Are you currently an executive looking to advance your career but have concerns over the recent shifts in the economy and the impact these shifts may have on your career advancement opportunities?

Recent shifts in the economy have been at the forefront of market forecasts, financial news, and reports from the Federal Reserve. These shifts can impact everyday choices from spending limits, grocery lists and even our future career moves.

In a recession and looming crisis, it is challenging to be attentive to where those shifts will impact your company the most. As an executive, you want to add value to your company, and with budget cuts on the horizon alongside shifts on the hiring front, considering the advancement of your own career can often take a back seat.

But it doesn’t have to.

Here are 5 Key Ways You Can Recession Proof Your Career Growth as an Executive.

By the end of this article, not only will you Recession Proof your Career Growth, but you will thrive while doing so.

Th.R.I.V.E.is going to be the key for you to remember how you can recession-proof your career growth with ease.

So let’s dive in.

Chances are if you are an executive, there is someone in the C Suite of the executive leadership team that you are reporting to. In any market, the goals and sole function of the C-suite are to delineate the vision that the company is heading towards.

One key function of the C-suite is to identify an executive plan that highlights the most important priorities of the business.

Are you familiar with the strategic direction? Have the shifts in the economy changed their path or direction?

Become involved in these decision-making conversations that outline strategic direction and planning. Position yourself to become aware of the current business functions, and eventually a part of the strategic direction that the company plans to take moving forward.

This is the first way to recession-proof your career, think in a business function, and be a part of the conversation.

When there are huge shifts in the economy like we are currently experiencing, company representatives are looking for the certainty of sustainability.

In fact, the sustainability of business functions will be a primary focus of the senior executive team, the C-suite, and you, as an executive, are a valuable asset to the senior executive leadership team.

Ensure that your experiences and your insights, the wisdom behind your knowledge, not merely the technical knowledge or data that you carry, are supporting the business functions.

How can you get to the core, to the root of the problem you are trying to solve — especially in the light of an uncertain economy? How can you identify the real problem and then prioritize how to solve these problems?

How can your wisdom, that deep intrinsic wisdom, work alongside you to solve those problems — and with confidence, how can you plan to attack these problems head-on?

Take a moment to reflect on your career path and the steps you have taken to get to the executive you are today.

Perhaps you’ve worked exceedingly hard at increasing your education or developing your technical skills, and those skills have launched you to where you are today. But as you climb the executive career path, you begin to realize that the “know-how” that helped you get where you are today becomes less and less important.

Instead, your ability to communicate and create alignment across teams vertically and horizontally, with trust and certainty, become the forefront of the skills for career advancement.

Communication is widely known for being a soft skill, but perhaps communication is not as soft as we may have previously thought. Most people invest heavily in acquiring technical skills, but little to none in acquiring key communication skills.

Invest in yourself, especially in ways that you haven’t previously invested.

Valuate is the root word for valuation, which essentially means to put a dollar figure to something.

Ensure that every proposal that you contribute to the senior executive team has a valuation, meaning that the consequences of that decision, after acting upon it, affect the financial fabric of the company. This is especially important because, in an economy where there are constant changes, the cash flow of a company becomes of utmost importance.

Evaluate your decisions, and ensure that the bottom line, as well as the profits the company makes, come from the important decisions you make and how you are positively impacting their progress due to the valuation of your decisions.

When it comes to shifting markets and economies, we are often of the mind that it will take a very complex resolution to solve these complicated items.

In fact, the more complex a solution is, the more resources are required to build infrastructure around it, which is why a complex solution is not always the most practical option during a crisis or a recession. Instead, adaptability is one of the greatest needs in an uncertain economy.

As you enter this new phase of your career path, do not simply survive, but THRIVE and see yourself soar to new highs you merely dreamed were possible.

It is time to move from the knowledge-gathering stage of reading to the application stage. In my executive coaching program, I’ll introduce you to a powerful self- and career-development process that will help you implement the principles covered in this article.

Growth-oriented executives who seek career fulfillment by becoming a more skilled version of themselves will benefit from this implementation-to-results program. It is designed to help you master your mind, develop deeper insights, improve your communication skills, and become inspired in your career development.

For an opportunity to work with me, apply HEREif you’d like to learn more about my methodology.