Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Social proof (what others says about you) has always been important to success.  Within LinkedIn there are several ways to leverage social proof, including Recommendations and Endorsements.

The Endorsements feature within your LinkedIn Profile allows your first degree connections to offer social proof regarding the skills you have listed in your profile.  The feature is easy to set up and use.

Yes, I know, since 2012 when the feature was introduced there has been a love/hate relationship with Endorsements . . . but that’s a post for another time.

LinkedIn Endorsements are a public statement of support, or approval of, your skills in a specific area.  Unfortunately, LinkedIn has not encouraged users to be thoughtful about using the tool or endorsing others.

By following the recommendations listed below you can favorably influence the value of your Endorsements:

1. Review the skills in your profile.  You can list up to 50 skills.  Ensure the skills you list are consistent with your current professional focus and strategy.  Keep in mind that few people will wade through a list of 50, so it important to list your most important skills first.

2. Appropriately endorse your connections.  Make a list of your first degree connections that you are willing to endorse.  Your official public statement or approval of someone’s skills on LinkedIn is a valuable gift.   Your endorsement is social proof of a person’s skill.  Set up time in your schedule, review each profile and endorse the skills you are willing and able to talk to others about.  Don’t forget to write LinkedIn recommendations for your connections as appropriate.  This is a pay-it-forward activity.  Don’t expect an endorsement or recommendation in return.  Also, do not feel obligated to endorse everyone who endorses you.  One reason the value of endorsements has been questioned by some is the quid pro quo factor.

3. Review your settings.  If the big blue box that appears when you view profiles saying, “Show me suggestions to endorse my connections” annoys you, turn it off.  I don’t recommend you elect not to be endorsed as that action is akin to saying, “No thanks, keywords don’t matter.”  Keywords within your profile are important and helpful to others.

It is easier than you think to build social proof and leverage your LinkedIn Profile.  If you need help leveraging the power of LinkedIn feel free to contact me.

Unlock your potential, share your uniqueness and amazing results will occur!

Humans are visual creatures.  Sight, photos and the environment all around us shape our view of the world.Photos and images are shared more often on social media than posts with text alone.  Why?  I believe it is because, as humans, we are hard-wired for connection — to live and work in community.  Images, or visual communication, helps in fostering connections and building relationships.  Sharing visual images with the world helps us understand each other -and- helps you show your value — how you serve and help others.

It is the same for your career.  When you have a “vision” for your career others can see what you see.  If you share it, others can help you achieve your vision.

What is your vision for your career?  What is your vision for your life?

From time to time we all need help updating our vision.  If you need help creating or updating your career vision, please allow me to gift you “My Ideal Career” activity.  Once you receive and use this quick activity you will have the foundation to easily “see” and share your career vision with the world.

Share your vision, accelerate your search, and land the job you want.  Have a comment?  Post it below.

Every thought drives your results . . . so, why not harness the power of your thoughts?

When you are ready to impact your results in record time, understanding and using the energy of your thoughts is one of the fastest ways to achieve the results YOU want.

Thoughts  ==>  Beliefs  ==>   Actions  ==>   Results

Your thoughts drive your beliefs, your beliefs drive your actions, and your actions drive your results.

The process is simple.  In fact, it is so simple that most people overlook it or assume there is no value in the process.

You have thousands of thoughts a day, including many you are not even conscious of.  It is time to tune in to your thoughts.

Tuning in to your thoughts allows you to be more intentional — often in a matter of days.  Conscious or not, your thoughts create your beliefs, your beliefs create your habits, and your habits drive your actions.  Your actions always create your results.

Do you have doubts?  I get it.  I doubted for a long time.

Why did I doubt?  I looked around and saw so many reasons for my lack of results.  It seemed changing my actions had little impact.  Then my coach asked me one simple question.  This one question was all it took for me to see and harness the power of my thoughts in a more meaningful way.  Are you, too, looking for this type of powerful shift?  The kind of shift that will accelerate your career and shorten your search time?

The starting place for the shift lies in knowing the power of your thoughts — not just understanding, but truly knowing.

The first step to knowing is to examine the process in reverse (Results  ==>  Actions  ==>   Beliefs  ==>   Thoughts).

As an example, here is how I assisted a recent coaching client reverse the process and harness the power of his thoughts.  This particular client wanted his next career move to include a step up in responsibility with a new organization and his search needed to be confidential.

We discussed the process in reverse:

Result:  No positive contact after 11 months and the door had been closed.

Actions:  Identified the contact; got a warm introduction; reached out; followed up; repeated follow up; had a brief phone conversation that closed with no clear next step; ended with a reply from the contact instructing my client not to follow up in the future.

Beliefs:  contact was too busy; contact had many responsibilities; there was no value in the contact talking to candidates when the organization was not officially hiring.

Thoughts:

1. “I will do this because it is what I should do, but no one this busy will take time to meet with me.”
2. “When I was working I would never waste my time this way.”
3. “It is not this contact’s job to talk to people, it is his job to get the work done.”

What do you think impacted this client’s results?  What drove his results?

The client saw the power of his thoughts (and their impact on his results) in a matter of minutes.  He immediately understood what he needed to shift to accelerate his search.

Your thoughts are very powerful.  If you don’t like your results take a look at your beliefs and your thoughts.

Tune in.  Know your thoughts.  Harness their power.  Every thought drives your results.

Share your thoughts below and if you need assistance accelerating your search, contact me.

It is a powerful question.  Yet, many don’t like the question.Were you taught not to ask “Why?”  Did someone tell you to use “Why?” sparingly?Yes, some people are defensive when asked “Why?”  Others are not.  Frankly, I think if you want to search for facts,  “Why?”  is a very  powerful question.Asking “Why?” can help you discover information more quickly and in the process accelerate your search.  If you want to determine if a position or organization is a good fit for you, ask “Why?”

When considering a new position ask yourself the following five “Why” questions.  Remember to answer with facts, not interpretations.

1. Why do you want this job?
2. Why this job at this organization over any other job?
3. Why didn’t you know about this job before today?
4. Why will you be more successful at this job in this organization than at your past position or a previously applied for posting?
5. Why will you pursue this position and be successful?

These “Five Whys” are helpful in many situations.  The questions (and subsequent answers) allow you to get to the issue, arrive at a decision or gain a better understanding with speed and clarity.

What “Why” questions will you ask today?

Both sets of skills, soft and technical, are important to excelling in work and life.

During a recent social gathering the conversation turned to work and interactions at work.  This led to an additional   conversation about whether soft or technical skills were more important in the workplace.  As I listened with interest, I discovered that most in the group valued soft skills over technical ones.  Traits such as honesty and a strong work ethic were highly valued.

 

People began to share stories about employees/co-workers that did not know how to dress for their environment, communicate effectively or exhibit flexibility.  These are all soft skills.

One story revolved around a candidate who was unable to carry on a conversation with the CEO.  Another story shared concern over a friend who seemed to move jobs every six months because of his lack of flexibility.  A third story was about a good person whose serious, negative tone was impacting business.  In this case, the owner of the company suggested the employee take a month off with pay to find a new position and learn to “lighten up.”

These stories were all about real people and the skills impacting performance were all soft skills.

Employers often note a lack of soft skills as the reason for termination.  Employees, on the other hand, often share their reason for leaving a job as a conflict with their boss or another employee, not specific job duties.

As you search for you next position, take a look at your soft skills.  How do you communicate and add value with your soft skills?

Are you honing your soft skills as well as your technical skills?

Skills are like muscles — you need to use them to make them stronger.  If you don’t exercise your muscles, they get weak.

Here are the key things you can do this week to hone your soft skills:

1. Pick a soft skill where you excel.
2. Note three ways you used the soft skill this week.
3. Note the results of using the soft skill during the week.

“Rinse and repeat” 1-3 above with a soft skill you wish to hone.

What soft skills do you excel in?  What soft skills do you need to hone?

Share what soft skill you want to hone below and how that will help you.

Does your past or present behavior impact your job search?

Is the hurt, anger, and frustration you feel impacting your search?

Maybe.  Past behavior is a solid indicator of how you will perform in the future.

Unsettled emotions will show up when you least expect them — in an interview or during an important conversation.  At these times your emotions may be evident and misunderstood.  It is not always clear to you, or others, the impact your emotions have on your search.

The loss of a job brings up many emotions.  You will grieve.  It is a loss.  Go ahead and grieve.

You may need to forgive someone.  If so, I encourage you to do so.  I am not an expert on forgiveness, but I do know the power forgiveness has had in my life. There are many experts.  If you need one to help you forgive, seek out that assistance.

A very powerful tool in this process is journaling.  Spend 5 to 10 minutes per day writing down how you feel about your job search.  This is not about documenting what you are doing, but rather what you are feeling.  It will allow your feelings to come to the surface and help you see the situation more clearly.  Don’t type, write.  Set a timer.  Do not edit, correct or judge — just write.  When the time is up, move on to the other tasks of your day.

Recently, a client share with me a blind spot he had uncovered after only one week of journaling.  He felt it may have impacted his last 6 interviews!  The sadness he was feeling did not come from the job loss, but rather the loss of connections within his prior organization.  He realized these feelings were causing him to distance himself from people.  The realization was very powerful for him.

You never know what you might discover (or not).  The power of letting your feelings flow via your pen each day is amazing.  Give it a shot and let me know the impact it has on you.

Have an amazing week!

 Care for your physical needs and be comfortable.  Coordinating with the weather is key for long events.

Smile and say, “Hi!”  A friendly exchange sets the tone for the rest of the event.  Connect early and introduce those you meet to others.

For example, I might set the following intention:  “What happens today at [name of event] will allow me to meet new contacts and learn what I need for my continued success.”

If the event has a theme, connect your story or goals with the event when appropriate.  For example, if the event theme is “Stepping Forward” determine how you will connect with that forward movement.  The story or goals you create will help you retain both the information you learned and the names of the connections you forged at the event.

Writing down what you hear will help you retain key facts.  Note action items you want to act on as a result of the event.

Drinking water and taking breaks lift you up.  Hydration helps you think clearly and look good.  Scope out restrooms off the beaten path and you will have a few extra steps of exercise and less standing in line at the conference.

This helps you focus on what you are really hoping to take away from the event.  I also have a third item — an intention of “something better than I expected.”  This intention helps me be open to new content and people that I may never have imagined being present.

All events have a schedule, but it may not be the best schedule for you.  Event planners usually set up schedules that fit the masses.  If you find you need a break, take it.  Doing so allows you to be alert and able to get what you need and want from the event.  Some of the best connections made at conferences have been outside the conference center standing in the sunshine during a “me break.”

The presenters will no doubt be knowledgeable, however some of the best takeaways come for those seated in the audience.  Share your thoughts, questions and unique point of view, as well.  What you have to offer may be exactly what someone needs in that moment.

Let me know in the comments below.