The problem with being extremely capable

I came across this post on LinkedIn recently and all sorts of bells went off in my head. The author Greg says that extremely capable people should be careful about not focusing because a recruiter or hiring manager doesn't know what to think of you. I believe this might be an issue women might have more so then men since women have a tendency to work for others more than for themselves. For example, a woman who negotiates on someone else's behalf will negotiate harder than for herself. The subject the author referenced is a woman, as were many of the commentators recognizing themselves in the article. It's certainly true for me.

I was that go-to person in my last job. When something needed to get done, I was tasked with it. And I would find a way to get it done. I had all sorts of connections, knew who needed to be talked to, understood the subtleties of our organization, I could find loopholes. At the time, I was proud of that accomplishment. I felt capable, trusted, maybe even special. Now I am feeling duped. The people who gave me the tasks didn't particularly care about my career development and longevity. They needed things done and they knew I could do it. Where are they now? Enough to say, not in the same situation as me.

Thing is, I thought I was focusing in an area--doing assorted tasks within Sales and Commercial operations to promote business. Doing what others wanted from me, thinking there would be a payoff later. My plan was to leverage my connections to something more focused with more feather-in-cap potential like a product manager position in the next year. Had the actual product not been so flawed as to warrant near complete redesign, it might have worked.

Not all is lost. But I will avoid saying "go-to" or positioning myself as that extremely capable person. The feedback, whether wanted or not, from former colleagues is that I am "technical". Personally, I am not fond of the term, but does connote an ability to master information quickly and to solve problems. So I will go with that.

When I read Inc.com articles about hiring the candidates who can do anything with passion, I forgot who I was appealing to. Inc.com is for entrepreneurs. I would like to be an entrepreneur. But right now I am not applying to entrepreneurial companies. A job req might say "entrepreneurial spirit", but who is at the other end is an HR contractor who is looking for X years of direct experience, a hiring manager who wants proof of said experience, and a department who is looking for guaranteed ROI for said job, not Inc's audience.

Time to do some more refocusing.