What’s New

  • Defined By A Job – New York Times

    Career Couch | By Eilene Zimmerman

    Defined By A Job, Looking to Move On

    Q. You want to move into management or a higher executive position, but you’re so good at your current job that you’re now defined by it. How can you find a way out of this pigeonhole?

    Once you determine where in the company you see yourself moving, create a plan to get there. Start by talking to your manager. Express your gratitude for all you’ve learned and accomplished and emphasize how much you value being a part of the organization, says Susan Battley, chief executive of Battley Performance Consulting in East Setauket, N.Y.

    Be sure to come to the conversation with ideas about how to begin your transition. “Don’t just say you feel your career needs to grow, because then you’ve put all this on your boss,” Ms. Battley says. “Instead, say things like, ‘I’m looking for opportunities to manage a team or have more exposure to customers.’ ”

    (Excerpt from Print Issue February 10, 2013; Page BU15)

    Read full article here:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/jobs/moving-on-from-a-job-thats-defined-you.html

     

  • Don’t Put Customers First, and Other Contrarian Commandments – FastCompany.com

    By Susan Battley

    Here we are with one month already ticked off our calendars. Perhaps your New Year’s resolutions included new professional and business priorities. But have you considered the activities you should not be doing? I offer three contrarian commandments that challenge conventional wisdom and the unintended consequences of daily executive focus and decision-making.

    Read full article here:   http://www.fastcompany.com/3005408/dont-put-customers-first-and-other-counterintuitive-business-commandments

  • Building A Winning Top Team – Huffington Post

    Lessons From Obama’s Cabinet Picks

    by Susan Battley

    Full Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-battley/obama-cabinet_b_2567298.html

    The beginning of President Obama’s second term seems an appropriate time to look at what makes a winning top team. Four years ago, he conceived of his Cabinet as a “team of rivals,” taking his inspiration from Doris Kearns Goodwin’s best-selling biography of Abraham Lincoln. Just as Lincoln appointed former rivals for the presidency to his Cabinet in 1860, Obama appointed former Democratic presidential competitor Hillary Clinton as his first Secretary of State. In 2008 he told Time magazine, “I don’t want to have people who just agree with me. I want people who are continually pushing me out of my comfort zone.”

    By contrast, Obama’s second-term appointments thus far appear to place an emphasis on personal familiarity and extensive interaction, as suggested by his replacement choices to head the State, Treasury and Defense Departments. All three appointees — John Kerry, Jack Lew and Chuck Hagel, respectively — are trusted allies.

  • Memo to Congress: Kick The Bad Habits in 2013 – Huffington Post

    by Susan Battley

    The 113th Congress was sworn in this week, adding 12 new senators and 67 new representatives. A fresh start is desperately needed.

    A year from now will anything be different in Washington? Or will the same political gridlock caused by dysfunctional behaviors prevail?

    It all depends on whether our political leaders can kick their bad habits and replace them with behaviors that promote bipartisanship and public confidence and trust.

    Full Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-battley/memo-to-congress-kick-the_b_2398314.html