Business Model You: A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career

CHAPTER 10

What's Next?

More Ways to Apply the BMY Methodology

Career change is sometimes involuntary. When an organization modifies its business model, employees often need to adjust their personal business models, too. Case in point: Forum member Makis Malioris.

A longtime manager of programmers and analysts at a large international financial services firm, Makis served just one Customer: the head of his Athens office. But career-changing opportunity called when Makis was asked to serve eight new locations, all outside Greece — meaning frequent, extensive air travel. Makis struggled to subdue his first thought: I'm afraid of flying.

The new position compelled Makis to reinvent his personal business model. Though he had little intercultural experience, he immediately acquired eight new international Customers, all in different countries, all with different work cultures, styles, and ethics.

Competent and comfortable planning and coordinating the work of close colleagues, Makis now had to convince new Customers to adopt and maintain Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes. This demanded new Key Activities, including “selling,” frequent flying, lengthy hotel stays, and replacing face-to-face Customer Relationships with e-mail and telephone calls.

The new position offered a modest increase in Revenue, but huge professional development Benefits. The biggest, ...