Management Rules: 50 New Rules for Managers

CHAPTER 49

FIND THE RIGHT ASSIGNMENT

As with bosses, there are death star assignments from which no career has ever been known to escape. It pays to avoid the corporate equivalent of cleaning toilets in Siberia. And then there are the dream assignments. The same rules apply as in finding the right boss:

• Build your network: get the intelligence on what opportunities are emerging
• Find a sponsor who can look out for your interests
• Do not leave assignments to the vagaries of the HR process: be active in managing your career.

This begs the question: what is the right assignment?

The right assignment is not necessarily the easiest or most enjoyable assignment. These are not the assignments where you learn the most or build the skills and experiences ...