Do you have what it takes to evolve to the next level of your career? At some point on the career ladder we have to let go of the safety of the skill set that got us to where we are today and risk trying something new.

Randall spent 13 years working his way up through five promotions to Senior Director in a pharmaceuticals company. He had a reputation for getting the job done against all odds. You wanted to make it rain in the desert, you called Randall. Randall knew everything and everybody. He worked long, hard and fast, and expected the same of everyone else. You couldn’t really like Randall but you had to admire him. You certainly admired his results. Then he got promoted to a VP role, establishing a new division. In six months, the company fired him. He was considered “ineffective and lacking vision, an incompetent leader that does not have what it takes to make this venture a success.”

What happened? What caused a top performer to fall so hard and so fast? Once he got past anger and blame and turned the feedback into serious reflection, the hard truth became clear: Randall had not evolved his success strategies. He kept applying the same, previously effective, strategies to each new situation, then hit what I call the strategic tipping point on the career ladder. For example:

• Randall’s strategy for an over-full plate was to work himself and everyone else into the ground until it was done. The new role required frequent priority adjustments and negotiating lower value work off the plate entirely, a strategy Randall had never employed, viewing that as “failure”.
• Randall’s hiring strategy was to value only those like himself, creating high-energy, get-it-done teams. The new organization, comprising mostly of these power types, quickly bit off more than it could successfully chew and did not have the creative side needed for generating successful new product launches.
• Randall had a belief that “Blue Sky thinkers keep the rest of us from getting the real work done”. Randall had always been so effective in getting results that no one, including him, had noticed a huge gap in strategic skills. Put a detailed executer in a big picture strategic role and it is like that story with three men and the elephant: somebody is only focused on the tail.

It doesn’t matter if it is your work, money, relationships (or lack of them), or weight; when what you are doing isn’t getting you what you want, it's time to change something. Change your behavior…change your results. I specialize in coaching leaders who are stuck in their rise through the succession plan. They are amazing, high potential people: Directors, Senior Directors, VP’s and Senior VP’s. But they are stuck and totally confused as to why they are stuck. What has always worked for them, suddenly isn’t. The behaviors that got them here won’t get them where they need to go.

So, what does it take for you and Randall to evolve to that next level?

1. Assume the problem is you, even if it isn’t. Wasting time and energy blaming others, even if it is about them, blocks your evolution. Request a 360 to get a complete perspective. Perspective is reality and you have to deal with their reality as well as your own.
2. Always be asking yourself, “Which strategy or behavior of mine created this result? How is it working? Where is it not?” Always be tweaking and experimenting with your strategy. We do it all the time as kids, trying on new personalities and different hairstyles to see what works (and what doesn’t), but somehow forget it along the way and think we can’t or shouldn’t change ourselves. Change is a muscle that needs consistent exercise!
3. Model strategies that work for others in similar situations. You don’t have to become them, just try on some new behaviors they have success with and see what happens to your results. Keep the ones that work for you and feel authentic. Study great leaders to learn great strategies.
4. Get help to change deep-seated strategies that aren’t working well. If you are motivated, it isn’t that hard to change even the most stubborn habit. You might try hiring a change coach!

Randall was motivated (getting fired tends to do that) and developed a new set of strategies that evolved him to the next level in his career. Most of the time, he lives and works happily ever after, and so can you!

"A man all wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle." ~ Benjamin Franklin.