How to Take Control of your Career in Tumultuous Times

Suzanne Lowe
Suzanne Lowe

Ask for it.

by Suzanne Lowe
Expertise Marketing LLC

At your next performance review, tell your boss you want to stretch yourself and the firm to improve in marketing and selling effectiveness.

1. Diagnose your firm’s barriers to marketing and selling effectiveness. This means you operate from facts. A good idea is like charm . . .  too easily brushed aside.

2. Decide on a barrier you want to remove or a situation you want to improve. (Hint: it has to help the whole firm, not just you.)

3. Ask your boss to let you lead a new project to remove this barrier, but to first set up and then communicate about

a. an agreed-upon set of shared objectives among you and your potential collaborators,

b. an agreed-upon set of shared accountabilities among all, and

c. an agreed-upon set of shared rewards for all.

4. Let people opt out of sharing accountability.

a. The boss outlines the new project with the team, including all shared accountabilities and shared rewards.

b. Anyone who wants to opt out can do so (with the implication that they should step up later toward sharing their own accountability with someone else for another improvement initiative).

Suzanne Lowe is president of Expertise Marketing LLC and the author of Marketplace Masters (Praeger, 2004) and The Integration Imperative (Professional Services Books, 2009).