Career Management Tips – Smart Lemming – Career Management Guide

August 6, 2005

Yesterday, Amanda made a comment alluding to her absence of goals from Tom. She quickly softened the comment with a follow-up statement, but it was clear that she felt she didn’t have something to shoot for. Of course, she knows she must close as many sales as possible for the new channel. Yes, she knows she has to develop leads for direct sales. Tom has admitted to me that he’s not, “The best manager.”

How should Amanda deal with this? Should she wait for Tom to come up with specific goals and objectives for her? Should she be proactive and do her own needs assessment, helping her define how she could be aligning her work to the sales goals?

100-Day (or 90) Plan

Contrary to his management of Amanda and probably because he feels he has so much riding on hiring me, Tom was quick to request a 90-day review period in my letter of acceptance. On my first day, we had a meeting with Amanda and the VP of Engineering to identify their priorities for Marketing, along with his goals. My first draft is due on August 12, with initial drafts going through reviews with Amanda and Luke for a collaborate approach.

Develop a Needs Assessment to I.D. Deliverables for Your 100-Day Plan

As part of my process, I used my Needs Assessment form to identify specific deliverables across the continuum from strategy to tactical marketing. I identified what should be covered in the 100-Day and what was beyond 100 days. Having tools like this make it easier to re-use for new projects or new jobs. I recommend coming up with something similar if you have deliverables or tools that you always produce in your career.

Review Two Key Books as Part of Your 100-Day Plan

Thank goodness, I read and love the two books: The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levelsand High Impact Middle Management. Having this knowledge helps me think through what I have to cover in my first 90/100 days. While I admit I’m having a hard time carving out time for creating the plan, I will make time this weekend. I don’t want to forget any steps or make any missteps with my first draft due on Friday.

Long and Short of It

In the absence of a 90-day plan from Tom, I hope Amanda’s light bulb goes off on her own, rather than waiting for them from Tom. If I were Amanda, I would define my job into three key areas: direct sales, channel sales, and client services. She could be thinking through what her goals should be for each function, since she already knows that she has to help the channel partner close on 60 sales. I don’t fault Amanda for being unaware that she should be proactive by defining her own goals, present to Tom, and work with him on validating the goals before working on them.

The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company.

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