Creating a Recession Proof Career

Yesterday I had a client ask me how they should handle relationships in the office as the company reorganized. Last week Yahoo let go thousands of people and today there is talk that Citigroup may let 20,000 people go. It is scary times.

Yet it can also be exhilirating times. These are the times that cause great differentiation in people, opportunities and companies. Distinguish yourself in the workplace is one of the hardest things people find to do. When you focus on typical techniques of bragging, grand standing or looking out for "numero one," an environment is created that deteriorates trust, creates silos, and destroys teamwork.

So I don't teach people how to do that in our seminars. What we show is how to excelorate your thinking so that you stand out as a key asset or glue in the organization. People start to see you as a critical piece of the overall mission and a connector to other vital pieces. You are able to move people to a 5th dimension of thinking so the team stops operating at a low "safety" level and starts moving at a more strategic level.

Even job interviewing is something you can do using this skill and not brag, boast or come across as conceited. You will see this yourself when you get your hands on the Outcome Focus Interviewing System. People are scared by all the loss of jobs out there. The reality is that if you think at a high enough level you can create opportunties that don't exist today. It begs you to ask are opportunties random or are they created by our energy, thought, and skills?

During a reorg I find the entire teams energy gets focused on who will be let go, what changes will happen and how will they affect me? Because all the energy is directed here the team stagnates, the effectiveness plummets and pretty soon management is thinking they were right to reorg the group since it was ineffective. Which came first the cause or the effect?

The reality is that if you use Outcome Thinking you will continually reinvent your assets as a group, challenge on how to add value to the company and REINVENT your group to be better and stronger as a TEAM then it was before.

So where will you put your energies today? On scarcity and protecting what is your turf or on abundance and building a new level of thinking and energy in your organization. Set backs are just that- a minor step back so you can redirect to a higher level.

Anne Warfield, http://www.impressionmanagement.com/