“Leadership is all about unlocking the potential in others.” Carly Fiorna, Hewlett-Packard CEO
There are too many so called “leaders” who act and sound artificial, “phony” when they interact with their staff, friends and even customers. When you demonstrate, through thought, word and deed that you’re an authentic human being and leader who really cares about your employees and the organization, the chances are great that you’ll get your employees, friends, and yes, your family’s best efforts. Simply stated, you must walk the talk, not talk the talk. Here are a few tips:
Adhere to your core principles. In my 50 plus years experiences as a military officer, civilian employee, speaker, author, burn survivor and son, I’ve learned that’s the best and most effective way to lead. You must have credibility with your employees, family, friends, clients and your audience. The greatest people and leaders I’ve known said what they meant and meant what they said. They were unambiguous about their dreams, passions, goals and core principles. They were consistent in their beliefs and never wavered; they were trusted and trustworthy.
“Everyone inside him has a piece of good news … that you don’t know how great you can be (or) what you can accomplish.” Anne Frank, diarist
Money, power and fame are a two-edged sword. They can ‘buy’ access to persons, places and things you might not otherwise have and enjoy. But, as with most things in life, they often come with a price. Money, power and fame can’t buy you health, happiness, integrity, peace, respect, true friends or authenticity. When you place most of your values in them, people are often thrust-off the foundation of the core values that helped them get to the ‘top.’ We’re born with free will and life is all about choices. Therefore, choose the right path—to remain true and authentic to you first, then others.
“High ethics and religious principles form the basis for success and happiness in every area of life.” John Templeton, investor
It starts at the top. When leaders are authentic, that often leads to trust. A Maritz Research poll in 2011 showed that just 7% of U.S. workers viewed leadership’s actions as consistent with their words. “We need our people to be engaged, trusted, leaders,” said Lynn Lieber, a San Francisco-based employment lawyer and legal advisor to compliance training advisor Workplace Answers. “You see companies like Apple where people had huge amounts of trust in their leaders.”
“Passionate leadership won’t succeed if contradictory signals are sent out.” Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder
Establish panels. BillGeorge former CEO of medical device maker Medtronic calls them True North Groups. They’re small groups of people who know each other well enough to offer objective and honest opinions. They act as a sounding board for each member. “The people trust each other and are willing to be open,” George said. His group helped him realize he had drifted away from his core values when he was in line to become CEO at Honeywell International.
“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after awhile he gets to know something.” Wilson Misner, playwright
Focus inward. George said leaders must be introspective about how they function and operate. He meditates twice a day. You can write a journal or talk to someone close to you. Or, do all three. Think about who you are…really; where you’re going; how you’ll get there; who’ll be on your team. The process you choose can give you time to reflect on how your core values affect the decisions you make,
“If you go, go, go all the time, you’re not real grounded” he said.
Demonstrate that you care. Employees, friends and family will see you and think of you as genuine if you prove by words and actions that you care about their well-being. Write thank you notes to your staff, friends and hosts. It’s probably the most important and well-received praise they can receive. Thank you notes are a lost art. We’ve become too reliant on technology. When you take the time to write a note, address it, seal it, put postage on it and deliver it to the Post Office that sends a subtle, but important message that you do care. Thank you notes are another way that you should do business. Teach it and demonstrate it in the home, it will transfer to the office.
“I don’t let my mouth say anything my head can’t stand.” Louis Armstrong, musician
Spread the wealth. Not only financial rewards but praise and credit when and where it’s due. Steve Jobs did it with his resignation from Apple’s CEO in August 2011.
Know your people. You can’t do this by sitting in your corner office and hiding (or the perception you’re hiding) from reality. Get out and walk around. This is a way to help you understand the issues your employees face and allows you to get to know them better. Creating an authentic workplace is a challenge if you sit in the corner office. CEO Howard Schulz walks in to his Starbucks stores unannounced to see how things are going. The TV program “Undercover Boss” has the same result. Sometimes you really need to get into the trenches with the people who do the ‘dirty work’ every day.
Create the rules. Establish a Code of Conduct that lists the core values and behaviors that are expected. Follow through with them and make certain no one, regardless of their position, is exempt. There may be some who will test the Code of Conduct and invent all sorts of excuses as to why they shouldn’t be held accountable. In my long career, I’ve heard them all! Their inventiveness is extraordinary; if only they’d put as much effort in trying to follow the Code of Conduct as they did trying to tap dance around it. Provide training on the Code that’s specific to you organization and talk about it when issues of conduct arise. That can also impress an outside agency if problems do occur. You show that you act in good faith, and that is reflected in everything you do. A Code of Conduct is also useful in personal situations. It’s not a sometimes thing or to use when needed thing; like breaking the glass when a fire breaks-out. To be effective, a Code of Conduct must be part of who you are and seamless from your personal life to the workplace. You can’t be a phony and a say you Code of Conduct. It just doesn’t work!
“Are you green and growing or ripe and rotting?” Ray Kroc, former McDonald’s CEO
Be honest and dependable. Take responsibility for yourself, your life and your job.
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This article was reprinted with permission from “Captain George” A. Burk, USAF (Ret). Visit his website for information about this keynote speaker, trainer and author: www.georgeburk.com
At a recent training, I was curious as to why there were a dozen colorful “fidget” toys strewn around the tables. To me, they seemed like a distraction. Later I learned that people focus better and absorb information faster if they have something to do with their hands.
If you are having a hard time focusing on a task at work, fidgeting with a desk toy may provide stimulation your mind is craving, calming your brain and helping you get the task finished.
Stress balls may also ease office stress. The simple process of acute muscle tension and relaxation as you squeeze and release the ball flushes out muscle tension and, thus, helps you feel calmer.
There is stimulation of nerves in the hands. These nerves carry the signal to different areas in brain especially the limbic area which is linked with emotions. This mechanism is similar to the popular Chinese method of ‘Acu pressure’ for treating health problems. Moreover stimulation of brain also results in the production of endorphins which act as natural pain relievers and as sedatives.
Fidget toys may also be used to help when creative solutions are needed. Office brainstorming sessions are typically very “left-brained” and creative solutions require using the whole brain and the whole person … so fidgeting with desk toys can invite the creative right brain into the solution.
You may notice you tap your finger, shuffle paperwork or doodle when you are talking on the phone at work or are in a meeting. A fidget toy provides the same relief and may be less distracting to others.
Not all fidget toys work the same for all people. People who enjoy tactile input will prefer a bumpy fidget, while others will prefer a smooth stress ball they can squeeze. If you decide to try it, you may need to try various types to see which helps you play attention the best.
I am a positive person by nature, and I’ve read many books on positive thinking. However, I’ve never read anything that I felt would be useful to someone who views the world through a more critical lens. Even though I enjoy positive psychology books, I recognize most are a little too “hearts & flowers” to influence a true change in others. That is, until I read “The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work” (Shawn Anchor). I think this is one book that every manager should read.
The reason I think this is because the author writes about seven actionable “happiness” principles proven to improve human performance. It’s not a “don’t worry, be happy” sing-a-long, it’s practical.
If you are like me, you will probably recognize a couple of the principles and realize you’ve been using them your entire life. For example, “The Tetris Effect” is when you train your brain to see the positives more than the negatives. Our brain takes in so much information each day that it has to filter much of it out. Which do you choose? The positive or the negative? In this video, the author explains the principle in more detail: .
Improving our skill in reducing negativity in the workplace will reduce stress, increase productivity and decrease turnover. Not only that, it’s good for our own career development. Most people believe that hard work alone predicts success, and after they become successful, they will finally be happy. What if happiness itself influences our successes? What if it accelerates our successes? What if we can be happy now because Douglas Adams (English humorist and science fiction novelist) was on to something when he said, “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” Don’t wait for the next promotion to be happy … test it yourself by learning the simple principles in “The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.”
If you’ve ever fired someone for poor performance, did you know without a doubt that the employee understood the expectations of the position? One clue that you may not have trained the employee properly in executing his or her job duties is when you find yourself reaching for an awkward “it’s not you … it’s me” speech at the termination meeting instead of holding the employee accountable. You can’t hold someone accountable for something they didn’t know they were accountable for.
Good training is essential. Managers must make expectations clear when training an employee for a job. If your staff isn’t trained, then you have no basis for managing performance. As a result, your staff will lose focus and work will be unreliable and inconsistent.
Accountability is not a big stick to bang people on the head with. People who are doing a great job want their results to be measured and recognized … they actually want to be held accountable.
The only thing worse than training your staff and having them leave, is to not train them and have them stay. ~ Zig Ziglar
Some managers view training as an expense of both time and money they can’t afford to lose. This is because they have not determined measurable results. You must decide an acceptable rate of return on any investment of training. When you can envision concrete results, it’s much easier to budget time and money for training. A employee who has had adequate training is clear on what the expectations are and has had an opportunity to acquire the skills to meet them.
Did you know that all TapRooT® root cause analysis courses come with a 100% guarantee? In fact, attendance at the upcoming 2012 Global TapRooT® Summit guarantees 10 times the return on investment:
Attend the Summit and go back to work and use what you’ve learned.
If you don’t get at least 10 times the return on your investment,
simply return the Summit materials and we’ll refund the entire Summit fee.
Summit attendance can help maintain and expand an employee’s skill level, motivate them to grow, and help them improve professionally. Decrease employee turnover this year and be confident you’ve given your employees a chance to show you their best. Learn more about the 11 exclusive pre-Summit courses as well as the 8 tracks of learning on the Summit website: http://www.taproot.com/summit.php
Remember résumé mistake #5 in our recent Career Development series: using vague, over-used words and phrases? A recent TIME article commented on words to avoid on our LinkedIn profiles too (the list of overused words was released by LinkedIn) — words that “sound awfully nice but say almost nothing specific about a person.” What are people thinking when they use vague buzzwords on their professional profiles? To me, it says, “Let’s meet, so you can ooh and aah over my ability to use lots of exciting words and hopefully you won’t notice my lack of skills or experience.”
One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to find a better job. If that’s on your list, have you taken a few moments to define “better”? Many people make the mistake of trading one job that’s a bad fit for another. Their 40th birthday comes and goes … and they’re still wondering what they want to be when they grow up.
It’s worthwhile to take time to really think about the type of career that is perfect for you. Will you know it when you see it? Or are you not really sure at all? Here is a tool that can help. “My Next Move” (created for the U.S. Department of Labor) is an online tool that helps you determine the right career path.
You can search careers with key words, browse careers by industry or take a brief interests quiz. The online quiz can be completed in a few minutes, and will reveal how your interests line up under artistic, social, enterprising, conventional, investigative and realistic categories. Then it will allow you to explore jobs you may not have considered based on your personal interests profile.
“Calling: to summon a career or pursuit; to awaken; to invoke as from Heaven; a claim on a person’s time or life.”
Have you ever encountered times in your life when you were not able to develop goals that were motivating and inspiring enough to set you in motion towards accomplishing them? Times when you couldn’t (or wouldn’t) take the time to even sit down and start writing them, regardless of how far-fetched they seemed? Did you ever think that maybe that was because you did not or have not found a “calling” in your life. Have you ever really asked yourself what it is that you were truly meant to do? What you really want to do? Your true passion? “What am I supposed to do…now?”
“Callings” as they are often referred, are often misunderstood. They can create the urge to do something significant in life – to contribute in ways that benefit others and in so doing, enhance the world in some way. I have often heard a calling being called an “Epiphany”; when something or ‘someone’ sends us a message to make a significant detour in our life, often taking us to places or doing things we would only dream about. I know what a calling is not; it is not a lightning bolt from the sky.
I know what a calling can be: it can (and often is) a divine inspiration received in the most unlikely place and at the most unexpected time; serendipity; synchronicity; a “calling” can be a vision seen in a dream; an idea or suggestion planted by a friend or associate; a chance meeting with a stranger who inspires us to do more and to be more than we really are; or greater still for me, meeting and/or connecting with seven surviving family members whose fathers, (13 total) perished in the plane crash 4 May 1970 in which I was the sole survivor. The connections span from May 1970 until the most recent email, “out of the proverbial blue” late October 2012. “Amazing Grace” indeed!
Callings can be the proverbial “knock on the door” and if we open it, our life may detour to places we only dreamed about and doing things we never risked to imagine.
A calling may require a transition in career, or take a person much deeper into whatever roles they already have – turning doctors into healers, insurance salesman into advisers in financial security, business people into entrepreneurs, university professors into men of God, and plane crash and burn survivors into speakers, authors and writers (40 plus years ago, who would’ve thunk it, EH?).
“People go from thinking about making a living through their profession to thinking about giving back to the world through the positive impact their profession can make,” said John Schuster, author of “Answering Your Call.”
Personal tragedy and the innate desire to overcome adversity can also be a great internal motivator to inspire people to, “Pass the salt and make a difference in everything they do.” And in so doing, their Purpose (Mission) in life is to make every person they meet and every place they visit a teeny-weeny better from them having been there.
How do you discover your personal calling? Geez, I thought you’d never ‘ask.’
Some people just seem to have a genetic aptitude, talent or predisposition so obvious that their answer to their calling is to develop that talent, aptitude or predisposition to its fullest extent. Such was the case of Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Billy Graham and many others throughout history.
Other people have had a clear sense of a calling since their youth. They are drawn into pursuing a dream and rise above their circumstances to make that dream a reality.
“Circumstances don’t determine a man; they reveal him.”
Most of us, through trial and error, discover that we possess a certain knack or ability for things. We encounter challenges in life that intrigue us and roles that absorb us. In turn, we make a choice and then commitments to give it our best and to not let anyone or anything stop us from accomplishing our dream, our “calling.” This process is not as visible and is less obvious to others. That’s because motivation is internal and results, however measured, are external. An important key in life is to strive for excellence and not perfection; excellence (quality), is sequential, that is, it is inside-out, not outside-in.
“In the stew of everyday problems and ordinary life tasks, we gain opportunities to do something about them. This, combined with the cultivation of our talents as we discover them, helps us arrive at our calling,” Schuster said. “They may not win us trophies, yet make all the difference to society and ourselves when we make the decision to do something worthwhile,” he added.
I have discovered many times that what we do is not nearly as important as why we chose to do it. When we do something with an open mind and an open heart, the knowledge that we have contributed positively to our family, friends and the larger community as whole, has its own rewards and “trophies.”
Discovering your calling could require that you set aside a quiet time in your busy routine and learn to listen to your inner self. Being quiet and introspective helps us to relax, refresh and re-focus on those things (and people) that are truly important and deserve our time and energy. There are also occasions when the best action is no action and knowing when to take no action comes with experience and time. Make time to take the time.
“Epiphany.” A revelatory manifestation of a divine being;a spiritual event in which the essence of a given object of manifestation appears to the subject as in a sudden flash of recognition.
Perhaps the answer will come in the form of a gentle nudge or a “sudden flash” that tells you to take a different direction in your work, in your life or both. It may also come in the form of a suggestion or ‘hint’ from a spouse or friend. The important thing is to learn to pay attention to these messages no matter how subtle, and objectively weigh their merits. The source(s) of the ‘nudge’ is often a good indication that it has merit.
Perhaps a sense of guilt will emerge when you think about your favorite hobby — telling you that time would be better spent with your children and becoming an even better parent.
You have to learn to block out society’s urgings to listen to your soul, your “second-self’s” urgings. I know from many personal experiences that prayer works; we must, however be careful for what we pray because we just might get it! Our mind is, after all a computer, Positive in, positive out. “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Here are some questions Schuster offers to help you. I have added a few of my own, too:
Have you gone against popular opinion?
Pursued a hobby others thought odd?
Looked for the depth dimensions of your ordinary job with its ordinary routines?
Asked: What does it mean to take the kids to school, to write this report, to analyze this budget, to meet this customer? How can I make this significant?
How is your ordinary life laced with meaning, if cultivated?
Made a decision to “pass the salt and make a difference” in your personal life? Your professional career?
What makes you really happy? Content?
Are you at peace with yourself?
What is the one thing you’ve meant to do but have always put it off?
When was the last time you stopped to watch a butterfly? Hummingbird? Geese in flight? Listen to the rain? Feel snow crunch under foot? Air after a rain? Smell of your mother’s hair? A baby’s breath? Given a hug? Get a hug? The examples are endless.
Even in my wildest imaginations, especially while in the Burn Unit 40 years ago, did I ever imagine that I’d be blessed to travel and invited to speak to so many different organizations, meet so many wonderful people and have so many quality friends. To write and have four books published and write for five newsletters, too.
All of my invitations have been wonderful, enjoyable and are the “Chocolate Fudge Sundae” of my life, topped with plenty of whipped cream and crushed peanuts.
The ‘cherry’ on my “Life’s Sundae,” is the invitations to address Senior Midshipmen at the US Naval Academy and Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For me, it doesn’t get any better than that! My eternal “Thanks” to all of you who played a role in all of my invitations.
So, why wait? There is no time like the present to get started. What’s in your “Bucket List?” Dreaming about a calling is just the beginning of the journey. Remember, a dream is just a dream; but a plan is a dream with goals and timelines. Oh…one other wish from me to you…God Bless you! We make our own luck.
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This article was written by and published with permission from “Captain George” J. Burk, USAF, (Ret), plane crash and burn survivor. motivational speaker, writer and author. Learn more on his website: http://www.georgeburk.com/
Now we are going to discuss the last résumé mistake in this five-part series: Using vague, over-used words and phrases.
One of the quickest ways to bring a dead résumé back to life is to avoid tired clichés. Take out your résumé, go to the section where you list your experience, and circle these three now:
1) Responsible for: “Responsible for,” “duties included,” “responsibilities included” — these words make it sound like your mother-in-law gave you some weekend chores and you are really bitter about them but you do plan to do them. Begrudgingly. Don’t use responsibility-driven words, use words that show how you take initiative instead of wait for others to tell you what to do. Nix “responsible for staff development.” Say: “Held one-to-one meetings with each department member annually to promote skills development to minimize turnover and increase the company’s skill assets.”
2) Experience/Experienced: Everybody has “experience” so it is better if you highlight your experience without using the word “experience” or “experienced” repetitively, and tie it into positive results. For example, “Created quarterly proactive investigative reports using TapRooT® software to identify and remedy production errors” is better than “Experienced in preparing investigative reports.”
3) Team player: “Team player” is so vague and annoying. You could be referring to making your famous potato salad for the annual company pitch-in. Who knows? Unless you specify just what’s great about your team playing skills you are going to look like every other self-proclaimed “team player” out there. Specify. “Worked with an investigative team of six to develop a new system of reporting that reduced downtime by 25%.”
For more information, Forbes has a great article about other résumé clichés to ditch: (Read article.)
Today we are going to talk about résumé mistake #4: Using a chronological résumé when you are trying to make a career change.
There are two basic résumé formats you can plug your years of experience into: chronological and functional.
A chronological résumé will list experience by date, with the most recent position held at the top.
A functional résumé will organize information by skill sets. These are for those individuals whose experiences don’t match their career objectives.
So, for example, if you were trying to get a job in writing and editing, but you’ve worked as an insurance executive for the past ten years, you’d want to highlight a writing/editing skill set, a volunteer position as a proofreader/editor for a charitable organization, and that staff writer job you held in college at the top of your résumé. You would not want the first three paragraphs of your résumé to be about your last three insurance jobs because the employer may never look past the second paragraph to get to the fourth paragraph where it mentions your writing and editing skills.
Sometimes job seekers will create a functional résumé when there are noticeable gaps in work experience. If someone asked me, I’d advise against that. Google search results write your personal and professional résumé these days whether you know it or not. I feel that it is important to present a clear picture of your work experience. If there are negative gaps in your work experience you are trying to hide, they will probably reveal themselves sooner or later and that will be a poor reflection on you. You could lose a job you were hired to do because you misrepresented yourself on your résumé.
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had to fight some kind of battle in his or her lifetime – layoffs, terminations, illnesses, financial woes, legal troubles, relationship problems – all of these can cause a negative gap in employment. Again, as I mentioned in a prior column, you shouldn’t reveal too much information, but find a way to explain your gaps in employment during an interview in an honest, matter-of-fact way, and show how you will take that negative experience, learn from it, and turn it into a positive for your next position.
Time to add this mistake to the list: Mistake #3 – proofreading your own work.
I admit that I waited until the last possible second to write this tip because every time I write anything about proofreading, I make a mistake that gets caught by my readers. Even word nerds and grammar geeks like me will blunder when proofing our own work. Everyone needs a proofreader for something important like a résumé.
Ask for help! A different set of eyes will spot common errors that the spell checker won’t catch, like:
Missing words. Sometimes we so familiar with what we are writing that our brains fill in words that aren’t really on the page. Sometimes get so familiar with what we are writing that our brains fill in words that aren’t really on the page. Sometimes we get so familiar with what we are writing that our brains fill in words that aren’t really on the page. You get the picture.
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently. Did you ever writetheir when you meant to write there … or maybe you meant they’re. Do you wonder who’s (or is it whose?) affected (or is that effected?). (Learn more about homonyms).
Misplaced apostrophes. An employer will overlook a careless comma or two, but start misplacing apostrophes, and they’ll wonder if you really know what you’re talking about. (Learn more about apostrophes).
The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.
~ Mark Twain
Make sure you are not the only one who has proofread your résumé before it’s sent out.
Last week, we talked about Résumé Mistake #1: Starting a résumé with an objective statement.
Today we are going to talk about Mistake #2: TMI, (“Too Much Information”). I’m referring to revealing information on your résumé that pertains to what you do when you are not at work and who you do it with.
Hobbies
Some people think that listing a hobby makes them look more interesting. Others believe that listing hobbies may strike a chord with the person doing the hiring and give them an edge. However, employers know that in your free time, you do other things besides work whether you list it or not, and it is unlikely that an employer is going to hire you based on your cool hobbies if you are not qualified. Hobbies are something that take up valuable real estate on your résumé as well as time during the interview that could be used to show why you really are qualified.
The only exception I can think of is if your hobby shows that you have a desirable character trait or skill needed for the job. For example, if you are a marathon runner, that may indicate perseverance. If you are a published writer, it may indicate a valued skill that may be transferable to the position.
There may very well be an opportunity to bring up a hobby during an interview without listing it on your resume – if you see a golf trophy in the employer’s office you could mention that you enjoy golf while you are walking with him from his office back to HR, but don’t make it the focus. Focus on how well you can do the job.
Information about Your Family
It is not necessary to disclose your marital status, children or household members on a resume. If you do, a hiring manager may start making assumptions (like, “someone single with small children may be unavailable to commit to odd hours,” “someone who is caring for an elderly parent may be burned out,” “someone who is engaged may not want to travel when planning a wedding”). Human beings have all kinds of opinions, no matter how well they’ve been trained by HR. You should be the one figuring out how to manage your personal life successfully – don’t let your potential employer make an assumption about it that may keep you from getting the interview.
Be warned, an employer can find out volumes about your family situation if they stumble upon your Facebook. It is always a good idea to keep privacy controls on your social media accounts when you are seeking a new position so that you control the information released to those outside of your family and friends circle.
Other information you should keep off your resume include your age, religion, political identity and, so long as your doctor has cleared you to work, your health status.
The key thing to remember is to use the space on your resume for information that qualifies you for the job. You are not writing a resume to make friends, you are writing it to get an interview.
Next week we’ll talk about Resume Mistake #3 of 5: Proofreading your own resume.
Whether you are looking for a new position or not, having an updated résumé is always a good idea. You never know when an unexpected opportunity may land in your lap (or an unexpected company closing or layoff may occur).
This is the first tip of five in a weekly series of top résumé mistakes to avoid.
Mistake #1: Starting a Résumé with an Objective Statement. Sorry, it’s not about you. Your potential employer doesn’t really care that you are seeking:
… a challenging position that provides growth and advancement
where I can utilize my education and experience as well as my excellent interpersonal skills.
And yet, I see this type of general objective statement all of the time. Yawn. What your employer *does* care about is how you are going to fulfill what *they* want.
Instead of an objective statement, write a summary statement that shows how perfect you are for the position. State as concisely as you can the specific expertise you have that will solve the specific problems that the employer considers a priority:
Reliability Engineer with 20 years of experience managing teams of 5 – 20 and budgets of $150K to $2 million for oil and gas companies. Recipient of 2011 global leadership award for implementing strategies that saved the company $1.5 million worldwide.
Notice a statement like this shows: who you are, for how long, how many people you’ve been responsible for, how much money you’ve managed, what field you’ve worked in and what you’ve been recognized for … all in two sentences! Now the employer can see how important you can be to his company and will be intrigued enough to read on.
This is just one of a few simple, small tweaks you can make to your résumé to make it stand out in a big way. Next Monday we’ll talk about overcoming Mistake #2: TMI
Ever begin packing for your business trip, vowing to save that $25 bag checking fee, then get so fed up with packing that you check a bag anyway? Before you shell out that unnecessary cash, check out these three thrifty packing tips you can use at the Global TapRooT® Summit next February!
1. Be Prepared.
-Make sure you bring your cell phones, laptops, cameras, tablets, and any other electronics you’ll need. Don’t forget your chargers.
-Consider stowing these handy travel items to help you in a pinch: Sewing kit, stain remover pen, duct tape, lint roller, baby wipes, power strip, and wrinkle remover spray.
-Remember the 3-1-1 rule for flying with liquids, gels, and creams in your carry-on: Each bottle must be 3 ounces or less, and all bottles must fit into a quart-sized plastic Zip bag.
-Make your laptop easy to remove from your bag; you’ll have to at airport security.
2. Keep it Simple.
-We don’t require a dress code for the Summit. Many people wear jeans. You’ll probably be comfortable in business casual attire: Khakis or black pants and a button-down shirt.
-Choose versatile items you can wear twice such as white shirts, black pants, and dark jeans.
-Roll up items you know won’t wrinkle much, like synthetic fabrics and jeans.
-Pack large items first, then fill in the gaps with smaller things like socks.
-Put items you’d like to protect from wrinkling in a dry cleaning bag in your suitcase. They’ll slide around a bit and won’t stay in one place log enough to get wrinkles.
3. Leave Room for Fun.
-In the past we’ve had a costume theme for our reception. This year we’re nixing the costumes so you can enjoy the Vegas nightlife afterward. We’re planning on schmoozing at the Flamingo’s Margaritaville so feel free to relax and wear your Hawaiian shirt, or come in whatever attire you’d like.
-Leave about ¼ of your bag free for souvenirs and course materials. But remember, the 3-1-1 Rule applies to all liquids, from salsa to snow globes, so choose your souvenirs sparingly.
-If you’re not too specific about what you use, consider leaving most of your toiletries at home. Bring only what the hotel doesn’t provide (like toothpaste, and shaving cream).
-Wear your bulkiest items on the plane, like your coat and chunky shoes.
While you’re flying to the Summit February 29-March 2 you’ll be able to rest easy and gear up for the fun and enriching days ahead. You’ll know your carry-on’s with you, and you have 25 extra bucks in your pocket to spend on enjoying Vegas!
Perfectionism is a problem on the job because at some point or another, we have to produce results. Whether it’s the investigation itself or your report, your detail-oriented mind, which is why you were hired and why you’re great at your job, can keep your focus on each tiny detail. This holds you back from getting things done.
I’m going to tell you something you may not want to hear: Perfectionists are some of the biggest procrastinators.
In a recent article Dorothy Crenshaw of Crenshaw Communications, Inc. advises that we take a step back. Reminding us that “perfect is overrated”, she doles out six bits of advice on how to cut perfectionism and procrastination, getting our work done:
“Quantify the improvement likely to come from your efforts.” Is another hour going to improve your report by 40%? Keep working. By 10%? Maybe it’s time to ask yourself if there’s something more important to prioritize.
“Get fresh eyes on the situation.” We’ve talked about this before, with proofreading, but it’s a great idea with anything. If you’re stuck on a detail at work just consult with a colleague and get a quick second opinion. The added perspective may be just what you need.
“Focus on the objective, not just the product.” When I get immersed in a project all I can see is what’s in front of me. Literally, 12 inches away from my face. What’s the goal of your report? Are you trying to convince your boss to implement corrective actions? If you think about why, it’ll help fill in the blanks of how.
“Start in the middle.” I used this tactic when writing this blog post. Some sections just seem to click better than others. If your report’s got you stuck, go to a more straightforward section, like the events of the incident. This can re-focus your mind on the task and get you back into the report.
“Set small goals.” A week in which you only get one section done per day is more productive than a week in which you try (and fail) to make time to write the whole report at once. Just say, “Today is my Incident Description day”, and get moving!
“Ask yourself, ‘How important will this be in one year?’” Chances are, your report is an essential document. But when you’re performing an investigation or writing your report, there are a lot of smaller priorities that should make you ask this question. It’s impossible to pour all your efforts into every project. Focus on the big ones, and give due (but smaller amounts) of time to the lesser items.
Although perfectionism is often praised in the workplace, there’s a time and a place for it. When perfectionism overtakes your ability to do your job, it’s time to breathe and look at your project from a different angle. Then just jump in, always knowing you can correct and proofread your report later.
Success in a job and in life requires more than just doing it well. It also requires that you have confidence in yourself. That confidence comes from your life’s experiences and strength of character and your knowledge, skills and abilities. Here are a few tips to help you enhance your positive mindset.
Shape it.
An iron will, a positive can-do spirit and attitude, not skill sets alone, will set a person apart from the crowd.
Paul Stoltz and James Reed said in “Put Your Mindset to Work” that 96% of top employers worldwide say they’d hire a person with the desired mindset over one with perfect qualifications. Ninety-one percent of them also said they would promote; 81% would grant pay raises and 68% would retain people with that positive, can-do spirit and attitude. When Stoltz and Reed asked the top employers whether a person with the right mindset develops the perfect skill set or vice versa, 98% picked the former.
“Ability has nothing to do with opportunity.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor
Develop perseverance. Develop it, nurture it and enhance it. Resilience, intensity and tenacity will help you take on the world and overcome just about anything you can imagine and even a few of life’s challenges you can’t imagine. True grit will help you improve in the workplace and in your personal endeavors, as well. The latter point is, of course, the most vital because everywhere you go, there you are. You take everything about you … with you.
“Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.” ~ Bill Russell, basketball player
Broaden the horizon. Commit and enroll yourself to understand and demonstrate a big picture (strategic) perspective of your position and your organization. Make education a continuous process by reading books and on line material to help you grasp the scope and direction of your industry. Broaden your horizon by reading books and other materials outside your professional realm and comfort zone. Read books on poetry, history, faith and spirituality. Tim Sanders, author of “Today We Are Rich: Harnessing the Power of Total Confidence” agrees and suggests to, “Read one book a month that improves your ability to lead your organization or perform in your role.” He also alludes to Napoleon Hill’s classic, “Think and Grow Rich,” which promotes brainstorming sessions to enhance specialized knowledge. Enhance your competence by learning everything about your role and the roles of others around you. In many careers, military, fire and law enforcement, to name a few, this philosophy can save a life…yours and others.
Believe you’re good. If you don’t, who will? What your mind conceives and believes, you can achieve. The faith that you can accomplish just about anything you set your mind to accomplish, coupled with your self-confidence, is rocket fuel to the mind. Then all your mind needs is a match. Success builds success and so do failures. Like the Earth’s magnetic core, our mind’s a magnetic core, too. When we experience success, our internal magnetic core (values), our competence, courage, compassion(love), integrity, duty, honor and perseverance is made stronger and more resilient with ‘pennies,’ ‘nickels’ and ‘dimes.’ However, when we experience failure and overcome adversity and choose to learn and grow, our internal magnetic core (values) are strengthened and thickened with ‘half-dollars’ and ‘silver dollars.’ A belief that you’re good is self-confidence, NOT arrogance and conceit and that you’re beyond reproach.
Rehearse before the spotlight’s focused on you. Don’t hurry through your briefing or power point presentation. Know your material and your audience! Have a dry-run with a mock audience that knows to ask relevant questions. The self-assured people I know are often calm, persuasive, innovative, not frightened to take calculated risks and have a strong sense of humor. They are open, human and vulnerable and take what they do quite seriously but never take themselves too seriously. According to Sanders, “Research indicates that confidence is as important as experience for leaders of all types.”
“Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.” ~ Zhuangzi, philosopher
Play well with others. No matter how good you are in your job or how good you THINK you are, if you demean people, talk down and embarrass them in the process the cost in terms of lost productivity, morale and potential customers is large. Similarly, if you think and behave in the same manner in your personal life, you’ll have some acquaintances but few true friends. That doesn’t equate to a list of positive references. If “Yes, he was employed here” is the only testimonial your employer provides on a referral application, the time to take a long and objective look in the mirror and an attitude adjustment is long overdue.
“I don’t let my mouth say nothin’ my head can’t stand.” ~ Louis Armstrong, musician
Challenge yourself. When you become a mentor to others, it can be up uplifting and personally rewarding. This process can help free you of old ways of thinking and break some paradigms. It can also increase your value to the organization. When you mentor others you are a mentor to yourself, too.
Share the positive vibes. When you arrive at work, don’t instinctively dive into your email, relevant news reports or answer phone calls. Take some time and inject more enthusiasm into your staff. According to Sanders, one way to do this is to change some of your phraseology. How? Change the internal script and the words you use. Ask, “What’s the good word today” instead of “how’s it going?” Similarly, when you meet with your team(s) or project partners, “Begin with an emphasis of what’s going right,” Sanders said.
Feed your mind properly. Be just as aware of what you allow into your mind as the food you put into your body. Negative-minded people and words they use; a constant focus on bad news and the repetition that often follows, your mind will eventually fill with negative thoughts, emotions and uncertainty. To the best of your ability, choose to hire and socialize with upbeat, positive minded people who have shared values, vision, purpose and goals. When you hire and associate with depressants, negative-minded, self-absorbed, over-indulgent people, their attitudes and behaviors are contagious.
“So far God, I’ve done all right. I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, self-absorbed or over-indulgent. But, in a few minutes…I’m going to get out of bed and I’m going to need a lot more help. Thank you.” ~ George’s Prayer at web site
We have two colons: one is in our gut. It’s our biological immune system. We ARE what we eat. The other colon is between our ears. It’s our mind, memory and attitude. When we fill it with good ‘food’, positive affirmations and positive images, good things will happen. I know because it’s worked for me!
“If I’d known how old I was going to be I’d have taken better care of myself.” ~ Adolph Zukor, movie mogul
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This article was reprinted with permission from the author, “Captain George” J. Burk, USAF (Ret). Captain Burk is a Vietnam veteran, plane crash & burn survivor, author & writer. Learn more about Captain Burk on his website: http://www.georgeburk.com.
Sticking to the old “one slide per minute” rule? It may be ruining your presentations.
In a recent article Brad Phillips, president of Phillips Media Relations, tells us that this ‘one slide per minute’ rule gives presenters an excuse to pack their slides with too much information.
This either causes you to read the slide verbatim (in essence, inviting your audience to a nap), or it forces your audience to read your slide while you’re saying something different. The latter option prevents your audience from hearing what you have to say and completely understanding you.
What does Phillips recommend we do? When you create each slide, ask yourself three questions:
1. “Does this slide visually represent what I’m saying verbally?”
Use compelling visuals, rather than droning bullet lists, to illustrate your point.
2. “Is this slide intended to help me remember what to say next, or for the audience to better understand the concept I’m trying to explain?”
Think about your audience, not yourself when you create slides.
3. “Do I need to have a slide at all?”
You may express your point more effectively simply with a verbal explanation than with an unnecessary slide.
Here are a couple great career development resources posted here on the Root Cause Analysis blog that you may have missed:
Management Presentations – 3 Design Essentials: Make sure your visual aids have relevant content, readable text, and professional graphics and you’ll wow your management (Read post).
Practice, Prepare, and Present to Management: Once you’ve created a professional, streamlined management presentation, you need to get ready for the meeting and practice, prepare, and finally present (Read post).
Earn CEUs at the Global TapRooT® Summit! You may document the terrific training and facilitation you receive during the Summit and apply those credits toward your professional development training program. By attending all the sessions in your selected track, you will earn 2.0 CEUs.
Additionally, several of the pre-Summit courses being held on February 27 and 28, 2012 are also worth CEUs. Both the 2-Day Incident Investigator Course and the 2-day Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting Course are worth 1.6 CEUs. By attending one of these pre-Summit courses, and then receiving the outstanding training offered during the Summit, you have the opportunity to earn a total of 3.6 CEUs.
REGISTER today and earn CEU Credits toward your professional development in February 2012!
Are you finished conducting your TapRooT® Investigation, and wading through the marshes of report writing and proofreading? Don’t make a mistake like the one in this photo. Take a look at these 10 proofreading tips that will help you write a professional, thorough investigation report.
1.) Rest. You’ve been working those cogs and pistons in your head to conduct your investigation and write your report. Once it’s finished, set your report aside until tomorrow to proofread. If there’s no time for that, grab a cup of coffee and come back to it in 15 minutes. You’ll catch more errors and see it with fresh eyes.
2.) Print it out. We read differently on the screen than on paper, so you’re likely to catch more errors this way.
3.) Concentrate. Close your door, turn off your e-mail notifications, and silence that cell phone, if only for 30 minutes. You’ll be able to focus on each detail of your report and proofread much more thoroughly.
4.) Read it aloud, Read it backward, and Read it multiple times. All these will prevent your eyes from correcting and missing errors on the page, and help you catch your errors more effectively.
5.) Check your facts. Don’t forget the numbers in your charts and graphs, too.
6.) Use spell-check, dictionary, and online grammar resources if you’re not sure about a rule. Don’t fully rely on your spell-check, however; it doesn’t catch homonyms such as there, their, and they’re. Try MerriamWebster.com, EnglishGrammar.org, and Purdue’s Online Writing Lab.
7.) Know thyself. Find out your most frequent errors, and create your own proofreading checklist that reflects these and other important details. Remember grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typographical errors.
8.) Eliminate unnecessary words or information. Example: “The choice of exogenous variables in relation to multi-collinearity is contingent upon the derivations of certain multiple correlation coefficients.” vs. “Supply determines demand.” (Courtesy of Purdue’s Online Writing Lab.)
9.) Keep your audience in mind. Read through your report, putting yourself in your reader’s shoes. Use appropriate tone, vocabulary, and formatting so your audience will understand exactly what you’re communicating.
10.) Peer Edit. There’s no way you can catch everything. Ask your most honest, detail-oriented peer to proofread your report. Don’t take offense when he finds mistakes; you’ll thank him for not letting you turn in your report to the “Unclear Regulatory Commission!”
Use these 10 tips and you’ll never submit a rough, unprofessional investigation report again. Learn how to conduct an investigation at one of our TapRooT® Courses!
Photo Courtesy of AP Photo/News & Record, Joseph Rodriguez.
Picture this: you’re sitting around the conference room table and everyone is expressing an opinion on an important business matter. Common ground and a consensus needs to be reached but the more the matter is discussed, the tighter each individual clings to his or her own position. Why is this happening? Because people will naturally defend their individual positions and disregard contrary information!
How can this be avoided? When there is an important matter to be discussed, make sure the meeting facilitator presents all the facts before opening the matter up for discussion. Many times meetings are conducted the opposite way — with everyone chiming in before there is a clear picture of what the matter really is.
The decision will be the right one if the group hears all the details first and no one has to “save face” by pushing for a decision that is not the right one for the company.
Do you feel there are two or three employees who dominate every meeting? Are eye rolls a common workout routine at your company meetings? Oh … wait, maybe eyes aren’t rolling. Because. They. Are. Shut. Everyone is lulled to sleep by the familiar sound of the same voices over and over and over …
Don’t let your next meeting sound like this Charlie Brown classroom scene:
Meeting facilitators can encourage more balanced participation among the staff. Here are four simple ways to conduct a more productive meeting:
1. Encourage active listening. Open the meeting by setting simple ground rules, that one person speak at a time, and that each speaker proceeds uninterrupted until he or she is finished speaking.
2. Make eye contact with each speaker, and address each speaker by name. “Thank you for your input, Debbie.” “David, did you have something to add?”
3. Watch body language around the table. Being aware of non-verbal communication is a simple way to identify employees who want to participate, but feel frustrated because they keep getting cut off.
4. Remain neutral until all points are presented. Providing feedback after each person speaks may intimidate others from speaking. You may miss some very good ideas if you don’t wait until everyone has a chance to speak.
Encouraging balanced participation at meetings builds morale, a spirit of cooperation and gives those who aren’t naturally outspoken an opportunity to contribute to the good of the company. Practicing these skills will help you become a valued and respected meeting facilitator.
All of these major areas of life, including career, work together for the good of all, and if there is a deficiency in one area, career development will suffer from it. Zig Ziglar said, “I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.”
This week, we are focusing on the last major area of life: careers. To develop a good career development strategy, it’s important to first identify your passions and skills. This opens and focuses your mind to finding fulfilling work that fits your needs.
At the 2009 and 2010 TapRooT® Summit, Dave Janney led an excellent best practice session to help attendees develop a successful career plan. This presentation included:
This is a valuable resource for making a career plan because:
Goal setting is more effective than sitting around waiting for a lucky break.
Defining and visualizing your perfect job is more effective than hoping your next job will be a perfect fit.
Understanding your strengths is more effective than allowing yourself to be placed in a position that you can’t do well.
Life is easier when we are working a job we not only love but can feel pride and accomplishment performing. Work-Life balance isn’t better time management, it’s making better choices in every area of life and enjoying those choices.
Attention to career development is the final piece of the stress-free life balance puzzle we’ve been putting together the past seven weeks. Take a few minutes to update your intentions in career development on your life balance chart (from Week One) and make them happen, for yourself and for all of the important people in your life. Best wishes for an amazing journey!
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director at System Improvements, Inc. and is a Certified Professional Coach.
This week’s topic is finances. When you look at it on paper, managing finances is easy. I mean, it boils down to three simple categories:
1. Managing money that comes in (addition);
2. Managing money that goes out (subtraction); and
3. Managing savings/investments (a hopeful multiplication).
But for most of us, managing money is much more than a simple math equation.
Fortunately, there are many great resources for getting finances on track ranging from Dave Ramsey’s baby steps to hiring a certified financial planner.
The focus of this column is to examine finances within the context of life balance, i.e., how finances relate to the areas of life we’ve been discussing – spirituality, relationships, careers, emotional wellness and physical wellness. Knowing how each area relates to another helps us to recognize where to make positive changes so they all work together for good:
Spirituality: There are many forms of spiritual abundance including love, gratitude, appreciation of nature, freedom and purpose. Have you become disconnected from the spiritual things that money can’t buy? If our deepest needs are not met, there will never be enough money to satisfy that deficit.
Relationships: Finances can make or break a couple. Dreams and goals should not only be shared but also achieved as a team. Have you developed a plan to eliminate debt with your partner? Does your partner know what you spend money on? Do you agree to save money every payday for emergencies? Making good financial decisions jointly is critical in sustaining a healthy, long-term relationship.
Career: Many people live in bondage to a job because they can’t afford to leave it. What would you do today if money wasn’t the goal? Are you working in a career that makes you happy, something that you are passionate about or are you working in a career only because it provides enough money to cover your bills? Becoming debt free gives you unlimited choices for how you can spend your time.
Emotional Wellness: Closely held beliefs and emotions influence our financial success. A belief formed in childhood that you will never be financially prosperous can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stress, depression, fear and anxiety are toxic emotions that keep us from thinking clearly. Emotional well-being is essential for making positive, life-changing financial decisions.
Physical Wellness: Medical bills are the #1 reason for personal bankruptcy. Surprisingly, a 2007 Harvard study indicated that 78% of bankruptcy filers had medical insurance at the start of their illnesses. Do you have enough money to care for your family if you became so ill that you couldn’t work for six months? Returning to work after a serious illness because you need the money (as opposed to returning to work because you have had time to heal) sets yourself up for another catastrophic medical illness.
Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, wrote that multimillionaires from the Forbes 400 list aren’t much happier than the average person. In his book, he emphasizes that once basic human needs are met, more money doesn’t equal more happiness. However, many people believe, live and work as though more money is the answer to all of their problems.
Examine your life balance chart and evaluate how finances are affecting your spiritual life, relationships, career, emotional wellness and physical wellness. Set some intentions this week that will strengthen your finances, and you will continue to experience a positive ripple effect in the other core areas of your life for improved life balance.
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director at System Improvements, Inc. and is a Certified Professional Coach. Next week we’ll focus on the last topic in this series: Careers.
This week we are setting positive intentions for emotional wellness.
No matter how well we plan, unexpected problems will rear their ugly heads from time to time. Even positive changes like a promotion or new house can bring new challenges that cause emotional upheaval.
The good news is that every stressful situation will eventually pass. Here are five things to do when emotional turmoil strikes:
1. Accept responsibility for your own feelings. Instead of thinking, “that person makes me angry,” recognize that it’s you who chooses to be angry when the other person behaves in a certain way. No one can force you to feel one way or the other.
2. Create routines that make your life easier. Structure and routine won’t stop an unexpected crisis from happening, but it will provide a stronger foundation from which to cope with the negative event. For example, it is easier to deal with rushing out of town for an emergency if your routine is to keep your clothing dry cleaned and in good repair so that all you have to do is put them in a suitcase.
3. When an unexpected crisis happens, learn from it. Take a few minutes to reflect on the event after it has passed. How could you avoid a situation like that in the future? Visualize a positive outcome to the same scenario.
Sometimes unexpected problems serve as warning signals. For example, if you are late for an appointment because you can’t find your keys, and then you can’t find your destination because you didn’t have time to verify the address before leaving, these small annoyances could be warning signals that you need to slow down and organize your things/schedule before something much worse happens.
4. Don’t cut yourself off from your community. A research study indicated that people who lacked social and community ties were 1.9 to 3.1 times more likely to die prematurely than those with more extensive contacts. Sometimes negative emotions like grief, sadness, embarrassment and shame create within us a tendency to close the doors to others when a crisis strikes. Keep in mind that whatever you’re going through, someone else has gone through it as well, and they can help us navigate the path back to emotional wellness.
5. Breathe. Just a few minutes of focused, relaxed breathing will quickly dissipate anger and fear. Deep breathing has an anti-stress affect on our bodies. Read “Stress Management: Breathing Exercises for Relaxation” on WebMD.com for more information about this simple yet powerful coping tool.
These are just a few things that can help you strengthen your emotional well-being. For more information about evaluating how you react to stress and helpful techniques for overcoming stress, see Stress Management: Reexamine Your Stress Reactions at MayoClinic.com.
How do you rate yourself on emotional wellness? Update your life balance chart and set some healthy intentions for the week to strengthen your emotional wellness.
Next week we’ll be highlighting ways to improve personal finances. Until then, continue to let me know how you are doing and if there are any places we’ve covered that you feel stuck.
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director at System Improvements, Inc. and is a Certified Professional Coach.
This week the focus is spirituality. I’m not referring to religion or church although both may be a healthy part of your spiritual practice. Nurturing spirituality is caring for that part of yourself that is not your mind or your physical self. Spirituality refers to intangibles that include a feeling of being connected, flashes of insight that go beyond logic, compassion/ability to sacrifice for a greater good and a deep and abiding joy that surprises you even in the midst of crisis.
If anyone is struggling with an addiction of any kind, keeping this area of life healthy is the best thing you can do for yourself. An addiction literally steals your soul, and that is why so many recovering addicts find a way out of their personal hell through a spiritual path.
Are you highly skeptical of developing your spiritual life? Time Magazine published an interesting self-assessment, “How Spiritual Are You” that may give clues as to how resistant or open you are to developing spiritually. The quiz is adapted from a personality inventory created by Robert Cloninger, author of Feeling Good: The Science of Well-Being:
There are many spiritual practices you may choose to add to your life balance chart to improve your spiritual life. These include: prayer, gratitude, forgiveness, belief in a higher power, worship of a higher power, appreciating nature, music, art, meditation, religious reading materials, positive thinking, volunteering and journaling. However, today we are focusing on only one spiritual dimension: discovering meaning and purpose for your life.
Understanding your life’s purpose is important because once you define what’s most important, you can be less distracted by unimportant things and feel less stressed. You will then relax into a deepened sense of peace about your place in this big world and understand how your life fits into the greater good. It’s learning to breathe.
In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey, 1989), the second habit is “Begin with the End in Mind.” Sometimes success obtained before developing this habit comes at a price, and costs you other things that you never intended to lose because they had far greater value. I can’t help but think about how many divorces or chronic health issues could be avoided if everyone knew how to begin with the end in mind.
In simpler terms, my grandmother would say, “Be careful what you wish for ’cause you just might get it.”
Habit 2 is based on the principle that everything that happens in our lives is created twice, once with the thought of it, and again when it actually materializes. Beginning with the end in mind is creating your ideal life in thought so it can materialize in the real world. You will be much more effective at making your dreams materialize if you create a written mission statement based on your ideas. If you take the time to create a mission statement, you empower yourself. The alternative is pressing the “life-by-default” button allowing other people or circumstances to create your life experience. I value freedom to create my own life, don’t you?
Creating a personal mission statement requires some personal reflection. FranklinCovey.com offers an online tool that can help you through step-by-step (Build a Mission Statement). All that is required to access this free tool is your name and e-mail address.
On the way home from the Harry Potter premiere last weekend, I remembered reading a 2008 Harvard commencement speech delivered by Potter’s author, J.K. Rowling that sums it all up. J.K. Rowling, herself, has been reported to struggle with spirituality, and failed many times before the Potter series gained wildly popular recognition:
“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
Developing spirituality is removing all of the layers of yourself and discovering what is really essential. Each person must define the personal ethical guidelines within which to express and fulfill his or her life purpose. Creating a personal mission statement and beginning with the end in mind means actively working within your personal vision for the life you want to live, and making it happen. Exciting stuff!
PS: We are halfway through this series on creating a healthy, purpose-filled life. Since we have covered physical wellness, relationships and spirituality you may have discovered that an intention you set in one column of your chart actually builds strength in many columns. For example, if one of your intentions is to walk a mile every day for your physical health, this very act may help you emotionally and spiritually. If you intend to walk with someone else, it will help in the area of relationships. Be encouraged! You are doing more than you think you are even if you are only working on one or two intentions each week.
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director at System Improvements, Inc. and is a Certified Professional Coach.
A successful career, emotional wellness, good relationships, spirituality/sense of purpose, solid finances and physical wellness are all part of the foundation for a happy, fulfilled life. They all work together to make life great. If you don’t take care of yourself in each one of these six areas, sooner or later your life will start cracking around the weak spot, and then it will cave in on it. (Download a plan to live your best life.)
In the first column of this series, we talked about how work-life balance (getting intentions straight between career and life) is not as clear-cut as the term implies. Last week, we talked about optimizing physical wellness (Read that article here). Today, we are going to focus on good relationships.
Here are three ways to enjoy better relationships with our family and friends that include staying present, setting healthy boundaries and making time for play (yes, the fun stuff, remember that?):
1. Be Present for Others
In the 1960′s, families would gather around the table and bow their heads to give thanks for the food. In 2011, heads are still down but it’s because we are all texting or surfing the web. Communicating through the computer via social media sites and e-mail and carrying a cell phone everywhere seem like relationship builders on the surface, but instead of bringing families and friends closer together, it’s causing us to be more distracted, and thus, more disconnected on a deeper level. We live in an over-wired age.
” … we now encounter around 5,000 distractions [per day] by constantly checking messages from phones, emails, IM’s, wall posts, tweets and more.” (How to Live without a Cell Phone, HowToGetFocused.com).
Wow! 5,000 distractions each day. Sometimes it is necessary to disconnect from technology to stay present.
It also helps to be aware of barriers to being present that don’t have anything to do with technology:
1. Thinking about other things and only pretending to listen to someone.
2. Thinking about what to say next before the other person has stopped speaking.
3. Feeling defensive about what someone is saying – reading too much into the other person’s intention.
Also, sometimes a change of scenery is a great thing. Get out of the house, or anywhere away from your normal environment so you can just be present and enjoy being with your friends and family instead of thinking about your to-do list or seeing what needs to be done at home.
If you can afford it, hire help with weekly tasks (like cutting the lawn or cleaning the house) that take you away from relationship building or get the family involved in getting tasks done instead of leaving all the work to one person. Just make sure you set your intention for the extra hour or two you gain on building relationships and not on Facebook!
When building strong relationships, there is no substitute for being present.
2. Set Healthy Boundaries
Have you ever noticed that the people that lay blame and guilt on others for not supporting or loving them enough are usually the same people who continue to selfishly do whatever they want? “When you love someone you never give up” is sometimes the banner waved by people who refuse to get their lives together.
Not allowing an adult to drain you because he or she needs to get on track but refuses seek help isn’t selfish, it’s self-preservation. Take care of yourself first so you have energy to take care of the people who really care about you. It is not fair to always ask friends and family who care about your well-being to take a back seat to someone who really doesn’t.
It’s not always easy to spot manipulation. It’s easy to set boundaries with people we don’t care much about, and much harder with those we love deeply. However, we are responsible for how others treat us including our adult children, spouses, siblings and close friends. Our boundaries are filters permitting what is acceptable in our lives and what is not.
Go beyond just setting the boundaries and hoping they are respected. They will be challenged as sure as the sun will set tonight. Speak up when boundaries are challenged. Talk to the person as soon as you notice the boundary has been ignored. Don’t look the other way and hope it won’t happen again, or keep quiet (which will only feed your resentment). Communicate honestly and calmly to keep your healthy boundaries in place.
Learn more about how to be assertive, reduce stress and communicate better with others at MayoClinic.com.
3. Play
In my former life, before two cancer diagnoses, I was someone who felt play was a waste of time. Even when my older kids were little and I took them to the park, I wouldn’t play with them. I’d sit on a bench and talk to another parent, or read a book. Fortunately, I learned the value of play while I still have a daughter at home, and even though all of my other children are now adults, we enjoy playing when we get together.
In my family, we started with an indoor skydiving trip that was not only fun, but was also a bonding experience for the whole family. (There is nothing like a daring adventure to bring people together – the liability release we were required to sign made us wonder if we’d even live through it!) We do lots of fun things together: hike in the mountains, ride roller coasters, go bowling and play Frisbee in the backyard. Learning to play again is one of the best things I’ve done for my relationships.
What do you do with your family for no other reason but to have fun? Studies cited by the National Institute for Play (yes, that’s a real organization – sounds like a great place to work!) indicate that play refreshes a long-term adult-adult relationship. Playful interactions promote an atmosphere for easy connection with others and deeper, more rewarding relationships. Play brings laughter and happiness to life, and is a great way to relieve stress.
Try thinking of one activity you can do with your family and friends just for fun and put it on the calendar this month. You’ll never regret fun moments spent with the people you love.
So, how would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 in the area relationships? Update the chart you started in week one and add some new intentions for being present for others, setting healthy boundaries and making fun memories. If you do not have a chart developed yet, download the worksheet to help you get started.
Next week we will talk about spirituality. In the meantime, please leave your feedback and let us know how you are doing or if there is any place you are getting stuck.
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director at System Improvements, Inc. and is a Certified Professional Coach.
If you missed the first two columns in this series, you can read them here:
In last week’s column, we talked about how work-life balance (getting intentions straight between career and life) is not as clear-cut as the term implies.
A successful career, emotional wellness, good relationships, sense of purpose, solid finances and physical wellness are all part of the foundation for a happy, fulfilled life. They all work together to make life great. If you don’t take care of yourself in each one of these six areas, sooner or later your life will start cracking around the weak spot, and then it will cave in on it. (Download a plan to live your best life.)
This week we are going to focus on physical wellness. You can’t succeed in your career if you are out on sick leave or constantly plagued with sickness. It doesn’t take much slacking off in the area of physical wellness before you start feeling the ill effects. If we don’t practice good health habits, we can lose important achievement opportunities. I learned this early in life.
I was a good basketball player in high school, and we had an exceptional player on our team named Tanya. Our coach’s game strategy was pass-the-ball-to-Tanya because she would get it in 99.9% of the time. I gave it my personal best as a player, but I got bored with this game strategy my senior year and started slacking off at practice. Then Tanya got injured and the game changed to pass-the-ball-to-Barb. I was so unprepared! I had stopped giving my personal best at practice and was completely out-of-shape. By the second half I was barely breathing so coach changed the game again to pass-the-ball to-somebody-else. All I have from four years of playing varsity basketball is this unhappy memory of completely blowing the chance to play my best game ever.
Lesson learned: To achieve a personal “10″ in any area of life, I must concentrate on myself without being distracted by what others are achieving.
Let’s get our heads into the game keeping in mind that everyone has a different level of personal best. For example, if you have a chronic illness, your personal best at exercise may be walking the dog at night while your co-worker is running marathon laps around the track at lunch. Give 100% to what you can do for your physical wellness, even if it is only 20% of what your co-worker is doing. It’s all about feeling as physically well as you, personally, can feel. You never know when preparation will meet opportunity and the ball is going to get passed to you. It’s not always the person with natural talent who gets the opportunity, sometimes it’s the one who is giving his or her personal 100%.
Here are three tips on taking care of your physical wellness:
1. Get an annual physical and preventive care exam. Even if you feel healthy, a thorough preventive care exam can detect early, non-symptomatic signs of disease. An exam can identify risks of future health problems by reviewing your family history and help you put preventive lifestyle changes in place. No one can identify the gaps in your wellness routine better than your doctor. If you don’t do anything else for your wellness this year, get an annual physical and preventive care exam. It may save your life. I have survived cancer twice because it was detected in preventive care exams before any symptoms occurred, once at age 41 and a new one at age 48. Stop reading this article and call now for an appointment.
2. Review and incorporate healthy habits in daily life. Thereare many lifestyle factors that we need to review regularly to ensure that we are taking care of our physical health. Some of these include getting enough physical activity, eating foods that feed our cells and make our bodies strong, sleeping enough hours each night and drinking enough water. It is important to set intentions on our charts and review them regularly because this is real life we are living … it’s easy to abandon good habits before we realize it and suffer needless consequences. For more ideas to incorporate into your daily plan, read 10 Health Habits that Will Help You Live to 100 (US News & World Reports, February 20, 2009).
3. Employ Healthy Workplace Practices. Don’t check your healthy habits at the door when you enter your workplace each day. It’s easy to get busy at work and not take a break for a nutritious lunch and a walk, or to skip important safeguards while performing routine tasks. It’s also easier to complain about the work you are expected to do than to sit down with the management team and work out a plan to make your workday better. Don’t take the easy way. Your physical health is important, and not enjoying your job can do significant harm to your physical health. (And don’t forget, a TapRooT® root cause analysis course can help you proactively improve your workplace practices!)
How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 in the area of physical wellness? Update the chart you started last week and add some new intentions. If you do not have a chart developed yet, download the worksheet to help you get started.
Next week we will talk about improving relationships. In the meantime, please leave your feedback and let us know how you are doing or if there is any place you are getting stuck.
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director at System Improvements, Inc. and is a Certified Professional Coach.
If you missed the first column in this series, you can read it here:
Too many people fail at their careers because they invest too much of themselves in their careers.
What?
Yes. That’s not a typo. Too many people fail at their careers because they invest too much of themselves in their careers.
We’ve received all the evidence we need in the past few years. Economy woes left many workers who practiced career-dedication-without-a-vacation in the dust. It was survival of the fittest, and those workers who:
lacked strong relationships with their families and friends
neglected their physical health for their careers
were not prepared emotionally for the economic challenges
were living lifestyles above their means
did not understand the purpose of their lives
found themselves in crisis situations, including divorce, chronic health problems, depression, bankruptcy and severe consequences from decisions made from a place of fear. And it’s not over.
There is an important spiritual truth we all learn: What we give our attention to grows. The danger is when the growth in career development swallows up every other important area of our lives, like one ravenous, out-of-control Pac-Man. We’ve all heard of the person with the wildly successful career who passed away one month after retiring. Minus the career, life didn’t exist. Literally.
Work-life balance = getting intentions straight between career and life. Everybody wants it. Countless books and articles have been published about it. But is it a realistic goal? I don’t think so. At least it’s not as clear-cut as the term implies. Why?
Life involves more than a neatly sliced one-half of the pie. A successful career is just one aspect of a great life, it is not half of the pie. A great life also includes: 1) physical wellness, 2) solid relationships, 3) emotional wellness, 4) spirituality/sense of purpose and 5) money to do the things we want to do. These five essential areas must be sliced into unsatisfying slivers from the remaining half of the pie when we give career alone the other one-half. When we feel pain in life, it’s usually a hunger for one of the six essential areas that we are not feeding properly.
The term “work-life balance” suggests that if we put too many hours into “work” … we have a less fulfilling “life.” This is not true. It’s so much more than simply dividing hours between “work” and “life”. When I checked my lottery ticket numbers today, I accepted that I will have to spend more hours at work this week than I will doing anything else. So what? That doesn’t mean I don’t get to have a “life” this week. Ready or not, life will happen for me with or without my participation. I intend to create what I want to happen, rather than allow it to happen to me.
It’s time to get innovative about creating a balanced, fulfilled life, and the first step in doing that is recognizing it’s not career versus life. A better approach to a balanced life is setting intentions in all six major areas of life: career, physical wellness, relationships, emotional wellness, spirituality and finances. I prefer the word “intention” over the word “priority” because to me, an intention is something I will do, a priority is something that makes me bristle, but I probably should do it (like something my mother tells me to do). The word “priority” is overused by everyone to the point that no one stops to think about its meaning. People go setting priorities all over the place but none of them really happen.
But creating a balanced, fulfilled life will take years of coaching and hundreds of dollars, right? Wrong! You can begin living your best life in less than one hour, and I’m going to give away the secrets simply because you are a valued TapRooT® friend and expert.
Let’s get started:
A. In a notebook, create a chart with the six essential areas of life as headings:
1. Career
2. Physical Wellness
3. Relationships
4. Emotional Wellness
5. Spirituality
6. Finances
Tip: For you SnapCharT® experts, write each heading on separate Post-It Note and stick them across a wall or a project board. If you don’t want anyone to see it, my favorite place to build a chart is on the back of my bedroom door. I see it every night when I close the door, but my guests never see it.
B. Next to each heading, rate yourself: 1 = completely out-of-balance, 10 = enjoying maximum lifestyle benefits.
C. Step back and identify the gaps. What would it take to get each rating to a 10? For example, a person choosing a “7” rating in physical wellness may exercise and eat well, but recognizes that to get to a “10”, it is necessary to schedule an annual physical, drink 2 more glasses of water each day and sleep 8 hours per night at least five days per week.
D. Brainstorm ideas that maximize the lifestyle benefits for each of the six headings. These are your intentions. Every good thing begins with an intention. List your positive intentions under each heading. You are creating the life you want.
Tip: If you are not sure what types of intentions you can be setting under each heading, we will break down each heading category over the next six weeks in this column and walk you through, step-by-step.
E. Review your intentions each week. Revise your ratings for each heading so you can see your progress.
Tip: If you have rated yourself poorly in several areas, don’t take on too much at once. Try mastering one or two intentions every week. You will begin to see the benefits, and it will motivate you to continue.
Over the next six weeks, this Tuesday column will discuss how to harmonize your career with physical wellness, relationships, emotional wellness, spirituality and finances. (Read next column in this series on physical wellness here.)
Even though “work-life” balance is the popular buzzword, what people are really seeking when they use that term is meaning and purpose in their lives. If your inner Pac-Man is out-of-control, stay with me and keep this in mind until next week: Going to sleep with a dream and waking up with a purpose is one of the best things you can do for career development.
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Barb Phillips is the Editorial Director for System Improvements and is a Certified Professional Coach. Next week’s column in this series will be about physical wellness.
Some managers believe that listening is not an important skill … that it’s a given and anyone can do it. However, improving this skill is essential to reducing employee turnover, gaining respect from employees and increasing productivity in the office. Listening to your employees should be a manager’s #1 task. After all, employees are the ones who represent the company brand, execute the company strategy and build the company. Every company depends on management’s listening skills.
Here are three ways to become a better listener:
Get Out of Your Office: Make a point to take a few minutes occasionally to ask your employees how they are doing, how their workload is and if they have any ideas to discuss. Make yourself approachable so that you do not hear about problems after they have already blown up, and so you get the facts first hand.
Acknowledge What You Hear: Acknowledge feedback in a non-judgmental way. This doesn’t mean decisions or changes need to be made immediately. Paraphrase or rephrase what has been said before you respond. Don’t ignore what an employee is saying simply because you do not agree with it. “I hear what you’re saying and I’ll take this into consideration” goes a long way sometimes.
Don’t Interrupt: When you interrupt, you make the speaker feel like what he thinks is not important. Make eye contact and use affirmative body language. If necessary, write down any questions you have while someone is talking so that you can ask for clarification after he is finished. Encourage the speaker to continue by saying, “I just want to make a quick note to follow-up what you are saying, but please continue your thought.”
Everyone enjoys working at a company where they feel valued. Improving listening skills is an investment in employee relationships that will improve the company’s work environment and profit. Earning the trust and respect of your employees is a valued accomplishment.
To do two things at once is to do neither. ~ Publius Syrus
made me think about what I’m really doing when I multi-task: many things at once, but none very well.
The ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment while maintaining an emphasis on quality sounds like a desirable trait for the workplace. In fact, it is one of the most requested job skills. But is it truly desirable? Does “multitasking” really help us get the job done? Not according to research.
Interruptions hinder our ability to process information, and this is bad news since the average office worker is interrupted every 11 minutes:
“… researchers found that the employees devoted an average of just 11 minutes to a project before the ping of an e-mail, the ring of the phone or a knock on the cubicle pulled them in another direction. Once they were interrupted, it took, on average, a stunning 25 minutes to return to the original task–if they managed to do so at all that day.” (TIME)
Multi-tasking is not really doing more than one thing at once, it is actually switching attention from one thing to another very rapidly so that it seems like more than one thing is getting done simultaneously. Similar tasks compete to use the same part of the brain so it is impossible to do them at the same time. Even if the tasks are not at all similar, they can still overwhelm the brain when we try to do too many at one time.
How can you maintain efficiency during the day? Here are 3 easy tips:
1. Follow the 80/20 rule. Use the first 1.5 hours or so (20%) of your day concentrating on the most critical task, and you will enjoy progress even though distractions come later. (Checking e-mail does not qualify as a concentrative task!)
2. Speaking of e-mail, don’t reply to an e-mail if it is not necessary. Even a simple “thanks” can start a chain of time-consuming e-mails that are disruptive, not productive.
3. Work for 10 minutes every day on that nagging task you dread. One of two things will happen: 1) After the first 10 minutes you’ll decide to continue and finish it up for good or 2) you will finish a little each day – but you will finish much sooner than if you keep procrastinating.
Sometimes by doing less, we may accomplish even more. A little focus can go a long way in getting the work done!
Core: That which is solid and practical in character, quality and importance. Syn: substance, gist, pith, purport.
Values: Important and enduring beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good and desirable and what is not.
To improve an organization’s effectiveness, it should have a clear set of core values by which it functions. Examples of core values include honesty, integrity, compassion, competence, commitment, courage, safety first, quality, placing the customer first,servant leadership, and a sense of humor and/or fun in the workplace. A clearly written core values blueprint provides future employees a clear sense of the organization’s culture and what’s expected of them. It also gives current employees the blueprint of what is expected when they interact with each other and external clients. This writer and Ann Rhoades, author of “Built on Values,” offer a few ways to develop the core values blueprint.
Solicit feedback. Honest, open and timely feedback from people who will tell you what you need to know, not what they think you want to hear. That’s one basic tenet of an outstanding leader: “don’t shoot the messenger.”
Rob Galford, partner at Concord. Mass. – based “Center for Leading Organizations,” says that regardless if you’re fine-tuning your organizations’ values statement or developing a new one, determine what your staff believes the organization’s values are, what they mean to them and what they should be. My 50 plus years experience knowing and working with many great leaders has shown me that an organizations’ values blueprint is best developed and understood if the leaders have their own values blueprints. The blueprint should be sequential and seamless; just there and acted upon without any hesitation or mental reservation. Asking your staff what the values should be is more effective than you telling them what you think the values blueprint should be. It’s the subtle but important difference between “buying in” and “committing and enrolling.”
“No great performance ever came from holding back.”
~ Don Greene, performance coach
Be realistic. To be effective and realistic, an organization’s core values statement must demonstrate to the employees how they should respond in specific circumstances.Givethem precise real life examples that would test their core values, Galford said.
Test the Values Plan. “After an organization develops itscore values blueprint, the next step is for leaders to test the values blueprint with their staff,” says Rhoades. Visit the employees in their work sites and ask them if they think it will work. Do they understand it? Will they commit and enroll in the values plan? The strategy is to “see if it’s something your people can live up to,” she said.
Hire to the culture. Recruit, interview and hire people who, as best as can be determined, live and weave the values and behaviors you seek. One way is to present a specific situation that tests their commitment to the values of ethics, integrity, teamwork, quality, and other values you aim to build upon in your organization and team. “We looked for people who would put their job on the line by telling the truth,” Rhoades said of her days as chief people officer at Southwest Airlines and as a founding executive at Jet Blue Airways.
Focus on the individual(s). Organizations can write as many values statement as they care to but it will have little or no significance if the people don’t believe in it. The blueprint depends on leadership and the people. For example, remember Enron? The company had a great list of principles that included trust before it crashed amid all the criminal charges and the destroyed lives it left in its wake, inside and outside of the firm. I know from my own personal experiences that values statements that tout integrity, trust, respect, quality or other core values, the leadership and the employees must live them to be effective. The values don’t start and stop at the front door. They’re weaved into a person’s mind; it’s automatic; they live it, walk it, talk it and follow the core values without hesitation.“(Core) Values are much more in how we live and the decisions we make than anything in a statement,” Galford said.
“Perfect valor is to do without witness what one would do before all the world.”
~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld, writer
Follow-up. This is an important step. Said another way, “Establish accountability.” “It’s important to insure the role you want values to play in the organization,” Galford says. Weave the values statement into the employee’s performance reviews and professional development plans. Assign a specific percentage of their performance on how effective they lived up to the organization’s value principles. Title it, “Organization’s Core Values Performance” or similar statement that captures what you want to measure. Assign a percentage or weighted factor for it, e.g. 10%, 15%. Critical evaluation elements within it may include customer satisfaction, employee performance, department production or other measurable criteria. Turnover is another element if a supervisor fails to apply the core values with their staff. It’s important to assign the critical evaluation criteria sufficient weight to show its importance but not too much weight to the detriment of other performance evaluation criteria.
“Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”
~ Yogi Berra, baseball player
Analyze results. Establish a way to measure the results of the (new) core values system that can be reflected in improved customer service, quality, mission/training effectiveness, and/or employee morale.
Establish recognition. People’s actions are the reflections of their attitudes. How they think is how they act or act-out. Their actions are often a direct result from the incentives they are provided. Remember the analogy of the carrot and the stick or of a certain type of animal that sits on its arse and refuses to budge. Reward more for the right kind of attitudes and behaviors and improved attitudes and behaviors is what you’ll most often receive. Reward, not just in terms of money, which is always welcomed, but reward for tangible rewards: honesty, character, customer service, and training completed, and so on. Regardless of the type of rewards, make them public. “Then everyone else notices, and it’s very impactful,” Rhoades said. Movie tickets, restaurant gift certificates, tickets to athletic events, pre-paid cards for fuel and/or groceries. The examples are almost endless. Place yourself in the shoes of your employees and ask “what would I appreciate most?” Rhoads said that Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher would mail letters to employees’ homes to reinforce solid behavior.
“If you want risk taking, set an example yourself and reward and praise those that do.”
~ Jack Welch, General Electric chief executive
No exceptions. During the recruiting, hiring and evaluation processes, make it perfectly clear that individuals who violate or attempt to subvert the organization’s values principles will not be tolerated. Make it also clear that termination is an option. Written documentation and verbal reinforcement is necessary and that there will be no exceptions. One senior officer I knew had his promotion reversed. It was ‘suggested’ by his superiors that he retire early and he did…at his previous rank. He didn’t walk-the-talk when it came to the rules and regulations everyone was expected to follow. His words didn’t mirror his actions; he conducted himself in a way that gave the impression that the rules were for everyone else; he believed and acted like he was “better than everyone else” simply because he was the senior officer of the organization. He finally got caught (accountable) in his lies and deceptions. Funny thing: he put his pants on just like everyone else.
“As a coach, your high standards of performance, attention to detail—and above all—how hard you work set the stage for how your players perform.”
~ Don Shula, coach
If the core values aren’t lived (personal), then they don’t exist (professional). To be successful, they must be seamless and sequential.
“Managing is getting paid for homeruns someone else hits.”
~ Casey Stengel, baseball manager
How you think is everything. Always be positive. Think success, not failure.
God Bless America and our men and women in uniform.
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George A. Burk, of Scottsdale, Arizona, is a nationally recognized motivational speaker, author and trainer. In May 1970, he was the sole survivor of 14 passengers in a military plane crash. He suffered severe burns and multiple internal injuries. George spent 90 days in Intensive Care where he had two Near Death Experiences, and spent 18 months in the hospital. Learn more about Captain Burk on his website: www.georgeburk.com
The first important step to reach your peak performance, to get the most from yourself and others, is to objectively analyze your philosophical outlook. Your attitude about yourself and life, not your aptitude, plays a significant role in your altitude.
“The difference between aptitude and altitude is one letter. How do you spell?”
George Burk
No one likes a sourpuss, someone who’s always negative in their thoughts, words and actions. I’ve found that positives attract positives and negatives attract negatives. It manifests in the way people think, act, talk and dress. Survivors, in the truest sense of the word, see themselves as winners, and people who act like victims and play the victim card, see themselves as losers. To help maximize your potential and the potential in others, here are a few ideas:
Take responsibility. Winners think and act proactively when they try to improve difficult work situations, said Keith Cameron Smith, author of “The Top 10 Distinctions Between Winners and Whiners.” ”Winners deal with their disappointments, encourage themselves and move on,” he said.
Winners and survivors, through positive self-talk, tell themselves, “My thoughts, emotions and actions are my responsibility and no one else’s.” Vice-Admiral James B. Stockdale USN (Ret), Medal of Honor winner and POW for 8 plus years in the “Hanoi Hilton” said that life’s about the internals and the externals. As a POW, he painfully learned that he couldn’t control what his captors said to him, did to him or thought of him (externals). What he could control was how he thought and responded to what his captors did to him, how he received and processed it (internals).
“Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” Coco Chanel, designer
Contrast that with whiners who always seem to have a habit to know when and how to play the victim card. That’s counterproductive in the work place. I’ve often thought that one reason this occurs is throughout most of their life, they’ve been enabled by parent(s), friends and co-workers. No one’s had the intestinal fortitude to hold them accountable for their choices and decisions. It’s always someone else’s fault or responsibility: coach, teacher, friend, co-worker or boss. For example, parents who want to be their children’s friend versus being their parent. Parents who live vicariously through their children’s success. They seldom use “tough love” principles. The examples are, I think, endless.
“The only difference between an optimist and a pessimist is the optimist is much happier.”
Learn how to persevere. Winners learn how to crawl, leap and otherwise overcome obstacles; whiners expend great amounts of energy to find and think of excuses why they won’t be or weren’t successful. They commit and enroll in the “Law of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.” It then becomes the way they approach (almost) everything in their life. Winners see setbacks as messages to learn and grow or to try a new approach or something different, Smith says. Whiners choose continue to use the strategies that don’t work (because they know they don’t work) or just flat give up. “Winners look at their results and, if they’re not what they want, find a different way of being and doing until they get the results they seek,” he wrote.
Winners dig down into the deepest part of their psyche, I call it the “second self,” and pull out their perseverance, grittiness, dogged determination, “I’ll be damned if I’m going to quit” voice they hear to live, overcome, move on, be successful and learn from the experience. It isn’t easy. Then again, no one ever said life was supposed to be easy. Winners fall down but they don’t stay down long.
“Life is hard by the yard, but by the inch, it’s a cinch.”
Commit and enroll. Have the determination, conviction and guts topay the price. Hardly anything in life is achieved easily and, I believe, too many people quit, throw in the towel and give up on their personal and professional dreams and goals. “The difference between the successful and unsuccessful is not the absence of obstacles, but the presence of perseverance, hard work and discipline,” says Chris Widener, author of “Leadership Rules.” Widener, and this writer, discovered that those who achieve success and greatness tend to be the hardest and smartest workers. I’ve seen this play out throughout my life in numerous personal scenarios and careers. The peak performers I know (and knew) possess the personal core values of competence, courage, compassion (love) and perseverance. “They set the standard of work high for themselves and others. It isn’t something they will do in the future. It is something they do every day,” Widener says.
“Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not on the periphery.” Warren Bennis, business professor
Create specific goals. Establish clear and specific goals (what) and objectives (how) for yourself and your staff. Hold yourself accountable first, then your staff to know and understand the goals and objectives. This process and mind-set will “move you forward,” Widener says.
Listen. Winners have learned to listen twice as much as they talk, while whiners, it seems, do just the opposite. They spend far too much time “bending someone’s ear,” sharing with all who will listen how tough they have it and how the ‘world’ continues to ‘mess’ with them. “When you choose to focus your attention on listening to understand rather than listening to respond, you learn more, connect better, and start seeing the world differently, which leads to new experiences and ideas,” Smith said. How many of you have known a person who listens over you when you’re speaking to them; they are thinking about their next rebuttal instead of really listening to you. You can almost ‘see’ their mind at work. Truth be told, I suspect we’re all guilty. Difference is winners acknowledge it and change; whiners…don’t.
Become the benchmark. Benchmark is a quality improvement tool that means to be the best you have to study the best.And to study the best you must first determine what it is you need and want to improve. To reach your peak performance (a strategic goal), determine the people you know who are peak performers and find out why.What is it that makes them successful? Analyze their verbal and non-verbal skills; their people skills; their charisma. What is it about them that get people to want to follow them? Do they possess “it?” What’s the “it” they possess? Can you define it or is it like the basic definition of Quality (and Charisma) “You know it when you see it.” Strive to become the benchmark by which others are measured. One way: Walk-the-Talk.
Stay the course. Stress and obstacles are a natural part of life. What isn’t natural’s when the stress and obstacles are self-created. The comic strip Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” That said, stress and obstacles can lead to frantic and reactionary thought and behavior.When you teach your mind to focus on your top priorities, your mind can become relaxed, quiet and you find yourself at peace. A mind at peace is a mind with focus, is a powerful ally and can generate new ideas to help you solve the challenges that create stress and to overcome obstacles.
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and ceased only at death.” Albert Einstein, physicist
KISS IT. Keep it Simple Because I’m Stupid. I knew a basketball coach who began every season by telling his players, “Men, this is a basketball. The object is to put the ball in the basket more than our opponents.” The message was that the players task wasn’t difficult but doing it as perfectly as possible was their challenge. Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach at the University of North Carolina, when asked what made him so effective said that he found behaviors on his players he liked, and reinforced his approval in them. “Simplicity is the key,” Widener said.
“Both now and for always, I intend to hold fast to my belief in the hidden strength of the human spirit.” Andrei Sakharov, physicist
Never stop learning. Return to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills.
According to an Edelman study of more than 20 countries, global trust in business is at an all-time low and diminishing. Another study I read indicates that online news sources are still the first choice for most people when looking for information on companies.
This combination of global mistrust combined with blind faith in online media reporting means to be a better leader, it’s important to know how to avoid bad press for your company.
I couldn’t help but notice that recent headlines appearing in my online media source for local news sounded like case studies for TapRooT® training:
Two Die When Wall Falls at Gatlinburg Sewage Treatment Plant
McGhee Tyson Traffic Controller Faces Firing After FAA Says
He Slept on the Job
In this day of rapid technology, the people you market to are breaking down all of the information the media is putting out about your company, and blogging and sharing the information online in a matter of minutes of release.
TapRooT® is a systematic process, software, and training for finding the root causes of problems and developing effective fixes to keep problems from happening again.
TapRooT® is the most effective, tested, documented root cause system used by industry leaders around the world. One of the most impressive parts of the TapRooT® System is the training that helps people see problems in a whole new light. TapRooT® is not only used to react to incidents, but it’s also used proactively to keep them from occurring.
Are you noticing the same type of problems happen over and over again – safety incidents, equipment failures, quality issues, sentinel events, or production upsets? Stop trying “fixes” that just don’t work. You can become a better leader and avoid bad press for your company. Find the real root causes of problems so that you can fix them once and for all and never end up in tomorrow’s negative headlines.
“Managers manage things; leaders lead people.” ~ George Burk
Do you have the desire to become a better leader? An effective first step it is to support your employee’s ongoing learning and growth, says executive coach Sharon Jordan-Evans. This is arguably the most critical key to employee retention.
“People today are saying ‘teach me, grow me, and if you won’t teach me and grow me, I’ll go someplace else,’” Jordan-Evans said. “Find out what workers want to learn and how they want to grow.” Individual Development plans (IDP’s) are an effective tool to help leaders and their supervisors assist the employee plan their educational training and career path.
“White. A blank page or canvas. So many possibilities.” ~ Stephen Sondheim, lyricist, composer
Give them opportunities to not only move up, but also to move laterally into other positions that interest them. Here are some other ways to become a better leader:
Solicit honest feedback. The best rule you can set for your employees? “Never let me make a mistake.” This means encourage total candor from your team, says Jeffrey Fox, author of “How to Become a Great Boss.” To be effective, honest feedback must also be timely, relevant and relate directly to the employee’s duties.
“Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.” ~ Confucius, Chinese philosopher
Expect loyalty. Many people would like to be loyal to organizations but can’t find a reason to be loyal. Give them the reasons. People will be loyal to a great boss, great team, but they have to get what they need. Once you’ve asked what employees want to learn, ask what they want from their jobs in general and what it will take to keep them. Also ask what would entice them to leave. Loyalty is a two-way street. Expecting loyalty is only one part of the equation. It’s like respect end integrity, if you expect it, you must be willing to give it in return. If loyalty is what you want, then show loyalty to your people.
Reward employees creatively. Give surprise bonuses to high achievers—or those who’ve worked hard to bring projects in on time. Bonuses can range from cash awards to gift certificates and beyond. The types of awards are only limited by the leaders’ ingenuity and innovation.
Seek to build and retain a great environment. Give employees the freedom to have fun, and provide an environment where information is shared freely and regularly. “Younger people, who are information junkies, demand it,” notes Jordan-Evans author of “Love it, Don’t leave it.”
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” ~ Pablo Picasso, artist
Realize you get what you inspect (and expect). Setting expectations is important, but so is following through to make sure the work’s getting done.
“Your inspections cannot be intrusive or interruptive. It’s not an interrogation. Simply ask, ‘How are you doing on such and such?’” Fox said.This helps employees understand your priorities and gives you a “heads-up on developing challenges.” Make the time to ask a question; take the time to really listen to the reply.
Remember 7s hire 5s. Incompetence creeps into an organization when they hire average managers. Fox defines average supervisors as those scoring a 7 on a 10-point ability scale. Are you one? A good way to find out: look at the people you hire. The problem is 7s tend to hire 5s, not 9s or 10s. They don’t hire people better than themselves because they’re afraid of being shown-up. Top leaders and managers usually hire 10s because they expect competence. They’re not threatened by it. It’s a win-win philosophy.
“Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common.” ~ Satchel Paige, baseball player
Invest your time with the best. Fox’s formula: Spend 60% of your training time with the superstars, 30% with high-potential workers, and 10% with low performers. When dealing with superstars, leaders (and managers) often think they want to be left alone. The superstar (might) be independent, but they also want a great boss involved in the action as an advisor, mentor, and coach.
“The real leader has no need to lead—he is content to point the way.” ~ Henry Miller, author
I’ve said it many times in my articles and at speaking engagements. If you’re unable or choose to take the path of least resistance in your personal endeavors, you can’t lead others. Personal and professional leadership must be seamless and transparent. I’ve see this play out over the years with many people and in many different organizations. Why? The truly great leaders know who they are; where they’re going; how to get there and who will be on their team. They have a vision for the future and are passionate about it; they share it whenever they can and with whoever will listen. They’re not complacent. They may be computer and technological literate, but make a conscious effort to get out of their office, walk around and spend quality time with the staff and less time hidden in their office on the computer, I-Pad, I-phone or other similar devices and/or use their desk as a physical and emotional barrier. They’re fair, consistent and have a great sense of humor. They like people and work in that order.
Great leaders and managers are internally focused, driven by a set of core beliefs they know work. They aren’t externally focused, basing their decisions on what’s popular, in vogue or by polling. They’re open and vulnerable; they take what they do seriously, but don’t take themselves too seriously. They have learned to laugh at their foibles and surround themselves with people who compliment their skills and gasp, know more than they know. What a novel idea! They seek and solicit constructive feedback. For example, if the organization’s leader has 10 people on his or her senior staff and four or five of them agree almost 100% of the time, I submit there are four or five staff members who shouldn’t be there.
Finally, great leaders and managers possess what I know and believe is the most important and indispensable human core value—integrity. It’s the bedrock of their character. It matters not how much you make, your job title, the type of car you drive and other materialistic things. If you can’t be trusted, if you have no integrity, you are ‘naked.’ They follow through and deliver on their commitments.
“A man is known by the words he uses and the company he keeps. Choose them both wisely.” ~ Orville Merillat, founder Merillat Industries
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This article was printed with permission from Captain George Burk, USAF (Ret). Learn more about Captain Burk on his website: www.georgeburk.com
According to “Breakthrough Networking – Building Relationships That Last” (Lillian Bjorseth), people decide many things about you within 10 seconds of meeting you. Can you identify them from the list below?
a) Your economic level
b) Your educational level
c) Your trustworthiness
d) Your social position
e) Your level of sophistication
f) Your social heritage
g) Your educational heritage
h) Your economic heritage
i) Your level of success in life
j) Your moral character
Which did you choose?
Would it surprise you if Bjorseth said that *all* of these things are decided during that first 10 seconds? She did!
How we are dressed and how our voice sounds (not what we say) are the biggest factors in how we are initially judged. It is easy to imagine that we’re judged quickly on our economic level or level of success by how we are dressed. We can even see how we’re judged on our level of sophistication or educational level by how we speak. But … it is a little harder to swallow that we are judged on trustworthiness or moral character so quickly based on appearance and voice.
So, how do we present ourselves in business to let our true colors shine through without being falsely judged?
Here are a few tips:
1) Physical appearance counts for 55% of how we are judged so pay careful attention. You can be wearing a brand new shirt and pants, and still make an unfavorable impression. Invest in a good hair cut/style, whiten your teeth, make sure your shoes are clean and unscuffed, and wear clothing that is pressed and well fitted.
2) How our voices sound counts for 38% of how we are judged. Speak clearly and at a good pace (not too fast or slow), enunciate your words, and speak at an appropriate volume. Use proper grammar and use voice inflection for interest.
3) What we say accounts for only 7% of how we are judged. Isn’t that surprising? If you look good and make your voice sound nice you don’t really have to know anything at all! Well, I suppose you better know something after that first 10 seconds. So, when you do start talking, avoid personal topics, but do start the conversation with pleasant small talk about recent news or an interesting observation.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, but these tips will make it easier to start off with a favorable one.
Quality Progress published an article in the January 2011 edition (“Happiness Helps,” Tom Becker) about how to elevate employee engagement with a career development plan. Why is it important to empower employees to be engaged and happy partners in their own career development plans? Here are a few reasons:
Employees will perform at their true potential
Higher retention of employees
Lower absenteeism
Higher productivity and performance
A Right Management survey ranked “learning and development opportunities” as more important to employees than pay. In fact, according to the QP article, “Organizations that provide career development opportunities are six times more likely to engage their employees than organizations that do not.”
Today’s employer knows that the best employees seek employment opportunities where they can not only express their individual talents but also realize their goals. Creating a workplace environment where employees have the opportunity for learning and development opportunities will attract and retain top employees.
TapRooT® root cause analysis training is one way to engage employees and prevent discontent. Offer a career development opportunity to your employees that includes this proven technique for finding the root causes of incidents, accidents, quality problems, near-misses, operational errors, hospital sentinel events, and other types of problems. Give them the tools to make a difference at your facility: to work proactively at reducing downtime and injuries on the job.
TapRooT® training is offered globally.
We recommend this course for those just getting started:
Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do.
Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. ~ Mark Twain
What will happen if all we ever do in life is what we are obliged to do …
I shudder at that thought, but there are many people who live that way.
A vacation promotes our career development. There are many reasons that it’s important to take a vacation from work other than the obvious reason: burnout. Here are a few:
Vacations Improve Job Performance: Uninspired? Can’t seem to get started on an important project? The psychological benefits that come with regular vacations increase quality of life and personal morale, and that leads to increased quality of work and creativity! You have a choice to drag yourself through the next project and do it halfway, or take a vacation break and come back and blow that project out of the water. Which do you think is better for your next performance review?
Vacations Strengthen Family Bonds and Give Employees a Firm Foundation: Do you know more about your co-worker’s children than your own? This is a sure sign you need a vacation! Family vacations contribute to the good health of our families by strengthening the bonds created by shared moments, encouraging unity and family togetherness, and building and sharing common values. Employees with healthy family relationships are:
better at coping with stress
more resilient
more content with their lifestyle
supported by the family in ways that build higher self esteem
optimistic and have a better sense of humor
Vacations Decrease Stress: Stress alone makes for a miserable day, and prolonged stress will eventually lead to physical health issues. Studies prove that a vacation will actually lower our stress levels up to five weeks later.
Vacations Reduce Sick Time: Research indicates that three days after a vacation, a person’s physical complaints and quality of sleep improves and these benefits are also still present five weeks later. Don’t let sick time eat up your vacation time!
Before you pack up your desk and announce that you’ll be away for two weeks (although if you can do it, go for it!), a long weekend totally free from work can be a mini-vacation that leads to the benefits above.
Make it your goal to have a new photo of yourself enjoying some well-deserved time away from work with the people you love on your desk by the end of the summer.
(P.S. Don’t forget, we often hold advanced root cause analysis courses in great locations for a mini vacation. Train, refresh a day or two, and return to work better than ever!)
Ever attend a conference or training event, and walk away feeling like there was one piece of the puzzle that you really needed an answer to but you just didn’t get? We want to assure you that you won’t feel that way about the TapRooT® Summit!
Did you know that you can easily customize your Summit schedule so that every single session you attend is relevant to your most pressing issues? That’s right! You can choose a track (there are nine tracks), and then you can change one, two or more sessions within your track to make it a perfect fit. Not only can you jump over to any another track to choose a session that interests you, but this year we are offering “Special Topics” that you can also choose from.
Special Topics offer additional options this year (some of them are brand new) and include:
Know the Law When Dealing with MSHA After a Serious Accident
PowerPoint Tips and Tricks
Solving Equipment Reliability Problems
Asset Management Problems and Solutions
Medical TapRooT® Instructor Update
What Does Management Need to Know About Root Cause Analysis (Discussion Session)
Sustainable Development
Prioritizing Improvement
We think you’ll appreciate the opportunity to have more custom choices. Be sure to check them out when you register for the Summit
If you can only attend one conference/training this year — why not choose the one that will best fit your needs? The TapRooT® Summit! Attend the Summit and go back to work and use what you’ve learned. If you don’t get at least 10 times the return on your investment, simply return the Summit materials and we’ll refund the entire Summit fee.
If you have questions about how to put all the pieces together, give us a call at 865.539.2129.
Have you ever felt frustrated that other people you work with seem to be getting all of the lucky career breaks?
How long should it take to get a promotion?
How you answer these two questions may very well determine whether your work will be rewarded in the end with the promotion you seek.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ~ Thomas Edison
First, you can’t compare your success to another person’s success. No matter how well you think you know another person’s work experience and effort, you don’t. Every tiny career step that person made in life brought that person to the point where he/she stands today. Every single step mattered. We all make dozens of little career decisions each day that don’t look like much by themselves, but they all work together in the end. Most of the time, a lucky break wasn’t involved in your co-worker’s promotion. Promotion usually means preparation met opportunity. This formula works for you the same way it worked for them.
Think about when you learned to drive a car. Perhaps you thought since you rode in a car all of the time, you didn’t need to study for the written test — so you flunked it. Then you decided to actually read the handbook, and you passed the second time. You were a little nervous that first time behind the wheel but you knew how great the freedom of a license would be, so there was no holding you back. You might have ran into the neighbor’s mailbox or dinged your dad’s car practicing. If you did, maybe you were required to earn some money to fix the car (or the mailbox) before you were allowed to drive again. Setbacks. You got more confident with merging onto the highway and parallel parking with practice. And eventually you got to the goal and received your license, and were sailing down the highway enjoying your freedom. Your co-worker has a similar story. The co-worker may have studied the handbook and passed the written test the first time, but no one gets a license without going through the entire experience.
Second, your company is not going to reward you with a promotion before you finish the work that needs to be done. Telling them the work you plan to do is great. But you actually have to do the work before the reward. Did you know that when you are working on a goal, 80% of your effort will be invested before you see even a 20% return on your investment? You have to work hard consistently until 80% of the goal is complete before you’ll start to see any results. Lots of people would like to see the rewards before that much effort, but it just doesn’t work that way. Consistently working your goals steadily over time is your best option. It will take time for your efforts to get noticed, but they will … if you keep at it.
I knew a manager many years ago who had suffered a setback when the company he worked for went out of business, and the only opening he could find in his field was a non-management position. He had over 10 years of experience as a manager. He spent years and a ton of effort into positioning himself for promotion at the new company, but the first three times he applied, someone else got the promotion. Just when he was about to give up and look for a job somewhere else, someone encouraged him to give it two more years. He didn’t sit around waiting. He completed some certifications during those two years knowing the certifications would help him whether he stayed or left. The company took notice, and he was promoted to a position that was better than the first three positions he had applied for previously. He is now a top officer at his company.
The decisions you make today count toward a future promotion. Remember: 80% of your work will be done before you see any return. Stay with it. Don’t give up. Keep driving. You’re getting there!
There are two basic formats of a resume. Since an employer will spend less than 30 seconds forming an initial impression of a resume, it’s important to know which format is best for you. The two formats are chronological and functional.
A chronological resume lists each previously held position in order by date with the most recent position listed at the top of the resume. A chronological resume is best for a person who has:
a focused career path
no significant gaps in employment
a steady advancement in his or her career path
Sometimes people decide to change careers or take time out from a career to raise a family or retrain. A functional resume is a better fit for that type of person. A functional resume emphasizes specific experience and is not listed in date order. The experience, training or volunteer work the person has that qualifies him for the position he/she is applying for would appear at the top, even though it is not the most recent. A functional resume is best for a person who has:
just graduated from college
little or no work experience
large gaps in employment
worked in a variety of fields
Remember, the point of a resume is not to get a job, but to get an interview. Your experience and training should be listed in a way that will catch an employers interest long enough to call you for more information. The format you choose could very well determine whether you get the interview!
I admire people who can always remember a name, but I’m not one of them. I’ve never been creative enough to use the trick of associating a name with something about the person (like, David Bayer has thinning hair … at my age, everyone’s hair is thinning so that would just confuse me more). The ability to remember names is a valuable business skill so I have picked up some tips I can use. Here are four ways to help remember important names in your networking and job searching:
Focus on the person, not yourself. This is in the #1 spot because it truly is the #1 tip. If I’m too focused on how I’m presenting myself or on what brilliant thing I want to say next, it totally blows any chance at name recall. The truth is, most of the time we can’t remember a person’s name because we were thinking about something else when we were introduced to that person.
Verify the name. Names have many variations. William may prefer to be called “Will” but the conference planner’s assistant typed “William” on his badge. Here’s your chance to verify the name, “Hello, William … oh, do you prefer William or … ?” “I prefer Will.” “Okay, Will, are you enjoying the conference?” Verifying the name will allow you to repeat it several times without being obvious that you’re using a memory trick.
Hear the name, speak the name, listen to yourself say the name. Studies show that if you don’t repeat those actions within the first 10 seconds, you”ll forget the person’s name. “Hello, David, nice to meet you.” “So, David, what are you working on at the Mill?” “Traveling anywhere this summer, David?” If repeating the name makes it too obvious that you are using the repetition method, look at the person and say the name silently to yourself several times when the person takes a drink, turns to say something to someone else, or some other appropriate moment that doesn’t steal your focus from what the other person is saying. Or, do what Franklin Roosevelt did and picture it written across the person’s forehead.
Ask how to spell a difficult name. Just like studying for the spelling bee — focusing on the spelling of the name will help you with recall. Another way to keep it in your mind is to imagine writing it letter by letter.
These tips will help you recall a name, but it they fail, there is nothing wrong with honesty, “I remember you well, but your name just slipped my mind!”
The economy stinks! Jobs are scarce and the jobs that are available, people scramble to fill them. Unemployment, according to many “experts,” is the highest since the late 1970’s and many people have simply stopped looking. While jobs are scarce, advice for job searchers is abundant. With the abundance of this information, there always seems to be as much confusion about what advice to accept and what to ignore.
Kara Greene of Career Counselors Consortium and executive coach Barbara Frankel and this writer (guest columnist, Captain George Burk), offer a few tips that can help job seekers stand out from the competition, avoid some of the major pitfalls and, hopefully, get the job.
The tips are useful for any type of organizations—public, private and non-profit.
The bold quotes are some interview gaffes by job candidates. I didn’t make them up.
Hard to imagine anyone could be so dumb and have so little common sense and personal decorum. The examples, based on a survey of 3,061 U.S. hiring managers and human resources professionals by Harris Interactive found the top 10 most outrageous mistakes.
Myth #1. Ask questions at the end of the interview. There’s an element of truth in this bit of advice. Be prepared to ask questions that relate to the job. The myth is that you must wait until the interview’s over or it’s your turn to speak.
The interview is a two-way street. You want them to hire you and you want to make sure it’s the type of organization where you want to work. When you wait for the interviewer to ask you if you have any questions, “it becomes an interrogation instead of conversation,” says Greene.
“Candidate answered cell phone and asked interviewer to leave her own office because it was a private conversation.”
Approach the interview as a sales call. The product you’re selling is you and you’re selling yourself to the employer. “You can’t be passive in a sales call or you aren’t going to sell your product,” Greene says.
For example, Frankel says, if the interview says, “Tell me about yourself,” you should first respond to that question and then complete the response with your own question, like, “Please tell me more about the position.” The interview should be a dialogue, not a one-way discussion.
“Candidate told the interviewee he wouldn’t be able to stay with the job long because he thought he might get an inheritance if his uncle died—and his uncle ‘wasn’t looking too good.’”
Myth #2. It’s okay to have flaws. That’s life and reality. Almost every interviewer will ask you to name at least one flaw. Often, job seekers are told to avoid the question completely by providing a “good flaw.” An example of a “good flaw” is “I’m too committed to my work.” Generally, this kind of response serves to hurt you more than it helps. “Every competent recruiter can see right through that,” Greene says of faux flaws.
“Candidate asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview.”
Recruiters conduct interviews all day, every day. They’ve seen it all and have an innate ability to see through candidates who try to dodge questions.
For those who may consider themselves nearly perfect and “flaw-free,” earth to candidate…everyone has weaknesses. But, according to Frankel, supply your interviewer with one genuine flaw, explain how you are working to correct it, and then move to a new question.
“Candidate smelled his armpit on the way to the interview room.”
Myth #3.Identify all of your strengths and skills to the employer. Certainly, you want the interviewer to know why you are a valuable candidate, but a literal “laundry list” of your skills and abilities won’t win you any points. What you will be asked in an interview is what can go wrong in certain scenarios and how you would respond.
“You don’t want to list a litany of strengths,” Frankel said.
Often, some of the more typical responses are, “‘I’m a good communicator,’ ‘I have excellent interpersonal skills,’ ‘I am responsible,’” Greene says. “You have to give accomplishments. I need to know what did you accomplish when using these skills.”
“Candidate said she could not provide a writing example because all of her writing had been for CIA and it was ‘classified.’”
Green recommended doing a little “spade work” before the interview so you can be better prepared to answer this question. She tells clients to find out as much as possible about the potential job role and the organization. “What makes an interview powerful is to give an example related to their particular needs or challenges that you have demonstrated in the past.”
Generally, provide three strengths, with examples. You will get much further with a handful of real strengths than an unconvincing list of traits.
“Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.”
Myth #4.Let the employer know your salary expectations. Salary is one of the most difficult questions to answer in an interview. The fact is you don’t have to answer when asked about your desire salary.
“When an applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined saying he didn’t want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.”
According to the book, Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions that Will GetYou The Job, a good answer would be “I want to earn a salary that is commensurate with the contributions I can make. I am confident I can make substantial contributions at your firm. What does your firm plan to pay for this position?”
Greene suggests a response similar to: “I prefer to discuss the compensation package after you’ve decided that I’m the best candidate and we can sit down and negotiate the package.”
“A candidate for an accounting position said she was a “people person” not a “numbers person.”
Myth #5.The employer determines if you get the job. Yes, the employer is obviously the one who offers you the position, but interviewees have more control in the hiring process than they realize. According to Greene and Frankel, candidates have a larger say in the final hiring decision than they believe.
“Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to the interviewer during a phone interview.”
Greene says, “They should call the interviewer or hiring manger and say: ‘I’d really like to be part of the company.’ It can’t hurt, it can only help you.”
Send a “Thank you“ note to the interviewer and follow-up periodically. Once a month until the position is filled is a good rule of thumb, twice a month at most. You want to show your continued interest but, at the same time, you don’t want to come off as a pest.
An email thank you from a web site or directly from you is fine. But, when you know the interviewer’s (hosts) work or home address, a written note with postage and mailing it shows a personal touch and that took the time to write to them. It adds an extra touch. Most of your “competitors” don’t follow-up with any type of a “Thank you.” They choose to take way of least resistance and effort…and wonder.
Remember: there are three types of people: Those who watch what happened; those who wonder what happened; and those who make things happen.
“Candidate took out her hair brush and combed her hair.”
Acing the interview encourages candidates to conclude the interviews with one question: “Based on your interview, do you have any concerns about my ability to do the job?” If the answer is yes, ask the interviewer to be explicit. “Deal forthrightly with each concern.”
Some other blunders and other detrimental mistakes candidates made during an interview: dressing inappropriately was the biggest mistake a candidate could make.
Talking negatively about a current or former employer was second and appearing disinterested was third.
Other mistakes included appearing or sounding arrogant, not providing specific answers and not asking good questions.
“If a candidate is overly negative, plays the blame game, is easily frazzled or doesn’t come prepared it usually ends up a red flag for employers,” said Careerbuilder.com spokeswoman Rosemary Haefner.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” ~ POGO, cartoon character
I opened a Fortune Cookie this week that was with our meal.
“You will live the life that makes all others not envious, but proud of you.”
I can only hope and pray it is so!
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Authored by: Captain George Burk, USAF (Ret), Plane crash and burn survivor (excerpts from Karen Noonan, TradePub.com). Captain Burk is a motivational speaker, author and writer, and we are pleased to announce that he will be a speaker at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit in San Antonio, Texas October 27-29, 2010. For more information about Captain Burk contact him at:
A successful exhibit booth has all the right elements: lots of traffic, new contacts, sales and more sales! How can you get all of these things to line up for you at your next exhibit?
1. Take Care of the Basics
Be sure you’ve done the research on what you will be promoting, and take someone with you so that you have one person to take care of sales, and another to greet and engage visitors.
2. Work on your Theme
When someone approaches your booth, is it clear to him/her what your company does? An innovative, informative booth creates buzz — your company may be a lot of things, but for a booth, the products you display should be presented in a way that the main theme is evident to attendees. Capture the enthusiasm for the best thing your company does or the newest product release, and make sure your booth reflects that enthusiasm. Create interest with eye-catching banners, videos and giveaways,
3. Tell Your Target Audience You’ll Be There
The conference or tradeshow organizers will let attendees know about the event, but they may not highlight your presence individually, so get the word out to your target audience that you will be there. Here are some ways to get the word out:
a) Personal invitations (make sure you mention giveaways you will have at your booth);
b) Announcements on your weblog and through social media (update your status message on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.); and
c) Press releases.
Did you know that TapRooT® Summit speakers have the opportunity to reserve exhibit booth space at the Summit Reception? This year, the reception will be held on October 27, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. Booth space is free for participating speakers, but space is limited and requests are taken on a first come, first served basis. Call Barbara at (865) 539-2139 for details!
There are a myriad of ways to achieve an education in today’s world, including classroom, e-learning and correspondence training. College degrees are not the only way to advance your career through education, certifications are also valuable tools in career development.
Certification programs can build upon your degree and/or work experience and help you stand out in today’s job market. An article in the January 2010 issue of Quality Progress “Boost Your Chances with Certifications, Training” reported that top certifications in today’s market include:
Six Sigma Black Belt (BB)
Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) and Certified Quality Auditor (CQA)
According to an ASQ survey, U.S. BBs who are certified BBs earn, on average, $2,838 more than their counterparts who aren’t certified, and CQEs earn $3,718 more. A survey of 5,000 PMPs worldwide revealed a median salary that is 13-17% higher than their non-credentialed peers with similar experience.
Don’t forget that many career opportunities need people with TapRooT® or root cause analysis skills, and you can learn incident investigation and root cause analysis in just 2 days of training.
Getting ahead with today’s shrinking company resources requires a willingness to grow and learn. Learning through certification can be the value add that gets you noticed!
Before you pack up your desk and announce that you’ll be away for two weeks (although if you can do it, go for it!), a long weekend 
Ever attend a conference or training event, and walk away feeling like there was one piece of the puzzle that you really needed an answer to but you just didn’t get? We want to assure you that you won’t feel that way about the 
1. Take Care of the Basics
There are a myriad of ways to achieve an education in today’s world, including classroom, e-learning and correspondence training. College degrees are not the only way to advance your career through education, certifications are also valuable tools in career development.
