Books

The Books I Recommend Most

May 31, 2015 By Michele Woodward 3 Comments

Lovely reader David suggested I create a list of the work-and-business-related books I recommend most frequently to clients, friends and the occasional passerby. “What a grand idea!” I exclaimed, after reading David’s email suggestion.

In making this list, I first thought to sort them by category or subject matter but then realized that many of the overlap and reinforce one another. Plus, sorting is hard work.

So, below find the 20 books I recommend most frequently and heartily:

For those who are starting anything new: The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up To Speed Faster and Smarter by Michael Watkins

For those who want to get organized, be more efficient and freaking nail it: Nine Things Successful People Do Differently by Heidi Grant Halvorson

For those who need to focus on interpersonal relationships and communications: No One Understands You And What To Do About It by Heidi Grant Halvorson

For those who may be an eensy bit glass-half-empty: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

For those making change: Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges

For those who aspire to go bigger: The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. by Daniel Coyle

For those changing jobs: Career Strategy: Find A Job, Grow A Career by Michele Woodward

For those who want to amp up their motivation, or the motivation of others: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

For those who want to influence others: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

For those who feel swamped when having difficult conversations: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Patterson, Grenny, et al.

For those who would like to lead or who are leading: The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness by Deepak Chopra

For those who might find themselves stuck and dealing with deep-rooted shame: Daring Greatly:How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown, Ph.D.

For those who might have tiny perfectionism and control issues: The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed To Be And Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown, Ph.D.

For those who need to understand forgiveness: How Can I Forgive You? The Courage to Forgive, The Freedom Not To By Janis Abrams Spring, Ph.D.

For those who’d like to understand why men hog the remote: What Could He Be Thinking? by Michael Gurian, Ph.D.

For those who seek meaning and purpose: Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

For those dealing with loss and grief: The Geography of Loss: Embrace What Is, Honor What Was, Love What Will Be by Patti Digh

For those focusing on integrity, honor and their own alignment: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide To Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz

For those who would like to write: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

For those women finding themselves in mid-life crisis: When The Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions by Sue Monk Kidd

Are there other books I recommend? Sure, but these are the ones that most often get recommended to my clients as they work toward their goals. And, just a note, every link you see on this post is directly to Amazon.com. If you purchase through one of these links, I will make a small commission (very small, trust me). Just want to be upfront about that.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about these books – have you read them? Have they affected your life?

I sure hope so. Because they certainly have affected mine in ways large and small, and continue to do so every single day.

Curiosity Gets The Job

February 3, 2013 By Michele Woodward 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was a guest on a radio show hosted by the fantastic Koren Motekaitis. Our topic was “Jobs Over 50” – the conventional wisdom being that in “this economy” it’s doubly difficult for people over age 50 to land decent jobs. Of course, I never met a conventional wisdom I couldn’t refute, so I outlined tactics, mindsets and approaches to help anyone find a good situation. You can hear the interview here.

Then, this week, New York Times writer Tom Friedman wrote an interesting column about where employment is headed, titled: “It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q.”

Friedman’s thesis is that the modern world’s easy hyperconnectivity has radically changed the way we work, and we all must understand this “Great Inflection” to be prepared for what’s coming next.

In short, you’ve got to talk about what you are able to do today and tomorrow, rather than solely rely on what you’ve done in the past.

For example, the marketing degree you got back in the 1980s? Practically irrelevant today, given the explosion of new media, hyper-personalization and micro segmentation. Lead your pitch for a new job or a promotion with that educational credential? Dinosaur alert. Lead with your recent social media campaign success? You’re in the mix.

In his piece, Friedman says, “That means the old average is over. Everyone who wants a job now must demonstrate how they can add value better than the new alternatives.”

Today, regardless of your age, you must stay current – especially because things are happening so fast. In essence, every 40+ person who says, “I just don’t get Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/Foursquare/Vine/YouTube/email”, is effectively saying that they’d prefer to sit around with Lord Grantham and shoot grouse.

To grow in your career, or to re-enter the work force – or even to have your own business – if you’re an older person, it’s vital that you get across that you not only have a wealth of experience, tempering and seasoning but are also fully current with all of today’s tactics and approaches.

This means:

Take classes. In-person, online, formal, informal. Get a tutor to teach you one-on-one. Check out the robust free classes at Coursera, and iTunes U.
Read. Sometimes it astonishes me that people don’t read trade coverage of their industry. How can you suss out where things are heading? How can you help but be blindsided by a new innovation? So spend 10 minutes a day staying abreast of your field, and develop your own expertise – hey, you can make it easy on yourself – subscribe to SmartBrief for your field and get a handy news summary in your in-box every day. And follow key bloggers in your field. When you are up-to-speed and connected, you have a huge asset. Expertise, synthesis of information and the ability to say “what this means” can never be outsourced to computer code, people.
Expand your comfort zone. Yes, you may have gotten used to doing things a certain way. And those ways worked in the past and got you where you are. I totally get it. [I, too, remember carbon paper. But modern work requires less and less paper, and you don’t have to have blue fingers to be successful.] Appreciate the past for having been the past – but welcome the fun and growth in the learning that’s yet to come. This may mean you have meetings by Skype, or conduct business by text, or maybe work in a virtual team that’s very flat. It may not be what you know, but you can learn to make it work.

Friedman says: “How to adapt? It will require more individual initiative. We know that it will be vital to have more of the ‘right’ education than less, that you will need to develop skills that are complementary to technology rather than ones that can be easily replaced by it and that we need everyone to be innovating new products and services to employ the people who are being liberated from routine work by automation and software. The winners won’t just be those with more I.Q. It will also be those with more P.Q. (passion quotient) and C.Q. (curiosity quotient) to leverage all the new digital tools to not just find a job, but to invent one or reinvent one, and to not just learn but to relearn for a lifetime.”

Dig in to tradition, then, at your own risk. Hold on to the past at your own peril.

Instead, challenge yourself to be curious, to learn, to grow. Bring something valuable to the table, every day.

And you will see your career flourish and grow until you are ready for a change, on your own terms.

How To Ace Job Interviews

October 14, 2012 By Michele Woodward Leave a Comment

The single most important thing you have to realize about a job interview is this – the person doing the interviewing probably doesn’t really want to be there.

Most of them have never been trained on conducting interviews, and are doing their best to get through it. They also have a stack of pending work calling their name, and are fitting your meeting into a very busy day.

Sure, they want to find a good person to fill the open spot. As one senior guy said to me, “The biggest question I’m trying to figure out is – ‘Is this guy a jerk?’ And then it’s, ‘Can he do the work?’ Because I don’t want to work with a jerk even if he’s competent technically. I would much rather work with a good person who can learn.”

So when you walk in to someone’s office for your job interview, realize that they haven’t been sitting there, twiddling their thumbs, waiting until the very moment you walk in the room for the day to get started – no, you are just one more thing to get done in their very busy day.

Honor that.

You honor it by being early to your appointment. Yes, you heard me. Early. As in sitting in the lobby or waiting room 10-15 minutes before your appointment time. If you make an interviewer wait, what have you indicated?

a. That their time is not important

b. That you are not organized

c. That you might possibly be a jerk

A, B or C will get you screened out faster than you can shake hands with a rattlesnake. So, if you are scheduled to meet at 2pm, be there at 1:45pm. And take that waiting time as an opportunity to relax, center, catch your breath and be ready.

You honor your interview, too, by dressing appropriately. Yes, it matters. For men, wear a suit and a tie even if the organization is not a suit and a tie kind of place. Like it or not, in our culture a suit and tie connotes seriousness and professionalism – and to a degree, respect. After all, we dress in a coat and tie for our most important events – marriages, funerals, speeches, important dinners, meeting the Queen – so dressing appropriately for an interview can show just how seriously you’re taking the opportunity. For women, a suit is always a good choice, or you can go all Michelle Obama and wear a tailored dress. For both genders, the higher you go within an organization the more personal flair you can show – with color, originality and creativity – because that may be a part of your personal brand. But in the first meeting, restrict the bling to just one thing – one great scarf, pin, colorful tie, pocket square, bag.

It’s you that needs to stand out in an interview, not your accessories.

And you stand out by being prepared to listen 60% of the time and talk 40% of the time.

Let’s look at your 40% – what do you want to accomplish? Well, you want to walk away with your interviewer knowing:

a. I am not a jerk/axe murderer/psychopath – you will like working with me

b. I have the expertise you seek

c. I can take this where you need it to go, and probably further

[I’m really not kidding about the axe murderer thing. In today’s climate, if an organization can hire only one person they want to hire a sure thing. That means someone who can get along with others, whose entire staff won’t resign within the first six months, who won’t put personal spending on the company American Express card, who won’t diddle the interns. This integrity/likeability piece is absolutely critical today – and if you are integrity-challenged or have a history of these sorts of abuses, I suggest you get specific coaching or therapy to find ways to understand why you did what you did, and create a way to talk about how you have fixed this so employers can understand. Dead serious – this will break you if left unattended.]

The killer question you can ask a prospective employer:

What’s the first thing you want me to accomplish once I’m on board?

This works on so many levels – you can read what I wrote about this question in 2007 – but most of all it allows you to know exactly how the employer is going to judge your performance, so you know where to put your emphasis in the critical first 90 days of your tenure.

Plus, after they tell you what needs to get done, you can go right into a story about how you’ve already met that goal for someone else.

Because we human beings have told stories to one another for millenia. Job interviews are the perfect places to tell a solid story of your success. Have two or three ready, that illustrate your key strengths and accomplishments relevant to the job at hand. Keep them to two minutes or so each. Make eye contact as you tell your stories. Use your hands. Be engaged and engaging. Draw your interviewer in. Smile.

It will make all the difference.

Research shows that likeability is influenced like this: 7% comes from the content of what you say; 38% from the way you say it, or your tone; 55% derives from the body language you use in delivering your message. So.

Sit up straight. Point your toes at your interviewer – this will square your shoulders and hips, creating a feeling of open physical rapport. Keep your hands above the table – hidden hands equate to hidden secrets. Use your hands to make points – keeping your hands in the zone from your belly button to your shoulders, with your hands open and flat. This is power positioning. Don’t believe me? Watch a Presidential debate, sugar.

And when the interviewer asks if you have any other questions, always have one. You can use the question above, or something else that’s come up and needs to be addressed, or you can simply ask about the next steps. But never, never, never say, “Nope, I think I got it all.” This can be seen as arrogant, or uncreative, or simply unwise. So ask one final question.

Then thank the hell out of them. Shake hands and say thanks. Thank the assistant who set up the meeting, thank the receptionist, thank the security guard, thank the FedEx guy in the elevator with you. People notice when you express gratitude, and you feel better, too.

Write your thank you note and follow up with any information or articles or recipes or whatever you may have offered to provide.

And get ready – you’ll be going to the next level pretty soon.

Phone Interviewing 101

September 30, 2012 By Michele Woodward 1 Comment

Look at you. You figured out LinkedIn and spruced up your profile. You also spiffed up your resume. You superstar – you’re on a roll!

So let’s talk interviews.

How about the dreaded Phone Screening Interview first? Employers use the Phone Screening Interview as a cost-saver – and often outsource the screening, so the person you’re talking with might not be someone you’ll be working with or for, and that person may not even know too much about the job. What the screener is looking for though, is:

1. Do you follow the rules?

2. Are you well spoken?

3. Can you think on your feet?

4. Are you prepared for the job?

Following rules? Yep, a big potential red flag, so follow the rules for your interview. If you are to call the person at 1pm ET, call at 1pm ET. Not 1:07pm. Not Pacific Time. This simple test demonstrates that you can follow directions. I know, for some of you, that feels trivial and a stupid reason to be judged in an interview, but – hey – them’s the rules. Organizations have learned that screening this way delivers employees with integrity, and good work ethic. So be on time.

Well spoken? Do you use a lot of, well, uh, y’know, speaking tics? Do you swear? Do you sound bored, and slightly jaded? Kinda like you can’t be bothered? Unenthusiastic? Or are you someone who speaks well and could represent the organization well in one-on-one contacts with customers and clients?

Thinking on your feet – did you know there is a interviewing tactic which attempts to get at your behavior? So a line of questioning might be thrown at you to test your drive, your motivation, your innate preferences. If you are expecting questions about job skills, this approach can throw you. Be prepared to be agile, and listen carefully to the question that’s being asked. And answer it well. A great resource for this is the book Interview Like A Top MBA by Shel Leanne.

Finally, they want to know if you are prepared to do the work, so you will need to speak to the job description and clearly lay out where you align with the job. What you’re shooting for, of course, is to be such a great candidate that you get called in for an in-person interview.

But phone interviews can be tricky. Especially for those of us who are particularly good at reading people, and get a lot of information from body language and inflection. So what do you do to make a phone interview really work?

First, do the interview in a place other than your office desk. Why? Well, you sit there every day, don’t you? Doing mindless, boring tasks, and taking call after call after call. You may not realize it, but your desk energy is probably pretty bleah. And if you have the habit of talking on the phone while watching CNN livestream and playing Spider Solitaire (hey, I know how you roll), then you might do the phone interview with the same energy and distractions. So get up and move somewhere.

Second, I often suggest people do the phone interview standing (because it shifts your energy), and in front of a mirror if possible.

A mirror serves as a proxy for the interviewer – if you look at your face and you are scowling, then it’s likely that your phone voice and energy is transmitting that scowl. So smile, just like you would if you were face to face. Use your hands. Be animated.

Did you know that only 7% of why someone likes you is because of what you say? According to the research of Dr. Albert Mehrabian, we respond well to another person’s tone of voice (38%), but it’s facial expression and body language that persuades us most (55%).

In a phone interview, then, it’s vital for you to make sure your tone of voice and body language (which can only be felt, not seen) are firing on all cylinders. That’s why I suggest the mirror. See?

Have note cards in front of you with key points you want to make, and always thank the interviewer for his or her time. Ask what the going-forward process is like, and express your interest in the position. Always. [Unless the job’s a dud – in that case, be gracious because you never know what job that recruiter may be filling in the future.]

Finally, write your thank you note. Email is fine, and a handwritten note is terrific. Whichever you choose – or both – make sure they go out in the first 24 hours after your interview, and always offer to provide more information or answer further questions.

And now, my Interview Follow-Up Rule Of Three.

Write your note within 24 hours. That’s your first post-interview contact. Wait a week. If you have not heard anything from the interviewer, write another email or place a phone call inquiring about the process. This is your second post-interview contact. Wait another week. If you haven’t heard anything at all, send one more email. And then let it go.

HR departments around the world are inundated with potential employees. Hounding someone (or semi-stalking) does not engender happiness or warm fuzzy feelings. Contact the person three times, then let it go. It always seems that once you let it go, voila! – the phone rings, and you are in the mix for the next round of interviews.

Next week: How to Ace In-Person Interviews.

Your Modern Resume

September 23, 2012 By Michele Woodward 3 Comments

So, since we talked about LinkedIn, you know what you need to do to get your profile up and make it beefy. I’m glad to hear that so many of you have taken steps in that direction – as Mr. Burns might say, “Exxxx-cellent.” Go ahead and keep tinkering, and realize that every time you make a change on your profile your LinkedIn contacts will get a notice. Use your updates strategically so people want to click over to see more, and let them put two and two together to realize you’re the perfect candidate for the job that just opened.

Although LinkedIn often serves as a resume proxy, as we discussed, you still need a resume. [collective groans]

For so many of us, the prospect of writing a resume feels an awful lot like… completing a tax return. And just about as much fun.

Back in the old days – you know, when you carried around a hieroglyphic stone tablet to job interviews – a resume was a very formal affair. Resumes were typeset, on ivory or white vellum, and had to be broad enough to attract different employers because most job seekers could only afford to have one version typeset. In those days, the world moved a bit slower, and hiring organizations often took their time with the process.

Today, the hiring process couldn’t look more different.

Speed is often a key consideration, as in “how fast can we get someone in here?” Agility is important, and thanks to home computers and good printers, it’s easy to customize a resume to a specific job posting.

But most of all, today’s resume is mostly a sales document, rather than an encyclopedic listing of everywhere you’ve ever been, everything you’ve ever thought or done. [unless you’re looking for a job in academe or the government – in those spots, you still need to keep it formal.]

A good resume, today, gets you in the door and into the interview. It’s simply a marketing piece.

A recruiter recently told me that there are sometimes more than 400 applicants for a particular opening in his shop – so your resume needs to quickly tell the story about why you are the perfect person to hire.

I am a sucker for concrete examples, so let’s look at my resume, shall we? Here’s the header:

Now, notice something. There’s my address, phone and email address. My email is very professional – not “hippiechick22@hotmail.com”. [Believe me, it matters.] You might be surprised by the number of people who forget to put contact info on a resume. Result? Automatic round file. So make it easy, clear and right at the top. OK, see that line? Above the line I define who I am, and then add my tag line underneath. This serves to set the tone for anyone who’s just scanning quickly. Then my resume moves into a summary section – I’m leaving the tag line so you can see how things are placed:

In this section, I’ve chosen to highlight the key things I do in my work – Coaching, Strategic Planning, Writing – and added Ethics because it’s reassuring. You’ll see a short client testimonial there, too, which serves like a LinkedIn recommendation – it’s a third party endorsement which provides some context for me and my work. You’ll also note that I peppered this area with keywords folks are likely to use to search out an executive or career coach. That way, if my resume gets dumped into a computer scan, the keywords will still pop my resume up in the search results.

Now, the average recruiter eyeballs a resume for three or four seconds. That’s all. So, it’s quite reasonable to think that someone could scan my resume just to this point – and what would they do if they only knew this much about me? They’d know enough to put me in the “yes” pile. How do I know this would happen? Because it already has.

But some people will be intrigued enough (and have enough time) to keep on reading. Those folks will take a look at “Selected Professional Experience” – this is also strategic. That I worked at Roy Rogers Restaurant as a senior in high school adds nothing to the narrative I’m creating in the resume – the narrative that I am an outstanding, experienced coach – so Roy Rogers is off, and all the relevant stuff is in:

Subsequent experiences, like the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission, my consulting practice, my work at a top lobbying firm and at The White House, as well as key Presidential campaign are highlighted. The descriptions are short, and specifically reinforce the idea that I have played with the big boys and know how to work under pressure.

My resume ends up with my education and certifications and two key volunteer activities that also go to my ability to get stuff done:

Notice, I ended the page with a footer – phone number and email address – to make it easy for people to get in contact.

Because that’s really what I want for the reader to do – to contact me. To read this resume and say, “Wow – she’ll be perfect. Let’s bring her in.”

And that’s all your resume needs to do, too. It needs to wow ’em, and get you in the door.

What you do then…in the interview? Will be covered next week.

Working? Looking? What You Need Right Now

September 16, 2012 By Michele Woodward 5 Comments

Last week a friend told me about a job she’s filling and asked if I had any candidates to recommend. It’s a senior job that will pay in the good six-figures, with budget and people authority. It’s with an organization with a mission, and it’s often in the news.

Immediately, I thought of a perfect candidate and told my friend that I’d send over the candidate’s LinkedIn profile so she could get a sense of the person and see if there appeared to be a match.

Now, wait a minute. I didn’t say I’d send over a resume, did I? No, I said I’d send a LinkedIn profile. Because contacting the candidate and getting her resume might take days. Maybe even a week if her resume isn’t current and updated. LinkedIn is quick, and quiet.

This is the new way of the world.

But here’s what happened when I went to LinkedIn and searched for the candidate I wanted to recommend:

She had two profiles listed under her name – one was clearly started and abandoned because it had zero information
The second profile had one job listed (the one she had the job before last) and no contact info

So, obviously, I couldn’t quietly send my friend anything that would allow her to determine whether to take my candidate to the next level.

Some of you are no doubt wondering about this.

Wondering what the big deal is with LinkedIn. Is it the same as Facebook? Or Twitter? Some of you feel overwhelmed just reading the words “Facebook” and “Twitter”, and adding “LinkedIn” to the conversation makes you a little sweaty and slightly nauseous.

OK. But here’s the deal. LinkedIn has emerged as the single most important thing you can do to support your career.

Back in 2008 more than the stock market and housing prices shifted – work also changed, dramatically. Today, anyone can be fired at any time. Organizations – businesses, non-profits, governments both state and local – cut back and shed employees. To be truly successful right now all of us need to be in permanent job search mode.

And LinkedIn gives you a place to effectively showcase your resume, skills, capabilities and network in a way that’s totally appreciated and understood by the community.

Because everyone else on LinkedIn is doing the same thing.

Now, some people tell me that they don’t want to have a LinkedIn profile because then everyone in the office will know they are “looking” and that would be … bad.

[Of course, if you work in such a punitive office then you really, really need a great LinkedIn presence. Just sayin’.]

But your boss can relax. Tons of opportunities come via LinkedIn – not just new jobs. With the specialized groups on the network, you might learn about conferences or workshops you might not otherwise have heard about. You might get asked to speak on a panel, or write an article which raises the profile of the organization. You might make alliances that generate business for your employer.

Lots of good stuff.

But none of it happens if you have an incomplete or rudimentary profile.

Here’s your task: Get on there, and paste in your bio or write one up. List your professional work history, and note any certifications you have. List your colleges. Get a few people to write recommendations for you. Write a few for other people. Have a good picture of yourself taken (remind me to tell you the story of the guy whose LinkedIn photo was of him with a bucket hat and a beer – he changed his picture to something more professional and spruced up his bio… and was hired within a week. Again, just sayin’.).

And connect with people.

Upload your contacts – LinkedIn doesn’t save the data, so it’s OK – and send requests to people you know and have worked with in the past. Accept requests from people you know and meet at professional networking events. Work toward having around 100 connections at the minimum, because when people search you they will often look to see who you know in common. It’s a good way to create rapport and connection. And to demonstrate your influence.

Someone is reading this right now and saying, “I don’t have any influence and the whole thing feels like an invasion of privacy. I don’t want anyone searching me!”

And I feel you, pal. You’re probably still mourning the loss of the buggy whip manufacturing industry, too.

Times have changed. The way of doing business has changed, too. A recruiter recently told me that if a candidate has no LinkedIn profile, then he or she simply does not exist. Because LinkedIn is a vital tool for people who are trying to fill jobs.

Tell you what – let’s make it easy for you. Just put up your profile and get those 100 connections. Then you can stop, and do nothing more.

Nothing, but watch the opportunity open up. Open up really wide.

[my LinkedIn profile: Michele Woodward]

How To Get A Job – 3 Stories

October 2, 2011 By Michele Woodward Leave a Comment

Three stories. All told last week. Three different people. Three job opportunities.

Only one gets the position.

Read on.

Sophie went into her interview full of confidence. Piece of cake. She was highly qualified, and met the job description perfectly. Her interviewer – an older woman. Another piece of cake. Sophie leaned back, relaxed and prepared to ace the interview.

Then a question came – a tough question – and Sophie wasn’t prepared. She assumed this older lady was going to be an easy touch. Sophie stammered. Sophie couldn’t find the right words. Sophie felt flummoxed.

She went from leaning back to leaning forward. Heart racing. Bombing it.

She did not get the job.

Janice went into her interview a little panicked. Panic that had started two and a half years ago when she lost her job. And immediately went on a large contract that ended up getting pulled. And then tried consulting. But couldn’t generate any work. She feels like the last couple of years have been all about failure after failure. Plus, she has the kids, and then there’s her husband, and they all have their demands on her time. She really thinks they would prefer her to stay home and take care of them all day. And, frankly, a part of her would like that, too.

But women who don’t work – who are they? And is it really reasonable to ask her husband to shoulder all the expenses? Especially in this economy.

So Janice went into the interview conflicted. And the energy she gave off to the interviewer was confusing. Did she want the job, or not? Because Janice asked few questions, and never really talked about her own strengths and capacity. She mostly sat there, looking nervous.

She did not get the job.

Kate didn’t have a job interview this week, but she got a new job.

How?

Kate had explored how she could be happier in her work. She analyzed who she enjoyed working with, and what kind of work energized her. Then, she identified people and organizations she’d like to work with, and developed a pitch about how she could specifically help them – how she could do what’s not getting done, and do it efficiently.

And then at a meeting already scheduled with one of her target companies – a client of hers – she said, “What if I joined your team and took care of this for you?” Eyes lit up. Hands were shaken.

And she had the job.

What do these stories tell you?

They tell me that not only has the economy changed, but so has hiring. No longer are organizations hiring warm bodies because the plan says there are six people in that department and we only have five. Today, organizations hire because they are in pain. Something’s not getting done. Something important, that affects the bottom line. And the maxed out people currently in the department are already doing the work of three people. Each.

So someone gets hired. One someone.

Someone who makes a good case for himself. Someone who has good energy. Someone who is not afraid to take a little risk to get what they want.

This is the way people are getting hired. These are the new rules.

If you are looking for work, check yourself. Are you playing by the old rules, or the new ones?

Planting Seeds

July 10, 2011 By Michele Woodward Leave a Comment

Take a seed.

Put it in some dirt. Maybe add some compost.

Now, water it.

Then, do the hardest part: walk away.

I mean it, walk away.

Because if you worry whether the seeds are germinating, doubt whether they’re growing – pull them up to check the progress? You’ll kill the plant.

Growing things calls for patience.

Even if it’s growing your career, your business, your practice, your network. Your love life, your family, your friendships. Whatever you’re growing, you need patience, baby.

And you need to plant seeds. Every single day.

Plant plenty, because we all know that some seeds will not grow. Too much water, too much sun, not enough water, not enough sun – there are many reasons seeds don’t take root.

But you can’t take it personally. Just plant so many seeds that a few duds won’t make any difference.

Just keep planting, even in the most unlikely places.

Because some seeds can thrive in an improbable inch of dirt in a random crack in the sidewalk.

Want a new job as a lawyer? Talk to your periodontist.

Want to meet a new person? Ask the yoga instructor.

Need to meet someone at XYZ, Inc.? You’d be surprised to know that the softball coach’s younger brother is the CEO there.

Plant those seeds and water them with generosity and genuine kindness.

Let them develop roots.

Let them flourish and grow.

And when it’s time to harvest, you will have a bumper crop.