Preface

When you buy a computer, you get an instruction manual on how to operate it. How would it be to have instructions on how to deal with people, a key component of your campaign to get along in your workplace and your life?

For the longest time, I wished I had two instruction manuals: one with instructions for raising teenagers and one with instructions on building a career I loved as part of a life I loved. Over a period of 25 years, I bounced from one corporate job to another—always making more money, always moving up the proverbial corporate ladder (corner office and all). But the unfulfilling jobs I held were second only to the jobs I hated. As a result, I was not a very nice person to be around. I was not happy, and anyone who knew me knew it.

I had read about personal coaching in the mid-1990s and liked the idea of having “an agent” of sorts guide me to create a life and career I loved. I hired a formally trained, certified coach, and she helped me shine a light on the patterns I had developed and the choices I had made. I came to realize how easy it was to make smarter choices and have professional success and personal fulfillment at the same time.

My coach helped me define myself in terms of values, standards, and boundaries. We looked at who I was, what I wanted, and how I was going to get it. I enrolled in formal coach training with Coach U, strengthened my own personal foundation, and learned new tools and techniques to deal with anything that would come my way—any change, any issue, any difficult person, anything.

I opened my own private coaching practice and now work with healthy professionals and executives who, like me 10 years ago, know that there’s more to their career and life than they are currently experiencing and are ready to make some changes.

Coach Thyself

This book is designed for anyone who holds a job in any industry. You will learn the concepts, tips, tools, techniques, and strategies needed to build the success you want—and deserve. The strategies defined in this book, when applied to the areas of getting along and getting ahead in the workplace or moving on to another career, will help you take an objective view of your circumstances, opportunities, barriers, and choices. They will guide you to informed, strategic decisions so that you can take charge of your career and improve your life.

This book does not address typical career counseling subjects. Here you will find exactly what you need today to get along in your workplace, move ahead in your career, increase your income—and, if necessary, learn how to recognize when it’s time to move on. You will learn how to navigate through office politics, overcome obstacles, make knowledgeable choices, recognize options, manage change, be accountable, be visible, be credible, take smart risks, move forward, turn any situation around, and have fun doing it.

The What

In today’s workplace, what will it take to survive, accomplish, deliver results, succeed, move ahead, lead others, and find satisfaction? With a work environment filled with mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, downsizing, dot-bombs, and multimillion dollar corporate bankruptcies, career success has been redefined. You will need more than hard work and long hours to get there.

In Part 1 you will learn the process of getting along at work, with clear definitions of career hazard zones and style differences. You will also be given multiple strategies for overcoming the perils of office politics, bully bosses, and cranky coworkers.

Part 2 will help you create a plan for moving ahead in your career, whether you want to improve your reputation, increase your visibility, or get a promotion or salary increase—all by taking control and making smart choices. You will learn how to deal with management-level office politics, how to create visibility without arrogance, how to coach your manager, how to deliver results, how to outshine your coworkers, and how to market yourself into a career that brings you more money and more fun.

Part 3 helps you create a graceful exit plan: When it’s time to leave a job, you can go kicking and screaming or you can leave with a great reputation and exit package. But when it’s time to go, you’re going to go. You will learn how to evaluate your situation and move on and how to orchestrate an exit without guilt and without enemies. This section will also teach you how to manage your job search campaign as a project, with special emphasis on the four routes to landing your new career.

Part 4 will give you a glimpse of what is available to you when you do take control of your career and your life. It will include important concepts to remember as you create your plan for a job you love.

Throughout this book, you will read vivid examples of others who have successfully wrestled with the cycles of harmony and disruption in our work world, including some of my own experiences. You will also have an opportunity to use the worksheets and self-assessments to apply the concepts and strategies to your specific situation.

If you understand that there is a gap between where you are right now and where you want to be and you are willing to take responsibility for your career success and to try something new, then let’s get started.

Acknowledgments

I want to acknowledge and thank those who supported me through this process:

My coach, Sandy Vilas, President of CoachU, who helped me get out of my own way, so the words would come.

My friends, colleagues, and clients who relentlessly supported me in my creation of this book: Coach Cynthia Bahnuik, Coach Bridget Copley, clients Philip Topham, Brett Lippel, David Wiberg, Daniel Vickers, and ex-boss and long time friend, Ken Kral, for allowing me to work with them and share their stories.

And to my first coach, Marcia Reynolds, who helped me get started on my journey to escape corporate misery.

About the Author

Linda Dominguez is the founder and principal of Executive Coaching and Resource Network and has worked with more than 500 executives and leaders to advance their careers. She is also a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and other business and career publications.