To Climb, Jump or Take the Stairs

This topic applies to those of you with years in your company. With the many hours, many defeats and many victories under your belt you now wish to ascend in your organization and move up in your career. As you sit and survey the landscape around you, you may be asking yourself the following questions:

• Should I climb within organization?
• Should I just jump to another organization?
• Should I take the stairs (steadfast incrementally moving up the ladder).

If you are in your career or even in your present position less than two years the easiest way to ascend is to jump. Jump to another company through dissemination of your resume, Internet searching, network connections or head hunters. Jumping is a quick way to gain more responsibility, have a change in scenery and to increase your salary quickly and without requiring a quantum leap in your experience or toolset. When you are young, pre-children it is much easier to get ahead by jumping because constantly moving and changing your environment is much easier when you don't have to sell your home, move to another school district or have other weights/ties associated with years of building a life and family.



Climb:
Climbing is always the outcome of experience, learning, growth, luck and timing. Wrap all of this up in a corporate culture based on meritocracy and recognition and you get a recipe for personal career growth.

• Ample opportunities for advancement


• Culture of meritocracy and recognition/reward


• Company is experiencing growth


• Company organically grows management

Of course in order to climb the ladder you have to recognize that this can only be done if the rung above you is not occupied. If you want to climb there has to be a compelling business reason for you to occupy a higher level slot within the organization. Many companies require growth to stay alive. This growth is usually in two areas: revenue growth and organization growth. With revenue growth companies may try to achieve their goal by growing the Top Line or in a financially tough environment (like now) shrink their variable costs. If they are shrinking their costs the opportunities may not be there for you to advance because of financial constraints.

Organizational growth usually happens in two ways: organic and acquisition. Organic growth is the best path for you to recognize your opportunities and desires to move up and fill a slot in a company that is growing their talents and bringing new people in. Acquisition growth usually means that when the two companies come together there is some overlap and, once identified, is usually eliminated (can you say RIF?).

In either scenario it is very important for you to recognize both the opportunity and your possible contributions to the company and sell them up the management chain. Not all climbing opportunities come to you just because you are a senior person within the organization. The most aggressive and dogged person usually gets the job, certainly over a passive (even more experienced/qualified) person who is waiting to be offered the opportunity.

Jump:
When the landscape around you indicates that there is no way to advance because of either no growth, miss-management, no fit or other reason you may find the best thing to do is jump. Some reasons to do this are:

• Company is not growing


• Old guard leadership not willing to change


• Poor industry performance year after year


• No room for advancement


• Company does not hire from inside for the level of positions you want


• Company continues to bring outside consultants to change company direction


• Company relies on outsourcing your particular area of expertise

In this instance it is always better to have a job lined up before you announce your desire to leave. There are many resources available to you to find a job: Internet, head hunters, hot jobs, Monster, etc... A good piece of advice to give in this situation is no matter how young you are or how much time you have in the organization NEVER, EVER burn a bridge. Always act in an ethical manner and always leave your current position in a positive way. Here the old saying "Small World, Long Life" applies. Take advantage of the jump to obtain a job somewhat out of your comfort zone as this will give you a more diverse experience base to build on in the future.

Stairs:

Taking the stairs just means you are in your position for the long haul and you are slowly, incrementally rising through your organization. Steady performance and a good track record will eventually land you in an elevated band. always recognize and know what your company does, what your boss does, how he is measured. Build on this to become one of his strongest assets and top performers. This will get you there, maybe not on the fast track but you will have opportunities. The key is to recognize and act on them when they appear.

Taking the stairs is beneficial when:

• Change is coming


• New management is taking over


• Happy with current work culture/environment


• Growth


• Positive reviews


• Expanding responsibilities