Building capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system

8th Annual NW Diversity Learning Series (2006)

Session Five: September 28, 2006:
Asking for and giving directions: Using coaching, mentoring and ownership as a strategy to guide you toward opportunities and growth.

Six Critical Ownership Keys

By Greg Clark

Editor's Note: The 6 Critical Ownership Keys are strategies for taking control of your own career. Consultant Greg Clark says that it is your job, and your job alone to properly manage your career, and so offers six tools to help the individual take control.

The whole idea of "equipping" individuals with the necessary tools and attitudes to actively drive their own careers occurred to me a number of years ago. I was becoming involved helping organizations drive diversity-friendly changes, but I was also working with individuals, many of whom were women and people of color, who were having very real challenges with their careers.

Telling them to take heart in the diversity initiatives of their organizations seemed insincere at best. Most people wanted concrete suggestions on dealing with the challenges they were experiencing at that moment. Unfortunately, waiting for results was like waiting for a ship to turn around... it's very slow.

These were folks living in an environment of status quo and they needed to realize that if something was going to change for them it would be substantially due to their own focus and personal accountability. I've had more than a few eyebrows raised over the years by some of my diversity colleagues who consider it akin to "caving in."

All individuals driving a career have to basically cover all 6 Critical Ownership Keys but for anyone who is not in the dominant culture, the degree of difficulty is much higher.

INDIVIDUALS: SIX CRITICAL OWNERSHIP KEYS

1. Get Results
• Commit and recommit to excellent performance
• Make them visible
• Manage risk
2. Create and Manage Your "Brand"
• How would others describe you in 5 words or less?
• The "See and Un-See" Rule
• Look for ways to "disrupt" others' views
• True to self
3. Develop and Manage a Relationship Strategy
• Networking (e.g., broaden your knowledge)
• Development (e.g., mentor, coach)
• Sponsorship (e.g., who will speak for you)
4. Identify and Create Strategies for Dealing with Barriers
• Internal (e.g., workload, time)
• External (e.g., frequent manager changes)
5. Manage Differences as Factors, not Determinants
• Be conscious but not self-conscious
• Manage assumptions: yours and others
6. Leverage Your Strengths
• Get clear on the 5 or 6 things that are true talents
• Select roles and assignments that use them

Greg Clark a professional coach, consultant and facilitator with a particular focus and background on career management as a tool for retaining diverse talent. He is the principal of CoachCentric, LLC, located in Leander, Texas. Email: greg@coachcentric.com

The 2006 NW Diversity Learning Series (now in its 9th year) focused on the theme, Building Capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system.

Using the metaphor of a subway system, each of the six-bi-monthly morning seminars explored some of the ways that access to organizational opportunities and career development are hidden and therefore more difficult for women and people of color, as well as people who speak English as a second language, to utilize. The purpose of this Series was for everyone to become more aware of organizational culture and how it impacts building people's capacity, and for everyone, managers and employees, to become better at navigating these cultural obstacles along career paths.

For more information about the NW Diversity Learning Series, please visit the Series section of our website.

2006 Series Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsor:

Bronze Sponsor:

Supporting Sponsors: