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How to build a successful career: A practical guide

© Achal RaghavanStrategy & Business Excellence Consultant

Bangalore, India

achalraghavan@yahoo.co.inwww.achalraghavan.com

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Contents

� Introduction

� Globalization – what it means to you

� Know your organization

� Know yourself

� Sum up

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Introduction

� This is a practical guide for someone starting out in the corporate world

� Based on real-life experience

� A road-map

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Globalization –what it means to you

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Global markets

� The customer is getting more dominant – over companies and countries

� “Nationality” of a product is getting more blurred & less important

� Markets are becoming global – through interlinked economies

� The world is not (yet) flat – but “semi-globalized”

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What is “globalization”?

� It is “blurring / eliminating / transcending boundaries”

� It is “fungibility” - i.e. interchangeabilityand freedom of movement - of managerial resources:

� Money

� Technology

� Equipment

� People

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What does that mean for you?

� You have to develop a global mind-set

� You need to be sensitive to cultural differences

� You have to integrate

� You need to become a team-player

� You need to get comfortable with change

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Developing a global mind-set

� Open-minded� Non-judgmental� Comfortable with diversity� Interested in history, geography & global phenomena

� Risk-taking capability� Abstract thinking� People management

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Need for cultural integration

� Global business brings together people from different cultures

� Need to collaborate, to succeed

� Cultural boundaries are not just national boundaries – e.g. India = 25 cultures

� Cultural integration critical for success

� Case: Daimler – Chrysler merger

� Failed due to cultural differences

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Cultural diversity and integration: a challenge

“Indian”

“German”“Japanese”

“American”

•What do these labels mean?•How do you make people work together as a team?•What is your cultural orientation?

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Cultural integration

� Get comfortable with diversity in workplace

� Avoid snap judgments

� Build relationships based on professional respect

� Put “team” over “me”

� Evolve result-oriented team culture

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Know your organization

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Understand company DNA

� What are its core values?

� What is its attitude to growth? � Slow and steady?

� Aggressive?

� Who makes / influences the decisions? How?

� What are its basic processes?

� What are its limitations?

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Organizational culture

Behaviour

Attitudes, beliefs,value systems,tradition

Visible

Underthesurface

90%

10%“The Iceberg”

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Organizational culture

� Do not go by first impressions

� Remember the “iceberg”

� Look for the “unsaid”

� Gain acceptance

� Then exert influence

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Know yourself

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The path to progress

� Find role that matches your natural strengths

� Do justice to your role� Meet commitments

� Volunteer

� Keep learning

� Be a “team member”

� Earn your progress

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The Manager: a “mind map”

Manager (You)

Passion /

Mission in life

Rational vs.

emotional

“Find a balance”

“Defining moments”

“Role clarity”

“Communication /

Alliance-building”

Stakeholders (customers,

employees, shareholders,

suppliers)

Image

(Johari window)

“What is my mission in life?”

“Owner vs. manager”

Developed by Prof. DVR Seshadri & Achal Raghavan

Know yourself!

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Business ethics

� Ethical dilemmas - an integral part of corporate life

� More acute as you go higher up

� “Defining moments” – created by your decisions and actions

� You need a “code” - and a framework

� Remember – all it takes is one bad fall

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The corporate ladder –and your “centre of gravity”

� As you climb, it feels great!

� You can achieve a lot of things

� Make a difference to the company

� Money and power !

� Lonely at the top

� 24 X 7 X 52

� Work / life balance

� Stress

� Risk and reward go together

•You have to find your “centre of gravity” - where your job and your capabilities match at that stage in your career• A higher position requires a broader base (of capabilities)

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A recap

� Get ready for a globalized work-place� Global mind-set� Cultural integration

� Know your organization� Company DNA� Organizational culture

� Know yourself� The manager’s mind map� Ethics� Your “Centre of Gravity”

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Sum-up

� Play to your strengths

� Do what you enjoy; the money will follow

� A career is a marathon

� Sustain your motivation and energy

� Avoid burn-out

� Nurture your human relationships

� Stay in touch with yourself

� Keep a sense of balance

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Thank you and good luck!