Archive for the ‘Career Advancement’ Category
Winning over executives: what to expect
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Getting ready to present to top line people? Are you doing the “usual” — amassing a large number of slides, back-up slides, and data points just in case you get asked a hard question? Okay, not bad, but please know this — you won’t get all the time you had expected AND you had better be concise. If they promised you 30 minutes to speak to the board, expect 10 to 15 at the most. Prepare for 2 minutes. Don’t laugh! If you expect to have no time at all and to have an impatient audience, you will be the most “ready” you have ever been in your life!
Posted in Career Advancement, Presentation Skills, Speaking Style | No Comments »
When “Smart” Isn’t Good Enough
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
College teaches technical professionals that being the smartest will take you far. They are finding that being smart is not good enough. The new rules of big business show two *social* requirements — be politically smart and be tough. Communications at even the glossiest Fortune 100 companies are brutally tough at almost all levels. Polite requests are replaced with terse email messages. Phone calls and face to face conversations have been replaced by instant messaging. Is it efficient? Of course, at least superficially. But does it make people feel attached to a company, manager, or team? Very very little. If you are a leader, don’t risk losing your “A” players due to failed communications. And you “A” players out there? Don’t depend on your high intelligence to guarantee an “A” (exceeds expectations) rating in your performance appraisal. Work your social intelligence as much as your technical intelligence. It’s not all that time-consuming or difficult. After all, haven’t you succeeded at everything you’ve tried?
Tags: beating competition for top spots, being smart, getting along at work, update methods
Posted in Career Advancement, Influencing, Speaking Style | No Comments »
An Inexpensive Gift to Give
Thursday, December 30th, 2010
I’m having a great time reading The Zen of Listening by Rebecca Shafir, a neurotherapist and speech pathologist. Her latest “gift” in the book is this quote: “Listening is a very inexpensive way to give to others.” She offers this statement after pages of quotes from people who recalled the moment in which they had felt truly listened to and understood, without interruptions by others to tell their own stories or “run their own agendas.” To receive full and complete listening by others seems so rare that people find it to be magical. I’m enjoying focusing on listening without barriers or an agenda. It’s not so hard. Here’s the link for her book: http://www.mindfulcommunication.com/
At our company, we’ve spent a lot of time helping people to hear implied meanings in questions and discern the intentions of others, but I think I will recommend this book for its approach to the fine points of focusing and listening. More later on this topic. Thanks for reading this blog, and let me know what you think.
Tags: inexpensive gift, listening, paying attention, Zen of Listening
Posted in Auditory Memory, Career Advancement, Dealing with difficult people and situations, Executive Communications, Generational Differences, Influencing, Interviewing Skills, Presence, self-direction and control | No Comments »
Cesar Millan: Dog Whisperer and People Whisperer: Leadership
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
"Chuh!" says Cesar Millan, dog psychologist and pack leader
Cesar Millan coaches dog owners in leadership. We coach leaders in leadership. How could these be similar? In at least one key way: that both people and dogs trust a leader who assumes the role consistently and confidently. This combination builds attention and trust. Interestingly, Cesar Millan rarely uses words. Leaders of people rely heavily on words. But leaders can learn a lot about leadership, executive presence, and presentation skills by being nonverbal. Millan has his dog owners hold their heads high and be “calm assertive.” Old style CEOs thought the last thing they should be is calm assertive. Instead, they had to be highly charismatic and engaging. Well, Cesar is getting it right for CEOs as well as dog owners. Conveying calm and confidence, especially in these challenging economic times, does work.
Tags: calm assertiveness, Cesar Millan, confidence, dog whisperer
Posted in Career Advancement, Executive Communications, Influencing, Presence | No Comments »
What am I missing?
Saturday, December 18th, 2010
People prepare to present to senior leaders by compiling huge amounts of data and lots of slides. Here’s a surprise. Senior leaders are more interested in what you are missing than what you have for them. They have to assume that you did all the work that you claim to have done. It’s what you as a company might miss that fascinates them. In fact, be ready to provide the QUESTIONS that your work raises rather than just the facts, and you will sound less like a subordinate or middle manager and more like a leader yourself.
Tags: C-suite, gap analysis
Posted in Career Advancement, Executive Communications, Presence, Presentation Skills | No Comments »
Great speaker = winner
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
The Financial Times published a letter that quotes Richard Critchfield in Among the English as saying, “This society has since Elizabethan times rewarded almost extravagantly the articulate, the eloquent, the witty, the masters of words, and repartee.” See www.ft.com. Still true? YES. Being “articulate” as become more than a compliment. It succeeds more than facts or logic.
Don’t give up on trying to be more articulate. Now here’s a surprise: to be more articulate, just try talking about 10% slower. This gives your brain a chance to find your best words and to edit your speech before you say something. Try it.
You may not need to be articulate to do your daily activities or to run for office, but it will let you win when interviewing for a job or persuading a customer to buy your service, right?
Speak to you later.
Tags: being articulate, interviewing, slowing down
Posted in Career Advancement, Interviewing Skills, Presence, Speaking Style, self-direction and control | No Comments »
So much suffering — end this for interviews
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Suffering This is not about Haiti, south China, or women in Afghanistan, although I empathize with their suffering, of course. It’s the suffering that goes with being laid off, especially for people for whom even the worst job they ever had still defines their worth as individuals. The depression from being out of work is not real coachable, in my experience, except for the most well-adjusted, who see the upcoming change as an opportunity.
Reduce Suffering Whether you are deeply sad about a job loss, glad to try something else, or somewhere on that continuum, here is a way to move forward with success.
Competitive Advantages Jack Welch of GE fame said, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, [then] don’t compete.” I think everyone has a competitive advantage, but they often don’t think about what that is until their backs are up against the wall, when they have to interview for a new position and “sell themselves.” So even if your job is not currently in danger, or your organization for that matter, still take the time to think about what your competitive advantage is.
I bet you will be surprised by what they say. Check it out.
Resume Mistake Often I find that what our clients write in their resumes as far as competitive advantages are NOT what turns on most interviewers. For example, they write the standard “leadership skills” and knowledge of various technical aspects of their jobs, but these only get you through the screening process, at best.
Ask If you don’t know what your advantages are over your competitors, then ask people whom you respect to tell you how they perceive you and what your advantages are in the workplace. To really stand out, ask others what they see as your advantages over competitors for jobs, and the surprise might be that YOUR competitive advantages are: “reliable, trustworthy, high integrity, does not over-promise, understands internal communication structure (of a big company), knows how to handle sensitive information,” and others.
So, ask others what they see as your competitive advantage, and make sure that that aspect shines through in your resume and during your interviews. Good luck, and let us know what experiences you have had in interviewing. I’ll bet that you will do better and better, when your competitive advantages set you apart from your competitors.
Posted in Career Advancement, Dealing with difficult people and situations, Interviewing Skills | No Comments »
Why your Asian employee is silent in meetings
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
If your Asian employees not born in English-speaking countries are silent in meetings, it’s probably not the result of a totally conscious decision on their parts. Yes, many times people who might speak English as a *second* language are shy about speaking up in public, but usually the main reason is cultural: in Asian cultures, if you are not 100% sure of what you are saying or asking, you keep quiet. I explain that for most Americans and even Europeans, being 30 to 60% sure is good enough. Imagine the impact of this difference on group participation… and their careers. It’s huge.
Tags: Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Thai, Vietnamese speaking styles
Posted in Career Advancement, Cultural Differences, Presence | No Comments »
Competing for a top spot? Here’s how they *really* choose
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Little understood by many people who aspire to the top is that they choose to promote you based not just on brains, sense, and experience but on whether they can trust you or not.
Surprised? Don’t be. You know that your competition for a top post are also smart, experienced, innovative, articulate, and ambitious. You can win that top job if the C-suite (i.e., CEO, CFO, CIO,…) and VP level leaders perceive you as someone who can recognize sensitive information and therefore share info wisely and be in complete control of what you say. I’ve known a CFO who blurted out “the wrong thing” in front of stock analysts, leading to a significant drop in stock value, and, by the way, the loss of his career.
If you show excellence in self-control, good judgement in what you say, and as a result are seen as trustworthy, then you might be the best candidate for that top spot.
Tags: beating competition for top spots, C-suite, self-control
Posted in Career Advancement, Executive Communications | No Comments »
Can you take the heat of the C-suite?
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
Senior executive discussions aren’t what most people think they are. They are often not just fast-paced but also very aggressive. I mean that in the nicest way. If you aspire to the C-suite (i.e., CEO, CFO, CIO,…) , just think of the consequences of your dreams: are you ready to speak out even if you receive extreme attack? Can you take powerful criticism in front of others? Yes? Then maybe you ARE ready for the C-suite.
Posted in Career Advancement, Executive Communications, Influencing | No Comments »