The CEO and You are both the Same!

You have recently been appointed the CEO.  Once the excitement wears down, what do you do?

Have you ever given any thought to that scenario?  Maybe not, because a lot of us are not striving for that top role and just maybe it is not in our DNA to project that high.  Then again, maybe you are currently unemployed and that thought is the farthest from your mind.  However if that is the case, you definitely need to keep reading.  If you are employed, think about that dream role within your current company or another company for that matter.   Now hopefully you are getting somewhat of a vision as to where this is going.  This CEO scenario is valuable whether you are employed or not.
 

Everyone one of us is a CEO,  we are the CEO of ME INC.  You are in charge of your marketing, PR, finance etc. You devise the strategy that will project your career and life.  Maybe you have not thought of it that way, but now is the time to start envisioning that scenario

The current economic climate has caused workers in whatever capacity to focus more on their careers that any advisor or coach could have ever imagined. This career manifestation was in a lot of ways forced upon everyone.  Before the economic upheaval, a lot of people went through the motions daily. We went to a JOB.  We did not place a lot of focus on next steps.
 

We had a job, no need to network.  We had a job and no need to keep my resume up to date.  We had a job so there was no need to test the waters to see what was out there.
 

I had a friend contact me the other day, had not heard from him in years.  He was just laid off and needed my help.  First, he needed a recommendation. Second, he needed me to keep an eye out for him in case I heard of anything.  No problem.
 

What I did tell him was that next time manage your career better. Do not wait until you are laid off to network.  His LinkedIN profile had a total of  49 connections but meanwhile he was a senior level officer in a hot industry.  Go figure.  My method of knowing when someone is laid off is when you see them connecting to everyone on Linkedin.  All of a sudden there is all this activity. This is always a sure sign of career angst.
 

Careers today can no longer be managed as in years past.  The days of working to receive the "gold watch" are over.  The days of working at a job and then retiring are over.  Job tenure for the average worker today is 5.5 years.  The CEO's role is approximately 4 years.  This means that basically every job today is temporary.
 

That is why you have to take charge of this runaway horse.  You have to devise your strategy to move YOU forward.  Key questions that you should be asking yourselves are:

• How am I viewed within my company?
• Would my current manager give me an excellent recommendation?
• If you are unemployed, what is your next step?
• Do I have a job or a career?
• Am I known within my industry?
• What is your brand?
• If co-workers or your boss would describe you, What would they say?
• Are you excited about your industry
• Are you excited about your job/career
• And the main question is How Excited Are You About Sunday Night?

That last questions is one that can be used as a gauge.  If you can't wait for Sunday to be over, you know that you have a career that you love.  If you hate Sunday night, that is you subconscious telling me that you need to start evaluating your current role.
 

Over the past few years I have read so many articles that focus on careers.  This will continue to reach a fever pitch because people are realizing that they have basically been in robotic mode and working at a job as opposed to working in their career.
 

This recent job report from the government a few weeks back was not encouraging, what it showed is that this is going to be a long haul.  In fact it will be years before it ever gets back to where it was.  And in a lot of cases it will never get there.
 

So what better time to start that exercise and begin to ask yourself those questions and sit in the "corner office" and begin playing the role of the CEO and moving the product called "you" forward.
 

Congratulations on your new role!