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Champagne, Caviar, Cowboys and Career Caveats

February 1, 2009 | Author: Promise Phelon | Filed under: Mentoring, The Networking Habit

This weekend, my husband and I were invited to a party by one of the big Silicon Valley investors.

The good news: It was lots of fun and the guests were some of the best and brightest in Silicon Valley. I met the founders of an online collaboration company called SimplyBox. I also had a conversation that helped me define five phases of career development, which may help you clarify where you are on your path.

The bad news: The Russian hostess made me a “light” vodka martini. My husband, who’s background is Russian, warned that “light” is a relative term. So, there were conversations where I predicted the Dallas Cowboys would win the SuperBowl hands down, even though the Cowboys weren’t playing!

Back to That Conversation

I spent a long time talking to a 20-something guy who’s working in finance at a large company. He’d recently considered hopping to a younger, more aggressive company, but decided to stay in what sounds like an unfulfilling job. He was worried about the salary in the new position and how he’d have to work to build competency. I was puzzled by the reasoning and was up late wondering if that was a wise move for him. Maybe not. He’s safe, but the team at the other company could have given him a tool kit he can’t get at his current job.

It’s Not Just About Salary, It’s About Colleagues and Mentors

When I moved from L.A. to the Valley 10 years ago, it was to work at BEA Systems, in the services organization. There were more lucrative opportunities and better titles, but I chose to work at BEA because of “who I would work for” and not how much money I’d make.

I believe that early in your career, it’s more important to find the right people vs. the right financial package (remember last week’s post about Carol Bartz?). A caveat, however: Not just really smart people, but well-connected and generous ones, people who will give you REAL developmental opportunities and who will have your back.

I’ve talked about Barbara Britton, my mentor, and how she helped my career early on. Well, mentorship is NOT uncommon among our “elite professional” UpModels. For instance, one of our UpModels, DEMO conference producer Chris Shipley, told us several stories of people who gave her a seat at the table very early in her career.

That isn’t always the case. Tonight I was coaching a friend who’s in his 60s and in the healthcare recruiting space. The ideal move for him is NOT to go work for a great manager, but to find an opportunity where he can leverage his experience while mentoring others and leading the next wave of thinking so that he might be a sought-after consultant in the future.

Five Phases of Career Development: Where are You?

These two conversations prompted me to look back at my notes on the hundreds of UpMo.com user conversations I’ve had over the past several months. I jotted down the five phases that our users are in:

1. Definition of talents and strengths
2. Shaping talents and strengths into repeatable, recognizable competencies
3. Development of a professional relationship ecosystem based on proven implementation of competencies
4. Application of “lessons learned” and sharing competencies with others
5. Leverage, mentorship and next-wave thinking

These phases do not always correspond with age or years of experience; it’s about your life decisions and career goals. Where are you in this continuum? And how are you ensuring you quickly get to the next phase?

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