Success

August 30, 2016August 29, 2016 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

So often we toil away for months or even years to hit the markers for success we’ve laid out for ourselves.

Often when we arrive we end up disappointed. We had focused so much on the toiling and the achieving without ever having figured out, in the first place, the “why” behind it all.

What would have happened if, at the outset, we had imagined what exactly we’d do – who we’d be and what steps we’d take next – when we hit those markers. What would have napped if we’d pre-imagined our success, been sure that we could pull it off, and planned from there?

Better yet, what would have happened if we hadn’t been so quick to accept anyone else’s markers?

Raising the bar

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

10 years ago, if you wanted to get into the social impact/social enterprise sector, it was enough to say “I think I want to find ways to take a business approach to solving social problems. That makes so much sense!”

5 years ago, if you wanted to do this work you needed to show that you had some direct, relevant experience, a spike of some sort that allowed folks to connect the dots between things that you’ve done and the work you’re proposing to do now.

Today, the expectation is significant direct experience that matters.

If you want to work with social enterprises in the developing world, the expectation is that you’ve spent real time in the developing world doing related work – a couple of years, not a couple of months.

If you want to be a marketer for a great cause, the pool of applicants shooting for that job have been in the great cause marketing business for a while already.

If you want to invest overseas, the expectation is that you have both investing chops and a direct understanding of the markets and businesses you’d like to invest in.

The great news is, unlike 10 years ago, when you had to a make a giant leap, there are countless opportunities for smoother, more gradual transitions.

To start, it’s never been easier to form a group and take free online courses for social changemakers. Our +Acumen courses are designed for just this, and in the next month you can learn about Lean Data Approaches to Measure Social Impact, Storytelling for Change (available in English or Spanish), and Social Entrepreneurship 101.

Or maybe your path will take you to a mainstream firm that offers a rich set of pro-bono opportunities—like those offered by Bain, Ernst and Young, and PWC—or you’ll go to one of many progressive nonprofits that work with big companies—including Taproot Foundation, TechnoServe, Bankers without Borders and MovingWorlds.

Or you could work directly for a social enterprise: right now Burn, Esoko, and Seed Schools are all hiring.

And of course nearly all the top MBA programs now have social enterprise offerings, including Kellogg School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business, T he Wharton School, Duke Fuqua School of Business, Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School.

This is what happens when a sector goes from “brand new” to “adolescent.”

Today, the bar is higher, but so are the opportunities to help you get over it.

(Big thanks to Duda and Ashley for helping me get this post over the line)

Your truths

November 4, 2010November 3, 2010 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

Ten years after its founding, Google wrote down and shared Ten things we know to be true.

Seems like a great thing for any young organization to codify after a decade.

Also seems like a good thing for a person to think about and understand.

Career paths are getting more serpentine. Big companies are done employing us for a lifetime. The most interesting jobs aren’t the ones we heard about when we were kids (doctor, lawyer, fireman), and they’re certainly not at the companies who came on to campus to recruit.

When whole industries are being created and are changing and are being destroyed right before our eyes, the concept of “In 15 years I want to be a _________” is anachronistic.

But if you can assemble your truths you have something.

If you understand the things that are irrevocably true for you – true at the core, not trite answers to interview questions – then you’ll have to worry a lot less about who you want to be when you grow up.

Give it a try: “I know that I ______________ “

You, only better

May 14, 2009May 13, 2009 ~ Sasha ~ 2 Comments

There are certain things that you’re best at.

The moments when you thrive, when you shine, when others say, “Wow, that was just amazing.” The moments that make you feel energized and clear and focused. The moments that pass quickly.

This is you at your best.

We all have things things we need to work on. We all need to round out the picture. But we need to know where to start. And why not start with your strengths?

I’ve never been a five-year career plan kind of guy, and for a long time that worried me. I secretly feared that I would never have that plan and that without knowing where I wanted to go I would never get there.

Lately, though, I’ve gotten a glimpse of what my highest and best use might be.

And I’m beginning to think it may well be all that I really need to know.

: : : : : : : : : : :

Help me help you

March 18, 2009May 7, 2020 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

My favorite scene in the movie Jerry Maguire has Tom Cruise’s Jerry at the breaking point, berating Cuba Gooding Jr’s character to “help me help you!” Jerry is a former star sports agent on the brink of losing everything (including his mind), who is left with a one last client, a talented, chip-on-his-shoulder Wide Receiver (Tidwell) who is Jerry’s last hope at salvaging his career.

I learned today of a new phenomenon in the job market, what I’ll call the “preventative job search.” This is where a person who has a job but who has watched a few rounds of layoffs gets a jump on getting laid off by quietly searching for that next job while still employed.

Sensible, and it reinforced my feeling that the follow-through on job cuts is still to come, and that competition for jobs is fierce.

So before you send that next email asking for an informational interview, decide what it is you are looking for. Know what it is that you are best at. Point to your track record and explain how you hope to parlay that into success in your next role. “I’m interested in what you do and I’d like to talk to you” isn’t enough any more.

Help me help you.