Financial Security and Developing Guidelines

Operating as an independent portable executive often introduces a lack of predictability in terms of income and cash flow, as well as a need to invest funds in maintaining 's most critical assets—his or her skills. For many executives, the adjustment from the certainty of receiving a reliable paycheck to the uncertainty of waiting for clients to pay their fees (as well as not always knowing exactly when a particular client relationship will end) is a critical factor in becoming portable.

The Searching Period

While long-term employers may have made life easier by assessing an executive's capabilities and utilizing them to the best advantage of the organization that does not necessarily mean that the organization utilized all of an executive's core skills or even those in which he or she possessed the most expertise. As executives undertake the process of formally assessing their own skills, they often find areas to which they are particularly attracted, but which they have never used in business.



Now that the organization is no longer there to set the parameters for the executive, as Richard Borel points out, the opportunity for the executive to assess his or her own skills and interests can be very exciting. For many executives, this searching period is a time that allows them to match their passions-what they want most to do in their careers-with core skills they may have underutilized in previous positions.

While the searching period is certainly characterized by "uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts," creating one's own path through and beyond them is at the core of the process of becoming a portable executive. Some individuals need the security and consistency offered by being a member of a large group, while others thrive working alone. Portable executives must assess their own tolerance for risk in order to assure that they achieve career success in light of the goals that they choose for themselves.

All relationships involve risk and ambiguities. The important thing for the searching portable executive is to seek to understand his own personal comfort zones, and to remember that the process of searching is one that is continuous in nature and does not end once chooses an initial direction. He must continue the process throughout his career. Portable executives constantly review the applicability of their skills in the marketplace, developing relations with new and existing clients and monitoring the quality of their offerings. As Richard Borel puts it:

Developing Guidelines

Just as the parameters set for executives by large organizations freed them to concentrate on their work, developing a disciplined approach to the searching period will free portable executives from some of the anxieties that accompany this process by providing them with a way to measure their progress. Without a plan, we all tend to drift. Former human resources executive Wayne Thurston says, "I try to plan my activities weekly whether they be physical activities-which I've increased tremendously-or work activities." Following are general guidelines for incorporating a disciplined freedom into the searching period. It is important to emphasize, however, that each portable executive will undoubtedly tailor the guidelines to create an individual approach that enables him or her to achieve the attitudinal changes necessary for career success.

The process of searching entails collecting information and entertaining the idea of pursuing various avenues. Keep a list of the areas you want to explore, people you wish to talk to, and the progressive results of your search, so you can see how the various elements and activities relate to one another. Portable executive Richard Achilles advises:

Don't be too confined in your assessment and appraisal of your own capabilities. Once you have decided what kind of work you want to do, write it down. Don't just try to speak it, even though that's important.

Writing down the various information gained during the search period provides you, with a ready record of what has worked for you and what hasn't. Since you will be pursuing a number of options and ideas at once, creating this written record will allow you to easily see where the results of your search are leading. The act of writing also helps you identify the possible connections between ideas for work alternatives that you may not have seen before.

• SETTING A TIME PARAMETER
  

Time parameters should be flexible and somewhat open-ended-for example, three to six months-and shouldn't function to place undue restrictions on you, but simply help you to pace the activities you engage in. Any process that is designed to create change within an individual cannot be limited by a strict time frame, but being aware of time helps the searching executive to remain focused.

• PERSONAL FINANCIAL SITUATION
  

Evaluate and include your personal financial position as part of the overall searching process, as financial considerations will definitely influence the choices you examine and eventually make. It is critical for portable executives to have a good grasp of their personal financial situation so they may realistically gauge how much time and money they can invest in developing a self-directed career. The realities of one's financial situation serve as a true starting point in examining one's tolerance for risk.

• ESTABLISHING A PLACE TO WORK
  

If you are not currently working on an assignment, or do not have the use of an office through an outplacement service, allocate some portion of your home for workspace. This area should be reserved for the purpose of your work only. Waiting until the kitchen table is free will only throw a disciplined approach off track. Then, too, from a psychological point of view, since the searching period is often fraught with anxiety, you should establish a workplace for yourself where you feel comfortable and relaxed.

• SCHEDULING ACTIVITIES
  

Create a schedule for your activities. While your schedule will be influenced by whether or not you are currently working full-time, it is still important to allocate set times on the weekends or in the evenings for meeting the goals of your search. If you are not working, this schedule should include time for activities not strictly related to work, such as exercise, getting involved in community affairs, attending a support group, and meeting with business and other contacts to avoid becoming too isolated. The built-in camaraderie that comes with working in a large organization every day is something most executives find they miss. It is important to establish regular times for meeting with other people to offset the isolation of working on your own. This is part of the process of creating new habits for yourself, and it is important that in making the shift to viewing yourself as a business that you provide for the need for camaraderie as well.

• RESOURCES
  

Formal processes such as receiving outplacement counseling, joining support groups, doing research, or arranging to meet new people are all resources that need to be planned for during the searching period. Much of this resource identification has to be done by you yourself, which will lead you to rediscover the public library, learn about databases, and possibly interact with church groups you never would have been involved with before. Finding these resources is an exercise that will help stand you in good stead as you strike out on your own.

• TESTING
  

Finally, as you evaluate your skills, make sure to allot sufficient time to test them in the marketplace. There are many ways to measure the realistic applications of the skills you are exploring.

It can be done through networking, taking short-term consulting assignments, or applying the skills you want to test in a volunteer activity in your community.