3.新职位的领导是否愿意听从你的意见？弗兰克尔最近指导过一名经理，她接受了一个新设立的职位，还花了很多时间跟别人讨论他们需要她提供何种帮助。但领导的想法与她不同。“他希望她一天到晚坐在办公桌前，是一个彻头彻尾的微观管理者，”弗兰克尔说。“在他的领导下，她无法对职位进行正确的定位，做好该做的事。”她最终没能在那个职位上待太久。如果新职位的领导对你的技能、天赋，以及你对这个职位的看法没有任何兴趣，你也不会在这个职位上长待的。

    4.新部门财务状况如何？弗兰克尔在自己的新书《职业女性易犯的致命错误》（Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office）修订本中讲述了一个有告诫意义的故事。故事中，年轻的女经理被横向调动到了一个垂死挣扎的边缘部门。

    由于非常渴望证明自己有能力扭转乾坤，她接受了这个职位——结果才几个月，这个部门就被拍卖了。部门被拍卖后，她也随之被卖出，“最后只能为一家小得多、名气也不大的公司工作。由于失去了在之前公司的工龄，她的退休金也受到了影响，”弗兰克尔回忆道。“要是她询问一下她的前任，就会发现，前任之所以离职，就是因为他知道会出现这种局面，因此想尽力避免。”

    5.新职位所处的业务领域是在蓬勃发展，还是即将被淘汰？担任公司重要战略部门的副主管和协助运营一个早已落后于时代的部门，两者完全是两码事。因此在接受新职位之前，要注意考察你将进入哪种状况。

    弗兰克尔说：“当前的变化速度这么快，因此，不管你身处哪个行业，都需要从日常工作中退后一步，纵览大局。”如果你正在衡量的职位处于公司未来计划的核心，这种横向调动可能是极好的机会。否则，你就需要为你愿意在这个职业上待多久设定一个时间期限——弗兰克尔建议的时间是12-18个月——而且（出于安全考虑）要求把这一点写进合同。

    祝你好运！（财富中文网）

    反馈：如果你最近也经历过职位上的横向调动，你是怎么判断新职位对你是否有利？结果如何？请在下面发表你的评论。

    译者：朱毓芬/汪皓

    3. Will you be working for someone who's open to your ideas?Frankel recently coached a manager who had accepted a newly created position, and she spent lots of time talking to other people in the company about what they needed from her. Her boss, however, had other ideas. "He wanted her at her desk all the time, and he was a total micromanager," Frankel says. "He made it impossible for her to define the role and do what was needed." She didn't last long and, if your new boss isn't interested in the skills, talents, and ideas you bring to the job, neither will you.

    4. How is the business doing financially?In her new book, a revised and updated edition ofNice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, Frankel tells a cautionary tale of a young female manager who was offered a lateral move to a remote, struggling division.

    Eager to prove she could turn things around, the manager accepted the job -- only to find out a few months later that the business was on the auction block. When it was sold, she was, too, "and ended up working for a much smaller, less prestigious company, on top of losing her tenure with the former parent, which affected her pension," Frankel recalls. "If only she had asked the person who had that job before her, she would have found out he was leaving because he knew what was coming, and he wanted to avoid it."

    5. Is the job in an area that's growing, or one that's obsolescing?Being second-in-command of a division that's strategically important to your company, and helping run one that is the modern-day equivalent of the buggy-whip business, are two entirely different things. So before you say yes, take a hard look at which one it is.

    "These days, the pace of change is so rapid that, no matter what industry you're in, you have to be able to step back from the day-to-day and look at the big picture," Frankel notes. If the role you're considering is central to your company's future plans, it could turn out to be a terrific move. If not, set a time limit on how long you're willing to stay in it -- Frankel suggests 12 to 18 months -- and, just to be on the safe side, ask to get that in writing.

    Good luck.

    Talkback:If you've made a lateral move lately, how did you decide whether it made sense for you? How has it turned out? Leave a comment below.