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Career Management

Mini-MBA: Buzzwords, Clichés, and Business Terms

Best in Class - The highest-ranked in any category, like being an "A" student. "We're not content to be great; we plan to be best in class." See World Class.

Best Practices - Whatever successful market leaders do. "We're going to emulate the best practices of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For." Or, "What 'Best Practices" does the Society for Human Resources Executives advocate for employee surveys?"

Bio Break - Meeting-speak for "bathroom break."

Blackberry - A small hand-held electronic device that lets you send and receive e-mails remotely, even during meetings. Often referred to as "Crackberry" because of its addictive nature. The iPhone is a similar product, and my personal favorite.

Bleeding Edge - Anything beyone the cutting edge: really out there.

Bluetooth - Hey, if you see someone walking around talking to a tiny gadget on their ear, that's a Bluetooth. Bluetooth eliminates cables and replaces them with low-frequency radio signals. Bluetooth, which is a registered trademark, is named after the Danish king Harald Blåtand (Bluetooth), who unified Denmark and Norway.

Boiling the Ocean - Trying to do the impossible. Spinning your wheels. Spitting into the wind. See "Swimming up Niagara Falls."

Business Case - A small business plan to show that a project or activity will be profitable. A set of facts, figures, and concepts that determines whether a project should go forward or be funded. "If you can make a business case for the investment, then we'll consider it."

Career - [Fr. Carriere, road, racecourse. It., carriera at full speed.] The chronological sum of your worklife, including jobs and related activities.

Career Diagnosis - A written description of your likes and dislikes, needs, and behaviors when your needs are met and when they're not. A narrative of the environmental characteristics and demands you need to function well in your work, with an analysis of how well current and former jobs have met those needs. Usually done using one or more instruments, such as the Birkman Method® questionnaire.

Career Enrichment/ Enhancement - Refocusing or rebalancing your career by adding activities that align with your career direction, and or removing activities that frustrate you or add little value. Taking classes, reading books, accepting new work assignments are all forms of career enrichment. See Career 'Tune Up'.

Career Planning By Accident - One client described it this way: "I was like a ball at the top of a hill. I rolled down, taking the path of least resistance. And now, here I am. That's how I got here." An unreliable method of life planning. See Pinball Career.

Career Plateau - Reaching a point where one can go no farther, either in one organization, or in one's career. Letting one's skills become obsolete is a common cause of plateauing.

Career "Tune Up" - Fixing small problems in order to make a given job the best it can be. Not necessarily just "making the best of a bad situation," it often involves making a good situation better. See Career Enrichment/Enhancement.

The Center of the Universe - What and where everyone thinks they are--the most important person in the most important place in the cosmos. Accountants and executives think they're at the center of the universe. Physicians do too, some more than others.

CFIT (Pronounced "See-fit") - Controlled flight into terrain. An airplane crash caused by pilot error: the aircraft is mechanically sound, the weather is acceptable, the crew is unimpaired and the plane flies into the ground. We can run our careers or our companies into the ground in a similar manner. It happens all the time, because of ignoring or misperceiving important information.

C-Level - The highest level executives of a corporation. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) , Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), etc. "Would you like to be at the C-Level in five years, or where would you like to be?"

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25 Reasons I love consulting.
by William S. Frank

Brand. You are your own brand, and you can define it any way you want. For many years, I provided outplacement to the ex-employees of Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield service corporation. When departing employees left the company, they didn't request outplacement in their severance package. They said, "I want Bill Frank."
Demand. The world will always be full of terrible problems that need solving.
White Hat. I can be a helper and get paid for it.
Pay. I can be paid to do things I'd gladly do for nothing.
Variety. Every day is different.
Happiness. At this stage of my career, I only work for people I respect and care about. If a client micromanages me or is otherwise no fun, I complete the assignment and replace them.
Talent. I'm using 110% of my talents and stretching myself to the max.
Change. I can change my focus any day I want. If you're a McDonald's franchisee, you don't say, "Hey, I've got this great idea for a meatball sandwich—let's try it out today." In consulting you can adjust your focus hour-by-hour, as long as your clients still understand and appreciate what you do.
Income. No one else would pay me as much as I pay myself.
FUN. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing.
Retirement. I can write and consult as long as I am physically and mentally capable. Peter Drucker worked into his 90s, and when asked which book was his best, he said: "My next one."
Job Security. Although clients come and go, no one can come into my office and say, "Pack up your stuff . . . You don't work here anymore." In 29 years, I've only had one employer: ME.
Travel. I don't have to travel unless I decide to. I travel if it's both FUN and profitable—or at least FUN.
Commute. I live five minutes from my office, a corner office in an upscale six-story tower. In winter, I leave a heated garage at home and drive to an underground heated garage at work. There's seldom time to hear even one song on the radio.
Vacation. Consulting is more fun than vacation (except on Wailea Beach in Maui).
Friends. I have developed hundreds of close acquaintances and several lifetime friends.
Time. I can work as much or as little as I like: four-hour days or 18-hour days. (Of course, my income will reflect that.)
Employees. I can work with employees, subcontractors, partners, or alone—I've done it all.
Passive Income. I've developed several products that provide "mailbox money." I earn while I'm sleeping.
Ethics. I've never had to violate my values or personal code of ethics. I've never had to lie, purposely deceive or harm others, or promise things I can't deliver. I go to bed with a clear conscience. That doesn't mean there's never any conflict. But the conflict is conducted according to generally accepted business practices.
Virtual. My career is fairly portable. With the Internet, e-mail, cell phone, and FedEx, I can work nationally, even internationally from my office—or anywhere in the world.
Purpose. I make a difference in peoples' lives every day. I see it in their faces, hear it in their voices, and read it in their thank-yous.
Experience. Every painful or joyful life experience makes me a better consultant. So does every person I meet or book I read. Grey hair can be good in consulting.
Structure. I have to work very hard, and the clients expect superb results—but I get to structure my days, weeks, months, and years.
Boss. Most of the time, I love my boss.

As I was posting these letters online, I realized I want to communicate my love for consulting. It's just a great business. The single letters, taken together, may create a picture of enjoyment, but in a burst of creativity I listed some of the reasons consulting is such a good fit for me—and perhaps for you, too. They are not prioritized; this is just how they came out.