Part 4: Maintain your Plan A and Plan B (B, as in Bulletproof)
Last week, we discussed how to properly start to execute your Plan A/ Plan B strategy. In our final part of this newsletter series, we’re focusing on maintaining your plan after landing.
You may have taken a role that was less than your ideal. Or maybe it is a great role, but you had your sights set on the number one leader in your industry, but you never got a chance to interview. Remember what I noted earlier – you may have settled for now for all the right reasons, but don’t settle in.
And, you may have landed exactly where you wanted to be. That’s great – but with the rate of disruption increasing even faster than I predicted in my TEDx Talk you must maintain your bulletproof activities so that you are always “ready to be ready” and will be able to weather any disruption without an interruption that will impact your financial security and your career.
Here are some important reminders so that you are ready for Plan B (B, as in Bulletproof):
- As you begin your new role, on a scale of 1 to 10, how is your network? (1 being “I have not kept in touch/ or have very few people in my network” and 10 being “I have maintained contact with my network and can readily activate it.”) If you are at 8 or above that is great. Now you need to continue to cultivate that so that your network remains one that you can leverage. If it is below an 8, schedule time each month —even if it is only an hour a month) to raise your score.
- Be sure to connect with vendors/service providers. They are always a great source for insights about other companies and for job leads.
- Did you want to switch industries but found it was too big a hurdle? Now is the time to curate and cultivate a network in that industry so that you exponentially improve your ability to make the change next time.
- Maintain a target list of companies that are of interest to you, and curate and cultivate a network in those companies now. Continue to add recruiters to your network. Once again, once employed, you will garner more attention from them.
- And don’t forget to curate and cultivate connections inside your current company. Your Plan B may be as close as another department or division.
In the first few weeks of a new role?
The First Minute by Chris Fenning is a great book for when you are in your first few weeks of a new role. He offers a step-by-step guide to conducting conversations in the workplace. Learning how to be clear and concise is a sure way to improve your overall communication with coworkers.
If you missed parts 1 through 3 of the newsletter series, you can find it on our blog.