In the past 14 months I’ve given 70 presentations including keynotes, luncheon speeches, after–dinner speeches and seminars in virtually every market in the U.S. and mainly for corporate groups of CEOs, key executives, and entrepreneurs. But the most memorable group I spoke to was the May 2008 graduating class of J.E.T. (Jobs and Employment Training) at St. Patrick’s Center on May 30th in my hometown of St. Louis.

Barb and I have a special marriage bonding ritual. On Sunday nights we put the kids to bed and then we cuddle up and watch Desperate Housewives. No matter what challenges we’re facing nothing compares to the lives on Wisteria Lane. Hey, don’t blame me. Barb was the one who wanted me to watch Terri Hatcher and I just got hooked.

When clients retain us as an executive search firm, they expect us to recruit stellar candidates. Stellar candidates are typically the ones who have a job and aren’t proactively seeking new opportunities (this does not mean that someone who might not be in a job currently isn’t fabulous).

Time and time again I see the top candidate accept an offer, and arrive on their first day with the drive and passion to change the company. Yet, in many cases, this gets them off to a very rocky start.

What is an Economic Trend?

You probably have a more technical definition of an economic trend than I do, but here’s mine. An economic trend is a bunch of dots. If you took all of the economic performances of all of the businesses around the world on a given day and averaged them into a single dot, then you would have the beginning of a trend. If you did that every day for several weeks, months, and years, then you would have a bunch of dots. You could then draw a best–fit curve that represents the flow of the dots. At that point you could say, “We’re heading into a recession,” or “We’re in a recession.” You could then use either of those statements to justify slowing down spending to save capital and to stop investing in creating innovative ways to add more value to customers.

I suggest you don’t do that.

Have you ever taken yourself through the ‘how–tos’ and ‘whys’ behind each of your goals? So often people set themselves up for failure by not considering everything it takes to achieve a challenging goal. Next time you set your ambitions high, think about answers to each of the following questions. They are designed to help you focus on your goal and gain insight on how it will impact different aspects your life.

In the midst of the media frenzy over our current economic condition, it recently dawned on me that those who are experts will no doubt survive any recession. People who become experts in their fields have harnessed the power of precision. And this is available to everyone, including executives, employees, and entrepreneurs alike. Achieving precision is the most effective way for any individual to succeed, especially during tough economic times.

Everyone’s talking about it. And companies are preparing for it. Recession. It’s clear that there is some kind of economic down–turn on the horizon. Nothing makes a recession happen like corporate belt–tightening in anticipation of a recession. Now’s the time to prepare yourself so that you remain in control of your career. Here’s what you need to do to recession–proof your career:

Steve was a results–driven executive. The reason I know that is because the first time I met him, he said, “Dan, I’m a results–driven executive.” I said that was fine with me because I believed the whole point of being an executive was to make decisions that would ultimately lead to better results.

My son, Ben, is six years–old. I’ve coached his soccer team for the past two years. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that going to the ball is a foreign idea for most young children; this explains why it’s the most frequent comment from coaches in the league. Rather than waiting for the ball to come right to their feet, the players need to learn that going to the ball and kicking it is what makes game–winning plays. The same is true in business.