Are you stuck in your career? Worried about trying to find a new role? Afraid to quit just to be unemployed? How do you change the pattern? Here are four ways to unstick your career and open new options.

How do I become and stay more strategic? I hear this question all the time from my clients. Like the scarecrow, lion, and tin man, you already are. You just need to stay there.

Networking is the best way to find and keep your job. But how the heck do I do that? Where do I find the people? How do I connect? What do we talk about?

Here are the tips for building a great career network.

If you’re at the point where you’re haggling over price, your relationship with your employer is effectively over. That’s why I think you should steer clear of counteroffers.

Your best employee is killing it – at your competitor. You can find the very best people through careful research and patience. Some of the very best hires you will ever make are made by looking in your own industry.

The three most valuable words a manager can hear are: I’ve Got It.

You should negotiate your job offer. Here’s why, and a list of at least 10 things you should think about negotiating.

Whether you’re looking for a new job or are lucky enough to have an interview, research is essential. In this video I walk through extensively how to research the company, the leadership, the organization, the role, and the hiring manager.

How short of a job stint is too short? How long is too long in a job?

The job market has changed dramatically in the last couple decades. Short tenures that were red flags are now the norm. Tenures that were once the minimum now seem too long.

To understand, let’s look at how the market has changed, and what matters today in the tenure for your job. Hint: it doesn’t depend on the clock.

The end of the year is a time for reflection, a fresh start, and new initiatives. That’s why it often brings reorgs and layoffs. Because the end of the year falls differently in the C-Suite.

You’ve been laid off. Now what? In this guide, I talk about how to lobby for and protect yourself, how to communicate the news, and how to begin the search for a new job.

Those big deal day long training offsites are lousy for long term impact. Here’s why.

Here are the four traits of great leaders. The four things I’ve seen great leaders consistently do.

Presented as a counterpoint to my video to my previous video on the four traits of bad managers.

The four most common traits of bad managers that I’ve seen in my 40+ years in business, including as the VP of HR for Microsoft.

Based on an article written for Business Insider

Projection is not just for the movies. Leaders project their attitude and culture on the workplace. Better to not project, ask.

Escaping the shadow of a PIP (performance improvement plan) is impossible. Best to start over somewhere else.

To get that raise, be promoted, or avoid the layoff, you need an ally. An ally in the room where the decisions are made. Your best ally is your boss. Here’s how to make your boss your ally.

Most business rules happen by accident, as a result of rule creep. You can help by changing the default and cleaning up old cruft.

Lotta unwarranted hate for the phrase “work-life balance”. From people you shouldn’t listen to on the subject.

The most valuable skill for a senior leader is to be business multilingual. Fluent in the many languages of business.

Remote work is centuries old. The challenge isn’t working remotely, it’s staying connected, and that happens a hallway or a continent away.

The best organizations are resilient to the increasing pace of turnover because they’ve built the muscles to handle it.

Powerful lessons I learned from working with Bill Gates.

As a senior person, don’t expect your company to train you for the next step in your career. Expect nothing, and train yourself.

How mastering the ‘sup zoom call can help you be a better remote leader.

Doing a layoff well is possible. Lots of companies mess it up, to be sure. But you can do a layoff that treats people well and accomplishes the main goal: to make the company stronger.

It’s a lot of hard work, but this video shows how you can do a layoff, treat people with dignity, retain your humanity, and build a stronger company.

REFERENCES:

I have two short videos on layoffs referenced in the video, they are:

Why the Layoffs: https://youtu.be/iVb8WwGHVKs
Layoff Blame Game: https://youtu.be/zcJ8Vh4jiWA