The "Messy" Path to Leadership

In Euclidean geometry, "The shortest path between two points is a straight line." You may know the concept, "the path of least resistance."

These ideas work well in many areas, but if you're navigating an upward career path toward executive leadership, you may be well advised to take a longer, messier path that comes with some challenges. Here's why:

• The distance between points A to B is short, and limiting. When you apply a linear approach to your career trajectory, you coast in your comfort zone. Let's say you started your career as a marketing intern, and through years of hard work you eventually land in a VP of Marketing position. But, your experience is mono-focused and limited only to marketing, possibly within the same company, so your next logical career step is Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) - that's it.
• The path of least resistance is also the path of least opportunity. Advancing toward executive leadership roles doesn't have to be difficult, but you must be willing to stretch outside your comfort zone to build experiences, gain exposure and broaden your sphere of influence. In doing so, you gain new skills, develop key relationships and add to your credibility as a value-added leader - all factors in creative new opportunities.

How to navigate the "messy" path to leadership
To effectively lead in today's challenging economy, executives need strategic insight and organizational awareness, coupled with critical skills like communication and relationship management. These qualities are developed through diverse career experiences that force you to move from one area of expertise to another - for example, from marketing to finance or operations.

Messy doesn't necessarily mean haphazard. You can be strategic and intentional about your non-linear approach to the C-suite when you:

• Clarify where you want to eventually end up. Where do you want to be in your career five to ten years from now? Knowing the end result you want to achieve helps you strategize opportunities that may be a good fit for your growth path.
• Identify success patterns. Most corporate CEOs have a non-linear career trajectory despite having a very specific sweet spot in a certain area. According to Forbes, 30 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs have a foundation in finance, though few advanced to the C-suite directly from the area. Instead, CEOs have a range of experience in a variety of areas -- from finance and accounting to marketing and operations -- that gives them strategic insight and the ability to understand the financial implications of their decisions.
• Seek assignments that stretch you. Actively seek projects that elevate your diverse skills and align with your career goals. Look in areas outside your usual comfort zone. If you're in engineering, seek assignments in operations that might leverage your existing skills, but that also present learning opportunities and exposure to other departments.
• Build relationships. Conduct informational interviews with people in departments outside of your own. The intent is to both learn more about the areas of expertise that are new to you, and develop relationships with key people of influence within the organization.

While the path to the C-suite isn't always clearly marked, you can be assured that organizations place high value on leaders who can communicate a strategic vision and deliver results, and that can only happen when you have a breadth of experience and knowledge that comes from taking the messy, non-linear path to leadership.

Charmaine McClarie, executive coach and keynote speaker. Reprinted by permission of The McClarie Group. Charmaine McClarie has helped thousands of executives lead highly successful organizational and career transformations in a variety of Fortune 500 companies, including, Starbucks, Humana, Adobe, The GAP Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson and Tate & Lyle. Contact her at charmaine@mcclariegroup.com.

Mistake: No Partnership Agreement

“We never had a partnership agreement.”

My questions is, “Why?” Twenty-five years ago my clients began their firm as two guys who had attended college together. The firm now has 20 employees and the firm owners have no partnership agreement. It is true time flies, but that’s no excuse for not taking the time to manage your small but emerging practice.

Among its many attributes, a partnership agreement defines roles, responsibilities, buy and sell provisions, the acquisition and dispositions of shares, the process of nominating new partners or removing old ones, and voting rights partners. These should be crafted early in a firm’s growth and development or at the onset of a partnership, with a full recognition of the future of the company you’d like to develop. They should not be defined after the fact, in haste, or once a partnership is coming towards its end. At that point, perspectives are often skewed in favor of an individual or circumstance.

Seek and secure wise and informed counsel on this topic. It is much like surgery. While there are “Do-It-Yourself” books on almost any subject, I contend that “Do-It-Yourself” doesn’t work with surgery. Wise counsel can provide you with guidance, direction and support in the development of an appropriate agreement.

Seek resources that will allow you to ask intelligent and informed questions. Here’s one of my favorite resources addressing this topic: the 14th Edition of the Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, published by Wiley (15th Ed. due out in November 2013). Industry Speaks™ is also reviewing books on this topic, so stay tuned for other recommended reading sources.

A partnership agreement regulates the life-blood of your firm. It protects your collective assets and provides guiding principles and tenets for partnership. You owe it to yourself, your partner(s) and your staff to have one.

Karen Compton, CPSM. Karen Compton is principal of A3K Consulting (Glendale, CA), a business development and strategic planning firm specializing in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Ms. Compton is also the founder of Industry Speaks™, a web-based business-to-business portal that connects AEC firms with experienced consultants, provides peer reviews of consultants, reports on key industry trends, and publishes expert reviews of professional courses and books. Contact her at kcompton@a3kconsulting.com.

Ownership and Leadership Transitions: aecKnowledge course reviewed on Industry Speaks

Lisa Sachs, author of "What Is Your Construction Management IQ?" and managing principal at Cumming, published a course review on Industry Speaks. Excerpt:

For anyone contemplating a transition, or frankly for anyone who has not yet considered their exit strategy but should, this one-hour aecKnowledge course is well worth your time. The speaker covers the topic of Ownership and Leadership Transitions in a clear and concise fashion for AEC professionals.

The most important factor to consider is whether or not an owner who is contemplating succession planning should merge with another firm or transition from within...

Read the full review on Industry Speaks.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Developing a strategy is doable, but executing is difficult, say the authors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. The book’s objective is to help leaders execute their strategies, and to sort Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) - those things that are truly important - from the “whirlwind,” day-to-day tasks that are urgent but not necessarily important.
Read the full review on Industry Speaks.

Leadership Course from AIA Dallas Reviewed on Industry Speaks

Just published on Industry Speaks™: a peer review of AIA Dallas Practice Management Course Leadership. Ron Price, CCM, Assistant Vice President at Parsons Brinkerhoff, who speaks frequently on the subject of leadership, reviews module 1 of the full course available from aecKnowledge: Leadership 1: Influence and Effectiveness.
Check out the full review here.

Industry Women Leaders, on Leadership, at LA SMPS Panel

A great lineup of women industry leaders made for an energetic and enlightening professional development panel at the Society for Marketing Professional Services Los Angeles breakfast event this Wednesday.

"The panel was living proof that the impact of women on the design and construction industry has real and sustained impact. Amazing lessons learned about resilience, and the idea that opportunity is the intersection of preparedness and chance!" - Karen Compton, panel moderator, and founder, Industry Speaks™.

"The program was fabulous – this is my favorite SMPS event that I’ve attended. The whole panel was excellent and engaging." - Veronica Sterling, Marketing Manager, Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.