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Monday, August 11, 2014
How To Get Ahead In Your Career
In the old days there was a corporate ladder. You started out in a company as an entry-level employee and they taught you the business. Over time you got promoted for your hard work and abilities. Where is that world now? My dad started his career at McGraw-Hill Publishing. He took early retirement from the same company thirty-five years later. It is almost unheard of for a person to stay that long in one company today, moving up through the ranks. The corporate ladder has turned to sawdust. The average tenure of an executive hovers around three years. How can you build a career on such shaky ground?
We are in the middle of tumultuous change in the workplace. The tectonic plates started shifting in the nineteen-eighties, and the pace of change has only accelerated since then.These days it is hard to say what 'employment' even means. You can be hired on as a contractor and sit alongside full-time, long-term employees or even supervise them. It's a new day in the talent marketplace. Longevity on one job was a virtue for decades, and now it's somewhere between neutral and negative. The muscles that serve us best now are flexibility, an ear to the ground and the ability to talk not about your Skills but about your experience solving meaty, expensive problems.
People who can roll with constant changes are more suited to this new ecosystem than "Tell me what to do and I'll do it!" folks who thrived in the old world of work.
What does it mean to get ahead in your career, when there's no corporate ladder to climb? How do we define career advancement in the new millennium?I met a fellow at a conference, a good-natured guy with an easy laugh.
"I was a divisional IT Director and then they promoted me to run internal software development for the entire company," he said. "I had a great time but I thought it was a fragile position. It's too easy to outsource IT these days. When I saw an opening to head up a software implementation in the Middle East, I grabbed it." "Wow," I said. "That's out of the box. Who did you report to in that role?" "On paper, the regional CIO," said my conference-mate, "but I met that guy once. I really reported to a consultant who was working for the country manager. On the organizational chart I stepped down two levels, but I got the international experience I'd never had and the project was a lot of fun.
In the meantime I lost touch with the corporate IT group, and the learning for me was how out of touch I'd been in my old HQ role.After two years I went back to headquarters, and a consultant I had hired was the new CIO. He and I went to lunch. He said 'Find something important to do here, and I'll stay out of your way.' I'm still working for him now, but I think of myself as a consultant anyway. That's the way we all need to think." "What did you get, abroad?" I asked him. "What do you get on the job now?"
"Oh," he said, "It's incredible how my mojo grew in Dubai. I know how to talk to salespeople now. I know how to juggle priorities in real time. I learned how to think like a line manager, and I made dozens of contacts. I don't regret a minute of it. I learned how to operate in a very different culture.
Now that I'm back at HQ, I'm handling my job very differently. I take nothing for granted. I look ahead six to nine months to see where the company is likely to go and where it should go, and I speak up. I have no one to please and nothing to hide, and I run my job like a business, because it is a business." Getting ahead these days has little to do with approval from higher-ups. Back when, you could pick an executive to follow and that person could mentor and guide you for years. That's a rare phenomenon these days. We all need mentoring, but where can we find it?
The best jobs today are not the ones with a defined career path. The more staid and slow-moving an organization is, the less your time in it will grow the critical new-millennium career muscles you need. We become more marketable as we gain experience with more and more meaty, high-stakes projects that vary from one another. The more powerful our stories, the more confident and self-sufficient we become no matter what strategic decisions our employers' leadership teams make. At Human Workplace we teach these eight essentials to getting ahead in your career:
Get Ahead PortfolioYour career is a big story made up of thousands of smaller stories. Your resume is one tiny piece of it. The names, dates and titles you've held can't possibly convey your power. You've got to create a portfolio for yourself, both a physical record of the projects you've completed and a set of stories you can tell to anyone who asks -- stories about times when you made important things happen on the job.
Your stories tell a hiring manager or client (and remind you!) of the important problems you've already solved. You won't collect new stories by doing the same things over and over.
Variety and greater challenge all the time are the keys. To get ahead in your career, you have to seek out and insert yourself into bigger and bigger problems. That requires speaking up and asking questions at work, every day!
Mentors, Contacts and References It isn't paranoid anymore to maintain the attitude "This job could disappear tomorrow." Contacts and references are like money in the bank. A strong and well-connected network of people who can vouch for you is worth its weight in gold, and so is a small set of wise mentors to guide you over rough patches. You can't wait until you need these important people in your life to start meeting them -- you've got to cultivate that network now! Are you doing that every day?
Repertoire
Your career is a unique tapestry woven over the years. No one else has the repertoire you have. Your accomplishments, bumps in the road and battle scars are all part of your unique repertoire. It's your secret sauce! The last thing you want to do is to think about yourself as an anonymous member of an undifferentiated set ("I'm a Network Engineer.") You might be a Network Engineer, but there isn't another one in the world like you. Claim your uniqueness!Adjust with the Landscape
It is sadly common for a person starting a new job to think "Here's the approach I bring when I'm hired. I start by doing X, and then I do Y." Every situation and every employer is different. Real life doesn't lend itself to cookie-cutter solutions. The ability to read each new client or employer situation and design a customized solution for it is a precious gift and a must-have ability in the new-millennium workplace.
Personal career planMost of us don't have career plans. That's a holdover from the days when our employers did the career planning for us. If you ask yourself "What specific plan does my boss have for me?" the honest answer is most likely "My career plan is the last thing on my manager's mind." That's okay. You can create your own plan! What do you want for yourself this year, next year and the year after? How will you get what you want -- more experience in one area or another, or more access to people or situations that appeal to you -- on the job or after hours? It's your career and no one else's. How are you going to run the business for which you are CEO?
Political savvy
You can say "I hate corporate politics" and get no disagreement. Yet political currents and waves are part of any workplace. How do you deal with the energy at work -- avoid it, ignore it, or step in and try to soften it? Political savvy is not a matter of one-upping people or making anyone look bad. That's a waste of your precious mojo.
Reading the energy waves at work is a critical new-millennium ability. Can you begin by talking about something important that hasn't been broached yet because everyone is afraid to bring up the topic? You can lead the change you want to bring about, not wait for someone else to do it. Perspective-Taking
Perspective-taking is the ability to see things from the other person's point of view. It's the core of Pain-Spotting and of any sales activity. The working world is full of selling opportunities, and that makes you a salesperson whether you've thought of yourself that way or not! Taking another person's point of view is essential for your relationships at work and at home, but most of us don't have much practice. You can start with your boss. What are his or her biggest worries? What makes him or her happy, sad and angry? Put your boss's glasses on and see the world through his or her eyes. Watch your worldview expand!
Your own end game Any discussion of getting ahead has to include the question "What do you want for the rest of your career?" Do you want your own business someday, or to retire from the job you're in? Do you want to teach others, start a foundation or write a book? You get to decide, and you also have to decide.
The first step is to say "I deserve to have the career I want." Isn't that an exciting thought? You have everything you need to reach your goals. Ignore doubters and haters and people who tell you why you couldn't possibly succeed. They're stuck in fear, and you are not. Take the first step and make a list of your career goals now. Make a vision for yourself and refine it. Look how much you've accomplished in your life already -- and you're just getting started! No one can stop you once you take the first step.
Human Workplace is a publishing, coaching and consulting firm whose mission is to reinvent work for people. Our 12-week virtual coaching group Get Ahead! launches on Saturday, August 23rd. In the course you'll learn how to create your Get Ahead Portfolio, how to cultivate mentors and a network, how to build a career plan and how to grow the muscles you need for the new-millennium workplace!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
The Only 7 Things We Truly Can Control in Life and How to Rock Them All
In my experience, life can be pretty complicated. Although most of us have plenty to manage in our day-to-day lives—jobs, relationships, family, exercise, sleep, you name it—there are really only a few things we truly have control over. I changed my life by identifying these variables and learning how to master them. And I think you can too.
Happiness and success (however you define either one) have a lot to do with each other. In fact, greater happiness has been found to lead to greater success. I think both can be achieved with some simple and straightforward habit hacking, or making small tweaks to your routine which, little by little, add up to major changes in how you’re living your life.
We make millions of little decisions all the time, and the result of each one is either net positive, net negative, or neutral. The more net positive decisions we can make (and the fewer net negative ones), the better. Net positive decisions may require some effort: Brushing your teeth before bed, eating healthy meals, and regularly going to the gym are a few examples of actions that help you feel good and bring you one step closer to your goals despite the effort they entail. Net negative decisions—filling up on food that doesn’t make you feel good, skipping the nightly teeth-brushing, letting that downer friend cramp your style, or forgoing the gym—make it difficult to reach your goals because your decisions don't make you feel good, empowered, or confident. They take more out of you than they give, interfering with your energy levels, sapping your motivation, and clouding your focus.
Most people don't even think about their breathing (I myself used to talk for many seconds at a time and forget to breathe!). Breathing is obviously important, but so is the ability to focus on it. Can you feel your chest expand when you inhale, and get softer when you exhale? Where do you feel the rise and fall most? Breathing is the ultimate hack to relax and slow racing thoughts. As soon as you experience something unpleasant, just take a few deep breaths and focus not on how horrible the situation was, but on your breathing. When you focus on your breath, you can count “one” as you inhale, “two” as you exhale. When you get to 10, start over. I bet you'll start to feel better and more grounded immediately.
2. Chat yourself up.
We all have a voice in our heads. That voice can often be critical and get in the way of our happiness and success. Try to count the times you engage in negative self-talk each day. It may surprise you how often you criticize yourself. If you can learn to recognize this Debbie Downer of an inner voice and replace it with engouraging statements, your attitude will start to change. Try talking to yourself with compassion. For example, instead of telling yourself you’re not good enough, remind yourself that you are worthy of love and attention, or that it’s okay to make mistakes—we all do!
3. Say thanks.
If you can practice being grateful on a daily basis, your happiness and productivity will increase [1]. Cultivating gratitude trains us to focus on hope, to remain inspired, and to be optimistic, lending us the courage and resilience to persevere in the face of setbacks (on top of giving us a mood boost that keeps us coasting).
4. Become fluent in body language.
According to neuroscientist Amy Cuddy, you can demonstrate power and confidence simply by changing the way you hold your body. For example, adopting a powerful stance—arms on your hips and feet planted wide, causing you to take up more space—increases testosterone and decreases the stress hormone cortisol. The result? This "power posing" will make you feel more confident. Think about this before you meet with a potential client, go to a job interview, or even just before you leave the house.
5. Pursue (physical and mental) fitness.
I don’t know about you, but I come up with my best ideas while I'm on the elliptical. Exercising is a chance to just listen to my music and think about nothing. It's glorious. You don't have to go to the gym, but we all ought to take 20 minutes out of our days to get up and move. Motion helps free your mind and body to better tap into your creative potential. Walking has literally been found to increase creativity [2]. Getting some movement in will help creativity and also focus.
Giving your brain a workout is as easy as it is important for you to do. Whether you play Sudoku or do crossword puzzles, or subscribe to the app Lumosity, your brain will feel the difference. Folks who don’t want to shell out the cash can get a similar benefit from meditation. Just 20 to 30 minutes has been shown to increase focus, reduce stress and anxiety, and even dial down physical pain [3] [4].
6. Eat smart.
Even though it might taste great, junk food is a net negative. It makes your brain and body slow and sad. Consuming too much sugar has been linked to all kinds of medical conditions (including metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease), not to mention mood swings and crashes that kill productivity. Plus, processed foods have been proven to exacerbate, if not cause, chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and even breast cancer [5] [6]. Simple fixes like keeping a bag of carrots or a bowl of fruit handy help us pick up the healthier choice when we're depleted and hungry and reaching for the closest snack. Easy-to-whip-up, convenient-to-carry portable snacks can be delicious and nutritious.
7. Get adequate shuteye.
Sleep is critical for focus, concentration, job and academic performance, keeping your appetite under control, and a host of other positive health outcomes. In order to hack sleep, you have to set a routine. I'm asleep by 9 pm and I wake up to watch the sun rise. Watching the sun rise is beautiful and it's a net positive that I’m grateful for. If your brain can't calm down while you're trying to fall asleep, you can tell yourself, “I'm proud of the work I accomplished today, I'm going to let my brain and body rest now." Or try other trusted get-to-sleep-ASAP methods, including cutting back on alcohol (since people who booze more sleep less) [7].
1. Visualize it.
Whatever it is you most want to be doing, you must be able to see yourself doing it. For most of us, the work we do while procrastinating is probably the work we should be doing for the rest of our lives. Practice visualizing this concept with your eyes closed for a few seconds. Where are you working? What's the room like? What's the temperature like? How's the lighting? How do you feel? Are you drinking a cup of coffee or a glass of water? What time of the day is it? The more senses you involve the better. Keep imagining this for yourself in order to increase the likelihood of these visions becoming reality.
2. Believe in it.
You have to believe that you already have everything you need to be successful. Reember: You don't need money to try out an idea. There are plenty of free and low-cost ways to get started with all kinds of projects—from using social media to smartphone apps to making use of fundraising sites. And when it comes to having the courage and can-do spirit to get going, well, that's something you already have in spades.
3. Talk it up.
Talk about what you do everywhere you go. You won't believe the people you stumble upon who are willing to help. Whatever pain you're healing or problem you're solving or project you’re launching, share your knowledge and experiences with everyone who can benefit from them. When you help as many people as you can, those people will connect you to all kinds of resources—everything you need to get started. Just let it happen, and smile as often as possible.
This post was written by Cat Goldberg, a Sarah Lawrence alum, San Francisco-based neuromarketer, and social media guru. To learn more about Cat, visit BrainBuzz or find her on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Happiness and success (however you define either one) have a lot to do with each other. In fact, greater happiness has been found to lead to greater success. I think both can be achieved with some simple and straightforward habit hacking, or making small tweaks to your routine which, little by little, add up to major changes in how you’re living your life.
We make millions of little decisions all the time, and the result of each one is either net positive, net negative, or neutral. The more net positive decisions we can make (and the fewer net negative ones), the better. Net positive decisions may require some effort: Brushing your teeth before bed, eating healthy meals, and regularly going to the gym are a few examples of actions that help you feel good and bring you one step closer to your goals despite the effort they entail. Net negative decisions—filling up on food that doesn’t make you feel good, skipping the nightly teeth-brushing, letting that downer friend cramp your style, or forgoing the gym—make it difficult to reach your goals because your decisions don't make you feel good, empowered, or confident. They take more out of you than they give, interfering with your energy levels, sapping your motivation, and clouding your focus.
“ Let go of all the stuff you can't control and start using your time to master what you can control.”While the healthier choice may seem harder, it pays off bigger. And you’ll be surprised by just how easy these choices can be once you make the effort. By learning how to master the seven things that are within our control, you will start to make more net positive decisions, fewer net negative ones, and find that empowering, positive behaviors become second nature. So let go of all the stuff you can't control and start using your time to master what you can control. Before you know it, you'll be living your best life ever!
How to Master Life in 7 Easy Steps
1. Inhale, exhale, repeat.Most people don't even think about their breathing (I myself used to talk for many seconds at a time and forget to breathe!). Breathing is obviously important, but so is the ability to focus on it. Can you feel your chest expand when you inhale, and get softer when you exhale? Where do you feel the rise and fall most? Breathing is the ultimate hack to relax and slow racing thoughts. As soon as you experience something unpleasant, just take a few deep breaths and focus not on how horrible the situation was, but on your breathing. When you focus on your breath, you can count “one” as you inhale, “two” as you exhale. When you get to 10, start over. I bet you'll start to feel better and more grounded immediately.
2. Chat yourself up.
We all have a voice in our heads. That voice can often be critical and get in the way of our happiness and success. Try to count the times you engage in negative self-talk each day. It may surprise you how often you criticize yourself. If you can learn to recognize this Debbie Downer of an inner voice and replace it with engouraging statements, your attitude will start to change. Try talking to yourself with compassion. For example, instead of telling yourself you’re not good enough, remind yourself that you are worthy of love and attention, or that it’s okay to make mistakes—we all do!
3. Say thanks.
If you can practice being grateful on a daily basis, your happiness and productivity will increase [1]. Cultivating gratitude trains us to focus on hope, to remain inspired, and to be optimistic, lending us the courage and resilience to persevere in the face of setbacks (on top of giving us a mood boost that keeps us coasting).
4. Become fluent in body language.
According to neuroscientist Amy Cuddy, you can demonstrate power and confidence simply by changing the way you hold your body. For example, adopting a powerful stance—arms on your hips and feet planted wide, causing you to take up more space—increases testosterone and decreases the stress hormone cortisol. The result? This "power posing" will make you feel more confident. Think about this before you meet with a potential client, go to a job interview, or even just before you leave the house.
5. Pursue (physical and mental) fitness.
I don’t know about you, but I come up with my best ideas while I'm on the elliptical. Exercising is a chance to just listen to my music and think about nothing. It's glorious. You don't have to go to the gym, but we all ought to take 20 minutes out of our days to get up and move. Motion helps free your mind and body to better tap into your creative potential. Walking has literally been found to increase creativity [2]. Getting some movement in will help creativity and also focus.
Giving your brain a workout is as easy as it is important for you to do. Whether you play Sudoku or do crossword puzzles, or subscribe to the app Lumosity, your brain will feel the difference. Folks who don’t want to shell out the cash can get a similar benefit from meditation. Just 20 to 30 minutes has been shown to increase focus, reduce stress and anxiety, and even dial down physical pain [3] [4].
6. Eat smart.
Even though it might taste great, junk food is a net negative. It makes your brain and body slow and sad. Consuming too much sugar has been linked to all kinds of medical conditions (including metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease), not to mention mood swings and crashes that kill productivity. Plus, processed foods have been proven to exacerbate, if not cause, chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and even breast cancer [5] [6]. Simple fixes like keeping a bag of carrots or a bowl of fruit handy help us pick up the healthier choice when we're depleted and hungry and reaching for the closest snack. Easy-to-whip-up, convenient-to-carry portable snacks can be delicious and nutritious.
7. Get adequate shuteye.
Sleep is critical for focus, concentration, job and academic performance, keeping your appetite under control, and a host of other positive health outcomes. In order to hack sleep, you have to set a routine. I'm asleep by 9 pm and I wake up to watch the sun rise. Watching the sun rise is beautiful and it's a net positive that I’m grateful for. If your brain can't calm down while you're trying to fall asleep, you can tell yourself, “I'm proud of the work I accomplished today, I'm going to let my brain and body rest now." Or try other trusted get-to-sleep-ASAP methods, including cutting back on alcohol (since people who booze more sleep less) [7].
Habit Hacking: The Warm-Up
Use the three quick tips below to get your mind and spirit ready to hack your habits and live your best life ever!1. Visualize it.
Whatever it is you most want to be doing, you must be able to see yourself doing it. For most of us, the work we do while procrastinating is probably the work we should be doing for the rest of our lives. Practice visualizing this concept with your eyes closed for a few seconds. Where are you working? What's the room like? What's the temperature like? How's the lighting? How do you feel? Are you drinking a cup of coffee or a glass of water? What time of the day is it? The more senses you involve the better. Keep imagining this for yourself in order to increase the likelihood of these visions becoming reality.
2. Believe in it.
You have to believe that you already have everything you need to be successful. Reember: You don't need money to try out an idea. There are plenty of free and low-cost ways to get started with all kinds of projects—from using social media to smartphone apps to making use of fundraising sites. And when it comes to having the courage and can-do spirit to get going, well, that's something you already have in spades.
3. Talk it up.
Talk about what you do everywhere you go. You won't believe the people you stumble upon who are willing to help. Whatever pain you're healing or problem you're solving or project you’re launching, share your knowledge and experiences with everyone who can benefit from them. When you help as many people as you can, those people will connect you to all kinds of resources—everything you need to get started. Just let it happen, and smile as often as possible.
This post was written by Cat Goldberg, a Sarah Lawrence alum, San Francisco-based neuromarketer, and social media guru. To learn more about Cat, visit BrainBuzz or find her on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
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