Can You Work Your Passion in a Lousy Executive Job Market - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Can You Work Your Passion in a Lousy Executive Job Market A client prospect I spoke with recently, a COO in retail, was struggling with whether or not it was time to transition away from the corporate world. He was desperately unhappy in his work, and had been for several years. Somehow, as his career progressed to the c-level, he realized he had lost his passion for his work. He was making great money, but found little joy in his day-to-day life. In  his US News World Report article, Does Having Passion for Your Work Even Matter?,  Curt Rosengren offered three reasons why passion is one of the most important investments you can make in your career: It’s an energy source. Being on fire about your work energizes you. Instead of being an energy drain, your work becomes an energy gain. Instead of dipping into your energy reserves, as so many people have to, youre creating enough energy from what you do to power your day. It helps you feel more confident. Too many people drag themselves to jobs that require them to be someone theyre not. This drains their energy and keeps them off balance. Trying to be who youre not requires excessive energy. Maintaining the facade keeps you off balance. Conversely, when youre aligned with what energizes you, you achieve balance and strength. You feel confident about what youre doing. It feeds your persistence. Challenges and roadblocks that inevitably come our way are much easier to manage and overcome when were pursuing things were passionate about. Roadblocks dont seem as insurmountable. I always counsel executives who are unhappy in their careers that, regardless of the economy, it never hurts to find out what else is out there that might bring them career fulfillment. You just never know whats right around the corner. It costs nothing but time to think about and explore what would truly make you happy. Talk to people, do some research, do some soul-searching. Reconnect with your passions and explore opportunities that will ignite and excite you! Related posts: Would You Rather Be a Baseball Team COO Than a Telecomm COO? Considering an Executive Career Reinvention? FREE Guide on Boomer Encore Careers Boomer Career Trends: The Graying of Americas Work Force 00 0

Jerks at work - and five ways to deal with them - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Jerks at work - and five ways to deal with them - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog CEO Hal Rosenbluth was once about to hire an executive with all the right skills, the right personality and the perfect CV. His interviews went swimmingly and hed said all the right things, but something about him still made Rosenbluth nervous, though he couldnt put his finger on just what it was. His solution was genius: He invited the applicant to a company softball game, and here he showed his true colors. He was competitive to the point of being manic. He abused and yelled at both the opponents and his own team. He cursed the referees and kicked up dirt like a major league player. And he did not get the job. (From Hal Rosenbluths excellent book The Customer Comes Second). Jerks at work and how to lose them Lets make one thing perfectly clear: The vast majority of people in any given business are nice. Theyre helpful, sympathetic, likable and quite simply good people. Only a tiny, tiny minority are consistently unpleasant or abrasive. You sometimes hear in business that nice guys finish last ie. that in a cutthroat, dog-eat-dog (hence the picture above) business climate you need to be something of a jerk to get results. Consequently people with difficult or abrasive personalities are tolerated (or even celebrated) in many organizations because they may not be likeable but they get results. I beg to differ. Jerks have no place in the modern business world and cause much more damage than theyre worth. This is not a matter of namby-pamby, soft-shoe why cant we all be nice thinking; it comes down to the fact that jerks are bad for the bottom line! Luckily, many people and companies are starting to realize this and are doing something about it. This blogpost presents five different anti-jerk approaches that every workplace might consider. 1: The No Asshole Rule Robert Sutton has written a book about jerks at work that certainly vies for the gutsy-book-title-of-the-year award (in close competition with this book). Suttons book is called The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isnt and in an article on CIO Insight he explains why unpleassant people are so damaging to a business and some things companies can do about it: What can you do to get rid of these jerks, or at least to stop them from damaging you and your organization? I cant promise any magical solutions, but there are steps you can take. For starters, I am surprised by how few senior managers act to avoid hiring jerks in the first place, or to stop abusive employees in their tracks once they reveal their true colors. The key is to make explicit to everyone involved in hiring decisions that candidates who have strong skills but who show signs they will belittle and disrespect others, cannot be hired under any circumstances. The Seattle law firm Perkins Coie have a no jerks allowed rule, which helped earn them a spot on Fortune magazines 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2003, and again in 2004. According to a Seattle Times article, Perkins Coie partners Bob Giles and Mike Reynvaan were once tempted to hire a rainmaker from another firm but realized that doing so would violate the rule. As they put it, We looked at each other and said, What a jerk. Only we didnt use that word. They didnt even need to see him play softball. 2: Jerks are bad for you and bad for business Jerks carry a high hidden cost because while unpleasant people may indeed be getting results, they do so only at a detriment to the rest of the organization. Jerks tend to: Make people unhappy at work and thereby cause stress and increase absenteeism Reduce the motivation of those around them Create more jerks because jerkism (jerkishness? jerkicity?) can be contagious Inhibit teamwork and team spirit Harm productivity for all of the above reasons Lets state it clearly in a language business will understand: Jerks are bad for the bottom line. When a company realizes this and acts on it theyre on their way to a better culture and a better bottom line. 3: Screening unpleasant applicants at Southwest Airlines So what can be done about jerks? As Sutton writes, a natural first step is not to hire them. Duh. Southwest Airlines are famous for their approach to recruiting which is hire for attitude, train for skill. Though I certainly hope that skill also counts for at least a little when theyre hiring, say, pilots, they generally tend to value personality over previous job experience. For example, when theyre hiring flight attendants applicants are flown in from all over the US, naturally on Southwest flights. On the boarding pass they get it says Job applicant and if the flight attendants on that flight notice an applicant behaving rudely they tell the recruting staff and the interview is over before it even begins. 4: Weeding out jerk managers at Semco Interestingly it seems that while jerks are sometimes tolerated as employees, they can be appreciated or even celebrated as managers. This is a mistake. Jerk employees are bad enough but jerk leaders are an even bigger problem because they can create even more havoc and make even more people unhappy at work. The best and most radical anti-jerk-manager-approach around comes from Semco, a Sao Paulo, Brazil-based company with 3.000 employees operating in a variety of markets. Semco has introduced a set of practices that taken together virtually eliminate jerks among leaders. First of all, employees themselves choose who to hire as their manager. Yes thats right, the employees themselves conduct the job interviews and decide who gets the job. That keeps most jerks out. But what about jerks who still somehow manage to get into a leadership position at Semco? Well, thats where they have three simple practices that eliminate that problem and many others besides it. Heres what they do: Twice a year all employees rate their managers. They do this through a questionnaire and each manager ends up with a total score between 0 and 100. This is a fairly standard practice in many companies, the interesting part is this: All managers scores are posted for the whole company to read. And then the kicker: Employees are free to choose which manager they want to work for. These three practices taken together make bad leadership virtually impossible and create enormous pressure on leaders to constantly improve. Bad managers who refuse to acknowledge the feedback of their employees and improve accordingly quickly find themselves without followers. And jerk managers never stand a chance they are exposed and ousted almost immediately. 5: Maybe theyre not jerks at all The important thing here is to remember that the vast majority of people are nice. Very, very few are jerks. Just because somebody annoys you at work, you cant automatically assume that that person is a jerk. If somebody annoys you at work, its your responsibility to let that person know in a constructive way. Ironically, being a jerk towards a jerk still means youre a jerk. Some of the people we perceive as jerks may simply not know that what they do annoys others. In a calm, constructive way, let these people know: What theyre doing How it affects you What change you would like to see in their behavior Then give them a chance to change. The only true jerks are those who refuse to receive input and remain jerks no matter how often or how well theyre asked to change. Conclusion It makes good business sense for a company to lose the jerks. And remember: Every time a company fires a jerk, that person just might end up working for a competitor and ruin the culture, motivation and productivity for them. Related posts: Leadership Darwinism The Customer Comes Second by Hal Rosenbluth my review The Seven Day Weekend by Ricardo Semler (the story of Semco) my review Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

What you dont know about the job hunt will hurt you -

What you dont know about the job hunt will hurt you - As you might imagine, I receive a lot of inquiries from blog readers about my services for job seekers. Sometimes, the communication between us reminds me of just how much help some job seekers need. Recently, a very savvy, high-level professional with a stellar work history contacted me asking for help with her resume and with moving to a digital format. I replied, delighted to hear from someone who was asking me about a digital, or social, resume before I mentioned it first! I explained that I am partnering now with an expert web developer to offer online resumes and described my services, which include a free coaching session to discuss how to look for a job. The prospective client replied that she did not need to be told what to wear or how to interview, and assured me she was very capable, thank you very much. She also asked how much a social resume with fewer pages would cost, as she does not have enough to fill more than just an about me and resume page. Hmmm, I thought, This bright, talented and accomplished job seeker has no idea that there is so much she does NOT know about getting a job. The fact that she thought my offer to help her learn how to look for a job would be about how to dress for an interview, yet she cannot envision what information she might use to fill her online profile seemed a bit ironic to me. However, how can you fault someone for not knowing what they need to know to succeed? This was my reply: Thanks for your note. I think that the key thing with a social resume is that you create the content to fill the tabs. Maybe it is links to the various news stories you generated, events you impacted, data or stories about previous companies (how they did while you were there), etc. The sky is really the limit you have lots of room to share your story, and readers have the option to explore more or not! (Which is the major advantage of having a social resume that supplements the paper resume.) I dont usually focus on how to dress for an interview with my clients. Like you, they know about that, but are less well schooled on how to leverage social media. Why are you not on Twitter? Its my absolute favorite social network for job seekers. Do you really optimize LinkedIn? There is a lot that most job seekers dont have the time (or the inclination) to feel their way through. I spend all of my time in that space, so I can help you get where you need to go faster. Especially in your line of work, I would imagine the return would be significant. So, when I offer a free coaching session to discuss how to find a job, I am not talking about your fathers job search what to say in an interview, how to stand up straight I am offering insight and ideas for job search that you probably have not considered. Think about it do YOU know what you DONT know that may be preventing you from moving forward with your career plans? photo by flowerbeauty

Do You Know How to Write a Boeing Resume?

Do You Know How to Write a Boeing Resume?Although not all candidates should be considered for a BoE job, the above-mentioned resume tips on BoE resume writing can help any candidate consider themselves for such a position. Having a great and up-to-date resume can be critical in making it to this crucial position.The first thing that should be remembered when it comes to a BoE resume is to keep your resume very simple and focus more on the job duties. In fact, keep it to only those mentioned responsibilities that are required of you. This would save time and effort for the hiring company. All other tasks should be left for your director as a reminder and you should save them for the other interviewers.A proper resume should be very brief and written in a conversational tone. You must know your job to include more details about yourself but be very brief. An effective resume is not complete without your contact information like name, email address, phone number and maybe an email addre ss for sending the resume to potential employers.The rest of the information is just a basic background you need to include such as your educational and work history. It is suggested that you add any positions you were a part of or worked on in your resume. You can also mention awards or other accolades you may have received.Another good reason to list your hobbies in your resume is so you can highlight what you do for fun. Also be sure to include any special skills or talents that you may have. This is one way to be remembered by prospective employers. It shows that you have a lot of initiative and can perform a number of tasks.Also remember that the information you include in your resume is to help you land that job. Don't let it become something that stands out from other resumes. Most people go for all-white resumes and write down the most important information. Avoid this and make your resume much more attractive to the hiring company.Keep in mind that BoE resume writing is a v ery personal undertaking. Be sure to have an excellent resume to impress employers and let them know you are a perfect fit for their company.

3 Ways Women Can Make Sure They Get the Raises They Deserve

3 Ways Women Can Make Sure They Get the Raises They Deserve I imagine that the savvy, self-starting executive women of Microsoft felt particularly deflated by CEO Satya Nadella’s recent remarks (later withdrawn) that women shouldn’t negotiate for more money. Here they are most likely doing all the prescribed “right” things: Entering a high-growth industry, such as tech Working for a brand-name firm, like Microsoft Proactively working on their negotiating skills …and then BAM! Here comes Nadella essentially saying that they should just wait for the system to even out the gender pay gap. If the CEO isn’t going to support your efforts, why even bother? Actually this is precisely why you should bother with all of the proactive hard work. Your effort and skills belong to you, and you can take them somewhere else if you should hit a brick wall. Sure, Satya Nadella’s unfortunate admission shows that a CEO of a major corporation may thwart your efforts just as a mid-level manager or even a narrow-minded friend (in the guise of well-meaning advice) might. You may not get the support you expect. But if you keep doing the prescribed “right” things below, you will collect some supporters to your cause along the wayâ€"including more open-minded, equitable executive sponsors. Create an amazing body of work It still starts with getting results, establishing your expertise, and contributing to the bottom line. Don’t let your own work product suffer because there is someone at the top of your company who doesn’t careâ€"others do care and are watching for promotion-worthy candidates. You want your name to surface. But you cannot simply let your accomplishments stand for themselves. You need to advocate for your them, to ensure they are recognized. See my previous post on preparing for your next review for step-by-step instructions on making sure you get your due. Build a strategic and supportive network So Nadella is out of step, and there are probably other CEO’s who share his view. But there will be men and womenâ€"at every level, in every industry, in every functional areaâ€"who are supportive. I once had a banker at a big-name firm encourage me to “follow my heart” and take an unexpected career turn, even if it meant turning down his firm’s offer. He was so supportive and generous and gave me courage when I needed it mostâ€"and this was a BANKER! If I managed to find a mentor with a heart of gold in that industry, there will certainly be supportive senior people in any industry. Find them. Enroll their support. Be a strategic and supportive of others Be the anti-Nadella. Don’t just throw your hands up at the amorphous system; proactively help others along and do your part to change the game. Pick the smart but shy person in your group and plan to call on that person in the meeting; let the person know what you will ask so they have a chance to prepare. Think of that colleague from another department who always helps you and write a commendation to her (or his) manager, cc’ing the person you’re writing about. Return to your alma mater for a networking event or career talk. As you build your amazing career and advocate for yourself, reach back and better the system for others.   Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart ®career coaching. She has worked with professionals from American Express, Condé Nast, Gilt, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, and other leading firms. She’s also a stand-up comic. This column appears weekly. Read more from Caroline Ceniza-Levine: This is How Smart People Get Ahead at Work 5 Ways You’re Sabotaging Yourself in Job Interviews How to Cold Call Your Way to a New Job

How To Create A Good Office Environment For Your Employees - Work It Daily

How To Create A Good Office Environment For Your Employees - Work It Daily Modern times have changed a lot of things in our daily lives. We do not communicate the way we did two decades ago. Some may say that we are communicating even better, but at what cost? Just take a look at a present-day office environment and then one from 20 years back. You will see a major difference between them. This difference might be for the better in some ways, as fast communication has saved us time and increased efficiency. However, it has made it much harder to unify with colleagues the way we used to way back when. The lack of communication from one co-worker to another can be so much that while working in same office, we rarely meet people working in other departments, unless there's a work-related reason to. I support the use of technology in our daily lives and in the office, but we need to bridge the gap between employees that has been created because of our technology as well. The solution is simple: get your employees together more often, not for official issues to be discussed but for socializing. This creates a healthy family environment in the office that is without any doubt a major contributor to an efficient and happy workplace. How To Create A Good Office Environment I have seen many CEOs go the extra mile to arrange special activities for their employees to take part in. These activities sometimes involve sacrifices on your part, but that will ensure your employees trust you when they see how important their well-being is to you. Charity Presentation Get a charitable organization to show you and your employees about the work they are doing. Encourage the employees by asking them to arrange activities for the charity on weekends. These activities can be fundraising ideas like dinner, an auction or any other idea they can come up with. Encourage them to invite their family and friends to the event as well. Office Awards Hand out medals and trophies for awards like the most social person, most humorous person and hardest worker. Giving these types of medals out on a monthly basis is bound to bring a positive change in the attitudes of your employees. Picnic Host an employee family get-together for a picnic, barbecue, fundraising dinner or a cruise. These kinds of gestures (especially when done from your own pocket) create an environment of family which will increase the productivity and happiness of your employees. Recreational Sports Arrange a sports tournament or game for the employees, their kids and other family members. Basketball, baseball, chess, badminton, table tennis and other similar kind of activities make for a fun time for many different people. Sometimes employees will even arrange these kinds of events themselves. Movie Night Set up a movie night. A family-friendly movie will put all your attendees in a happy mood. There are many documentaries available that not only have decent messages, but a very interesting story-line to get the attention of viewers of all ages. Enjoy this article? You've got time for another! Check out these related articles: 5 Attitudes To Get You Ahead In The Workplace How To Handle A Hostile Work Environment Hostile Work Environment: How to Deal With Office Grouch Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!

Man and Woman Swap Email Signatures At Work And Expose Hardcore Sexism

Man and Woman Swap Email Signatures At Work And Expose Hardcore Sexism What happens when a male and female employee switch identities? You guessed it -- the man realizes just how hard it is to be a woman at work.When Martin R. Schneider, a writer and editor at Front Row Central, swapped emails with his female co-worker, he revealed on a Twitter thread -- which went viral -- that it fucking sucked. He said he welches in hell. Everything I asked or suggested welches questioned. Clients I could do in my sleep were condescending. One asked if I was single.We all know that sexism in the workplace is real, but Schneider and his colleague Nicole Pieris story -- perhaps because its told through the eyes of a man whos confronting it for the first time -- is particularly compelling. Schneider documented the experience on Twitter, beginning by explaining what led him and Pieri to swap emails in the first place. Nicole and I worked for a small employment service firm and one complaint always ca me from our babo She took too long to work with clients, he writes. As her supervisor, I considered this a minor nuisance at best. I figured the reason I got things done faster was from having more experience.Schneider writes on Twitter that one day, he was emailing with a client who was just being IMPOSSIBLE. Rude, dismissive, ignoring my questions. Anyway I was getting sick of his shit when I noticed something. Hed accidentally be signing his emails as Nicole, because the two shared an inbox. When he began using his own signature, he says he saw IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENT. Positive reception, thanking me for suggestions, responds promptly, saying great questions Became a model client.Schneider explains (through tweets) that he and Pieri then decided to conduct an experiment for two weeks, hed sign all client emails as her, and shed sign as him. This is when he came to the realization that being a woman at work fucking sucks. Meanwhile, how did Pieri fare? No surprises here -- Schneider says she had the fruchtwein productive week of her career. I realized the reason she took longer is bc she had to convince clients to respect her. I wasnt any better at the job than she was, I just had this invisible advantage. He says he showed the evidence to his boss, but he didnt buy it.Schneider tweeted that he was most disturbed by the fact that while he was shocked, Pieri was accustomed to this. She just figured it was part of her job, he wrote. (I mean, she knew she was being treated different for being a woman, shes not dumb. She just took it in stride.)ATTN.com reports that Pieri penned a Medium post about the fact that her boss rejected this hard evidence. She writes that she couldnt wrap her head around it, but instead of staying in this toxic environment, she quit her job and started her own geschftliches miteinander as freelance writer.Were glad to hear that Pieri found a male ally and idnt opt to stick around when her boss chose to perpetuate this awful discriminatio n. Yet this story -- like Susan J. Fowlers recent confession about her experience with sexual harassment at Uber -- is a blatant reminder that many workplaces and our society at large have a lot of work ahead. Leaders at companies can take concrete steps to diminish workplace sexism, and we hope that these stories will encourage them to do so. We also hope this kind of exposure will inspire more women who have experienced sexual harassment at work (or otherwise) to share their stories. While its disappointing and upsetting to hear about these injustices, increased transparency may lead to more efficient change.Fairygodboss is committed to improving the workplace and lives of women.Join us by reviewing your employer