Ep. 18: Intentional Career Design

Career Design Podcast

Episode 18

SPEAKERS

Marty, Lindsay

Lindsay 00:00

Have you ever been told that you don't have the capability to be the thing that you actually want to be? Have you ever been limited by your manager? Well, this is all about intentional care design today. Today I had Marty join me and he talked about how a manager didn't see his true worth. And he turned it on its head and was able to create the career of his dreams. Listen in and I'll tell you all about this story.

Lindsay 00:22

I'm Lindsay Mustaine, and this is the career design podcast made for driven ambitious square pegs and round holes type professionals who see things differently and challenge the status quo. We obliterate obstacles and unlock hidden pathways to overcome and succeed where others have not stagnation feels like death. And we are unwilling to compromise our integrity and settle for being average in any way. We are the backbone of any successful business and those who overlook our potential are doomed to a slow demise. We do work that truly matters aligns with our purpose, and in turn, we make our lasting mark on the world. We are the dreamers, doers, legends, and visionaries who are called to make our most meaningful contribution and love what we do.

Marty 01: 03

Welcome to the career design podcast today I'm with Marty Idziak. And he's going to talk to you a little bit about his pathway in intentional career design. So welcome to the podcast, Marty.

Marty 01:13

Thank you, Lindsay. It's my honor to be with you today.

Lindsay 01:17

Oh, excited to chat with you a little about this. So tell me a little bit about why. Why did you decide that you really wanted to go around the idea of intentional care design, and I'm gonna just for those who are listening, intentional care design is where we no longer are in the passenger seat of our career, we're no longer letting other people define what our genius is, what it is that we want to do, what opportunities This is where we decided to go out, create, cultivate ascend to our zone of genius and do work that truly matters. So what about that for you is something that really called to you and spoke to you.

Marty 01:48

I realized a while ago that I was destined to do more, I wanted to be in roles in be in companies that were making a difference in the world that were impacting people on an individual level, I wanted to be part of projects that inspired others, and that I could look back on and be happy about, that I helped develop, develop a product or a new solution or something that I could look back on years later and be really proud of and that just be someone just, you know, in a typical, like, hands-on keyboard role, you know, shuffling papers or something like that, I wanted to leave a mark.

Lindsay 02:43

I love that. So I'm going to say this is a trait of a high performer. And I'm going to be covering this in another podcast. But the truth is that they're relentless. They're always looking for making a greater contribution to the world. It's not about the work that they do. It's about making a bigger contribution and using their zone of genius to enhance that. So talk to me about how you set intentions around what you wanted to do in your career.

Marty 03:05

I would say about 10-11 years ago, I had been in a client-side role in digital marketing, where while I was doing something that I liked being in digital marketing and email marketing, I noticed that the culture of the company became really toxic, I wound up having a new boss that was a middle manager that was brought in. So the gentleman who originally hired me who became my boss was no longer my boss. And now I had a boss that I had to develop a new relationship. And I just immediately felt uncomfortable. Because this was a person who couldn't see my worth and started to try to drag me down in the process. I remember I made, I made a promise to myself after having my first review with her, which was extremely negative. She basically was trying to poke holes in every single thing that I was doing in my role at the company. I was so upset at the end of that review. When I came when I was driving home, I cried all the way home. And I made a promise to myself then in there, that I would leave this company by the end of the year, and find a role that truly resonated with me and one where I was no longer controlled by poor poor management and poor leaders and transition into something where I could eventually become a leader myself.

Lindsay 04:41

Oh, I love that. I want to just acknowledge that this is what I see in most low-performance organizations as we have people who have at some point become a leader and just because somebody has a management role doesn't necessarily mean that they're a strong leader. They may have leadership responsibilities and still not own that because what your job is a true leader is to allow your people to do work that's in their zone of genius, to allow them to do work without being inhibited by the barriers that they're going to face. Your job is to be the bridge. And your job is to build the people up. And in fact, the dynamic of a positive employee and supervisor relationship should be five affirmatives, five positives. For every negative, it's not just like this, poke holes and manage by pain, it's by managing people by showcasing their strengths and their skills rather than tearing them down. That's the foundation. So I want to say that that's one of the reasons I see people who really are in the space where they've decided to really own their power is they've been torn down by others. And they know that's not true to their story in their true worth. So you and decided, hey, this is the point where I'm an individual contributor, how do I move into the leadership role? Talk to me about that journey for you.

Marty 05:59

So when I was able to get out of this company, in late 2013, I accepted a role with a large consulting firm, and it was a big step up for me because I'd never been in consulting. And I know, for some of the larger consulting firms, it's typically hard to get in. So I was lucky, because I happen to know have a background in a marketing platform that was just acquired by Adobe, and this particular consulting firm was looking for people that had subject matter expertise in it. So that was my way in. And I realized that you know, now still, as an individual contributor on the consulting side, at a higher level, there was, there was a path to leadership. And for me, it, you know, was more, you know, aligns to my truth, again, telling myself, in starting to open myself up to the possibility of Yes, I can become a leader, I don't have to stay in this individual contributor lane. So it was, it was more about the journey, you know, from that point. And some of them, some of the different roles I've had, since that time, where I slowly evolved from being that individual contributor and trying really pushing myself to get out of that lane by setting that intention of I'm going, I'm going to be a leader, I'm going to manage people, I can do this.

Lindsay 07:30

Absolutely. I also want to talk a little bit about how you've gone around, really strategizing the target for the roles that and opportunities that you have decided to embrace or take on in your career.

Marty 07:44

So I started to look at, you know, more senior-level roles. And as I've progressed, in my career in the last 10 years, if, if the opportunity for internal advancement wasn't there, I started to get itchy to the point where I would look out elsewhere. And I developed, I developed some strong relationships along with a tech recruiter who wound up becoming a good friend of mine. And he wound up helping me make the jump from individual contributor to a leader in my two most recent roles. And you know, it, it became sort of an evolutionary process where, you know, in that time that we developed this relationship where he represented me, he also got to know me, Marty is the person and with that knowledge, he was then able to more effectively sell me into prospective hiring managers and other influencers, these companies that I wanted to land roles with, and I think it's been very valuable. I've even told him that he knows how to sell me better than I can sell myself, which is great.

Lindsay 08:54

So I want to say that this is, you don't go anywhere in your career without people, right. And empowering people and making the right relationships are going to be huge like people talk about networking. And I'm always like, how do we be intentional about building true relationships with people? And it's not about what can I get from you? But how do we win together? So I think that's definitely a relationship that you've had. But when you do networking, right, when you actually build those relationships, people will immediately come to you because of your brand and the experience they've had with you. And they see opportunities and they see your value even at a higher level than we tend to have our own self-limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome kicks in a lot of times with high performers. But I also want to call out here that your best people will always take the path of trying to ascend their career inside of your organization. Like a good strong leader, somebody should be looking at how do I help somebody get to that next stage, so they don't have to look externally for that opportunity. And I think that's where you balance between high performance and both internal and also intentional career design. With our own choice of what we want to do in our career. So this is where I also want you to call your shot a little bit. Marty, tell me a little bit about how you have managed to be in this kind of consultative role where you've balanced stakeholder management and owning technical knowledge. Because let me be really clear here. Your best people inside of that the technical organizations are not the people who are the technical experts rarely do you have a technical expert, who is also a strong leader, those skill sets tend to exclude themselves. Now, if you can find them, those people are amazing. But what's really valuable is somebody who understands the work the technical organization does and is able to engage the stakeholders so that everybody is on the same path, and that both sides understand where they are, and they cross the finish line together.

Marty 10:48

That's a great question. And it really opens up the notion of where I've been able to develop my niche in this area of consulting is that, yes, a lot of times the most technical people aren't necessarily the strongest from a client-facing perspective. So that is actually the reason that I got my most recent role. This particular company had a very talented technical person, he knew his stuff inside and out backward and forwards. But he just didn't have the polish. When it came to presenting in front of clients when they needed him in more of a sales and delivery capacity. he froze, he didn't say the right things, he wasn't able to, to keep you know, the business stakeholders on track. Because stakeholders at that level, you know, you're talking about, you know, your si CMOS, your VPS of marketing directors, they want to stay on brass tacks, they want to know how to use whatever solution or strategy that you're providing aligned to our goals. We don't want to have an entire meeting or entire session be clouded with the technical details of how you integrate a solution or which architecture you would use, or how you know, which programming language you would use. That's all, that's all fine and dandy to have those discussions when we're getting into the nitty-gritty of that work. But that's not at the top level of what these people need to know. So it created an opportunity for me because I have the technical knowledge of various digital marketing platforms, I know how they integrate, I may not know everything to the most granular level of detail.

Lindsay 12:45

It's not your job to know that would be a waste of your time your skillset, because what the most valuable you can add is the strategic layer.

Marty 12:52

Yes, yes, the strategic layer and the ability to, work with different stakeholders at different levels, to project, a sense of calm and confidence in what we're delivering is going to happen on time on budget. I'm very big on establishing trust, in new relationships that I have with clients, I definitely think it's a part of my brain. Because I've had people come back to me and say, Marty, I know that I can count on you to get me an answer. Even if you don't have it right away. Because it's just part of your personality, you will go to the ends of the earth to find something out. And even if you don't have the answer today, I know I can expect it in a reasonable timeframe.

Lindsay 13:39

I love that. And that is also true high-performance leadership is not having the answers, but having the ability to get to the answers from the right person. And that's true stakeholder integration. So Marty, if you were saying anything to anybody around intentional, clear design, what would be some illumination for somebody who's really thinking about going down this path? What kind of impact does it have? And how does that change your life?

Marty 14:02

I would say, don't, don't get discouraged by what someone tells you in an interview. It's my belief that there are very few people that you know, on the side on the side of the employer on the side of the company, that know how to interview well and know how to assess talent. Well, if someone is looking to you know, if there's there are 10 boxes to check for a roll in you check maybe seven of them. Don't get discouraged if you had to check all 10 boxes in this hiring manager's mind. Don't let that diminish your value. The job search and the process of intentional curb design aren't for the faint of heart, but you have to have a strong belief in yourself. I've always had it in the back of my mind and it's been validated by others. Is that I have a natural capacity to lead. So I've always been running towards that without fear, even as crazy things have happened to me or where I've been laid off from roles or let go or, or folks have tried to, you know, put me in a box and say you're not technical enough. You know, I keep persevering. keep persevering, believing yourself loving yourself, and have that intention out there. Sometimes it may be daunting because we don't know how we're going to get there. But how does it matter? The strength of the intention does.

Lindsay 15:36

Oh, it's so good. Marty. Thank you so much for joining me today. It's been a pleasure.

Marty 15:41

My pleasure as well when Lindsay thank you for having me.