Thought Leaders
The Resilient Career: Identifying and Making Strategic Shifts
Despite turbulence in the current economic climate, there is a silver lining for those who have the flexibility to turn uncertainty into opportunity. Paul Schoemaker, who teaches in several Wharton Executive Education programs including Critical Thinking and Full-Spectrum Innovation, explains in his book Profiting From Uncertainty that “human beings have inherent limitations in dealing with uncertainty... But uncertainty has the potential for creating value.”
Tapping into this potential requires a high level of flexibility and focus. In fact, these two elements are the key to both career resiliency and the ability to capitalize on opportunity, according to Deb Giffen, a Master Certified Coach and head of Wharton’s Executive Education’s Coaching Center of Excellence.
When you change careers, there are distinct elements of your work life that will change. And the more you’re prepared for a shift in one or more of these areas, the more smoothly your transition will go.
–Deb Giffen, Master Certified Coach; Program Director, Wharton Executive Education
“To be well positioned for the next opportunity, you can start now to make the changes that are likely to be demanded of you,” says Giffen, who is also a program director for Wharton Executive Education. “The resilient executive is one who is agile enough make shifts in both skills and thinking.”
“When you change careers, there are distinct elements of your work life that will change,” Giffen advises. “And the more you’re prepared for a shift in one or more of these areas, the more smoothly your transition will go.” Giffen identifies five key areas that require a shift in thinking — and in some cases ramping up capabilities — during times of career change:
Focus
Get clear about what you want, and how to articulate it. The strategy of being “open to any opportunity” is ineffective because interviewers won’t see the value you can add. Instead, focus on your strengths (what you’re good at), your passions (what you love to do), and your connections (your extended network and the opportunities around you).
It’s not necessary to limit your focus to a specific job function or industry. Your focus could also be on roles that you like to perform, such as change agent, team leader, implementer, or innovator.
Foundation
Now is the time to make sure your foundational business skills, those that add value across all areas of business, are up to speed. These include negotiating, strategic thinking, peripheral vision, financial acumen, leadership, implementing strategy, and general business acumen. These are skills that will be valuable in any future position.
Technical Skills
If you’re planning to switch fields, do some research to discover what new knowledge or technical skills are in demand in that area. You may, for example, need to learn advanced skills in marketing or strategic R&D management.
Mindset
Most companies would rather hire a front runner than an expert. Front runners aren’t focused on the past, but know where things are going. They can quickly adapt to and profit from what’s about to happen next. Front runners recognize and understand patterns, synthesize information quickly, and anticipate the how the effects of emerging trends across multiple industries could impact their own area of interest.
In Wharton’s High-Potential Leaders program, Ram Charan recommends spending 30 minutes a day tracking and anticipating the changes in the world, and mapping them to the industry or functional area that you want to enter. Then explore questions such as: If this trend continues, what challenges are likely to arise next? What new problems or needs will the customers have? What new opportunities will emerge?
Network
Your network will also change when you make a career transition, so start widening your circle now. Attend industry events and select mentors and a personal board of directors who can help you during and after your transition. Let people know specifically what you’re looking for and how they can help. Use your front-runner research and speculations to help keep these people aware of the ideas and trends you’re discovering so they get value from their exchanges with you too.
Flexibility and focus are also the themes of Wharton’s new program, Leading a Resilient Organization: Achieving Results During Challenging Times. The program gives executives the context for developing the resilience in themselves and in their organizations that is necessary for making important shifts and changes. As Jim Loehr, the program’s expert on positive energy management and author of The Power of Full Engagement, points out, “When your energy is low, you lose focus.” And focus, Giffen advises, is exactly what you need when you’re making a change.
Related Programs
Focus:
Foundation:
- Executive Development Program
- Executive Negotiation Workshop
- Strategic Persuasion
- Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage
- Finance and Accounting
- Leading and Managing People
- High Potential Leaders
- The Leadership Journey
- Implementing Strategy
Technical Skills:
- Creating Value Through Financial Management
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Essentials of Marketing
- Pricing Strategies: Measuring, Capturing, and Retaining Value
- Wharton Marketing Metrics™: Linking Marketing to Financial Consequences
- Strategic R&D Management
Mindset:
- Advanced Management Program
- Leading a Resilient Organization
- Full-Spectrum Innovation
- Critical Thinking
Network:
Related Reading:
- The Go Point: Leading Up, Michael Useem
- Leading in an Era of Economic Uncertainty, Ram Charan
- Making Strategy Work, Lawrence Hrebiniak
- Profiting from Uncertainty, Paul Schoemaker
- Peripheral Vision, George Day and Paul Schoemaker
- The Game Changer, A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan
- Bargaining for Advantage, G. Richard Shell
- The Art of Woo, G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa
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