The Smartest Steps to Take if You Think Your Boss Is Quitting

The Smartest Steps to Take if You Think Your Boss Is QuittingThe Smartest Steps to Take if You Think Your Boss Is QuittingWhen it comes to the day-to-day specifics of your work life, there is perhaps no greater influence than your anfhrer. But lately, hes been coming in well-dressed and leaving for long lunches. Or, maybe shes been a little distant. Could your boss be planning an exit? And if she quits, what will happen to you?There are definite telltale signs when someone is looking for a job, says workplace consultant Amy Cooper Hakim, PhD, founder of The Cooper Strategic Group, Inc. Theyre the saatkorn as when colleagues are looking for a job. Perhaps theyre spending more time behind closed doors. They come to the office dressed appropriately for an interview and are taking a few more long lunches than usual. Perhaps theyre jumpy when someone comes into the office unexpectedly and try to hide their computer screen because theyre looking at job listings. Those are all some of the w arning signs, she says.Beyond those signs, some behaviors of people who have decided to move on can actually affect you and your job performance, says Stacy Lindenberg, owner of Talent Seed Consulting. Your supervisor may be less available for meetings or less invested in the projects theyre overseeing. That can have an impact on how you do your job, she says.Things that they normally would do are pushed off. If theyre not available when they need you, thats a problem, she says. In addition, once your supervisor does leave, it can mean a big transition for you as you help hold down the fort while a replacement is found, then adapt to the work style of a new manager, she says.If you suspect that your boss is getting ready to quit, there are some things you can do to both prep for the transition and safeguard your standing to the best of your ability.1. Act AppropriatelyYour next steps depend on whether you know for certain that your supervisor is leaving, and what kind of relationshi p you have with them, Lindenberg says. You dont want to be seen as taking advantage of the situation- especially if youre wrong about whether your boss is actually leaving. If you have the kind of relationship with your supervisor where they would share their plans, you might even strategize with them about next steps.So, think about the relationships you have and keep those in mind, she says. You dont want to lose those relationships because you acted on a hunch, she says.Related What to Do When Your Boss Doesnt Like You Anymore2. Think About Your OptionsNext, look at the landscape and think about what your options are, says leadership expert Susan Fowler, author of Why Motivating People Doesnt Workand What Does The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging. There is the potential for great change ahead. Think about what you want to happen next, she says. Are you ready to move up? Are you still motivated to be with the company? Is there an opportunity for you ahead? These ar e some of the questions you should be asking yourself, she says. Once you have a vision for your next goal, you can begin to formulate a plan.3. Start Documenting Your ContributionsNow is a good time for you to begin to document your achievements and accomplishments, if you havent already, Hakim says. Focus on the positive impact youve made and the skills youve developed. Make sure your resume is updated, as well as your LinkedIn profile, so that if youre interested in applying for a promotion at this company or finding another job, youve got your own documentation in order.Related Someone Important Just Quit- Heres What to Do in This Order4. Schedule a Check-inIf you have a good relationship with your supervisor, Fowler suggests having a check-in meeting to review your performance. Even if its not time for your performance review, its appropriate to schedule time to review your strengths, weaknesses, and goals. This may also give your supervisor an opportunity to share their plans, she says. At the very least, its an opportunity to refresh your supervisor on your contributions and keep you front-of-mind in case theyre in a location to recommend you as a replacement.5. Do Relationship UpkeepEven if you have a great relationship with your departing supervisor, its time to start reaching out to others in the company and strengthening those relationships, Hakim says. Of course, relationship building should always be a priority, but now is a good time to check in with some of your colleagues and contacts. Depending on what happens after your supervisor leaves, you may need to call on those relationships to champion your next move or advise you about what to do next, she says.Related 10 Habits of Well-Liked BossesThis article was originally published on Fast Company. It has been republished here with permission.

How Do You Define a Job Hopper

How Do You Define a Job HopperHow Do You Define a Job Hopper?How Do You Define a Job HopperJob hopping is an issue that doesnt go away in the careers blog universe, but no one seems to agree on an exact definition for job hopper. Slapping that label on someone depends on your interpretation of the phrase.Is someone job hopping after working at one company for a year? Six months? Two years? Five?Here are three reasons people might have a resume consisting of several jobs in a fairly short period of timeYou take a job after being unemployed for several months because you needed a job, even though it doesnt advance your career. But you keep searching until something better comes around.You graduate from college not knowing exactly what you want to do, so you try a few different roles before you find one you like that has long-term potential.You have lousy luck and take roles with companies that have financial challenges, poor management practices, or bosses who could be distant relative s of Attila the Hun. In short, youre in constant search of a stable workplace that can turn your luck around.So, is job hopping a good thing or bad thing? It depends. If you dont mind change at the expense of stability, its a good thing.Otherwise, its a bad thing, especially if the employers youre targeting value stability and loyalty. And, depending on the other parts of your life, you may also value the stability of a long-term job. Of course, employers must consider whether hiring a job hopper is a good investment or a risky one. And a job hopper who is serious about an opportunity may need to convince the employer that its worth the risk. If you can effectively sell yourself and demonstrate that you and the employer are a strong match and if they feel the same way it may not be that hard to convince them.

Lessons entrepreneurs should learn from food delivery revolution

Lessons entrepreneurs should learn from food delivery revolutionLessons entrepreneurs should learn from food delivery revolutionIn the last ten years, the food delivery industry has exploded with growth.Companies such as Seamless, GrubHub, Caviar, UberEats, DoorDash, Postmates and Bite Squad have all found a foothold in the market. And the founders of many of these companies have already enjoyed successful exits.On example is Caviar, which Square acquired in 2015 for a rumorad $90 million. Eat24 is another success story. After purchasing the company for $134 million in 2015, Yelp recently sold it to Grubhub for a reported $287.5 million.With so many young companies enjoying so much success, every entrepreneur should take notice and ask, What underlying themes made all this possible? Why are so many food delivery services succeeding, while other new businesses fail?In this post, Ill unpack 3 big picture lessons we can all learn from the surprising success of so many restaurant deliver y services.1. Customers are hungry for products that save them timeEarlier this year, a review performed by venture capitalist database CB Insights uncovered a surprising insight into why so many new businesses fail.After analyzing 101 abflugup post-mortems, the reviewers found that 42% of the business failures stemmed from a lack of demand for the product or service being offered.This one flaw killed more companies than infamous challenges such as cash flow, competition, and poor timing, just to name a few.Its a sobering finding, and it begs the question, How can I create a product I know people will want?While theres no perfect answer, a great first step is to make sure your product or service addresses a painful problem your customers desperately want to solve.And in our modern culture, one problem we all face is not having enough time.Food delivery services have capitalized on this trend. They dont make food - they just make it more convenient. And theyve earned billions of dol lars in the process.2. You dont have to reinvent the wheel to launch a successful businessTheres a crucial difference between being an inventor and being an entrepreneur.While inventors are constantly searching for the next big idea, an entrepreneurs goal isnt necessarily to create something radically new and unique. Your mission is to start and grow a successful business - to create value for customers, jobs for your employees, and income for yourself.While starting a new business is always risky, one way to avoid some of this risk is by modeling your business after competitors that are already succeeding. Few industries have demonstrated the power of this strategy like food delivery.After watching early movers like Seamless, Grubhub, and Eat24 succeed, Postmates followed in 2011, Caviar and Bite Squad arrived in 2012, Doordash was founded in 2013, and Uber launched UberFRESH (now known as UberEats) in 2014.None of these startups overhauled the business model. They just made small tweaks. Usually, that simply meant taking the proven concept to new locations or partnering with new restaurants. And today, the lines of differentiation are even less clear. Many restaurants partner with multiple food delivery services.While most entrepreneurs view established competitors as a red flag, more experienced entrepreneurs see a shortcut - a chance to learn faster by studying the successes and failures the early movers experienced.3. Business models that generate repeat customers have a serious advantageWinning new customers is hard work, especially for startups without much attention or credibility.So after youve done the difficult work of getting people to actually try your product or service, you want to offer these new fans a way to keep giving you money - in the near future.Food delivery services are built on this model of repeat transactions. This is part of what makes them so successful - and attractive to investors. Repeat customers provide baseline revenue f rom which to grow.But baseline revenue is not the only reason startups fueled by repeat transactions are so powerful.As Russell Brunson, the author of DotCom Secrets, explains, The person who can spend the most money to acquire a customer wins. Done, thats it.Higher customer lifetime value can help you afford lower margins upfront, which enables you to accelerate growth by paying affiliates for leads, like Caviar does, or offering coupons and discounts like Bitesquad to convince customers to give you a try.For service businesses (like food delivery), generating recurring sale can be fairly simple. Once a customer starts using a particular physician, car wash, barber shop, or guitar teacher, theyre likely to keep using them (pending a good experience).But for some product-based businesses, especially those selling goods that dont need to be restocked or replaced frequently, you might have to get creative.Apple increases the frequency of phone upgrades by updating the iPhone yearly. M icrosoft upsells Xbox Live subscriptions (enabling online multiplayer capability) to owners of its gaming consoles. Successful board games like Cards Against Humanity create expansion packs. Movie studios release sequels to their most successful films.Whatever approach you take, finding a way to keep customers coming back is crucial.A final thought The success of so many food delivery startups is remarkable. And I havent even mentioned Deliveroo, Just Eat, or FoodPanda - three services outside the U.S.While we can certainly learn from the successes and failures of individual companies like Postmates or UberEats, we can learn even more by looking at the industry as a whole.And perhaps the most important lesson we can take away is Sometimes the most crucial ingredient to success is a willingness to try.Kyle Youngis helping creative people achieve big goals that matter.