In his previous book, Lose the Resume, Land the Job, author Gary Burnison exposed the myths and the ineffective thinking around how to land the job you really want. Now, in Advance, he takes readers through the next stage—advancing in their careers.
Advance is extremely timely and topical in today's do-it-yourself career development world. Average job tenure has fallen to about four years on average and often only one or two years for younger professionals. These "career nomads" simply aren't around long enough to access career development from their employers. On the other end of the workplace spectrum, many employees find themselves stuck in one job without a promotion, without any raise to speak of, and with no opportunities to learn and grow.
In Advance, Burnison lays out a mosaic of "how-to" advice that applies every day and at every level—the skills and behaviors that help people navigate their careers and stand out among the crowd. He takes on a "Top 20" of career must-haves: managing for the first time, engaging in the "money conversation" with your boss, dealing with difficult bosses (without quitting), coping with coworkers (without losing your mind), making presentations (that don't put people to sleep), mastering digital communication (and avoiding emails that will get you fired), thinking globally (without leaving your office), taking an overseas assignment, meeting senior leaders for the first time (without putting your foot in your mouth), navigating political waters (without sinking your career), reading and fitting in with the culture, and more.
•Wisdom on taking your career to the next level
•Career development tips
•Guidance on being seen and heard
•Written by the CEO of one of the world's largest management consulting firms
Whether you're just starting your career, high up on the ladder, or "stuck" anywhere in between, Advance gives you the know-how to get on a path to where you want to go.
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You get hired for what you can do but fired for who you are. So if you want to get ahead, start there–figure out who you are and the value you bring.
Awareness awakens!
CHAPTER 1 TAKING CONTROL: It’s Harder Than You Think
I’ll never forget the date: September 4, 1984. There I was in my Brooks Brothers suit and my shiny new wing tips, carrying the hard-sided leather briefcase that was empty except for a handful of pens and pencils. Having grown up in a small town in Kansas, I’d never been in a skyscraper office building before I went on job interviews. But as a graduate of the University of Southern California and having passed the CPA exam, I was fortunate enough to receive several job offers from accounting and consulting firms. When I walked through the heavy oak door of Peat Marwick Mitchell (today’s KPMG), I felt like I’d arrived—until I met all the others.
There were 125 of us in that year’s class of new hires, and that was just in the Los Angeles office. Then they gave us the speech: Within two years, 50 percent of us would be gone—and even more within four years. Only one or maybe two of us would ever make partner.
Things started to change with the first assignment: Global merger? Massive restructuring? Takeover attempt? Nope—moving boxes.
I heard others complain, but I had worked summers in college as a mover—although not in a suit that I couldn’t afford to get dirty. I moved boxes all week, from office to office and between floors. When I was done with the boxes, I was given a phone book and a 10-key calculator and told to add the rows of phone numbers to sharpen my 10-key skills. Ridiculous busywork? For sure. But I did it without complaint because that’s what I was asked to do.
EARLY ON, I NOTICED HOW CERTAIN PEOPLE AT THE CONSULTING FIRM STOOD OUT BECAUSE THEY JUST “DID IT.” THEY HAD “HUSTLE.”
Early on, I noticed how certain people at the consulting firm stood out because they just “did it.” They had “hustle.” Over the years, I’ve noticed how hustle and hunger quash pedigree every time—even if someone is an Ivy League graduate or has a PhD. It’s been shown that people who have to scramble in their careers not only do well (and often better than their pedigreed peers), but they learn from their failures and end up in a career that yields greater satisfaction. If things are too easy or if privilege opens all the doors, the result can be misery and discontent—no matter how much money you earn.
All my young life, I hustled: delivering newspapers, painting houses, working construction—you name it. It wasn’t that we were poor; it’s just that we didn’t have any money. There is something about seeing, as a kid, all the furniture being repossessed and taken from the house that chills your bones. That image reminds me daily of where I came from and, more importantly, who I am.
My first real assignment at KPMG was doing inventory in a cavernous warehouse. My trial by fire was accepting (and drinking) a cup of coffee from the warehouse manager in a dirty mug he pulled straight out of the sink. As if to sanitize it a little, he ran the mug under the faucet for two seconds and used his fingers to wipe off the dirt. In doing this, I earned the respect of that warehouse manager, who saw that I wasn’t just another college grad who wouldn’t get his hands dirty. I had done this type of work before, from crawling over pallets to scaling piles of boxes.
Flash-forward nine years after that first job: I was among fewer than a handful of people from my Los Angeles “class” at the firm who made partner. Flash-forward 23 years to 2007: I became CEO of Korn Ferry. So much has changed in that time—successes and failures, all lessons I’ve embraced.
At the top of the lesson list: take control. You can’t expect others to get you ready for the next job or open the door to the next opportunity. You have to do it yourself. Second, stay humble, because humility supports lifelong learning. Third, you gotta have hustle.
THE PATH TO HUSTLE: TAKING CONTROL
Here’s the caveat:I can’t teach you hustle. If you don’t have it, if you’ve never had it, there’s nothing I can do for you. (And nobody else can, either.) That may sound harsh, but the brutal truth is, nobody can put in what nature left out. And even if you have it, hustle is hard to sustain throughout your entire career. People sometimes slow down at certain points and then have to get their mojo back later.
So, to keep that fire in your belly, you’ll need a plan—you’ll need to take control of your career. Here’s an obvious analogy: if someone told you that within two years you’d have a heart attack, you’d probably make some big changes immediately. It’s a no-brainer, because that kind of prognosis isn’t just a wake-up call, it’s a “shake-up” call. Nothing is as important as your health.
But what about the health of your career? What if you knew you were going to be fired in a year? Surely you’d make some big changes.
Too often, though, people get complacent. They settle into a rut until one day they wake up and discover that their company has been acquired, their boss has been fired, or they’re being downsized. They’re out of a job—and out of luck, because they have no idea what to do.
Or they do the opposite. While job-hopping is no longer a negative, they’re making leaps without looking. They’re bored, they want a change, something pays a little more—so they move. But they never stop to ask: Am I really learning anything?
Whether you’re lethargic or you’re constantly moving, you need to take control. Think of your career as a long game composed of many short moves. No one is going to do it for you, making sure that you’re progressing with each step and job change along the way. It’s all on you.
WHAT DRIVES YOU?
Let’s be honest here: taking control of your career is hard work—and you’re doing it largely on your own. You can’t wait for your employer to guide your career development. And if you’re making job changes every few years, even if your employer ha...
