How I Landed a VP Role on Something I Made Up

I was interviewing for a VP of Marketing role and shared a framework I created.

“Can I keep this?” said the SVP who was interviewing me, “this is really good”.

“You can if you hire me” I said.

He laughed.

And then he hired me.

Create a framework, or a way of looking at the world, and people think you know something they don’t.

V-SMART stands for Vision, Strategy, Messaging, Abstracts, Recurring themes and Tactics.

It’s a framework for executive communications.

I always felt that the old “Vision, Strategy, Execution” model was missing the connective tissue of communications.

So I created my own framework and put it to work with a dozen executives I worked with.

It was a way for them to organize their thoughts and get clarity on what and how they wanted to communicate.

It’s not rocket science, but it was enough to set me apart from the other candidates that were interviewing.

I remember a colleague of mine who worked with an executive who was good on his feet.

A topic came up in the press that the company wanted to weigh in on.

The corporate strategy was moving into this space, but didn’t have a presence there yet.

They needed to get into the conversation.

So my colleague pitched the exec to a cable news show and they interviewed him the next day.

From that day forward, the company was in the game on that topic.

So the “A” in V-SMART is for “abstracts” – high level overviews of 3 or so topics that an exec can speak on for press interviews, podcasts, guest editorials etc.

They aren’t usually needed at a moment’s notice, but they are ready to go if the press cycle goes in a direction you want to be a part of.

Being in the conversation is at least 50% of the game.

So what lessons have you learned that could create a framework for your area of expertise?

How do you approach the work that you do?

Can you turn it into a framework that can be shared?

A framework can be anything you create. It needs 3 things:

•       A cohesive structure that makes sense

•       A plausible explanation for each component

•       A story about how and why it works

Here’s the V-SMART model:

I once attended a leadership workshop where the facilitator asked all of us “who is the leader in this group?”

We all agreed it was a woman named Paula.

“Why did you perceive her to be the leader?” the facilitator asked.

No one really knew why exactly.

“Because she is the one who kept referring us back to the agenda.

She made us stay on task and accomplish what we agreed to at the beginning.

She repeatedly used the framework of the agenda to guide our work.”

Creating a framework provides structure.

It helps people get organized and stay on task.

It helps people accomplish their goals.

It helps people get clarity.

I’m willing to bet there is a framework living in you that will express how you uniquely approach your work.

Put it down on paper.

Refine it.

Share it with friends and get feedback.

Use it in your work, post it on social media, write a blog about it.

Take what you know to be true, and design a framework that will guide your work.

Whether you are looking for a full time role or for consulting clients, it will be something unique that only you can offer.

When you’re ready, there are two ways I can help:

1) I highly recommend the same course ($150) I used to get started posting on LinkedIn (affiliate link): THE LINKEDIN OPERATING SYSTEM

2) 1:1 consulting sessions: GHEIM@GRAYSONHAYDEN.COM