The Strategic Career: Let Business Principles Guide You PDF
Preview The Strategic Career: Let Business Principles Guide You
THE STRATEGIC CAREER THE STRATEGIC CAREER Let Business Principles Guide You Bill Barnett STANFORD BUSINESS BOOKS An Imprint of Stanford University Press • Stanford, California Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Special discounts for bulk quantities of Stanford Business Books are available to corporations, professional associations, and other organizations. For details and discount information, contact the special sales department of Stanford University Press. Tel: (650) 736- 1782, Fax: (650) 736- 1784 Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Barnett, Bill, 1947– author. The strategic career : let business principles guide you / Bill Barnett. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 8047- 9358- 2 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Career development. 2. Strategic planning. I. Title. HF5381.B318 2015 650.1 —dc23 2014042502 ISBN 978- 0- 8047- 9556- 2 (electronic) CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 PART I: CAREER DIRECTION 15 1. Fundamental Values Leading to a Calling 19 2. Strengths 46 3. From Values and Strengths to Fields and Roles 60 4. Investigation 75 5. Personal Value Proposition 107 PART II: LONG- TERM STRATEGY 121 6. Long- Term Strategy Initiatives 125 7. Integrated Long-T erm Strategy 151 PART III: OPPORTUNITY SEARCH STRATEGY 165 8. Current Personal Value Proposition 169 9. Opportunity Identification 184 10. The Best Case 195 11. Opportunity Search Plan 204 vi Contents PART IV: DECISIONS ON ALTERNATIVES 213 12. Alternatives and Objectives 217 13. Alternatives and Uncertainty 232 PART V: STAYING POWER 257 14. Personal Annual Report 259 15. Personal Resilience 265 Conclusions 275 Notes 281 Index 285 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I GOT THE IDEA to tie business strategy concepts to careers while at Yale, so that’s where I’ll begin. Barry Nalebuff arranged my invitation to teach business strategy there; he’s provided wise counsel on many topics over the years, including on this book. Stan Gartska gave me the green light to offer my first career course. Once I started preparing the course, I discovered Amy Wrzesniewski’s research into jobs, careers, and callings; that became a core concept in my course and now in this book. And Sharon Oster first suggested that I turn the course into a book. I’m not sure I’d have been able to complete the research into careers without the opportunity to teach it repeatedly and learn from that experience. Rice provided an ideal platform for that, while also feeding my desire to add value to students just when they needed it. Two people helped me get started at Rice: Bob Clarke and Jeff Fleming; K. Ramesh has supported my program since then. The core idea behind this book is the connection between career strategizing and the business strategy principles that guided much of my consulting career. I can’t possibly mention everyone who contributed to that, but here’s one. The late Ali Hanna led the Microeconomics Center when I first got involved. He then paved the way for me to assume that leadership role when he shifted to other McKinsey responsibilities. It was from there that I became Strategy Practice leader. That led to different things in my life, viii Acknowledgments including this book. Ali was a very special person in general, and he left some prized fingerprints on me. I’ve had a lot of helpers on the substance of the career/business connection. Most important are the people I’ve counseled and the students I’ve taught. I hope I helped you set the right course and that you’re now on the way to callings. What you might not have realized is how much I learned from our discussions. Stories about thirty- three of you are here in the book, and the many others who aren’t mentioned in the book also shaped my thinking in important ways. There also were search consultants who provided advice on how to network with people like them and on some of the other topics here, together with career counselors who commented on my blog and shared ideas in live conversations. I’d like to mention all these names, or at least the top forty or fifty, but all those discussions were confidential. Please know how much I appreciate your role in this. One thing I noticed after I left McKinsey was how much I missed colleagues and the natural way they can both critique work and stimulate thinking. I’ve especially appreciated those people who read draft materials and gave me their reactions. Several read an entire draft. A few (to whom I guess I owe an apology) read an early draft before I’d worked out the main ideas. I hope I haven’t omitted anyone from this list: Jim Balloun, Karen Blumenthal, Nina Cortell, Kevin Coyne, Brian Fisher, Bruce Frankel, Rik Kirkland, Lee Koffler, Suzanne Nimocks, JJ Richards, Scott Sonenshein, Chris Turner, Patrick Viguerie, and Dave Wenner. The book reflects the first- class editing advice I’ve received, advice that included both substantive reactions to my ideas and diplomatically put comments on style. Courtney Cashman from Harvard reviews my blog posts. She’s helped me simplify, clarify, and fit into the blog’s seven- to eight- hundred- word format. Margo Fleming is my Stanford editor for this book. She not only envisioned Acknowledgments ix the opportunity for the book to contribute to people’s lives but also taught me more than a few things about how to present these ideas. I’ve been going to school with some great teachers. I’ll also mention the book’s graphics. That’s a long way from my signature skill, and Morag Everill made them happen. I’ll conclude with my family. Alice is a valued discussion partner on most everything. She’s listened to countless stories about my stories. She’s become a career strategist too. I got lucky the day I met her at the bus stop in Arlington, Virginia. And there are my children and sons- in- law, Sandy and Zak, Lauren and Ross, and Kate. You too have helped me think about the book. I hope there’s a payback if these ideas help you plan your futures.
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