The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #203 Success Mapping with Arlene Johnson
Posted on 11. Aug, 2009 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Wayne Turmel, “The Cranky Middle Manager”, welcomes Arlene Johnson to talk about Success Mapping. What do you want out of your career? Do you even know? It’s critical to your company and your personal mental health. Also, Wayne goes on a rant about why snobs look down at Middle Managers and we quote Thomas Jefferson, who knew a thing or two about achieving success in spite of himself.
Arlene Johnson talks about Success Mapping and focusing on where you want to go. Most of us obsess about this but don’t really act. That changes today, got it?
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today is about us and our careers. My snake oil detector usually doesn’t put up with the “if you imagine it, it will be” school of success. I come from a great long line of people who’ve crashed and burned following that advice. Why do people pick on middle managers? This is actually something to aspire to for many of us and don’t take any crap from snobs- and not everyone is cut out to be an entrepeneur. There, I feel better.
4:45 The quote of the week is from Thomas Jefferson, an overachiever who really managed to be far more successful than logic dictated. He understood that attitude was pretty much the deciding factor in success.
5:30 Welcome Arlene Johnson, author of Success Mapping… Achieve What You Want Right Now! Don’t let the exclamation mark put you off like it did me…there’s good stuff here. We don’t spend enough time on us and our careers, at least not productive time. The book maps out 8 steps… we’ll only look at a few of them:
- What do you REALLY want?
- The power of you- intention
- The power of choice
- Using your strengths
- Transforming stumbling blocks
- Ask for- and get- what you need
- Making decisions with no regrets
- Yes, i’m really ready to achieve my intention statement
8:17 How do we reconcile taking care of our careers while honoring commitments to our employers? When your’e taking care of yourself you do a much better job for your employer.
11:39 How do you define goals and intentions? Do we even know what our goals are? Survival is important, but it’s not a real goal. And don’t let the little guy on your shoulder tell you any different.
14:00 What’s the difference between a goal and “intention”? Intention is the end goal, clearly defined, focused and actionable
17:47 Here’s what stops most of us: do we really have choice? Feel free to challenge this idea but it’s true. Ugly, but true.
20:05 Arlene walks us through how to make a clear decision. You have to know what you value, protect what’s valuable, change what’s not and figure out where the gaps are.
22:45 Okay, we have to work from our strengths. How do we know what our strengths are? How can we tell we’re not deluding ourselves? If you enjoy it, it gets you the results you need, and you can’t wait to do it again is a good rule of thumb.
26:00 Look, you and I are alike in that we are really bad at asking for what we want. Whining and hoping someone tosses you a bone is NOT the same thing. Think about WHY they would accept or deny your request and fram it accordingly. Remember, people WANT us to be successful.
Arlene’s Resources
I was shocked to hear a defense of the middle manager’s lack of respect (by others and ourselves). It was a different type of cranky. And thankful for the rant.
As to Arlene’s success pitch, it certainly is down-to-earth, and I like the distinction between goal and intention.