Stephen H Baum Leadership

“Body of work” means the collected output of someone, usually a writer or painter or musician. Few of the young managers I meet think in such terms. And they would be more successful if they did. Here’s why.

Many who aspire to higher positions do evaluate opportunities by asking how the job will look on their resume or what box it would check in terms of function. This would relegate some terrific opportunities for learning, networking, testing themselves outside their comfort zone to the reject pile. Not good. And it isnt the resume we are talking about. 

And somewhere along the line, being identified by the higher ups for leadership roles usually focuses on something else. Here are some examples. Is this person someone who:

– has engaged and motivated different kinds of people to high performance in several jobs?

– is known as a problem-solver no matter the type of problem or where solutions are to be found? 

– always gets the job done despite obstacles? 

– is good at turnarounds vs. taking good to great?

– has a knack for marketing or sales or consumer insight? 

– knows an industry broadly and deeply including the subtleties of how things really work? 

– is a contrarian who is often right?  

Past jobs and what you made of them constitutes a body of work beyond the job description. And in the body of work is your “brand:” what you care about, are good at and can be relied upon to make happen. What people can expect of you in any position. So many CEOs were identified this way during their career by a “guardian angel.”