When was the last time you took a strategic look at your career? In this presentation, we’ll discuss how to direct your passion, skills, abilities, and direction toward the outcome you desire. This outcome isn’t limited to your primary career years. It extends into a “portfolio” lifestyle of activity as a semi-retired executive, leaving a legacy for your children’s children and beyond. We will discuss strategies to manage your career today and how to prepare for your portfolio career in the future.
3. Barry M George
3 years
Planning for
Portfolio
Lifestyle
Founder/CEO of Impact Ventures
Managing General Partner SOLID Executive Partners
MS Organizational Behavior & Executive Coaching
Joined 2 Boards; Public and Non-Profit
Founder/CEO of Futureview Systems
President/COO of MEI Solutions
President/COO of ValidNet
Chief Marketing Officer of CelLynx
Executive VP/COO of D-Link Systems
VP/General Manager-Siemens
VP/General Manager-SMC Networks
VP Sales/Business Development - SEO Engine
VP of Global Sales at Wedge Networks
VP of Sales for Zenius
Enterprise Sales Director at Toshiba
Regional VP for CompuCom
Regional VP at CORE International
Regional VP Operations at AAMCO
32 years
Successful but
Myopic
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4. Summary
• Most don’t plan career
– Myopic
– Takes you places others want you to go
• Companies always have plans for you
• Their plans: serve needs of company
• Recruiters want to serve theirs and their client’s needs
• Planning starts with end in mind
– Bi-focal vision required; long range AND tactical
– Start today; today can be transformational
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5. Which one are You
A Myopic
Juggernaut
Near
Near
Bi-Focaled
and Balanced
Far
Far
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6. Bi-Focal Career Planning
Career Focus
Job Focus
”Next Next”
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• Promotion
• Now
Present Role
”Next”
Next Role
Role After
Next
Portfolio
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7. Sayings Worth Remembering
• “It is always easier to ride the horse in the
direction it is going.”
• “Plan your career, and work your plan; if you
fail to plan, you have planned to fail.”
• “Driving without a roadmap and a clear
destination will get you somewhere you don’t
want to go.”
• “If you want to fast, go alone. If you want to
go far, go with others.”
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9. Present Value vs. Future Value
• Economics
– The Present Value of money is always greater than the future
value
– What is known, now, vs. the unknown of the future.”
• Career
– Always start with the Future; your Desired Outcome
– Work your plan backwards
• Legacy
– Is about Abundance; time, influence, respect and yes money
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11. Where Do Successful People End Up?
• Retired
– Bad idea
– Accelerates the dying process
– Timing: When you need hospice
• Portfolio life
– Just like you diversify your investment portfolio
– Diversify your career
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13. Diversifying your Career Portfolio
Streams of Activity
“Unsuccessful
Retirement”
Streams of Income
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14. Career Investment Options
Interim/Part Time
• 1 Day/Week
• 1 Day/Month
• Daily until replaced
Professional Services
• Consulting
• Advising
• Executive coaching
Board Member
• For-profit-private
• For-profit-public
• Non-profit
Entrepreneurial Ventures
• Purchase company
• Start company
• Buy company
Advisor to
• Board
• CEO
• Senior Executives
• VP’s
• Directors
• Managers
• Knowledge Workers
Family Interests
• Work in family business
• Help start family business
Education
• Teaching at University
• Speaking
• Writing
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15. Benefits of Balanced Portfolio
• Flexible schedule
– Freedom to be more spontaneous
• More time for personal
– Deeper relationship with friends and family
• Time for recharging batteries
– Often in preparation for a ‘next’ role
– Fitness/hobbies
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16. Obstacles to Overcome
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Innate drive to run something; company, division, team
Missing the thrill of business
Boredom
Lack of significant cash flow
Risk aversion
Risk of over-commitment
Opportunity overload – greater difficulty in deciding
where and how to invest time
• Lack of Vision
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17. Benefits of Full Time Role
• Greatest use of talents, skills, ability, & direction
– Where can you make the greatest contribution
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?
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?
?
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18. Obstacles to Full Time Role
• Less flexible schedule
– Much less freedom to be more spontaneous
• Less time for personal
– Major tradeoffs with friends and family
• Much less time for self
– Fitness
– Hobbies
– Travel
• ?
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19. Options out of Full Time
• Representative of 5 common patterns
– Unsuccessful retirement
– Job is preparation
– Liquidity event
– Leapfrogging
– Early exit
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20. Establishing Career Objectives
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New Role by When
Possible Titles
Possible Job Functions
Areas of Responsibility
Choice Industries
Choice Geography
Current Total Comp
Desired Comp Range
Size of Company in $
Size of Direct Headcount
Long Range Goal
Describe Previous Experience with Coaching
Qualities Sought After in a Coach
Have Decision Been Made to Hire a Coach
Type of Company (start-up, private, public)
Are you currently consulting
Network Expansion
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21. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Assessment
– Gain accurate assessment of current direction,
focus, conditions and obstacles to attaining career
goals
– Assess career progression to date, current target
market, and skills/abilities needed to gain new
role
– Identify skillset gaps in the career advancement
process in order to develop required
competencies
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22. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Goals
– Develop a career plan with a very specific and
detailed set of objectives, called an “Ideal Position
Description
– Ensure it is actionable, measurable and
achievable; design roadmap for the next 10 – 15
years
– Structure next move to adequately position for
subsequent career advancement opportunities
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23. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Tools
– Design resume, bio, elevator speeches, and letters
which clearly reflect goals
– Identify key missing items, holes and deficiencies
to upgrade overall strength of all the above
– Develop effective, custom tailored tools for
effective networking, interviewing, and
negotiating
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24. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Networks
– Learn how best to rapidly grow and leverage
networks; gain networking training
– Uncover key opportunities through “reverse
recruiting” (Research assistant/appointmentsetter available)
– Develop and collaborate on implementing a
comprehensive plan to grow and leverage
network
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25. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Interviews
– Develop advanced skills in preparing for and
executing executive job interviews
– Tailored coaching for all key interviews including
strategies to deal with “anticipated difficult
questions”
– Design strategic “questions to ask” during
interviews; Learn how to uncover “red flags”
during interviews
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26. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Negotiations
– Develop strategies to negotiate salary, bonus,
equity, signing bonuses, and other compensation
– Gain information necessary to conduct due
diligence on potential employers
– Evaluate offers; make the best possible decision
between various opportunities; solidify offers
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27. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Closing
– Maintain objectivity; determine which offer comes
closest to meeting career plan goals
– Gain help in making a final selection; follow a
disciplined approach to accepting an offer
– Review trade-offs and priorities regarding life
goals; ensure that new role supports most all
other goals
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28. Strategies to Achieve Objectives
• Starting new role
– Learn best practices for starting a new executive
role, mistakes to avoid, and writing a 100 day plan
– Gain understanding of the SOLID process,
methodology and structure of assimilation and on
boarding
– Review SOLID’s whitepaper: “The Critical 180:
Navigating the Executive’s First 180 Days in a New
Role”
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