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In 2012, I posted the article Did you get career advice from your mother? about the some of the career advice I had received from my mother early in my career.

As Mother’s Day approaches and I reflect on how to honor and celebrate my mother, I could not help but reflect on the fact that my mother’s advice continues to bless my life.  I appreciate her years of wisdom and experience and her more recent advice, too.

I hope you get to honor your mother as Mother’s Day nears.

This is my mother . . .

What was the best career advice you received from your mother or another special women in your life?  Will you share?  Post your comments below.

Here the gems of my mother’s advice:

Don’t work too late.  Days can be long sometimes.  Late one day, my mother, in her kindest voice, shared, “I think you should quit for today and quit early more often.”

Good advice.  Stop, bring the day to close and be grateful for all you have accomplished and for those you served on that day.

Relationships count.  Building and nurturing relationships in your life and in your career matters.  See and understand the point-of-view of others, learn about other people, and know what they like and dislike.

Then, find a way to make a connection and build a relationship– doing so is a skill and an art form.  Honing your relationship building skills is valuable and critical to building a sustainable career.

Service matters and, when done gladly, all the better.  The minimum is just that and less than average.  Always do your best and then something extra.  My mother always adds the extra thing.  It is part of her personal branding.

Delivery of what’s expected meets the standard, it gets the job done.  It completes the job and just covers the basics.

Adding something highlights your brand and increases the perceived value of your work.  Over time, your added value does set you apart from the crowd.  Something of extra significance can:  bring a smile, help you gain favorable attention, encourages referrals, and repeat business.  All these items enhance your stock value and helps sustain your career.

Enjoy Mother’s Day on Sunday as you celebrate in whatever special way fits you!

To my mother — Happy Mother’s Day – thank you for being a coach, a mentor, a role model, a friend and a wonderful mother. 

See you soon.  Cindy

“The reality of life is that your perceptions — right or wrong – influence everything else you do. When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions, you may be surprised how many other things fall into place.”~ Roger Birkman

People often ask me about the need for additional certifications to land the job they want.  The bottom line?  Sometimes it is necessary to have a certificate or special training for a job.

Yet, when the question I hear starts with a statement like, “I think I need a certification or training to get a job, what do you think?” my radar goes into overdrive.

In most cases, I am very direct (yes, I’m known for being direct and to-the-point) and say, “It doesn’t matter what I think or what an employer thinks, your perception is your truth. Therefore if you think need it, you must acquire it.”

Of course, that’s not helpful to most people.  As a coach it is my job to help the person exploring a certification understand their motivations.  I ask questions to help them discover a solid perspective on the additional training and then assess the need and value of that certification in the marketplace.

It is critical  to remember the employer’s perception of what you need is one of the keys to getting hired.  Forget that and you may stay in your current position indefinitely or quickly become unemployed.

If you’re contemplating a certificate or additional training, ask yourself the following questions:

• Why do I want a certification?

• How will this certification increase my capacity to do the job?

• How does this certification help me use my best-loved skills in my ideal job?

• What is the cost of the certification over 5 years?

• What is my return on investment over 5 years?

• Do I think a certificate is an easy solution?

Then pause and ask yourself, “Am I using a certificate or training as a crutch to avoid addressing a different issue?”

Are you telling yourself you need training just to avoid taking action, making a commitment or shifting a habit/belief that is really slowing your search?

Are you using a obtaining a certificate or additional training as a reason not to face your fears?  Explore carefully or you may just be ‘kicking the can down the road,’ leaving the real issue to be dealt with at a later time.

If you want to discuss the above questions with someone, contact me.  We can dig into the answers and move forward together.

Have a question or comment?  Post it below.

Mother’s Day in the US is almost here.  Since 1915, the second Sunday in May has been set aside to honor mothers, celebrate mothers and the role mothers have on our lives and in society.

Most of us have many mentors and coaches in our lives. Often our parents are the first coaches we experience.  

My mother without any formal training as a coach or mentor is a good coach and mentor.  Not always of course, did I listen, or want to hear what she had to say.  Yes, we have over the years had the intense mother vs. daughter discussions, disagreements and major differences in opinion.  Maybe that is our relationship or the norm.  I don’t know the answer to that question.

Actually, my mother is a good coach and connector.  She is also a good role model.  Connections from my mother helped me get many of my early jobs. From early babysitting engagements, project work typing insurance policies and what I view as my first ‘real’ job. 

When I look back over the years, especially when I was in high school some of the best career advice I ever received came from my mother.  That career advice had a positive and lasting impact on my career.

Did you receive career advice from your mother?   What was that advice?  Will you share your favorite career advice from your mother below?

Here is some of the advice I received from my mother:

Relationships count.  Building and nurturing relationships in your life and in your career matter.  My mother often encouraged me to see and understand the point of view of others, to learn about other people, what they liked and disliked, then to find a way to make a connection and build a relationship.  A skill that when honed is valuable to your career.

Service matters and when done gladly all the better.  Don’t just do the minimum, always do your best and then something extra.  My mother always adds the extra thing. It is part of her personal branding. Delivery of expected service and doing the job you are paid to do just covers the basics.  The skill of grateful service and adding value does set you apart from the crowd.  Something extra of significance to the person or organization you are serving adds instant value, gains favorable attention, encourages referrals, and repeat business, items critical to your career. 

I hope you will share some of the career advice you received from your mother, or someone special to that you will celebrate on Mother’s Day.  I thought it would be a cool way to honor my mother this year on Mother’s Day.  Join me in this honor if you wish. 

Sharing the advice your mother shared with you seems like a great way to say thank you and honor that advice.  Mothers you are also welcome to share the career advice you have given to your children if you wish.  Thanks for sharing your treasured advice.

Enjoy Mother’s Day on Sunday as you celebrate in whatever special way fits you!

Mother, Happy Mother’s Day – thank you for being a coach, a mentor, a role model, a friend and a wonderful mother.  See you soon.  Cindy

What is your trade-off for doing what you love to do?  What is your trade-off for something you enjoy or want to have?

As I did the dishes, which I don’t like to do (but I do because I love to have a clean kitchen), I was thinking about a very intense conversation recently.  The conversation was with a friend who is irritated over her current job situation.    

My friend and fellow human resource professional, challenged me the other day, big time on my career advice.  We both have similar views on what it takes to be successful, drive, talent, willingness to work hard, persistence, continuous learning and mastery,  and doing the ‘right’ things, so what was the challenge?

For years, I have shared my career advice, “Do what you love, money follows.”  Her challenge was that my career advice did not hold true in this economy and I need to change or update my message. 

She said it is not longer possible to find a job you love, and make a living, therefore I should STOP giving out that advice.  She said businesses continue to have increased costs and many are still in the mode of changing to fit the talent that is available, or cutting hours to avoid letting jobs and people go to meet payroll, or struggling with new and more expensive compliance regulations. 

As we talked and discussed this I smiled, and her frustration explored with “Have you crawled under a rock?”  Finally I asked her if she thought in my advice I was suggesting that everyone would have a job that was 100% what they loved or enjoyed doing, she nodded “yes” and added you just can be paid enough today to do only what you love.

By then I was laughing and feeling a bit misunderstood.  I do believe my advice is sound in any economy and that if you “Do what you love, money follows.”

What I don’t believe for one minute is you get to do what you love 100% of the time or that you don’t have to also do things you might not like to do.  Employers and customers pay you for results. 

To get results there are some parts of all jobs that you may not “love” or “like” but doing those things are part of getting to do what you do love.  Many people have said it in many ways such as ‘work’ is a four letter word, or ‘that is why it is called work’.  One of my favorite messages on this topic is from Larry Winget, speaker and the “Pitbull of Personal Development®”.   Watch Larry’s video clip and his message for yourself.

Look you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you work for and what you ask for in the world of business.  You get paid for what you love because you are willing to do what it takes to get good at what you do and because you are will to do the things you don’t really like to do that go along with what you love to do.  It works that way in any economy.

When you do what you love, you enjoy it, you are good at it, you are likely to use your talent to be the best in that area and you don’t mind the trade-offs or just adjust to them as part of the deal.  If you don’t love living in a big city where the wages are higher, you love living in a small town and are willing to drive to the big city you can earn a higher wage. The commute is the trade-off.  Trade-offs come in many forms.

For years I was willing to work the graveyard shift to gain different experience and I earned more per hour.  Working the night shift was a trade-off to achieve my goals.

My advice is solid and it stands.  For those who need the rest of the message spelled out I will do so, but it will take more than 6 words.  In life, in work and in your career there are always trade-offs, “Do what you love, money follows” and may you be so blessed by doing what you love that all the trade-offs will be very inconsequential.

Do you have a question about your search?  Look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.