Burnt Out? Stalemated? Or moving way too fast??
Back to basics: network! Whether you are an engineer or in sales / business development. Network!
Having trouble seeing the forest for the trees? Feeling like all the client relationship or project management tools in the world can’t help you organize your workload? Twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the phone to ring? (Clue card: still a workload organizational issue).
What are your priorities? What’s your perspective?
Are you on the inside looking out? Are you even looking out at all? Or is your focus directed inward?
Take a step back from everything. Then another step back. Until all the big stuff fits into a better perspective. Because there is probably only one major focus and priority that you really should be paying attention to. The rest is everyone else’s drama. That you’ve elected to participate in – or gotten dragged into. (Hint: it’s still your decision to allow yourself to be dragged into the mess.)
If you are burnt out: ask yourself whether it’s because your workload is uninteresting or rote. Which may or may not fit your skill set. Then find a way to make your own job more interesting. Instead of having a sense of entitlement in which you expect everyone else to entertain you. Remember, you work for them. Not the other way around.
Stalemated? Feel like you should be rewarded for the work you put in? Do you feel unrecognized, even compromised? Even / especially if you have been playing politics? (Another clue card here: I’m not a fan at all of playing politics and throwing folks under the bus). Feel like no matter what you do always ends up with the same, unrewarding results? That your work environment or corporate culture doesn’t foster out-of-the-box ideas and innovation? There are lots of different factors leading up to feeling stalemated.
In limbo without a sustainable workflow? Calling folks and not connecting? Becoming that source for a third bid, rather than having your products and services spec-ed in at the design phase? So you are not exactly a household word.Finger pointing instead of taking responsibility?
What are your priorities? What’s your perspective?
Are you on the inside looking out? Are you even looking out at all? Or is your focus directed inward?
Depending on where we sit around the table, we see the same things differently. And whether you are feeling burnt out, stalemated or moving at warp speed in a complete blur – or completely mired down- perhaps it’s time to get back to basics.
Work your network. Take their pulse. See whether they are in the same boat or have a different perspective. Your network provides your overall frame of reference. Networking shouldn’t be an excuse for making an excuse (“they are all experiencing the same thing so we are going to hunker down and wait it out”).Find out what the issues are within the various LinkedIn groups that complement your professional portfolio. What are the large-scale issues impacting projects and technology in general? How do these issues impact your field of work and your company’s track record? What’s your role within these larger issues? How can you learn more about them to see if there is a role for you to take?
Networking is data gathering about the factors influencing and important to your business set. It’s your professional platform.
Take your network’s pulse from time to time. You will start to look at things from the outside in, instead of the opposite. See yourself and your company from the client or network side. This perspective can help your own perspective. You can determine whether you are in a position to change your role or your output to address these factors. How can you make a difference to impact your professional outcome?
Too often we get overwhelmed by the myriad of tactical issues that come like tsunamis over our professional – let alone personal – lives.
We didn’t create our professional networks just for the sake of collecting people. We created them because of common interests, perspectives and thought leadership. We learn from our networks and they, in turn, can learn from us.
Networks aren’t static elements that we add to from time to time. They impact the professional perspectives we can take. And they are a launch platform for professional growth if we engage with them from time to time, if not constantly.
Prioritize. Don’t complain and feel boxed in or out. And network. Identify trends and opportunities.
Babette N. Ten Haken, Founder & President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC, brings entrepreneurial mojo and business- and revenue-producing collaboration and communication tools to small and mid-sized businesses and startups. Download her newest White Paper at her Free Resources Page. She was named one of the Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers 2013. Her book, Do YOU Mean Business? focuses on technical / non-technical collaboration strategies and tools. You can download the first chapter here.
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