Here’s the bonus category: Yourself. We’ve spent so much time thinking about other people, we might have forgotten that it’s important how we feel about our own work!
Looking at it this way, you realize that you are independent of your work. So how does the work help you to achieve your life and career goals? How would you LIKE to relate to your work?
I’ve broken out partners as a distinct category of stakeholders, because the relationships are much different than the others in our diagram.
The simple definition of “partner” is someone who works with you to deliver value to their customers and your customers, and to their management and your management. In the case of your teammates, the customers and management might be the same. In fact, that makes decisions much easier, because you hopefully have an environment that’s aligned and supports you working together.
As we travel through the stakeholders, your customers end up being one of the most powerful categories. And the length of this list might surprise you!
Depending on your job, the end customer might seem very distant. My first career out of college was as an engineer, and there were many stages between my work and the people who actually purchased the products I worked on. But as I became more experienced, I recognized that the people who spend money are the most important ones to understand, because that money paid my paycheck. If they didn’t want to spend money, there was no reason for me to have a job.
The Career You’ll LoveSponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com |
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| Welcome to my new career tips newsletter! I encourage you to pass this to anyone who might have an interest in revitalizing their career – instructions for subscribing are at the bottom. | |
How to Use Influence to Your AdvantageI can think of a million ways to “fix” other people around me. They’re just all so messed up, aren’t they? Here’s the brutal truth: That’s not the way the universe works. You don’t get to “fix” them. |
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On our journey through the stakeholders, people often think that “management” is the easiest one to figure out. But it may be trickier than you think!
I define “management” as the people who are given the power to direct your work, and as such are responsible for whether you do a good job or not.
Let’s start off this series of “stakeholders” by exploring your suppliers. People can struggle with this category, so let’s explore it a bit more.
Let’s suppose that you’re in marketing or sales. Who develops the products or services that you sell? Who purchases or supplies them?
Or suppose you’re in customer service, answering questions and resolving issues. What are the products your customers call about? Who controls them?
I’d like to spend some articles here talking about all the different people that you work with. Why? Because it’s crucial to developing the kinds of relationships that will help you not only now, but in your lifelong career journey.
The concept is straightforward: When you become clear on the needs of those you work with, you’re able to make better decisions, deliver more value, and be happier with your job. For the lack of a better term, I’ll call these people your “stakeholders.”
Sponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com
Welcome to my new career tips newsletter! I encourage you to pass this to anyone who might have an interest in revitalizing their career – instructions for subscribing are at the bottom.
I’ve been involved with a fair number of volunteer organizations during my lifetime, and I’ve always been amazed at how much people are willing to give. On the face of it, this isn’t quite rational – why would you do something that costs you a lot of time, money and work, when you aren’t getting anything specific in return?
Ah, but you do get something.
For years, time management experts have recommended that we first focus on the big, important things, and then squeeze the smaller tasks in between. It’s not a bad theory, but it’s not always the best approach to managing your relationships.
Let’s say that someone asks me to do something quite simple, perhaps to answer a question that will take me 30 seconds. But because I’m focusing on the Big Important Task, I’m going to let that slide until I have time – maybe next week.
Is everyone out to get you? Really?
I ask, because it seems that we sure act this way a lot. Our boss announces something, and instantly we’re trying to figure out why that puts us at a disadvantage. Why would there possibly be anything good in what he said?
Here’s a different way to think about it.
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