ADVANCING YOUR CAREER CAN BE AS EASY AS TELLING A JOKE....IN REVERSE!

If financial executives were salespeople, the business world would be a very messed-up place! However, since the careers of financial executives are almost always in transition, it is imperative that they not become salespeople but, instead acquire some of the knowledge and most useful skills of salespeople, so as to better promote themselves and maintain control over their career paths.

Here's a thought for your future success at self-promotion. Remove the emotional concerns that you may have about having to become a salesperson, about possibly coming off as a used car salesman, being too pushy, or overdoing it. You're none of the above, and neither will you magically morph into a plaid jacket wearing snake-oil salesman!

Instead, focus only on the facts. Not the facts of what you have done, where you've worked, the titles you've held, or what you would like to do. Frankly, no one cares about your past. The person who may hire you for your next exciting position cares only about what you will do for her company or for her. The facts on which you should focus most of your efforts and communications are the value you can create for an organization and the results they can expect to derive. Those facts will be interesting to whomever you speak.

Think about presenting yourself by using the structure of a joke. Let's be clear here. Your career is not a joke. I'm talking about using the structure of a joke to understand how to succeed at achieving your goals. Instead of starting the story of your career objectives in the traditional manner of laying a foundation and building to the end, this time tell it in reverse. That's right, during every career opportunity meeting you must present yourself as if you were telling a joke in reverse...punchline first!

The normal approach to talking about one's career is similar to how we tell jokes. You set up the foundation of the story (Two sailors walk into a bar....), then you provide details and justification by providing evidence of your career history, what you did, how you did it, and so on. Then, 10, 20, 45 minutes later, long after the listener may have glazed over waiting for you to tie things together and incorrectly attempted to foresee where you were heading, if the listener was interested in the first place and if they're still listening, you hit them with the punchline. Them the listener is foced to think back to what you said twenty minutes ago to tie it to your punchline. What a perfect way to ruin a great career opportunity!

In sales, it's common knowledge that a salesperson has anywhere from 10 to 45 seconds to gain a customer's interest, and perhaps, the beginning of his confidence. So, why would you waste those precious moments talking about stuff that the listener may not care about? Why would you spend any time talking about anything other than what will excite the listener and drive him to want to know more about you and, ultimately, to hire you?

The single and most important statement you can make is how you will create value for the person across from whom you are sitting and for the company he or she represents. That's the punchline! And, frankly, its all they really care about, and all they should care about! Then, tell the rest of the story by supporting it with how you accomplished and why you're qualified.

Consider using a 5 step process like this:

1. Punchline: "After researching your company and gaining an understanding of its objectives, I believe that I may be able to reduce your operating costs by 33%, reduce time to communicate with the Board and shareholders by 20%, reduce risk by 25%, and double profitability in 6 months. (Or, whatever achievements you expect)"

2. How: "I'll employ.................to achieve the above objectives"

3. Why: "My qualifications, background, and experience include...."

4. Creative Case Study: "In my last role as CFO at XYZ Company, I took them public and was able to...."

5. Closing: How would your company benefit by what I am confident I can achieve for it? How can we further this discussion? If not, do you know of another company or two that might benefit from my expertise, experience, and business style?

The above works best when you know what the company with whom you're speaking needs to achieve. So, advanced research is an excellent way to understand how best to approach them. If that information is not available, then the above approach is still a more laser-like communication tool than the more common one, perhaps using different content.

Good luck! Please contact me to let me know about your success in using this approach.