Ask-the-Career-Coach: How to Get the Experience You Need to Land the Job You Want

AnnDalyHighRes-2Contributed by executive coach Ann Daly, Ph.D.

Dear Career Coach,

I would like to reinvent my life! I graduated with a degree in management four years ago at the age of 50. I spent more than 10 years reaching my goal of completing my degree while working full-time and raising two amazing daughters. I am grateful to have a job in this economy, but I find I am unable to advance due to lack of experience. I need some direction, and I would be grateful for any suggestions you may offer.

Thank you,
Mary

Dear Mary,

First of all, congratulations on your success so far reinventing your life. What you’ve achieved is an inspiration to us all.

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have come so far and then find that “lack of experience” is getting in your way. It’s a paradox that many of us encounter at some point: We need experience to land that new title, but how do we get that experience without the title?

Here’s how, in three steps.

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Thought Leaders: Accenture’s Katherine LaVelle on M&A Culture Transition

thought-leadership

Marked by an infectious enthusiasm, Katherine LaVelle, is a managing director at Accenture Management Consulting who leads that practice for the firms’ North America capital markets clients. She is an expert in leading corporate workforces through mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the financial services arena. “I’m passionate about anything and everything that makes people more effective in their jobs,” she said.

Eighteen years ago, after obtaining her B.S. from Arizona State University and then an MBA from Georgetown, LaVelle learned about Accenture’s nascent change management practice – and knew she wanted to work there.

It’s been the right fit, said LaVelle, referring to both Accenture and particularly to her work in the financial services industry. She explained, “It’s an industry structured around two things: people and technology. To build the most effective workforces, companies have to invest in those two things – and that really appealed to me.”

Last year’s unprecedented surge of M&A activity is not expected to slow down, she said. And according to LaVelle, who has worked on some of the world’s largest (and longest) global mergers, M&A is as much a people-issue as it is a financial one. She explained, “Companies that have not produced a clear picture of what their culture will look like rarely meet their financial targets in the first year after a merger.”

She continued, “A deliberate and defined plan for how you will build effectiveness into your new team is really important, and cannot be bypassed.”

LaVelle shared her wisdom and tactics on maximizing effectiveness while blending cultures – for senior leaders, managers, and employees going through an M&A transition. Here’s her advice.

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Lead with Confidence: Four Ways to Develop Your Leadership Style

NatalieRunyonContributed by Natalie Runyon

A common belief is that leaders are born not created. Today, our society believes anything can be achieved with enough dedication and commitment, and this is true for leadership. I see success all the time in my work as a leadership trainer. Leaders can be developed, yet it can be confusing to figure out how to go about it. Where do you start? How do you learn? And how do you determine what works within the culture of your organization?

Build Confidence

In a recent cnn.com article, Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, was quoted at the TED Women conference, “Women systematically underestimate their own abilities.” She is right. We often lack the confidence to give the credit we deserve. A key ingredient to great leadership is self assurance. One of the best ways to boost it is to speak up, and I mean everywhere. Every time you go to a meeting, go in with something to say. Don’t have something prepared? Ask a question, and be the first person to raise your hand and ask it. Don’t wait. Giving time and space to communicate your ideas will actually build confidence. You will also enhance your visibility, credibility and communication skills all at the same time. Establish presence by dressing the part of senior women. One of the best pieces of advice I received early in my career was to dress the part of the next level up. Rather than adhering to the business casual norm, wear a suit every day. It will help you and others see yourself in that next more senior role, reinforcing your confidence.

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Changing Perceptions: One More Reason We Must Not Ignore Men

iStock_000009382221XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

A recent survey by Opportunity Now, a UK-based group working as part of the non-profit organization Business in the Community, showed that men are seriously in the dark about the challenges women face in the workplace.

Helen Wells, Acting Director of Opportunity Now, said, “The percentage of women at the top has not changed – and in fact 21% of FTSE Boards have zero women on them. We wanted to see why this might be.”

“The main takeaway from this research was that the vast majority of male line managers just couldn’t see the obstacles that women are dealing with,” she explained. “It’s quite important to understand that men and women had different perceptions of the same workplace.”

Wells explained that cultural assumptions were a key culprit in the slow pace of progress in terms of getting women to the top. She said, “Success will require engaging men in the dialogue around culture change.”

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Sun Tzu’s The Art of War—What’s In It For Women?

Becky Sheetz-Runkle-1Contributed by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

The Art of War. If you’re like most women in business, you haven’t read it. It probably never appealed to you. In fact, if you’re like many smart and accomplished women I’ve met, you may believe it to be completely contrary to your nature.

There are certainly women who’ve read The Art of War and applied it to their lives and their businesses. But if you’re like most, you may wonder how you can possibly adapt the wisdom of a Chinese military strategist from 500 B.C. to your daily business challenges.

That’s a fair question.

The answer is in an approach to business and life that is both time-tested and innovative. Sun Tzu’s classic has had profound influence the world over. It’s shaped Eastern military and business thinking, and in the West, its popularity continues to grow as managers and leaders apply its principles to their business challenges.

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Cross Gender Networking with the FWA – Business Strategy

iStock_000015551511XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week the Financial Women’s Association of New York held the inaugural event for its new Men’s Alliance – an initiative designed to promote cross-gender networking. The sold-out scotch and chocolate tasting event, “Single Malt Chocolate” took place at Debevoise & Plimpton LLC and included over 200 attendees and tasting advice from Vosges Chocolate and The Macallan.

What was made clear throughout the evening was that the purpose of the event was not simply about opening lines of communication between genders. The event was designed to promote client networking – using the cross-gender networking platform to enable members of the FWA to be more successful at their jobs.

FWA President Susan Ganz said, “How do we engage men in this dialogue? It’s about men and women being in business together.”

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Asahi Pompey, Managing Director, Compliance, Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs

Asahi PompeyThe aphorism “know thyself” has been attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates (and many others), but according to Asahi Pompey, Managing Director, Compliance, Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, the advice is still critical today, over twenty-five hundred years later.

“Know yourself – know your strengths and weaknesses,” she advised. “Do a realistic appraisal of yourself – almost a gap analysis. Where could you develop greater expertise? What is your comfort zone?”

Beginning a career in law, and them moving into corporate counsel roles, and then compliance, Pompey is enthusiastic about striving for excellence in all she does. She advocated passionately about the importance of understanding the business objectives and the objectives of those around you. She said, “Understanding who you are in an unadulterated way is really going to help in your career.”

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Women in Management on the Rise in the Finance Industry

business woman with colleaguesBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

In November of last year, Women at the Top (WATT), a community of women at or aspiring to the C-suite, conducted a survey which found that of 523 executive positions within the top 50 commercial banks, 17.4 percent were filled by women. This is nearly a five percent increase from 2004, when women held 12.6 percent of management positions at the 50 largest U.S. commercial banks.

As is usually the case for women in the financial services, the bad must be taken with the good. The survey also found that more senior-level women are in the pipeline, but very few actually hold c-level positions at top commercial banks. WATT’s survey did not reveal the names of the financial institutions surveyed, but the study revealed that of the 50 largest commercial banks, there are no female chief executives and only three female chief operating officers, two female chief information officers, four female chief financial officers, and one female chief administrative officer.

WATT’s findings were delivered on the heels of another telling report released late last year by FINS, which revealed that women are disappearing from the finance industry, with 2.6 percent of female finance workers leaving or getting laid off over the past 10 years. Given these findings and the financial crisis, Regina Barr, founder of WATT, was surprised by the increase of women in top positions. Barr also reports that “more women are taking jobs with profit-and-loss responsibility and fewer are in traditional ‘female’ roles like customer service, HR, and marketing.”

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Time to Toot Your Own Horn: Gaining Visibility and Advancing Your Career

portrait of Buisnesswoman Working with her colleaguesBy Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

How do you promote yourself? Many women may feel uncomfortable speaking about their accomplishments and don’t take advantage of simple procedures that can help advance their careers. But it’s something that can be critical to your career development. This week, The Glass Hammer talked to an array of experts to understand why women might need to improve their self-promotion skills, how to be better at it and what it takes to gain visibility in the workplace.

Walking the Fine Line

Lauren Rikleen, Executive-in-Residence at the Center for Work and Family at Boston College believes women walk a fine line.

“Women walk a fine line between being told that they need to promote themselves better,” said Rikleen. “On the other hand, women are sometimes seen in a negative light for promoting themselves too much.”

Rikleen believes that we should all reframe how we view self-promotion and look at it as something positive.

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Taking Risks and Making Challenges: Advice from Dynamic Women in Business

Leader with team in backgroundBy Melanie H. Axman (Boston)

Harvard Business School kicked off its 20th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference last Saturday, celebrating esteemed, accomplished, and professional women from various walks of life. Created in 1992 to highlight issues women face in the workplace, the Conference continues to draw emerging and distinguished female business leaders into a “conversation about how to proceed, succeed, and survive as women in business.” The panelists and speakers hailed from a variety of backgrounds and career trajectories, sharing their journeys, successes, challenges and even failures. In turn, they received a reception of energetic engagement, curious respect and supportive appreciation from their diverse audience (comprised of undergradudate and graduate students, young and experienced professionals, community leaders, and Harvard faculty.)

The morning began with a Keynote address by Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of GE. The focus of her discussion was on risks, consistent innovation, and the bravery to recognize failure as a critical and integral part of the learning curve and growth process. Throughout her career, including two years as President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal, she kept coming back to the notion of risk and risks worth taking. She said, “To live is to risk. Not to take a risk is to be stagnant. To stand still.”

“You have to stand for something. You have to stand very tall. Sometimes risks are risks that aren’t of your choosing,” she said. She challenged the captivated audience to allow themselves to fail fast, and fail in small enough ways that lessons were learned quickly and innovative solutions were the outcome.

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