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The following article was published in the Charleston Post & Courier's Business Major, a featured monthly column in the Business Review Section on September 9, 2000. Matching Job Alliances to Develop Your Career GoalsBy DOROTHY P. MOORE Special to The Post and Courier Business Major Until recently, people tended to think of the world of work in distinct categories. Most people either worked in someone else's business or in their own. The distinction between being an employee and being an entrepreneur was clear. The rapid changes in the economy in the past two decades have blurred the lines. What counts now are portable skills and knowledge, meaningful work, on-the-job learning, and the right contacts at the right time. In such a world, people move readily from position to position, into entrepreneurship, and back again, from one alliance to another, and occupations, jobs and careers take on very new meanings. These new careerpreneurs blaze new paths yet unexplored and rarely researched because of the swiftness of the changes that are very much a reality. While the stories of successful women entrepreneurs are very much individual, the origins of nearly all of their firms have an important plot line in common. At a critical time in the entrepreneur's career, someone with whom she had connected offered encouragement, pointed out an opportunity, provided financial backing or in some other important way lent a hand. Successful women continually construct networks with extensive links connecting to many people. This multiplies the possibilities of assistance at just the right moment. Networking and independent judgement make up an important part of success. But, what does this networking entail? Is it a chance meeting, a blind phone call, an informal introduction, the passage of a business card, perhaps a referral or a personal introduction? At the recent Women's Business & Leadership Conference 2000, a state-wide conference presented by Midway College & J. Holloway Productions in Lexington, KY, some new strategies were introduced by three keynote speakers: Jamie Parilla, V.P., Catalyst, Inc. of New York, Kim Calero, CEO, Successful Business Strategies Group and past president of the National Association of Female Executives, and Linda Tarr Whelan, President the Center for Policy Alternatives, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations' Commission on Women. The theme running through all their presentations was the essential role of alliances in order to make a difference. Perhaps it was best quantified by Kim Calero in her analogy of the impact of contacts. If we make a blind phone call, she said, we can measure the effectiveness of that in the 1 percent category. An informal introduction may lead to an increase in the effectiveness of our contacts by 15 percent. If someone gives us a referral, we might count on 50 percent effectiveness in closing or joining a business relationship. However, if someone takes time to give us a personal introduction and make the links in the alliance between the two parties clear, this will lead to a 90% chance of a sealed business relationship with long term ramifications. As John Gardner, author of the forthcoming Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneurial Soul says, "who you have lunch with will change your life." The choice of employment or self-employment is deeply embedded in not only relationships but also individual characteristics and valued outcomes. One's course will be based on a collected set of skills, abilities, experiences and opportunities. While we can not control the future, the key to maximizing opportunities seems to be the ability to maintain a high level of personal self-esteem, self-knowledge, and a sense of control. How does one develop the ability to identify opportunity? Among the successful, there is a keen sense of willingness to take risks and the perseverance to work very hard-to do it all if necessary. An important avenue to success as illustrated by the three Kentucky regional winners of the Working Woman Magazine Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards for the year, Deborah Dyer & Jackie Smith, Central Kentucky Research Associates and Wanda Pennington, Owner of Kingston Shell Food Mart, Berea. They say, have the drive to take a risk, to create something in the field that no one in their field has previously done, offer top quality service and stick with it. Take the case of Cathy Matchinga, CEO of Val Air Valet Parking, Northern KY/Cincinnati International Airport, the winner of Working Woman magazine's National Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for customer service. The key for her was developing a concept that hit at the heart of a much needed niche for professional and entrepreneurial women, a place to hand off your car for service while you make your much needed business trip. As we know, all our contacts will not lead to a personal alliance. Then, how do we make each contact count? Susan Kurdziolek, President of Turn Key Office Solutions, a consulting firm in Arlington, VA, specializing in organizational effectiveness, offers some tips. Her first three rules to more effectively manage our personal time are these: Plan and organize, set goals, and then decide what the important priorities are. Applying her 80-20 rule, we learn that 80 percent of the reward comes from 20 percent of the effort. In applying this to network contacts that will help us pave a more successful career, it is important to isolate and identify the valuable 20 percent. The key: Identify the really important contacts and focus on maximizing the alliances to build successful business strategies. For Questions/Comments about this site, contact dot.moore@comcast.net. Site designed by Jackye Cocoros. |