you to ascend up the ladder, but at the end of the day, performance currency is more powerful and it has staying power. Political currency is highly dependent upon the current players, the current regime, the current environment and it is fluid. Performance currency transcends the current players, regime or environment and can create a platform or springboard in times when political currency may be inconsequential or irrelevant. In environments that are more meritocratic than not, performance
currency is the most valuable currency you can have. Aspire to excellence with every opportunity that
you have, do it ON PURPOSE, WITH PURPOSE to create the maximum amount of performance currency
available to you.

Blog for Week January 31, 2011

Law of the Jungle: Know that YOU ARE COMPETITIVE

As some of you know, I had the awesome opportunity to visit South Africa recently and to go on safari.If you have never done it, I highly recommend a safari experience if you have a chance to do it. In preparation for our first “ride” the ranger gave us a briefing of the do’s and don’ts while out in the bush with the animals.

One of the things that he said was, “Remember that the lions, and the other animals, but the lions in particular, see you as competition. Man is the highest form of predator and they see you as competitive. If you come upon a lion or another animal, look them in the eye to establish your authority, your position as a worthy competitor, and then slowly start to back away, until the animal backs down or loses interest and also begins to walk away.”
As he finished the “briefing”, I had the epiphany that the REAL jungle probably did influence the creation
of the term the “corporate jungle” and that the rules are perhaps quite similar, if not the same. In fact
this rule, of standing your ground, looking the competition in the eye, is essential to your success in the
work environment. What is even more important than the competition seeing you as competitive is
that you see YOURSELF as competitive. How often is it that you discount yourself, your competitiveness,
your ability, your intelligence? You have to know that you know, that you know, that you did not get to
where you are by accident. You have a track record of accomplishments and “firsts”. Sure you may have
made mistakes or had disappointments or setbacks, but the important question is “did you learn from
it?” Did you get the blessing of the lesson? If the answer is yes, add it to your tool chest, and then move
on triumphantly and confidently. You should be confident in your track record, your intelligence, your
ability to work hard, to learn quickly, and to produce results. See YOURSELF as competitive, and if you
have a legitimate weakness or something that you need to improve, own it and resolve to fix or improve
it, QUICKLY.

You should never discount yourself and thereby create a competitive advantage for someone else.
If you are not competitive, or are not seen as competitive, then in the jungle where there is only
competition and prey, then you must be……

Own and underscore your strengths, use them aggressively. Since you are seen as competitive in the
jungle, BE COMPETITIVE and maximize your success!

Blog for Week January 3, 2011: HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR: HERE’S TO AN AWESOME 2011

Happy New Year and I hope that you are gearing up for an awesome 2011. If 2010 taught us nothing else, it reinforced how FAST time is moving and how it is more important than ever to plan and have a strategy for your professional and personal success. Without a plan, it is easy for time to move along and then you find that in the first quarter of 2011, nothing has really changed for you, then its spring, then we are planning for Memorial Day weekend and then uh, oh, it’s June and half of the year is gone! In this first week of January, reassess 2010, how you spent it and more importantly how you ended it and if you haven’t already done it, ask yourself the question, what has to happen in 2011 for you to say, “wow 2011 was an awesome year!” ?

Pick 5 things that need to happen for you to look back on December 31, 2011 and say that 2011 was the best year yet. I suggest that of the 5 things you choose, pick two things that need to happen professionally, two things personally (these could include, health, relationship, financial, material goals), and one thing spiritually. In order to accomplish each of these goals, I suggest that you come up with a 3 month and a 6 month plan as to how you will get there. For example, let’s assume that one of your professional goals is to position yourself for a promotion this year. In the first month of this year, you should sit down with your manager or boss and make sure that he or she understands that this
is your goal for this year, articulate what you think you need to do in order for it to happen and more importantly solicit their response on the plan and understand whether or not in his or her mind, you are eligible for a promotion and what the key requirements are for or obstacles to getting there. Assuming that there are no obstacles, and the promotion will be based on your concrete performance and the your relative performance to your peers, then put a plan in action to put real “points on the board” in the first quarter of this year. If you are in sales for example, set a goal to increase sales with existing clients and strive to bring in 2-3 new clients in the first 90 days of this year. Set a schedule for check in meeting with your boss at the 6 week, 9 week and 12 week mark. If you are an engineer, set stretch goals for the execution of the project that you are working on and more importantly define them as stretch goals with your boss and the proceed to meet and hopefully, exceed them.

The key of planning for your success this year, is to 1) understand what success at the micro level (in your bosses mind) and in YOUR mind, set a time goal for achieving the success and put a plan in action that you will execute by DAILY.

In this weekly blog, I will commit to providing you with tools and perspective that will help you maximize your success professionally. Each week, I will add some perspective on the tools of the trade that I have learned and I will also answer questions that have come in from readers of Expect to Win or that I have received from people that I have met on the road or at various speaking commitments.

You can also e-mail me questions at Carla@carlaspearls.com. I will of course, answer the questions without reference to the name of the person asking the question

Let’s all have an AWESOME 2011!!!!

Blog for Week October 30, 2010:

What happens if my sponsor leaves my organization, where do I begin to look for another sponsor?

First of all J., as you get more and more senior, it is important that you have 2 or 3 sponsors for exactly the reason that your primary sponsor, could leave the organization and you are uncovered.  If your primary sponsor leaves the organization, you can still use the power of their relationship, their capital, to get a warm introduction to a new potential sponsor.

The conversation goes like this: (let’s call your sponsor,  Tim), “Tim you have been an incredible sponsor for me over the past ____ (years/months) and I greatly value how you have used your capital and your influence to shepard me through the day to day political landscape and through these last two promotions. Your leaving the organization is a loss to us as an organization, but most importantly to me as a professional. You and I both know that it is important for me to have a sponsor for my continued success. I would like to get your thoughts about who you think might be able and interested in playing that role for me.  Would you be willing to make a “warm” call for me to explore the idea and then I will follow up?”

It is important to remember that just because your sponsor may be leaving an organization does not mean that they lose all of their political capital or influence within that organization (unless they are leaving because of extremely negative circumstances). You want to take full advantage of their reach within the organization while they are still there and even immediately after they leave. Hopefully, as in this case, Tim will call someone he trusts and someone who he knows has the power to help you and say,  “J is one of the people that I think is a star/strong player/up and coming key player and I would like for you to look out for him/her.  He/She will need your help, as I am leaving and I trust that you will help to keep them on a good trajectory. He/she won’t let you down; they are a good use of your capital.”

After that call has been made (within a week), you should follow up and seek to get on that person’s calendar to begin a relationship. Go to that meeting prepared to talk about your history at the company, focusing more on what your current responsibilities are and where you are seeking to move next. You also want to spend approximately a third to one half of the conversation talking about your new sponsor and what objectives or challenges are on his/her agenda because you would like to ideally find a way to be helpful to them as part of your new relationship.  Lastly, you should follow up with Tim after the first 2 or 3 meetings that you have with your new sponsor to let him know how the relationship is progressing. The purpose of this is three-fold: 1) you want to maintain a relationship with Tim even though he is no longer at your firm, he is a useful member of your network; 2) you want Tim to confirm that this sponsor was a good choice; 3) and lastly if the relationship is not developing, you want Tim to know sooner rather than later, so that he might be able to redirect you to someone else if possible.

CNBC: Another Accolade for Carla…

Airtime: Wed. Oct. 6 2010
Insight on women in the banking business, with Diane Reyes, Citigroup global head of payments; Shelaghmichael Brown, BBVA Compass; Susan Ehrlich, Sears Financial Services; Carla Harris, Morgan Stanley Investment Management; Michelle Van Dyke, Fifth Third Bancorp; and Barb Rehm, US Banker.

Blog for week of September 20, 2010: Choosing a Sponsor

Choosing a Sponsor

As I write in Chapter 5 of Expect To Win, a sponsor is the most important professional relationship that you need to have if you want to maximize your success in your environment. You can survive a very long time in your career without a mentor, but you will NOT be able to ascend within any organization without a sponsor.

A sponsor is the person that is using his or her professional and social capital on your behalf. They are carrying your paper into the room, as I like to say. Behind closed doors they will argue passionately on your behalf as to why you should get the promotion, stellar bonus, or the new opportunity.  The question that I frequently get when I am speaking about “the Pearls” is “what is the profile of an ideal sponsor?”

Your ideal sponsor is someone who has had significant exposure to you and your work output. They do not have to be your direct boss or supervisor, although sometimes this can be the case. The person needs to have enough exposure to you and your work, so that they can be credible at the decision making table when arguing why you should get the great opportunity or promotion.  Secondly, the person must have power within the organization and must be a respected voice.  If the person does not have a direct seat at the decision making table, they must be able to influence someone who does have that power.  As I like to say, your sponsor needs to have juice. They need to be able to get it done on your behalf, whatever “it” happens to be a raise, bonus, promotion, etc.  Lastly, the person needs to be passionate about you, what you have done for the organization, and your career trajectory.  They must be passionate and a believer in you. They should also be willing and able to recruit others to your success team and garner more support for you within the organization.

A sponsor is the most important relationship that you can have within your professional career.  As I have said many times before, you cannot do it on your own. Your intelligence, hard work, and experience are necessary in your objective of maximizing your success, necessary, but not sufficient. You will need relationships and other people and the sponsor relationship is the most important one that you can have.

3rd Quarter Review

Here we are, almost at the end of the 3^rd quarter of 2010! One quarter left to go to fulfill your professional goals of 2010.  It is important to stop and take inventory of where you are and to have those important conversations regarding your expectations about promotions or new assignments.

As you prepare for the discussion, you must do the following:

• Review your personal agenda and the “report card” that you agreed upon with your manager at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010; Everything that you agreed that you would accomplish this year should be COMPLETE by the end of the 3^rd quarter.
• Make a detailed list of your accomplishments as well as a list of the one or two things that you will complete by Sept. 30^th
• Schedule a quick meeting 15-30 minutes with your manager where you review what you have done during the first three quarters of this year and agree upon those things that are remaining for the year. This is also the time to reiterate that you are focused on your promotion or new assignment. You want to understand from your manager that you are on the right trajectory. Obviously, he/she cannot make any guarantees at this point (after all there is still a quarter of performance to go), however, this conversation will open the door for them to give you a heads up if things don’t look good for you, or if there are some previously unforeseen obstacles that you need to be aware of and will have to work through in the 4^th quarter.  You should also ask your manager if there is anything else that you could do to make their job of sponsoring you for promotion any easier.

This is also an excellent time for you to check in with your sponsor to understand if there is any data in the market place that you should be aware of concerning your candidacy. You should also make sure that your sponsor (assuming your sponsor is different than you direct manager), is VERY aware of your key accomplishments and ANYTHING that you think could potentially be an impediment with an explanation of why you don’t think that the issue is insurmountable.

Assuming that that you get the tacit green light from your manager and your sponsor is also constructive about your prospects, plan to finish your annual plan by September 30^th and then focus on the 4^th quarter with continued strong performance, a great attitude, adequate time spent continuing to invest in key relationships, and looking for opportunities to do something extraordinarily value add.

Blog for Week of July 4, 2010

Happy Independence Day and welcome to the beginning of the THIRD  quarter of this year!

Yes, 2010 seems to be going faster than 2009. It’s time, if you haven’t already done it to take inventory of where you are in this year’s professional goals.

If you did not do the following in June, at the end of the second quarter, commit to the following in the next 10 days:

-Review your professional agenda:

• Have you completed the projects you started to work on?
• Have you had the experiences that you wanted to have, been exposed to the key people that you wanted to get exposed to?
• Have you had at least 3-4 conversations with your mentor?
• Have you had at least 2-3 conversations with your sponsor?
• Have you chosen a sponsor, if you realized at the end of 2009 that you did not have one or your sponsor had recently left your firm?
• Are you clear on what it takes to get promoted this year if that was your aspiration/objective as we started 2010
• Have you compared your report card and your understanding of what it takes to get promoted with your firm’s report card?
• Have you had a mid-year evaluation or conversation where you reiterate your expectations about how this year should develop?
• If you are behind on your projects at work, commit to overtime or early  morning time this week to catch up. Do not let July 15th catch you still way behind.

It’s the 3rd quarter, time to get it in gear , so that this year will END as YOU intend!

Blog for Week of June 13th: Fear and Fatigue

Fear and Fatigue

Last week I postulated that as I travel around the country giving speeches in corporate, academic or conference settings and spend time speaking to women, I am forming a conclusion that the two biggest impediments to women in maximizing their success are FEAR and FATIGUE. In last week’s blog, I talked about FATIGUE and how it is an impediment, particularly to more seasoned professional women, in maximizing their success and in this week’s blog, I want to discuss the role of FEAR and the role it plays in impeding success maximization.

As I discussed in Expect To Win, when you think about WHY you don’t really “go for IT”, the big promotion, the new opportunity that could really catapult your career, having the big conversation with your boss, leaving your job that you know is below your intellectual or skill level to reach for something more challenging, or whatever IT is, the answer is usually rooted in FEAR. You are afraid of failing, or you are afraid of success, you are afraid of what your family will say, you are afraid of what “people” will think, you are afraid of the unknown, you are afraid that if it doesn’t quite work out the way you think it will, then what, you are afraid that if you are too successful, you might be not be able to find a significant other, or you are just plain scared!

While FATIGUE is the more predominant impediment to more seasoned career professionals, FEAR is the predominant deterrent to younger, less experienced professionals. I am not saying that more seasoned professional women aren’t also plagued by FEAR, fear of losing what they have worked so hard for, fear of failure, etc., but FATIGUE is more often than not the reason why they don’t go for it, pull out all of the stops, and leave it on the floor.  Younger professionals generally have less familial responsibility, more energy in general and less of their career has been spent fighting their way up the corporate ladder, so FATIGUE has not had a legitimate opportunity to settle in as a constant friend and then as a formidable foe. However, because younger professionals have less experience in recovering from mistakes and less experience in general, they are more afraid of a mistake, for they fear that they will not be able to recover from it. They don’t necessarily identify with the “this too will pass” adage and mantra of more seasoned professionals who understand that there will always be challenges and that maturity teaches you that there is always a way to solve a challenge. Younger, less experienced professionals are most often overwhelmed when challenges arise and are therefore less inclined to take risks that could result in outsized returns for FEAR that the mistake or not achieving the goal could be a real career breaker, or insurmountable. If you identify with this statement, then know that you are allowing FEAR to slow you down, to sabotage your ability to maximize your success.

So FEAR has you in its grip, what do you do now?

1. First, understand that ANY time that you approach ANY opportunity, conversation or challenge from a position of fear; you will always UNDERPENETRATE that opportunity. You cannot and will not be able to maximize your success in that endeavor. You will not get the maximum return on your energy expended. So if you are going to bother pursuing any endeavor, pursue it WITHOUT FEAR, so that you will get the most out of your effort;
2. Second, understand that this is YOUR life and the TIME in your life is the most precious thing that you have in it, for it is finite. You can always get more money, more things, more skills, but you will never get more TIME. You cannot afford to waste this precious entity, which you will never get more of. You will never see THIS day in your life again, so you must spend it professionally and personally in a way that you are getting the most return from it. So do not waste another moment endeavoring to do things that will not give you the highest yield on your time expended. FEAR will cause you to lose valuable time. It will cause you to stay in a seat that you should abdicate because you are no longer learning, you are no longer producing for your firm in a productive, high impact way. FEAR will block your ability to make a decision that could result in a wonderful career or job with a steeper learning curve and career trajectory.
3. Thirdly, understand that because it is YOUR life, you cannot let the FEAR of what others will think or say, impede your forward motion or your propensity to take a risk. Other people’s opinions or advice may be needed, appreciated, or even asked for and it may be excellent advice, but you cannot let what you think their reaction might be deter you to your decision, if you fundamentally believe that you are making a great decision for YOU. As a dear friend, once told me, this is real life, this ain’t no dress rehearsal!” This life was given to YOU. Everyone has the opportunity to make the most of it, don’t let someone else’s fears, concerns, or negative spirit deter you from maximizing yours.
4. Fourthly, FEAR of success is a tricky concept. Most of us would never admit that we are afraid of success, yet sometimes people sabotage themselves and their own success, because they are afraid of the unknown. They are afraid of how life might change if they are successful, how others might react, and the new challenges that await them when they get to a new level. Remember that you have been given gift of intelligence, of experience, of a network and of valuable relationships that have enabled you to attain higher and higher levels of success.  You have the responsibility to go for it. With every new level of success, you receive a more powerful platform from which you can be effective in helping others succeed, you can deploy the multiplier effect in all of your actions, which is incredibly powerful and which will ultimately enable you to achieve even more in your life.  If you are afraid of the new level, the new promotion, the new title, the new challenges that wait, refer to your track record. You have a track record of firsts in your life, a track record of overcoming things that once looked like challenges and ended up as accomplishments. Refer to your track record, if you did it before, you can do it again;
5. Lastly, remind yourself that the worst that can happen if you go for it, is that you FAIL, but failure always brings you a gift and that gift is called experience. Now you know how to do it better, now you know how to do it differently, now you know how to do it successfully. The journey to go for it, is always worth it. You learn something; you add experience and knowledge to your tool chest that, if it can’t be used now, it can be harvested later, where it might bring you even greater value.  You cannot let FEAR rob you of the satisfaction that you will have AFTER you have had endeavored to GO FOR IT!

Remember, FEAR HAS NO PLACE IN YOUR SUCCESS EQUATION!

HAVE AN EXTRAORDINARILY BLESSED AND TERRIFIC WEEK!!!

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