Now and Next

Regardless of our passions, age or experience -  we owe it to ourselves, families, communities and careers to consciously consider what we are doing now that excites us, or brings us joy, or makes a difference.  (Ideally these things will converge.) And with those answers, we must consider how we will invest our time, talent and treasure to insure that what we do next will continue to make a difference to us, those we love and those we aspire to help.

Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In

One of my young friends who works for Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO, gave me an autographed copy of Sheryl's new book, Lean In, when it was released last Monday.  The well-researched book builds on her 2010 TED address which encouraged women to take charge of our careers (Lean In).   She shares data, provides humorous and candid anecdotes, labels biases and challenges many of us to subtly or dramatically change our approach.

Some of her key messages include:

• The leadership ambition gap for women is perpetuated by a "stereotype threat" (most leadership positions and well-compensated positions are held by men) and the assumption that a creating a successful personal and professional life is difficult to impossible.
• Sit at the table - don't let self-doubt or deference banish you to the sidelines in meetings where your voice is needed.
• Success and likeability are usually negatively correlated for women
• The proverbial career ladder would better be viewed as a jungle gym, with multiple paths to success rather than a single straight upward trajectory.
• Mentorship, sponsorship and seized conversations can all offer advantages.
• Authentic communication requires acknowledging others' truths as well as our own
• Don't plan with specificity too far ahead - keep options open
• Make your partner a true partner.
• We can't do it all, all the time.
• No one wants her achievements minimized.  

Take This Job and Love It!

Terri Langhans, a Certified Speaking Professional, author and COE (Chief of Everything) at Blah, Blah, Blah Etc. Inc., was the featured speaker at our recent Sterling Bank Women’s Business Initiative Luncheon. She motivated and entertained our appreciative audience as she presented her marvelous message "Take This Job and LOVE It!"

It is abundantly clear that Terri loves her job and she shared tips for everyone to love theirs. She urges getting a new pair of glasses, which is a vivid way of reminding us that we always find what we are looking for. If we are looking for a mess, problem or boring meeting, we’ll find that. But if we’re looking for solutions, interesting interactions or success, that’s what we’ll find.

She outlined six things that can lead to burnout – workload, control, reward, community, fairness and values. And she offered a great twist, noting that in order to experience burnout, one had to have once been on fire. Rekindling the flame can occur by changing our perspective about the cause of burnout or finding a job where these factors are a match for us.

We’re all familiar with RDA in food and vitamins. Terri prescribes creating RDA for what we are looking to achieve.

And she’s a big proponent of using questions. We need to ask ourselves what a good mom or leader would do. When confronted with an uncomfortable question from another, she suggests responding with a question. Why do you ask? What is it that you want to know? And if someone is ranting it often works to add a question to their complaint. Her daughter came home from school and spewed, “I hate my math teacher. He’s an idiot.” Terri’s response was, “You hate him? He’s an idiot?” This allowed her daughter to vent about tomorrow’s test and her misplaced book, which were her real issues.

In order to love our jobs, we need to understand what is important and let the professional inside us shine.

Is the Grass Greener?

The grass is always greener when a professional is responsible for the care and feeding.

This applies to instances when we hire professionals to maintain our grounds. It is also relevant to job search options when an individual is discontented with a current employer but hasn't professionally examined the pros and cons of his/her current situation versus an alternative employer. If we only look at the above ground (green grass) optics, we may miss the deeply rooted core fundamentals. Temporary situations may look ominous, but we owe it to ourselves, careers and employers to determine if this is a temporary (water rationing during a drought) anomaly or a systemic problem. Unless we professionally invest time to understand and examine our current situation versus alternatives we may fall victim to the reality that the grass is really only greener in very specific geographies (employers).

May green grass flourish as we professionally invest in the care and feeding of our careers.

Something Better Just Around the Corner

When we don't get what we think we want, we're disappointed, frustrated and confused. It seems purely theoretical when our friends say, "when one door closes, another opens" or "something better will come along".

It often takes time to see that "no" or "not now" can be the springboard to other, better opportunities. We often quit exploring the range of options when we are presented with the possibility of something that will be "good enough".

My dear, talented friend was exploring career opportunities after a sabbatical. She networked like a super-star, shared countless job openings that were a great match for others she knew, and researched the universe of companies to discover the best job for herself.

Her best opportunities for her new career came through connections she had and created. When she reached the point with a particular company that she was the top candidate and was assured that internal timing issues and approvals just needed to be completed, she could have stopped looking. She didn't.

She continued to interview and explore possibilities. The first company's delay cost them a fabulous associate. But it yielded a far better job offer for my friend. The answer she thought she wanted would have locked her into a job that was "good enough". Because she didn't let her frustration nor the first company's assurances that a job offer was coming halt her exploration, she truly did find something better just around the corner.

Management by Bumper Sticker

Simple Ways to Manage Your Career and Business One (Potential) Bumper Sticker at a Time

Always Anticipate Actions
Be Believable and Best
Create Camaraderie
Communicate Concisely
Diligently Deliver
Dream Dreams
Excel
Find Faults and Fix
Give then Get
Golden Rule Rules
Go for Your Dreams
Go for Your Goals
Have a Heart
Imagine Incredible Impacts
Justly Judge
Keep Confidences
Lifetime Learning
Make Magic
Management Meticulously
No Nonsense
Open Other Options
Passionately Pursue Perfection
Relish Relationships
Sell Succinct Solutions
Tell the Truth
Understand Unselfishly
Verify
Win with Wisdom
eXit with eXcellence