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MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES
My Meaningful Lesson My Meaningful Lessonby Ninive badilescu
It is that time of the year again! The time when we look back and take stock of all our successes, failures, and lessons learnt throughout the past year. Many people will find it easier to concentrate on what could have been done differently, what other outcomes could there be if only... I know because I used to be one of them myself. Until one day when I realized that this was working against me, negating all my great achievements during that year and robbing me of the joy I should feel after all the hard work. So I came up with this rule: each year I’d look back and find one instance where I could surely use the "if only" approach and look for the meaningful lesson in it. It had to be something that could easily qualify for a failure and it had to be the biggest one. Once I decided, which action I would concentrate on I would simply erase the others from my memory because they are clearly not as important and they would only take away my focus from learning the big lesson I was meant to learn. This year’s choice is a workshop I conducted for one of our clients. The request came in on a very short notice and I was very happy to go straight to work on getting the presentation ready and preparing for it. The time pressure was high but I was doing well in getting the materials organized and getting myself in the right frame of mind. I was also excited because it was a chance for me to prove myself to the people who trusted me to give me this assignment, and I wasn’t going to let them down. By the time the day came, I was ready, confident and totally prepared for a successful outcome. When the time came to get off the taxi, my heel got caught in the taxi door and I was very unhappy to see that every step I took came with the unmistakable, very unappealing clicky sound made by a broken heel. Ignoring what should have been a strong signal for getting me packed and heading home, I smiled when introducing myself to the company representative. The first signal that all might not be quite right came during a brief meeting before the workshop. From what she was telling me I seemed to be a little bit off the mark with my approach but then again maybe not? Nevertheless the first doubt seeds were planted. And then I went into the room where the participants were waiting and started the workshop. My first joke went unnoticed, it was hard to get them to participate and the company representative (who was in the room) did not seem too happy. Needless to say, it went downhill from there on. Once the seeds were planted I was ready to read doom in everything around me and because of that I was stressed and less confident (even my heel seemed to become louder and louder) I could not wait for the time to pass (and I might add that the participants probably shared the feeling). At the end of the three hours people in the room were left with a lot of interesting information, a lot of tips that they could use when going back to their workplaces, an action plan with at least three components that they could start implementing...but nothing of what they came there for. Somewhere along the way, during the briefing period, before I start working on the presentation, the most essential word was lost. The client was expecting a motivational talk not a how to talk. Yes, my presentation was great if you wanted to find out how to do things and get ready to do them, but my presentation was not a motivational one and it could never pass as one. I remember being so sad that day. There was frustration, anger, shame, embarrassment, the thought that I let down people who trusted me and so many other feelings all rolled into one to create this big lump in my throat. Looking back at 2004 there is no other event that would come even remotely close to this one when it comes to naming a failure. So what is my meaningful lesson this year? Well, this year I got lucky and came away with two meaningful lessons! First lesson: when you prepare for something be thoroughly informed about the expected outcome. Had I known that they were looking for something motivational I would have not offered to do it (mainly because I am not the female version of Anthony Robbins and I know that). Second lesson: when you think you have enough information go back once more and ask another question. It is much better to have more answers than you have questions. Now that I think about it, 2004 was a quite a good year. Numerous
small successes from which I learnt a lot and one big failure that
provided me with an even bigger lesson to take with me into the
future. All in all, I am the winner! Top
Probation Period Issuesby Ninive Badilescu Most companies have a policy of offering a position to a candidate for a probation period (usually 3 months) with the view of offering permanent employment at the end of this period. The probation period is designed to work two ways: the new employee has a chance to be part of the company, experience its culture, find out expectations and most of all, experience the job in ‘real time’ as well as working with the team of people with which the position is intended to interact with. The company has a chance (through its management) to see if there is a match between the new employee and the team of people they are meant to work with. The probation period also allows the company the chance to see how their (the employee’s) experience matches the expectations of the position, how well they perform on the job and in what ways could the company help them. In the majority of cases, after the three months probation are up, a permanent employment is offered. But what does it mean if this is not the case? Many people who were not offered a permanent position feel frustrated, many think that they have been dealt an unfair hand (and sometimes this is indeed the case), and their self-esteem suffers. Yes, this is a very unpleasant event, but should you amplify its effect by entertaining feelings of resentment? Should you lose confidence, going over and over again over the ‘what ifs’ you think could have made a difference? The answer is of course, NO. The only thing you should do is to learn from this experience and make sure you apply the lessons you learn today and implement them in the future. Before anything though, remember why companies are offering a probation period rather than offering full employment straight away: 1. An interview can not cover more 'intangible' aspects of working
in a company such as: fit with the company culture, fit with the
team you will be part of, etc. By keeping this in mind, one can look at a termination during the probation period in a more detached, unemotional way and understand that in the end it is less of a personal matter and more of an economic, bottom-line type of occurrence. It is my experience that in the long run, it is in the interest
of both parties to sever the ties earlier in the employment process
rather than extend the relationship to a point where they both lose.
You Are The Pilotby Ninive Badilescu I was reading the other day through my coaching notes for a previous week and once again realized that a recurring coaching topic is time management. This is no surprise to me as someone who is fortunate enough to be made aware of common work related issues through my coaching experience. As our jobs become more complex and the types of tasks, duties and responsibilities are forever increasing one of the most important skills one can have is that of time management. We have exchanged the paper based scheduling tools with the electronic ones only to conclude that it is not enough and embark in more spending in the form of pocket PCs that would make it easier for us to keep on scheduling even when we are away from our desks, synchronize the two devices and hopefully become more productive in the process. Why is it then that so many people are still facing the problem of not having enough hours in a day? What is it we are missing here and most of all what is it that we can do about it? Jackson Brown once said: "Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." Thinking of all the things these people achieved in much harsher environments and with fewer structures in place to help them makes it even harder to understand why do we still struggle? The great achievers of all times have never kept an eye on their diaries or schedulers. They had the motivation lever put on high and managed to focus better for longer periods of time. Try this experiment: schedule an hour to do something you really want to do: write a letter to a loved one, read from a book you love, write a procedure for a system you want to implement at work…anything you would really want to spend an hour doing. Schedule an hour to doing something you have no desire to: write a report for your boss, a procedure for a system you do not believe in, an apology letter to someone you rather forget exists, read an instructions manual for something you are not interested in, etc. Compare the final results once you complete the two tasks. I can almost see the difference in how efficient were you in one case as opposed to the other. Why? Because I know what motivation will accomplish for you. You are in control. Otherwise you are just going through the motions in the hope of reaching the end of the day just a bit closer to your intended goal. The lesson? Find a way to make your tasks more interesting? Be creative. The only rule you have to keep in mind is having the right perspective. Something you don’t like doing can be a great opportunity to prove yourself, it can give you the chance to deal in issues you are not involved with usually, it can give you information or skills you can later use when working on issues you are interested in, etc. The result? You will regain control of your time even if you are
doing something that usually will not motivate you. And then you
will look at time from another perspective. You Can Have Fun Going To Workby Ninive Badilescu
Ever thought about things you would rather do while at work? Ever tried to imagine what your ideal activity would be? Ever thought about those times when you had so much fun and fulfilment when doing something and the lack of those in your current job? If you have you are not alone. You share the same thoughts and the dreams with many other people. This is the good news. The bad news is that there are many other people out there who wouldn't want to be anywhere else when at work, people who enjoy what they are doing, never wish they were somewhere else, always with a smile on their face in the morning (or so it seems). These are the people who have managed to match their motivators with their career and get the best of both worlds. Sounds hard, but it shouldn’t be. While the vast majority of people think money is the most powerful motivator a few successful ones know that this is not true. Do you want to find out what motivates you? Try this little exercise: make a list of ten situations in your life when you loved what you were doing, when you felt happy to start working in the morning and a bit sad when you had to stop at the end of the day. Your examples can be from current or past work places, from your school years, from social activities, volunteer activities or hobby related. Once you have your list try and describe in detail what was involved in that activity, what did you enjoy and why, what were the circumstances, etc. The moment of truth comes when you try and find out what was the
common denominator or denominators for all those examples. Those
are your motivators: using certain skills, being creative, intellectual
challenge, being acknowledged, etc. Look at your current job and
see how many of them are present in your day to day activity. The
more you can the happier your job makes you. Unfortunately the reverse
is true too. If none or only very few of the things that motivate
you are present you will face frustration, conflict and lack of
fulfilment in your job.
Career Coaching ExplainedBy Dale Kurow
How does Career Coaching work? Usually, a client enters the coaching partnership unhappy about his/her current job or future prospects. During the initial session(s) the client and coach discuss the changes the client wishes to make. Often the coach will assign homework such as research and written exercises, reawakening the client's creativity and uncovering career-related values. Sometimes an assessment will be used, such as the
Myers-Briggs or the Strong Interest Inventory. The results help
tap into the client's strengths, potential, and career possibilities.
The objective is to jumpstart the client's thinking and provides
a framework for career exploration, questioning and re-considerations.
From this platform the client's career goals are established. Profound Shifts In addition to the specific "action steps," the real value of career coaching lies in helping clients overcome their fear of change and transforming their career anxiety into positive action. This is where the impact of career coaching can most readily be felt and where profound shifts take place.
Career coaching is a very personal and life changing process. Develop an awareness of the coaching style that will be most comfortable for you. Does the coach understand your concerns? Does the coach work in an open-ended way that is matched to your personality? Or is coaching based primarily on career assessment tools? Does the coach's speaking style mesh with yours? Does the coach have the depth of career experience to offer more than boilerplate responses? Do you feel the coach would be sensitive to your needs yet could challenge you? Make sure that you get your questions fully answered and choose your coach with care. A good career coach can help you change jobs; the right career coach can help you find a new awareness of your place in the world.
Managing the Fear Factorby Kathy Sanborn Since the publication of my new book, The Seasons of Your Career, I've been speaking to many individuals as I travel on my book tour. One thing I've noticed that is fairly common among my audiences is a hesitation to go after a career or personal dream, due to fear or a lack of confidence.
Five Steps To Creating A Winning Career Planby Deborah Brown-Volkman Having trouble deciding what to do with your career? Are there too many choices or not enough? Are you looking for direction or a word from above that will show you the way?
Take your ideas and turn them into real career choices. Begin with research. Get on the Internet and read whatever you can. Start talking with people who are doing what you would like to do. Ask them how they got to where they are, and what you can do to follow in their footsteps. Use contacts you have today or people you don't know yet. Go for it! What do you have to lose?
Congratulations on discovering that you can handle anything that comes your way. Full a fuller, more detailed version of this article, packed with
additional ideas and resources, please send an e-mail to 5892@QuickPayPro.com.
Note: This will be the only e-mail you will
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YOUR CAREER IS A BUSINESS - SO RUN IT LIKE ONE!by Dave Bowman, Human Resource Expert
Hopers and floaters are everywhere! I see them nearly every day,
and I feel for them. What are hopers and floaters? Those are the
folks who come into my office wondering what has happened to their
jobs and careers. They've been downsized out, or let go because
of personality clashes with supervisors, or their management styles
weren't right and now they're on the outside looking in. So, how can such a calamity be avoided? Well, there are eight keys to running a career like a business, and thus not becoming a hoper or a floater.
Define who you are and what you can offer. This means discovering your interests and strengths. It's certainly what any successful business does. There's an old saying, "you do best what you best like to do." In other words, you must find your passion -- what you really love to do -- and go do it. Your strengths probably help you accomplish your interests; they constitute the way in which you get things done. For example, those who love selling or acting have persuasive strengths. Accountants who love what they do are good with numbers and detail. Graphic artists who are passionate about their work can see interrelationships of size, color and shape. Know your customer/employer. If you run a business, you'd better know your target customers, as well as their needs. So it is with employers -- you must decide to whom you will sell your expertise and for how much money. Obviously, you'll choose an employer that has a problem you can solve, or a situation or issue you can help resolve. Then you must decide what that's worth. However, when that task is finished, either find another, or find another organization with a problem you can help fix. Understand your "value added" issues. Why should a customer buy from your business? Is it high quality you offer, low price, great service? An employer will buy from you on the same basis. What are the qualities that make what you offer unique? These are what you probably do better than most other people. You must become articulate in marketing these features to those hiring. Quality and customer/employer satisfaction are paramount for your success. If customers are not satisfied with your product or service, as well as with the buying experience, they will go elsewhere. An employer also will shop elsewhere if your service isn't up to expected standards. And that goes for a boss or others in the organization with whom you work. A cooperative attitude, timely delivery, quality of work, ethics and all the other aspects of "a good experience" add up to whether folks want to come back to you again. If they don't, you'll be out of business as an owner, or out of work as an employee. Know what's happening in your industry, as a business owner or an employee. Is your industry growing, shrinking or stagnant? Individual businesses and careers can boom in any one of these scenarios, but only if they are carefully planned. Thus, strategic planning is a must, whether you are a business owner or an employee. For example, if industry growth is occurring, go to the area of fastest growth. If shrinkage or stagnation is the story, businesses and careers can prosper if small niche sectors can be found to provide growth, or if problems causing the shrinkage/stagnation can be solved. Be your own R&D department -- keep your skills at cutting edge at all times. If you own a business, you must constantly bring out new, better, higher quality products and/or services. The same is true with managing your career. You must go back to school continually to learn new skills, methods, techniques, strategies and tactics. This is true whether you are a senior manager, a security guard, or any function in between. Always remember, be as good as you can be, because there's always a competitor behind you that may have more and better skills. Always be able to change direction. This means
be ready to start a new business or career when the time is right.
If a business is failing and it can't be saved, get out! Sell what
you can and start something new. If you're an employee in a failing
organization and it can't be saved, don't go down with the ship,
get out! If your career is soon to be outmoded due to technology,
get retrained and move into a growth industry and function. If a
reorganization and/or a downsizing is coming, and you aren't absolutely
indispensable (and very few of us are!), begin looking for opportunities
elsewhere -- this way, you'll have some choices available should
the ax fall.
Living Through Change
Our relationship to change seems to be both intriguing and paradoxical. Recently this seems most clear to me as I have heard a number of people say how much they dislike change, how difficult it is for them and how "nobody really likes it." Obviously, those who find change especially challenging are speaking about an experience of change that is overlaid with physical stress and the emotions of anxiety and perhaps fear. Such emotions can arise as we must make decisions or take actions in situations that are uncertain or different from those that are habitual and expected. But does this need to be the experience of change? Certainly not. Rather, we can live full, joyful and creative lives through change rather than as victims of change. What does this look like? To the degree that we make a personal commitment to live and work in ways that energize rather than diminish us, we can develop a welcoming and grateful relationship to change. Within this commitment, "change" is about paying special attention to completion and beginnings. We can look at each day with fresh eyes and ask "How am I different today? What am I about today? What is now complete in my life and how do I need to move forward?" Really engaging with these questions means that we are willing to let today be different than yesterday and that we will not hold onto 'the way it has been' just because it 'has been.' From a perspective in which we live through change, we can develop a heightened awareness of our physical sensations. These can tell us that we are creating our lives in nourishing ways aligned with personal purpose and vision. Such sensation call also tell us through feelings of "dis-ease" that we are not in alignment. In this case, in very personal moments of quietness and willingness to be guided by our inner wisdom, we can ask ourselves about what needs to change and shift so that we may once again experience the expansive sensation of rightness and possibility in our lives. In summary, our relationship to change is one of personal choice. Will change be something that just happens to us when we can no longer fight it off? Or, will we welcome change as a partner in the experience of intentionally creating our lives? Sheila J. Ramsey, Ph.D., is principal of The Crestone Institute: Designing Environments for Innovation. She can be contacted at sramsey@earthlink.net. Becoming A Championby Ninive Badilescu
Executives from major companies are retaining the services of executive coaches on an almost permanent basis, small business owners find the friend and support they need in their business coach, people find it easier to define goals and design action plans when they have to be accountable to their life coach, etc. So what is all this buzz about life and business coaching? In essence, life and business coaching is a way to bridge any gap between where you are today and where you would like to be. Like in sports a coach will help you bridge the gap and do it on your own. Michael Jordan once said: "A coach is someone who makes you do what you don't want to do in order to be what you want to be." And this stays true in life and business coaching too. Tiger Wood’s coach has never stepped on the green to play Tiger’s games for him. Ian Thorpe’s coach will never jump into the pool to show him how to break records. What they do is to push them a little harder, believe in them when they lose confidence, keep them accountable for reaching their goals, give them feedback and enthuse them. We can all function as amateur players in the sport called life. To become champions though, more and more people find it helpful to have someone they can form a partnership with and get their help in exploring possibilities, learning more about themselves, increasing their self-esteem, self-confidence, changing their perspective, dealing with transitions, establishing personal boundaries, etc. This is where the life and business coach comes in. This is where your life can change and you can become all you have dreamed of and sometimes more. The issues that clients bring to their coaches for help are many
and everyday new ones appear. For the business owner or executive,
it might be learning how to delegate more, how to manage employees
with ease and confidence, how to feel less stressed in a demanding,
fast-paced job, how to inspire and build team cohesiveness, how
to best market a business, develop skills and procedures to ensure
customer satisfaction, design programs aimed at increasing employee
morale, develop team, department, or company programs needed to
attain continuous superior performance, design strategies to implement
change and view it as welcomed and as a motivator, the list goes
on and on. For individuals it might be determining what the right job is, learning how to feel confident in new situations, how to build self-esteem, or learning how to interview better, how to read a company culture, how to put your best foot forward, how to survive corporate politics, how to manage your time better, how to become a better social person, how to say no, how to say yes, how to define and enforce boundaries for yourself, how to build better relationships, and so on. As Ross Long, the ICF Membership Committee Chair, said about coaching: "Coaching means dealing with the personal and real issues that separate success from comfort level. It can be the difference between doing things by default and doing the right thing the first time." Most of us are quite used to terms such as mentoring, therapy, consulting and they tend to spring to mind when we try to understand what coaching is. However none of these other disciplines comes close to describing coaching and stressing its unique qualities. Coaching, unlike any of them, bases its great techniques, and the results they bring, on using and amplifying the individual's own knowledge, skills and experiences. A coach will help create the structures and the supportive environment individuals need to challenge themselves, change their perspective, and develop critical thinking skills and new behaviours which in turn will translate into achievements. In a survey conducted by the International Coach Federation (the governing body for the coaching community) some of the areas people hire the help of coaches were: (80.5%) time management, (74.3 %) career guidance, (73.8%) business advice, (58.6%) relationship/family issues, (51.9%) physical/wellness issues, (45.2%) personal issues, (39.5%) goal setting, (38.1%) financial guidance, (11%) creativity. In terms of the roles a coach can play in a coaching relationship the same people listed: (84.4%) sounding board, (78.1%) motivator, (56.7%) friend, (50.5%) mentor, (46.7%) business consultant, (41%) teachers But most importantly the value of the coaching program has bee rated as: (70%) very valuable, (28.5%) valuable. My own coach convinced me that not all of us have
been born talented enough to become international sports figures
but with the right Life & Business Coach we can all become the
best we can be in life and make our own mark. Goals! The stuff dreams are made ofby Ninive Badilescu
Goals! We all have them, dream of reaching them but... Setting a goal and designing the "roadmap" to reach it is a great exercise and in itself it builds confidence, enthusiasm, and commitment. Why then so many of us don’t make it all the way, find it too hard or just can’t focus as we should? It all becomes a burden and in the end we might lose whatever confidence we had and stop dreaming because chances are we will fail again. However we need to have goals because as Earl Nightingate said "People with goals succeed, because they know where they're going." It is only after we follow a few simple steps that we realize how simple it is and how high our success rate will become. So what are we to do when setting our goals? Start by making sure that the goal you have is in alignment with your core values. Don’t dream of something that goes against all you believe in if you want to see the dream come true. Be honest, be open and don’t rush. Take your time when answering this question. The next step should be to look at where that goal fits in the overall picture. If you are working hard towards obtaining something, turning around and working on something totally different might not be a great idea. Working at building a career in marketing will clash with trying to learn to play the piano during meetings with prospective clients but attending a short term marketing refresher course would help. Building your small IT consulting business will not benefit from enrolling in a two years full-time course in Ancient History but finishing your business plan would. It’s all about timing and all about working towards the most important goal at a time. Many of us don’t take the time to look at other things going on in our lives or careers and are held back in reaching carefully planned goals. We might have the best laid plans for achieving something, but if we forget about having to attend a seminar during the same period or having to take the kinds to their grandparents out of town or the fact that the painters are booked during that week or any other commitments we might have, we are heading for a big disappointment. Decide on working on a goal while taking into consideration everything and anything that might interfere with your plan so you can adjust it accordingly. Once you know that this is the right goal for you at this point in time and you have the time to invest in pursuing it you need to look at what else you need. Would you need others to help you along the way, do you need specific materials, are there financial restrains, and so on. Making sure that we have everything ready for us to start or easily accessible would remove a big part of the stress that might otherwise come into play. And stress is the only thing we certainly do NOT need. Knowing all this you should be ready to plan your steps and build the action plan that would take you to the desired result. Most goals look impressive if not downright frightening when we have no idea how to reach them. If we take the time to plan and design each individual step the task will not only seem less daunting but we will be able to monitor our results and fine-tune our actions along the way. If you decide to raise money for a great cause by swimming the English Channel after not having swam for ten years it might seem to be an unattainable goal. However if you know that you have one year to prepare and you enjoy a good level of fitness you can start planning the steps that would take you there. Spend two months to get in better general shape while swimming only the minimum required. Raise the level of endurance building exercises together with swimming gradually more every day for the next four months. Use the following four months to increase the time spent swimming in the ocean and building up strength. Use the last two months to train in conditions similar with those in the Channel.** suddenly it doesn’t seem so bad, does it? If you go and drill-down and plan on a weekly basis for all that time it will seem easier still while allowing you to make changes along the way if they are needed. Many of us are put off planning for reaching our goals by the thought that we might as well use that time and effort and just "Do it!" Or if it seems hard to reach wait for the "right time" when we know more or circumstances change or the planets align in a certain way! What we do not know is that once we start planning for one goal it would become easier to do it for the next one, and easier still for the one after. Before we know it, it becomes second nature and suddenly nothing will seem that hard, our self confidence grows, we allow ourselves to dream more often and with more courage and we attract success. Jim Rohn once said: "If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us." When dreaming and planing to reach that dream don’t think about the road you have to travel but about the joy of the journey and the positive effect it will have on you.
The Brand Called Youby Steven Van Yoder
For small businesses, branding is not about slick
advertisements. Small-business branding is about getting your target
market to see you as the preferred choice. Building a slightly famous
brand is not just about what you do; it's about what you do differently
from everyone else.
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