On Careers
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Who's Your Seth Godin?
Continue reading… 1 CommentAbout a quarter of a million people read Seth Godin’s blog each day. That’s like every household in North Dakota reading his posts. What’s even more amazing is that it's all his--no group of writers for my man Seth. He writes every single post every single day. Worldwide, his blog in the top 20, easy. He writes, he speaks and he creates companies too. Score!
After more than 3,500 posts, he is still going strong. Some say his posts are even getting better. One a day, like clockwork, arriving in my RSS feeder before breakfast. The blog stud, I call him. Look at his picture--I could find him in a big conference room, but he couldn’t find me. We’ve never met. And yet. I wanted his help.
The point I want to make today is that many of you are worrying needlessly. In your own world, you might be thinking: How can I ask my version of Mr. Godin for help and advice when he is much too busy to help me? Why would he want to help me? He doesn’t know even know me. Why would he help me network to find a new job?
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Bossophobia: How to Overcome Fear of Your Boss
Continue reading… 1 CommentYou can't be scared of your boss if you want to be successful. I am convinced of this. Now whether the fear is a product of your boss's actions or a result of your own life experience, I don't know. But I do know that irrespective of the reason, you better cut the fear if you want to achieve career success. (And it could be worse, you could work for one of these guys or a dictator)
Here are a few ways to quell the anxiety that surrounds dealing with your boss:
Initiate contact: Find ways to interact with the person in charge. This takes effort and might be uncomfortable, but it's worth it. The higher-ups are not always accessible, but it's up to you to find creative and professional ways to seek them out.
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Long-Windedness: A Job Interview Killer
Continue reading… 4 CommentsThere’s always at least one candidate in any hiring round who might otherwise have been qualified but who kills their chances by being way too long-winded. This is especially common in phone interviews (perhaps because candidates who do this don’t make it to the in-person stage).
I did a phone interview with a candidate last week who gave five-minute answers to quick, basic questions that should have taken 30 seconds or less to answer. For instance, at one point, I asked him if his work on a political campaign was paid or volunteer – an either/or question – and received a response so long I finally cut him off. Later, I told him directly that I only had a few more minutes to talk and wanted to get through some additional questions and it still didn't cut short his long, rambling response.
You might think, “Well, some people are long-winded, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do a good job.” The problem is that, at a minimum, it signals that you're not good at picking up on conversational cues, and it raises doubts about your ability to organize your thoughts and convey needed information quickly.
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The Art of Exploitation By Committee
Continue reading… 2 CommentsTwo weeks after the first committee meeting, you came to a rather sad conclusion: You are doing most of the work.
You didn’t want this to happen. You hoped the work would be roughly divided with the three other committee members, but, when no one else spoke up, you found yourself volunteering this idea and that. By the time the first meeting was over, you walked away with all of the work and some general promises from the others to help.
That was your first mistake. The responsibilities of each team member should have been clarified from the start, but rather than crawl out of the hole, you decided to dig deeper. You did all of the extra work, thinking that once the others saw your enthusiasm and effort, they’d pitch in out of an inherent sense of fairness.
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What Traffic Cops Can Teach Us About Management
Continue reading… 4 CommentsYesterday I had the, ummm, experience of driving to the Newark, N.J., airport. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the path to get there--suffice it to say that you are fortunate if you can keep in that state of being for the rest of your lives. It is, shall we say, unpleasant.
On my trip I ran across three different police cars. I watched how they approached their responsibilities and I realized it was a good analogy for managing people. I assume (and I realize this is a big assumption) that their goals were to make the roadways safer by enforcing the speed limit (65 mph). Now, don't get into a snit because this assumption is undoubtedly simplistic, just hold on with me for the management analogy.
The first police officer drove an unmarked black car with a "For Sale By Owner" sign in the back window. (Complete with phone number.) I only knew he existed because he pulled some poor person over. Until that point, people had been sailing by at a good 75 mph. (Not that I was doing that. I don't speed. Cross my heart.)
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7 Ways to Be a Good Boss in Bad Times
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIt’s never easy being a good boss, but it’s even harder in times like these.
The work, however, must go on. So, how do you, as a boss, keep people happy and settled enough to be productive? Well, here are seven ideas to get you started:
1. Be upfront. When employees come to you with questions and worries, do your best to address them. Honestly. Even if the best you can say is: “I don’t know yet.”
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When the Job Search Gets Too Frustrating
Continue reading… 1 CommentSo a job seeker asks: What do I do when I get depressed about my job search? I have sent my resume out to hundreds of companies in the last few months and I have not gotten one single interview. This is so frustrating.
Most career coaches give good advice, i.e. "Hang in there." or "It's not you, it's this economy," and "Keep trying, re-do your resume, try networking, volunteer more." You get the picture.
I have some more advice for this particular job seeker. Maybe I am feeling all curmudgeonly today.
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How to Disagree With Your Boss
Continue reading… 16 CommentsA reader at Ask a Manager recently wrote to me about a situation where she felt her boss was asking her to do something utterly nonsensical.
Often in this situation, people have one or more bad reactions: They stew about silently, or they just disregard the boss's instructions.
Neither of these is a good option. If you disagree with your boss, you should offer up your own viewpoint. (Disclaimer: This assumes your boss is sane and reasonable, not a tyrant or a lunatic. If she's one of those, that's a different topic.) Often, workplace disagreements arise when two people have different pieces of information about something. It's possible that you know something your boss doesn't know. Figure out what that might be, tell her, and see if that changes anything. At the same time, be open to new information she might give you that might change your own viewpoint.
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Almost Succeeding But Not Quite Failing
Continue reading… 1 CommentEven the most successful careers can be dotted by failures. It is axiomatic that we learn from setbacks far more than from victories. The person who has never received the career equivalent of a stomach punch may be less prepared to deal with adversity.
With a conventional failure, one fails, regroups, and then moves on. But what of that territory between success and failure which gives the benefits of neither? A clear-cut failure tells you what doesn’t work and jars you toward other endeavors or approaches. The not-quite success yet not-quite failure, however, may leave just enough hope to keep you mired in what is really a hopeless effort.
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Why We Laugh When a Joke's Not Funny, and Other New Job Lessons
Continue reading… 2 CommentsTwo lemons were in the shower. The first one said, “Pass me the soap.” The second one said, “What do you think I am? A typewriter?”
Ha! Ha! Ha! Excuse me while I wipe the tears of mirth from my eyes. Isn’t that the funniest joke you’ve ever heard in your life? No? (Note to my younger readers: A typewriter is a keyboard where you type directly onto paper. Isn’t that the strangest thing you’ve ever heard of in your life?)
Well, back in the dark ages when I was in high school, this was a favorite joke of mine and my friends. We found it hilarious. Not the joke itself, mind you, but watching how people would try diligently to figure out what was so funny about it. If you told it in a group where most everyone was in on it, you could almost guarantee that the new “victims” would laugh at it.
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The Best Career Path Has Options
Continue reading… 2 CommentsOne of the things I often hear in my work helping people find careers that light them up is a feeling of being trapped. They have a goal they want to reach, a dream they want to achieve, but they don’t feel like they’re able to do it. Or, even worse, they just feel flat out stuck in an unpleasant situation they want to change.
That’s an incredibly disempowering feeling. It’s stressful, and it feels hopeless. It drains their energy. And often, it’s also completely untrue.
If you find yourself feeling trapped or stuck, ask yourself, “What are my options?” Go ahead and start writing them down. Brainstorm and make a laundry list. Once you have written down the possibilities that came to mind immediately, take it one step further. Say, “OK, now, if none of those was a possibility, what else could I do? How else could I reach my goal?” Tape your list to the wall where you can see it and keep adding ideas as they pop up.
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How to Hold On To The Job You Have
Continue reading… 2 CommentsTake a look at any news source these days and you’ll be smacked in the face with the latest unemployment figures.
They continue to go in the wrong direction (up), making it hard not to get trapped in the general atmosphere of free-floating fear. Pundits throwing out words like “depression” and “apocalypse” don’t help.
But you are only one person. You only need to hold on to one job (or, if you’re a moonlighter, two). Your task then is to be such a rock-solid member of the team, and do such superior work, that you keep that job.
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Letter to All the New Green Company CEOs
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIn my spare time, I mentor or coach entrepreneurs who are involved in early stage or startups. It’s fun for me, helpful for them, I hope. There is nothing like the thrill of helping someone build a new business.
There are green companies being formed now by passionate people who believe in their new product and/or service. Some are going to make it and some won’t.
I have a couple of tips for them as they embark on their startup adventure. Here's a classic new green entrepreneur situation: The company's product is great and will revolutionize their niche market. It’s been patented, they can demonstrate that it saves money, and it provides real ecological benefits. The challenge is making sales before the cash runs out.
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How to Handle Hypocrites at Work
Continue reading… 3 CommentsAt some point or another, we all go back on something we've said. Does that makes us "bad" people? No. But it does make us hypocrites. A hypocrite, according to Webster's Dictionary, is a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.
I've always had a hard time with hypocrites. Perhaps it's because I hold myself to a ridiculously unachievable standard. Whatever the case, I know I'm not the only one gets ticked off when people go back on their word and step all over a previous sentiment. Just glance around the office and I'm sure you'll see plenty of offenders.
Take Joan, for example. She always got along with her cubemate Tammy. But last month they started to experience a lot of tension. Joan ended up distancing herself a bit and started having lunch with Margaret. One random day, Joan and Tammy met up accidentally in the office cafeteria and exchanged a few laughs. At the time, Margaret happened to be strolling by. -
4 Reasons to Beware the Too-Nice Manager
Continue reading… 4 CommentsOf all the qualities you don't want in a manager, here's one that you might not have thought about: overly nice.
If you have a boss who is too nice--one who allows her desire to be nice, or liked, to control the way she does business--you'll find the following:- The boss won't make hard decisions or have hard conversations. One common way this plays out is in managers who won’t address performance problems or fire underperformers. But it plays out in other ways as well. For example, a manager who's afraid of conflict may hesitate to make necessary course corrections mid-way through a project, but then be unhappy with your final product. Good managers know that their job is to solve problems, not avoid them, and that they can't value preserving harmony or avoiding tough conversations above all else.
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How E-mail Becomes Dangerous
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThere are three common categories of E-mail: “Convenient,” “Questionable,” and “Exhibit A.”
Convenient E-Mail appropriately matches the subject with the tone. This means it is not used to announce layoffs, propose marriage, or discuss any sensitive topic for which face-to-face communication or, at the very least, telephonic contact, is needed. Convenient E-Mail is great for setting up meetings or conveying reports.
It can also be a nifty way to catch up with friends, although if that is done too often, Convenient E-Mail can become…Questionable E-Mail.
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Could This Recession Be a Gift For Your Career?
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI’m not a big fan of experiencing difficult times, but sometimes that’s exactly what we need. Sometimes it takes a personal earthquake to shake us out of the rut of habit, flawed assumptions, and inertia that is keeping us on a track that is no longer (or maybe never was) right for us.
In my most recent podcast, I interviewed Erik Weihenmayer, a blind climber who summitted Mount Everest in 2001. Erik is a best-selling author, a motivational speaker, and has turned overcoming adversity into an art form. His most recent book, The Adversity Advantage (co-authored with Dr. Paul Stoltz), focuses on how to use adversity to propel you forward.
As we talked about how to deal with the adversity that so many people are facing right now, Erik noted: “Sometimes these tough times are the best times to make a change in our life. Sometimes the adversity that we face is the catalyst that we need to do it.”
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A Good Cover Letter Starts With "You"
Continue reading… 5 CommentsThat's right, "you." Or “Your.”
Why?
Because the most effective way to job hunt is to think and act from the perspective of your potential employer.
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How to Get a Job Using a Company's ORM
Continue reading… 2 CommentsLee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing is an expert in advising companies on how to manage their online reputation (ORM: online reputation management).
He advises companies to monitor, optimize and engage about their brands, products, company and key executives. You can find out more about this topic here.
As far as the online reputation management discussion goes, you know much of it by know: Be careful what you say and send to others because "it" will always be "out there." Younger job seekers have been warned about their online reputation, how companies are Googling them, and sometimes withdrawing job offers.
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Objectives: Leave Them Off Your Resume
Continue reading… 15 CommentsLast week, when writing about things to leave off of your resume, I mentioned objective statements, which I believe don't belong on a resume. Some commenters wanted to know why.
I've never seen an objective that made me more interested in hiring a candidate, and I've seen plenty that actually hurt a candidate's chances. At best they're neutral, so why risk it?
Objectives usually fall in one of three categories:
