Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Business changes at a dramatic pace.  Your career may soon be outdated or obsolete due to shifts in market conditions, changes in consumer preferences, and/or emerging technology.

Organizations list being adaptive, flexible, and willing to change as traits sought in employees and leaders.  Are you mindful and aware of your abilities and willingness in these areas?

Research shows that awareness and openness helps you use new information quickly and sparks the creativity within you.  When teams of people have these traits and solid communication, innovation abounds.

Additionally, career opportunities abound.  Are you open to seeing the opportunities?  Are you adaptive, flexible and willing to make clear choices to sustain a remarkable career and support an organization’s goals?

One of the world’s best coaches, Louis Emond, a wonderful mentor and later a close friend coached, taught, and helped me become aware of how my old method of making choices needed to change.  This awareness allowed not only me to move to a new level of growth, but it also helped my team move to a new level of openness and growth.  This new level of growth, speed of decision making and overall direction caused changes to the team with some employees feeling like the job no longer suited them.

Teams will grow, shift and adjust.  It is important to be willing to say,  “We wish you the best” to a team member who does not desire to adjust to new conditions.  Our team learned to view these shifts as natural changes like the changing of seasons.

Lessons from Louis helped our team learn to shift — they were now prepared to change directions at critical junctions.  Business occurs in community.  Communities evolve.

The ability and willingness of people, groups and teams to shift impacts the pace of change and dictates how successful individuals, organizations, and communities are in navigating ever changing market conditions.

With the poise of a magician, Louis taught that managing your business, your career, and your team is about taking personal responsibility, demonstrating leadership, and planning for success.  When you need to change directions, by all means, change directions.  Execute a change, don’t ponder, worry or resist, EXECUTE.

As I recall, Louis often cited Vince Lombardi’s dictum of, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”  It is not about a right or wrong choice.  It is about a choice.  Every choice will be different based on individual truth, experience and point-of-view.

When a leader asks the team to change directions and a team member resists, most leaders will ask why and listen.  If the leader’s direction is not influenced by the team and the direction set, then each team member will be asked to make his/her choice to support the direction or elect to join another team.

Every human and every member of the team makes choices.  What will your choice be?

Action Tip:

This tip is from Louis.  Leaders make choices and not all choices will be popular or the best.  Will you choose to lead?  Are you willing to ask your team to support your direction or choose to pick another?   If so, here a few action items for the week:

• Identify who you are, who you want to be, and whom you will serve.
• Then make choices that:  support who you are, who you are willing to be and whom you will serve.  Your choices should inspire you to do the things that bring you fulfillment, inspiration, and joy.

You can choose to have a remarkable career, business and life and forge a path alone.  Or you may choose to find a coach or mentor to partner with in order to grow at a faster rate.

The odds are you will have a lot more fun learning along the way with a coach and in community.  Are you building your support team?  The choice is always up to you.

Do you have a question about applying this action tip to be more fulfilled, inspired and satisfied in your business and career?  Let’s talk.  Contact us and ask your question.

 Summer is ending and fall is a time of transformation.  If you are ready to move to the next level, now is the time.  Life is ready for you — it always has been. 

If you want to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and be ready to jump into fall, spend a few minutes this week setting the stage.

Transformation only happens when you are truly ready to shift and take action.  

Here are three steps that will help you be ready for your personal transformation this fall:

1. Listen to yourself.  Listen carefully to what you want and then write it down.
2. Jot down your concerns about getting what you want.
3. Be truthful with yourself about each of your concerns.  Did you note all your concerns?  Did you note the real concern(s)?  Don’t stop with the surface issues and concerns.

Review your notes.  Reflect on the data.  For example, if you want a new job and you are concerned about the salary, make sure this is your real concern or your only concern.

Then ask yourself, “What can I do to address the salary of the job I really want?”  Often the limits people initially see are easily overcome.

These steps can help you accelerate your transformation to the life and career you want.

If you want to create personal transformation faster you can partner with a coach, a trusted advisor or mentor.

Try the three steps and share you comments below.

“Everything happens through conversations.” – Judith E. Glaser

What impact and fun will you create today with a conversation?

Conversations do count.  How?  They foster and nurture impact.  They boost fun.

Do you ever sit and watch a conversation?  What do you see?  You see smiles or frowns or puzzlement on faces.  You can see the sparks that are created and oftentimes, you can feel the energy of the conversation.

Have you ever been in traffic and seen and felt the energy from a conversation? Some mornings, seeing another driver’s animated face or their hands flying around the steering while engaged in a hands-free phone conversation, is very entertaining.

Conversations do change the world.  They connect people, data and have impact.  People ready for next level growth understand the value of conversations.

Conversations are magical.  They can land you a job, a raise, or a new client.  They help you surpass what was previously possible and expand your reach.

A conversation will shape relationships, bring joy and other feelings, too.  Those on track to the next level know how to leverage conversations and understand how to take a stand with a conversation.

Most leaders have the ability to pick out potential and a person’s current knowledge and skill during an initial conversation with a candidate.  Leaders seeking to grow organizations hire for the future.  Subsequently, they listen and carefully observe conversations with new employees for the first five to nine months.

The interview is not an insignificant data gathering moment.  These conversations can be labeled, rehearsed and staged.

Want to grow?  Leverage all conversations.  They all count.

Want to succeed in interviews?  Have conversations.

Here are tips uncovered by a leader who, after for 10 years of excelling, could not grow the division he led, nor get a promotion.  In fact, his blind spots around conversations had him on the edge of being fired.

1. Conversations occur aloud between two or more people.  They are not the chatter and banter you have with yourself or your ego.

2. Conversations begin by listening.  Listen and hear what are others discussing, talking about and what concerns others have.

3.  Conversations are not only about you and what you think is significant.  An impactful conversation meets people where they are and uncovers what is important to them.  Then you can transition the conversation to mutual opportunities and greater outcomes.

What tips or lessons have you gained from leveraging conversations?  Share your comments or tips below.

Do you want to accelerate your success, have fun, and make an impact by turning interviews into conversations?  Great!

If you want support to get different results with your interviews or leadership conversations let’s talk.  Give me a call.

Intentions will transform your career, your search and your life.

Summer is here.  Look around.  There are signs of the season change everywhere.  Mother Nature is calling us to be outside and to enjoy all she offers.

Warm, longer days.  Bold greens, bright yellows and blooming flowers.  Nature changes her look and her intention for each season and she invites action.

What do you notice?  Nothing?  Maybe that is a blind spot for you!!

When you notice things you haven’t seen before or something grabs your attention, pause to reflect.  Be curious or explore.

You might be surprised what you learn.  Or what you view in a different and/or interesting manner.

There is amazing freedom and forward movement in simple changes, a pause or a simple intention.

Make one intentional change.  Do one thing different and expect a different result [your intention].  See what happens.  Notice the transformation!

If you are anything like I was in the past, you are saying, “Okay, but what intention?”

Here is a simple July assignment: Update your email signature block.

You use email daily in your job search, right?  If you have had the same email signature for sometime . . . CHANGE IT!

Create a new look and feel for your email signature block.

Set an intention for this action to have an impact in your daily life.  An intention could be:  “All my emails will be answered.  I am positively looking forward to having all my emails answered.”

Be careful here — this intention is not a goal.  It does not get measured or tracked.  Just set it and release it.   It’s an intention.

Intentions are mindful, present thoughts, set and released.

If you are a results driven person like me – be careful – stop and release the intention.  It does not need an action plan or a method to track the results.

Be present.  Watch and note what happens.

Have you had great experiences setting intentions?  Do you struggle?  Both have occurred for me.

Looking forward to hearing your stories and comments.  Please share them below.

Do you want support setting intentions?  Are you ready for your amazing transformation?   If so, I am happy to help, give me a call.  Talk to you soon.

 Every day, in each moment, there are opportunities before you.  Do you see them? 

An event, an encounter, a lunch with a friend can connect you to an amazing opportunity.  The challenge, at least for me on occasion, is whether or not I recognize these moments as opportunities.

My secret is to pause, if only for a moment.  Then, in that moment, there is a flash or a smile or just a knowing that opportunities abound.

When you are committed to sustaining your career trajectory and transforming these amazing opportunities joy grows and so much more appears at your fingertips.  The executives I work with know this, yet most will tell you it is not always easy to seize the moments.

Sometimes blind spots dart in front of opportunities and in order to see them you must stretch or shift to get a clear view of them. Often the stress of your job, your everyday duties, takes over and the opportunities drift from sight.

Building and sustaining an amazing career, a functional team and a profitable business takes continued drive, action and consistent progress toward your goals.  It also takes a willingness to see the opportunities as you travel through your busy day.

Are ready to accelerate your success?

Here is a simple assignment to help you to see the opportunities:

1. Pause at least five moments during the day, think and ask yourself,  “Can I see the opportunities before me?”
2. As you pause be mindful and interested.  What are you feeling?  What do you know?
3. Who or what is nearby?  Where do you see joy, smiles, opportunities?
4. What is the thought that darts out to hide what you see?

Can you pause for a moment more to see the opportunities?

Great!  If not yet, don’t worry.  Pausing to see the opportunities comes easier with a little practice.  Try the assignment. Practice it at five points during each day for one week.

Check in and share your results below.  Want to help others see the opportunity?  Tweet “Can you #seetheopportunities?”

Do you want support to see the opportunities available to you?

Are you ready for your amazing career transformation?

If so, I am happy to help, give me a call.  Talk to you soon.

Life is full of distractions.  This is never truer than in the summer.

June is filled with engagement and graduation parties, weddings, and Father’s Day.  July kicks off with the 4th of July and is followed by vacations and weekend trips.   August brings thoughts of back-to-school and other fall activities.

This is true for you AND hiring managers/recruiters.  However, with a little planning you can have fun and move your career transformation forward.

Can you set aside as little as one hour a week this summer to transform your career?

Good.  Then do it.  Mark one hour each week on your calendar to transform your career.

Here are three tips to ensure you avoid summer distractions and move your career transformation forward:

1.  Use June to identify your direction.  Briefly assess where you are now and write down where you want to be at the end of the year, in three years and in five years with your career.

2. Use July to clarify your unique value.  What helps you stand out?  What value do you offer?  How is your unique value relevant to those you can help you get where you want to be at the end of the year, in three years and in five years?  Jot down your answers to these questions and clarify your message.

3. Use August to connect and to communicate your unique value/brand message to your network and brand ambassadors.   Make a list of those you need to contact and bring them up to speed on your plans.  Ask for help and support and set up fall meetings with the key influencers in your network.

One of the best (and easiest) ways to avoid summer distractions is simply to set aside at least one hour per week to manage the perception of others, define a clear message, be visible to those who can support you, and set a course for the fall.  You will not only enjoy the summer fun, but you will also strategically move your career forward.

Have an amazing summer!

We all need help from time to time.  Here are four tips for getting the support you need and finding the necessary resources to assist you:

Prioritize your needs and act early.

When it is avoidable, don’t wait until you are in crisis.  Write down your needs and decide what action you will take today to find support with your top need.

Be very specific in your ask and be willing to share requested information.

When you are vague or reluctant to provide requested details you may be misdirected.  You may also miss out on support or information.  People are smart and, given specific information, it is easier for them to ask different questions to help you.

Understand your emotions and deal with them first, when possible.

You own your emotions.  Others don’t have the power to control or create your emotions — unless you give them permission to do so.  Remember your emotions may trigger emotions for others.  You can’t control their choice or reaction, however you can choose yours.

Receive what is offered, be grateful and willing to ask, “Do you know someone else who might be able to help?”

Be open to receiving what is offered.  Be grateful in the moment.  Say “thank you” aloud — even when the support is not what you hoped for or wanted.  Follow up and ask who else might be able to help.

Allow the conversation to flow.  We all need help and support from time to time.  Connection, community and caring are often easier to find than you think.

Specific communication and action are key elements to getting support and finding resources.  When you need support to overcome obstacles and solve problems that may be blocking or slowing your flow to success, pause, prioritize and pose the specific request.  Then identify the role your emotions play and receive with gratitude what others can and will share with you.

Here’s to your accelerated success.  Have an amazing day!