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The Best Career Path Has Options
Tweet Share on Facebook March 19, 2009 Comment (2)One of the things I often hear in my work helping people find careers that light them up is a feeling of being trapped. They have a goal they want to reach, a dream they want to achieve, but they don’t feel like they’re able to do it. Or, even worse, they just feel flat out stuck in an unpleasant situation they want to change.
That’s an incredibly disempowering feeling. It’s stressful, and it feels hopeless. It drains their energy. And often, it’s also completely untrue.
If you find yourself feeling trapped or stuck, ask yourself, “What are my options?” Go ahead and start writing them down. Brainstorm and make a laundry list. Once you have written down the possibilities that came to mind immediately, take it one step further. Say, “OK, now, if none of those was a possibility, what else could I do? How else could I reach my goal?” Tape your list to the wall where you can see it and keep adding ideas as they pop up.
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How to Hold On To The Job You Have
Tweet Share on Facebook March 18, 2009 Comment (2)Take a look at any news source these days and you’ll be smacked in the face with the latest unemployment figures.
They continue to go in the wrong direction (up), making it hard not to get trapped in the general atmosphere of free-floating fear. Pundits throwing out words like “depression” and “apocalypse” don’t help.
But you are only one person. You only need to hold on to one job (or, if you’re a moonlighter, two). Your task then is to be such a rock-solid member of the team, and do such superior work, that you keep that job.
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Letter to All the New Green Company CEOs
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2009 Comment (2)In my spare time, I mentor or coach entrepreneurs who are involved in early stage or startups. It’s fun for me, helpful for them, I hope. There is nothing like the thrill of helping someone build a new business.
There are green companies being formed now by passionate people who believe in their new product and/or service. Some are going to make it and some won’t.
I have a couple of tips for them as they embark on their startup adventure. Here's a classic new green entrepreneur situation: The company's product is great and will revolutionize their niche market. It’s been patented, they can demonstrate that it saves money, and it provides real ecological benefits. The challenge is making sales before the cash runs out.
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How to Handle Hypocrites at Work
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (5)At some point or another, we all go back on something we've said. Does that makes us "bad" people? No. But it does make us hypocrites. A hypocrite, according to Webster's Dictionary, is a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.
I've always had a hard time with hypocrites. Perhaps it's because I hold myself to a ridiculously unachievable standard. Whatever the case, I know I'm not the only one gets ticked off when people go back on their word and step all over a previous sentiment. Just glance around the office and I'm sure you'll see plenty of offenders.
Take Joan, for example. She always got along with her cubemate Tammy. But last month they started to experience a lot of tension. Joan ended up distancing herself a bit and started having lunch with Margaret. One random day, Joan and Tammy met up accidentally in the office cafeteria and exchanged a few laughs. At the time, Margaret happened to be strolling by. -
4 Reasons to Beware the Too-Nice Manager
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (4)Of all the qualities you don't want in a manager, here's one that you might not have thought about: overly nice.
If you have a boss who is too nice--one who allows her desire to be nice, or liked, to control the way she does business--you'll find the following:- The boss won't make hard decisions or have hard conversations. One common way this plays out is in managers who won’t address performance problems or fire underperformers. But it plays out in other ways as well. For example, a manager who's afraid of conflict may hesitate to make necessary course corrections mid-way through a project, but then be unhappy with your final product. Good managers know that their job is to solve problems, not avoid them, and that they can't value preserving harmony or avoiding tough conversations above all else.
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How E-mail Becomes Dangerous
Tweet Share on Facebook March 13, 2009 Comment (2)There are three common categories of E-mail: “Convenient,” “Questionable,” and “Exhibit A.”
Convenient E-Mail appropriately matches the subject with the tone. This means it is not used to announce layoffs, propose marriage, or discuss any sensitive topic for which face-to-face communication or, at the very least, telephonic contact, is needed. Convenient E-Mail is great for setting up meetings or conveying reports.
It can also be a nifty way to catch up with friends, although if that is done too often, Convenient E-Mail can become…Questionable E-Mail.
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Could This Recession Be a Gift For Your Career?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2009 Comment (2)I’m not a big fan of experiencing difficult times, but sometimes that’s exactly what we need. Sometimes it takes a personal earthquake to shake us out of the rut of habit, flawed assumptions, and inertia that is keeping us on a track that is no longer (or maybe never was) right for us.
In my most recent podcast, I interviewed Erik Weihenmayer, a blind climber who summitted Mount Everest in 2001. Erik is a best-selling author, a motivational speaker, and has turned overcoming adversity into an art form. His most recent book, The Adversity Advantage (co-authored with Dr. Paul Stoltz), focuses on how to use adversity to propel you forward.
As we talked about how to deal with the adversity that so many people are facing right now, Erik noted: “Sometimes these tough times are the best times to make a change in our life. Sometimes the adversity that we face is the catalyst that we need to do it.”
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A Good Cover Letter Starts With "You"
Tweet Share on Facebook March 11, 2009 Comment (6)That's right, "you." Or “Your.”
Why?
Because the most effective way to job hunt is to think and act from the perspective of your potential employer.
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How to Get a Job Using a Company's ORM
Tweet Share on Facebook March 10, 2009 Comment (2)Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing is an expert in advising companies on how to manage their online reputation (ORM: online reputation management).
He advises companies to monitor, optimize and engage about their brands, products, company and key executives. You can find out more about this topic here.
As far as the online reputation management discussion goes, you know much of it by know: Be careful what you say and send to others because "it" will always be "out there." Younger job seekers have been warned about their online reputation, how companies are Googling them, and sometimes withdrawing job offers.
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Objectives: Leave Them Off Your Resume
Tweet Share on Facebook March 9, 2009 Comment (31)Last week, when writing about things to leave off of your resume, I mentioned objective statements, which I believe don't belong on a resume. Some commenters wanted to know why.
I've never seen an objective that made me more interested in hiring a candidate, and I've seen plenty that actually hurt a candidate's chances. At best they're neutral, so why risk it?
Objectives usually fall in one of three categories:
