Author May Busch releases new book on career advancement

Author May Busch teaches people to advance their careers and make the difference they’re meant to make in the world, without sacrificing their values in the process. Busch joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss her new book.

After her own 24-year rise to Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley Europe, Busch discovered it’s not enough to deliver excellent performance; you also need to make your potential visible to key decision-makers.

Busch serves as Senior Advisor for Leadership in the Office of the President at Arizona State University, where she helps develop the university’s next generation of leaders among faculty and staff, and co-leads ASU’s SUNlite Coaching Program.

As founder of Career Mastery™, Busch has developed a practical framework helping mid-career professionals accelerate their advancement while staying authentic.

Busch’s new book is titled “VISIBLE: How to Advance Your Career without Playing Politics, Selling Your Soul or Working Yourself into the Ground.”

Busch emphasizes the importance of being centered in who you are. The main two mindset in career development is, according to Busch, is just doing the work and the work will speak for itself, or to “play the game.” Busch’s book talk about another option available.

“The third way starts from realizing that you have to put yourself in the shoes of what the senior decision makers are thinking,” Busch said. “What they’re thinking about is different, often times, than what we ourselves are thinking about.”

What senior decision makers are looking for is who has the most potential to succeed at the next level in their company. This may seem like another way of “playing the game,” but real authenticity is what separates someone from the rest of the crowd.

“Being authentic doesn’t mean being the same all the time,” Busch said. “You bring your most appropriate best self all of the time. So you have to understand what your values are first, and then you can set boundaries around honoring them.”