In surveying thousands of top executives, Jim Citrin and Rick Smith discovered five powerful factors common among high achievers which, above all others, appeared to determine career success: understanding the value of you; practising benevolent leadership; overcoming the permission paradox; differentiating using the 20/80 principle of performance; and finding the right fit (strengths, passions and people).
The five patterns too dismiss the notion that exceptional achievement is often the result of luck but proves it to be a culmination of consistent performance and opportunity.
In the next weeks we'll look at each of the five patterns and show the benefits to be gained by adopting them.
What are you worth?
For many, the answer to this question may seem a matter of simple math. Just take your total annual compensation, add benefits, and voila, you’ve got your answer. Not so fast. The equation for determining your true worth over time is more nuanced than you might first imagine. It is more than your annual compensation and benefits.
You need to take into consideration age, demographic trends, the demand for similar professional positions, and intellectual capital (in today’s market, the value of specialised knowledge is at a premium).
While most workers do not understand their value in the marketplace, our research suggests that the extraordinary executive is instinctively aware of the forces that drive his/her value and focuses his/her energies and actions on maximising that value.
Your value in the marketplace is far from static. In fact, it changes at every stage of your career and in every different position you are in. So there’s no single answer to the question, “What am I worth?” However, once you understand what affects your value, you will have the insight to increase that value.
Your true worth in the marketplace is determined by the combination of both potential value and experiential value. At any point in your career, your value can be thought of as a combination of these two elements. Even if you find yourself considering a role similar to one that you have been in, it is important to look for and discuss the growth potential of the new role itself and you in it. And while experiential value and potential value are distinct, they are closely related.
I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things. Benjamin Franklin
For a child to continue to swing, potential energy must be transformed into momentum, which in turn builds up potential energy again. The path of your career is similar — you must turn your potential value into valuable experiences, which together can be converted into renewed potential.
You will need to decide type is more important in your career. Actually, a successful career is almost always made up of both. Remaining with one company may keep your pay lower on a relative basis, but you are more likely to receive a potential promotion within your current organisation than through a move to another company.
Being given the chance to move into general management, or dramatically increase your scope of responsibility, is crucial to continued career advancement. So understanding when it is in your long-term interest to do something in the short-run, such as going for a potential promotion within your current organisation to position you for an experiential promotion later on, is a key trait of extraordinarily successful executives.
The three phases of your career
Everyone thinks his career is unique. The reasoning goes that a career in manufacturing bears little resemblance to a career on Wall Street, or in high technology. The guideposts and experiences must be different for each and every sector of the economy. Job titles must vary widely in scope and responsibility. And career paths must differ greatly depending on where you live.
However, there are many similarities. The paths of successful professionals often visibly diverge from the less successful in the middle of a career. Of course it’s not quite as simple as that.
The path of careers varies greatly among professionals, and minor differences in trajectory early on can lead to big differences in career success over time. But the fact is that over the course of your career, no matter what your rate of ascent, you will likely experience three distinct phases, regardless of your specific occupation, industry, or geography; the Promise Phase, the Momentum Phase, and the Harvest Phase.
This extract is taken from The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers by James M. Citrin and Richard A. Smith, published by Random House.
Are you an extraordinary executive?
- Take the quiz and find out
- Visit the 5 Patterns website for more information and to order your copy.