When to Grow, When to Go
by Ram Charan
Thursday,
November 9, 2006
One of the questions that constantly comes
up when I work with people is "When is it time to move on to continue
growing?" In other words, "When do I know I've outgrown my job?"
These are great questions, because you -- and only you -- are
responsible for your career. Not the company's HR department, not your boss or
your boss' boss. You.
If you don't think that is the case -- if you have no ambition
to test yourself in the workplace -- there's no point in reading further.
That said, I can help you create a
three-part checklist that will allow you to see if it's time to move on. Let's
start with the most basic question to ask:
1. Are you exceeding all
expectations and getting 15 percent better every day?
That is, are you exceeding the expectations of your boss? Be
honest. Your answer isn't about trying to impress someone else,
it's about objectively assessing how you're doing.
If you aren't impressing your boss --
and you can tell by the feedback you're getting -- you probably have room to
grow where you are.
But impressing your boss shouldn't be your sole focus. You
should be striving to become the "best in class."
I've known Jim McNerney, CEO of
Boeing, for 25 years, and I love what he had to say about this in a recent
article in Fortune. He believes,
and I agree, that we all have the ability to improve by 15 percent a year. So
even if you're doing a superior job and are getting rave reviews, you should
focus each day on getting even better -- 15 percent better every year.
Do exactly what the best athletes do. No athlete, no matter how
naturally talented, becomes a champion without determined, repetitive,
consistent practice. It's the same for people who excel at work. They identify
areas they need to improve and discipline themselves
to practice and continually improve.
2. Have you redefined your job
recently?
Even if you're getting raises and compliments -- from your
peers, your boss, and even your boss' boss -- and are working to get 15 percent
better each day, that is still not enough.
No content in any job remains static. The
world changes. Your organization changes.
Customer needs change. The competition changes. Sometimes your boss changes. Any such change means new
challenges and more opportunity to grow.
You can and should redefine your job periodically, not for
personal gain or to encroach on someone else's turf, but in order to help your
company grow organically and be more responsive to the outside world. Maybe
there are interpersonal skills you need to polish or new knowledge you need to
acquire to help you and your company adapt to new requirements.
You must be changing at least as fast as the economy is -- and
that means you may need to change very quickly indeed. Google had no revenues
in 1998. Sales now top $10 billion on an annualized basis. It took AOL slightly
less time than that to go from an industry leader to becoming an also-ran
rumored to be for sale.
3. Have you mastered all the
elements of your job?
Don't think of your job only in terms of how HR would describe
it. Dissect the many activities you do from day to day, from running a meeting
to learning to spot talent in others. Each of them can be improved with
practice.
No one becomes a successful leader without the ability to build
relationships, for instance (something I discussed in my earlier column, "An Undiscovered
Path to Personal Growth."). That includes interpersonal skills,
but it is much more than getting along with people one-on-one.
You need the ability to mobilize groups, especially those over
which you have no power. You also need to be able to win the trust and respect
of others through your conduct. One CEO told me recently that he wouldn't
promote anyone to a higher level of responsibility who wasn't respected for his
or her character and integrity and didn't have the ability to work well across
functions.
In almost any job, you can practice being a better listener, a
better synthesizer of other people's ideas, and a better idea generator.
The Inner Peace of Striving
The moral here is clear: If you aren't growing in your job,
don't whine. Look into the mirror and see if you're overlooking opportunities.
But if you've done everything I've discussed here and still
aren't being recognized, or aren't getting a chance to move up and test your
potential, then it's time to move on to another job if not to another company.
If you develop the discipline to exceed expectations, identify
newly required skills, and try to continually improve each element of your job,
you'll be making the most of every job you have and preparing yourself for
bigger opportunities.
But you gain another benefit as well: You'll have a sense of
inner peace, which of course will have a direct impact on your physical, as
well as mental, well-being.
Here I borrow from the Indian philosophy I learned as a child.
You achieve inner peace by totally immersing yourself -- concentrating totally
-- on working toward a higher purpose. When you stay focused on that purpose
and give it your all, inner peace naturally follows. So don't be in a rush to
climb the ladder, but do develop the discipline and determination to focus on
growth and strive to be better.