Cooling Off and Heating Up

As the summer air cools to an autumn breeze, the lazy days of cottaging and backyard socializing are coming to an abrupt end.   It can be a tough adjustment when work starts to heat up again, projects seem to fall from the sky, and all your colleagues are back in the office all at once.  

Tips for easing into this faintly reminiscent pace:

1.  Organize your work space and get rid of old files and papers that are cluttering your desk and your brain.

2.  Renew your time management mantra.  Get out the calendar and book off blocks of time for planning, setting goals and laying the groundwork for new or renewed projects.  Teams get ready to reunite and re-establish mutual objectives after the rotating absence of team members over the summer months.

3. Remember the “idea” file you were working on?  Find it and renew your vows!  Here’s a few that were on my list that may interest you:

    *  Look into online networking, which is apparently going mainstream.

    *  Write and market Ebooks.

    *  Share your Ezine articles with your clients and colleagues.

    *  Get back on the speaking circuit.

    *  Attend a free webinar on a topic that’s been on your “to do” list for way too long.

   *  Change your work environment – move the furniture or add a plant.  Just be careful and get some help or like me you may be feeling a bit creaky the next day.

Most of all.  Welcome Back. 

  

Running Out of Steam For Kicking Up Your Heels During Stampede Week?

For those who make it about half way through the week and realize they are one party over their Stampede limit and want to take advantage of the time to do something productive at work, here are a few things I learned over the years:

1.  It’s a great time to dig in and get the big pile of “to do’s” on your list OUT OF THE WAY forever!

2.  I like to spend the week in creative mode – planning, preparing, creating ideas for new articles, workshops, and innovations to the business.

3.  Revisit your Marketing Plan and take a hard look at the reality of your progress this year.  How are you doing pushing that flywheel uphill?  Is it moving inch by inch or are you stalled somewhere along the way?  Are you doing so well you haven’t had time to catch your breath and revisit your focus?

4.  Look through your “IDEA” file and implement one new idea during the week.  You do have an “IDEA” file, don’t you? 

5.  Set up a filing system for issues and trends that are relevant to your clients, customers, and your own industry.  This will be really useful to you in keeping up with what’s important to your network and being able to provide meaningul insights and information when appropriate.

6.  Think about your pricing model.  If you work for a corporation or a professional services firm, is there room for innovation here to increase profitability?  If you are a sole proprietor or small business owner, what have you done to take yourself out of the hourly fee based pricing model to a project based model?

7.  Above all, relax and enjoy the week – there’s no law that says you have to party without coming up for air, during Stampede week.  Even my young adult sons take short breathers (and I mean short) once or twice during the week!

Do you have what it takes to excel?

I was reading an article in The Globe and Mail the other day by Harvey Schacter.  He was reviewing the new book called How To Hepburn by author Karen Karbo, who apparently observes Hepburn with a twist, i.e. from the career point of view.   The attributes that Karbo claims skyrocketed Hepburn to fame and fortune truly reminded me of my own clients and their leadership and entrepreneurial situations.  What are the award winning “success” attributes?

1.  Persistence:  How many people do you know who have had success in their careers who haven’t had to slog through some pretty difficult times?  Sales statistics that I’ve seen suggest that you have to contact someone at least 8 times before you are likely to get their attention.   Don’t give up too quickly.  I’ve often been told by clients that my own persistence is what got me in the door.  In fact, one of my clients told others in the professional services firm that I was working with that if I hadn’t been in his face all the time, he may never have paid attention to training and development as a serious part of his overall strategy for the firm.   It’s also important to be persistent about achieving excellence at what you do.  If you aren’t being promoted or chosen for choice projects, find out why not and do everything you can to learn more and distinguish yourself.

2.  Brashness:  OK, not everyone’s going to try to buy someone out of their marriage so you can take their place as Hepburn apparently attempted to do, but some of us are sure going to push the envelope when it comes to stating what it is that we bring to the table and why we’re the right ones to select for that leadership position, sales management role, partnership in the firm or preferred supplier.  Don’t be shy about talking up the results you bring to the table and be prepared to provide relevant examples.   

3.  Originality:  What sets you apart from everyone you’re competing with for the same position?  Why does your originality make a difference to the client? your company?  your colleagues?  It’s all about getting the right attention and being known for something you do extremely well or that is completely original.  Blair Cosgrove, media relations and communications expert from The Message Parlour (blair@themessageparlour.com) says “the slogan of so many is a variation on “we do whatever it takes to make you happy.”  “This doesn’t differentiate you because you’re saying, in effect, that you have no unique attributes.  Focus your messaging on just one thing that’s unique – whether it’s your low (or high) price, the quality of your product, your warranty or the return on investment the customer can expect.  Promote that message obsessively and you’ll carve out a valuable niche in the minds of customers.” 

4.  Be yourself.  Maximize your strengths, and surround yourself by those who can take care of the stuff you aren’t so good at.  Brand who you are and pay attention to who and what you attract.  Perhaps the target market you set your sights on isn’t the one that wants you.   You may need to change your strategy or learn how to attract the market you want.

5. Work smart and work hard.  I just got off the phone with a client who was describing to me what made his salesperson excel when he’d been through three previous ones that clearly didn’t.  A large part of it was spending the time to build the relationships and doing the one extra thing each day that makes a difference.  The same holds true in leadership positions and entrepreneurial situations.  Push yourself just as you might in the gym.  Increase your weights regularly, go an extra 1/2 mile in your job, do a few more sit ups.  Get results.  Reminds me of a VP International who I once worked with.  He said, after many years in the same job, he still went into the office everyday thinking about what his replacement would do as the new VP, and he operated as though he was that new person. 

Attracting, Retaining, and Engaging Workforce Talent

Yesterday I attended a most interesting Webinar put on by the Concours group on Talent Management.  I learned a few new things that I shared with my newsletter recipients, but mostly I started to really think about the role of my contemporaries in the workforce and how we can influence a new generation of workers. 

In my work as an Executive Coach, I meet many people who are rethinking their careers for all the reasons the reseach suggests.  A more balanced lifestyle, easing out of the corporate world, finding new energy and interests, and being in charge of their own destinies.  Many of us will live really long lives.  Do we really want to be retired for 30+ years?  Those are the questions that are leading many of my contemporaries and coachees to reinvent themselves.  I see people going back to school to learn practical new skills and flesh out their current expertise.  I see people leaving their corporate positions to start their own businesses.  I see young people in organizations and professional service firms thinking about how to capitalize on their opportunities within their organization as their mentors retire.  

What I wonder about is how my generation can actively contribute to sustaining a thriving economy and workforce.  What is the role that as individuals we can play?  I’d love to hear your thoughts and so would my readers.  Please feel free to comment.  In the meanwhile, here’s what the Concours Group proposes in their webinar on attracting, retaining and engaging talent for organizations:

1.  Retire “retirement.

2.  Create bell-shaped career paths.

3.  Design cyclic work.

4.  Create a new definition of full-time.

5.  Recruit at multiple entry points.

6.  Invest in Development.

7.  Offer lateral career opportunities.

8.  Engage hearts and minds.

Where you can find additional information:

“Workforce Crisis, How to Beat the Shortage of Skills and Talent,” Ken Dychtwald, Tamara Erickson, Robert Morison

Writer’s Block When Designing Training

As I sit here at my desk preparing to design curriculum for a client whose project I am totally excited about, I am distracted by the question of “writer’s block.”  What is it that propels us forward to actually start the design process, to put words to paper, to get our creative juices going?  Today is the perfect day for it.  I’m an entrepreneur; it’s a holiday; AND it’s pouring rain.  What could be better for this kind of work?  I have ideas, I have a structure in mind, and I always deliver a quality product on time.  So what’s the catch?  I have a hunch:

 1.  No immediate deadline.  Do I actually fall into this category?  Do I need the dreaded deadline to be creative?  Rule #1:  Establish your own deadline if your client (internal or external) hasn’t specified one.  Isn’t this what we coach others to do?

2.  Lack of clarity.  Last night I dreamt that I couldn’t produce an assignment because the instructions were too vague for me.  I guess that’s a sign.  If you are feeling that things are unclear, they probably are.  Rule #2:  Talk to your client.  Don’t scrimp on the time required to get clear!

3.  There’s too much candy in the store.  If you are like me, you block off days or hours to work on specific projects.  Then the phone rings, the email comes in, one of your colleagues or employees needs you, the computer goes down, the sun shines.  There’s so much to distract us from our work.  Rule #3:  Unplug the phone.  Detach from your blackberry, computer and people.  Shut yourself in and surround yourself with all the things you need, and just FOCUS.  Remind yourself that the opportunities will wait a few hours and the world won’t fall apart without your input either.  Set milestone objectives and reward yourself each time you achieve one.

 So now that I’ve had this talk with myself, I’m going back to my project.  I am reclaiming the next two hours for this wonderful client that deserves my undivided attention.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress and good luck with yours.