I wholeheartedly recommend the book A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel Pink. It is an amazing book that makes you think, consider, argue, reflect, and discover more about yourself and the world.  He brings in a variety of research, experts, stories, and practical application, shares his own experiences, and the experiences anyone could gain.  I have read this twice already and must have marked over fifty pages for further research, investigation or review.  Mind you, I dog-ear lots of books, but not usually to this degree.  It will be my next business book club pick - care to join and talk about it?

I don't know about you, but early in my career, I thought it was all about the work you do, and wasn't necessarily as concerned about the reputation I presented, or my personal brand as we refer to it today.  I have since learned that how to make a more positive impression and elicit more cooperation from others by being less dogmatic, opinionated, hard-headed, and dominant.  Yes, I can still be this way, but I have learned how to partner, collaborate and share more than ever; with more accomplishments and happiness to show for it!

Some early career mistakes -- such as believing or over overemphasizing technical proficiency at the expense of strategy or people while assuming one has already learned everything needed to get ahead at work -- are just some of the many ways in which people unwittingly sabotage their career success. While we can all rebound from this, others may not be so lucky.

Some helpful hints:

1. Know Yourself - be self aware
2. Accept Criticism - you can accept it, reject it or ignore it after
   
3. Keep Learning - for life
   
4. Speak Up - no wallflowers here
5. Move on - get out if need be

If you would like my support in enjoying your career, removing sabotaging behaviors, and finding more satisfaction in your workplace, let me know! Anissa

Grover Wray of Western Union has come up with a new slant on the old expression "feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The new version goes something like this: Lead someone for a day and you have provided direction. Inspire them to lead and you have helped create a culture where leadership is abundant and success abounds.

I love this revision of the expression as it relates to leadership and organizations.  If everyone took it upon themselves to be a leader, to inspire a shared a vision, to model the way, and to encourage the heart (as Kouzes and Posner espouse), organizations as a whole would be more productive, successful and effective.

Try it out and see for yourself!  Then, let me know how it goes, Anissa

It is interesting to me that more women are leaving the workforce.  According to Economic Policy Institute, there are less women entering the workforce and more leaving. What surprised me was that childcare was not the reason why.  My assumption going into reading the article was that the desire to stay home to raise the kids were the reasons, even though I have more and more friends going out on their own.  It would seem that many believe that making $40,000 as a laborer for Maytag, or $38,000 as a public school teacher, or $35,000 as a call center supervisor is just making too much and is expecting too much. And when women loses their job due to layoffs (as one example) women have been unable to find comparable or equal pay in subsequent jobs. What you say, no way!  Isn't the glass ceiling all but shattered?

But yes, the article and the resulting reader comments point to the aforementioned salaries as too high, which explains our weak economy and outsourcing of jobs.  I find the arguments interesting, considering that research shows that CEO salaries are approximately 300 times that of the average employee.  As a society, are we getting a little warped in our thinking when we believe that factory work, teaching, support services, and other integral functions to our communities are less important and less worthy than a CEO? A TV anchor at a Philadelphia station made over $700,000 a year, from which jealousy sprang from her lesser-paid male colleague.  I do not hear anyone crying foul over those unnecessarily high salaries. They READ the news.  This is worth more than a teacher's salary?

What I think is most important to realize is that we all have a choice on how we can move forward from this change for women.  We can take this opportunity to gain more for ourselves, choose our needs over those of organizations, and make the best life we can.  There are many ways to do this and I would be happy to help you charge forward!  Anissa

I came across this quote the other day "Doing less meaningless work is not laziness, but smart."  I started thinking about that a bit.  Over the past year and a half, I have done a much better job of not "should-ing" on myself.  You know, that wonderful habit of saying to yourself, I should go do the laundry, clean my desk, vacuum, clean out my closets, etc.  All of these tasks are legitimate but are they tasks that you think you should do, or need to do?  Well, I have gotten much better about distinguishing my should's and acting accordingly.  But as I read that quote, it kept running around in my head.  Lately, I have felt like I have been lazy about some things.  Now I realize that some of the things that I was choosing not to do aren't relavent or meaningful to me, which is why I wasn't doing them.  Of course, I always wonder if the procrastination bug has hit me, since one of the chief reasons why I procrastinate is to avoid the undesirable.But as the cleaning bug has gotten ahold of me (this is how I reflect, process and really think), I realize that I was being smart with my time, my choices and my life.

How are you doing in your daily choices?  Are you telling yourself that you should do this or that? Or are you being smart and only doing those things that are meaningful for you?  Let me know! Anissa

I recently attended a conference where the dominant part of the conversation was about behavior typing.  For me, I see this largely as labeling people. I say this because before the end of the first day was over, everyone in the room was talking about an X person vs. a Y person vs. a T person.  People no longer had names but instead a label based on their behavior.

I don't find this kind of learning about people beneficial.  Understanding behavior is a good thing and I do all I can to get my hands on as much as I can to learn more through articles and books.  But classifying people by a label to understand who they are and then defining them in this way leaves little room for growth, change or evolution.

As someone who loves the Gallup Organization's StrengthsFinder information, it is important to remember that this research is actually measuring your talent themes and not your strengths.  I have had the opportunity to learn about my MBTI (Meyers Briggs) and DiSC profiles of myself as well as the VIA Inventory of Signature Strengths that is rooted in Positive Psychology.  I have learned more about myself and gained some insights into some of the things I do, while also learning about others. It has expanded my perspective considerably about others, which I think is the strength of each. But the main difference is that these tools are more of a measure of personality than behavior.  

Behavior is transient and based on triggers, situation or event, and can be wildly different within a person.  Labeling, or typing, does not aid in the conversation but instead masks the person.  Does your organization use any of these tools?  How do they use them and do you feel they bring value?  I would love to hear more from you! Anissa

Would you like to give voice to your corporate impressions?  Can you distinguish between a bad day, a bad boss, or the wrong job?  Would you like to?  Take this quick quiz and see how you fare.  

Were the results what you expected? Did they shock you?  How do you feel about your place in your organization and in your career? I would love to hear more from you; contact me and we can talk! Anissa

HR departments focus on performance improvement and employee engagement to create competitive advantages for their organization. For those of you who are thinking "not my HR department", you are not alone. If organizations paid attention to a 2004 Gallup survey, low productivity by a disengaged worker is incredibly costly ($300 billion a year costly).  As an employee, if you are engaged, you assure innovation, growth, and productivity within your department and organization. The challenge to this is how you define engagement - is it in terms of satisfaction with your work or is it how you connect to the company, your co-workers, and your customers? 

However you define it, it helps to ensure that you feel that way.  Are you engaged with your company? Your work? Your coworkers? Your immediate supervisor?  If you are not, let's talk.  By determining what uplifts, energizes, and engages you in the workplace (and what doesn't), you will gain a competitive advantage in any role or company by being aware, in charge, and moving forward with your career.  Isn't that what we all want for ourselves? I know it's made all the difference in my professional fulfillment!  Anissa

Well I do.  It's been a while but I remember it.  I was struck with this thought as I read an article in USAToday about how Utah state workers are going to four-day workweek's due to their carbon footprint and the high cost of gas.

I think it's a worthy concept and wish more organizations and state governments would consider this move.  Yes, gas prices are higher than they have ever been. There is no telling if they will come down or not, let alone when.  It's a worthy consideration for many knowledge workers who could easily do much of their same work at home at least once a week.

As a coach, I feel good about my carbon footprint. I work out of my home and meet most of my clients via telephone.   Yes, I have speaking engagements and other meetings, but compared to a regular day job, my outings are infrequent.  In an average year, I put 5500 miles on my car.

The next time you are thinking about how to gain that competitive edge in the workplace, call me and we can strategize together. And it won't cost you a single gallon of gas.  If I can do it, so can you! Anissa

There are books on this concept of following your gut, but I don't think a book can really teach you how to listen for your specific signs within.  For me, I can say with absolute certainty that I follow my own beat and that by doing so, it has led to interesting results.  I have heard commentary from others for my odd choices, bold moves and seemingly risky decisions.  However, for me, following my heart has always proved to be the right move for me.

The times when things have not worked to my advantage are the exact times when I discounted what my heart was telling me and either thought about the logic of it all or what seemed like the best way to go.  This has never worked for me.  Getting out of my head and truly listening to my heart has provided me great happiness in my life's choices.  Ultimately, isn't that what we all want?  I hope you are listening to your heart when decisions need to be made and follow the best path for you!

 

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