“Ask not what your company can do for you, ask what you can do for your company”
With apologies to John F. Kennedy, the 35th President’s inaugural speech quote from 1961 seems highly relevant today as a call for those looking to advance or develop their careers. When we find ourselves at a career inflection point, our thoughts often turn inward first. What do I want? What do I need? What will make me more fulfilled in my work? While these introspective questions are very important and can help determine direction, they should not be featured prominently in conversations with those who can hire, promote or enable our career growth.
These career champions want to know that we understand the challenges facing the firm and that we are equipped and ready to help tackle them. It comes down to 3 critical actions:
1. Assessing the challenges and opportunities – do your homework
2. Clarifying your value proposition – identify your assets
3. Delivering an aligned message - to the decision-makers or influencers
Assess the situation
Doing your homework is imperative to let your champions know that you understand what they are up against. What’s the strategy for the business? What steps are they taking to realize that strategic outcome? What’s working? What isn’t?
If you are internal, this should be a continual pursuit. Developing a strong curiosity about the business and the organization you are working for will allow you to connect the dots and uncover insights into where opportunities lie. As a potential outside candidate, your research will reveal issues, needs, cultural markers and more that will allow you to form a clear picture of how you can contribute. As an outsider it is also critically important to understand and use the right language for the industry. Hiring managers become uncomfortable if the person they are considering doesn’t demonstrate a good understanding of the company and industry vernacular.
Your Value Proposition
While maintaining focus on the company or organization, recognize that you can’t be the right solution if you are unclear on what you bring to the party. Your value proposition is a combination of your relevant skills, experience and personal attributes that is tied to your target role. Don’t leave it up to your champions to connect the dots for how you match up with the position. You as the “solution” needs to be packaged in the right way to compellingly speak to the assessed situation.
When we are too focused on ourselves, we tend to recite our accomplishments or achievements as we prioritize them or in chronological order. When considering things from the company or organization perspective, select the important parts of your background that correlate with the team or circumstances you are looking to add value to.
Pitching your Value Proposition
Why do you deserve this opportunity? You’ve done your homework, in some cases for years, and you have thoughtfully crafted your approach to how you can help. Make sure you provide evidence of your accomplishments. They make your case stronger and more convincing.
Again, it’s about the company or organization’s situation and how what you offer aligns with advancing their goals. It is about you, but it’s not only about you. As a matter of fact, your clarification of their challenges and matching your assets and approach to meeting those challenges should allow your champions to come to an obvious conclusion: that you’re the one for the job.
It’s not that you shouldn’t think about yourself or what’s important to you for this next step in your career. It’s just that you want others to come away feeling that you understand their obstacles and goals and can contribute meaningfully.
The approach is slightly different if you are seeking a new job or if you are pursuing a promotion or developmental assignment in your current firm. But the common foundation is the same – a true curiosity about your target organization, a concise and accurate description of your capabilities as they relate to the organization’s problems, aspirations, wants and needs, and an effective delivery of your value proposition that is aligned with their challenges and hoped-for successes. If you do this well, you’ll all be celebrating your mutual success!
