There’s a question you haven’t asked yourself yet as you look ahead to the New Year. You may have asked yourself, “What could go better this year than last year?” but Kevin Sealey, VP of Operations, EPOCH Student Living, believes there’s another important question you may be forgetting to ask:

"What were your greatest successes? Did you ever take time to understand why they were a success and the work that lead to it being successful? Take these positive experiences and incorporate them into your plan for 2019.”

If you are looking to move in the C-Suite, having P&L responsibility listed on your career documents can dramatically increase your chances of winning new opportunities. Profit and loss responsibilities at an organization often includes overseeing cash flow and advising on budget allocations for either a department or the organization as a whole.

Let me present yourself one of the deadliest and yet often most easily neglected mistake you can do as executive in career transition: Having a big EGO. Let me show you three examples and the negative consequences of a big ego for job search success.

Mistake Number 1: “I can do it.”

Your resume tells who you are. Simply put, you are what you write, and not what you think you are. An executive maybe a worldwide SVP of Sales, but the resume presents you as a middle manager. You may be an industry-agnostic General Manager, but your resume makes you an automotive industry expert. You may rank high in an investment bank, but you fail to communicate your responsibility and 100 staff under you.

Aristotle once said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” When we know ourselves and what we are good at, we can work smarter.  So it is no surprise that those with strong self-awareness tend to do better professionally. They tend to perform better at work, get more promotions and lead more effectively.

Self-assessment tests are helpful in sharpening your awareness of your strengths, weaknesses, interests and personality preferences, among other important aspects of ‘you’, including personal styles such as communication or problem solving styles.

Why Use Assessments?

The start of a new year can be a catalyst for the desire to advance your executive career and achieve professional growth. But what is the secret to reaching your annual executive goals?

Regardless of your target goal for 2018, the key to staying on track to improve your career trajectory is: proactivity. Whether you are hoping to change career, industry or position, or would like to build your network, become a thought-leader or negotiate for a higher salary in your current role, consistent proactivity is integral. Listed below are 7 ways that you can proactively take control and future-proof your career in 2018.

During my everyday conversations with clients and candidates, one topic often tops the discussion agenda: The progression of a career and how it can evolve. At times, when you critically analyze your career, you find that your career just happened. My experience as a search consultant has shown me that many people don’t plan their career progression because they believe there are too many factors that will make it too hard to plan their career paths.

But, this is not actually the case for successful people. Many successful people identify their core goals and plan the actionable steps to help them achieve those goals.

History is littered with the hulls of rudderless ships because the appropriate captain was not at the helm; and carcasses of executives who have spent lavishly at shareowner expense or inappropriately spoke a word in haste and waste. This year has seen its fair share of jettisoned executives for everything from moral turpitude and fiscal excess or simply being there in the wrong slot. The spectrum of personalities and rationales for the revolving door varies widely. Whether one is able to bounce back often is based on the nature and severity of the departure and whether it was self-inflicted or politically induced.

Although I research and teach about emotions, I also have clients, colleagues, and a family (including two cats, two dogs a husband, and an almost four-year-old), so I can very well understand why we all struggle sometimes. This afternoon, my son has been in the house for 15 minutes, has spilled water all over the kitchen floor and then walked in it with his dirty feet from outside, screamed (happily) about 100 times (or so it seems) while playing with one of the dogs, whined about having his nails cut and has been singing in between it all. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful to be able to work from home some of the time and have him come by for a hug once in a while and to just be here in the midst of the craziness of life.

Early in my first career (in television), I worked with someone who excelled at telling me (and probably many others) that my work was “not right.” Yet, when I asked what was wrong, the person couldn’t tell me.

“What’s wrong with it,” I asked.

“It’s not what I expected.”

“But it’s exactly what was outlined in the brief and the storyboard.”

“But it’s not right.”

“In what way?”

“It came out different.”

“Different how?”

“Not the same as I wanted.”

“What did you want?”

“Not this.”

“Well, then, what would you change to make it what you want?”

Venture capitalists (VCs) are paying more attention to the structure of the marketing teams they invest in and when hiring for CMO jobs. Why? Because marketing plays an increasingly influential role in the success of their portfolio companies.  To ensure that the marketing department can generate the kind of leads that drive sales, they want to see a particular profile in a marketing executives.