The Opportunity Of A Decade Is HERE - Don't Miss It Because You're Worried About Layoffs

I want to address something I'm seeing a lot of my clients do. Maybe you do it, too. And that is, let the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) spin your mind into a state of apprehension and even panic about the economy. 

If it was just for your mental health, I would say - sit it out, this too shall pass. However, my message here is a bit more urgent.

This year is the best opportunity in a decade to accelerate your career and be part of something that will create wealth for you and your family. 

But the key to taking advantage of that is to:

1) Get yourself in the mental space to spot and take advantage of these opportunities, and

2) Understand what's standing between you and the next step in your career and know how to overcome it.

Being anxious is understandable. 

Layoffs seem to disproportionately be the focus of attention in the media. Everywhere you turn, it's grim statistics about the latest round. 

Yes, hundreds of thousands of people have been laid off, but that represents just a few percent of the total tech workforce. It also doesn't mean tech is in long-term trouble. It's shedding some of the excess overhead it acquired in the exuberance of cheap money and the race for 'growth' in 2020 and 2021. 

Groupthink caused tech to over-hire. And now, unfortunately, groupthink is causing it to do layoffs just to not stand out as "irresponsible" in front of investors.

Groupthink also literally caused a bank run. Analysts are in agreement that Silicon Valley Bank would not have failed if the small circle of VCs had not told their portfolio companies to pull their cash, causing a liquidity crunch. 

So what can you make out of this seemingly bleak outlook for tech? 

The first question you need to ask yourself is:

Is your long-term vision aligned with being in tech? Do your values and your appetite for growth require that you are in a creative and entrepreneurial space?

Tech is a boom and bust cycle. There'll be periods of exuberant growth and fast and furious crashes. To be in tech long-term, and to be in higher positions of power, requires you have the stomach for this. Risk is a big part of tech. It also gives you bigger and better opportunities for growth and financial rewards. But just like a roller-coaster, an up is followed by a down. 

And if you get off the rollercoaster on the down, you'll miss the next up. That's because, as I've talked about in the past, the down parts are where the big winners of the future are easier to spot. 

A disproportionate number of my business school classmates, including myself, started or joined fast-growing unicorns early on when we graduated at the height of the last recession. That enabled us to build wealth early on in our careers - an opportunity that would be "hit or miss" in a hype cycle when all kinds of companies get funded.  

Next, you need to ask yourself: 

How do you position yourself to take maximum advantage of this rare opportunity of a down cycle?

Think of it this way - the tide has receded and all the juicy clams are visible to all the hungry birds. There are companies who are hiring, even in this tight market. Those are the clams you want to go after. 

That requires that you disconnect from the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) gripping the market and start seeing the current conditions as an opportunity to take a big step forward. 

I believe that the next 12-18 months represent one of the best opportunities for career advancement in tech. But you need to have the stomach for it and you need to know how to execute it.

This is especially true if you're looking to transition to a manager role, such as Director, Lead / Group Product Manager, or Senior Director. 

These paths to achieving career breakthroughs in a pandemic will be missed by the vast majority of people, who will be paralyzed with fear and the desire to crawl in a security hole and never come out.m Especially if they haven't lived through a downturn before.

Here is how to execute this career step-up:

In your current company

If you're still with your company and there have been layoffs and/or hiring freezes, there are fewer hands on deck for doing the work. Even if you can't grow your team, or your team is shrinking as a result of the pullback, there's an opportunity to get your foot in the door at a higher role.

You may need to negotiate a delayed (but guaranteed) performance pay raise, as well as operate with a smaller team. But, think of this as an opportunity to prove yourself as a manager. 

Managing 1-2 people in a focused and dedicated way is a much easier way of learning how to be a manager than getting overwhelmed with a big team all at once. 

In a new organization

If you've been impacted by layoffs or if you're reading the signs and your company is on its way down, it's time to make a bold move. Before you execute the move, you need to specialize and make a plan to bridge any skill gaps to position yourself as an expert in a vertical. 

You'll be standing out from the sea of panicked people who just want to get "any job" and are making themselves look and sound like they can do anything. Those represent the bulk of 300+ applications per job posting on LinkedIn these days. 

By specializing, you'll be attractive to fewer opportunities but for those ones, you'll have a much higher chance of being selected. 

Strong companies are still hiring but they're less willing to flex on taking on a generalist that may not be a perfect fit for the role. Now they're looking for that specialized person. If you fit the bill, you'll be able to negotiate certain conditions of your offer that are not pure salary or compensation (since cash is tight). Part of that negotiation may include managing a small team or getting yourself a guaranteed future step up if you meet certain milestones. 

The Transition to a Manager or Director

But executing a transition to a manager is tricky and fraught with risks. My coaching and mentorship work with over one hundred women in tech indicates that this may be the most critically significant time in your career.

 Moving to a manager is difficult but succeeding as one is even harder.

There are a number of specific challenges and blind spots that most professionals encounter on their way to a manager (director, sr director, lead or group pm, etc). 

I've categorized these challenges into 6-7 CareerMonsters™. I will show you how to identify which ones are standing in your way and will give you an action plan to tackle each one.

I'll be breaking down the CareerMonsters™ in our upcoming life Product Director+ Challenge, which starts this Friday, March 31.

Take the Product Director+ Challenge with me HERE. 

In the Challenge, I'll help you diagnose which CareerMonster™ is standing in your way, and make a plan to tackle it. So you're in the perfect position to execute your career breakthrough in the next 12 months.

Get yourself psyched for a unique "climbing challenge" in the next 12 months! I'll help you execute this important transition (tricky at any time) while taking advantage of the downturn timing to find up-and-coming opportunities. 

Are you up for this challenging adventure? 

Are you going to be paralyzed by fear or are you going to make a move and tackle your monsters?

The time to act is now.

Join us for the Product Director+ Challenge today at productdirectorchallenge.co