MPW Insider is an online community where the biggest names in business and beyond answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for: Describe one make or break moment in your career–how did you navigate it? is written by Donna Wiederkehr, CMO of Dentsu Aegis Network.
MPW內部網絡是一個邀請最有影響力的商界女性及時解答職業與領導力問題的在線社區。本周，我們的問題是：描述你職業生涯中的一個決定性時刻——你如何順利度過?以下是電通安吉斯網絡CMO唐娜·維德克的回答。
A little over five years ago, I thought I had finally found mycalling. I had worked hard to build a consulting business that was not just thriving, but also bringing me challenging, interesting work with terrific agencies. More importantly, I was at a point in my career where I had the time and flexibility to also focus on my life’s passion–advocating for children in Rwanda. I have been traveling to Rwanda for the past nine years to support New Hope Homes, an organization devoted to the care and education of orphaned children.
大約5年前，我認為自己終于找到了人生目標。我一直在努力打造一家咨詢公司，這家公司的事業蒸蒸日上，而且有非常好的客戶，總能給我帶來具有挑戰性而且非常有趣的工作。更重要的是，當時我正處在職業生涯一個絕佳的時期，我有足夠的時間和靈活性，這讓我可以同時專注于我所熱愛的事業——倡導保護盧旺達的兒童。過去9年來，我經常前往盧旺達，支持致力于照顧與教育孤兒的“新希望家庭”組織。
Then something unexpected happened. What began as a one-day consulting gig with media agency Carat USA, turned into a year of back-to-back projects. It was inspiring and energizing work, but I was committed to my consulting job. But later that year, Nigel Morris, then the CEO of Aegis Media North America (the parent company of Carat USA) asked me to join the company as CMO of North America. I was faced with a tough choice: do I take a chance and leave the consulting business that supported my life and passions so perfectly, or make a change and pursue something uncharted that had incredible potential? When contemplating a make or break moment in your career, remember to ask yourself these three questions:
后來發生了一件意想不到的事情。我最初為媒體公司Carat USA提供了只有一天的臨時咨詢服務，后來卻變成長達一年的連續項目。這份工作讓我深受啟發，也倍受鼓舞，但我仍專注于自己的咨詢工作。但那一年晚些時候，時任安吉斯媒體(Aegis Media，Carat USA母公司)北美區CEO的尼格爾·莫里斯邀請我加入他的公司，擔任北美區CMO。我當時面臨一個艱難的選擇：冒險離開咨詢公司，盡管這份工作讓我生活無憂，并且支持我追求自己熱愛的事業;或者做出一些改變，去追求有著巨大潛力的神秘未來?面對職業生涯中的決定性時刻，你應該問問自己下面三個問題：
Will it keep you energized?One of the things I loved about consulting was the opportunity to work with a lot of different agencies and people. This kept my work exciting and innovative as I was constantly faced with new challenges. Fortunately, my new company understood that I needed a dynamic environment to do my best work. We were able to develop a position that allowed me to spend 50% of my time working with Carat, and the other 50% working with other agencies in our network. Problem solved.
新的機會能否讓你保持激情?我之所以喜歡咨詢行業，正是因為我有機會接觸到不同的公司和人。這讓我總是對工作充滿激情，不斷創新，因為我總是在面對新的挑戰。幸運的是，新公司理解我需要一個靈活的環境才能發揮最大的潛力。我們成功創造了一個崗位，如此一來，我可以用50%的時間為Carat工作，其他50%則可以與網絡中的其他公司合作。問題解決了。
Will your coworkers share your values?We often spend more time with our work family than our own families,which is why a company’s values are so important. As a consultant, I had the opportunity to choose who I worked with. But as CMO of Aegis Media, I wouldn’t have the same flexibility. However, after having spent a year working closely with the team at Carat, I knew that I was in good company.
你的同事是否認同你的價值觀?我們與同事在一起的時間，往往要多于陪伴家人的時光，因此公司的價值觀至關重要。作為一名咨詢師，我有機會選擇合作的對象。但作為安吉斯媒體的CMO，我不可能繼續擁有這種靈活性。但與Carat團隊密切合作一年之后，我堅信自己加入了一家出色的公司。
Will your voice matter?A few years back, I was given great advice by Catherine Bension, CEO of SRI, an agency search consultancy. She suggested that when weighing whether or not to join a company, you should look at the things that work within the company, and the things that don’t. If you can’t personally make an impact on the things that need to be changed, it’s not the right place for you. When contemplating if I should take the job at Carat, I was unsure if my background at creative agencies would be valued in the media space. Fortunately, they embraced my ideas from the get-go–I knew it was the perfect match.
你說話在公司管用嗎?幾年前，機構搜索咨詢公司SRI的CEO凱瑟琳·本森給我一些建議。她說在考慮是否要加入一家公司之前，你應該研究這家公司的長處與不足。對于那些需要改變的事情，如果你個人無法產生影響，這意味著這家公司并不適合你。在考慮是否接受在Carat工作時，我并不確定自己在創意機構的背景，在廣告界是否會受到重視。幸運的是，他們一開始便能接受我的想法——我知道這家公司是我的最佳選擇。
