Step 4.3: Your Ideal Situation
Next, down the side of your Search Grid, define your Ideal Situation - the conditions where you will thrive. Use a row for each of these:
What’s important to you? The things that determine whether we thrive - or just survive. Beyond advancement and compensation, these are what makes the workplace a happy one - or a place we dread to go. Fun people to work with. Authenticity. A product / service that you identify with and believe in. Creativity valued. A manager who not only listens to your opinion - but seeks it out. Autonomy to experiment. Responsibility. Ability to use your Superpowers. What are the things that make you happy at work? Just as important to understand - what are the things that drive you crazy?
Size of company - how large or small is the organization? Is it global, regional, local or hyperlocal?
Stage the business is in - startup, expansion / growth, hypergrowth, maintaining, rebuilding / fixing, reinventing, etc…) - each of these are very different and the skillsets required to succeed in each are often not the same. As we talk about the concept of “Creating Value” later, what is valued in one stage is almost worthless in another. As an example, the coin of the realm in the startup / expansion world is completely different than what is valued in the larger company world. I often meet with leaders from large, global organizations that want to join a startup - until they realize that their skills and experience won’t be seen to be as valuable as someone who has been with early stage companies that have gotten through the scaling / hypergrowth phases to an exit.
Culture of the organization - fast, innovative, empowering or conservative, slow and secretive? Is the company one that encourages hybrid work, or one that is rushing people back to office? Do they need slides to communicate, or do they have a bias towards action? What is the environment where you will thrive? What are the environments you will dread being in?
Location - this could be at any level - from global / regional / national to city / suburbs as well as proximity to mass transit or commuter options. Many people I’ve worked with can go anywhere and have targeted moving across the world or country, but others set their target to be so hyperlocal that they need to be within walking distance to a specific mass transit line.
Compensation Model - how do you want to be paid? What does the ideal comp package consist of for you - salary, bonus, equity, employee stock purchase, discounts, etc…? While we all want to max out on each of these, understanding the comp range that you’re looking to be in, as well as the target bonus % and other factors is critical as you go into your search. With increasing transparency on salary ranges of roles (and in some cases, mandatory by law), understanding the match between comp and your expectations from the start is critical. In many cases, discounted or granted equity will provide a unique opportunity to build wealth - what is your expectation?
Promotion Potential - what is your hope / expectation in your next role? What does the typical path look like in the industries you’re targeting versus your expectations?
Vacation - important to understand your needs & expectations; it is often something that companies can easily give you more of, but in other cases, there may be strict policies based on years of service and a company may force you to “buy” extra days rather than giving them to you.
Benefits Package - health insurance as well as flexible spending accounts for healthcare? What about pre-tax commuter / parking deductions or a company-provided parking spot? Important to understand what you’re looking for here and understand the comparisons between what your current / prior company provides and what others might offer.
Intangibles - every industry has its unique fringe benefits that look amazing from the outside and often will help retain people who find that it would be difficult to live without them. As an example, when I worked in the sports industry, I never had to buy sneakers or apparel (or at least not at full price). I also rarely had to pay for tickets to games, often had access to luxury suites and VIP invitations to experiences at events like the FIFA World Cup, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup Finals, World Series and all kinds of others. I even had all kinds of partner perks (free concert tickets, movie premieres, etc…). Now that I work with many of these same companies as a consultant - I have to pay for everything out of my own pocket and it’s painful!!!
Sector(s) - what are the industry sectors that you know the best? What are ones you’d like to be in, but not sure that you can make the leap?
Now - combine the Ideal Roles and Ideal Environments that you’ve described, and list out some example companies that fit both.
As you research the companies, I suggest you use Google and / or LinkedIn. Both will recommend other companies that will be similar. I’ve often found that many of these companies are ones that people weren’t aware of and full of unexpected opportunity.
As you complete this step, you will have a very solid list of targets to start with - which are very important for the following steps in the process.
And one last step - as you define your Ideal Situation, it is equally important to understand the situations that you want to avoid. Just like Superpowers have their Kryptonite, Ideal Situations have their Nightmare Scenarios. Make a note of the situations you do not want to be in and the red / orange / yellow flags to be on the lookout for.
Your Playbook:
Fill in your Ideal Situation on your Search Grid as outlined above.
Feel free to add in other categories that I may not have covered above. What’s important is that you outline and understand the situation that you will be most comfortable in - as well as the ones where you won’t be.
Continue to add and edit as you do more research and talk to more people. It will be the structure behind all of your future activities.
Understand your Nightmare Scenarios. What are the red / orange / yellow flags to be on the lookout for?