By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

In a previous post I've discussed some of the different categories or flavors of coaching styles and coaches.

Specifically I talked about:

1. The Peddlers of Hope and Passion (Hope Peddlers & Passion Peddlers).
2. The Peddlers of Fortune Cookie Inspiration.

Now, as I've said before all of these styles or flavors of coaching and coaches have their place and value depending on each client's needs and situation.

However, at some point, getting into a nuts and bolts discuss of (1) why you are here (current/present situation)and (2) how to get you from here to there, becomes extremely important, at least to most clients.

Beyond, hope, passion and inspiration there are the nuts and bolts of coaching and specific action for a client to take. But even here there are huge variations in the type of coach and the effectiveness of the coach's advice.

For instance, has the coach identified the correct or proper nuts and bolts? The proper tensile strength, the composition of metals, the number and the placement of the nuts and bolts?

One of the shortcomings I see in what most coaches offer today is that even when the nuts and bolts are offered and discussed, what is offered is very vague and generalized. 

Worse, sometimes what's offered is just plain wrong.

A simple example to illustrate this would be telling a client to "eat a balanced meal".

• But what exactly is a balanced meal?
  
• How is that determined? By the vitamins, minerals and nutrients it possesses?
  
• But then what is the proper balance of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients and what is the proper or optimal timing of intake?
  
• How does it change by person, ethnicity, gender, age, lifestyle and so forth?
  

Beyond these vague nuts and bolts, I've noticed very vague advise that parallel's what's known in the automotive repair space as "R&R" or Remove and Replace.

Basically, it's shorthand method to cut through a lot of detailed steps in the automotive repair process and focus only on the procedures with a few caveats or warnings pointed out. This works because the mechanics using these books already know all of the steps left out and the best practices associated with them.

If you've ever used a Chilton's repair manual, you know what I'm talking about.

Bringing this back to coaching or more specifically career coaching this type of R&R advice may take a form similar to this:

Objective: How To Get Your Next Job

1. Make sure your resume is up to date and really sells you - show your passion!
   
2. Located the hiring manager(s) at the company you would like to work.
   
3. Use LinkedIn to connect with them. Say something useful or work on building  rapport, etc.
   
4. And on and on.
   

Of course, when we really think about it, there's so much gray area involved here that such advice is completely useless.

• What does a good resume look like (and why)? 
  
• How do I make a good resume sell me?
  
• How do I get it to show my passion (and why should I)?
  
• And so on.
  

I mean specifics. Details. 

When you're  selecting a coach, be sure to find out if your coach can offer more than just broad procedures or a framework because what you'll find you need is very specific, very detailed, step by step guidance in today's rough and tumble world. 

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


What's the best startup approach to take? 

Well, why not go into your (next) startup as you go into life -- completely naked and alone with nothing to lose, expecting no applause.

This will allow you to start immediately and most importantly to start with a "the buck starts and stops here" mentality.

And as a bonus, anything above that which you experience will be a very pleasant surprise.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive


It's often more important which companies you decide not to work for than which companies you do.

This includes your prospective manager, peers, the company culture, the industry and company's relative standing in that industry (both now and as it's positioned for the future).

This needs to align and synch with your overall career plan and career path.

This becomes even more critical the better you are at quickly landing job offers, the older you become or if you have had any substantial Career Damage in the past.

Think about this. Very carefully.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Silicon Edge

Recently Andy Serwer, managing editor of Fortune, sat down with Marc Andreesen to discuss The Future of Work, Cars and the Wisdom in Saying 'No' (full, unabridged version on Forbes Magazine here: Inside the mind of Marc Andreessen).

In this interview, I was particularly struck with Marc's views on the impact of the ever-accelerating and widening technological adoption on the job market, and the elimination of entire categories of jobs as well as his comments on education and the need for re-training.

Andy Serwer: We all understand that the Internet revolution is inevitable at this point, but it’s also kind of controversial. There are scads of new jobs at Facebook and Twitter and other places, but what about the ones that are destroyed by the inroads of technology into every industry? Are you actually creating more than you’re destroying?

Marc Andreessen: Jobs are critically important, but looking at economic change through the impact on jobs has always been a difficult way to think about economic progress. Let’s take a historical example. Once upon a time, 100 percent of the United States effectively was in agriculture, right? Now it’s down to 3 percent. Productivity in agriculture has exploded. Output has never been higher. The same thing happened in manufacturing 150 years ago or so. It would have been very easy to say, “Stop economic progress because what are all the farmers going to do if they can’t farm?” And of course, we didn’t stop the progress of mechanization and manufacturing, and our answer instead was the creation of new industries.

From my vantage point, this is completely off track for one main reason -- in the earlier stages of mechanization and automation we had far, far, far fewer people on this planet so that these productivity increases could support and sustain larger and larger populations. In addition, the rate of change was far lower and more localized. It was the difference of seeing single family home burn, to the firebombing off an entire city with no where to run to the simultaneous firebombing of an entire country if not world. 

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!



                            Friend or foe? Can one ever really know?

In today's fast-paced, rough and tumble work environment, not only are the tides of fortune and personal and professional alliances constantly shifting, but your initial assessment of an individual, group, company relationship or situation may be completely incorrect (to your detriment).

So what can be done about this and how can you get a better if not more accurate read on the people, situations and relationships around you?

The key to this is to develop or enhance your situational awareness, both passive 
and active modes. Situational awareness is, in fact, a critical skill that will serve you well throughout both your personal and professional life.

So what exactly situational awareness?

"Situational awareness is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the team with regards to the mission. More simply, it’s knowing what is going on around you."

(source:  http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/training/tct/chap5.pdf‎ )

The trick then is to develop this skill on both a passive basis (simply receiving what information or signals are within your grasp) and an active basis (where you project some energy and watch for the feedback or return signal). 

Both passive and active modes can be automated by simply making this a beneficial habit -- "set it and forget it".

Now, let's look at the passive mode. This may be as simple as keeping your eyes and ears open for new information, both overt and latent. For instance, it may come from overhearing a phone call or conversation from an adjacent cube or work space, noticing documents left on the copier or printer, watching a co-worker's or customer's facial expression, seeing who goes to lunch with whom, for how long and how often and so on. 

In addition, by making a mental note or keeping a very simple spreadsheet of what is or has been received from what source as well as what information seems or seemed congruent or non-congruent along with the historical outcome of the received information you will begin to develop a very good lay of the land.

In other words, by simply watching actions and keeping mental or written notes it's a piece of cake to identify or even flush out inconsistencies, white lies and full on bullshitters. That is, if you trust what you are receiving and seeing as it is - the positive worldview -- not as you would like it to be - the normative worldview.

Now let's move on to the active mode. In the active mode, like a radar or sonar system, you simply direct a very small amount of energy at the situation or person to paint (illuminate) or ping it and then wait to see what signature or profile is returned.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


Very hard to believe it's already September

                        ...but at the same time...

Very hard to believe that it's only September.

So what do you have planned for the rest of the year?

• Do you have your career goals in order?
  
• Are you on the right career path and proceeding smoothly?
  
• Have you landed that new job?
  
• Are you prepared to crush your next interview?
  
• Is your job search progressing rapidly and is it under control?
  
• Are you effectively controlling your brand, message and image?
  

Now is the time to blast forward and enjoy a strong finish before the year ends.

Hi James,

I have to thank you again. I got promoted to manager. As far as I know, it was the fastest promotion in recent years in the history of [top tier luxury brand] and I'm now the second youngest manager in the company. Can you believe that I'm now going to  handle a 4x  bigger business which will come in around $100 million USD!? I now have the social proof you talked about me getting and needing.

Cheers,
M.T.

Dear James,

After receiving your advice I was left speechless for some while. I cannot express how thankful I am to you for sharing your insight.

As you had noticed, I was leaning a bit towards the [fast rising startup] decision and needed a confirmation I am heading in the right direction. I have to admit I was just scared that whatever I decide, I will regret missing the other opportunity. However, you not only gave me this encouragement, but you also contributed with remarks about issues I was not aware of, or because of being emotionally involved in the decision, I could not notice.

Now, it all makes much more sense to me and the decision  became somewhat easier:  before I had a feeling like choosing either option meant some sacrifices, but your argumentation shows me, that working at [top tier automotive brand] does not close the door for a [fast rising startup] career in the future. Therefore, my decision will be to work for [top tier automotive brand].

Yet again, thank you for your great help and giving me the confidence I needed.

Best regards,
G.L.