5 Keys to Get a Great Job in 2 Months

Today, we’ll examine the 5 keys to get a great job in 2 months The 5 Keys include:

1.  Define your dream job with an employer description.

2.  Adopt the how can I help attitude.

3.   Ask questions to discover organizational wants and needs.

4.  Prove that you are the solution they are looking for

5.  Make your tens: 10 contacts a day and 10 meetings a week

We're going to briefly describe each of them and go into much more detail in the later posts.

Define your purpose and passion in a written Employer Description.

The majority of people, especially high performers, are unhappy with their jobs. Many times, dissatisfaction occurs because people have not taken the time to identify what they really want to do, or they don’t describe it in enough detail to make it real. Identifying and pursuing your purpose, passion, and calling provides criteria to evaluate your options. This is done in three parts. First, discover your calling. Second, explore your favorite skills. Third, writing your ideal employer description.

First, let's talk about identifying your passion and purpose. The six essential elements of a job. You need to decide are you going for a job, a career, or your calling? To do so. Every job has six essential parts: 

1. The skills and responsibilities you love to do. 
2. The industries that interest you. Industries change the nature of the job changes. For example, a manager in a manufacturing company, a bank, a fast food service. You have the same job title, the same kind of responsibilities of boy is the job different.
3. The size of the organization. Do you want to work for a startup, a smaller organization, medium, large or global? 
4. Who owns the organization. Stockholders, private yourself, we the people or no ownership. That's nonprofits. 
5. Location, both the geographic locale (country, state, city). Locale means metro, urban, suburban, rural or virtual. 
6. The most important and the most overlooked element of the job is the environment you want to work in, the physical, cultural, leadership style, and more. It's the environment that usually impacts our happiness on the job and it's the one we do the least to prepare for, identify and verify.

Adopt the How can I help? attitude

Next, you need to adopt the "How can I help?" attitude. This involves stop saying stupid stuff, maintain your professional identity, and then look for people you can help.One woman described a job search as the most demeaning experience in her life. She said, I felt like I was standing on the corner holding a sign saying "Will work for food". But it was worse than that. I had to chase the cars down the street shouting. "Pick me, pick me".

Now, contrast that with Vick who is an aviation flight test engineer. When he adopted the "How can I help?" attitude, he said (two weeks into his job search) "I am having so much fun on this job search!"; two phrases that usually don't go together. But because he was working to help people achieve their goals, he not only had fun, he had a great job paying 15 percent more in four and a half weeks of being laid off.

Ask questions to gather information about wants and needs

The third step is to gather information about wants and needs. Remember, you ask questions to identify the organization's goals or challenges that  you can help them achieve or resolve. You do that in three ways:

1.  Review the literature on their web site, annual reports, press releases, LinkedIn or professional association articles.
2. Ask people general questions. These are the people who aren't doing the job you want to do, but they work in organizations that may have do the work you do. Ask how the organization they work for does what you do, what they do well, and what the could do better. Also ask who else you could talk to gather more information.
3. Ask people technical questions. Those are the people who are doing the job you want to do or related to it. These questions can be more detailed about projects, goals, and objectives they are trying to achieve; problems or challenges they are encountering; industry trends and news, software platforms and upgrades.

Prove you are the solution they need

 Once you've gathered the information and found those people who need and want help, your next task is to prove you are the solution they need. You prove this in phone calls, interviews, meetings, reconnecting after interviews/meetings, and in your written materials. Prove you are the solution they need because you can 1) do the job they want done, 2) you will fit into their team, and 3) you are going to be a great return on investment.

Provide specific examples (including #, $, %s) to prove you are the solution. We suggest

• Present your dessert tray of hobbies, civic service, education, work experience, words that describe you, and home run statements
• Prepare 36 statements based on a ball diamond: 1st base=where you worked, 2nd base=what you did, 3rd=the results your work generated, and home plate=a question that applies the example to their organization ("Are those the results you want?")
• Reframe their thinking about your weaknesses or negatives
• Ask questions to gather information to be able to answer the questions.

Make your 10s: 10 Contacts a day and 10 Meetings a week

Make your tens and that means 10 contacts a day, 10 face to face meetings a week. Remember, we're not talking about only contacting job opportunities. We mean contacting people by phone:

• 4-5 of the 10 conversations you will ask the questions you've prepared to gather information
• 2-3 of the 10 contacts will be to schedule face to face meetings
• 2-3 will be to reconnect on prior context or meetings that you have already had.

The 10 face to face meetings a week will involve

• 5-7 to gather information
• 3-5 to impress decision makers you can help them achieve their goals or solve their problems

In a future blog, you will learn how you can find all 50 of these people just two hours each Monday:

• 10 people from your phone or email contacts
• 20 from your LinkedIn, Facebook, professional associations and directories
• 10 following up on previous contacts for meetings
•   7 from advertised job opportunities
•   3 from other sources.

That's 50 people a week, 10 contacts a day. We know that this system works. We're going to share successes on how it works. We hope you enjoy these blogs.

Surviving Poor Management 3: Cross-Directed Information

This continues our series to help all of you working under poorly management companies
Michael spent 20 years employed in the same division of the same company. During the last four years management made a major change in strategic direction. Michael and several managers warned that the change would reduce productivity. Three years later, upper management investigated why half the branches decreased productivity and half the branches did not. They discovered that the half that maintained productivity had ignored the change. So, they reversed themselves returning to the original strategy. Rather than admit their mistake, they blamed Michael and the other managers saying that they had misunderstood  the directions.

Importance of Clear Communication

Companies and organizations require clear, consistent directions and strategy for sustained improvement. Major leadership authors such as Peter Drucker, Stephen R. Covey, and Jim Collins emphasize the importance of clear, sustained directions.
Clear, consistent directions with easy to observe metrics stimulate better implementation. Key production indicators share what the company expects employees to produce. Other indicators direct employees in the processes that will lead to successful results.

Consequences of Mixed or Cross-Directed Messages

We recognize occasional realignments or major strategic shifts occur. However,

• Frequent changes or confusing communications distract or deflate employees
• Staff cannot successfully implement confusing or misdirected orders
• Reversing direction compounds the distraction and loses time and money
• Verbal communications allow for more confusion than written ones
• Electronic communications provide easier opportunities for updating and modifications
• They may be distributed quicker and less expensively
• However, updating electronic operation’s guidelines without informing staff of changes enhance the chance for further confusion
• Unclear official communications loses time and money because employees recognize  the need for unofficial lines of communication and verifying tactics

Compensating for Unclear Messages

You may compensate for miscommunication or misunderstandings or even reversed directions in several ways:

• Ask your network of contacts within the organization to clarify and support one another
• Restate verbal communications to verify your understanding of what is being said
• Frequent refer to electronic and hardcopy communication and policy

Monday we highlight problems that result from poorly defined or unrealistic expectations
This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Merry Christmas 2013: A Poem by Dick Bolles

I apologize for not sharing a post to this blog since November 22. My efforts to hire a new employee left me mentally and physically distracted. While I garnered enough material for the next month’s worth of blogs about careers, I still found it difficult to put thoughts to words. I learned a lot and will share what I learned over the next few weeks.

I’m feeling more focused and want to share my experiences from a hiring authority’s view.

First, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas.

A Message from the 4th Wise Man and Dick Bolles 

My wife loves the story of the 4th Wise Man who missed the other three because he stopped to help a wounded man on the road, save woman’s child in Bethlehem, and a colony of outcasts. In the end, he meets the resurrected King he sought his whole life. The King commends the 4th Magi because “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Richard Nelson Bolles, the author of the best selling What Color is Your Parachute?, wrote a poem on Christmas Eve reflecting the same thought..

“It’s Christmas season! In the street
The hungry beg for food to eat
And hope that shoppers, hurrying by
Will stop. And look them in the eye,
Say "Sorry what’s befallen you.
Here’s ten. The least that I can do.
You are my brother, sister, friend,
I hope your mis’ry soon will end.”

But that ‘s not what most shoppers think
They think: “It’s a scam, or else he’ll drink!
Why waste my money, better not
He’s probably a drunken sot.”
Our purse stays closed, we hurry on
And we are proud we were not conned.

Of course, there always is that chance
Their plight was real, we did our dance
Away from empathy, in vain
They really are in a lot of pain.

Look! Our only command is Give! (or lend it)
We mustn’t obsess about how they spend it
Go back, talk to them, have no fear
And say the words they long to hear,
“So sorry what’s befallen you.
Here’s ten! the least that I can do.
You are my brother, sister, friend,
I hope your mis’ry soon will end.”

Random Thoughts About Finding a Job: Wasting Time

This post reflects random thoughts as I have hired someone and does not constitute a series

As I was going through the process of hiring someone this week, I discovered scores of new ways job seekers waste the decision maker’s time. I chose not to use the keyword selection feature to reduce my list of 120 applications, but to look at each one individually.  Most resumes took exactly 5 seconds to discard—once I could get the system to open the resume. It usually took longer to open the application than to reject the application.

Various Ways They Wasted My Time

Let me share some of the ways that the people who applied for the job I was filling wasted my time. Remember, I am reviewing 96 applications (24 did not even get through for me to see because of a bug in the system). Opening the files takes a lot time due to slow computer response and limited bandwidth. These were some of the problems that wasted my time:

• Generic resumes outlining experience and skills completely unrelated to the position I was filling (One person sent a speech pathologists resume for an HR recruiter's job)
• One person submitted a resume with nothing related to my position. Then, he submitted a second version of the resume that barely matched my desires
• Another person sent me five emails a day for three days. None of the emails gave me a good reason to hire them
• Several people called me after we rejected their applications to complain and ask why we rejected their application. When we mentioned specific experience which they did not have, they gave us examples that had not been included in their application. They wanted to us to reconsider and let them reapply

Communicate How You Can Help Them Achieve Their Goals

The solutions to not wasting time remain very simple:

• Discover management’s priorities and what job they really want done (not just the published ones)
• Communicate specific facts illustrating how your experience meets their expectations

Monday we rant about how job seekers arrive for job interviews completely unprepared

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Random Thoughts on Finding a Job: Bugs in HR Databases

This post, while dealing with a similar topic, stands alone and does not constitute a series

I mentioned that I was hiring someone in my day job. While I had a short list of four people (as mentioned in the last post), the policy-directed posting generated more than 120 applications. The list included 24 people whose application status listed as a draft.  The human resource recruiter told me that a bug in the database created a problem. The application system kicked them out before they finished their application. They could not reenter to finish the application. I could not open the drafts to see the resume, cover letters, or even contact information. In other words, I could not contact them. Those applicants thought they had a chance, when I could not even see their information. Three of the applicants stuck in the draft dilemma contacted me. As a result we found another way for them to apply. The other 21, that did not follow-up, still wait for a contact that will never come.

Electronic Databases May Create Job Search Problems

The world turns on electronic systems, cyberspace, and the Internet. In addition to the bugs, computer systems also create changes in the job search process. Some examples of changes include:

• Problem: HR systems may consolidate all the formatting effects of your resume into one huge paragraph
  • Solution: Email a PDF of your resume to the hiring authority
• Problem: HR systems may offer the decision maker limited options when reviewing resumes, like reject or interview but no more
  • Solution: Make sure they see what they want immediately
• Problem: Screening systems rely on keywords used by the company to select which of the applications meet their requirements
  • Solution: Ensure your resume and application includes the exact words or phrases, you will not appear in the list
• Problem: Glitch in the computer system prevents them from seeing your application
  • Solution: Use the application tracking system
  • Solution: Follow-up with a phone call or email verifying that your application processed effectively

Friday we discuss some of the horrible experiences in reviewing resumes and applications

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Random Thoughts on Finding a Job: We Use Short Lists

The next few blog posts will stand alone, unlike the last few, and not constitute a series

This is my story. Recently, I have been authorized to hire a new employee for my day job. I work for a major international, nonprofit organization. So, for the first time in several years, I have been on the hiring end of a job search. Our organization maintains a policy of advertising all openings except for upper level management promotions. Even so, I had a short list of people I’ve considered for any position that opened. I immediately called them and said “I have a new position opening up. You may want to apply if you are interested. I made sure they got interviewed.

3 Reasons Managers Maintain Short Lists

1. People Want to Work with People they Know, Like, and Trust:  Managers want to hire people that have already impressed them. Many times, they hire people inside the company. The also hire people that have impressed them from outside the company

Usually, because they already know

• The person will do the job they want done
• The results, productivity, sales, revenues, and savings the person may generate
• How that person will fit into the work team
• Their capabilities, successes, and potential return on investment

2. Too Much To Lose: The manager, director, or VP have too much to lose if they hire the wrong person. They may lose their:

• Customers
• Best employees
• Productivity and sales
• Reputation and possible promotions
• Job

3. Short Lists Save Time: Hiring someone takes time. It interrupts the work managers need to get done. It distracts our thought processes, organization, and activities. We take less time when we already know who we want to hire.

You Can Still Beat the Short List

You should not resent the short list. You should first try to get on the short list before they are ready to hire. You can still beat the people on the short list by demonstrating you can deliver better results.

Wednesday we will delve deeper into the three things you need to do for the biggest raises

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 17: Change Anything Provides Great Help

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

The authors of The Influencer and Change Anything recently moved their web site to a very robust Facebook Fan page when you type www.ChangeAnything.com into your browser. I’ve read all their books and used the old page. They have added some great features to this fan page.

Problems That Prevent Successful Change

We strongly suggest you click on the 19 minute video clip on YouTube of Al Switzler outlining the science and studies about how to Change Anything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TX-Nu5wTS8 

To summarize some of his points in the video:

• The Willpower Trap: the faulty assumption…that if you are failing it’s because you don’t care enough or you’re not fully committed—you don’t have enough willpower
• Be the Scientist and the Subject: Recognize that scientists may have studied how to help “people” change, but no one has studied how to help “you” change. You must become the subject of your own scientific study. You need a way of understanding; and Influencing your own behavior
• Apply the Science of Change:
  • Identify your crucial moments (those crucial times when you are tempted to revert to bad behavior)
  • Create your vital behaviors (create your different behavior when the crucial moment hits)
  • Engage all six sources of influence (“I can only control my behavior by taking control of the things that control me” see below)
  • Turn Bad Days into Good Data (plan how to deal with setbacks to avoid failure)

Six Sources of Influence to Change Anything

Al Switzler says we need to apply six sources of influence. The six sources of influence apply three levels (personal, social, structural) to two columns (Motivation and Ability)

• Personal:  Motivation (I want to)
• Personal Ability (I can do)
• Social Motivation (Cheer you to succeed or accomplices in failure)
• Social Ability (Coach you to develop the skills to change)
• Structural Incentives (Rewards you for the change)
• Structural Ability (Controls your space makes your good behavior easy and bad behavior hard)

Friday we summarize our series on how to improve yourself to grow your career

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 16: Change Pesky Personality Traits

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Sherman, a mechanical engineer, worked for the same munitions company for 22 years. He proved to be a solid individual producer within the company. His meticulous attention to detail made him a great engineer. It also affected his interpersonal skills. Social interactions did not come naturally to Sherman. He tried with small talk and showing an interest in their lives. Unfortunately, he did not do it well and it showed. His small personality quirks prevented his promotions. It left him on the outside of the best work teams and circles. Eventually, it led to his layoff from the company.

Types of Personality Traits to Change

Several personality traits may stall your career. They may include:

• Talking too loud, too long, and too inappropriately
• Laughing obnoxiously or too loud at inappropriate time
• Lack of ability to interact socially or in small talk
• Becoming defensive, obnoxious, or pushing back too hard
• Telling off-color, ethnic, or offensive jokes at the office
• Shy, withdrawn, diffident, or introverted
• Losing your temper, becoming angry, or venting frustration
• Assuming that your opinion is the only correct one and you must convince everyone to accept your perception
• Seeing all issues in terms of black and white (frequently referred to as binary, because you only see 1s or 0s) and cannot comprehend grey areas for middle ground

How to Change Personality Traits

Changing your personality requires a lot of work, dedication, and help. You may try a number of possible solutions:

• Study or listen to self-help books, videos, or audio files
• Attend motivational seminars and workshops
• Establish triggers to help you recognize when your personality creates problems
• Ask your mentor and network of contacts to signal you when your behavior demonstrates inappropriate behavior
• Meet with a therapist or counselor to modify behavior or personality challenges
• Keep a daily journal of your behavior noting specific issues that may bring out your poor response
• Identify other solutions
• Enlist help from others

Wednesday we outline how the Change Anything process can help you improve yourself

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 15: Change Your Appearance to Fit In

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Diana worked as a secretary for a corporation with more than 5,000 employees. She had earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and started employment with this corporation the same month. She enjoyed being a secretary, but wanted to take better advantage of her degree. After consulting with a mentor, she changed her appearance by dressing in suits rather than dresses. Within a few months, management asked her to travel for the corporation training branches how to use a new computer system they introduced. Changing her appearance improved her opportunities.

Avoid an Obsession with a Perception of Perfect Body Type

Appearances mean a lot in today’s society. In some ways, they matter too much. Too many people pursue some universal perception of perfection. They see doctored commercials and ads showing airbrushed concepts of woman or manhood. This obsession is not healthy.

I’m not advocating you pursue the quest for perfectly sculpted bodies through cosmetic surgery. I’m not advising changing your appearance with plastic surgery, eating disorders, or other unhealthy approaches.

You Can Make Healthy Improvements to Your Appearance

You can make a lot of healthy changes to your appearance including:

• Cut or style your hair to fit into the environment you want to work in
• Dress appropriately for the position you want for your promotion or improvement
• Follow good rules of personal hygiene such as bathing, deodorant, and avoid strong perfumes or other scents 

Live Health

You can improve your appearance with healthy eating and exercise. I lost 120 pounds in the last two years following information found in Dr. Steve Aldana The Culprit and the Cure. He studied medical research for 25 years. He advises a few habits to extend the quantity and quality of life:

• Eat 3-5 helpings of fruit and vegetables each day
• Eat 5 hands full of raw nuts a week
• Limit your consumption of red meat
• Drink water
• Accumulate 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week

Monday we disclose methods for improving personality quirks that prevent success

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 14: Let Your Mentor and Network Help You

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Clark worked hard. He improved both the productivity and quality of his work. He received several promotions. Nevertheless, he suffered from a major character flaw. He lost his temper quickly. Luckily, he had a good mentor who worked with him to tame his temper. He enlisted the help of his network of contacts that included a few social workers. They helped him develop alternative triggers to control his outbursts. As a result, he received three more promotions within the next 10 years.

Mentors Help You Improve

The dictionary defines mentor in two ways:

• Noun “an experienced and trusted advisor” synonyms include “adviser, guide, guru, counselor, consultant
• Verb “advise or training (someone, esp. a younger colleague)”

Effective mentors guide you, advise you, about how to improve your contribution to the organization. They can teach you a variety of skills:

• Technical skills associated with your job
  • Machining, assembly, robotics, and other trades
  • Programming, systems analysis, SAAS, and app development
  • Engineering, drafting, surveying, and designing
  • Sales, marketing, web development, and branding
  • Legal, accounting, psychology, social work, and counseling
• Skills to not only survive, but thrive, in the corporate culture
• Corporate or industry trends and the new skills required for the trends
• Computer programs and applications associated with your work

Your Network Provides the Ability to Learn Other Skills

The people who constitute your network work in a variety of capacities. They may provide a multitude of skills. They may teach you the skills they possess so that you may provide those skills at work. Or, you may ask them to offer their skills to accomplish purposes or objectives that will improve your work team’s ability to perform or achieve a goal.

Each member of your network serves as a source of improvement, just as you may help them improve themselves. Remember, you help them as much as they help you. You possess skills that they may want to learn.

Friday we review how to improve your appearance to get the biggest raises & best promotions

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 13: Stay Current, Not Obsolete

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Bruce worked as a private accountant for the same large company for 37 years. He started when accounting was still entered by pencil on giant spreadsheets. He developed his 10-key by touch skills and accuracy. He adapted to doing accounting on computers when the company introduced a SQL based accounting package and again when they transitioned to a PeopleSoft package. It was hard, but he did it. He moved to a much smaller community when he retired. However, the great recession depleted his investments and he had to return to work. The community had no big companies, only small ones that used QuickBooks. He did not know how to use QuickBooks and gave up trying to learn. Instead he got a job as a greeter at a well-known chain store.

Continually Update Your Technical Skills

Every occupation continually changes. Most of the changes deal with evolving or disruptive (as Clayton Christensen termed it) technology. These technological changes require you to upgrade your skills or become obsolete. Some examples of how far-reaching these changes are:

• Auto mechanics increasingly use computers for diagnostics and repair
• Mines and manufacturing use automated robots, drillers, and conveyers
• Architects, engineers, and
• Administrative, managerial, and clerical positions all use software that send major updates every 2-3 years

One of the easiest ways to maintain your skills is through training offered through professional or trade associations and manufacturers or vendors. They offer training and instructions on upgrades and new products.

Keep Your Mind Active as You Get Older

Growing older affects our synapses and how well we think and process information. You can delay the slowdown with exercises for the mind. Here are some examples:

• One 80-year old uses a computerized game of Go to keep her mental faculties sharp
• An 83-year old man swims 3 miles a day listening to books on his iPod as he swims
• Many older people play computerized solitaire to maintain eye-&-hand coordination

Wednesday we explore how to use your mentor and network to improve yourself

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 12: Add New Skills & Increase Value

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Brandon worked for 15 years for a Fortune 1,000 software development company. He began in the programming group, but moved into product development and project management for 10 years. He pioneered project management techniques adopted globally by the company. He delivered clean product with fewer bugs than most project teams. He lost his job when the company was purchased and sold off for parts. Unfortunately, he had not kept current with his skills. He especially failed to comprehend and develop the skills for SAAS. As a result, he spent many months unemployed while he tried to update his skills.

Continual Learning the Demand of Today

Today’s workplace requires continual training and skill development to avoid obsolescence. Even more training to increase your value to the company.

The information age provides a multitude of training, videos, YouTube, or eLearning programs. Unfortunately, the Internet presents too great an opportunity for inaccurate, bogus, and fabricated data.  You may recognize many of our suggestions, others you may not know:

Free Sources of Training

• Ted, Ted Talks, Ted X
• YouTube contains training on almost any topic or skill from computers, woodworking, sales, IT, leadership, management, and so much more
• Google, Yahoo, Chrome, Safari Internet searches can uncover wiki’, articles, blogs, and you can use scholar Google to find academic research and scholarly journals
• Professional associations offer many articles, publications, studies, and training for free. Of course, you will usually gain access to more training and information if you pay the dues and join the organization

Sources You Must Pay to Attend

• Western Governor’s University, University of Phoenix and other online universities
• Kahn Academy
• Learning Tree and other online learning programs
• Workshops, seminars, and conventions offered by manufacturers and vendors
• Licensing and certification programs offered through professional, trade, or industry associations
• State Department of Licensing connects people to sources of test preparation for licensing
• Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration including the Office of Apprenticeship
• Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees

Monday we discover guidelines about improving your professional appearance

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 11: Practice the 9 Keys to Better Relations

This continues our series on how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Bryan developed great business relations with those around him. His reputation as a connector drew people to him for advice and and networking. He seemed to know everybody. They respected his expertise and willingness to support and serve others. He helped people build their business, turn around failing businesses, or create exit strategies that allowed owners to make great money. He learned and practiced the 9 keys of relationship outlined by Jared and Sarah Stewart in City of Influence.

Every Opportunity Has It’s Root in a Relationship

We’ve posted multiple times  about Jared and Sarah Stewart’s book City of Influence. Jared first introduced me to the keys of relationships 8 years ago. I have read it every year between Christmas and New Year’s Eve since it was first published in 2008. The book offers an easy read teaching it’s principles in a simple tale that requires about 3.5 hours to read.

I’ve verified some of the basic premises of the book multiple times. Some of their assumptions include:

• People do business with people they know, like, and trust
• Every opportunity has it’s root in a relationship
  • Ray Kroc built McDonald’s based on 3 key relationships
  • Roy Disney’s relationship with Ub Iwerks helped create Mickey Mouse
  • The founders of Google and their relationship with John Doerr

The 9 Keys to Better Relationships

Sarah and Jared outline 9 keys to building business relationships. Practicing these keys will help you develop the kind of relationships that will increase your influence. Paradoxically, the key to increasing your influence is serving others and not self-centered interests. As a result of serving others, more people serve you. You feel more fulfilled.

The 9 keys to relationships include:

• Business is about relationships
• Avoid relationship arrogance
• Develop relationships just because
• Learn, Serve, Grow
• Bricks trump sticks
• Exit the coliseum
• Swim in pools
• Measure relationships
• Decide to govern

I really encourage you to buy and read this book.

Friday we discuss how improving work skills increases your worth and value to companies

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 10: Refine Your Communication Skills

This continues our series on improving yourself to get the biggest raises and the best promotions

Jacob grew up a very quiet child. He spent most of his youth playing video games and surfing the Internet. He home-schooled with his two brothers. He enjoyed solitude, sculpting, and reading. As a result, he did not develop strong conversational or verbal communication skills. He volunteered at a local community program where the staff helped him develop this crucial skill. They coached and encouraged him. They engaged him in conversations. They assigned him to call clients of the program. Within a year he improved his conversational skills. The skills prepared him for a new job and a better career.

Importance of Conversations

Conversation and verbal communication are disappearing from the workplace. A generation or two of workers grew up texting, emailing, playing interactive online or video games. Companies discover many employees cannot maintain business or casual conversations with clients, co-workers, or supervisors.

Improving your conversations may be one of the most important changes you make. Communication and conversations affect your work, your reputation, your co-workers, and your family. You may need to improve the following aspects of how you communicate:

• Your tone of voice may sound more timid, harsh, or contentious than you believe
• Your face may express happiness, anger, frustration, deceit, humor, or sincerity
• Your words may confuse, upset, hurt, clarify, communicate, or demean

Suggestions for Conducting Crucial Conversations

We have posted before about the concepts taught in Crucial Conversations written by Kerry Patterson and his colleagues at VitalSmarts. We strongly recommend you

• Read Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
• Sign-up for the free resources on the VitalSmarts book section
• Watch the videos listed on the free resources site
• Watch the webinars listed on the site
• Let the questions on the PDF probe your understanding of the material
• Study the model graphic, hang it somewhere to prompt you as needed
• Discuss the tools outlined in Crucial Conversations with others
• Practice the tools repeatedly to perfect them

Wednesday we explore how to the 9 keys to improve your business relationships

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 9: Grapple with Impossible Situations

This continues our series on improving yourself to get the biggest raises and best promotions

Terry headed a division assigned to increase production by 1,000% a year over 3 years. Part of the strategy involved opening 62 operations in 30 countries in a 3 year period. Another part of the strategy included providing training to clients. Terry and his team needed to find a way to prepare trainers in each operation. He and his team “grappled” with the idea and found a solution. They trained university students how teach it and sent them to spend 6 months in each location—at their own expense—to train other trainers. Terry and his team met their goal within 3 years.

Grapple to Find Impossible Solutions

Develop problem solving skills. Your ability to solve problems increases your worth in the workplace. Gordon B. Hinckley wrote in Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes: 

“The learning process is endless. We must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder that to which we expose our minds. I believe in the evolution of the mind, the heart and the soul of humanity. I believe in improvement. I believe in growth. There is nothing quite as invigorating as being able to evaluate and then solve a difficult problem, to grapple with something that seems almost unsolvable and then find a resolution.”

Keys to Solving Unsolvable Problems

Hinckley states some profound concepts in this short paragraph:

• Believe in improvement, growth and the evolution of the mind, heart, and spirit of humanity to improve yourself
• Improvement requires that you ponder and think about what you learn
• Invigorate your mind by grappling with difficult challenges and solve them

My parents taught us to exercise our minds with brain teasing games. For example, Dad would hold up a 5”x10”x2” sponge with 12 holes in it, and ask “What is this?”. The person who created the most answers won the game. This, and similar exercises, honed our creativity and problem-solving skills.

Monday we discuss how you can improve your communication skills with people

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 8: You Can Learn Parts of How to Lead

This continues our series how to improve yourself to get the biggest raises & best promotions

Sharon portrayed natural leadership. She listened to people with her full attention. She inspired people to better performance and greater vision. People stretched to achieve her expectations.  She enjoyed a great reputation in the organization and in the world. Employees from other departments flocked to work for her. While she worked hard in her career to improve her leadership skills, she also possessed a knack for leadership.

Great Lessons on Leadership

Dr. Timothy Clark writes and teaches about leadership in his column for the Deseret News, his books The Leadership Test and Epic Change, and presentations. You may improve yourself by learning and practicing leadership skills taught by great authors:

• Stephen R. Covey: Principle Centered Leadership & 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Jim Collins: Good to Great and Built to Last
• Bill George: True North How to Find Your Authentic Leadership
• Timothy R. Clark: The Leadership Test and Epic Change
• John Wooden: Wooden on Leadership
• Sun Tzu: The Art of War
• Warren Bennis: On Becoming a Leader
• Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince
• Liz Wiseman: Multipliers
• Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People

Some Things You May Not Learn

Timothy R. Clark says

“Can you learn to be a leader? Much of it can be learned. But some of it can’t be taught. How can I teach you more tolerance for ambiguity and risk? How can I teach you to challenge conventional wisdom? How can I give you the makeup and disposition to push boundaries and thinking? How can I convince you that it’s time to create a disturbance in your organization because people are under the false assumption that the organization competes on a global standard? How do you know when you’re stretching people appropriately or just being a jerk? I can teach you principles. I can give you tools. We can go through some case studies. But that’s as far as I can go. You take it from here.”

Friday we review another of Dr. Timothy R. Clark’s lessons on leadership

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 7: Managing Differs from Leading

This continues our series on improving yourself to get the biggest raises & best promotions

Mitchell managed operations very well. He proved his management skills repeatedly in different operations throughout the global corporation that employed him. As a result, he rose within the organization to upper management. Unfortunately, his last promotion placed him in an executive position requiring leadership skills he did not possess. He failed to establish or maintain a vision for the division he led. He also could not inspire greater performance from his operations. He was a good manager who could not lead.

Dr. Timothy R. Clark Lessons on Leadership

I recently heard Dr. Timothy R. Clark discuss leadership. I had heard him previously shortly after he published The Leadership Test. I blogged about him at that time. His presentation inspired me to blog about him again. I will spend the next three posts sharing the ideas he presented. As always, I encourage you to read and study his books, column, and attend one of his presentations.

First, let me introduce Dr. Clark. His biography for a column he writes for the Deseret News states:

“Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D., is an author, international management consultant, former two-time CEO, Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University and Academic all-American football player at BYU. His latest two books are "The Leadership Test" and "Epic Change." E-mail: trclark@trclarkpartners.com”

Difference Between Management & Leadership

Dr. Clark shared insight about leadership. I share one today, and encourage you to read his column on this subject titled Leadership is Greater than Management. He teaches one difference between the two:

“Leaders are paid to maintain competitive advantage. It’s their job to hold court with the status quo and overthrow it when necessary. Managers preserve. Leaders disturb. Managers follow the script. Leaders write the script. Managers deal with facts. Leaders deal with possibilities. Managers create value today. Leaders create value tomorrow. Managers can run things on the compliance of other people. Leaders can only run things on the commitment of other people. If not, they cease to lead.”

Wednesday we review Timothy Clark’s observation about learning leadership 

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 6: Erase Confusion & Set Higher Goals

This continues our series on improving your self to get the biggest raises & best promotions

Ben lost his job as a sales executive two years ago. He struggled to know who he was without a job. When people asked what he did for a living, he responded “I’m between jobs” rather than “I manage sales teams to increase sales and improve client relations.” We helped him to regain his professional identity as a sales manager. Once he knew, he found a great job as a sales manager within 5 weeks.

Confusion May Prevent Progress

We conclude our analysis of Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s speech You Can Do It Now! He said

“One of the…methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire.

We want to spend time with our children, but we also want to engage in our favorite manly hobbies. We want to lose weight, but we also want to enjoy the foods we crave. We want to become Christ-like, but we also want to give the guy who cuts us off in traffic a piece of our mind.

Focus on Higher Purposes to Succeed

He continues

“Another method…to discourage us from rising up is to make us see the [good and helpful] as things that have been forced upon us. I suppose it is human nature to resist anything that does not appear to be our own idea in the first place.

If we see healthy eating and exercise as something only our doctor expects of us, we will likely fail. If we see these choices as who we are and who we want to become, we have a greater chance of staying the course and succeeding.”

“When our attention is mainly focused on our daily successes or failures, we may lose our way, wander, and fall. Keeping our sights on higher goals will help us become better sons and brothers, kinder fathers, and more loving husbands,” [including better jobs and careers.]

Monday we will share some lessons from Timothy Clark on how to lead more effectively

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 5: Let Failure Lead You to Change

This continues our series on improving yourself to get the biggest raises & best promotions

Paul had a promising career in management. Unfortunately, he made a major mistake at work one day creating what one worker perceived as a hostile workplace. The company’s zero-tolerance policy required they terminate him. He had not held a responsible job in five years. He wouldn’t let go of what he felt was the injustice of it. He retold the story every time we met. It didn’t make him happy. He didn’t learn from it. He relived that experience so often that it defined his identity.

Becoming Champions Requires Getting Up From Failure

In the last post, we explained that you will make mistakes. We all do. We also highlighted that sometimes we let that failure derail us and make us think that we are destined to fail. This continues our review of a speech given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, an aviation executive and Church leader. He said

“No one likes to fail. And we particularly don’t like it when others—especially those we love—see us fail. We all want to be respected and esteemed. We want to be champions. But we mortals do not become champions without effort and discipline or without making mistakes…our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward.”

Let Mistakes and Failure Lead You to Change

Dieter Uchtdorf highlights two possible responses to failure and mistakes. He says

“That does not mean that we should be comfortable with our weaknesses, mistakes, or sins. But there is an important difference between the sorrow for [mistakes or failure] that leads to [change] and the sorrow that leads to despair.”

Santana taught “He that does not learn from the past is doomed to repeat it.” You can learn from your mistakes and change

• How you act
• How you think
• Your personality
• Your conversations and confrontations
• Your perspectives and paradigms

Great books teach you how.

Friday we  share Dieter Uchtdorf’s suggestions about what to do with change

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Improve Yourself 4: Do Not Let Mistakes Burden You

This continues our series on improving yourself to get the biggest raises & best promotions

Melba worked as administrative assistant to the CEO of a company. A major client visited the city for one day. The CEO double booked himself in two meetings at once. He chose to go to the other meeting and stood the client up. Melba arranged a second meeting the same day at another location. The CEO did not go that meeting either.  Melba remarked about the CEO’s decision to his brother, not an employee of the company. The CEO fired her for her mistake.

The Burden of Mistakes

You will make mistakes personally and in the workplace. We all do. You won’t succeed in every venture or project. This begins a 3-part series reviewing how you may use your mistakes to improve yourself. We will examine some comments made by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, aviation executive and church leader, in a speech titled You Can Do It Now!. 

“Men (meaning men and women) experience feelings of guilt, depression, and failure. We might pretend these feelings don’t bother us, but they do. We can feel so burdened by our failures and shortcomings that we begin to think we will never be able to succeed. We might even assume that because we have fallen before, falling is our destiny. As one writer put it, “We beat on, boats against the current, come back ceaselessly into the past.”

A Poor Way to Deal with Mistakes

“I have watched men filled with potential and grace disengage from the challenging work…because they had failed a time or two. These were men of promise who could have been exceptional…But because they stumbled and became discouraged, they withdrew from their…commitments and pursued other but less worthy endeavors.

“And thus, they go on, living only a shadow of the life they could have led, never rising to the potential that is their birthright. As the poet lamented, these are among those unfortunate souls who ‘die with [most of] their music [still] in them.’”

Wednesday we  share Dieter Uchtdorf’s caution against letting failure destroy us

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.