{"55131":{"#nid":"55131","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researcher\u0027s New Book Describes How to Play Career Game","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFew people recognize that the pursuit of an open job can be framed\nas a \u0022move\u0022 in a multifaceted game called a career, according to a new\nbook by Georgia Tech College of Management Professor Nathan Bennett and\nleadership consultant Stephen A. Miles.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEmploying the innovative lens of game theory, they describe how such an\napproach can be applied to\u0026nbsp;career management\u0026nbsp;in the book \u003Cem\u003EYour Career Game: How Game Theory Can Help You Achieve Your Professional Goals\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIndividuals who take the perspective of a \u0022career game\u0022\u2014a\nfascinating, complex, nuanced, real-life, multiplayer maze that unfolds\nin real time\u2014can develop into better players, explain Bennett, a\nprofessor of organizational behavior at Tech and principal of Red Buoy\nConsulting; and Miles, vice chairman of leadership advisory within\nHeidrick \u0026amp; Struggles\u0027 Leadership Consulting Practice.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESavvy players, by definition, have a better shot at successfully\ncompeting for the highly sought-after positions that will enable them\nto realize their goals, they write.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYour Career Game includes conversations with a wide range of\nsuccessful professionals, such as Ursula Burns (Xerox), Stephen Elop\n(Microsoft), Marius Kloppers (BHP Billiton), Ken Frazier (Merck), and\nLiz McCartney (The St. Bernard Project), and discusses how their career\nmoves demonstrate elements of a game theory approach to career\nmanagement.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the authors, anyone who can impact your game is a\nplayer. What distinguishes savvy players is that they routinely develop\nplans to influence other players to participate in ways that create\nadvantage for them. Savvy players are keenly aware that their strengths\nwhen combined with the moves of another player can allow both players\nto win a bit, Bennett and Miles explain.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a reminder that the game is ultimately self-interested, the\nauthors write, \u0022Of course, recognizing potential gains from the trade\nrequires that you understand the commitments other players can keep. If\nyou partner with players who cannot deliver their ends of the deal, you\nwill end up having been played as a sucker.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBennett and Miles delineate three fundamental moves that any player would need to be aware of\u2014\u0022\u003Cstrong\u003Ecareer refining\u003C\/strong\u003E\u2014incremental efforts that sharpen your qualifications and focus your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Other moves may have been \u003Cstrong\u003Ecareer defining\u003C\/strong\u003E\u2014these\nare the successful big swings that create positive disruptions and\nsharply accelerate your career progress. Still other moves may be\nblunders that produced terrible results and threaten to set back or\nstall your career. We call these moves \u003Cstrong\u003Ecareer ending or career limiting\u003C\/strong\u003E\u2014moves that could require you to leave the game or simply send you back to square one.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe book also shows how you can strategically manage your key\nworking relationships as your career needs change over time\u2014with your\nboss, the \u0022weak ties\u0022 in your network, and the all-important\nrelationships with your mentors and sponsors.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Bennett and Miles point out, \u0022Mentors and sponsors can be among\nthe most impactful players in your career game. The ability to draw on\ntheir insight and experience can be an incredible resource for players.\nIn fact, this is precisely how good game players should view these\nallies in the career game\u2014as a resource that should be proactively and\nstrategically managed.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBennett and Miles are also authors of the 2006 book \u003Cem\u003ERiding Shotgun: The Role of the COO\u003C\/em\u003E (Stanford University Press).\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Authors say savvy players, by definition, have a better shot at successfully competing for the highly sought-after positions that will enable them to realize their goals"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFew people recognize that the pursuit of an open job can be framed\nas a \u0022move\u0022 in a multifaceted game called a career, according to a new\nbook by Georgia Tech College of Management Professor Nathan Bennett and\nleadership consultant Stephen A. Miles.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"College of Management Professor Nathan Bennett teams up with leadership consultant Stephen A. Miles to author book."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2010-03-26 13:55:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:45","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-03-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-03-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"41380":{"id":"41380","type":"image","title":"Nate Bennett","body":null,"created":"1449174301","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:01","changed":"1475894371","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:31"}},"media_ids":["41380"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/news_room\/news\/2010\/articles\/careergamebook.html","title":"College of Management"}],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1072","name":"Business"},{"id":"9016","name":"Career Advice"},{"id":"9017","name":"Career Game"},{"id":"2008","name":"College of Management"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrad Dixon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAssistant Director of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.894.3943\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}