January 08, 2020

Seeking a Meaningful Career: Matt’s Path to Trajectify

January 08, 2020/ Matt Karminski

The last several months of my professional career have been incredibly rewarding as I have taken on the role of Business Coordinator for Trajectify. I am part of an amazing team where my contribution is valued and I have the ability to grow both professionally and personally. This career is a great fit with my values, strengths and personality. Things weren’t always this wonderful for me. Like many others, I have struggled over the years with “what I want to be when I grow up.” In searching for the answer to this question, I’ve come to realize that figuring out my career was much more of a journey than a destination.

Trajectify

Startups and Small Businesses sometimes find themselves at the edge of a chasm. With success in developing and growing their business, a stage is reached where they find that the "next step" is a big one! Trajectify partners with the entrepreneur to build momentum and trajectory to be able to cross the chasm.

We offer private and group (Mastermind) coaching and hold frequent events and seminars.

Trajectify is founded my Mike Krupit, veteran of eight startups. Mike has helped dozens of companies grow and mentored and advised hundreds more.

Recent Resources

Organizational Dev

How to Do a Layoff Well: The Parts That Feel Cold Are the Kind Ones

Organizational Dev

One of the hardest things for a manager to accept is that a layoff meeting isn’t a discussion about whether someone keeps their job or even why it’s happening. The decision has already been made. The meeting is short and one-on-one. The news comes from the person’s closest manager, unless that manager is also being laid off. HR is in the room. The manager says a few clear sentences, then HR walks the person through the paperwork and next steps. Short doesn’t mean robotic.

Organizational Dev

Two Honest Reasons for a Layoff, and Three Convenient Ones

Organizational Dev

Technology used to be expensive to build, and relatively inexpensive labor was often the better return. AI has changed that calculation for certain kinds of work. Tasks that once required entire teams can now be automated relatively cheaply. I don’t think CEOs should pretend otherwise. I do think they need to be honest about what actually changed.

Organizational Dev

Leadership, Growth Strategies

Your Peer Group Will Tell You What No One Else Will

Leadership, Growth Strategies

I’ve been facilitating CEO peer groups for fifteen years. The biggest factor in whether someone gets value from a group is vulnerability. Not performative vulnerability. The kind that costs you something to say out loud, the thing you'd rather not say because it makes you look uncertain, stuck, bored, scared, or wrong. The people who get the most from these groups aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest problems. They're the ones willing to let the room see the problem clearly enough to help.

Leadership, Growth Strategies

Leadership, Communications

Visibility Is Part of the CEO Job

Leadership, Communications

I don't think every CEO needs to become a LinkedIn personality. The question is simpler. Who needs to know you exist? Where are they? And what would help them understand how you think before they ever sit across from you? That answer will change as the company grows, as your buyers change, as platforms come and go. You adjust. That I don’t think you can do anymore is decide visibility isn’t part of your job at all. Your personal brand is important to your company’s brand.

Leadership, Communications

Leadership, Personal Development

How You Look Is Part of How You Lead

Leadership, Personal Development

Most founders and executives I work with are uncomfortable talking about how they look. It feels shallow. Not the point. I get it. They started their companies because of a vision, not an ego. By the time they're working with an advisor, they're wrestling with real problems: who belongs in which seats, how to build accountability, how to run a leadership meeting. Thinking about personal image can feel self-indulgent by comparison.

Leadership, Personal Development

Organizational Dev

You Can't Scale the Company Without Scaling the Culture

Organizational Dev

Founders tend to think about a major transition as a singular event. You prepare, announce, close, and now you're a different company. In my experience, the company starts changing well before any of that happens. I've been through this several times now, and the details were different every time. The weirdness was pretty consistent.

Organizational Dev

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Not Every Idea Deserves to Be Fully Baked

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Sometimes exploration is worth it. Sometimes you just spent a week of the team’s attention answering a question the founder could have tested in an afternoon. That is the part I think leaders underestimate. Ideas do not only cost money. They cost time, focus, and brainpower long before anyone approves a budget. The question I’d want answered is: how much of the organization does this idea deserve yet?

Growth Strategies, Leadership

If Everyone Is Playing Defense with their Goals, Nobody Is Trying to Win

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Ask a room of leaders why they set goals and most will say accountability. That answer creates the problem. Goals exist for alignment. The company needs to reach a number, so this group does this, that group does that, and together the math works. Everyone is pointed in the same direction. Focus comes second. A good goal tells you what to say no to.

Growth Strategies, Leadership