Story Sparking

When Customer Service People Don't Think Before Speaking

2010-08-09T06:30:00.001-06:00

Why is it that whenever there's a really serious problem with your computer, the tech support people feel compelled to ask, "Do you have anything important on your computer?" .... Excuse me????... "No, just grocery lists mainly."

Assessment Tests

2010-02-12T07:31:00.003-06:00

Some of the most common questions I get from workshop attendees and clients alike have to do with the validity and helpfulness of assessment tests.

There is no answer to the "which test is best" question because it depends on your needs and your level of self-awareness.

If you are highly self-aware, many assessment tests are going to fail the So What Test. In other words, they'll confirm what you already know. Worse, many of them aren't actionable.

One of the most famous, and best marketed, tests is the Myers-Briggs. I am well aware that a lot of people claim to get value out of that test. But what horrifies me is the pathological attachment some people have to their results. One person I know won't date people who aren't a "match" her four-letter Myers-Briggs category. Putting that kind of faith into anything is not a good strategy. In fact, it's not a strategy at all. It's stupidity.

I bring this up today because I just finished reading an interesting article about Myers-Briggs specifically that confirmed the hesitations I have had over the years:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2922/does-the-myers-briggs-personality-assessment-really-tell-you-anything

If your purpose in taking an assessment is to get a better handle on the types of careers that might interest you, the best test I've found by far is in Pamala Oslie's book, Life Colors. Talk about accuracy. It's the only test I've ever taken that listed motivational speaker as a possible career. Of the other 20-30 possibilities mentioned in the results, I had either done or considered 75% of them.

Working on a New Book

2010-02-05T07:29:00.003-06:00

Although it has been a long time coming, I am finally in the process of writing a new book. I had been stuck for awhile, but through a soul session with the gifted Veronica Drake (www.soulexpressions.net), I am working past the blocks and fears that hindered my creativity. Those blocks are the key reasons I hadn't been blogging regularly for awhile.

I will continue to post periodically, but plan to dedicate most of my writing efforts to this important, and very personal, project.

Grading Your Job Search

2010-01-14T14:48:00.002-06:00

If you aren't getting the results you want in the job search, there is an excellent chance you are making some fundamental mistakes. Here's an opportunity to grade yourself on the search. Read my most recent article on The Ladders:

Grade Your Job Search: 10 Step Quiz

360-Degree Performance Reviews

2009-12-18T13:14:00.003-06:00

When people think about performance reviews, they usually think about feedback from their supervisors. However, from a professional development standpoint, some of the best feedback can come from peers, direct and indirect reports, support staff, and even vendors. Unfortunately, too few people think to ask.

For more about this, check out a recent article I wrote for The Ladders.

http://marketing.theladders.com/career-advice/360-degree-performaces-reviews-do-it-yourself

It's NOT a numbers game!

2009-10-20T20:27:00.001-06:00

I am horrified by the number of career coaches who insist that job hunting is a numbers game. It isn't. It's all about strategy. To say that job hunting is a numbers game is nothing more than a convenient excuse for coaches who don't have the skills to truly help people (and should themselves be looking to change careers.)

Video Montage

2009-10-20T18:29:00.003-06:00

My good friend Ann Liston and her team just created a promo video for me. Take a look.

Harry Wilson's blog - update

2009-10-02T16:44:00.002-06:00

My apologies for the faulty link. Here is an updated, functioning link for Harry Wilson's blog:

http://www.5milesintowonder.blogspot.com.

Be sure to check it out.

Fashion Focus 2009

2009-09-22T14:29:00.002-06:00

If you are in Chicago on October 25, come down to the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Randolph. I will be doing a workshop for fashion students as part of Fashion Focus 2009. For more information, visit www.chicagofashionresource.com. The session, which is called "The Ultimate Design Challenge: Finding a Job", is scheduled to run from noon -2pm. Be sure to register in advance.

Special Labor Day eBook Sale

2009-09-03T20:11:00.002-06:00

As a special offer to readers of my blog and subscribers to my email list, I put together a 6 eBook package called, Job Search Essentials, that I am offering at a substantial discount (over $250 in savings) until noon CST on Tuesday, September 8. For more information, visit the hidden page on my website: www.rifproofing.com/laborday

WGN-TV News Chicago

2009-09-02T11:03:00.003-06:00

This is an interview I did on the WGN-TV news on Aug. 20, 2009.

The Stories Companies Tell Candidates

2009-07-22T14:52:00.003-06:00

I had lunch yesterday with a good friend who shared a disturbing story. A few weeks ago, Mike (not his real name) interviewed with a high profile investment management firm and was invited to take a personality assessment. At the time, he was excited about the possibility because it required several hours of his time and a significant investment on the part of the company.

In general, I don't have an issue with companies that require candidates to go through whatever psychological tests the company might find helpful. But I do have an issue when companies put so much emphasis on the test results that they become inflexible in their recruiting. I also have an issue with the way some companies choose to share the results. Unfortunately, both issues played a role in this case.

If the hiring managers want to put their faith in a psychological assessment, that is certainly their prerogative. But, to borrow a phrase from Hippocrates, these companies have a responsibility to "first, do no harm". Or, to borrow a Buddhist concept, hiring managers and recruiters, when sharing results, should ask themselves the question, "Is what I am about to say an improvement over maintaining silence." If the answer is "No", they need to consider other options.

In Mike's case, the company decided not to hire him because the assessment results indicated:

"an inability to build relationships" and
"an inability to sell"

Not surprisingly, Mike was disappointed and immediately began questioning himself. On the surface, he seemed to handle it better than I might have expected. But I couldn't help but wonder if a part of him was somewhat devastated. I could clearly see the disappointment and sadness in his eyes.

My reaction to the results was a bit different. I was (and remain) thoroughly disgusted with the company. There is absolutely nothing constructive or helpful about the feedback that was shared with Mike. On the contrary, it was destructive, thoughtless, and despicable. It's one thing for the company to exercise its right to choose employees. It's another to tear down unsuccessful applicants in the process. All they had to say was something generic like:

"Your scores on the assessment were not consistent with what we have found in our most successful employees and what we look for in applicants."

That would have been fair, honest, and infinitely preferable to the blunt, tactless approach the company chose. Even if the results were absolutely on target, which they weren't, it wouldn't excuse the company's offensive behavior.

I've known Mike for over 15 years and can personally attest to his integrity and ability to build relationships. He is also a natural sales person--especially when he is promoting projects for which he has a particular passion. As it happens, I have invested considerable time and effort into helping him launch a business he has been working on because I am completely sold on the idea and his ability to make it happen. His passion and enthusiasm for the project is so infectious I couldn't help but get involved.

Over the past few years, I have done sales training workshops for sales professionals in a variety of industries including finance and investment management. If every one of my workshop attendees had the same passion, integrity, and natural sales ability that Mike has, my job would be a lot easier. Mike is a trusted advisor in every sense of the phrase. The company's test may not have picked up on this, but that certainly doesn't mean he lacks the ability to build relationships and sell.

As a result of the company's irresponsible behavior, I spent a good part of my conversation with Mike sharing specific examples from his past that prove the test results are wrong. I sincerely hope he takes my word for it rather than the test results, but it may take some time for Mike to get past this unfortunate and completely avoidable episode.

If you are in a company that uses assessment tests, think long and hard about how much stock you put in the results because you are probably missing great candidates like Mike with disturbing frequency. At the same time, I urge you to be more responsible and compassionate with how you share the results. First, do no harm.

If you are a candidate who is going through an assessment, keep the following points in mind:

Don't try to second guess the test. Answer as honestly as possible. Even if you could game the system, which you probably can't, the company would end up hiring someone it didn't think it hired. That's a lose-lose proposition for everyone.
Don't question your abilities based on the results of any given test. It doesn't matter how much time and money the company invests, no test is 100% accurate.
If you get rejected by a company because of a test result, be grateful. If the company is so inflexible that it puts more faith in a test than in the judgment of the hiring managers, you probably wouldn't have been happy there anyway.
Rejection is the Universe's way of saving you from a nightmare.

Your Resume: Three Possible Outcomes

2009-07-20T05:44:00.003-06:00

Most people treat applying for a job as a black and white proposition. Either they get the interview or they don't. But there's a lot more to it than that. Your resume faces three possible fates. The first, and by far the most common, is the black hole that either leads to no response at all or an ultimate rejection.

The second possibility is that the hiring managers will look at your resume and think: "She might be worth a conversation" so they add you to the list of people they want to bring in for an interview. The third, and most rare, outcome is that your resume is so well done it inspires hiring managers to read it and say: "He looks fantastic. Let's get him in here as soon as possible." Unfortunately, most people who get interviews never achieve this because they haven't taken the time to match their experiences to the needs of a company. Nevertheless, it is worth shooting for because there is a world of difference between candidates who get companies excited about interviewing them and those who don't.

Most people who get interviews never truly appreciate this distinction. Nor do they know what expectations (if any) they've created in the minds of interviewers. That's unfortunate because it could mean the difference between getting a job and remaining in the unemployment line.

If you are ready for the coaching that could help you create excitement, let me know. I'd love to help.

Harry Wilson's new blog

2009-07-08T07:57:00.009-06:00

Last fall, I posted a living eulogy to my good friend, Harry Wilson. I am happy to report that Harry has started a blog to feature his art: http://www.5milesintowonder.blogspot.com.

Be sure to check it out. If you like what you see, send him a note. I know he'd appreciate it.

Recent Articles

2009-06-09T05:49:00.003-06:00

In case you are interested, Northwestern University has posted a number of articles I wrote on their website. Click on the titles below to read whatever interests you.

Creating A Strong Introduction

What It Means to RIFProof Your Career

Another article, "Compelling Cover Letters", will run in mid-June.

The Stories We Tell Without Realizing It

2009-05-26T07:29:00.004-06:00

Professional presence can be thought of as a combination of how we carry ourselves, how we dress, and how we come across in general. In other words, presence is the nonverbal and verbal aspects of our presentation working together to create an impression.

Any single component of our presence can change the combination and alter the perception--often beyond the conscious awareness of others. For example, as a psychology major in college I remember hearing about a study in which random people were videotaped walking down the street. The videos were then shown to prisoners who were in jail for mugging. The goal of the study was to help people avoid the behaviors that made them appealing targets for muggers.

As expected, there were certain people who appeared to be easy targets because they were walking with their heads down or were somehow preoccupied. But there were other people every mugger agreed would be a target even though they didn't seem out of the ordinary in any way. Strangely, the muggers were at a loss to describe exactly why these people looked vulnerable. The researchers were confused as well--until they went back and reviewed the tapes. That's when they discovered that these people were doing something subtly different than the average person. Rather than swing their arms the way most people do, left-arm/right leg, right arm/left leg, they were swinging them left arm/left leg, right arm/right leg. As a result, they looked slightly off-balance and therefore more vulnerable.

I mention this study because there are a variety of obvious and not-so-obvious ways we can impact the way we come across personally and professionally. Even if you think the image you project is positive and strong, there may still be opportunities for improvement.

When my clients and colleagues need help with their overall professional presence, which is outside my area of expertise, the person I turn to most is Susan Fignar. In short, Susan teaches people how to improve their image and enhance their personal and professional success. Other benefits of working with Susan include:

Developing self-confidence and project self-assurance.
Becoming a better observer of yourself and others.
Identifying negative body language, facial expressions, and nervous gestures.
Appearing more polished and professional in your overall appearance.
Understanding the importance of selecting the appropriate business, business casual, and casual attire for your lifestyle, position, and professional environment.
Developing poise in business and social situations.

Whether you work with Susan or another equally capable professional, there is a tremendous value in addressing any issues you might have in this area. This is especially true for people in transition who need every possible advantage to get ahead in this market.

Having personally experienced the benefits of Susan's insight, what I appreciate most is her willingness to provide candid, constructive feedback. It's not always easy to hear how we create negative impressions. However, it is so much better to have the opportunity to make mid-course corrections than to fly in the dark, make the same mistakes, and wonder why life isn't going the way we'd like.

Even if you don't think you need it, make an appointment. You might be in for a surprise. Susan can be reached via her website: www.pur-sue.com.

RIFProofing for Companies

2009-04-24T09:11:00.003-06:00

When I started doing outplacement workshops almost 10 years ago, I was amazed how many downsized employees had accomplishments that went well beyond the expectations of their company. Unfortunately, the companies weren't aware of the impact because the employees themselves had never taken the time to quantify their accomplishments.

At the time, I was convinced the companies were to blame for not doing a better job tracking employee accomplishments and for eliminating the positions of employees who, in many cases, were contributing far more to the bottom line than they were being paid. While it is true that companies frequently make ill-informed decisions when it comes to layoffs or Reductions in Force (RIFs), it isn't always their fault.

Over the years, I have come to realize that most people make almost no effort to think through how their work impacts the organizations, customers, suppliers, and others with whom they come in contact. That's unfortunate because if employees don't take the time to track their accomplishments, no one else will.

While personal and professional development is the responsibility of the individual, it is also true that companies have an enormous amount to gain by encouraging people to play a more active role in tracking their own accomplishments. As companies continue to downsize and operate with fewer employees, it is more important than ever to make sure the right people are in the right position. That's an important part of what my most recent eBook, RIFProofing Your Career, is all about.

RIFProofing isn't just for individuals. It is a process companies can use internally to gain a deeper appreciation of the depth and breadth of talent within the organization. This can be accomplished through workshops, one-on-one coaching, or by licensing the eBook and encouraging employees to work through the process on their own. For more information about what RIFProofing can offer your company, visit: www.rifproofing.com/rif-proofing-ebook-for-corporations.

RIFProofing for Individuals

2009-04-15T14:41:00.007-06:00

Over the past year, we have seen the unemployment rate skyrocket as companies resort to layoffs or Reductions In Force (RIFs), as some companies euphemistically refer to them. To help people avoid becoming yet another statistic, I have written a new eBook called, RIFProofing (sm)Your Career: How to Protect and Keep Your Job in Any Economy.

In my work as a career coach and trainer, I have seen too many clients and workshop participants who didn't do enough to protect their jobs and found themselves unemployed. For example, one woman named Andrea was working at a company that decided to eliminate 40% of the payroll across all departments. As often happens, Andrea's company started with employees who were making the most money. That isn't a smart strategy, but that's what happened. Since Andrea had been at the company for 8 years, she found herself on the list.

Unfortunately, since Andrea had never taken the time to communicate the depth and breadth of her impact, the company viewed her as a highly paid expense. What Andrea didn't realize (and therefore never communicated) was that she had saved the company $1 million over eight years by coming in at or under budget on all of her projects. That worked out to an annual savings of $125,000--$50,000 more than her salary. In other words, she was an INVESTMENT, not an expense.

Considering the fact that 60% of the payroll in every department was RETAINED, there is no question in my mind that Andrea's job would have been spared if the company had known the bottom line impact she had on the organization. But they didn't.

While there are a variety of factors that go into layoff decisions, the fact remains that most companies are clueless about the real impact of their employees. I wish I could say Andrea's case was unusual. But it isn't. Every day, people who shouldn't be losing their jobs are being released by companies who don't truly know the value of the people who are walking out the door.

Given the struggle many people are having from a job search perspective, you owe it to yourself to do everything possible to protect your position. That's what my new eBook, RIFProofing(sm) Your Career: How to Protect and Keep Your Job in Any Economy, is all about.

I'm not going to lie to you. RIFProofing takes work. You have to be willing to make an investment in yourself. And you have to be willing to take steps you may never have considered. While there are no guarantees, you have a much better chance of protecting your job if you know the pitfalls that so many employees encounter when layoffs become a possibility. RIFProofing Your Career can help you navigate and avoid the traps along the way.

If you are one of the many who feels your job may be in danger, I have one question:

What are you willing to do to protect your position?

If you are willing to invest the time and effort it takes to RIFProof Your Career, this eBook could be the best investment you ever make.

RIFProofing Your Career

2009-04-10T09:09:00.008-06:00

With so much concern about job security, I decided to write a new eBook to help people avoid the mistakes I've seen countless people make over the years. The eBook, RIFProofing (SM) Your Career: How to Protect and Keep Your Job in Any Economy, is available now on my new website www.rifproofing.com.

RIFProofing Your Career includes my most up-to-date strategies and is perfect for people who want to make sure they are doing everything possible to protect their jobs. Working through this eBook is equivalent to at least 3-5 hours of 1:1 coaching--at a fraction of the cost.

For a limited time, you can take advantage of a special introductory discount of 50%.

Watch this space over the next few days for more information about how RIFProofing can help individuals and companies alike.

Hiding Behind Email

2009-03-18T20:50:00.010-06:00

Over the past few weeks, I've had some interesting conversations with people about the rapidly decaying manners of our society--a phenomenon that impacts companies and individuals as well. Once again, I am talking about people who hide behind emails when delivering bad news.

Not surprisingly, a growing complaint among job hunters is getting rejected via email. While it would be wonderful if job hunters received some indication that their resumes were received and didn't drop into an abyss, I know it isn't practical for companies to formally acknowledge every applicant. Nor is it necessary considering that a huge percentage, thanks to the Internet, probably don't even remember applying. It's truly unfortunate that great, qualified applicants frequently get lost in the sea of unqualified applicants who are under the misguided impression that job hunting is a numbers game.

The problem, as I see it, happens after the interviewing process. It is amazing how many companies think it is appropriate to email a rejection to people who have invested time and energy going through formal, face-to-face interviews. Ideally, this news should be communicated by phone and, I shouldn't have to say this, by an actual living, breathing human. At the very least, the company should send a formal letter on company letterhead. But an email? Come on. That is the ultimate in lazy and inconsiderate behavior. Have we become so gutless as a society that we can't even deliver bad news by phone anymore? These are the wimps who make the rest of the human resource professionals look bad.

Any company that sends rejections via email needs to rethink this policy because it leaves a seriously negative and unprofessional impression. Is that really the way these companies want the world to view them?

While were are still on the subject, here's one more thought on the inappropriate use of email by individuals:

I had a disturbing conversation the other day with a friend who decided to stop dating a guy she had been seeing for several months. As she talked it over with her female friends, she was shocked how many of them encouraged her to break up via email. She was so disappointed in her friends, it actually made her wonder if she had as much in common with them as she thought. In any case, it clearly illustrates how quickly rude behavior has become the norm. It also made me wonder if any of these women had ever had a guy break up with them via email or text. My female friends who have had that experience didn't like it all. But maybe when you are hell-bent on taking the easy way out, you don't think about things like that.

Think—And SPEAK—Before You Type

2009-02-16T16:46:00.005-06:00

I know I've talked about email communication before, but it continues to be an issue so I will continue to write about it. How and what you communicate via email says a lot more about what kind of person you are than you might think.

The focus of today's post is on personal communication, but the same observations hold true for business.

If you have ever called it quits in a relationship via text, email—even voice mail, you owe the person a serious apology. This is a disturbing trend I see as our society becomes more web-focused. Any communication that could potentially hurt or disappoint someone should NEVER be delivered via text or email. It's insensitive, rude, gutless, cowardly, thoughtless, and classless. Were you raised by wolves? I like what my dear friend Sherry had to say about this disturbing practice: "It's a pansy-ass move and the wimpiest thing EVER."

Talk face-to-face. If you can't do that, pick up the phone. But don't send a text or email and pretend you are being honest. By the way, NOT returning phone calls as a way to avoid a difficult conversation is JUST AS LAME. And yes, I know guys are guilty of this too.

For the record, some of my best friends—and people I respect most in the world—are people who weren't afraid to initiate or participate in an open, honest dialogue when it became clear there wasn't chemistry.

Although I make my living as a speaker, I will probably not be remembered as one of the great communicators. Nevertheless, I am working hard to improve. That's why the communication issue is so important to me—aside from the fact that it sucks to be on the receiving end of someone else's bad manners.

Think—and SPEAK—before you type.

Tracing My Passion For Speaking

2009-01-27T10:08:00.006-06:00

A colleague recently approached me about the possibility of working as a contract trainer to help people with presentation skills. Taking my own advice, I took the time to craft a cover letter that specifically addresses my interest and ability in this area.

Thanks to popular, but ill-conceived "rules of thumb", many people are afraid to go back more than 10 years when they present their credentials. As a result, they fail to consider some of the most compelling facts that support their desire to pursue particular areas of interest.

I follow a different rule of thumb:

Go back as far as you have to in order to demonstrate something you can't demonstrate more recently.

With a few exceptions (e.g., IT experience), WHAT you did matters more than WHEN you did it.

As I wrote the cover letter and reflected on my journey as a speaker, I was surprised to realize how much an experience I had when I was 7 years old impacted me years later. Since it was an important fact in tracing my passion, I included it. What follows is my cover letter--with certain confidential facts removed: (Feel free to comment. I don't hold it up as the gold standard. It simply represents my truth.)

---
Dear ______:

On a strictly confidential and exploratory basis, I am forwarding a copy of my résumé for your review. I would welcome the opportunity to learn more about your organization and see if there are opportunities to work with you in a consulting or training capacity related to presentation skills.

There are a number of factors that contribute to my ability to teach presentation skills and effective communication:

• My passion for the topic
• My ability to empathize with people who struggle with public speaking
• The exceptional training I have received through my own initiative

Most importantly, I can relate—painfully—to the difficulty people have speaking in front of others. When I was 7 years old, a Chicago television station came to our school to ask what we thought about Thanksgiving. My excitement at being interviewed was quickly replaced by horror when I saw myself on the 10 o'clock news. The minute I heard my lisp, I suddenly understood why I was spending so much time in speech therapy.

I eventually overcame the lisp, but remained hyper-conscious of the way I came across. My last painful memory of speaking happened during senior year in college. I was asked to present an overview of my 20-page research paper on Dr. Seuss for my 10 psychology classmates. Despite my enthusiasm for the topic, I found myself shaking and sweating the entire time. My performance was so bad the professor pulled me aside and urged me to take a public speaking class.

Although the college didn't offer a class, I found a training company that did and signed up immediately. But I didn't stop there. Over the years, I have been fortunate to learn from Dale Carnegie, Toastmasters, Doug Stephenson's Story Theater, Players Workshop (improv), and Second City.

Many trainers have what it takes to teach basic presentation skills and mechanics. What makes me different is that I have learned, through hard work, practice, and observation, what it takes to elevate those skills to something more compelling. To put this another way, I help people become more who they really are. Better still it works for all aspects of communication—not just public speaking.

Here are just a few of the comments from the presentation and communication workshops my training partner and I did for a major pharmaceutical company:

"Since I took your class I have been receiving heaps of praise from my boss about my communication. Last week she told me that I have been 'magnificent', twice in two days! Thanks so much."
– Jennifer J.

"I just wanted to let you know I've been talking up the workshop...awesome! I've suggested to my manager that our group be required to take your course. Nothing else offered has been this beneficial."
– Jennessa L.

Making a difference like this in the lives of workshop participants is what energizes me more than anything. I would welcome the opportunity to do the same for your clients. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I look forward to exploring the possibilities.

Best regards,

Rob

When Not To Tell Your Story

2009-01-14T10:29:00.005-06:00

The issues facing Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich bring up another point worth noting. More specifically, there are times when it is best NOT to tell your story. For Gov. Blagojevich, who is facing impeachment, this would be one of them. My late grandfather, an attorney, used to say he made a lot of money telling people to "Just shut up."

In discussing this with an attorney familiar with Blagojevich's attorney, I asked what he thought about the governor's public statements:

"I am sure having him (Rod) go and talk was not the firm's first choice. Having someone who has, for all intents and purposes, used his mouth/words to create the situation is a bit like having a shooting suspect put on a marksmanship demonstration--there is not much to be gained by it. If a defendant's lips are moving and it is not subject to attorney-client privilege, they are probably not helping their case.

"In my experience, many accused persons like to continually protest their innocence, rationalize their actions, or the like seemingly in the hope that it will somehow convince people no matter the volume of actual proof and evidence there is to contradict them. At the end of the day, you often have to try to protect them as best you can from the system and process, while simultaneously trying to protect them from harm from themselves. Their efforts can look a bit like reckless suicide, if there were such a thing. At the end of the day, I think it is just part of the deal with someone who cannot or will not keep his mouth shut."

At times like this, it's good to remember a Buddhist principle I mentioned in an earlier post. Namely, when you are wondering how to respond to any given situation, ask yourself the question: "Is what I am about to say an improvement over maintaining silence?" If it isn't, keep your mouth shut.

Non-verbal Storytelling

2008-12-23T12:30:00.005-06:00

I've been reading a fascinating book called, What Every BODY Is Saying, by Joe Navarro, an ex-FBI agent and expert on body language.

If the topic of non-verbal communication is even somewhat interesting to you, buy a copy of this book. It is loaded with pictures to illustrate the postures, gestures, and expressions that communicate loudly in ways we might not expect.

In the chapter on facial expressions, Navarro talks about a variety of unconscious behaviors people adopt when they are under stress. As it happened, I was reading the book at the gym last week when Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich held a news conference to profess his innocence. Rather than put my headset on and listen to what promised to be typical political drivel, I watched without audio to see what unconscious behaviors I might notice.

By my count, Blagojevich licked his lips 11 times in the two short minutes or so he was on camera. According to Navarro, lip licking is a pacifying behavior that occurs when people are stressed or feeling insecure. Whether a person is innocent or not, it makes sense that anyone recently arrested by federal agents and subject to impeachment hearings would be under stress. To be clear, it wouldn't be fair or appropriate to jump to any conclusions about honesty or guilt. I simply found it fascinating to see such obvious evidence of what I am sure was completely unconscious behavior on the part of Blagojevich.

At the same time, this was a nice reminder of the clues that are available to people interested enough--and aware enough--to pick up on the many ways we communicate non-verbally.

Unintended Outcomes (Some Heartwarming, Some Unpleasant)

2008-11-22T06:26:00.009-06:00

When I wrote The Living Eulogy for Harry Wilson, I had no idea it would resonate with so many people. I never expected the flood of emails and comments from friends and strangers alike. Some shared a desire to honor their own friends in a similar fashion. Others thanked me for introducing them to such a wonderful artist. The whole experience was incredibly heartwarming.

It was also challenging because it made me think about the logistical difficulties of acknowledging all the important people in my life. With two parents, 3 brothers, 2 sisters, countless relatives, and friends from all over the world, the prospect of doing living eulogies for everyone is more than a bit daunting.

Even as I wrote the piece for Harry, I found myself thinking about the other people in my life and what I might say about them. What I did not expect, however, was that the post would become a political issue of sorts. This was especially surprising because I almost never discuss politics with anyone. Although I have opinions, I rarely share them because politics is so polarizing.

Shortly after I posted the Living Eulogy, I received an email from Betsy, a high school classmate now living in California. When she clicked on the blog, Betsy was shocked—and rightfully so—to see a Google ad supporting a ban on gay marriage. As we sorted out what happened, we both realized that the ad forced us to examine the stories we tell ourselves about certain events and the motivations of the people involved.

Under the circumstances, I need to break my self-imposed rule of not discussing political issues to address the concerns this ad has raised. I am grateful to Betsy for sharing her viewpoint because I had no idea the ad was on the site. I DO NOT support discrimination of any kind; nor do I support a ban on gay marriage. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the ad.

What Happened?
When I signed up for Google Ads, my understanding was that Google would rotate non-competitive, business-related ads on the site. I never imagined Google would put a political ad of any kind on my page, let alone one on such a controversial issue. As Betsy and I discussed it later, we suspect that Google picked up on my reference to marriage in the Living Eulogy and used that keyword to target the ad.

Questioning The Motivations
Since I own the blog and post the content, Betsy reasonably assumed I knew about the ad. However, since I am based in Chicago, and the ad was targeting California voters, I would never have seen or heard about the ad had it not been for Betsy.

Given her strong feelings on the issue, Betsy was upset and confused at the thought that I supported a ban on gay marriage. This prompted a flood of emotions that caused her to question my intentions and motivations. Fortunately for me, she decided to share her concerns rather than stew in her own feelings. This gave us both a unique opportunity to think more deeply about the meaning we assign to the events in our lives.

Questioning Google
When Betsy alerted me to the issue, I immediately called the customer service people at Google to let them know I wanted the ad removed immediately. Google ads, as you may know, are rotated continuously. Since the election was almost over, the Google rep said it was unlikely the ad would reappear. Nevertheless, I wanted some assurance that political ads would never again appear on the site under any circumstances.

This proved to be an illuminating situation for me because it forced me to look at my own interpretation of the events. On the one hand, I was legitimately upset to have been thrust unknowingly into a heated issue that made it appear I supported discriminatory anti-gay policies. At the same time, there were a few questions I needed to consider as I forced myself to be somewhat objective about the situation:

Did I have a right to be upset with Google?
Absolutely. I firmly believe Google needs to make it easier for people like me to identify and block controversial ads—political or otherwise. From a freedom of speech standpoint, I support the right of these groups to advertise. At the same time, I want Google to be more careful about where the ads appear.

What was I making this mean?
Much of my initial anger was based on my view of Google as a money-hungry enterprise that cares more about paid clicks than it does about the feelings of its partner sites. That may be true, but it carries with it the assumption that human beings are behind the scenes consciously screening and placing ads. The reality, I’m sure, is a bit different. When I really thought about it, I was forced to conclude that Google probably has the process almost, if not completely, automated. As a result, it is possible that no one was ever in a position to evaluate the appropriateness of the ad content relative to its placement.

Whatever the case, this is an issue Google needs to address. In the meantime, it doesn’t make sense for me to get angry and upset at the software running behind the scenes. That would be like getting angry at a rock. I am better served by recognizing that Google systems are run by humans and humans make mistakes. When we make mistakes or do something to offend someone else, the best we can hope is that some caring person will point it out and enable us to take corrective action. That’s what Betsy did for me. And that’s my approach with Google as well.

The Living Eulogy

2008-10-24T15:13:00.030-06:00

Over the past few years, I've spent a lot of time talking about the stories we share with employers, potential employers, and even ourselves. But I haven't spent too much time talking about the stories we tell our friends and loved ones. Or, more to the point, the stories we SHOULD be telling these people.

(If you would like to see the pictures mentioned below visit:
www.careercraftsman.com/harrywilson.htm)

This is a bit of a departure from what I usually write, but I knew it was something I needed to share. I also knew I needed to do it immediately--before I changed my mind.

Last night, I went to the memorial service for Roman Block, the father of Parker Block, a close friend from grammar school. At the service, my dear friend Harry Wilson, who is now married to Parker's mother, Irene, leaned over and wondered aloud how it might have been for Roman to hear, firsthand, the outpouring of love, respect, and admiration. It made me wonder as well. Why do so many of us wait to collect our thoughts about how much people mean to us until after they are gone? These are the thoughts and memories we should be sharing while people are alive.

With this in mind, I decided to write a living eulogy for Harry to give him an earthly appreciation for just how much his friendship means to me. I share this with the hope it will inspire others to do the same, and to honor a dear friend. This is what I would say to the people Harry will someday leave behind:

I was fortunate to meet Harry during my last years in grammar school when he married the mother of my good friend, Parker Block. Harry was the first fine artist I had ever met. My earliest memories of Harry are of standing in the apartment he shared with Irene in Lake Point Tower, seeing his work up close, and listening to him talk about how powerfully people’s hands spoke to him. If memory serves, he had recently completed a series of large color pictures of characters he’d seen on the street who later came to life on his canvas. I can still picture the construction worker and the elderly African-American man who waited patiently while his wife shopped. In every case, there were The Hands--those powerful, compelling images that somehow told the story and captured the moment in every picture.

Sometime later, Harry showed me the image that remains my favorite to this day. The picture, which was done in a much more subdued, even understated style, showed a north suburban commuter waiting for the train as the wind carried a newspaper across the tracks in front of him. From then on, whenever I went to see Harry’s latest works, I made it a point to see the commuter picture. It was one of the first pictures I’d see when I walked into the apartment and the last one I saw before I left. One day, Harry told me about a show he did in which he put the picture on display. If I remember the story correctly, upon seeing the picture, a former C-level executive at Leo Burnett offered to buy it at any price. But alas, it wasn’t for sale. It was the picture Harry had given Irene as a wedding gift.

Even as a child, I remember thinking how much I wanted to own some of Harry’s work. That dream came true not long after I started working at Leo Burnett, Harry’s former employer. Over the years, I had fallen in love with his many styles and finally had the opportunity to purchase the first of the ten originals I now own. Although I was concerned it might offend his artistic sensibilities, I even took a chance and commissioned Harry to recreate the commuter picture I loved so much. To his credit, Harry used the opportunity to give the same subject matter a slightly different treatment. The result? Another gorgeous picture in my collection.

Click here to see the new version of "The Commuter"

Over the years, many friends and visitors to my home have commented on Harry’s work. A few reached out to Harry and purchased originals of their own. In 1997, Eddie From Ohio, a Virginia-based band, saw his picture “Flying Through The Universe In A Lime Green Hat” in my book and purchased the rights to use it on the cover of their next CD, Big Noise. In my ongoing efforts to promote Harry, the Eddie From Ohio deal gives me the most pride.

Click here to see "Flying Through The Universe in a Lime Green Hat"

The picture in my collection that gets the most attention is “Believe in What?”, a incredibly detailed pen-and-ink drawing Harry did of a concentration camp victim. Harry created the image using an architectural pen he modified to use at angles beyond the 90 degree angle it is usually limited to. After I purchased the picture, the first person to see it was the fine artist from Ross Wetzel Studios who helped Harry and me pick out a frame. I still remember how the woman looked at Harry in awe and said, “As an artist, I’m really embarrassed to ask, but how long did this take?” Harry responded, “So long, I almost went crazy.”

In late 2007, Harry acquired what may be his youngest fan, my little friend, Steele. Steele was about 3 ½ when he stood staring at “Believe in What?” without saying anything. After a few minutes, he began to ask questions about who the person was, why he hadn’t eaten, whether or not he was OK now, and why it happened in the first place. I don’t remember the exact conversation, but I remember being genuinely shocked at Steele’s level of interest and his ability to probe about what was really going on in the picture.

Have you ever tried explaining the Holocaust to a toddler? Trust me, it’s not an easy road to go down. Even though I chose my words carefully and made every effort to be vague, I couldn’t escape the feeling that Steele already had an understanding of the sadness, disappointment, and confusion experienced by both Harry and his subject. And, for what may have been the first time in my life, I found myself longing to talk about Thomas the Train rather than Harry Wilson.

Click here to see "Believe in What?"

I may be wrong about this, but I am proud to say I probably own more of Harry’s artwork than anyone outside his immediate family. I am honored to have in my home what rightfully belongs in a museum. Perhaps someday when the art world is smart enough to catch on, he will achieve lasting worldwide fame with the other artists he has long admired. Or maybe it’s up to me to start a museum of my own—The Harry Wilson Museum of Art: dedicated to recognizing and appreciating fine artists—while they are still alive! I really like the sound of that.

That’s a little history, but it doesn’t adequately convey who Harry is to me.

So how do I describe Harry? Well, that’s a bit of a challenge. I struggle to put my thoughts on paper because I’m not sure the English language has words or phrases that adequately capture our connection.

Is Harry Wilson a friend?
Absolutely. A dear friend. But there’s more to it than that. Most of my lifelong friendships have, as a basis, some shared experience like growing up together or working together at the same company. Harry and I grew up at different times. We worked at the same company, but years apart. Instead, our shared experience seems to exist in a parallel universe of sorts. We are decades apart in earth time, but the blink of an eye from the perspective of eternity. As one writer I know would put it, Harry and I are on the same road. He just caught an earlier bus.

The similarity in our journeys really struck me one day when Harry revealed a pen-and-ink drawing he had done of a little boy on a curving slide winding between the brownstone mansions on Lake Shore Drive. The picture, which was from a series he had done incorporating words and images, said simply:

“Riding past the rich people’s homes on Lake Shore Drive as an 8-year-old and dreaming.”

Like so many of his other pictures, this one spoke to me. But in a much more personal way. I was fortunate to grow up in Chicago on the 20th floor of 1000 N. Lake Shore Drive where I used to dream about putting a slide in from our apartment to Oak Street Beach. When I saw Harry’s picture with the caption, I was stunned. He and I had shared the exact same childhood fantasy—a few short decades apart. Naturally, I did the only thing I could think to do. I bought the picture.

Click here to see "Riding Past the Rich People's Homes..."

Is Harry Wilson a mentor?
Most definitely. But again, not in the traditional sense. What started out as a shared interest in the business of advertising evolved into an ongoing conversation about the business of life. Over the years, Harry has challenged me—in a helpful and much appreciated way—about the decisions I have made on my own entrepreneurial journey. At the same time, he remains one of my strongest supporters. Everyone should be fortunate enough to have a mentor, coach, and cheerleader like Harry.

Is Harry an honorary uncle?
As a description, “honorary uncle” works quite well. Harry really does feel like family to me. I especially love the concern in his voice when he inquires about my personal life. It’s so wonderful to have someone with Harry’s wisdom and experience to talk to about life and relationships. At the memorial for Roman Block, Harry asked a pointed question about what I was looking for in a woman and why, in 41 years, I hadn’t found her yet. I love that about him. It was a lot like when I was in my mid-30s and my dad casually mentioned he already had four kids by that age. The smart-ass in me wanted to say, “And how do you know I don’t?” Instead, it was one of those rare moments when I was actually able to live by a Buddhist principle I once heard in which, before you open your mouth, you are supposed to ask yourself, “Is what I am about to say an improvement over maintaining silence?” In that case, the answer was clear. So I mumbled something about how times have really changed. Then I changed the subject.

Is Harry Wilson a hero?
Harry is truly a hero. I have always admired Harry as an artist, an advertising professional, an honorary uncle, a person, a mentor, and a dear friend. I have also admired the way Harry constantly challenges himself and his beliefs. In this respect, his recent decision to audit a college philosophy course was just another step in his ongoing journey of self-discovery and introspection. This is a part of Harry I have always seen although, when we first met, I wouldn’t have been able to articulate it.

I especially admire Harry’s willingness to admit his short-comings as well as the personal and professional mistakes he has made along the way. I have no doubt that Harry, like most of us, would do a few things differently given the chance. At the same time, I also sense a certain comfort in who he has become, how he got here, and his continuing ability to forgive himself for the missteps on his path. No one said it better than Harry himself on another picture I am truly fortunate to own:

“For a planet bursting with miracles. For happiness and sadness. For what little I accomplished and even more that I did not. For warm hellos and reluctant goodbyes. So glad I came here. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

I can’t sum it up any better than that.

Click here to see "I wouldn't Have Missed It For Anything"

Harry is a fantastic and wonderful human being. I have been blest by his friendship. My home is blest by his work. And we are all better for knowing him.

That’s why I love, admire, and respect Harry Wilson. And I am honored to have spent such a large part of my own journey as his friend.

A Horrifying Example of Texting

2008-10-15T08:15:00.009-06:00

During a brief visit to San Antonio and Waco, Texas last week, I woke up early to prepare for the workshops I was leading. Although I rarely turn on the television, I decided to watch one of the early morning business shows to get some insight into the wildly fluctuating markets. To protect the guilty, I am not going to reveal the show or the anchors in question--not in this forum anyway.

Shortly after I tuned in, the anchors started to discuss a large bank deal that fell through when one bank rescued another and was subsequently outbid by a third. One of the anchors offhandedly asked a rhetorical question like, "How would you like to get THAT call in the middle of the night and find out the deal was off?" Without missing a beat, the female anchor said, "Oh, I wouldn't have called. I would have texted."

Horrifying. Absolutely horrifying.

This is EXACTLY the kind of behavior I was talking about in my last post. I wish I had a tape of the segment because it was so telling. It was such automatic response, there was no question she was completely serious. This is disturbing on a number of levels.
First, it's sad that people behave this way at all. Second, she obviously doesn't see anything inappropriate or she wouldn't have mentioned it to millions of viewers. Third, what a terrible behavior for a national, if not international, celebrity to validate.

Communicating that a deal has fallen through is a prime example of a conversation that absolutely should be handled in person. If it can't be handled in person, for whatever reason, a real-time alternative like telephone or videoconference may be acceptable. But voicemail, email, and text are NOT acceptable. The only acceptable use of text in a scenario like this would be an urgent message like:

"There have been some unexpected developments we need to talk about at your earliest convenience. This is urgent. Please call."

Even then, a phone call or voicemail communicating the same message would be preferable. A text saying, "The deal is off" is DEFINITELY NOT appropriate.

Think about this next time you consider taking the easy way out.

The Hazards of Text Messaging

2008-09-29T14:03:00.004-06:00

According to a Nielsen Mobile survey released last week, Americans now text more than they talk. The numbers are fascinating because it is the first time in history this has happened--and it wasn't even close. In the second quarter, mobile customers sent and received an average of 357 texts per month compared to an average of 204 calls for the same period.

Why is this important?

Because text messaging has turned into a convenient way for many people to avoid otherwise difficult or potentially unpleasant conversations.

Text messaging is wonderful for confirming plans, getting directions, and witty exchanges. The convenience and fun make it easy to see how people get hooked. But there is definitely a limit.

While it would be unrealistic and inappropriate to expect everyone to operate with the same principles I strive to live by, there are certain standards of behavior it would be wonderful to see more people adopt. For example, I will not use text messages (or emails) for any conversation that could be emotionally charged for either party.

I have quite a few friends who routinely use texting as a way to cancel dates or other engagements. This is not an acceptable use of texting because it shows no concern whatsoever for the feelings of the other person. Using text messaging in this way actually communicates a second, and far more damaging message, than simply canceling a date:

"I've decided I don't want to see you, but I lack the courage to say it over the phone where I might have to explain myself or hear your disappointment. So, I'm going to take the easy way out and send you a text message. This way I can put it out of my mind and not have to deal with it."

This is LAME.

Having been on the receiving end, I can tell you firsthand this approach is FAR worse than if the person handled it the thoughtful way and made a phone call. When it happened, I was sad and disappointed. But I got over it. Looking back, it was also a gift. Why? Because this behavior says a lot about the person's integrity and communication skills--or lack thereof. This is not the kind of person I want to be involved with romantically or otherwise.

The more technologies like text messaging give us opportunities to hide from difficult conversations, the more we have to consciously avoid the easy out. Our reputations depend on it.

Cover Letters and Info Interviewing

2008-09-25T10:20:00.009-06:00

A client asked me recently about the difference between a cover letter requesting an informational interview and a cover letter written in hopes of securing a formal job interview.

To appreciate the differences, it is important to look first at the similarities.

In each case, the goal is to encourage the recipient to agree to an extended conversation--preferably face-to-face. For simplicity, we'll refer to the recipient as the interviewer.

In order for the interviewer to agree to the conversation, the person must be convinced there isn't a risk. The risk for each interviewer is similar because neither wants to waste time on someone who isn't worth the attention. However, the risk for the formal interviewer is greater because if this person hires you and you aren't the right fit, the cost will be at least several times your annual salary.

So what does this have to do with your cover letter? Everything.

When you write a cover letter to secure an informational interview, you have to make it clear why THE INDUSTRY is the Next Logical Step in your professional development. After all, if the interviewer is going to spend time sharing ideas and advice, he or she will want to know the steps you have taken to demonstrate interest in the field. (Think Passion, Initiative, and Resourcefulness). Knowing as much as you can about the interviewer's company will be helpful as well. Skip this step and it will be clear you didn't do your homework. Worse, the interviewer is likely to walk away feeling like you wasted his or her time.

A cover letter written to secure a formal interview is slightly different because it must be convincing about why a place IN THE COMPANY is the Next Logical Step for you. In this case, you'll need Passion, Initiative, and Resourcefulness, along with a heavy dose of solid research and knowledge about the company, the position, and how your skills match their needs.

I've arrived...

2008-09-09T20:17:00.003-06:00

This is a departure from the usual posts, but I just had to share some interesting PR I received today. Believe it or not, I was quoted in an article about the New England Patriots and the challenge facing Matt Cassel, the quarterback replacing the injured Tom Brady.

http://mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/sports/how-replace-tom-brady

Strange as it might seem, this same publication quoted me in an article about Hillary Clinton in March.

http://mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/desperate-times-call-hilarious-measures

I have to admit, it is truly an honor. I never thought anyone would ask about Tom Brady's replacement or Hillary's attempts at humor.

The Great Time Wasters

2008-09-05T11:15:00.023-06:00

For as much as I procrastinate (and I do--just look how long it took between blog posts this time), I tend to be a very productive person. People often tell me they are amazed at how much I do, how many activities I am involved in, and how much I get done. From my perspective, it doesn't seem like that at all because I am painfully aware how much time I waste. But the question isn't: How do I do so much? The real question is: Why is everyone else so much less active?

The reasons probably won't come as a surprise: Television and the Internet.

Think about it. The same people who claim they don't have time for volunteer activities, sports, or any number of other outside interests, have no trouble at all telling you what happened on the last three episodes of The Bachelor (or whatever show happens to be most popular at the moment).

The fact that people waste time watching television and surfing the Internet isn't as shocking as the statistics that back it up.

According to A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American spends more than four hours per day watching television. That seems like a lot--and it is--but the numbers really get staggering when you project them on a weekly, monthly, yearly, and lifetime basis.

Per Week: 1.2 days
Per Month: 5.1 days
Per Year: 2 months
Per Lifetime: 12 years (based on the person living to age 72)

But what about the Internet?

According to Cox Communications, children between 8 -12 years of age spend an average of 2 hours per day surfing the Internet. This figure matches similar research done a few years back by Salary.com in which employees reported spending an average of 2 hours per day surfing the Internet at work. That is the equivalent of 2-1/2 days per month or 1 month per year of continuous surfing.

What a colossal waste of time!

I personally can't imagine spending 12 YEARS of my life mesmerized by the television or 6 YEARS surfing the web, but that is exactly what the average person does.

I haven't seen research that specifically says the figures for television viewing and web surfing are cumulative, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were. In other words, a significant percentage of the population is probably spending 4 hours per day watching television and ANOTHER 2 hours per day surfing the Internet.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about this because it's a horrifying thought.

Viewing statistics like this, I am reminded how grateful I am to my parents for taking our television away when I was 10 years old. You read that correctly. For most of my formative years, we did not have a television in the house. At the time, I wasn't happy about it at all, but in hindsight it was the single best gift my parents ever gave my five siblings and me. So what did I do instead? I read books. I joined a hockey team. I played baseball and football with friends. In other words, I got involved with what life has to offer.

Continuing the tradition, television does not play a major role in my life. When people come to visit, we don't plop down in front of the television. We talk and enjoy the time we have together. That's why family parties at my house are always a lot more fun than they are than when we get together somewhere else. While other families are watching sitcoms, we are making memories.

I challenge you to do the same. If not for yourself, for your children.

I leave you with the two most important questions:

What would you do with an extra 6-18 years of productivity?
What are you waiting for?

Procrastination

2008-08-08T10:01:00.005-06:00

I am currently putting the finishing touches on a new EBook, 9 Ways Procrastination May Keep You From Getting The Job of Your Dreams (working title). I decided to write the EBook because I see too many people who procrastinate endlessly when it comes to preparation (crafting their story) and the job search process itself (telling their story).

There are a variety of ways people sabotage themselves, but few are more destructive, or have a more profound impact, than procrastination. Whether you have elevated procrastination to an art form or selectively deal with the issue, it is an important habit to break because it can lead to stress, illness, and low self-esteem.

How bad is it really? A quick quiz
Many people take being a procrastinator as a black or white proposition. They either see themselves as one or they don’t. The truth is, there are different degrees of procrastination. Almost everyone procrastinates to some degree in some area of life. That’s called being human. Procrastination becomes a problem, however, when it is so pervasive it impacts our behavior in ways beyond our conscious awareness.

To learn more about your procrastination habits, answer the following questions quickly and honestly:

Are you overwhelmed at the prospect of searching for a new job?
Do you spend hours searching through online job postings and walk away with the nagging feeling you haven’t actually accomplished anything?
Have you been sidetracked more times than you can count by other projects and interruptions?
Have you found yourself so busy with projects unrelated to the job search that you wonder how anything ever got done when you worked full-time?
Do you find yourself taking on additional responsibilities to help your spouse or partner around the house that take time away from the job search?
Have you put off contacting former co-workers who might be able to help if they knew you were in the market?
Have you put off updating your résumé because you know you need to make it more compelling, but don’t have a clue how to do it?
Are you spending most of your time looking for “safe” options rather than jobs that might be a reach, but would be far more energizing?
Do you often catch yourself worrying you will end up in a new job facing all the same issues you dealt with in the old job?

The scoring for this quiz is straightforward.

If you answered “Yes” to even one question, you need to think seriously about the reasons behind your procrastination. Is this something you can solve on your own through awareness and discipline? Or is it an issue that requires the assistance of a coach?

If you answered “Yes” to more than 3 questions, you need to get a copy of this EBook. Send an email to me (rob@careercraftsman.com) with the subject "Procrastination" and you will be among the first to know when the EBook is available.

Getting Help In Telling Your Story

2008-07-21T20:43:00.003-06:00

Among the most common questions I get come from people who are considering hiring a career coach. Whether your goal is a promotion, a new position, or a complete career change, hiring a career coach can be a great investment because of the impact it can have on the way you tell your story.

To help with this decision, I have posted an online guide called 11 Questions To Consider Before Hiring A Career Coach.

Before you check out the article, let's see if you even need a career coach. To begin, ask yourself the following questions:

Have you ever thought to yourself?:
"I know I'd be great at that job if only someone would give me a chance" or "I would love that job, but I could never make any money doing that."
Do you struggle with the concept of networking and/or feel that you have fewer valuable contacts than others?
Do you ever find yourself apologizing for your age, level of experience, or education?
Have you sent out résumés for jobs you know you'd be perfect for and have not received a response?
Do you have trouble getting interviews or turning interviews into job offers?
Are interviews uncomfortable because you find it difficult to talk about yourself without feeling like you're bragging?
Given the economy, do you worry that you may have to settle for a job or salary below what you know you deserve?
Do you worry that your unemployment compensation and/or severance will run out before you find another job?
Have you been out of work longer than you ever expected?
Do you feel stuck in your current job or no longer find it satisfying?
Do you feel your job, and the jobs of your co-workers, are in jeopardy?

If you answered "Yes" to even one question above, working with a career coach could help you streamline your efforts.

If you answered "Yes" to more than 3 questions, the right career coach could help you shave weeks or months off your search. When you think about what you expect to earn in a typical week, the opportunity cost of NOT working with a coach is probably a lot higher than the investment you'd make with even the most expensive coach.

The Concert Violinist

2008-07-07T09:35:00.005-06:00

In this series of posts, I am sharing a variety of real-life examples of people who have changed the way they are perceived--and in some cases, the way they perceive themselves--simply by reframing the way they tell their story.

Installment 5
The installments would not be complete without one of my favorite examples of personal repositioning. Around the time I was writing Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don't Have A Leg To Stand On, I received a call from a former colleague to see if I would be willing to help a young woman who interviewed unsuccessfully at Chicago ad agency, Leo Burnett.

As it happened, the young woman was a concert violinist who had played with Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and The Moody Blues. Her resume was impressive, but it didn't make sense from an advertising perspective. People were impressed, but probably found themselves thinking: "This is great, but we don't have an orchestra."

After spending three or four hours with her, I was clear that she was passionate about advertising. What I didn't fully understand was how the interest developed. Being able to trace her passion was a critical piece of the puzzle because without it, we wouldn't be able to make the case that advertising was the Next Logical Step in her professional development.

Thanks her willingness to do a complete a thorough personal inventory, we uncovered the missing links. In addition to her work as a violinist, this young woman had been managing a virtual string ensemble. It all started when people asked for her advice about hiring classical musicians for weddings and events. Since she knew the music and had an extensive address book of contacts, she started a business. By working with the clients to determine what they wanted and leveraging her knowledge and contacts to provide what they needed, she was effectively functioning as an account management person.

By describing her role managing and promoting the string ensemble, and quantifying a variety of other strategic thinking and problem-solving achievements, we repositioned her as a born marketer who happened to be a concert violinist. This was quite a bit different than her first effort when she came across as a concert violinist who suddenly wanted to work in advertising. With this new positioning, she reapplied to Leo Burnett and earned a coveted position at the company—despite the fact that she had never taken a single marketing or advertising course.

A Most Unusual Combination

2008-06-27T12:20:00.007-06:00

Roy, a participant in one of my workshops, spent 23 years handling IT security administration on a mainframe system supporting 35,000 users before the company eliminated his position. Not at all optimistic about his prospects, Roy said:

"No one is going to hire me. They aren't using mainframes anymore. I'm a dinosaur. I'm 58 years old and I'll never get another job doing this."

From a technological perspective, mainframes may be dinosaurs, but that doesn’t automatically make his experience an albatross.

Accurate or not, Roy’s perception was destructive because it allowed him to take his many accomplishments for granted. This, in turn, did nothing to help his self-confidence. In this situation, any setback, no matter how minor, could easily have pushed Roy that much closer toward the downward spiral of depression. Clearly this was a wonderful opportunity for reframing.

Reframing and the Self-Assessment

For reframing to be successful, you have to find and introduce new facts to the equation. This usually means starting at the beginning with a thorough self-assessment.

Digging deeper into Roy’s background, we uncovered an interesting fact that not only separated him from most IT security professionals, but also opened a new universe of possibilities. Before Roy started working his way up from claims analyst to IT security specialist, he was busy nurturing his interest in law enforcement. Still more surprising was the fact that Roy was now in his 25^th year as a reserve officer.

At that moment, I turned to the other people in the workshop and asked, "Can any of you think of an organization or company that might be interested in someone with 23 years of mainframe computer security experience combined with 25 years of law enforcement?"

Immediately, people chimed in with suggestions like, Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, etc.

Then I asked, "How likely is it these organizations would advertise for this unique combination of skills?" In other words, what are the chances of encountering this type of position on Monster.com?

Highly unlikely.

Why? Because employers would probably never imagine a person like Roy even existed. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't hire him on the spot if he contacted them first. Better still, from a supply/demand standpoint, Roy would be in a strong position to negotiate because the more unusual or specialized the skill, the higher the market value.

The morale of the story is this: If you have a unique combination of skills, challenge yourself to make a list of companies and organizations that might value it. It could be your ticket to a lucrative, fulfilling career.

Microbiologist

2008-06-13T09:00:00.008-06:00

In this series of posts, I am sharing a variety of real-life examples of people who have changed the way they are perceived--and in some cases, the way they perceive themselves--simply by reframing the way they tell their story.

Installment 3:
This is one of my favorite examples because it shows how the use of tables, combined with a deeper understanding of the distinction between attributes and benefits, helped transform a microbiologist’s mind-numbing 14-page résumé into a powerful selling tool.

Knowing this person came to me in good faith hoping I could help, I did something no sane person would ever do--I read every word of the original résumé. Sadly, the name was about the only thing I could pronounce. Determined to make sense of the résumé, I continued reading and found myself wading through line upon line of Bacillus megaterium amylase, Aspergillus niger neutral amylase, Streptomyces phospholipase A_2, and of course, everybody’s favorite Native and cloned full-length (and truncated) Bacillus naganoensis pullulanase. When I finally got to the last page, I put the résumé down and ran for the nearest picture book. My brain hurt.

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person, but I felt like I knew a lot less when I finished reading the résumé. I had absolutely no idea what this guy did for a living. For a brief moment, I seriously questioned my ability to help him. Not ready to give up so easily, I did what any thinking coach would do—I prayed for guidance. That’s when I heard myself ask the question:

“What happened at your company that would never have happened if you hadn’t been there?”

Over the course of the next two hours, I heard story after story about the enzymes he created or modified which the company, in turn, mass produced for sale. Some of these enzymes, which required relatively little investment beyond his intellectual capital, were worth millions to the company.

Take a look at the table below and I think you’ll agree that his accomplishments are impressive. Better still, they are understandable in the sense that you don’t need a Ph.D. in microbiology to appreciate what he is capable of achieving.

New Product Development Results

Product	Development Cost	Annual Sales
Pullulanase	$400,000	$4,000,000
Low pH alpha-Amylase	$120,000	$5,000,000
Maltogenic amylase	$60,000	$2,000,000
Baking Amylase	$40,000	$6,000,000**
Total Annual Sales		$17,000,000

These products perform as well as, or better than, competitors’ products. *Projected as10% initial market share when patents expire.

In addition to the table, we organized the rest of his experience under the headings most relevant to what someone might hire him to do: Strategic Results, Product Support Results, Wet Milling Results, Molecular Biology Results, Protein Purification Results, and Patents & Publications.

For each category, he clearly showed the impact his efforts had on the business. Once we had the résumé trimmed down to a respectable and not-at-all overwhelming four pages, I emailed the file to a Sales Manager at a major pharmaceutical company who agreed to pass it along to the appropriate department. Her reply a few hours later read simply:

“He looks GREAT! Where did you find him?”

Had she seen the original résumé, her eight word reply would probably have been something closer to:

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

Teacher Turned Web Programmer

2008-06-11T11:28:00.007-06:00

In this series of posts, I am sharing a variety of real-life examples of people who have changed the way they are perceived--and in some cases, the way they perceive themselves--simply by reframing the way they tell their story.

Installment 2:
Tom spent the majority of his career working as a teacher and trainer before he went back to school to become a web programmer. In his early fifties, Tom was what some might call “realistically pessimistic” about his chance of success:

“I absolutely love programming, but I have to be honest—there are kids in junior high who are naturally more gifted at this than I am. I really don’t see how I will ever find a company that will pay me what I need to survive. I’m starting to wonder why I ever spent any money going back to school for this in the first place.”

In this case, Tom’s overly negative view of the situation is the direct result of a disease I like to call “compartmentalitis.”

Compartmentalitis - The strong and irresistible urge to view skills and experiences in isolation most often characterized by the automatic, almost reflexive, dismissal of all but the most obvious and directly applicable to the job at hand.

What this means, in plain English, is that to market yourself effectively and compete successfully in the job market, you have to be creative about how you view your experiences. You do yourself a tremendous disservice if you view your skills and experiences in isolated, air-tight compartments.

Based on Tom’s assessment it is clear that he sees himself as either a teacher/trainer OR a web programmer. This flawed perception could lead to more than a few missed opportunities because it ignores the possibility that a company might hire Tom simply because he is qualified to do BOTH.

There are millions of teachers/trainers and web programmers in the world, but there are relatively few people who have done both. The important question then becomes, “What company or industry would most value this combination of skills?” Naturally, this opened a new set of possibilities and prompted Tom to change the focus of his job search. He immediately began targeting companies dedicated to e-learning and online education.

Even though other web developers might be more accomplished from a technical standpoint, Tom can potentially add more value given his understanding of the fundamentals of teaching and learning. By highlighting the value of his skills in combination, Tom has the opportunity to effectively change the job requirements in the mind of a hiring manager. Furthermore, if Tom can convince a company that it makes more sense to hire a web developer who is also an accomplished teacher, he will have succeeded in narrowing his potential competition.

Think about it. With so few candidates likely to match the description, a company would probably never spend money advertising for such a unique combination of skills. But it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be happy to find it. For example, there are probably e-learning companies that have no idea people like Tom even exist. That is what makes combining skills so valuable.

Story Sparking: The Spin Factor

2008-06-05T21:55:00.010-06:00

Over the next few posts, I will share a variety of real-life examples of people who have changed the way they are perceived--and in some cases, the way they perceive themselves--simply by reframing the way they tell their story.

Installment 1:
In almost every workshop I teach, someone has a truly interesting experience they are hesitant to mention for fear it will somehow be misinterpreted. As the following case illustrates, the secret is in how you spin it.

Jason started as a programmer at a large technology company that had just put $2 million down on a new, highly rated $4 million software program. After implementing the software, Jason’s company realized it wasn’t living up to expectations. Unfortunately, they had no way to get out of the contract. Quite coincidentally, Jason was working on a project and took the initiative to test the security features of the new software. That’s when Jason discovered a major security glitch with the software that would have allowed competitors to access confidential customer records online.

By discovering and reporting the security issue, Jason gave his company a way to get out of the contract with the software vendor. This saved his company several million dollars. At least as important, from Jason's point-of-view, was the fact that the company gave him the honor of developing a more effective program to do what the $4 million program failed to do. To Jason's credit, he accomplished this task at a cost of only $30,000.

Jason was justifiably proud of these accomplishments, but he had no plans to mention the experience on his résumé or in an interview because he was concerned that people would view him as a hacker rather than a programmer. That may be a legitimate concern, but it doesn’t have to be if he spins it correctly.

For obvious security reasons, employers may be reluctant to hire a programmer who is an accomplished hacker. However, the same facts can be used to present an entirely different picture that is actually closer to the truth. If Jason describes his discovery of the security glitch as “hacking,” that’s how it will probably be interpreted. Instead, Jason would be better off describing his ability differently. For example, he could say:

“As a programmer, I have always been passionate about security and finding ways to protect company information.”

From there, he can go on to describe his ability to identify and correct security issues from a problem-solving standpoint. This way, Jason can show how his passion and interest in security makes him a better, more effective programmer. In this case, Jason is not just selling his programming expertise—an ATTRIBUTE—but the peace of mind his employer will have knowing that Jason is writing programs with an eye toward company security—the BENEFIT.

Shyness

2008-05-19T12:03:00.004-06:00

What is the best way to overcome shyness?

This question was posed during a session I did to help a class of soon-to-be massage therapy graduates build their business.

As I thought about the question, I realized that it isn't so much about storytelling as it is about focus. I could easily make a case for shyness being related to the stories we tell ourselves as we catastrophize about the potentially embarrassing or humiliating outcomes that sometimes keep us from initiating conversations with strangers. For many of us, there is truth in that possibility. However, the bigger issue is focus.

When you are feeling the most shy, where is your focus?

If you are completely honest, you know your focus is almost exclusively on you. That is important to know because your brain can't focus on two things at the same time. It has to pick one. Given this, one of the best strategies to overcome shyness would be to put the focus outside yourself. Become an observer. Notice the people around you. What kind of day are they having? Are they relaxed? Happy? Pensive? Frustrated? Peaceful? What is their body language communicating? Do they look closed? Open? Approachable?

The more you open yourself to the feelings and experiences of others, the more likely people will find you approachable as well.

Whenever your thoughts wander back to you--as they always do--think about the knowledge, experience, wisdom, and expertise you have to share. Imagine how much richer the other person's life could be for knowing you.

Use this approach next time you are feeling shy. Shift your focus and start observing the people and world around you. If nothing else, it will create a much more solid, confident foundation for the conversations you will be ready to initiate. Like anything worthwhile, this may take some practice. As a wise person once said, "Don't confuse simple with easy." Give yourself permission to make mistakes.

Our Stories and Our Health: A powerful personal experience

2008-05-09T11:57:00.011-06:00

I am taking a different direction with this post to look at the impact our stories can have from a much more personal perspective. This is a post I've been thinking about for weeks but haven't been able to get myself to write because it is such a departure from what I usually cover. Hence, the long delay since my last entry.

Considering that this blog is dedicated to our stories and how we tell them, it should be clear by now that I am a firm believer in the power of stories to impact the thinking and perceptions of others. I have also explored the importance of the stories we tell ourselves because there is no question in my mind that the way we think influences our beliefs, attitudes, and level of confidence. What isn’t always top-of-mind is the way the stories we tell ourselves play a role in our health. A month or so ago, I received a powerful reminder of this. To appreciate the impact this lesson had, it’s important to provide some background information.

The point of the following story is not who was right or wrong. After all, that is a matter of perspective and not particularly relevant. Truth be told, everyone involved could probably have handled the situation better. In this case, what is most important is how I changed my interpretation of the situation and the immediate impact that had on my health.

Background

Over the past six months, I had begun to develop a close friendship with Mark (not his real name) based on our shared passion for music. The last time we were out, he mentioned Heidi (not her real name), a woman we both knew, and asked if she and I were dating. I could tell Mark was interested in Heidi so I assured him that Heidi and I were not dating. Although Heidi and I had dated briefly at the end of last year, I had the impression he knew we had dated and just wanted to make sure we weren’t still dating. The question I answered, and the one I thought he asking was “ARE you dating?” not “Did you ever date?”

Sadly, this turned into a misunderstanding of bizarre proportions. Since Heidi and I were still friends, and I knew she was spending time with Mark, I called a few weeks later to ask her when Mark’s birthday was. I knew it was in April, but I didn’t know the exact date.

Offhandedly, I mentioned I hadn’t heard from Mark but wanted to be sure I didn’t forget his birthday. After an uncomfortable pause, Heidi said, “And you won’t be hearing from him either.”

Shocked, I asked why. Heidi proceeded to tell me Mark was “very hurt” I lied to him about my relationship with her. As you can probably tell from my narrative, I had no intention of lying to Mark or misleading him in any way. I honestly thought his concern was that he didn’t want to pursue Heidi if she and I were still dating. Attempting to be a supportive friend, I simply encouraged Mark to pursue Heidi if he was interested.

As it turns out, that wasn’t the case at all.

According to Heidi, Mark asked me about my relationship with Heidi because he has a “rule” that he won’t date anyone his friends have dated. Had I had any indication that was the case, I would certainly have been more specific about the relationship. However, it didn’t seem particularly important in light of the fact that Heidi and I only dated for a few weeks. Besides, that wasn’t the question he asked. In an effort to clear the air with Mark, I called, left a message, apologized for the miscommunication, and asked him to get in touch so we could talk. I never heard from him.

This whole scenario stirred up some seriously conflicting emotions that left me feeling hurt and angry. Just a few of the thoughts and questions that replayed themselves over and over in my mind included:

What possible reason would I have to lie about whether I had dated someone? (I still can’t think of a single benefit I would get from deliberately misleading someone about that.)
What kind of person would not respond to a sincere effort to clear up an obvious miscommunication?

With each passing day I didn’t hear from Mark, I became progressively more hurt and disappointed. Although I started out feeling badly I had somehow hurt Mark and Heidi, the hurt was replaced with frustration when it became clear I wouldn’t be hearing from either of them.

Not coincidentally, I became physically sick around the same time. It all started with a sore throat and congestion. I wasn’t at all surprised by this because of the well-established connection between our minds and bodies. More specifically, I remember reading that sore throats and congestion are often—but not always—a physical manifestation of something we aren’t saying, but should be saying. To put it another way, the words and feelings literally become trapped inside us and show up physically as congestion.

Unfortunately, knowing the cause didn’t help because the conversation I most needed wasn’t going to happen for reasons outside of my control. An email or letter expressing my feelings wouldn’t have helped either because it violated two principles I live by:

Avoid at all costs the temptation to communicate anything potentially negative in an email, letter, or any form in which the important, nonverbal aspects of communication are lost.

Before speaking (or writing), ask yourself the question: “Is what I am about to say an improvement over maintaining silence?” If the answer is no, keep your mouth shut. (I was so upset at this point, I didn’t trust myself to keep the anger from spilling over in a one-sided communication like an email or voicemail.)

So, what happened?

I couldn’t stop thinking about the situation and literally worked myself up to the point where I was immobile on the sofa with a rising fever. Since my dad is a physician, I called to see if he had any suggestions. When I described the swollen glands, sore throat, congestion, and fever, he told me I probably had the same flu many of his patients had. He was equally certain I would be sick for at least another week given the progression of my symptoms.

A few hours later, I managed to drag myself off the couch and headed upstairs to bed. Before going to sleep, I took a deep breath and prayed I could find another way to view the situation so I could let go of the anger and disappointment I felt toward Mark. In that moment, I instantly had a vision of Mark superimposed on the body of my 3 ½ year old friend, Steele.

At first, I was confused. I couldn’t imagine what the vision was supposed to mean. Why was I being shown an image of a guy who is north of 300 pounds superimposed on a 3 ½ year old boy? When I silently asked for clarification, the message was clear.

Mark’s emotional development is at the level of a young child. That’s not right or wrong. It’s just the way it is. Given that, it isn’t appropriate or fair to be mad at him for something he can’t necessarily control. Be more compassionate.

In other words, if Steele and I had a miscommunication, it wouldn’t be fair for me to get upset with him for not dealing with the situation emotionally as an adult. Just because Mark happens to be several decades older and 300 pounds heavier than Steele doesn’t automatically impart an adult level of emotional intelligence or development.

Recognizing the wisdom in this, I felt my body let go of all of the anger, frustration, sadness, and disappointment.

I immediately fell into a sound sleep. Twice over the next two hours, I awoke drenched from sweat as my body fully released all of the negative emotion I had stored over the week. The following morning I felt fine with almost no trace of illness.

Although Mark and I have not spoken, my negative feelings toward him have been replaced with compassion. I literally told myself a different story and radically changed the impact the situation was having on my body.

Without trying to overstate the case, this was a life-altering event. I will never forget how, by changing the story I was telling myself, I shifted my emotions from anger to compassion and moved from sickness to health in an instant. That is truly the power of a good story.

Should you even have a resume?

2008-04-14T11:32:00.002-06:00

After a workshop I did last week for Northwestern University's engineering grad students, Stanley, one of the participants, sent me a link to an entry on Seth Godin's blog entitled, Why Bother Having a Resume?

This is definitely a thought-provoking article because it speaks to exactly the issue I have with resumes--99% of the time, they don't say anything.

In my mind, the question is not so much, "How can I present myself if I'm not using a resume?" but, "When will companies catch up and realize there are better ways to assess potential?"

What are those better ways? It truly depends on who you are, what you've accomplished, and what is most compelling as it relates to the needs and goals of a particular employer. In other words, you really have to think about it. Don't just put yourself on autopilot and blindly send resumes that look exactly like every other resume. It doesn't work. Finding the right job is NOT a numbers game.

Even though resumes aren't going to go away anytime soon, act as if they were. Challenge yourself. Be strategic. Present your credentials in a more convincing, memorable way.

Is this worth the effort?

Absolutely.

Godin summed it up best when he said:

"Great jobs, world class jobs, jobs people kill for... those jobs don't get filled by people emailing in resumes. Ever."

Networking challenge

2008-04-07T19:22:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, I was leading a workshop on networking when one of the participants said the following:

"I know I should be networking everyday, but it seems like the only time I ever get around to it is when I am getting ready to look for a new job. What can I do to make this easier so it doesn't feel like such a chore?"

This is a great question because it sums up how many people feel about networking. Judging from the way he prefaced the question, it is also clear he doesn't see networking as enjoyable or particularly rewarding.

Once a task becomes something you feel like you should do, any sense of fun and adventure is suddenly sucked out of it. From that moment forward, it feels like work. To complicate matters, procrastination often sets in because networking, the way many people do it, doesn't have any measurable goals or deadlines associated with it.

The fact is, networking doesn't have to be time consuming. Contrary to popular opinion, you don't have to be collecting business cards or dining with new acquaintances at every turn. It's a lot easier than that.

I will even take this a step further and admit that I'm not a big believer in face-to-face networking events anyway.

Think about it. Who goes to networking events?

People who don't consider themselves particularly well-connected, that's who. How helpful is that?

By saying this, I am no doubt opening myself to an onslaught of criticism, so let me acknowledge that there are some helpful networking groups. And, of course, there are some terrific networking sites (LinkedIn.com, Facebook, etc.). Every rule has exceptions.

If you are not the kind of person who enjoys working a room and you don't have time to have lunch with a new person everyday (as some networking gurus recommend), make it easier on yourself. Instead, find a way to help at least one person every day. Think about the people in your network whenever you hear of an opportunity or read an interesting article. Before you delete the email or click the next story, challenge yourself to come up with at least one person who might be interested.

What I like best about this method is that it is completely sincere because it has nothing to do with you or your agenda. It's all about finding ways to help other people.

Think about other people at the right time for the right reason and chances are excellent they will do the same for you.

The Interview

2008-03-17T17:20:00.001-06:00

Maximizing Employee Performance

2008-03-17T06:50:00.009-06:00

Over the years, I have asked countless workshop participants, “How many of you have an ability you would enjoy contributing to this organization but haven’t found a way to do so?”

If managers are not present when this question is asked, up to 75% of the employees will raise their hands. Given the wide range of industries surveyed, there is reason to believe that companies everywhere are missing opportunities to have happier, more productive employees who are engaged in projects they enjoy. As it stands, this opportunity is usually missed for two main reasons:

The company is not aware of the ability because it was developed at a different job or outside experience and the employee has not made it known.

In this case, helping employees develop an inventory of experiences will give employees and companies alike a more complete picture of the possibilities. As part of an ongoing employee development effort, this is also a great first step in opening the lines of communication.

The employee has a manager whose attitude is: "That is not your job."
This is truly unfortunate because this approach effectively crushes initiative--one of the three most important traits a company can find in an employee.

In theory, it sounds quite straightforward to have employees engaged in jobs at which they excel. In reality, this does not always happen.

There are two ways to view this issue. First, from the more positive and proactive standpoint, we will explore the opportunities companies have to help employees create an inventory of experiences and accomplishments. This way, we can create a more complete picture of each person’s skills, experiences, and preferences. With this knowledge, companies will have a better idea what people are best matched with particular projects.

The second way to impact employee development and productivity is to minimize or eliminate whatever makes a job draining or dissatisfying. While this will not be a focus of this particular post, it is important to acknowledge this aspect of the issue. More specifically, if you ignore the management, compensation, and team-related issues and look strictly at the job itself, there are at least three common causes for job dissatisfaction.

The person has been pigeon-holed into a particular position without regard to his or her preferences. It often happens that people excel in positions they do not find particularly energizing or interesting. When this happens, the company is often so thrilled with the person’s performance—especially if the predecessor was not effective—that they ignore promises, delay promotions, and leave the person in the position indefinitely. This short-sighted approach to what is best for the company usually has a significant, negative impact on morale and a long-term negative impact on the company as a whole.

The person has been promoted to a position where they are no longer directly involved in the projects and experiences that made the job interesting and challenging in the first place. For a variety of reasons, not everyone is looking for a promotion. Some people enjoy rolling up their sleeves and handling the execution. Some people simply do not enjoy management or other higher levels of responsibility. Whatever the case, if the lines of communication are not open, the result is the same. Companies think they are doing people a favor by promoting them, but not all employees embrace the possibility.

The job was not a good fit in the first place.
Mistakes happen. When it is clear that a mistake has been made and a person has been put in the wrong position, the situation should be dealt with promptly and fairly. This is in everyone’s best interest.

A Few Thoughts On Résumés

2008-02-10T13:13:00.000-06:00

I frequently receive calls from people who either want help writing their résumé or simply want someone to do it for them. Most people seem somewhat surprised when I share my belief that having someone else write their résumé is a waste of time and money.

Why? Two reasons.

First, informal research as well as my experience as a career coach and former recruiter tells me that most résumés--well over 95%--are completely ineffective. If the thousands of résumé writing services in the world were doing a good job, that wouldn't be the case. Second, the only person who truly knows the details of the experiences and accomplishments is you.

Until we can download our entire life experience from our brain to someone else's (isn't that a scary thought), you simply can't throw money at the problem and expect to get a good result. A far better approach is to work with a coach who can ask the right questions and help you quantify your experience in a meaningful, compelling way. It has to be a TEAM EFFORT. More importantly, you, the person working on the résumé, has to be willing to commit to a thorough self-assessment. Sadly, most people aren't willing to spend the time and effort.

It has always amazed me that people will spend hundreds of dollars and weeks of their lives taking Kaplan tests in an effort to get a higher score on the SAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT, GMAT, MCAT, and countless other tests, but they balk at the idea of spending a single afternoon reflecting on their experiences and quantifying their accomplishments. This is exactly backwards.

When A Résumé Isn't The Best Tool

It also fascinates me that people expect résumés to perform miracles. The fact is, there is a limit to what a résumé can do. For example, I have worked with countless clients who spent a decade or two in one position before they decided to pursue a completely different job in a completely different industry. More often than not, our first conversation started like this:

"Rob, I got your name from ______ who suggested I give you a call. I really need help with my résumé..."

To understand why this reasoning doesn't make any sense, think about what a résumé is. People familiar with my work have no doubt heard me say this before, but it bears repeating. The way dictionaries define résumé is incorrect. According to dictionary.com, the word résumé is defined as follows:

1. a summing up; summary.
2. a brief written account of personal, educational, and professional qualifications and experience, as that prepared by an applicant for a job.

That is NOT what a résumé is. Instead, I propose an alternate definition:

The accomplishments of your life, outlined briefly on a few pages, as they relate to what you want to do (i.e., the next logical step in your professional development).

No matter which definition you use, a résumé is of little use to someone who wants to change careers for one simple reason:

The résumé can't tell the story.

For example, when I changed careers from advertising to options trading, not a single accomplishment or experience I had at Leo Burnett, no matter how impressive, supported my decision to change careers. In other words, the story of why option trading made sense did not come across in a résumé. It did, however, come across quite well in a cover letter where I could easily communicate the three key qualities: Passion, Initiative, and Resourcefulness. Like many career changers, the evidence I could offer that what I wanted to do made sense and, more importantly, didn't represent a risk from the employer's point-of-view, was found in what I learned from mentors and experienced on my own initiative. The evidence didn't come from my past employment or even my educational background.

Think about this next time you want to change careers. Ask yourself what evidence most strongly supports your desired outcome. Chances are, it won't be on the résumé.

Taking Ourselves For Granted

2008-02-06T10:23:00.001-06:00

Not long ago, I was invited to be the keynote speaker at an award ceremony honoring the Temporary Staffing Employee of the Year. The recipients were nominated by the staffing firms.

In an effort to personalize the keynote, I requested a copy of the nomination forms so I could read what other people had to say about these remarkable employees. Reading page after page, it was obvious that every one of these people had the three magic qualities: Passion, Initiative, and Resourcefulness. It was also clear that each person took seriously his or her role as a representative of their respective staffing firm. Given the number of temps who don't always have the best work ethic, this was especially impressive.

As I read each nomination, I was struck by the degree to which each person exceeded expectations. For example, one firm's best temporary employee was Stan, a gentleman in his late 50s or early 60s who relied on his bicycle for transportation. One particularly snowy day, a suburban client had an urgent need for help. Unable to find anyone in the immediate vicinity, the staffing firm called Stan to see if there was any way he could get to the client. Without the slightest hesitation, Stan hopped on his bicycle, rode 20 miles in the snow, and arrived with icicles literally dangling from his beard. Later that day, the astounded and grateful client called the staffing firm to say how impressed they were with Stan's dedication and performance.

Like many of the nominees, Stan received and declined many offers for full-time employment because he enjoyed the opportunity to work for a wide-range of companies. Given the stories I read, the job offers were not surprising. What was surprising was a discovery I made at the ceremony itself.

The day of the ceremony, I arrived early because I was anxious to meet the people behind the stories. As the nominees arrived, I spent well over an hour meeting them and asking questions. Strangely, not one person had any idea why they had been nominated. This wasn't false modesty either. I can spot that a mile away. A few people speculated that their willingness to accept difficult assignments at the last minute may have played some role, but no one could point to a single event that might have captured the attention of the staffing firms or their clients. I found this fascinating because the nominations included story after story of specific situations in which these people made a difference.

This experience, more than almost any other in recent memory, reinforced in my mind the importance of continually asking yourself the question:

What did I do this week that was above and beyond what the average person in this role might do?

To gain any meaningful insight, you have to develop the ability to be objective. You also have to be a keen observer of what other people do and don't do. After all, this is an exercise in comparison. If everyone shared your work ethic, insight, and ability, it wouldn't be special. Since not every has the same standards or performance, you have to know how you compare.

Why is this important?

Two main reasons.

First, your bosses, coworkers, and clients are VERY clear how you compare to other people who have held that position. They may absolutely love you. Or they may think you have a million opportunities for improvement. Whatever the case, they have an opinion. You owe it to yourself to know what that is.

Second, when you have to market yourself for a promotion or a new job, you have to share specific examples of the impact you have had on the business. If the nominees for Temporary Staffing Employee of the Year have difficulty being specific about what makes them special, it is a safe bet that the average person does as well.

StorySparking: Not Just For Interviews

2008-01-26T12:36:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week, I received a call from "Donna", a potential client who wanted help figuring out what her next step should be. Specifically, she was looking for a coach who could help identify career alternatives she hadn't yet considered.

As I talked about my approach, I mentioned the importance of crafting a compelling story and how it goes hand-in-hand with whatever opportunities she might want to explore. At that point, I was genuinely surprised when Donna said:

"I know you're big into the whole interviewing thing. I've spent some time on your website and I know it's a focus of yours. But the truth is, I don't need help interviewing. I'm really good in interviews. I just need help figuring out what to do with my life."

At that moment, I wondered how many other people had the same impression.

When I do sales training workshops, one of the points I emphasize is to treat every objection as a gift. After all, how often do we truly get to see a situation from another person's point-of-view? Too often, people keep their concerns and objections to themselves in an effort to avoid confrontation.

In hindsight, while it was great to hear Donna's thoughts, I may not have probed deeply enough to truly understand what gave her that impression. In any case, it was clear that from a job search perspective, she equated storytelling with interviewing. As it happens, creating a compelling story is the foundation for communication at EVERY step in the process, not just the interview. To see what I mean, let's look at a few of the essential components as it relates to Donna's situation:

SELF-ASSESSMENT

To help Donna with her goal of uncovering career options, I want to know the story of how she got where she is now.

- What decisions did she make along the way? Why?
- What were her goals?
- How, when, and why have they changed over time?
- What options has she considered?
- What options has she eliminated?

In other words, to create the next chapter in her story, I need to know all the stories and chapters that came before.

Once we identify the possibilities, it will be time to explore. As Donna learns more about each opportunity, she will need to compare the story of how each position might play out given her existing interests, skills, and experiences. Like it or not, she is not a blank slate. She has preferences and attitudes based on where she has been and how she feels about it. In other words, Donna will need to compare the story of each possible futures to see how it fits with the story that has brought her to this point.

NETWORKING

Like most clients, networking will be a great way for Donna to learn more about other career options. Here again, having a compelling story is important. People don't like to have their time wasted. Nor are they likely to make a connection for someone without a strong Reason To Believe they aren't taking a risk.

Simply put, to get help from the right people at the right time, Donna will have to make sure everyone is clear she is worth helping. The best, and perhaps only, way to communicate this is through her story.

RÉSUMÉS

After she determines what her next step will be, Donna have to tell her story in a résumé. Unfortunately, if she is like most job hunters, this is also the place it is least likely to come across.

Rather than go on for pages about why most résumés are ineffective, consider the difference between a generic laundry list of responsibilities (a typical résumé), and a document that gets the reader to think: "Wow. If she can do that for them, just think what she could do for me." Very few résumés ever achieve the latter. (If you are interested in learning more, download my Special Report, "The Secrets of Effective Résumés").

COVER LETTERS

Although most people miss this opportunity completely, one of the best places for Donna to tell her story will be the cover letter. Why? Because a cover letter can communicate something that no résumé can: Passion.

Explaining why a particular career is the Next Logical Step in Donna's professional development is a great start, but it's not enough. She has to convince potential employers she will find it exciting and energizing. For this reason, Passion is one of the three most important qualities she can communicate. In case you are curious, Initiative and Resourcefulness (an umbrella category including Problem Solving, Strategic Thinking, Idea Generation, etc.) are the others.

INTERVIEWING

While it should be obvious that the interview is one of the most important opportunities Donna will have to share her story, she may not go deep enough. Most people don't. Worse, they leave everything up to chance. How? Because they don't have a strategy. In other words, they approach the interview thinking:

"This person is going to ask me questions. My job is to do the best I can to answer them. I hope this goes well."

Hope is not a strategy.

To succeed, Donna will have to approach every interview knowing the stories she needs to share. If she takes the time to create a checklist of stories relevant to the position, she can be much more creative in how she answers the questions. She can also buy time at the end to share whatever stories weren't covered by the interviewer's questions.

Remember, stories have value only when they are shared.

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel put it a bit more bluntly when he said, "Not to transmit an experience is to betray it."

NEGOTIATING

People don't always think about it, but stories are also important in negotiation. For Donna, the stories will be the evidence, the Reasons To Believe, she is worth whatever additional compensation or benefits she seeks. For this to work, her story must be directly related to the value she can bring to the organization. If she doesn't provide evidence (her story), she isn't likely to achieve the results she wants.

These are just a few of the ways Donna's story has value at EVERY stage in the process. But it's not just true for Donna. It's true for you as well.

The Importance of Customizing Your Message

2008-01-15T08:24:00.000-06:00

I was reminded again of the importance of customizing your message in a meeting I had yesterday with one of my clients. With this particular client, a personal trainer and soon-to-be-professional athlete, we were putting a series of videos to promote her association with a new health club in Chicago.

Before we started, we watched a number of videos created by other local trainers. In each case, the person spoke in general terms about his or her credentials and areas of expertise. After we yawned our way through about four of these, the opportunity was clear. We needed to communicate in a way that would truly speak to potential clients.

Rather than take the generic approach opted for by the other trainers, we identified the four types of clients she most enjoyed helping:

- Out of shape/Never worked out
- Recovering from an injury
- Getting back in shape after having a baby
- Training for competition (fitness, marathon, etc.)

In each case, I challenged her to come up with a success story we could share in the video. What makes video such a great medium for storytelling is its ability to convey passion, enthusiasm, and all the nonverbals that get lost in written bios. As an added benefit, with each take, she was reminded of additional details that brought the stories to life. It was inspiring and magical to watch.

By taking the time to customize her message, she has given herself the opportunity to reach a more targeted group of potential clients who will be able to see themselves in the before/after stories she shared.

No doubt, there are people reading this who are thinking:

"Wait a minute. I don't think it's a good idea to target such narrow groups because you are eliminating huge groups of potential clients. For example, what about the people who just want to get in better shape and lose a few pounds? Isn't that a bigger group than any of the four mentioned above?"

Even if that group is larger, there are at least two compelling reasons not to go after it. First, the fitness marketplace is already cluttered with messages targeting people who want to lose a few pounds. Second, working with people who want to lose a few pounds doesn't energize my client as much as working with the specific groups we identified.

If you take the time to customize your message, you owe it to yourself to make sure you are most energized by the opportunity you are pursuing. As I've said many times, work either energizes people or it drains them. There isn't a middle ground--unless you are the kind of person who would be content putting sticks in caramel apples (in which case you probably aren't reading this anyway.) So, before you customize your message, be sure the customers or employers you are targeting are the ones with whom you most want to work.

Performance Reviews

2008-01-09T12:32:00.001-06:00

Now that the new year is upon us, this is an excellent time to look back and quantify last year's accomplishments (if you haven't done so already). Ask yourself the following questions:

What is different at your company, school, volunteer organization, etc. because you were there?

What happened as a result of your involvement that would never have happened had you not been there?

In order to get people to understand and acknowledge your contributions, you have to tell a memorable, compelling, and, of course, factually correct story about what you did. One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating a clear picture of the before/after. In other words, what was the situation before? What, specifically, did you do to make improvements? How is the situation better now?

Before we get to performance reviews specifically, let's take a step back and look at change and how it can impact us.

TWO TYPES OF CHANGE

In general, there are two primary types of change: gradual and radical. Depending on the situation, our ability to perceive the change--or remember what the situation was like before--is not as keen as you might think. As a result, people have a tendency to take improvements for granted.

Gradual Change
A few years back, I bought a convertible with a vinyl rear window. At the time, I could see through it perfectly. As the years went by, harsh Chicago winters gradually reduced the visibility to zero. However, the transformation was so gradual, I didn't notice what was happening until I had the window replaced a few weeks ago. Now, it is so amazing to be able to see out of the new window that it feels like a completely different car.

Radical Change
Replacing the window was certainly a radical change, but it was also an expected one. Although I am quite conscious of what the situation was immediately before the window was replaced, I am already having trouble remembering how difficult it was to see through the old window.

Now, consider what happens when there is radical, unexpected change. If you are in any way emotionally attached to the way things once were, you will definitely be impacted by unexpected change. Layoffs are a great example of this.

The more interesting case, however, is change that doesn't impact us emotionally. In other words, the situation isn't necessarily better or worse, just different. One of the best examples is the scenario many of us experience when we walk down a familiar street and encounter a huge vacant lot where a building once stood. It's amazing how often we can stare at the wide open space and be unable to picture what stood there before--unless it is our house that unexpectedly disappeared.

A similar phenomenon takes place in the corporate world when situations improve. Whether the change is gradual or radical, people have a tendency to quickly forget the pain or inefficiency that once existed. That is why it is especially important to quantify your accomplishments on an on-going basis. Strangely enough, the person most likely to take the accomplishment for granted is the person who initiated the improvement. Don't let this happen to you.

Let's say you are due for your annual performance review and you want management to recognize your accomplishments last February when you streamlined operations and instituted a program that saved the company $5,000 per month. If the first full month of savings was March, that means 10 months have passed during which the company has had a chance to get used to lower monthly expenses. As a result, the pain of spending the extra $5,000 per month ($50,000 last year) has probably long since been forgotten. Likewise, your involvement in solving that problem has also been forgotten.

To make sure people don't take your accomplishments for granted, bring them to life using the STARs formula.

Situation/Task: What was the situation or problem you were attempting to solve?

Action: What did you do? How long did it take?

Results: What happened? What, specifically, is better? What would have happened if you had NOT taken this action?

This three-part process is one of the easiest ways to tell your story in a compelling way because it highlights the contrast between the current situation and the way it was before. At the same time, the story is completely factual so it won't come across like bragging--especially if you are genuinely excited about your involvement in the project. That's where the magic is.

Take the time to apply this process on an ongoing basis and you will be able to transform performance reviews into something you actually look forward to.

If you have a success story you'd like to share, send it to rob@careercraftsman.com

Positioning Your Story

2007-12-08T07:27:00.001-06:00

When it comes to telling a story, one of the most difficult concepts for some people to grasp is positioning. To help you understand exactly what I mean, perhaps the best place to start is by making a distinction between presenting and positioning.

PRESENTING is telling your story from your point-of-view.
POSITIONING is telling your story from the customer's point-of-view.

Your customer may be a hiring manager within your current organization, a potential employer, or quite literally, a person with whom you would like to do business. Whatever the case, it is absolutely essential to know this person so well that you can speak directly to their needs, challenges, and pain.

If your goal is to make a connection with a specific person, it is in your best interest to know everything you can about what drives him or her:

- What challenges does this person face?
- What opportunities are on the horizon?
- What are his or her goals? Why?
- When do these goals need to be accomplished?
- What factors are driving these needs and goals?

Think of yourself as an investigative reporter. Learn everything you can about the person's situation. Once you know this, start by asking yourself these questions:

- What can I offer this person that will help solve a problem or capture an opportunity?
- What experiences have I had that support my ability to succeed?
- What are the REASONS TO BELIEVE my involvement is the NEXT LOGICAL STEP in my personal or professional development?
- Why does this opportunity excite me?

Interestingly enough, although a personal connection certainly helps, it isn't a requirement. You simply need to know the important similarities the person shares with other people in their same situation. For example, when I write copy targeting career-changers, I can speak to a wider group by knowing the struggles they all have in common. However, I don't write the copy as if I am addressing a large audience, I write it as if I am speaking to a single person. Starting with a question can be an effective way to accomplish this:

"Have you ever applied for a job that seemed like a perfect fit yet never received a response?"

If you have ever been in that situation, you would probably read that line and immediately relate to how disappointing and frustrating it can be. By putting myself in the customers' shoes and speaking to their pain, people reading it feel I am connecting directly with them in a one-on-one conversation. That is my goal. That is positioning.

Having captured a person's attention, I would continue to tell the story from THEIR point-of-view thereby giving them a REASON TO BELIEVE I have something valuable to offer.

Presenting, on the other hand, would be telling my story from my point-of-view. In this case, the communication might look more like this:

- "Over the past 15 years, I have worked with career-changers at all levels in a variety of fields ranging from finance and engineering to advertising and manufacturing."

Even if you happened to be in one of the fields I mentioned, I haven't communicated anything that would get you to believe I truly understand what you are currently experiencing. Unfortunately, that is what happens when people don't take the time to position their experiences. They attempt to speak to everyone and, in effect, speak to no one.

The next time you need to gain the interest and attention of a prospective customer or employer, take the time to tell your story from THEIR point-of-view. If you want to truly connect with a customer or hiring manager, positioning is always worth the effort.

The Three Qualities Employers Want (And They May Not Even Know It)

2007-11-19T20:41:00.001-06:00

The Secret Excuse - A Personal Example

2007-11-10T09:21:00.001-06:00

We've talked at length about the stories we tell other people. Now, it's time to change focus and talk briefly about the stories we tell ourselves.

Today's lesson comes not from the world of professional development, but from the world of dating. If you are wondering what this has to do with marketing yourself, keep reading because I am about to share one of the most valuable insights I have ever learned. I will also share a very personal example to illustrate my point.

When it comes to achieving our goals-—personal or professional--there will always be obstacles that stand in the way and threaten our sense of who we are and what we are capable of achieving. Some of the obstacles are real and quantifiable. Others are based on the limiting beliefs we have developed over the years. Because there may be a small element of truth to limiting beliefs, they often dictate our expectations and, therefore, our reality.

David DeAngelo, creator of a program called Double Your Dating, calls these limiting beliefs The Secret Excuse. The Secret Excuse typically relates to factors beyond our control that we use to explain, usually to ourselves, our lack of success. For example, Secret Excuses might include:

• I’m too short.
• I’m too fat.
• I’m not successful enough.
• I’m too ugly.
• My hair is too stringy.
• I'm not geographically desirable.

If we give our attention, energy, and focus to these secret excuses, the universe will deliver, right to our doorstep, examples that confirm their truth. This is the Law of Attraction at work. In other words, if we think we aren’t successful enough, we are likely to encounter an endless array of potential partners who are looking for someone who can provide a higher level of financial security.

But the Secret Excuse is just that, an excuse. It can only threaten our sense of self and confidence if we let it. If we dedicate our attention, energy, and focus to finding examples that contradict our Secret Excuse, we can find evidence to support that as well. This often clarifies the difference between objective reality and a harmful, self-limiting belief.

At 5’9”, I am not what one might consider tall. Hence, for years my Secret Excuse was “I won’t be successful in dating because I am too short.” I truly believed that the women I wanted to date wouldn’t find me attractive because I was less than 6’ tall. In my darkest moments, I catastrophized and convinced myself I would therefore never be truly happy or successful.

Rather than accept that being too short might an issue SOME of the time, I turned it into a Secret Excuse with the expectation that it would be an issue ALL of the time. As the author of Learned Optimism, Martin Seligmann, might say, my interpretation was “personal, permanent, and pervasive.” In other words, “It’s me, it’s going to last forever, and it’s going to impact everything I do.” Talk about pessimistic.

Once I came to terms with the fact that this Secret Excuse was standing in the way of my freedom to be myself, I made the decision to actively search for evidence that contradicted it. Not long afterwards, I hit it off and briefly dated two women who were over 6'2". One was 6’5”!. In light of the fact that most women are not even close to being that tall, the experience served as powerful evidence to discount my Secret Excuse.

You might be wondering what this has to do with marketing yourself. As it happens, I see secret--and in some cases not-so-secret--excuses at play all the time:

• I'm too old. No one will hire me.
• I don't have enough experience.
• I've been out to the game too long.

And on it goes.

The last example, "I've been out of the game too long" is the favorite Secret Excuse of women returning to the workforce after being stay-at-home moms.

What do all these examples have in common. They are EXCUSES. They are the stories people tell themselves to justify their inability to reach their goals. That's not what marketing yourself is all about. Marketing yourself successfully is about finding EVIDENCE to support your interest in a particular area and telling a compelling story that underscores why your goal is the Next Logical Step in your personal and/or professional development.

Here's my challenge to you:

Do some intensive soul searching and make a list of your Secret Excuses. Once you have the list, start looking for evidence that CONTRADICTS these limiting beliefs. Once you look for it, you'll find it everywhere. And when you do, send me an email and tell me about it. My email is rob@careercraftsman.com. Write "Secret Excuse Success Story" in the subject line.

The Ineffective Interviewer

2007-11-01T10:03:00.000-06:00

I firmly believe the responsibility for accurately and effectively communicating your story rests with you. Having said that, there are certain hindrances you will almost certainly face along the way. As strange as it might seem, one of these hindrances is the person who most needs you to communicate powerfully--the interviewer.

How could this be? Why would the interviewer stand in the way of you and your story?

The behavior I am referring to is a lot more insidious than the typical, confrontational interviewer who does everything conceivable to make you feel uncomfortable. In his or her own way, that interviewer is also making it more challenging to communicate your story. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about interviewers who unconsciously sabotage the interview by asking off-topic questions. In my book and in my seminars, I talk at length about interviewers who ask stupid questions like, "What are your weaknesses?" and "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" So, I won't repeat myself here. What I am talking about is much more subtle.

I was recently hired by a company to coach employees to be more effective interviewers. In the sessions, I did an exercise in which we did a mock interview and tracked the questions that were asked. What happened was not an isolated event, but a scenario that plays itself out in countless interviews everyday.

The first observation I made was that the number of questions asked in a 30 minute period averaged close to 20. If that seems like a lot, it is. As often happens, many of the questions were closed-ended. In other words, they required only a yes/no or short-answer response. While this approach to questioning is undoubtedly ineffective, that wasn't the most serious issue.

After 30 minutes, I stopped the mock interview and asked one simple question:

"What are the most important qualities you look for in a candidate for this particular position?"

Each time, the interviewers responded with a list of 4 or 5 qualities deemed critical for a successful candidate. With these qualities in mind, we reviewed the list of questions they had just asked. In each case, there were only one or two questions that were even tangentially related to the most important qualities sought by the company. In other words, the interviewers weren't asking the right questions.

I have witnessed the same scenario play itself out many times. The results are almost always the same. Interviewers do themselves and the candidates a disservice by taking the conversation in unhelpful directions.

What can you do about it?

As a candidate, it is absolutely essential to approach the interview with a simple 3-part strategy.

1) Know what qualities are important to the company. (Do your homework!)
2) Know what you have done to demonstrate those qualities.
3) Find ways to answer even off-topic questions with examples that communicate what the interviewer really needs to know.

Easier said than done, I know. It's going to take more effort on your part, but if you want the job or promotion, it's worth it.

"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but..."

2007-08-08T08:03:00.001-06:00

"Charlie", a participant in one of my workshops posed an interesting question about how and when to divulge information that might create a less-than-stellar view of a person's background. In his case, he had a misdemeanor charge on his record that he could petition to have expunged in one year.

This brings up some interesting issues. The fact is that none of us have perfect stories. Anyone inclined to dig deep enough can probably find something in our past that would raise questions about our ability to perform in the future. In some cases, like Charlie's, the facts are easier to uncover because they are a matter of public record.

To complicate matters, Charlie made it through two rounds of interviews for a job that seemed like a perfect fit. The headhunter who presented Charlie with the opportunity had just called to say that he made it to the third and final round. At this point in the process, the company asked Charlie to fill out a form indicating any criminal convictions. Given the nature of the offense, Charlie's attorney pointed out that this particular misdemeanor was not legally considered a conviction, therefore Charlie did not have to divulge the information. However, Charlie was feeling understandably awkward and conflicted.

Having recently been eliminated from consideration by a company that specifically asked about misdemeanors (which Charlie disclosed), he did not want to jeopardize his chances again--especially given the possibility that the company might not find out. At the same time, Charlie could see that he put the headhunter in an potentially uncomfortable position by not revealing this fact in their initial conversation. After all, if the company finds out and eliminates Charlie from consideration, the hiring managers could be upset with the headhunter for not knowing or alerting them to the issue. That might, in turn, jeopardize the headhunter's relationship with the company. It would also jeopardize all of the rapport and goodwill Charlie had generated with the headhunter.

At this point in the game, Charlie has to make his own decision about how to move forward. Assuming his attorney is correct about the nature of the misdemeanor, Charlie can leave the information off the form without being considered dishonest. If the company finds out anyway and eliminates him as a candidate, there is little he can do to change their decision. All Charlie can control is his ability to maintain presence as he tells his story.

That may not seem like much, but it is.

Presence is everything. If the company confronts Charlie and he appears uncomfortable and hesitant, the company may wonder what else he is hiding. On the other hand, if he maintains his composure, acknowledges the facts, and emphasizes what he learned about himself in the process, he may leave the company with a completely different impression. The company may or may not reconsider, but at least he will have given himself a shot and, most importantly, maintained integrity.

Having worked myself as a retained headhunter, I know just how important it is to have the full story from candidates. No one likes unpleasant surprises. Some headhunters may hear the facts and decide not to work with Charlie. Others may not be concerned. Here again, Charlie cannot predict or control the reactions. He can only present the facts and give people space to make their own decisions. In the interest of building successful long-term relationships, being honest and upfront is always the best way to go.

Resume Screening

2007-07-02T09:08:00.000-06:00

A hiring manager recently posted the following question in a forum:

"When you are reviewing a resume for a job - what are the critical assessment factors for making a good match (between the candidate and the position) and not bypassing someone who is qualified?"

Although he received a variety of answers, most were what I would consider distinctly unhelpful. Some focused on the importance of grammar and spelling. Others clearly indicated a bias for or against particular degrees. Still others talked about the importance of meeting minimum requirements. While I agree that intelligence, education, and experience are important, it pains me to see people spend so much energy focusing on what I consider artificial measures of potential.

Do I think spelling and grammar are important? Absolutely. Nothing turns me off more than people who butcher and torture the language. That's one point on which I agree completely with the other people who responded. However, I don't agree that education is a particularly good predictor of success. Nor do I think that a minimum number of years of experience is a meaningful requirement.

I cringe when I see "5-7 years experience required". Anyone with more than a few years in the workforce has worked with people who in 5 years have not accomplished a single thing. As a result, "5 years experience" is what I call a meaningless quantifier. Instead, you have to ask yourself, "What does the company expect me to have accomplished or been exposed to during those five years?" If you can answer that question, you'll be in a much better position.

Now that I've talked about what isn't necessarily important, let me say a few words about what IS important. To answer the original question about resume screening, it is important to take a step back and consider what makes a person successful in any given job. In other words, what separates top performers from capable employees with a been-there, done-that attitude?

Three important qualities: Passion, Initiative, and Resourcefulness.

There are other qualities, depending on the job/industry, but these are my top three because they are relevant to a wide range of positions.

Smart companies look for these specifically because they know people cannot be trained in any of these areas. They either have it or they don't. Unfortunately, these qualities almost never show up in the resume simply because of the ineffective, cookie-cutter approach most people take to resume-writing. Of course, it is also worth noting that these are difficult (although not impossible) to communicate in that medium.

To make matters worse, many people who have all three qualities camouflage them behind a completely ineffective presentation. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the short version of the story is that people don't know the difference between bragging and healthy self-promotion. As a result, they either take their accomplishments for granted or hope they will somehow come out in the interview--an interview that, in all likelihood, will never happen because the resume didn't do its job.

These are just a few of the reasons I encourage people to write cover letters that communicate passion as well as relevant accomplishments. A hiring manager has to be left thinking: "Wow! If this person can do that for those companies, just think what he or she could do for me." Anyone who has ever screened resumes can appreciate just how rarely they are left with this impression--or anything even close.

Into the Gap

2007-06-14T09:31:00.000-06:00

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, health care and technology jobs are poised to soar between 2000 and 2010—despite a jobless recovery that lasted well into 2004.

Fastest-Growing Occupations
Total number of new jobs from 2000 to 2010

Occupations - Net increase - % Chg.
1. Computer software engineers, applications - 380,000 - 100%
2. Computer support specialist - 490,000 - 97%
3. Software engineers, systems software - 284,000 - 90%
4. Network and computer systems administrators - 185,000 - 82%
5. Network systems and data comm. analysts - 92,000 - 77%
6. Desktop publishers - 25,000 - 67%
7. Database administrators - 70,000 - 66%
8. Personal home care aides - 258,000 - 62%
9. Computer systems analysts - 258,000 - 60%
10. Medical assistants - 185,000 - 57%
11. Social and human service assistants - 147,000 - 54%
12. Physicians assistants - 31,000 - 53%
13. Medical records and health info techs - 66,000 - 49%
14. Computer and information systems managers - 150,000 - 48%
15. Home health aides - 292,000 - 47%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The job categories with the largest net increases and decreases from 2000 – 2010 are listed below:

1. Food preparation, and servers, including fast food: 673,000
2. Customer-service representatives: 631,000
3. Registered nurses: 561,000
4. Retail salespeople: 510,000
5. Computer-support specialists: 490,000
6. Cashiers (except gaming) 474,000
7. Office clerks, general 430,000
8. Security guards: 391,000
9. Computer-software engineers, applications: 380,000
10. Waiters and waitresses: 364,000
11. General and operations managers: 363,000
12. Truck drivers, heavy and tractor trailer: 346,000
13. Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants: 323,000
14. Janitors and cleaners: 317,000
15. Postsecondary teachers: 315,000

A few of the categories above warrant a little more explanation:

Food service workers: According to the National Restaurant Association’s own projections for the same period, the figure is more than double this estimate.
Customer-service representatives: Even as help-desk and other customer service jobs move overseas, the growth in Internet commerce is expected to yield a net increase in this category.
Registered nurses: The need for nurses, the largest group within the health care industry, will continue to expand as the baby-boomer population ages.
Retail salespeople: As it stands, retail sales is the largest single occupation with over 4 million workers. This is significant because 510,000 new jobs in this sector represents an increase of more than 10%.
Computer-support specialists: For the foreseeable future, computers and technology will continue to play an important role in our culture. At the same time, there will remain a strong need for people who can provide service and support. Some of this can be accomplished with tech support people overseas, but it’s unlikely that face-to-face support will be completely eliminated.
Security guards: Not surprisingly, the need for security guards—especially in office buildings and other likely terror targets—will continue to increase. However, most of these positions offer low pay and little opportunity for advancement.
Computer-software engineers, applications: As new software is developed and current programs are updated, the need for computer-software engineers is expected to remain relatively strong—especially as the 68 million baby boomers head toward retirement.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the following jobs categories are expected to experience to most significant losses between 2000 and 2010:

Farmers and ranchers: (328,000)
Order clerks: (71,000)
Tellers: (59,000)
Insurance-claim and –policy processing clerks: (58,000)
Word processors and typists: (57,000)
Sewing-machine operators: (51,000)
Dishwashers: (42,000)
Switchboard operators, including answering services: (41,000)
Loan interviewers and clerks: (38,000)
Computer operators: (33,000)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics[1]

It is worth noting that the projections above are consistent with former secretary of labor Robert Reich’s observation that order entry, claims processing and other routine tasks will, over time, either be automated or outsourced.

What The Labor Market Situation Means For You
Given the situation described above, the question is not “If,” or even “When,” but “What does this labor shortage mean for me and what can I do about it?”

After years of rapid growth in the labor force and endless corporate restructuring and downsizing, the laws of supply and demand will tilt decisively in favor of the individual. With this shift come opportunities and hazards. For the careful strategic planners, opportunities for professional development and financial reward will be plentiful. In contrast, the not-so-careful may find themselves sacrificing their personal lives to compensate for the lack of adequate labor.

Unlike the current labor market that has left countless unemployed workers wondering whether they’ll ever find another job, the upcoming labor shortage will exact a toll of a different sort. Not unlike the workers who survived corporate downsizing, people who find themselves at a company with too few employees are, if they aren’t careful, likely to inherit a workload that would previously have been handled by more than one person.

In late 2003, as the U.S. eased out of the recession, but before hiring picked up, an estimated 9 million people were unemployed. At that point, a survey by Monster.com indicated that 71% of workers spent more than 40 hours a week on the job. Not surprisingly, 57% of respondents described themselves as overworked.[2] As the labor market tightens, these numbers are likely to increase significantly.

The flip side of these potential pitfalls is opportunity. With the laws of supply and demand favoring the individual, you will have the power to shape your career and play an active role in creating opportunities for professional development.

[1] BLS Chart: Time Magazine, November 24,2003.
[2] “Now Hiring!” by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. (Time Magazine, Nov. 23, 2003)

Becoming a Good Story-Teller

2007-05-24T22:04:00.001-06:00

In a very real sense, the single best way to advance in your career is to be a good story-teller. That probably sounds strange, so let me explain what I mean. I’m not saying you should become one of those people who can manipulate the facts and talk their way in and out of situations with no regard for anyone other than themselves. We have enough people like that in the world already.

Instead, I’m suggesting you become a good story-teller by truly appreciating what you have to offer, understanding how it relates to what people need, and finding the most effective way to communicate your potential to succeed. That is not nearly as easy as it might sound.

I’ve been working with job hunters for more than 15 years. In that time, I have yet to meet anyone who can, within the first 45 minutes, clearly articulate their most compelling accomplishment as it relates to why a potential employer might hire them. This is a HUGE problem when you consider that most interviews are only about 45 minutes long. The reason most people don’t communicate their accomplishments effectively is usually pretty simple: they have no idea what they are. People might think they know—and they might be far more insightful than most—but they still miss an unbelievable number of opportunities to share their true capabilities. In other words, they aren’t good story-tellers. Why? Because they don’t know the whole story.

What it Means to Be a Good Story-Teller
To be a good story-teller, you must first be a great marketer. For those of you who are more logical and process-oriented by nature, this undoubtedly sounds like bad news. The truth is, logical, left-brained, analytical, and process-oriented thinking may be what makes you successful in your job, but it isn’t what you need in the job market. If you aren’t careful, your most valuable professional asset—the way you think—could easily become your greatest liability.

Remember, the job market is just that—a market. Like any market, if you choose to participate, you have to think like a marketer. That means right-brained, creative, marketing-oriented thinking. If you are a hard-core IT or financial person and this isn’t how you think, don’t worry. You are not alone. We’ll explore a few options that may help you think more creatively about your experiences, but don’t be embarrassed if you struggle with the concepts. Just find a coach who can help.

A Quick Lesson in Marketing
Job hunters in general—and left-brained types in particular—miss most of the opportunities to leverage their experiences because they don’t understand the difference between an attribute and a benefit. Even high-profile marketers aren’t always clear on the concept as the example below illustrates.

For years, Castrol Motor Oil has been running commercials focusing on the product’s ability to prevent “engine viscosity and thermal breakdown.” Unless you are a mechanic, that probably doesn’t mean anything to you. This is a great example of a company selling an ATTRIBUTE rather than a benefit.

For people at Castrol, the thinking stopped at what the product does. A benefit, in contrast, takes into consideration what the product does FOR YOU, the consumer. Otherwise, it’s meaningless. If you don’t know what “engine viscosity” or “thermal breakdown” is, I’d be willing to bet you aren’t waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking, “Oh no. . . it’s happening. Thermal breakdown. Engine viscosity. I’ve got to do something about my car!” It’s certainly not keeping me up at night.

Instead, let’s look at the BENEFITS. For the purposes of this example, let’s assume that by using Castrol Motor Oil you’d lower automobile repair expenses by $400 per year and your cars would last, on average, five years longer. If true, that would be the BENEFIT of using Castrol. It might even convince you to use the product.

Now, apply this thinking to the pictures and stories you create as part of your own marketing communication. Your ability to use Java or C++ and your proficiency with Oracle databases are ATTRIBUTES. People who possess the same basic skills are EVERYWHERE. That’s not why people are going to hire you. True, companies are looking to hire people with those skills, but there’s more. Much more. What really matters is what you have done with those skills. That’s where you’ll find the BENEFIT!

Reframe to Manage Stress

2007-05-17T00:14:00.003-06:00

Reframing is the process of consciously removing unhelpful thought patterns by introducing new facts that challenge--and change--the way you view the world.
Since these new facts literally do not fit within the frame of reference associated with the situation, a new or expanded frame is required—hence reframing.

To show how this works, let’s imagine you have a friend named Steve who routinely shows up late. Against your better judgment, you invited Steve to be your guest at a banquet and accept his offer to drive. The event is particularly important to you because your coworker is going to be honored in a surprise ceremony at the beginning of the banquet.

Looking at your watch, you realize Steve is a few minutes late. You do your best to assure yourself that you will arrive in time, but after 20 minutes pass it is looking less likely. With each passing second, you feel yourself getting more and more upset. Horrified that Steve could be so inconsiderate you think, “He only cares about himself. If he truly valued my friendship, he would know how important this is and he wouldn’t be late. I can’t believe he would be such a jerk.”

Before long, you start reliving all the other times Steve has been late or disappointed you in some way. But now, you are not just mad at Steve. You are also furious with yourself for giving him another chance.

Just then, his wife calls to let you know that Steve witnessed a serious traffic accident. Because he stopped to help, he was able to save the life of a child inside the car. Unfortunately, he is running at least 45 minutes late.

Your situation hasn’t changed. You are still late. You will probably miss the most important part of the evening. But the real question is: how are you feeling? Are you still mad at your friend?

While you may be experiencing a range of unpleasant feelings—disappointment, frustration, sadness—there is a good chance that these new facts have either alleviated some of the anger or caused you to view the situation, and your friend, in a completely different way. In this particular situation, the new facts that allowed the situation to be reframed appeared naturally as the events progressed. But you can take these same steps consciously as well.

Reframing Exercise

Whenever a situation is causing you stress or anxiety and you’d like to reframe it, use the following exercise to uncover the facts and create a more positive explanation.

CURRENT SITUATION
What are the FACTS of the current situation? List as many as you can.

INTERPRETATION
How are you interpreting these facts? What are you making them mean? What have you made these facts mean about you? How do you feel? List the emotions you are currently experiencing.

REFRAMING OPTIONS

Reframe the External Situation (Find ways to reinterpret the facts)
Does X have to mean Y? What are some alternative interpretations of the situation?

Create a Counter Example
Has X ever NOT meant Y?

Reframe the Future
What is going to happen to your mental health if you keep thinking this way? What will your life be like in one month, three months, and six months?

Taking Steps on Your Own

If you struggle with negative or pessimistic thoughts, read Learned Optimism by Martin Seligmann, PhD. This book describes a variety of interesting methods you can use to literally change the way you think.

Whether you do it on your own or work with a therapist, it is important to release the grip of negative emotions in your life. The anger, resentment, and hostility you feel about outsourcing or other less-than-optimal situations will, over time, drain your energy and weaken your spirit. This is true whether you express your anger outwardly or not. Either way, negativity will seriously hinder your ability to come across as the positive, energetic person you can be. Not coincidentally, it is your positive, enthusiastic, energized self that companies are looking to hire.

Avoid Artificial Performance Measures

2007-05-11T12:34:00.002-06:00

Having specific, measurable goals in place, along with agreement on what happens when the goals are achieved does more than help you track your success; it helps you avoid the heartache of artificial performance measures.

Some companies, for example, are more preoccupied with tenure than performance as my friend Ross discovered. The company he’d been interviewing with extended an offer, but Ross didn’t accept it immediately because didn’t have a clear picture what his path within the company would be. The hiring manager told him that people in his position typically get promoted in 12 months. Being a hard-driving, energetic guy with a track record of rapid promotion, Ross didn’t like that answer so he asked: “What, specifically, do you expect that person to accomplish before they reach the next level?”

The conversation continued until Ross learned the specific, measurable goals he needed to achieve. At that point Ross said, “I know myself well-enough to know I can achieve all of those goals in 6 months.” He proceeded to back up his claim with examples from previous positions and asked, “When I achieve these goals in 6 months, what happens then?”

Unmoved, the hiring manager said, “No one has ever achieved that in 6 months. Even if you did, it would still take the full year until you were promoted. That’s just the way we do it.”

After a somewhat spirited negotiation, the hiring manager begrudgingly agreed to write up a formal letter stating that if Ross achieved the goals at any point before the first year of his employment, he would be promoted immediately. Not able to distinguish talent and confidence from arrogance, the hiring manager went on to say she didn’t think he could do it. Nevertheless, Ross accepted the offer.

Six months later, after achieving all of the goals, Ross went to his supervisor and proudly requested his promotion. His supervisor told him a promotion at that point wouldn’t be possible because he had only been with the company six months as opposed to the 12 months dictated by company policy. Even with the a written letter of agreement, the company didn’t want to promote Ross because it would appear he was getting preferential treatment relative to other people in that position. The company eventually honored its agreement, but not without a fight.

The morals of this story should be clear:

1. Agree on the specific, measurable results—and outcomes—BEFORE you accept a job, promotion, or additional responsibility.

And, of course:

2. GET IT IN WRITING!

Calculating Your Value
Take the time to establish, in advance, where the company is and how the value might change through your efforts. This information will help you justify performance-based compensation beyond whatever salary was budgeted for the position. A helpful book in this regard is Value-Based Fees by Alan Weiss. The book, which was written primarily for consultants, describes principles and strategies valuable to anyone who wants to be compensated for the value they bring to the organization.

According to Weiss, for a business relationship to be truly successful, the person who received the service has to be able to say: “That was a terrific investment” while the person who provided the service has to be able to says: “And I was fairly paid for my efforts.”

Through my coaching and speaking, I have met countless people who have contributed far more value than they ever received in return. One executive, for example, saved his company more than $5 million over a 16 year career through strategic investments in automation, real estate negotiation, and other initiatives. Many of these accomplishments went well beyond his areas of responsibility and the standard metrics used to evaluate the performance of a person in his position.

For purposes of illustration, we’ll ignore the value he created in other areas and focus exclusively on cost savings as if it were the only measure of success. In this are, he contributed, on average, more than $312,500 annually to the company’s bottom line. Yet during the same period, his average annual compensation was under $140,000. Arguing for performance-based compensation isn’t about being greedy; it’s simply about being rewarded for the legitimate value you contribute. If you can save a firm over $300,000 every year, you are worth a lot more than $140,000. It’s up to you to see that you get it.

If you take the time to quantify your accomplishments and understand the expected value of your efforts, you will be in a far better position to avoid the inequities above—tight labor market or not.

"Fine" as a Four-Letter Word

2007-05-06T21:01:00.000-06:00

For the last few days, I’ve been thinking about something William Arruda, the Personal Branding Guru, said when he addressed the University of Michigan alumni in Chicago. Arruda made the bold statement that “fine” is a four-letter word and should be stricken from our vocabulary. To make sense of what seems like an odd statement, let’s start with the dictionary definition:

So, what’s wrong with "fine"?

If everyone used “fine” as an adjective meaning “superior” or “high quality”, there would be no problem. But that isn’t what happens. Far from it.

“Fine” is one of the most common one-word answers to the question, “How are you?”

In this case, when people say, “Fine”, they don’t mean, “superior” or “top quality”. They typically, mean “about average”. Average is a long way from top quality.

Apparently William Arruda isn’t the only one who feels this way. One of the other participants mentioned that a famous Chicago restaurant owner has instructed his staff to NEVER ask any question about the food or service that could be answered, “Fine.” He simply doesn’t want to link the restaurant experience with anything that could be interpreted as average. It’s all about image.

The next time someone asks you what it is like to work on a particular project, what it is like to work for a particular boss, or how you feel about the performance review process, think twice before you say, “Fine.” Instead, challenge yourself to fine a more descriptive, more accurate way to answer the question.

Finding Your Passion

2007-05-04T22:19:00.003-06:00

What If You Haven’t Identified Your Passion?

This is a very real issue for many people. If you truly aren’t sure what you are passionate about, think about all the projects you’ve been involved with as well as your related accomplishments. Then, ask yourself these questions:

• When did I feel the most energized?
• When did I feel the most drained?

The key to a happy and fulfilling professional life is to find a career in which you can do more of what energizes you and less of what drains you. No doubt, this sounds like common sense. Nevertheless, it’s amazing how many people don’t think in these terms. But, most likely there are certain projects in which you can immerse yourself and completely lose track of time. There are other activities—including some at which you excel—that you may absolutely dread doing. For this reason, it’s critical to look beyond your skills to your actual interest level.

A Reason to Believe
Once you’ve traced your passion and you can describe the origin of your interest, you have completed the first, critical step in the self-assessment process. But it doesn’t stop there. Your next challenge is to show what you’ve achieved as a result of your passion. In other words, what have you done that gives a potential employer reason to believe you will be successful in your chosen field?

Creating a Journal
To answer the question above, it’s important to create an inventory of specific experiences you can use to support your case. It may take some time to remember details of those experiences, but the good news is you only have to do it once. After that, you can add to it as you go along. This way, keeping the journal just becomes a matter of maintenance.

Keep Your Journal on the Job
The need to quantify your accomplishments does not end when you get a job offer. Quite the opposite. In order to earn raises and promotions, it’s incredibly important to keep track of your accomplishments on an ongoing basis. Keep a list of every project you work on and highlight the ones where your efforts had a direct, positive impact. It may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. Just keep your journal nearby and jot down the key details. That way, you won’t have to rely on your memory a few months or years from now when the facts won’t be quite as clear.

The first entries in your journal will address the following:

1. Make a list of any time you have ever been recognized for an accomplishment. Go back as far as you can.
• What, specifically, did you do?
• If you received an award, how many people were eligible?
• What was special about your performance or achievement?
• How old were you at the time?

This is an important category because it forces you to acknowledge yourself for the accomplishments that others valued. For example, if you were elected or appointed to serve in a particular role, it says a lot how people view you and your performance. Or perhaps you earned a promotion faster than anyone else in the company’s history. If so, that can be a selling point on its own because it gives people a favorable comparison between you and other people who received the same promotion but took more time to earn it.

The recognition you receive from others is tremendously valuable because it provides a third-party assessment of your skills and abilities. It’s like having the person in the room telling the interviewer what a great job you did. Better still it’s factual. You don’t have to say how great you are when the facts speak for themselves.

2. When friends, family, co-workers, and others come to you for advice or assistance, what, specifically, do they need?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, start keeping track. Friends and family are almost always better at recognizing our talents than we are. By opening our eyes to the way others already see us, we are forced to acknowledge our unique contributions. The more we do this, the better able we’ll be to counteract all those years of programming in which we denied and doubted our abilities. Thus, building an awareness and appreciation of our gifts is an important step in developing the unshakable belief in ourselves that we need to speak confidently, using relevant, believable examples, and without worrying about bragging. In the words of legendary Major League pitcher Dizzy Dean, “It ain’t braggin’ if you kin do it."

3. Think back on all the projects (work-related and personal) on which you’ve been involved. What is different because you were there? What did you bring to the table that otherwise would never have occurred?

In other words, how is the result better because you were on the team?

I like to think of this as the “It’s-A-Wonderful-Life-Approach” to the self-assessment process. In the movie, George Bailey, the main character, was given the chance to see how the world would have been different if he had never been born. In a very real sense, that’s exactly what I’m asking you to do. It’s the best way I know to get people to think about—and acknowledge—their achievements. As an added bonus, you’ll get a much-deserved boost in confidence because you’ll see just what a difference you actually make in this world. Later, when you’ve built a substantial inventory of contributions, matching your specific experiences with the needs of a particular employer will be easy. And, you’ll be that much closer to convincing an employer of the difference you can make for their company.

Follow your Passion to Work - Believing, Thinking, and Speaking Your Truth

2007-04-23T20:59:00.000-06:00

When you are looking for the next logical step in your career, either by changing jobs or making a greater impact at your current job, you must follow your passion to work. This means that you must believe in yourself, think about how to tell your story to your employer, and speak your truth.

There are two steps you must take before you can speak comfortably and confidently about your interests and abilities:

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion
2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you’ve uncovered the secrets of the first step.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince an employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a career (this is particularly important for career-changers and entry-level candidates who, by definition, are pursuing opportunities in which they have no prior employment history). Remember, employers don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire or promote you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable. If you ever find yourself thinking, “I know I’d be great if only someone would give me a chance,” take it as a sign that you need to do a more thorough self-assessment.

Start by answering these questions:

-How old were you when you first recognized your interest in this career?

-What, specifically, opened your eyes to this opportunity?

-Is there a particular person you admired (e.g., parent, grandparent, mentor, teacher) who served as a role model or otherwise nurtured your interest?

-Is this a subject you studied in school?

-What have you done on your own initiative to learn more about the field?

The last question is especially important because relatively few people think to sell themselves on the experiences they’ve gained as a result of their own initiative. However, from a potential employer’s standpoint, these experiences tend to be the most convincing. Think about it. If you read and studied numerous books on your own, you obviously have more than a passing interest in the subject matter. This usually gives people more than enough reason to believe your interest and sincerity.

If you’ve already begun to develop a track record in your industry (i.e., you have some work experience or a history of success), employers are less likely to feel like they are taking a risk in hiring or promoting you. After all, if you have experience, you probably know enough about the business to know what you are getting into at the next level. Regardless, it’s still important to trace your passion because this understanding will help you communicate your enthusiasm for the career.