Self-directed people don't need to compete-they need to develop important, complementary peer relationships. Even hard chargers who have been downsized discover the importance of their peer relationships and become much more willing to support other people.
What our interviews reveal is that one of the first positive by-products of downsizing is a willingness to help other no-fault-terminated individuals. Mike Robertson reflects on his own new found willingness to support other people: "When I was responsible for an organization and someone said 'Help me,' I did it begrudgingly. Today, I help anyone I can." What may have begun as the recognition that all downsized executives are in the same boat and in a position to help each other through networking, is rapidly evolving into a far more profound atmosphere of cooperation among portable executives. It is not only the large organizations that recognize and utilize the wisdom and experience that portable executives bring to the marketplace, but also other portable executives seeking to augment their core skills through the formation of working alliances.
Alliances between and among portable executives cover a broad range of relationships, from the standard partner association to alliances formed strictly for an individual project and then disbanded as soon as the project is complete. Since being portable doesn't require the expense and complications of long-term commitment, it is possible for portable executives to assemble whatever type and size of team a given assignment demands. These alliances allow portable executives to maximize their ability and respond to shorter cycle times in a way that is just as competitive as the services a small-to-medium-sized, permanently configured company can offer-if not more so.
Beneath the growing cooperation between and among portable executives is the acknowledgment that core competencies among individual portable executives are vastly different, and, rather than resulting in a competitive atmosphere as they might within a large organization, lead instead to mutually beneficial relationships characterized by a dedication to common goals, mutuality, and respect. Ultimately, the most successful strategic alliances will be those formed between portable executives whose commitments to constant learning and the quality of service they provide are equivalent.
As a Business
The same technology that gave rise to today's down sizings has also made it possible for individual portable executives to set up global, world-class organizations almost overnight, and must be administratively self-sufficient in order to compete. It is no longer necessary to retain a multinational organization to meet market demands, since technology has brought the resources once thought to be "owned" by such organizations to an individual's fingertips, and portable executives are now in the position to buy anything they need to service clients globally.
In developing this particular attribute of self-sufficiency, it is important once again to separate core competencies from generalist skills, and wherever possible, enlist the support of other portable executives and support staff in order to maximize time spent on applying core competencies in the market.
Many newly portable executives initially attempt, with the aid of technology, to run their businesses solo. Soon, however, the economics of doing this make it clear that long-term growth is dependent on leveraging business by adding other individuals to handle those responsibilities not directly related to the individual portable executive's core competencies. Practicing what they preach by outsourcing generalist skills makes good economic sense in that it allows portable executives to spend the majority of their time pursuing assignments that directly concern and utilize their core skills.
It is essential for to recognize the truth in the old saw "You have to give gelt to get gelt." And while this may not, at times, be cost-effective to -as when he or she subcontracts a job to a colleague and receives little or no net return on that assignment because of the cost of outsourcing-the net benefit realized over time eventually far outweighs the net returns of attempting to operate solo. When it comes to outsourcing, quality control is every bit as important to as it is to a major corporation, and must choose associates with extreme care.
Compensation as a Function of Value Given and Received
This approach to compensation varies with each individual, but one element of compensation common among all portable executives is that it is always performance-oriented. And since organizations do not provide benefits, or any form of base compensation for portable executives, the individual must factor these costs into the fee charged to the client. While later chapters will deal in detail with the economics of pricing, some preliminary pricing considerations are essential to understanding portability itself. Since approaches "his life as his work" rather than "his work as his life," factors other than cash and benefits carry equal weight in the formula a portable executive uses to arrive at adequate compensation.
Some portable executives, like Matthew Peach, routinely expect the client to provide project-related materials, such as the software packages he uses to create human resources brochures. Others may be willing to take lesser compensation because they are unwilling to relocate. Still others may wish to strengthen certain skills and would therefore be willing to take a lower-priced assignment occasionally to increase these skills, thus investing in their ability to apply new skills in later assignments. The newly portable executive will distinguish herself from the competition more through added value than through price. In evaluating all of these factors that enter into compensation, the ultimate aim of is to achieve a balance of value given and received.
The process of evaluating compensation in terms of value given and received is equally important for the executive working full-time within an organization, because as benefits packages and perks are reduced, or paid for in part by the employee, the elements of compensation are changing within organizations as well. The organization employee recognizes that the same factors that apply to a portable executive's formula for compensation apply to her as well.
While the issue of compensation will be handled later in the book from a strictly economic point of view, we are addressing it here as an attribute of portability, to emphasize the point that must accept the responsibility for being self-sufficient apart from expenses that are directly assignment-related. For executives long used to the benefits and perks that were part of the job package within an organization, this can be difficult to adjust to, but, ultimately, all forms of compensation received must be a function of the assignment accomplished.
In assessing the value of a given assignment, it is important to remember that both reinforcing one's existing core skills and acquiring new skills must be considered an economic factor. An assignment that offers a portable executive the opportunity to strengthen her core competencies can only make her more marketable. On occasion, such "compensation" justifies accepting an occasional assignment for less financial reward than is usual.
The Path
While the necessity to develop the attributes of portability is clear, often the path an individual takes in developing them is difficult. But the changes necessary to become truly portable are not simply changes in one's outward professional life, but far deeper changes that involve confronting those fears about being completely independent of the protection once offered by the umbrella of lifetime employment.
The most significant shift involves re-examining the organization as a source of security and realizing that today, one's own abilities are the only real source of security. And as we have seen, the relative protection offered by large organizations pales in comparison to the quality of life most portable executives now enjoy within the new employer-employee relationships. Making the critical transition from thinking that the organization should supply what we need to understanding that we, alone, must take responsibility for our lives involves a great deal more than simply accepting, intellectually, the terms and changes involved.
