Lessons for a Successful Career

It’s surprising, frustrating, and disappointing when our strengths, (“I’m so organized;” “I’m very decisive”), turn out to be our weaknesses (“He’s so compulsive!” “She’s so dictatorial!”).  Do any of the following apply to you?

Career lesson #1:  No one likes the smartest kid in the room if the smartest kid makes other kids look dumb.

When you’re launching your career it’s important to establish yourself as someone who is quick, bright, and eager to get the job done right. After you’ve gotten some experience under your belt, your employer and colleagues expect you to be a team player and individual contributor. As you continue to progress you’ll be asked to manage and mentor others. To be successful, you’ll need to shift your focus from being center stage to showcasing the talent of those you lead. Encourage them, reinforce their achievements, and give them the visibility they need to progress in their own right. Bottom line: The smartest kid in the class is the one who learns how to maximize the potential in others.

Career Lesson #2: Talk a good game but play a better one.

Talk is cheap. Walk is style. Performance is substance. You’ll need all three to succeed in any job. Bottom line: Under-promise and over-deliver.

Career Lesson #3: If you want to lose time, resources, and profitability, cut first, then measure.

Whether you’re the tinker, tailor, cabinet maker, or the CEO of a major company, you’ll need to access information available to you from sources that can provide it for you. If you don’t or won’t, you’ll squander time, talent and loyalty; qualities you and your company need to survive.

Career Lesson #4: The best communicators work at the intersection of Speaking, Listening, Reflecting, Probing and Responding.

Communication is a process through which information is exchanged. How clearly it is transmitted, how accurately it is translated, how well it is received and effectively responded to, are functions of the communicators involved. Good communication takes time, patience, courage, and compassion.

Career Lesson #5: Leaders manage and managers lead.

In a perfect world, leaders dedicate their time and attention to conceptualizing the vision and mission of their companies. They don’t concern themselves with the obstacles, pitfalls, and blind-spots to success; they leave those details to employees hired to look out for them.

Wake up call: it’s not a perfect world, it’s a real world. Leaders, worthy of the name, pay for it with honesty and integrity. They ask the tough questions and listen to news they’d rather not hear. They make the changes they ought, doing the right things for the right reasons. They accept accountability along with responsibility and learn from experience.

Career Lesson #6: Members of the “Been There Done That” Society need fresh perspectives to survive.

The best employees thrive on challenge, opportunity, and possibility, whether it’s fixing what’s broken, simplifying what’s complex, or creating what’s never been. They need managers who maximize their potential, demand their best and reward their success.

Career Lesson #7:  The boss doesn’t fire you, your direct reports do.

Ouch. That’s the zinger that always stings. Managers looking for career longevity aren’t going to make it if they’re playing up to the boss while kicking around their employees. The manager’s job is to be appropriately responsive to all employees, no matter their position or power. The manager’s job is to be accountable to every person, challenging fairly, promoting accordingly. Playing favorites with some while abusing others gets you a ticket to the unemployment line, and that’s something you don’t want to get punched.

Career Lesson # 8: It takes more than a week at the beach to have a balanced life.

If you’re a much different person at home than you are at work, you’re out of balance. If you give much more to your employees than you do to your family, you’re out of balance. If you deprive yourself in service to others, you’re out of balance. Give yourself a break. Give your brain some time to absorb, collate and file the information you dump into it everyday. Give yourself time to separate what’s important from what’s making the most noise.

The most successful people plan for tomorrow by leaving time for today.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

It’s a Match Game: Strengths to Company’s Needs

Pete’s miserable. Miserable. Said that he can’t remember feeling worse. He’s stuck with a nowhere job at a nowhere company doing work he was doing five years ago and he was bored with it then.

How did he get into this mess and how does he get out?

He had a great career (his words, not mine) with a large, hierarchical, autocratic company (my words, not his). He lasted for 10 years. Lasted, because he was able to dart around downsizings, jump over mergers, and duck behind large bosses. Finally, he ran out of time, luck and quick reflexes. He was on the street.

Pete went with the first company that would hire him. He needed a steady job and a good salary and this company fit the bill.

Pete didn’t care if he could do the work as long as he could pay the bills. He learned pretty quickly that he did everything but his job (his boss’s words, not Pete’s) and without his job he couldn’t pay the bills. Pete landed back on the street.

Pete went with the next company that would hire him. The work looked steady, the pay was fair, it paid most of the bills, and that was just about good enough. Pete still didn’t care if he could do the work so it wasn’t long before the boss found out and he told Pete. That put Pete back out on the street.

Pete went with the third company that would hire him. The pay was paltry, the position was pitiful, and this time the business folded before Pete did.

Now Pete’s on his 5th job in his 5th company is just over 5 years. He’s having a terrible time of it.

What can Pete do that he’s not already done? Plenty.

Being glib, quick and confident works well in a shell game. It takes more than that to work in an organization.

Pete, figure out what you do well and what you don’t. It’s a match game, not a con game. Match your strengths to what your company needs. Work hard. That’s how you get a job and how you keep a job.

When was the last time you enjoyed your work because you were good at it? When was the last time you got an attaboy?

Go back as far as you need to find the answers.

There was a hobby, a sport, a summer job, a college course that you liked and did well. The clues to what your work should be are embedded in that experience.

What is your long term goal? What are you hoping to achieve?

You say you want work and a paycheck. That’s a means to an end. It’s not the end. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up back where you started. And you have, Pete, you have.

What are your short term goals? What objectives do you have for your first week on the job, your first month, your first year? How will you measure success?

What’s your action plan? How are you going to get from here to there? How will your short term goals connect to your long term vision? What must you do to get what you want?

Pete, are you willing to work hard enough to make it happen?

Do you have the courage to admit that you don’t know it all and you can’t know it all?

What kind of continuing education or specific skills training do you need? Where can you get it? Are you willing to do what it takes to learn it?

What drains your energy? Are you worried about ailing parents and aging debt? Are you willing to find and accept the help that you need?

Pete, you said that you’re miserable, stuck in a nowhere job in a nowhere company, doing boring work you did years ago. Who did that to you?

You’re too good a person and have too much talent to play a blame game. You dug yourself into this mess. Check your watch. It’s time to dig yourself out.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Job Search After a Felony

Q: “I’ve recently been released from prison and want to get back into my profession. I’ve been trying to re hone my skills but given my felony record am I just spinning my wheels? What do I say when I’m asked about the lapse in my employment?

A. You’re not spinning your wheels, you will find employment, and you will have some real challenges ahead. Let’s start with the first hurdles to overcome, and go from there:

Responsible employers will not want to put you, their employees, or the public the company serves, into situations that create the perception, real or imagined, of danger. Therefore, sit down with your parole officer and counselor before you interview. Identify work environments and interpersonal situations to avoid and those that are appropriate to approach. Candidly discuss the reasonable, practical, and emotional concerns that prospective employers and their employees might have, given your recent history. Prepare yourself to respond to those fears in ways that not only demonstrate self-awareness, but also describe the conscious changes you’ve made in your behavior and your ability to respond to others.

Address the lapses in your employment history in a truthful and straightforward way. You mentioned “rehoning your skills.” Describe how you’ve continued your education during and following the time you were imprisoned; and the preparations you have made for the career direction you are taking. Describe your past accomplishments and your ability to contribute to the future success of the company you’d like to join.

Your challenge, and it’s a big one, is getting the interviewer to focus on what you’re saying and not on where you’ve been and what got you there.

To accomplish that, address what concerns them most. Ask prospective employers to ask you any and all work related questions or concerns they have relative to your history in or out of prison. Ask them to describe the challenges they believe you will confront at their place of business. Then answer those concerns in an honest and forthright manner.

Q: I’m concerned about the application form. How can I answer the question about felonies so that my job application won’t get tossed as soon as my response is read?

A: Answer that question and every question truthfully. Will your application be tossed? It’s likely that it will. What can you do about it?

There’s more to all of us than can be demonstrated on an application or resume. Talk to the people who know you best, stood by you, and are willing to take a chance on you. Those individuals, directly or indirectly, may know people who hire people.

You’re asking for a chance to tell an employer your story: your work history, why you were arrested, what you’ve learned as a result, and your efforts to now make good on the rest of your life.

Q: How can I regain my self-respect? My confidence is gone. I’m afraid to get out there and tell my story. What can I do to move forward?

A: I’ve never been in your shoes. I cannot begin to know what you feel. But others have been there. Ask your parole officer and your counselor for help in finding individuals who have been able to make a successful transition and who would be willing to talk with you and counsel you through a very tough time.

I do know this. A comeback takes time, patience and incremental steps. It takes the capacity to accept responsibility and accountability for the choices that you’ve made in the past and will make in the future. It requires asking forgiveness from those you have, by intention or omission, caused physical pain or emotional suffering. It takes reaching out to those who are strong when you’re weak and tender when you’re hurt. It takes all that, and enough people who are willing to say, “I’ll give you another chance.”

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Professional Maturity vs. Social Sophistication

He said that he was impatient, hard driving, focused, bottom-line. That he had trouble with people who wanted to think aloud, taking everyone’s time, noodling about what ought to have been immediately clear to everyone present. That his idea was good, it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it. So, he did what any clear thinking person would have done, he blew up. Well, not totally. But he did say in very emphatic terms that he wouldn’t sit through these interminable meetings and have his time wasted by individuals who didn’t know enough to speak intelligently about the subject at hand. With that, he left the room.

He thought the subject was closed. He made his point. What was left to say? Plenty, apparently. He was informed that he was to apologize, immediately, to the management team, or be denied the promotion and salary increase that he had so long worked to attain.

He was willing to meet, he said, to explain his position. “Not good enough,” he was told.

“Why should I apologize?” he screamed into the ear that I was holding at a respectful distance from the telephone receiver. “Why am I the bad guy and these idiots get away with making it so? Why should my career be threatened because they don’t know the truth when it smacks them in the head and kicks them in the behind?”

“Do you want me to respond or do you want to keep venting?” I asked.

“I want to know how to answer them without feeling like I’m giving in,” he said. “I want to explain myself. I realize I was too emotional. But I won’t apologize for anything else.”

“What’s your ‘end’ in mind,” I asked. “What do you want to have happen as a result of that conversation?”

Silence. I didn’t hear him breathe.

“Good question,” he said. “And I don’t have an answer.”

I knew then he was ready to listen.

“Being ‘right’ isn’t reason enough to demand that others agree with you. Being ‘right’ isn’t sufficient cause for others to abandon their perspective.”

“Okay. Maybe you’re right. What am I supposed to do? I’ve got integrity and I won’t compromise it to pander to people I don’t respect.”

“If you don’t respect the people on your team, why are you working for that company?”

“I misspoke. I do respect them. They’re smart, they’re smooth, and they’re sophisticated. To tell the truth, and I hadn’t thought about this until just now, I don’t think they respect me. That’s why I get angry.”

“Why wouldn’t they respect you?”

“Well, they went to ivy-league schools and have advanced degrees. They know how to dress, and what to say. They pick the right restaurants and choose the right wines. They’ve got class. I don’t. I didn’t get that in my house. Believe me, I wouldn’t trade my parents or my life, because that’s how I’ve gotten as far as I have, but I sure could use a little more polish.”

“What would polish do for you?”

“I’d be more patient, more understanding, I’d listen better because I wouldn’t feel like I always have to prove myself.”

“What do you have to prove?”

“That I have a right to be in the room. I have a right to a seat at the table. And I’ll fight for that right because I’ve earned it and I’m not going back to how I lived or where I lived, ever again.”

“It sounds like fighting for that right will guarantee you a ticket to where you don’t want to go.”

“Looks like it.”

“You’re smart, you’re quick, you connect the dots while others are still arranging them on the paper. You’re creative and passionate. You have everything that you need to succeed but…”

“But?”

“You have lessons to learn:  There are more ways than your way to solve problems, craft visions, and initiate processes. You can be intelligent and have viewpoints that add value and not be demeaning to others. It’s about professional maturity, not social sophistication.”

“It’s about winning as a team and beating the competition instead of beating up the team and losing my chance to play.”

“You’ve got it.”

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executiveand career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Job Concerns Living Inside the Head of a Person Near You

Do any of these job hunting concerns live inside the head of a person near you?

• I’m interested in so many things, I can’t settle on just one.
• If I’m so smart, how come no one is offering me a job?
• I’d do real well on an interview, I just don’t know how to get one.
• I’d get hired if I knew what I wanted to do.
• If I knew what I wanted to do I could get outside my head and go do it.

Let’s start with the first one:

I’m interested in so many things, I can’t settle on just one.

You may have trouble deciding on one career direction because you’re concerned you’ll pick the wrong path and be forever limited by your choice. Instead, select something that you can focus on for the next year or two; evaluate your situation when the time comes, then choose to stay or choose to look. There is no law or contract that binds you to one job or career for life. That may have been true twenty years ago. It’s not true now.

If I’m so smart, how come no one is offering me a job?

You’ve probably been told by your parents, teachers and friends that you’re intelligent, even gifted, and can do anything you want to do. That’s the problem. You can do anything and aren’t drawn to any one thing. When you go on an interview you don’t show any enthusiasm because you don’t feel any. The interviewer picks up on it, and doesn’t feel any enthusiasm about your candidacy. No juice, no offer.

I do real well on an interview. I just can’t get one.

There’s a big difference between self confidence and job search strategy. It sounds like you’ve got plenty of one and not enough of the other. Eighty percent of available jobs aren’t advertised. You find them by plugging into the word of mouth circuit and then start networking. As the word implies, networking enables you to work your way through an interconnected system of contacts, until you reach what you’re looking for: an interview.

The essentials of networking include: contacting people you know personally who share your professional interests; talking with them about your search; describing your strengths and skill sets; asking for ways to connect with people you should meet. Then you ask for introductions and meet with individuals they recommend. And never, ever ask a networking contact to find you a job.

I’d get hired if I knew what I wanted to do.

There are so many people who don’t know what they want to do, it’s a miracle anything gets done. No wonder the total value of goods and services produced is called the gross national product.

There are three ways that, in combination, can help you find what you are best matched to doing:

Self analysis: Look back at your life and the jobs you’ve had: what are the things you’ve enjoyed most and found greatest success doing?

Talk with people who know you best: Seek their insight regarding what they have observed you doing most easily and with greatest enthusiasm.

Career Counseling: Work with professionals trained to take what you know and have learned about yourself, who know the questions to ask, and can provide the feedback and analysis you need to enable you to find your way.

If I knew what I wanted to do I could get out of my head and go do it.

One of the reasons you’ve hesitated for so long has been your quest for the “one right job.” What you really need is to head in the right direction. Like everyone else, you’re bound to stumble. The moment of truth comes with what you’ll do next. People may give you advice. They can’t give you courage. That’s up to you.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

My Boss and I Absolutely Do Not Get Along!

A reader asks this question:

“I have an ordeal I’m dealing with and need your advice. I’ve been at my current position for one year and greatly enjoy the people I work with except for my boss. We don’t click at all. It seems like I can never do one thing to please her. I’m in my 20’s and she’s twice my age. I have an undergraduate degree and she has an advanced degree. I watch the way she interacts with the other people in the office who have higher degrees and she gets along with everyone of them BUT me. If she calls me and I’m not at my desk or I’m on the phone she assumes that I’m not here. Its like that constantly. She belittles me in front of others and sends me rude emails. I need to know how to handle her and this situation. I’ve tried talking to her in the past but she blows up and says she doesn’t want to hear about it. Can you help?”

~ M. P. in Anywhere City, USA

A: You sound like you want to make this work despite describing a boss who sounds like a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and Cinderella’s stepmother. She doesn’t appreciate or value your work and likes everyone in the office, but you. I’m not sure where your motivation to succeed is coming from, but I’m glad you’ve got it. Now, let’s get to work.

You’ve noticed that your boss gets along with everyone but you, so I’m assuming you work in a fairly small office. I mention that because your boss has chosen to communicate with you via telephone or email. She even rejected your suggestion to meet and clear the air. So, why is she throwing darts from long distance?

What you know: She doesn’t like your job performance.

What you don’t know: Why she doesn’t like it.

You have a hunch that your problems are connected to what sets you two apart: age and education. You could be onto something. If your boss believes you’re not performing your job as a mature, responsible, educated adult should (as mature, responsible, and almost as educated as she sees herself) then she’d be aggravated with you. That doesn’t mean that she’s right in her perceptions but she has the right to have them.

You mentioned that she assumes you’re not working when you’re away from your desk or on the phone. She could reasonably conclude that you’re using office time to do things other than what she has assigned. (It’s that perception thing again.)

How can you change her perceptions? Change your behaviors. Provide your boss a daily status report on your assignments. If you’re ahead of schedule (which may be why you’re on the phone or away from your desk), let her know and ask how you can be of additional assistance to her and the department.

You’ve observed that your boss gets along better with office mates who have advanced degrees. Her attitude may have more to do with different work styles than differences in intellect. In short, she gets along better with people who see the world as she does, and you may see the world differently. Here’s a hypothetical example: let’s say your boss plays by the rules, is a stickler for details and deadlines, and gets anxious if you don’t share her concerns. She might call you a sloppy, slacking, screw-up (you mentioned her belittling comments and rude emails).

On the other hand, you may be a creative person who loves variety and flexibility, and believe that doing things with flair and style are more satisfying than getting them done on time. You’re not into details, you’re into possibilities! That’s a conflict waiting to happen.

You mention there are several co-workers that get along with you and your boss. They’re in a position to see what you miss. Ask them to respond candidly to three questions:

I want to be more effective in my job and get along better with my boss. What should I stop doing, start doing, and continue to do?

Now take your positive energy and get to work!

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

New Year’s Resolutions

It was hard to find much to cheer about in 2009. People and institutions seemed to let us down on a regular basis. Rather than place blame, let’s figure out what we can do to make 2010 a better year than the one we just left.

Get better. Get better at making promises, keeping promises and delivering more than you promise.

Get real. Find facts and face them. Face facts and deal with them. Deal with facts and take action on them.

Get moving. If you can’t run, walk. Put one foot in front of the other. And if that’s more speed than you can handle, take baby steps, just keep moving.

Listen more: Listen to what you don’t want to hear. Listen to what you need to hear. Listen to clarify, to understand, to fill the gap between what you see and what others see differently than you.

Agree more. Find reasons to agree, occasions when you share common ground, and times when there’s more that connects than separates you from one another.

Trust more. Trust facts. Trust others. Trust your gut. Trust more than you doubt, more than you dare, and more than you care to admit.

Open up more: Wherever you are, be there. Let people see who you are, know what you want, acknowledge how you feel and why you care as much as you do.

Clarify. Say what you mean. Say what you want. Say why it’s important to you.

Deliver. If you say it, do it. If you do it, do it right. If you do it right, do it on time. If you do it on time, do it with grace.

Confront. Go there. Be there. Address the issue that stands between where you are and where you could be. Find a way to accommodate what you want with what someone else needs.

Resolve. Get it done. Get it finished. Get it out of the way to make room for what’s next.

Work smart. Put most of your time where you get most of the benefit. Put most of your effort where you put most of your time.

Work hard. Work on what is worthwhile. Work on what you value. Work on what creates value for others.

Turn your talent into strengths. Turn what you do most easily into what you can consistently do well. Turn what is a gift into a treasure. Shape what you take for granted into what defines you.

Work more in your strengths: Do more with what you do best. Learn more about what you enjoy most. Give more of what is easiest for you to give.

Be credible: Create more substance than style, more actions than words, more outcome than expectation.

Be relevant: Stay in the conversation. Stay in the game. Learn more today than you knew yesterday. Advance your thinking by expanding your perspective.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Is the “Tough Gal” on the Derailment Track?

This gal is tough. She’s smart, quick, aggressive, and focused. You better know what you’re doing or she’ll nail you, whether you’re in a meeting with clients or sitting down with your boss and the CEO.

She’s arrogant. She swaggers when she talks, and she’s dismissive of any opinion that doesn’t agree with hers. She keeps her job because she delivers. She keeps her promises and she makes money.

Her peers, subordinates, even her bosses find her hard to take, and she succeeds despite them, probably because she keeps getting promoted. There’s no holding her back and no one wants to. “Let her make money and stress out somebody else.”

But is she a bad employee? A negative influence? Since it’s all in the eyes of the beholders, let’s talk to a few of them and get their fix on the situation:

A direct report says, “As a woman, I like having a woman boss and I like the fact that she’s strong. Yes, she can be over powering, and yes, she can be intimidating, and yes, she plays like the big boys, and I like that. I can learn from her, a lot of women can learn from her. Is she perfect? Far from it. She expects a great deal of herself, and expects too much from us. She has the energy and capacity to work 24/7 without acting frazzled or looking frayed around the edges. She wants us to keep up, and not complain about the pace and standard she sets. We can’t do either. Many of us have families and commitments that require our off the clock time and attention.

I’ve learned how to work with her. I know that she likes people who aren’t afraid of her, who have well formed opinions and can tell her what they are, without exaggeration or hesitation. She doesn’t respect anyone who holds back.

I’ve learned not to complain, but to set boundaries, and it works. I’m clear about what I can and cannot do. If she overloads me, making every assignment sound like a three-alarm fire, I outline what she’s already told me to do and ask her to prioritize. She immediately tells me what’s the hottest on the list, and I deliver.

When she pushes too hard, and I protest firmly, with good humor, she’ll back off, but just for a while. Then she’s back at it. I’m glad she works here and glad I’ve had the opportunity to work for her. I’m stronger (and exhausted) for the experience.”

A peer says: “She’s difficult and uncompromising and I’m surprised that she gets away with it. Until recently we’ve not had any women in upper management so the leadership team may be accommodating her style by giving her more room than she deserves. She may intimidate them. Not by her intelligence, as smart as she is, but by the number of women in support roles who think she’s the standard bearer of gender equality.

If I were her boss, I’d set her straight. She’s rude, impatient, and whether she admits it or not, she doesn’t have all the answers. I’ll wait her out. I bet she’s gone in a year.”

Her boss says: “She’s can be edgy and abrupt, no doubt about it, and we’ve got her working with a coach for just those reasons. The good news is, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, has a sharp sense of humor, and holds her own, whatever the topic.

She’s tough as nails but I tell you, she gets what she goes after, for the company as well as for herself. I’ve seen her jump all over a poor performer and protect someone who’s going through a bad patch. We’re lucky she’s working for us and not the competition. We’ll do what it takes to keep her.”

What’s the sum?

If you deliver what you promise, improve the bottom line, give employees what they need and challenge them to do their best, you’re a keeper. If you withhold support, training, and positive leadership, spend more than you make, insult more than a few people along the way, and think you’re always right, you’re on track for derailment.

Any questions?

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Job Search – Different Perspectives

Looking for a job can feel mighty good or feel mighty bad. It all depends on your frame of reference. Two individuals share what appear to be very different perspectives. First…

“I’m looking and it feels mighty good. I have a job I’ve never liked that’s paid the bills, put the kids though school, and taught me lessons in patience, humility, and accountability that I otherwise might not have learned. Now, twenty-five years later, I can finally afford to figure out what’s out there that I can enjoy doing that gives me the energy my job has always taken from me.

My wife says I deserve to be happy. I’m grateful for that. Our grown children think I should have changed jobs years ago. Easy for them to say. My closest friends think I’m making a mistake to give up something I know, although it’s boring, to take on something I don’t know, that sounds exciting. I think all their feedback says more about the people giving it then it does about me.

I’m careful when I say what I’m doing. I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box but I know enough not to share my job search secret with people at work or outsiders who might know insiders. I’m not working with a search firm, either. I want to be in control of who sees my resume. I want to jump, I don’t want to get pushed.”

Second…

“After nineteen years on the job, I was let go when the company went bust. Looking for work at this point in my life isn’t a good thing; it’s the last thing I want to do and last thing I thought I would be doing. The market’s tight, the competition’s tough, my confidence is shot and I’m questioning my ability to make good decisions. My greatest concern is that I’ll jump at the first thing I’m offered, and then have to live with it. My next greatest concern is that I won’t be made an offer worth jumping at. I’ve been looking for 14 months. I’ve been on three interviews. I’ve come up empty three times. I’m running out of options as quickly as I’m running out of money.

It’s easy to look for a job when you have a job and you’re in control of the process. Your outlook’s optimistic, your attitude’s positive, you’re feeling centered and just a bit smug. You’ve got a great little secret that no one knows until you choose to share it.

It’s not much fun if, instead of feeling in control, you’re feeling controlled by an impersonal economy over which you have no influence. It doesn’t feel good if you feel ill-treated by a system that hasn’t a clue how steady and reliable you’ve been, how dutifully you’ve taken orders and how quietly you’ve obeyed them, even when they weren’t in your best interest.”

There are as many similarities in these two stories as there are differences. Each individual perceives himself to have been manipulated by something over which he had no control. Each placed service above self, patience above personal potential. The first individual worked 25 years waiting to do something he liked better. The second individual gave his all to lose it all when he waited longer than was prudent and was laid off when his company went under.

You can choose to wait and do work that neither engages your imagination nor stimulates your thinking. You can choose to wait and stultify your potential by saying “yes” when integrity tells you the words you need to say all begin with “no”. You can choose differently while you still have the time, health, energy, and opportunity to enjoy a better outcome.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Fast Track Your Job Search

You’ll fast track your job search when you increase your focus, improve your efficiency, and target your marketing.

If you’re sending out resumes and not getting responses you have either lost your focus or never had it. Your resume has three roles: scout, matchmaker, and mouthpiece. It probes for possibilities, looks for a match, and speaks on your behalf. If it fails to deliver on any of these roles, it won’t be considered and neither will you.

If you want your resume to land in the interviewer’s “in” basket, here’s what you do:

Match your objective to the language you read in advertised job posting. The interviewer is scanning for “key words”. Those are the words the interviewer is using. Match them.

Match your work experience to the experience that’s needed to perform in the advertised position.

Match your words to your deeds: tell the reader what you want and the difference you make to the company where you work; give the reader quantifiable evidence of your accomplishments; show the reader your track record of achievement relative to your years of experience, and say it cogently and concisely so you’ll have a shot at success.

On the flip side, here’s what takes you out of the game.

If your resume goes on too long about things only a mother can love, you’re a bore.
If your resume says too much about things most people care too little about, you‘re out of touch.
If your resume doesn’t match what the company needs, you’re not paying attention.
If your resume reads like a job description, you have no imagination.
If your resume reads like a know it all, you’re not open to learning.

With your resume in your briefcase, on line, and in your head you’re ready to improve your efficiency, focus your search, and target your market.

Start with the basics and answer the questions: How large a company; how far a commute; how much of a salary?

Define the company: How mature or emergent? Open or closed ? Creative or consistent? Risk taking or conservative? Top down or bottom up?

Identify and prioritize your values: Help others, be an expert, achieve, compete, take risks, be respected…

With those questions answered you’re ready to write your 20 second elevator speech, which doubles as the objective on your resume and the answer to ‘tell me about yourself’. It’s your sense of purpose and reason for being, when what you want to be is an income producing, purposeful employee.

All that’s left to do is reintroduce yourself to people you know who know people who hire people. You have your resume, your marketing plan, your elevator speech and the answers to the questions you’re most likely to be asked. You can respond on line, in person, by phone, fax, and smoke signals. Put on some interview clothes, a strong dose of optimism, and you’re good to go. The only barrier that can stand in your way now is a bad attitude. If you can’t fix that, the best plan won’t help you.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

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