Reid Hoffman and Jeremiah Wong both wrote about managing one’s career. If you don’t know either of them, then carry on reading this, as this may help you.
I always discussed this with my ecosystem as to how I have been working for Sri, Inc. for the last 10 years, and that my clients are my employers. The more I think about this concept, the more I am appreciating my work and am able to deliver with higher efficiency.
What if you too think of your career in this way. You don’t work for startup, Enterprise Company, or Fortune 500 Company, you always work for one company throughout your career and that I, Inc. Your current employer is your current client. Your boss is your customer.
You know about how customer is king and is right most of the time. As per Seth Godin, you also know that sometimes it is ok to fire your customer in some exceptional cases such as when you change jobs or roles. It is doesn’t mean in any negative way. This whole idea is to be positive about your career and brand I, Inc.
Now, think about everything that you have learned in B-school or life-school, which teaches you how you should treat your customer. How to support them, how keep them happy. Processes and steps you follow to understand your customer’s problems and solve them.
Your dotted line managers and others in the organization are gate keepers, buyers, users, purchasers, and influencers. You always support them with the same quality of service as support your decision maker (a.k.a customer or your boss). However, you control your service through prioritizations.
This approach not only helps you think and act like an entrepreneur, but also helps you to work pro-actively in a manner that would affect be win-win for everyone. This also helps you to overcome hurdles in your career such as lack of pay hikes, peer pressure, and promotions as you work for yourself and you are driven to grow I, Inc to a large organization for 40 years.
This thinking also helps you not worry about day-to-day politics, and helps you make some tough choices when needed such as rejecting offer only for money or accepting offer for wrong reasons. Also helps you to work your differences with your boss by thinking using strategies to support tough customer as opposed to labeling your boss as bad manager.
I am very happy and glad to have thought about my career in this way, thanks to my bosses. I hope to see my Sri, Inc. to grow into a large organization.
Sridhar Karnam 