The Career Encouragement Blog

Career Development in a Recession

Ryan Bortel of Corporate Psychologists sends me his e-newsletter.  The last one had a great article on this topic.  I couldn't find a link on his website for the article, so I've cut & pasted it below.  Enjoy!

Layoffs. Downsizing. Rightsizing. Whatever term you use, these are uncertain times for any employee. The headlines are heavy with doom and gloom statistics and warnings about an uncertain future. So what are ambitious and talented employees to do?    The answer coming from many employees has been "Keep your head down," "Don't attract attention," "Just do good work and the results will speak for themselves." While it seems natural to just hunker down and wait out the storm, our experience has shown that proactive career management and development is more important in times of economic uncertainty than ever.   Now is the time for employees to be purposeful about managing their personal "brand." Results matter (thank goodness), but perception matters as well, particularly when decisions need to be made about who belongs in the leadership pipeline and who will help pull an organization through tough times.   In Tom Peters' article "The Brand Called You," he states that an employee's most important job is to be "head marketer for the brand called you." Rather than hiding or waiting things out, Peters' article would suggest that now is the time to become more highly visible, even "famous" within an organization for being a source of unique value.   Whether you are providing coaching to your own employees or are considering how to manage your own career, there are some simple suggestions that we have found to be valuable in building a better personal brand:  Volunteer for organization-wide projects or steering committees Join a local professional organization; take on an officer role. Host an event at your company's location Take a class focused on cutting edge technologies or solutions that you can bring back to the organization Teach a class within the organization or at a local business school Build your professional network through technology such as Linked In Seek feedback informally or through 360 degree feedback and take action based on what you hear Take risks by stepping outside of your comfort zone (e.g., lead a change initiative, speak publically, suggest an innovative solution and ask to lead the charge) Regardless of what you choose to take on in your efforts to build your personal brand, always make sure that you are a source of positive and constructive energy.  Make yourself known as someone who focuses on the possibilities and who is committed to furthering the goals of the organization rather than your own personal goals.  It is this type of person that not only survives but thrives in tough times.

Working Moms Who Should Have Made "The List"

Working Mother Magazine recently posted their annual list of "Working Moms of the Year."  I dropped my subscription to this magazine years ago for many and varied reasons.  As I flipped through the pages of this particular issue in the grocery store, I was reminded why.

There are a few interesting women who overcame significant obstacles to achieve career and family success.  But per usual, their list is mostly filled with privileged, highly educated, wealthy women who have extensive resources to help them manage the challenges of being a working mom. Most curious was the labeling of First Lady Michelle Obama as the "quintessentially working mom" who is "a role model to working mothers everywhere, who are counting on her to advocate for their interests." 

Working Mother goes on to laud the fact that Ms. Obama "continued to work at the university of Chicago Medical Center during the primary campaign but resigned earlier this year. A media darling thanks to her fashion-forward wardrobe, she’s determined to keep her family grounded while living in the white house: Malia and Sasha are given chores, and they’re expected to do well in school—and to clean up after their new dog." 

What?

I'm not saying that being First Lady isn't challenging.  And I'm certainly not implying that Ms. Obama has not worked hard to develop her talents in order to make a contribution to the world.  But calling her an advocate for working women everywhere because she has nice clothes and a husband whose income allows her to stay home and "choose" to put "family first" is rather insulting to lesser-resourced women everywhere who don't ask for handouts or benevolent advocacy, but instead focus their energies on making tough, hard choices every single day about how they will give their kids a break in this world.

Here's who I'd like to see make the list of Working Moms of the Year:

My friend Kari had 4 children.  Her husband was a rising corporate executive, so Kari "chose" to put her career on hold and put family first as a stay-home mom in her brand new 5-bedroom suburban home with the 2 new SUV's in the garage.  Then tragedy struck.  In the space of 3 months, Kari's husband landed in the hospital with a heart attack, and her oldest son died from a heart defect that they thought had been corrected.  Shortly after her husband returned to work he was laid off in a corporate restructuring.  The stress of their situation kicked in his genetic pre-disposition towards depression and he suffered a serious clinical episode.  Now Kari was essentially acting as a single mom of 3 - while trying to care for an ill husband, and still grieving the loss of her son.  Somehow she marshaled her mental and physical resources and "chose" to sell her new home and find an apartment for the family.  She then "chose" leave her kids in "extended day" after school and found a full-time job that would support the family.  Now 5 years later she has built her career back up, and has purchased another home for her family - a smaller, older home, but one in a neighborhood with good schools.  All the time, she has maintained her faith in God, and a beautiful smile, and a sense of humor.  When her company laid off her whole department a few months ago, Kari's first concern was for her employees - helping them to find new opportunities.

My friend Trish was happily married with 4 children.  She loved her job as a social worker helping disadvantaged children connect to educational support resources.  Then her husband left and made it clear he had no interest in seeing the kids anymore. So Trish "chose" to leave a job she loved in favor of a corporate job in the financial sector where she could make a wage that would allow her to keep the home her children were used to.  It was also a job where she could receive the comprehensive health benefits she needed for her oldest daughter who has chronic health conditions.  Now Trish travels occasionally for work and must rely on a network of friends and paid care to help her out while she is away from her family.

Lynn, the Single Mom I babysat for when I was 14.  I know she hated leaving her 8-year-old daughter in the care of a scrawny, bespectacled teenager from 2-10 PM 3 nights a week while she worked a second job. I know that I didn't exactly inspire confidence that her daughter was receiving educational, enriching, and safe care. But what else could she expect for $2/hour?  It was me (or someone like me) watching her kid, or else she had to give up her "choice" to live in the cracker-box town home near the freeway exit that they called home.

All of the Latina women interviewed in "Domestica" by Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo who "choose" to leave their children all week long from Monday - Saturday in order to work as nannies and cooks and housekeepers for wealthy families in L.A.. They make this difficult choice in order to ensure that their own children - who they only see for a few hours on Sundays - have the chance to grow up in a free country and get an education.  If you have every felt sorry for yourself for the stresses and strains you face as a working mother, or if you ever catch yourself prattling on about how working or staying home is simply a matter of "choice" for women, you need to read this book!

So here is to Kari, Trish, Lynn, and the Domesticas, and every other working mom who has ever had to make choices between rocks and hard places.  You are the heart and soul of America.  You are the women who create the "aggregate of tiny pushes" that move this world along.  You are all heroes of mine, and somewhere I am sure that your names are written on a far more important list that supersedes any collection of names in a slick magazine.

Time to panic, or time to be practical?

I was standing on the soccer sidelines the other night talking to a parent who happens to be a doctor.  I asked his opinion about the swine flu "pandemic" and I found his answer encouraging. 

He said that on the whole, he does not expect there to be a pandemic but the planning must take place as if there would be as a matter of professional responsibility on the part of the medical community (kind of how HR folks like to create a lot of laws about progressive discipline and abuse of company property just in case it were to happen...).

He also said that most people - no guarantees here, mind you, but this is what he said - most people can protect themselves from the flu by washing their hands thoroughly with soap and water 3 or 4 times a day.  He emphasized thoroughly and soap and water because most people cut corners in this area.  You know it's true.  We've all seen co-workers in the restroom at work swishing their hands lightly under water sans soap before dashing back to their cubes.

Finally, he suggested that we not be shy about turning our face away if co-workers cough and sneeze in our general area.  Set an example that hygiene is important to you, and others will catch on. 

No panic - just good practical advice. 

Be encouraged, and be well!

How to Find out if You are Committing "Own Goals"

Last week I wrote about "own goals"and the importance of not committing them in your career.  A reader asked a good question:

"What if I am busy scoring against myself and I don't even know it?  How can I find out?"

In the original posting I talked about a few basics such as arriving late/leaving early, and dressing inappropriately.  But some "own goals" are more subtle and therefore harder to catch without a good boos or mentor coaching you along.  These would include mistakes such as leaving key stakeholders off the distribution list on important e-mails and/or coming to meetings unprepared or over-prepared with the wrong focus and falling down in front of a cross-functional team.   

How can you learn about the subtle behaviors that may be taking you down without your even knowing about it?

First,determine that you will be open to feedback.  Really open to feedback.  Not just willing to hear it, but willing to write it down and ask clarifying questions to make sure you really get it.  Willing to go home and review the feedback and reflect deeply on how others are perceiving you.  Willing to go to the library or surf Amazon and find books on the topics that were themes in the feedback you heard.  Willing to write a thank you note to the person who gave you feedback and tell them how you are putting their feedback to work, and requesting their permission to come talk to you again in the future so you can keep learning.  I'm suggesting you determine that you will be THAT open to feedback.

Then,think back over the feedback you have received throughout your career (including things you heard/learned about yourself in college and things your parents told you) and figure out what the themes are. If we are honest, there are always core themes to the feedback we have received, and the best way to grow and develop is to attack our issues at the core.  I talk too much.  It's a fact.  I am not proud of it, but if I cannot admit it, I cannot address it.  The times in my life when I have received feedback from mentors that I was not strategic enough, I can trace directly back to speaking out before listening thoroughly.  In the times when I have struggled to develop a professional relationship with an annoying peer, if I am honest with myself, I know that if I talked less I could get to a solution faster.  What is your "Achilles heel" that is the thread through all of the feedback you have received?  Do you talk too much/too little?  Plunge in without a plan or hold back and never take initiative? etc.  Only you know what your particular issue is, but the sooner you admit it, the sooner you can use it to make sense of the other feedback you receive.

Third, go to your boss, or boss' boss and ask if s/he will answer three questions for you: What am I doing that you would like me to continue the same?  What am I doing that you would like me to do MORE of or be BETTER at?  "What am I doing that you would like me to STOP doing?  THANK them for their feedback. Do not argue or explain - simply thank them.  If you need to ask a clarifying question, ask for permission to do so, and then be succinct and crisp about it.  Then put the feedback to work. 

Next, make it a point to talk to leaders in your company, industry, or local business community whenever you can.  Have a few planned questions that you can use to glean as much knowledge as possible from anyone who has been successful.  One of my favorites is, "What's the most basic career lesson you wish every single one of your employees knew?"  Other great questions include, "If you could do the first year (or 5 years) of your career over again, what would you do differently?" "If  you were new to the career world and starting out today, how would you approach it?"  "What's your best advice for getting along with the people you work with?"  Put this advice in to practice - use it and make it work for you! In this way, you become a student of successful people and you will learn a lot of things that business school doesn't teach you.  You will probably also make a lot of friends because all decent people love to talk about things they have learned and help others grow.

Finally, commit to getting up each time you fall down. You will make mistakes. Jump back up, and have another go at it.  If you are faithfully employing the first three points mentioned above, you are probably not going to make any single devastating mistake that will destroy your career. But you will occasionally blunder - apologize, figure out what you learned, maybe even keep a journal and write them down (a blog is actually good for that!) and move on. 

Here's to a great rest of the week, and a great career!

Great Quote About Real Work

This quote by Helen Keller is a great follow-up to the video on "Real Work"that I posted last week. 

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but my chief duty is to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.  The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

For More great quotes by Ms. Keller, check out this site.