PB 10/05: Are you in the right place?
The foundations that need to be there for stepping up. And some news from me..
First, some news from me…
I’ll launch formally on LinkedIn in a couple of weeks, but ssshh! you heard it hear first…
For much of the last 5 - 6 years I’ve realised that the thing I’ve got most pride and satisfaction from has been helping others with their careers.
Now I want to put my time and effort into making that my actual job. So - sometime in the next few weeks, I’ll set up formally as a Product Coach (note the capital letters!).
My main focus will be helping Product Managers as they step up to become Product Leaders. So if..
You’re thinking about how/ when to step up - but you’re utterly lost in the day to day and/or not getting the career support you need at work.
You’ve recently been promoted to Group PM/ Head of / Director/ and you’re struggling to get to grips with your new role and responsibilities
You’re feeling in a rut, and you want to get out of it and
You were doing really well in some other job function, and you’ve now moved into Product management and want to keep up the momentum
Why not grab 30 mins with me to see if my coaching might be the right thing for you…(and yes, I will be offering discounts for my first few clients!)
And now, this week’s actual newsletter
Last week, I talked about momentum and growth - and getting into the ‘Go Go’ zone, you might remember this.
This week I want to focus on the first step of looking at how you head from the ‘So so’ zone to the ‘Go go’ zone: which is making sure the foundations are there.
In other words, if you want to go from delivering results to reaping the rewards of those results: bagging that promotion to Senior/ Head of / Director, taking on bigger / more complex initiatives and/or getting a rise, you have to ask the big question: Am I in the right place?
The answer has three dimensions to it.
Are you in the right place personally?
Are you in the right place in your company? (aka - Have you got the right boss?)
Are you in the right company? (and for that matter, sector?)
Are you in the right place, personally?
First are you on the right track at work?. Obviously there will be specific things you need to deliver in some companies, and you’ll need to know what they are, but the foundations are likely to include..
Have you had a couple of good performance reviews - or at least one excellent one?
Do you generally get told ‘good work’?
Can you claim some material wins over the last 12 months?
Do peers and people from other teams/ disciplines come to you for help / guidance?
Are you gradually starting to run meetings you once just attended; or now attending meetings you used to think were just for the grown ups?
But you also need to think about your life as a whole. The responsibilities you have for young families, elderly relatives, or even just your own physical and mental health are much more important as the next step in your amazing career.
You also need to be ready for some failure and knock backs; be up for a few awkward conversations with your boss (however great they are); and - if you move into management, you need to be ready to enjoy the incredibly mixed blessing of having some of your peers reporting into you.
If you generally glide through life and none of this stuff bothers you. Awesome. If you’ve thought it through, weighed up the pros and cons and decided to go ahead. Great. If you’ve done that and you’re 50/50 (or even 40/60)…what the hell, go for it.
But if your gut is saying ‘too much for now’ that’s fine, too.
If your success at work is a veneer of greatness, over an utter shit-storm at home: give yourself a break, and six months, to get things back on track.
Have you got the right boss?
We can tip-toe around this, but ‘are you in the right place in your company’ boils down to ‘do you have the right boss?’. And by ‘boss’ I mean ‘line manager’. It’s not about whether your boss is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ - just about whether they’re right to help you step up.
Here’s what you need.
A boss who seems to care about your career, not just the stuff you’re working on this week and next.
A boss who rates you enough to be able to support your progression (not the same as above)
A boss who knows how to manage the internal workings/ politics / HR and finance mechanics of the organisation, in order to help you step up
A boss who can give you constructive help and guidance needed to get you there…and support. (oh and telling you you need to be ‘more strategic’ doesn’t help! - more of that in a future week)
Now maybe s/he is all of these things, but there isn’t going to be a realistic opportunity to step up within their world. If that’s the case - no problem, because if they really are all these things then a) you’re very lucky and b) they’ll help you get there in the end - even if it means leaving their team.
Are you in the right company?
Now: Are you in the right company/ business/ organisation in order for you to step up…?
The simple answer to this is ‘if you’re there, and you can get promoted or take a step up’ then it’s the right place for you.’
This might not be the right place for you forever, but it might well be the right place for you right now. Make the step up, and then use it as currency to help you make the best next move.
The problem comes when there really isn’t a path ahead. There’s lots of possible reasons for this.
The place and people might be great, but promotion / stepping up just isn’t an option. In a smaller organisation there might not be room.
There might be no budget.
They might be shrinking the product team and / or removing the very layer you want to get promoted into.
The process for promotion might be totally opaque.
Even though you’re an A grade PM, your annoying A+ peer just got the one promo slot going this year.
In all cases a) it’s not your fault and b) it doesn’t make this a bad org..just the wrong org for you to progress. You might have to wait till the job market picks up..but if you want to get ahead, you will need to get moving.
Adding it all up
As I know you’re a structured problem solver…you will have worked out there’s a number of permutations here of You / Boss/ Company that will apply. Each involves a slightly different course of action.
But here’s a quick version.
Happy days: All good? Then you are all good.
Tricky: You’re good; Boss is good - company isn’t: Get the most from your boss, but when the time’s right, start to think about moving on. (if they’re that good, they’ll get it)
Trickier: You’re good; Company’s good; Boss isn’t: You’ll need to very delicately work round them - or find your way onto another team (if there is another team).
Harsh, but fair: You’re good..but your Company and boss aren’t - in which case, unless there is something very powerful keeping you there (and the current job market is one good reason!), you need to be plotting your exit.
Tough - but at least you’re facing into it: You’re not good…well, that might mean you’re in exactly the right place right now, or that place is very much part of the problem. That’s going to take a bit more digging into!
As always taking stock is the first step to success.
In some cases, the next step might involve getting a Product Coach..and did I tell you…. Oh yes, I think I mentioned it!