The Career Encouragement Blog

The Difference Between Ordinary and Extraordinary

Do you do ordinary work or extraordinary work?  You may be thinking, "Well, I'm ordinary, but at least I have balance.  I'm not going to become a workaholic just so I can be extraordinary."  What if you didn't have to be a workaholic to be extraordinary?  Chris at the Maximize Possibility Blog says that the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is simply "that little extra".  He notes that:

• "The Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 - auto races that take over three hours to complete are rarely won by more than a couple of seconds.  The average over the last 10 years has been just 1.54 seconds. 
• The difference between a gold and silver medal performance in timed events at the Olympic games it rarely more than 1/10th of a second."

What would "that little extra" look like in your job?  Would it be smiling when you answer the phone?  Proofing your e-mails before firing them off?  Getting input from a couple of peers before planning a project?  Most of the little extra actions that set you apart will require little in the way of actual time and effort and can yield big payoffs in results.

"Hmmmm," you may be thinking, "I'm just not convinced that I won't turn into a neurotic workaholic if I go around doing "that little extra" all the time.  Robert Kriegel to the rescue.  In Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers Kriegel busts the myth that being willing to give 110% all the time is what it takes to get ahead.  Instead he suggests that you can perform better if you work smart - usually at 80-90% of your current pace. 

Okay, so I'm going to work at 90% and still do "that little extra?"  Yep.  F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." By eliminating franticness, and applying better thinking you can be more successful at work and have a more full personal life. It's up to you to figure out what 90% looks like - but rest assured that 90% is NOT a contradiction with "that little extra"! 

Get a good start to Monday!

What if you could enhance your career and feed the hungry at the same time?  You can!  At FreeRice.com you can take a fun vocabulary test and for every word you get correct, they will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. 

Why would you bother for only 20 grains of rice?  Easy:

1. First, learning new vocabulary has many benefits including helping people be more effective and successful in their jobs.
2. Second, when you see the grains of rice piling up as you answer questions correctly, it's fun to think about the people who will have another meal because of you.

WARNING - this is a highly addictive game!   But it's a good addiction since it improves your mind, and the lives of others at the same time - a great start to Monday, for sure.

Click here to play and see how high you can go.  I got to level 42 - can you top that?   

10 Things to Know Before You Change Your Life

Hat tip to my friend Kristen for alerting me to More.com's great article on 10 Things to Know Before You Change Your Life.  If you are frustrated and bored with your work and seeking a career change, this is an encouraging, realistic perspective on what it takes.   Here's a teaser to get you started:

1. Size doesn't matter.

I call this the rearview-mirror effect. You know that little sign that reads: "Objects may be closer than they appear"? Well, reinvention is bigger -- by magnitudes -- than it may appear. That's because what matters is not how momentous the change seems to the outside world, but how it feels to you. My career makeover -- from editor to writer -- barely nudged the needle on the reinvention Richter scale, but it was an earthquake in my life. It wasn't until I started talking to people who were making massive life changes -- a baby at 50, ditching a lucrative career as a cooking celebrity to become a personal trainer, losing 90 pounds and running a marathon -- that I realized my fears and worries were the same as theirs, and every bit as legitimate, because they were just as real to me.

This look-small, feel-big phenomenon means you may not get the affirmation you crave from other people. Adopt a baby at 52, and friends will be awestruck. Make a subtle career change like mine, and they'll congratulate you, but that's about it. When you reinvent yourself, whatever the dimensions of the change, consider that by acting on a dream, you are becoming a role model to yourself and you don't need the world's applause. Focus on that; then when apprehension strikes, you can let it just wash through you.

Read the rest here.  Have you recently made a career change?  Are you in the middle of one?  Please leave a comment and let us know what you are doing, how it's going and what you have learned.  Your story may feel old to you, but it just may be the encouragement someone else needs!

The Career Value of Economic Downturns

It's no secret that the economy is a bit precarious these days.  The latest issue of HR Magazine reported that 2008 is expected to be one of the biggest years for layoffs in recent decades.  This is obviously concerning on many fronts.  So how do you manage your career in these times?

I've been on both sides of the table. I've been laid off and I've run layoff events.  I can assure you that it's no fun on either side of the table.  My experience with most of my clients is that they work very hard to be thoughtful in any layoff strategy and to be as humane as possible in a difficult situation. 

That said, there are still some folks that will land on the layoff list and some that won't. How can you avoid being on the list?  Typically there are three criteria that will be considered:

1. Is the position you hold "mission critical"?  That is, what is your company trying to accomplish overall, and how does your position feed into that goal?  If you are on a pet project that you really like, but it's a "nice to have" vs. an integral part of the company strategy, you might find yourself vulnerable.
2. Are your skills "hard to replace" in the current labor market?  If the skill set you have is pretty common and your position can be filled again quickly when the economy looks brighter, it will be easier for your company to put you on the layoff list.  But if you have skills that are harder to find, then your company will think twice about letting you go.  One of my HR Colleagues works in an organization that is struggling to meet their goals this year.  They will probably enact some layoffs before the year is out.  He expressed to me that there are certain professional licenses that are required and the Director level and "nice to have" at the manager level.  They will likely be cutting management staff in the layoffs.  Guess who is most likely to land on "the list"?  Those who haven't invested the time and effort to get the "nice to have" professional licenses.  Why?  Because a) the company pays for individuals to pursue these licenses, and b) It's a lot easier to groom someone for a Director role when the licensing issue is already out of the way.  The challenge for the individual is that achieving licensure is a lot of hard work.  Those licensed individuals who get laid off will have a much easier time finding employment again since a new employer would not have to invest in the licensing process for them.
3. Are you a high performer?  I'm not asking if you were a high performer in the past.  I am asking if you are a high performer in your current role.  And high performance has many components.  It includes what you do as well as how you do it.  Are you directly contributing to business results and are you doing so in a way that encourages others and is invigorating to be around?  Don't rely on past performance reviews.  Take a close look at what you are doing here and now and ask if you are doing good work.

These three criteria for layoff planning are good career development things to think about in good times and in bad.  The twin pillars of career development - and if you're a regular reader, you'll know I beat this drum often - are a) developing your talents and skills and b) making a contribution.  The third pillar is c)being able to accomplish the first two pillars within the current context you are in.  Therefore, I encourage you to do the following if you want to grow your career during these tough times.  First, realistically assess the context you are in.  What are your company's goals?  What does your company need in order to accomplish those goals?  Second, review the 3 criteria for layoffs and challenge yourself whether you have done all you can to be a high-performing, mission critical player who is hard to replace.

If you have this approach to career development, you will survive and thrive no matter what comes your way!

The Power of Starting a Fire

I am Team Manager for my daughter's traveling soccer team.  For those of you not familiar with US-style community soccer leagues, this means that I do a lot of administrative work so the coaches can concentrate on coaching.  One of my many tasks is to organize the pre-season coach/parent/player meeting.  Since it's April and I am trying to wrap up my final semester of coursework, I am completely overwhelmed lately.  So I scheduled the date, and then sent an e-mail to the parents asking for a volunteer to organize something.

One of the moms - Diane - responded right away.  She e-mailed a suggestion that we have a potluck in the park and said she'd bring hot dogs, arrive 15 minutes early and start a fire.  Pretty soon other folks started e-mailing in what they would contribute to the event.  I'm a control freak and hyper organized, so the whole thing seemed kind of sketchy to me - who was keeping track to make sure we got a balance of vegetables, desserts and beverages?  Who was assigned to bring plates and cups?  I had to remind myself that this simply wasn't my deal and I needed to just do my part and bring some food (vegetables AND donut holes) and let it go.

I arrived at the park at about the same time Diane and her husband were getting the fire started.  Eventually other families arrived and started putting out food.  Soon we had more food than we could possibly eat.  The event was a great success.  Everyone had a good time, and we had a great meeting with the coaches. 

Later, I was thinking about how grateful I was as Team Manager, that Diane stepped up to the plate when I asked for a volunteer to organize the event.  As I reflected on her contribution to the team I realized that she hadn't really done that much actual work.  She went to the park and started a fire, and the other parents did the rest.  The thing was, she was willing to be the one to lead the way and start the fire.  And her willingness to do this had a huge, positive impact on the team, and all of the rest of us were very grateful.

It got me thinking - how often at work do we avoid volunteering for something because we are afraid of the workload it will create?  Yet, the reality is that many projects really are collaborative group efforts and no one needs to do all the work - but someone does need to be willing to start the fire.

What needs to be done at your workplace?  Could you make a contribution by getting the fire going? Try it and see what happens.  You may be surprised at how willing people are to pitch in once the flames are roaring!

Carnival of HR!!

Check out the 31st Carnival of HR for great information on everything you want to know about being an employer and an employee in today's business climate.  I personally like the one about C-Suite folks taking $1 salaries - you'll have to read the posting to learn more!

Are you a length-liver or a width-liver?

Eric Pennington at Epic Living has an interesting post on Length and Width.  He's not talking about physical features - he's talking about how we approach life.  According to Eric:

"It's pretty clear that you're going to live the length part of life, but the biggest question is whether you will live it's width."

To learn the difference between these two approaches to life and work, check out his brief posting here.

Another Meme - This Time Books

Just arrived back from a fabulous vacation with family and friends.  I took a complete hiatus from all things electronic - voice-mail, e-mail, and blogging an it was a marvelous change of pace.  I was pleasantly surprised to find upon my return that I have still had a steady stream of readers and to find that Ann Bares at CompForce has tagged me to play a blogging game:

The rules, as I understand them:

1. Provide a list of the books you’re currently reading.  My girlfriend that we were vacationing with is always giving me books to read and I went through two of hers on vacation:

• Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell.  This was my first read about the Tudors and the trials and triumphs behind the scenes of the French Court. 
• Black or White by John Aubrey Anderson - fascinating story about guardian angels and the powers of darkness in the lives of a young girl as she grows up in the Mississippi Delta.
• On deck I've got Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston.  I am really excited to get after this one, but I am making myself wait until this semester is over to even look at the first page since I know I will want to get started right away - it's going to be my summer project!

2. Pick up the nearest book.

3. Open to page 123

4. Find the fifth sentence.

5. Post the next three sentences.

"Half of that year's cotton was still in the field when Mose got one of his regular letters from Missy.  The girl wrote him strong words of encouragement every week: the letter he held in his hands was bad news.  The only man in Mississippi who stood a chance of getting Mose out of Parchman early was dead and gone.  Mr. R. D. Parker had died peacefully in his sleep.  Mose had eight years left on his sentence."

6. Tag five more people. I’m choosing to tag just four:

• Anne Warfield
• HR Wench
• The Chief Happiness Officer
• The Lonely Dissertator

These folks all have very interesting blogs, so I look forward to seeing what they are reading these days!

Happy Friday

I will be on a beach with family and friends for the next 8 days, and will have no access to the Internet or cell phone.  I look forward to coming back rejuvenated and full of career encouragement for all!

Have a great week!

Invisible Mothers

Hat tip to Elizabeth at Almost Got It for posting a link to Invisible Mothers on her blog.  I'm working on a paper and this is relevant!

Warning - this is not a light read!  It's the result of an academic study conducted by Sociologists who completed a "content analysis" of motherhood myths and ideologies in popular magazines.  Here's a teaser:

Feminist scholars have explored how current motherhood ideologies ... project White, middle class mothers" experiences as universal and ideal (Collins, 1994). ...Although the conventional motherhood ideology maintains that mothers should not work outside the home, economically or financially privileged mothers continue to hire working-class women, and Women of Color, who are often mothers themselves, to perform the more arduous childcare work (BlairLoy, 2001; Chang, 1994). Thus, the construction of motherhood, particularly in the form of dominant ideologies, may have little correspondence to the lived social realities of mothers.

I'm currently working on a research project called "The Changing Landscape of American Women" where we are conducting focus groups with three populations of women: Farm and ranch women, Latina Immigrants, and women with "professional" careers.  Our site is working with the latter group.  All of the participants have at least one child living at home and work at least 30 hours per week.  Analysis of the data is ongoing, but one key theme is clear - these are not women who are looking to "opt out."  They acknowledge sometimes feeling "invisible" in places like churches and schools; but overall they are embracing the contradictions of work and family, and they aren't concerned with what the traditional media says about them.  It's been inspiring to listen to them!

Check out the entire article here and please be so bold as to leave a comment:  Tell about your experiences as an employed mother, your plans to become an employed mother, or just your observations of the phenomenon!