Moving on Up

DIAGNOSIS
Winning the election to office provides opportunities to propel your career to even higher levels or bring it to a screeching halt

PRESCRIPTION
Create an intentional impression and action plan for success

You got the job in home office! You may want to celebrate and relax after an interview process that felt like the "presidential primaries," but the campaign isn't over; in fact, it's just begun. The difference is that the President of the United States gets four years to prove himself while many companies provide only a (real or perceived) 90-day probationary period.

The stakes and potential payoffs are great because not only are you "not in Kansas anymore" but people are forming opinions of you during what may be the most stressful time of your career—while in the throes of relocation, navigating a corporate environment, learning a new job and redefining relationships. Although daunting, the ability to do all of that and more, with confidence and composure, is vital. Your first impressions create perceptions that lead to your reputation. In the book Sway, authors Ori and Rom Brafman describe how an inaccurate initial impression becomes a trap because our initial positive or negative bias tends to filter subsequent experiences to reaffirm our original assumption.