“I have tried 99 times and have failed, but on the 100th time came success.” — Albert Einstein
I’ve had plenty of absolute fails, including one just last week. How about you? It feels tragic at the time but guess what? It’s a learning opportunity.
In my career, I have absolutely bombed at public speaking, made tactical business errors in my consulting business costing me earnings, and have frankly been discouraged to levels of depression. For the last item, my initial foray into tech enterprise sales with an unsupportive boss was part of the root cause, but my lack of technical acumen was my challenge to overcome. I did. Thankfully, I moved on to reporting to a new sales director, attained cloud certifications, and lobbied to have better engineering support to close the gap.
For some of my other deficiencies, I’ve turned them around or at least diminished them by reading books and blogs, seeking professional career help, attaining education, and finding a mentor. Let’s face it; sometimes, specific goals are not attainable. You don’t know until you’ve tried, so permit yourself to fail.
Corporate Executive Failure Research
In a research review, I draw parallels to how an executive’s organizational success is similar to job search success. It appears failure is a common thread which we tend not to highlight in our culture.
According to the Corporate Executive Board, 50-70% of executives fail within the first 18 months of promotion to an executive role—3% “fail spectacularly” while nearly 50% “quietly struggle.”
Navalent, an organizational and leadership consulting firm, conducted a 10-year study with Fortune 1000 executives. Based on a review of 2,600 in-depth qualitative interviews, 76% cited lack of formal development process, and over half indicated minimal coaching and feedback. Similar to a job search, no? I tend to learn by doing things continuously, and most executive job searches aren’t continuous for my tech clients. Most of my base hails from Microsoft has a 15-year tenure, while AWS is more of a revolving door of three years.
Job Search Failures
Since my clients are executives or those trying to join the ranks, they are typically used to obtaining business unit results pronto. When it comes to career advancement, the results usually aren’t immediate. I’ve had clients contact me saying they are disappointed in their job search within the first 30-120 days.
- Lack of recruiter contacts
- LinkedIn profile views decrease
- No job offers
- Interviews went awry
Gosh, for some of my clients, it takes up to 12 months to land a job. Do you know what I observe as the most significant barrier to their success? I see a lack of a daily commitment to make oneself a priority for their next career move. No judgment, just an observation.
What Can You Do?
There’s no one size fits all for landing your next executive role. It’s a Catch-22 since working full-time or losing a job becomes the focus, and the new job search isn’t the first priority. I often hear from my career consulting clients, “I’ll work on it this weekend.” Or they apply for a couple of jobs online and hope for a callback without networking into the company. Hope isn’t a strategy that works optimally in this case. When I was searching for a role eight years ago while employed at CenturyLink (now known as Lumen), I spent at least 2 hours per day focused on attaining it.
My advice is to draw upon your business successes and similarly treat this endeavor. Your bonus at the end of the year is acknowledging a new job that brings your fulfillment.
- Identify: Create a career vision so you can create your plan to achieve it
- Clarify: Determine your non-negotiables, e.g., location, relocation, compensation, title
- Evaluate: List top verticals and companies you want to join by conducting your own plus/delta on their mission, values, revenue, and growth opportunities
- Develop: Hone in on your business network and identify individuals that can provide entry into the company through their direct connections or associates
- Deliver: Focus on your job search as you would be a successful project with a daily plan and key performance indicators
Just like your projects that have failures, acknowledge and learn from them on your job search, and move on.
Land your dream job, you deserve it.
