I returned to Atlanta Wednesday after two busy, but rewarding days in Michigan.
After processing my trip, speeches and various conversations I want to reiterate to everyone to hang around five tool people. People who have passion, are fearless, have a game plan, are eager to execute so that together you can create choices for yourselves.
Many people in Michigan are dealing with such tough economic times it was heart wrenching to talk with some of the people who are dealing with these issues. I hope my talks helped insert energy into people who are dealing with these discouraging times. I talked to young people who are working hard to insert themselves in the work force and older people who are working to reinvent themselves. One of the most important ingredients to ones ability to succeed is a great attitude. It is the one thing everyone can control so do everything you can to remain positive and surround yourself with five tool people. Please, I promise, it matters.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Heading to Michigan
Wheels up on Monday to the great state of Michigan. I am looking forward to speaking to two different groups. Monday night in East Lansing and Tuesday night in Troy. Landing on Michigan soil is always special. Many people have been through so many tough times as of late in light of the economy. I am hopeful that my job search philosophies will insert spirit and hope - and a game plan - in so many great Michigan people! Follow me on Twitter for quick updates of the trip.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Atlanta Journal Constitution BIZ VOICE
BIZ VOICE AJC Article
Finding a Job is like finding a soul mate
Here is a strategy to build a network that multiplies opportunities for that perfect match
I have always told people, if you ask for advice you get a job and if you ask for a job you get advice. This is no different than dating. If you ask someone on a date, you might end up finding a wife. If you ask someone right of the bat to marry you, you might never get a first date.
My husband, Fred, didn’t ask me to marry him out of the gates. He got to know me. He realized I watched more ESPN than he did, and that when we walked into a stadium we walked down not up – but he also realized I couldn’t cook quite like his mother. Meanwhile, I found out as much as could about him as well. He was smart, funny, and would be an even better husband and father than a boyfriend. It didn’t bother him that my phone rang late at night with players who wanted to discuss each pitch from that evenings outing and it didn’t bother him that I couldn’t whip up a gourmet meal.
Treat business meetings like you’d treat dating. Start by being prepared:
Done right, you should have been on twenty "dates" and have twenty people who are aware of your career aspirations. Equally as important, you should have sixty more people to meet with.
It may take sixty dates to find the person you want to marry. Hopefully it will take less then sixty meetings to find the job you love.
Finding a Job is like finding a soul mate
Here is a strategy to build a network that multiplies opportunities for that perfect match
I have always told people, if you ask for advice you get a job and if you ask for a job you get advice. This is no different than dating. If you ask someone on a date, you might end up finding a wife. If you ask someone right of the bat to marry you, you might never get a first date.
My husband, Fred, didn’t ask me to marry him out of the gates. He got to know me. He realized I watched more ESPN than he did, and that when we walked into a stadium we walked down not up – but he also realized I couldn’t cook quite like his mother. Meanwhile, I found out as much as could about him as well. He was smart, funny, and would be an even better husband and father than a boyfriend. It didn’t bother him that my phone rang late at night with players who wanted to discuss each pitch from that evenings outing and it didn’t bother him that I couldn’t whip up a gourmet meal.
Treat business meetings like you’d treat dating. Start by being prepared:
- Make a list of at least twenty people, ten people you know, like and respect and ten people you don’t know. On that list should be people you think you want to be or people who work closely with people you think you want to be.
- Find out everything you can about these twenty people – personally and professionally so you are "in their world."
- Call or email them and ask if they would be kind enough to meet with you for fifteen minutes in an effort for you to get their advice.
- Secure the meeting. Once you have the meeting, send a hand written note thanking them in advance for the meeting, their time and their advice.
- Once the meeting is secured, be prepared in the meeting– by that I mean know everything that you should know about their world and know a few things they don’t think you should know about their business.
- During the meeting, secure three names of people they like and respect and that they believe you should meet with in light of what you have shared as your career passions.
- After the meeting, continue to "date" the person by sporadic, phone calls, handwritten notes, informational emails about your world and their world – show value by being respectfully aggressive.
Done right, you should have been on twenty "dates" and have twenty people who are aware of your career aspirations. Equally as important, you should have sixty more people to meet with.
It may take sixty dates to find the person you want to marry. Hopefully it will take less then sixty meetings to find the job you love.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
I didn't get the mic long enough...
Thursday I was part of a panel in Atlanta with other corporate executives. It was quite a large group of people eager to learn and share ideas. I had to share the mic so I couldn't expand on each and every question to the depth that some of the questions deserved. So, I wanted to take a second and expand on the last question which was "What advice would you give the audience as they move forward in this environment?" I answered by saying I would encourage all of you to BE FEARLESS. To want the ball. I am surrounded by athletes and coaches who want the ball when it’s the 9th inning or want to coach their team in the national championship game and give the half time speech of their life. They embrace the opportunity to be, "the guy."
If I had more time to answer the question Thursday I would have added, if your looking for a job, be fearless in your approach. Make the phone call, send the email – don’t be afraid of “no". I meet people who are afraid of getting "no" so they do nothing at all. You must be fearless in your actions so you can close the relationship gap. One way to do this is by asking for advice. I often say, if you ask for a job you get advice, if you ask for advice you may get a job. Most decent people will give you 15 minutes. Spend 15 minutes getting advice, impress them enough that they might give you three names of people they believe will also be kind enough to spend 15 minutes with you and give you advice. If you are fearless in your job pursuit, you will get in front of all kinds of people, make it a goal for them to either help you or hire you. You can only build relationships and get in front of people, if you are fearless.
If you have a job, now is the time to be someone a company can't live without. Position yourself in such a way that you clearly impact the business in a positive way. Be fearless at times by saying that thing you are confident people may be thinking but don't have the guts to say. Or, put together a business plan that you believe can prove beneficial to your company and approach your boss about pursuing it. Work hard, work smart and remain aware of challenges and ways you can add value in light of those challenges.
Our athletes are fearless when they have the ball and when they are trying to get the ball. I belive you should be as well....be fearless as you pursue your career and be fearless once you have secured it.
If I had more time to answer the question Thursday I would have added, if your looking for a job, be fearless in your approach. Make the phone call, send the email – don’t be afraid of “no". I meet people who are afraid of getting "no" so they do nothing at all. You must be fearless in your actions so you can close the relationship gap. One way to do this is by asking for advice. I often say, if you ask for a job you get advice, if you ask for advice you may get a job. Most decent people will give you 15 minutes. Spend 15 minutes getting advice, impress them enough that they might give you three names of people they believe will also be kind enough to spend 15 minutes with you and give you advice. If you are fearless in your job pursuit, you will get in front of all kinds of people, make it a goal for them to either help you or hire you. You can only build relationships and get in front of people, if you are fearless.
If you have a job, now is the time to be someone a company can't live without. Position yourself in such a way that you clearly impact the business in a positive way. Be fearless at times by saying that thing you are confident people may be thinking but don't have the guts to say. Or, put together a business plan that you believe can prove beneficial to your company and approach your boss about pursuing it. Work hard, work smart and remain aware of challenges and ways you can add value in light of those challenges.
Our athletes are fearless when they have the ball and when they are trying to get the ball. I belive you should be as well....be fearless as you pursue your career and be fearless once you have secured it.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Consistent-Passion-Knowledge Sparks Fearlessness!
I love to give real life examples in my blog – a recent topical subject is Jeff Francoeur (right fielder for the Atlanta Braves) contract negotiation. Baseball contracts for players are handled based on a players years of big league service time. Jeff was in his first year of arbitration which is basically the first time he has the rights to negotiate for a higher salary. Jeff was consistent in his position from the beginning of the off season and he was passionate about being compensated fairly. We kept him well informed and prepared. Jeff and our approach to this process is applicable to how you must approach your career search – consistent-passionate-knowledgeable will stimulate fearlessness.
How do you utilize consistency, passion, knowledge to become fearless? You must remain consistent in your passion for your career. Your consistent passion is what will allow you to remain fearless. In other words, your consistent passion overwhelms the negative voice inside of you that wants to tell you “you can’t do this” or “just forget it”. Your consistent passion will beat out your fears. Your fearlessness is what will continue to create opportunities for you to influence those who you are “recruiting”. Additionally, you must be knowledgeable about the people for which you are working to build relationships. You must be informed as to what is new in their business, with their competition and with their clients. In other words, being prepared with relevant knowledge allows you to insert calmness and strength into your overall style.
In the end, Jeff’s fearless approach in a consistent, passionate and knowledgeable way allowed us to help create choices for him.
His fearlessness provided a fair settlement for he and the organization, your fearlessness can gain you great results as well. Be consistently passionate, be consistently well informed so that you can be fearless.
Go for it - fearlessly!
How do you utilize consistency, passion, knowledge to become fearless? You must remain consistent in your passion for your career. Your consistent passion is what will allow you to remain fearless. In other words, your consistent passion overwhelms the negative voice inside of you that wants to tell you “you can’t do this” or “just forget it”. Your consistent passion will beat out your fears. Your fearlessness is what will continue to create opportunities for you to influence those who you are “recruiting”. Additionally, you must be knowledgeable about the people for which you are working to build relationships. You must be informed as to what is new in their business, with their competition and with their clients. In other words, being prepared with relevant knowledge allows you to insert calmness and strength into your overall style.
In the end, Jeff’s fearless approach in a consistent, passionate and knowledgeable way allowed us to help create choices for him.
His fearlessness provided a fair settlement for he and the organization, your fearlessness can gain you great results as well. Be consistently passionate, be consistently well informed so that you can be fearless.
Go for it - fearlessly!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Fearless Daniel Seddiqui - Livingthemap.com
Fearless in a Crowd
It is human nature to stop and take notice of the unusual, different, odd or anything against the norm. It is why we rubberneck on the highway at a car accident, it is why we stare at the teenager on the sidewalk with purple spiked hair, it is why reality TV has brought record ratings to network TV. And it’s also why we hold certain athletes, movie stars and successful business people in such high regard. They have elevated their own game above the norm. We may not recognize a rookie PGA tour player in the grocery store, but Tiger Woods would be mobbed by fans.
So take the same theory that we are all curious about the unusual and apply it to the CEO or HR director at Any Company, Inc. They see thousands of resumes, they get hundreds of phone calls, and referrals come in every day from friends, family and neighbors. When looking to hire somebody new, everybody looks the same on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper.
So how do you stand out from the crowd? Times are tough right now, unemployment is at a 16-year high! It will be tougher than ever to stand out in the crowd. In my book, Your Dream Job Game Plan, I outline several ways to stand out – ways that you can NOT get your resume to the top of the heap – but get a face-to-face meeting with the person that will ACTUALLY hire you.
One of the greatest examples of standing out from the crowd that I have recently come across is from Daniel Seddiqui.
From Daniel’s blog www.livingthemap.com: “Ever since I graduated from the University of Southern California, I have experienced uncertainty regarding my career path. Interviewing for a position was a full-time job and I wasn't having any luck; failing 40+ interviews. I never received feedback from any employers, so when I was offered a position no matter how irrelevant it was to my field of study, I accepted. I took my first position tutoring elementary students part-time. I knew right off the bat tutoring wasn't for me. I was realizing that I had to find a position that motivated me to wake up every morning.”
Click the video link below and visit Daniel’s blog to see what he did about his predicament. This was inspiring to me – I hope you find it equally helpful in your pursuits.
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6607573
It is human nature to stop and take notice of the unusual, different, odd or anything against the norm. It is why we rubberneck on the highway at a car accident, it is why we stare at the teenager on the sidewalk with purple spiked hair, it is why reality TV has brought record ratings to network TV. And it’s also why we hold certain athletes, movie stars and successful business people in such high regard. They have elevated their own game above the norm. We may not recognize a rookie PGA tour player in the grocery store, but Tiger Woods would be mobbed by fans.
So take the same theory that we are all curious about the unusual and apply it to the CEO or HR director at Any Company, Inc. They see thousands of resumes, they get hundreds of phone calls, and referrals come in every day from friends, family and neighbors. When looking to hire somebody new, everybody looks the same on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper.
So how do you stand out from the crowd? Times are tough right now, unemployment is at a 16-year high! It will be tougher than ever to stand out in the crowd. In my book, Your Dream Job Game Plan, I outline several ways to stand out – ways that you can NOT get your resume to the top of the heap – but get a face-to-face meeting with the person that will ACTUALLY hire you.
One of the greatest examples of standing out from the crowd that I have recently come across is from Daniel Seddiqui.
From Daniel’s blog www.livingthemap.com: “Ever since I graduated from the University of Southern California, I have experienced uncertainty regarding my career path. Interviewing for a position was a full-time job and I wasn't having any luck; failing 40+ interviews. I never received feedback from any employers, so when I was offered a position no matter how irrelevant it was to my field of study, I accepted. I took my first position tutoring elementary students part-time. I knew right off the bat tutoring wasn't for me. I was realizing that I had to find a position that motivated me to wake up every morning.”
Click the video link below and visit Daniel’s blog to see what he did about his predicament. This was inspiring to me – I hope you find it equally helpful in your pursuits.
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6607573
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Fearless Coach Tomlin
Congrats Pittsburgh Steelers!
Although the game was fantastic, I found myself more interested in the story behind Coach Tomlin. Here is a man who interviewed for a head coaching job with a franchise that had only two coaches -Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher - in the previous 38 years, not to mention his young age of 34.
How did he do it? He was FEARLESS!
Steelers President Art Rooney said Tomilin's "presence", was the swing factor during the interview process. In other words, he was fearless in the job interview and it showed. He was willing to risk a "no", but also knew he was the right person for the job. He was prepared for the interview with a half dozen binders. Even a binder for "When we get to the superbowl"! He knew that he was the right person for the job and he got it. The rest is history...............
Being fearless is the key to getting the career you want!
Although the game was fantastic, I found myself more interested in the story behind Coach Tomlin. Here is a man who interviewed for a head coaching job with a franchise that had only two coaches -Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher - in the previous 38 years, not to mention his young age of 34.
How did he do it? He was FEARLESS!
Steelers President Art Rooney said Tomilin's "presence", was the swing factor during the interview process. In other words, he was fearless in the job interview and it showed. He was willing to risk a "no", but also knew he was the right person for the job. He was prepared for the interview with a half dozen binders. Even a binder for "When we get to the superbowl"! He knew that he was the right person for the job and he got it. The rest is history...............
Being fearless is the key to getting the career you want!
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