{"id":4201,"date":"2022-02-25T09:15:59","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T09:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iese.edu\/standout\/?p=4201"},"modified":"2025-06-03T09:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T09:51:12","slug":"managing-career-vuca-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iese.edu\/standout\/managing-career-vuca-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing your career in a VUCA World"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]Are you a manager looking to take your game to the next level within your organization? A CEO who wants to make the move to a new company? Or an executive seeking the kind of new experience you can only get from a stint working abroad? Regardless of which direction you see your career taking, in today\u2019s world, you need to continue to actively manage it through its whole trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) environment, you can no longer be static in your career,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0says\u00a0Joanna Moss, Executive Coach and\u00a0IESE Alumni career\u00a0advisor. <\/strong>\u00a0In the past, \u201cyou might be employed by a company and progress through the organization throughout your professional life. That is no longer the case today. Anyone who thinks like that will get left behind,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Within this environment, there are\u00a0three key career development challenges: strategy, international career planning and changing labor markets<\/strong>. Here\u2019s how you address these challenges.<\/p>\n

Prepare for Uncertainty<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are\u00a0six critical areas<\/strong>\u00a0to take into account when managing your career in a VUCA setting, says\u00a0Lars Maydell<\/strong>, former executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder and\u00a0IESE Alumni career advisor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

1.<\/span> Focus on extraordinary management skills<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

These increasingly include soft skills, but many stick to traditional management practices because they prefer the world to be rational and want to maximize efficiency.
\nWith extraordinary management, you won\u2019t win all the time. Life becomes quite irrational, and you need a skill set to deal with it. The skills you need to prepare involve communication, influencing, lowering hierarchies and inclusion.<\/p>\n

2.<\/span> Make great people decisions.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The best way to foster career success is to have the right people around you. This means choosing the right peers, bosses, spouses, doctors and lawyers.<\/p>\n

3.<\/span> Work effectively with headhunters.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Executive search firms no longer focus on competencies. Due to the influence of Silicon Valley, they now look for indicators of potential. Research at Egon Zenhder indicates that five traits help predict executive success: motivation, curiosity, insight, engagement and determination.
\n\u201cFor engagement, we ask: do you have the brain and the heart to motivate people in a positive way?\u201d says Maydell. \u201cAt every level, you can look for these indicators of potential and headhunters more and more do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

4.<\/span> Understand your biases.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

People are much more likely to cling to their current jobs than go for new opportunities, observed Daniel Kahneman, 2002 Nobel laureate and expert in behavioral economics. To counter this bias, managers should discount the quality of their current job or double the attractiveness of the target to get an objective picture.<\/p>\n

5.<\/span> Find your career purpose<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

Basing career decisions on financial rewards is one of the worst traps to fall into. Managers should focus on what kind of work gives life meaning to them.<\/p>\n

6.<\/span> Refine Your Professional Appearance.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This begins with writing a meaningful CV that indicates your achievements, as well as your personal values. A CV that includes your core values is helpful for executive search firms and will enable you to better reflect on where you want to go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In addition to these six steps, Maydell advises managers to step back from their careers on a regular basis to gain perspective. \u201cYou need to reflect with other people and look at your life as if it were another person.\u201d[\/vc_column_text]

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