A Message From Jeff

Dear Friends,

Are you wearing your helmet and seat belt for this bumpy ride we call economic freefall? Are you feeling stretched, overwhelmed, tired, stressed out, burnt out or frustrated by your current career situation?

Take note: it's only the beginning of the second quarter, and you may need to check in and make some "tweaks." In other words, be prepared for the uncertain. Modify your outlook, adjust your goals, revamp some key personal behaviors to prepare for the road ahead. From all economic reports, it will be a long and a treacherous one to navigate.

Has your organization announced a hiring freeze, or worse, layoffs? Has your position been targeted for elimination? We have heard from numerous senior level connections over the past two months who are stressed out because of the uncertainty or because they have actually received their layoff notice. It is an unfortunate fact of life in today's marketplace. With mergers and acquisitions occurring in every category, there continues to be consolidation, while CEOs squeeze out costs in order to increase profits.

On the CEO front, we are also seeing a lot of CEO turnover. The weaker economy will only fuel further CEO changes, as boards are increasingly impatient with CEOs who miss their commitments on growth and bottom-line profits.

We are also hearing from C-level executives that the additional work created by many of these layoffs is contributing to overload and a sense of becoming overwhelmed. Former job duties of several senior executives are being divided among the remaining senior-level team members. Many executives are letting their boundaries be crossed, feeling they have to work harder or risk losing their position. It's tough to feel stuck in a situation in which you are expected to do 25% more work for the same compensation, and at the same time feel uncertain about your future (and the future of the company/business).

If you can relate to some of these scenarios, it is time to step back from the situation and look at the bigger picture. Make sure you can separate "the forest from the trees." While it may seem like these situations are one-sided (meaning, this is all happening to you), you can change the angle of the prism and make them two-sided or multi-sided. Assuming you are a top producer and a star, this is the time for you to step back, look at your industry sector and evaluate all the players. How does your current organization compare to direct competitors? What opportunities exist, particularly among weaker competitors, for you to increase market share and perhaps top-grade your current senior leadership team?

Alternatively, assuming at least some of these changes mean a depressed environment for your company or category over the next two to three years, ask yourself if it might be time to take your personal brand in a new direction (new industry category). I made my most recent career change in late 2002, during the last recession, and this afforded me the time to build a new, integrated executive search consulting and coaching business model and launch this effectively as the economy began to recover in late 2003.

Apart from career change, changing your organization or managing layoffs, there is a lot you can do to manage your mindset so that you stay positive and emotionally healthy. Since these changes are related to factors beyond your control (i.e., sub-prime lending meltdown), your frame of mind and how you internalize these situations can make a huge difference in (1) how you are perceived, (2) how you behave, and (3) how this entire situation affects you.

This month's article on "Recognizing Burnout" includes a number of tips that I hope will be helpful to you in managing what promises to be a difficult year. With so many CEOs and economists announcing we are in a recession, most industry sectors expect things to get worse before they improve.

As always, your ideas and input are welcomed and appreciated. Please write to us and let us know what you are experiencing and by all means “Ask Our Coach" about other issues you are facing relative to burnout or career stress.

All the best!

Jeff Gundersen, CEO
Executive Connections, LLC
jgundersen@executiveconnects.com
941-323-8300
Executive Search, Coaching & Consulting
http://www.executiveconnects.com

Recognizing Burnout

Burn • out: Psychological exhaustion resulting from overwork, prolonged exposure to stress or excessive overuse. Fuel supply has been exhausted or cut off.

Burnout resists simple definition because it affects so many aspects of an individual's life. In their book, Beyond Burnout, authors David Welch, Donald Medeiros and George Tate describe burnout as a condition that affects us physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially and spiritually. It hits us at our core.

The comment "I’m feeling burned out" is one of those expressions, much like "I’m feeling depressed," that most of us make from time to time without talking about a clinical condition. But similar to depression, "job burnout" is a genuine and serious malady that may afflict a third of Americans at some point during their careers. But even though there has been a great deal of study of burnout over the past several decades, there is still limited awareness among individuals and their managers of what constitutes real job burnout. Read full article.

ASK OUR COACH

Caught in Sub-Prime Crisis

As part of our commitment to provide assistance and support to executives wanting to further their professional and personal brand, we have created the ASK OUR COACH email service where you can get confidential answers to your career questions. What's on your mind? Don't hesitate to ASK OUR COACH.

Here is our answer to a question we received last month:

Q: I am running a global retirement services business for a major financial institution, and we have had two rounds of layoffs as a result of the sub-prime financing debacle. My direct reporting organization, which had more than 70 people, is now under 50 people. We have had to cut into the bone…the "fat" was all cut in round one. How do I maintain the morale in the rest of my organization, given that the bottom seems to have fallen out?

A: This is a time when you need to work on personal, one-to-one relationships with top income producers. You need to "show the love" and go above and beyond to let people know how valued they are. Also, you need to handle relationships with those people who were cuts "into the bone" in a manner that keeps the door open for some of them to return. In general, this is the time to show your human and personal side. Let the key people know you think of them as family; show you care for them on an individual, one-to-one basis. This crisis will pass, and you want each and every one of these people to view you as a mentor and a trusted advisor. For the top producers you had to cut, help them with connections so that they remember you on the way out. Leave the door open to their possible return once the business turns around.

TALENT ALERT!

The EC Talent Alert! service offers our select executive coaching clients in career transition the vast resources of the Executive Connections team to explore a range of new opportunities.

This month's highlighted "Talent Alert" executive is Robert DeBartolo, former EVP & Head of Client Services for Corbett Accel Healthcare Group. Jeff Gundersen at EC is making selective and targeted introductions for Bob to our "executive connections" that are in a position to assist him in identifying his next career opportunity.

In addition to making introductions, EC is partnering with Bob as his personal advisor to support him in evaluating and choosing among various career opportunities, whether identified by us or not. We look together to assure Bob's decisions are based upon choosing a career "fit" that is aligned with his strengths, personal brand, vision and values. Our advisement services also include: critique of Bob's overall executive search campaign strategies, input on his resume and other written communications, and preparing Bob and giving him feedback on meetings and conversations during the search process.

For more details or to learn more about Robert DeBartolo, please go to
http://www.executiveconnects.com/cs_downloads/resumes/Bob_DeBartolo_Resume.pdf

Please contact Jeff Gundersen at 941-323-8300 to learn more about how EC can assist and support you!

Connect with EC at These Conferences

May 8, 2008
Healthcare Businesswomen's Association
19th Annual Woman of the Year Luncheon
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June 22, 2008
2nd Annual Mobile Commerce Summit 2008
The New Dynamic of Banking, Payments and the Customer Experience