Notes from Career Development Seminas

by Mr George Zhu, former VP Marketing of Coca Cola China East Region

General pattern of career path

Age	25	35	45		55
Age period	Graduation & Starting Career	Expanding & Strengthening Career	Moving toward to the peak of your career and abundant family life		Senior Management or planning for retirement
Career	Try & Error	Building Foundation	Strengthening & growing	Expanding & Maturing	Planning for 2nd career
Career Development plan	Cultivate skill attitude habits	Strengthening career skills: specialized & management fields	Expanding knowledge of management	Peak of Career, mentoring & sharing	Give back to the society
Requirement	Correct Mindset & Assessment	String learning desire & determined mind	Clear vision & leadership	Mature management skill	Healthy in both physical and mental

Weakness and Strength of most Chinese professional
1. Strong in analytical skills but weak in social skills
2. Strong in self discipline but weak in managing others
3. Focus more on self interest and less on public interest
4. Strong in doing work right but weak in doing the right thing (Improve 3P: Performance, Price(Cost)/Value ratio, Productivity)
5. Good at insisting own opinion but weak in compromising
6. Strong in IQ but weak in EQ
7. Strong in technology but weak in other fields ( HR, marketing, psychology, and finance).

Five Import Mindset
1. Proactive
2. Accountable
3. Desire for success
4. Thanksgiving heart
5. Continuous learning

Important managerial Character
1. Be proactive
2. Humility
3. Accountable
4. Passion to win
5. Win-win
6. Continue to learn
7. Courage resilience
8. Self awareness (Know your strength and your weakness)
9. Sensitive to other people’s needs
10. Self-discipline

Important managerial skill
1. Communication skill (listening, persuasive, articulate)
2. Negotiation Skill
3. People Skill (observing, leveraging, and organizing)
4. Strategizing (splitting the goal to executable plan, major difference between successful people and common people)
5. Planning
6. Execution
7. Motivation
8. Leading team

What does the economic tsunami mean to us?
1. Most companies may lay off employees in the next few months and will continue for a while
2. Most companies have a hiring freeze
3. Most companies are reducing expenses
4. Most companies will not have raise but pay cut this year
5. Competition for internal positions will be fierce
6. Internal politics can create a cutthroat working environment
7. There are many skilled workers/talent available
8. The situation is completely strange to most workers
9. Students pay for their internship
10.Parents pay consultant to market children’s potential

Do the right thing when there is no Crisis
1. Do beyond your job description
2. Deliver better result
3. Strong people skills
4. Team player
5. Being accountable
6. Capable of solving problem
7. Adaptable to changes
8. Noticeable improvement 

Eleven points to estimate the importance of my work in my company
1. Know which product is most essential in my company
2. Assess the importance of my work, using chargeability, custom satisfaction, net income per person, and productivity
3. The position of my department in my company
4. Do other departments have close relation with my work content?
5. Am I invited to attend cross-departments meeting frequently?
6. Is my job indispensible?
7. Am I replaceable?
8. How many colleagues are capable of doing my job?
9. Will my job change with change of situation: technology, client requirement, company direction, and merges & acquisition?
10.Progress of important project
11.Is my department or my boss losing influence? 

What can I do if I think I am in danger of losing my job
1. Improve myself
2. Change department
3. Learn new technology
4. Improve relationship with boss and colleagues
5. Build up network by helping out in other department
6. Participate in MBA project
7. Change company, change job, or change career.  

How to face layoff
1. Managing my emotion
2. Constructive conversation with supervisors
3. Thinking about what can / have I learned?
4. Improve my professional network
5. Start searching again
6. Invest something to improve my skill
7. Keep closely in touch with my ex-boss or colleagues.  

Improve our mindset – a daily exercise
1. Catch one negative thought and turn it into a positive one
2. Think of one thing for which you are grateful at the beginning of each day
3. Say one "Fantastic" when a friend or team member asks how you are doing
4. Assume the best in one upcoming situation
5. Keep on moving one more time when you experience adversity
6. Help friends 

What is Accountability?
1. Don’t look for excuse for myself
2. Do as what I said
3. Walk one extra mile
4. What can I do to do it better?
5. Report my work progress to my boss and my colleague in an active manner.
6. Be responsible to myself
7. Accountability is a habit
8. Accountability is to keep improving myself.

Stupid people: Using the same method and desire for the better result
Smart people: Do the right thing first, and then do it right.

Being a proactive person
1. Take action
2. Focus on something I can control
3. See the silver lining (hope)
4. Focus on whatever I have
5. Positive and optimistic
6. Learn from failure
7. Be courageous facing adversity
8. Try to solve the root of problem

Last but not least
Watch your thoughts, they become words
Watch your words, they become actions
Watch your actions, they become habits
Watch you habits, they become character
What your character, they become destiny