Attitude and Longitude

Plotting a Course Toward Career Promotion

You've probably heard me say this before because it's such an excellent metaphor!  Getting ahead at work requires you to plan ahead like you're using a GPS device.  You put in the address of the place you want to go, and it helps you plots a course to your destination.

Here are some tips to help you plot your course toward a career promotion:  

• Start with a skills/experience gap analysis.  Determine what skills or experience you have or need to gain in order to get where you want to go.
• Come up with a basic plan, and, depending on your available resources, flesh it out with someone who can help you move it forward.
• Most of the time, this is your immediate manager.  Sit down with your manager and explain where you want to go.  If you can get buy-in, see if your manager and the organization will support you.  Support can come in different forms, including moral support, a career promotion plan you make together, funding for a degree, class or certification, etc.
• If you can’t do this because your manager isn’t supportive, then look for people outside your organization who are doing what you want to be doing. Ask them questions about what it will take for you to do what you want to accomplish in your career path.  If appropriate, ask them to mentor you.  Maybe they will even let you shadow them in some way.

Two things you should start doing now so you’ll be ready to ask for or justify your promotion (or simply prepare for your performance review): 

• Make a personal "kudos" file.  In it you will keep any on-the-spot awards, thank you notes, kudos or recognition you get from colleagues, managers, clients, vendors, etc.  When you get a compliment via email, put it in the file, too.
• Maintain a list of your accomplishments.  Organize the content of each one using the SAR method.  Identify a situation (S) you’ve been in or problem you solved that demonstrates a special competency; write the actions (A) you took to resolve the situation; and explain the results (R) in quantifiable terms (e.g. saved the department $5000). Whether you work for nonprofit, government or for-profit, usually the best accomplishments demonstrate how you have impacted the factors of time and money.  Keep that in mind as you compose this list. 

In the old days, you might have been able to readily rely on someone higher up in your organization to notice your drive, determination and talent.  Maybe someone more experienced would offer to take you under his or her wing and advise you through your career path.  Of course, this still does happen nowadays, too.  Honestly, though, you can't count on it like you once might have been able to.  Just like in life, if you want your career to move forward, it's truly up to you to do it.  

Entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn once said it well: "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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What My Year In Career Hell Brought Me

In early 1997, I was working for a company which had been good about training me but could not provide any further advancement.  One day, out of frustration, I made a “knee-jerk” decision and took an offer with a firm that had been trying to recruit me.  I was full of high hopes, but less than two months later, I realized I’d made a poor decision.  Back then, I didn’t know what I know now about priming myself for a career transition, and, boy, did I jump into the fire!

I soon realized that I had different values and different goals than my team.  They measured success by sales commissions, while I measured success by making a difference with customers.  Being a persistent person (a trait that is both a strength and a curse!), I unwisely stayed there struggling to make myself fit in over the next year – a year I sometimes refer to as my year in career hell.  I was absolutely miserable.  They must have realized it, too, because just when I finally decided to quit, they gave me two weeks severance pay and terminated me.

To be fair to myself, I should point out that I wasn’t the only unhappy employee.  The environment was pretty toxic, and the crazy amount of employee turnover proved it.  By the time that year was over, there was only one person left out of about 15 or 20 who had been working there when I was first hired.

What's strange about the whole thing is that even though I had come to hate my job, when they fired me, I was angry.  How dare they?!  I was also crushed and bruised.  The whole experience caused me to question my abilities and my career path.  Maybe I wasn't as good as I had thought I was...

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to adjust my attitude, and, to this day, I believe getting fired from that place was one of the best things that ever happened in my career.

Why?  Because of the lessons it brought me.

First of all, I learned what not to do. I learned to not stick with something I don’t love and doesn’t fit. Life’s too short!

Secondly, it taught me empathy for those who are laid off or fired. Good people get fired all the time. This has made me so much better at my career services work.

Finally, it was a very important (and necessary) catalyst to move me here where I am now in my professional life.  It helped me hone the ability and passion to help others to go after the work they love and not settle for just a job - to design the life they want and not just settle for whatever happens to come along.

After that awful experience, I went through a personal and professional self-esteem building process and landed in a great job which was tailor-made for me.  One that I stayed with for 8 happy years.  And, I might have stayed longer except that the company was bought, the culture started changing, and, well, I’d become a lot wiser than I was before, so I broke up with them first!

A couple of years ago, when reflecting on that year in hell, I had a new realization.  There was one more bonus that I'd received!  One of my colleagues from that toxic company had quit several months before I got fired.  We lost touch and about a year later, we ran into each other in the lobby of the building where I worked in my new, happy job.  She had joined a company on another floor.  That woman ended up becoming one of my dearest, closest friends over the last 14 years. 

My year in career hell was just one of the many hardships I've gone though in life.  One thing is for sure, when it comes to hardships, I would much rather dwell on the "blessings in disguise" they bring.  And I've come to understand that they are always there – even if it’s sometimes hard to see them right away.

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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Professional Relationships: How To Network With Ease

... In other words, how do you get out of your comfort zone without having to get too far out of your comfort zone so you will still feel authentic and natural?

When I first started networking it didn’t come naturally. I didn’t feel authentic or comfortable at all. Even though, today, I can speak to large audiences and am pretty comfortable in my own skin, I used to be very shy. The 5 tips below are ones I learned over the last 15 or so years. Some of them I read in books, some of them I learned by watching others who were really good at networking, and some were just plain old feeling my way around.

What Motivates You?
My number one tip is to figure out what motivates you to get out there. For me, it was two things: my love of learning and getting involved.

If there was a good speaker at a networking luncheon or something I could learn about my industry, that’s what helped to get me off the couch or away from my desk to go attend the event.

Then I realized that if I got involved in the organization where I was networking, the stakes were increased for my showing up for events. For example, when I volunteered to run the logistics for the monthly meetings of a large human resource management association, which I did for 2 years, I was required to attend every single meeting throughout the year. The upside was that I became very visible without having to work too hard at it, and because of the particular job I volunteered to do, everyone came to me whenever they needed something set up somewhere. Even the president might come to me to ask for something like a bowl for the door prize drawing.

So for me it’s continuous learning and being of service that gets my butt out of the chair to go network. What would be a strong motivator for you? Especially, if you tend to be more introverted like me.

Find The CPI
Here’s another good tip, especially useful for when you’re feeling on the shy side. When meeting new people, ask about them first – let them talk about themselves before you talk about yourself. You won’t feel as self-conscious when it’s your turn. Your goal is to find out something about them that you can mutually discuss.

Scott Ginsberg of Hello My Name is Scott teaches about approachability, and he calls this the CPI (Common Point of Interest). Find the CPI with the other person, and develop the relationship from there. After the initial meeting, you could follow up with an article you think they’d like on the topic you discussed.

Be Generous
In her book, The Secrets of Savvy Networking, Susan RoAne explains that good networkers are visionaries and “do things for people for no apparent reason or immediate return.” I agree. It’s true what they say, “what goes around comes around.”

Networking is a reciprocal process. The nature of networking is that it cannot be one way. Otherwise, it’s not a network – it’s a linear approach. A friend of mine says that relationship building is like having a bank account. How can you take anything out if you don’t put anything in? Of course, this means that you need to figure out what you can give back when you decide that it’s time to ask for something.

Can’t think of what you have of value? Well, if you’re meeting someone for the first time, a simple way to “give back” is to offer to keep your eyes open for resources they need. You could say something like this: “I’ve been networking and meeting all kinds of great people. If there is a resource or someone you would like me to refer, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

Go With The Flow
One of the things I’ve learned about networking is that nothing can be forced and that it’s all pretty ambiguous. Everything happens on its own time and in its own way. While it’s possible you could go out into your network and get exactly what you expect, it's highly unlikely that your efforts will bring the exact results you envision.

This is because networking does not follow a straight line. Like everything to do with human relationships, it's pretty unpredictable. So, the best way to ease into networking is to have an open mind, have an open heart and go with the flow. Go in with the idea that you’re going to make friends and occasionally exchange crucial information that could lead to something useful.

Have Fun
And that last point leads me to this one crucial thing that I've learned about how to network with ease. To make networking easier on yourself, you should be committed to having FUN doing it. Put your agenda aside and enjoy the experience of making friends, of being in the moment and of maybe even being in service to someone else.

Experience has taught me, and I'm confident it will teach you, that when you be yourself and have fun, eventually, opportunities and doors will open. And what develops will be even better than you could have imagined.

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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Career Management Today Means Being CEO Of Your Own Career

In 1999, Peter Drucker wrote in the Harvard Business Review:
"We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: if you’ve got ambition and smarts, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless of where you started out. But with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today aren’t managing their employees’ careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers. It’s up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may span some 50 years."

I wonder if Drucker had read Tom Peters famous 1997 article, "The Brand Called You."  In that article, Peters made the point that we all must start thinking of ourselves as the CEO of Me Incorporated. 

Futurist, Author and Career Design Expert, Dr. Helen Harkness, points out that we're living in a new work model that she calls "YOYO," her acronym for "You're On Your Own."  Obviously, yesterday's model of working for one employer for most of your career (Harkness calls this "Womb-To-Tomb") is passé. In that old model, management helped you develop your career. Nowadays, you have to be very self-aware of your situation and open to all career possibilities, whether internal or external to your current employer.  

You also need to get mentors and support systems that range across your profession... not necessarily only from inside your own organization.

I love the story Libby Sartain told at the Launch Pad Job Club Distinguished Speaker event in October of 2009.  She related how once, when working for Yahoo.com, she was at a conference and was approached by a younger colleague who worked for their competitor, Google.com.  He asked if she would give him some advice and act as a mentor to him in his career.  She consented, and they met.  He described his situation, she gave him her insights and suggestions, and he followed through on the advice.  It won him a promotion. They stayed in touch.  Later, he reached out again when he sensed it was time for his next internal career move.  They talked, she advised, he acted, he was promoted again.  

Yes, they were in the same field (human resources), but they worked for competitors.  Sartain was amazed by that, but this young man apparently thought nothing of it.  He lived in the current YOYO model, and having never experienced the reality of living in the Womb-To-Tomb model, he naturally knew the importance of managing his career like a CEO!  

I'm excited by the work I get to do with those who understand that we live in a YOYO career management world.  It's a thrill to get to help people get the clarity and the plan they need to move forward successfully, and I love that I get to encourage them to step into their own personal power.  

Like a friend and former colleague of mine once said when we were discussing this YOYO concept... That is not a scary thing. That is not a bad thing at all.  To be on your own means you get to choose your next steps rather than having them chosen for you by someone else. And that can be mighty liberating!

Personal Development & Motivational Guru, Jim Rohn, said it well:  "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." 

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit:www.insyncresources.com
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Career Development Is A Life-Long Endeavor

"I’ve developed a new philosophy… I only dread one day at a time."
– Charlie Brown

When I was a kid, I loved watching all the Peanuts specials on TV. The characters were so awesome. Snoopy, who entertained himself in his boredom with a wild imagination. Linus, who was brilliant but full of insecurities. Sally with her naturally curly hair and over-abundance of vanity about it. Schroeder’s intensity and single-minded determination about playing the piano. Lucy, the bossy, busy-body, know-it-all nag. And poor Charlie Brown. He tried and tried but seemed doomed to eternal failure.

Though it didn’t always seem like it, Charlie Brown’s greatest strength was is persistent optimism and his willingness to keep trying. Sure, he’d indulge in frequent pity parties, but he always seemed to pull out of them in the end, especially when his faithful friend, Linus, gave him a boost. To me, “never give up” seems to be one of the main messages Peanuts’ creator, Charles Schultz, wished to portray through his characters’ interplay.

If you are a fan of the Peanuts like I was, you will remember how Charlie Brown repeatedly tried to kick the football that Lucy held for him. She always pulled it away, and he always landed on his rump. Over and over. Lucy never gave him quarter.

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But he kept at it and kept at it. Whether you’re simply trying to find a good job or you’re trying to find your mission in life, the lesson Charlie Brown teaches us is to never give up. Career development is a life-long endeavor. Once you find that good job or figure out your mission in life, you should always look ahead to what needs to happen next for you. Life is constantly in motion, and change is inevitable. Imagine Lucy representing the concept of the challenge of change and Charlie Brown asks how long before he can trust that the ball will be still and not be pulled from under him. In other words, how long does he have to wait before life gives him no more surprises? And she answers, “How long? All your life, Charlie Brown… All your life.”

Okay, so we get it that the stress of life changing is ongoing. Does this mean that you need to give up on trying to deal with it? Throw your hands up the in air and “dread each day” like Charlie Brown? Remember… Charlie Brown kept going back to the ball. That’s the true lesson here. And there are simple techniques you can use to manage the inevitable stress of life and the incredible stress of an ongoing job search.

Previously published on GreatOccupations.com
http://www.greatoccupations.com/archives/865
©2010

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit:  www.insyncresources.com
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Marc Miller Advises Baby Boomers To Look For Patterns

Last week I hosted a teleseminar and interviewed Austin-based career coach, Marc Miller.  Marc works with experienced professionals, mostly baby boomers (born roughly between 1945 and 1964) .  Our topic was “Baby Boomers in Transition – Life Changes and Career Decisions.” (By the way, you can still sign up to get the replay until June 30 at www.MindOpeningDialogues.com.)

 
Among the many helpful things Marc shared with us, there was one particular insight which seemed to especially resonate with the baby boomers in the audience.  He said, "As baby boomers, we were raised to be risk adverse."  Boomers picked up this trait, he explained, from their Depression-Era/World War II-Era parents who were faced with lack and scarcity.  The shared seminal experience created a need for security among members the Depression/World War II generation who passed it down to their children, the boomers. 

So, apparently, boomers put a great deal of value on taking the safe path through life to assure prosperity.  This tendency led them to make “safe” career decisions when they were entering the workforce in the 1960’s and 70’s – decisions they might now look back on and question.  They weren’t considering whether the work would make them happy, match their personalities or meet their emotional needs.  They were simply choosing paths aimed toward security, just as their parents would have wanted them to do.

With the advent of a new work model and the shifting economic conditions, the time has come for many of these boomers to choose differently.  And they are readjusting their sights toward employment – or retirement activities – that bring personal satisfaction, not just security.  However, it’s often difficult to know how to define what personal satisfaction means after so many years stuck on a singular path.  This was where Marc and I steered the conversation next.

Looking For Patterns
I asked Marc what first step he would advise boomers to take in determining their new direction.  He suggested doing a personal history review to look for patterns that show up during your various life changing events.  He said to ask yourself "What did I learn?" and predicted that you will likely see something about yourself that you did, indeed, learn at the time but then forgot later on.

Here’s specifically how Marc says to do it:
1. Sit down with pen and paper or index cards.
2. Record the event – one per each piece of paper or card.
3. Ask the following…
  “What did I learn?”
  “What did I want and not want?”
  “What did I need and not need?”
4. Date it and go on to the next event.

Because he’s in his mid-50’s, Marc said that he had 15-20 events or jobs to analyze when he did this for himself.  He looked at them, put them in order and observed the patterns.  He shared what he learned about himself, “For me, I realized that I don’t like change, and I don’t do well at multi-tasking.  I also need a cohesive team around me.”  From there he could clearly see what were the best jobs or environments he had and which ones “sucked”… and why.  Now he's able to wisely choose what he wants and needs for himself going forward.  

If you’re interested in striking up a dialogue with Marc, feel free to check out his blog at http://www.careercoachaustintexas.com – he absolutely adores it whenever anyone makes comments on his articles!

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit:www.insyncresources.com
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Saluting Women over 50 – There Is No Age Limit On Accomplishment

Yesterday, I participated in the Texas Women In Business (TWIB) conference in Austin, TX.  This all-day event was focused on supporting women 50 and over who are going through career transition.  Whether it was entrepreneurship, going back to school, starting a creative career or finding a job, there were educational tracks for everyone. 

I happily volunteered my time to give presentations to those seeking job search advice and then moderated a wonderful HR Experts panel made up of Scott Buchholtz of Citizens Insurance, Diontha Fancher of St. Jude Medical, Pam Fisher of The Boone Group and Allison Jenkins of Senior Work Solutions.

The keynote speaker at lunch was Anita Perry, first lady of Texas.  I just loved her presentation because she pointed out the successful careers of powerful women over the age of 50. 

Ms. Perry specifically drew attention to Helen Mirren, who at age 63 sported a red bikini during her vacation on an Italian beach in 2008.  Probably photographed by some paparazzi following her, she looked absolutely fabulous in those candid shots. 

Another famous actress who Ms. Perry brought to our attention is the funny and adorable Betty White.  Wow, can you believe it?  Betty White is 89!  I watched her on the Mary Tyler Moore show in the 1970’s and just looked it up… she was in her 50’s when she did that show.  She has been honored with industry awards many times in her career, including the 2011 Screen Actors Guild and Gracie Allen Awards for the sitcom, Hot in Cleveland.

Finally, Ms. Perry, mentioned one of her “favorite heroines” who is also one of mine, Margaret Thatcher.  Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first female prime minister at age 54.  Ms. Perry repeated one my favorite Thatcher quotes ever:  “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.”

By the way, Ms. Perry is an accomplished woman of over 50 herself.  I never knew this, but Anita Perry worked as a nurse for 17 years.  She created the annual Texas Conference for Women in 2000, and, even though she holds degrees from West Texas A&M (formerly West Texas State) and UT San Antonio, Texas Tech University renamed its nursing school in her honor in 2008.

Thanks, Ms. Perry, for reminding us of these wonderful role models who show us that there’s no age limit on accomplishment.

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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Get an “end in mind” perspective in order to get what you want

Recently, I have found myself quoting Stephen Covey a lot… “begin with the end in mind.”  This is vital to the success of getting anywhere… or, rather, it’s vital to getting anywhere that you consciously want to go.  To reach a particular destination, you need to identify the destination first.  Then you need to plot the course.

I love how this is so analogous to a GPS or a mapping program like GoogleMap or Mapquest.  You put in the address of the place you’re trying to find.  Then you’re given a course or set of directions to follow in order to reach it. 

But, in the case of a career, life often throws in bridges and detours that weren’t necessarily on the map.  Doesn’t ultimately matter, though, because you at least have an end in mind, and you’re motivated to get there. 

Sometimes, you might only have a general destination rather than a specific address to plug in.  If you simply put in the city and state rather than the street address, you can still get moving down the road in an overall right direction.  For example you might say, “I want to work in the medical field.”  Or you might say, “I want to work in the medical field as a surgical technician.”  Either way, you get my point… you still need a vision of what you want in order to get what you want. 

By the way, these are not random examples that I’ve just given you.  They happen to be the desired destinations of my daughter and her best friend.  My daughter and her best friend are graduating from high school at the end of May.  They’ve already plotted the next steps on their career courses.  Both are moving into higher education to study medical science.  The difference is that my daughter is going to a four-year college as a pre-med student and her best friend is going to community college to pursue an educational credential in a specifically-focused health area. 

My daughter has a vague inkling of her future specialty in the medical field, which she thinks might be in the healing of bones and muscles.  She is unclear if she will one day be a doctor, a physician’s assistant, a physical therapist, etc.  On the other hand, her friend knows she wants to have a career as a surgical technician.   

So, looking at their choices from a “begin with the end in mind” perspective, you can see that they both have envisioned a destination, allowing them to consciously move forward.  My daughter has a very general end in mind while her friend has a more specific, well-defined end in mind.

Like I said earlier, you need to identify the destination if you have any hope of daring to reach it.  Then you need to plot the course to get you there.  Otherwise, you’ll end up like I did, wandering into this circumstance and into that sorta opportunity without full awareness of where your life is going.  I did this until I hit my thirties, which is when I decided, at last, that it was high time to come up with an end in mind.  I put on a rudder and a sail and began to actively participate in the course plotting. 

This suddenly reminds me of a pin button I used to have as a teenager – the significance of which I obviously did not truly understand back then.  It said, “Life.  It’s not a spectator sport.”

My kiddo and her friend… they are light years ahead of where I was at that age.  And amen to that!

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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Celebrating A Client Who Landed Her Dream Job

Very excited when last week a client who went through the Personal Polaris Process called to say she got a promotion at work and will soon be doing her dream job. She said the clarity and being able to articulate her unique value made her confident during the interviews. The interviewers apparently liked what they heard! Can't wait to help even more people with my upcoming workshop - http://www.personalpolaris.com

Here's a snippet of the work... an excerpt from the guide we use in the workshop: 

Imagine waking up one morning with amnesia – you have forgotten what you do and who you are.  You walk out to your driveway, and there’s a commercial-looking truck parked there.  In the back of the truck are professional-grade tools that are obviously used for plumbing work.  “Oh,” you think, “I must be a plumber.”

It really can be that simple.  You possess certain unique gifts needed to carry out your purpose in life.  When you look at what your gifts are, you will see what your purpose is.  But here's the kicker.  Even though at some level you have always known what your gifts are and what you are here to do, sometimes it's hard to see this in the midst of a busy life.  Sometimes it's hard to see yourself objectively enough to understand what you really offer the world. 

In Richard Bach’s bestselling novel Illusions, the main character learns that "You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however."   In the same vein, you are never given a gift without a reason to use it.  You may have to work to remember it, however.  Especially if the voice of your inner knowing gets drowned out by powerful forces like the basic instinct for survival, sensory distractions and the projected fears from your well-meaning tribe.

It's such a privilege to have this chance to help people shift - to help them realize their dreams! 

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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Success comes from doing what you love

“If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing.” – Will Rogers

• What do you love doing in your spare time?
• What tasks makes you lose track of time?
• If you had $3M in the bank right now, what work would you do?
• If you were trapped on a deserted island with one other person, what would you hope and pray that person would want to talk to you about?
• Imagine you were trapped in the mall overnight, what store would you spend the most time in?

That’s a small sampling of the questions we coaches like to ask our clients who have finally decided to listen to that inner voice that says, “I want to do what I love, and this ain’t it!”

Why do you think we like to ask this stuff?  It’s not because we’re trying to advise you to run right out and get a job in the gardening center at Home Depot if you answered, “I like growing roses in my spare time.”  Though, actually there are times when this turns out to be THE dream job.  I heard a story last year about how a man who loved to read history books found a way to monetize his passion by recording audio history books for the visually impaired.  Sometimes it can be a direct line leading from your passion to your work.

However, mostly we ask these kinds of questions because we want you to find the underlying properties and qualities of your passions.  What do those qualities tell you?  Do you have passion for rose gardening because you have a strong nurturing streak that could translate into a satisfying career?

Will Rogers was a rather down-to-earth wisecracker who boiled things down to their simpler nature.  But make no mistake, he was a genius too.  He got it.  True success comes to you when you’re doing what you love.

Are you doing what you need to be successful?  Are you doing what you love?

Previously published
at GreatOccupations.com
© Angela Loëb, 2010

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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To Act On True Callings Requires Courage & Faith In Yourself

I’ve been skimming through a book called Callings: Finding and following an authentic Life by Gregg Levoy. It’s about vocational callings. The dictionary definition says that a vocation is "a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation." Being “called,” as Levoy puts it, is to be summoned away from your daily grind into “a new level of awareness.”

The work that I do with people in exploring and finding their own vocational callings is actually centered on remembrance. Remembering forgotten dreams, remembering inborn gifts taken for granted.

Levoy seems to agree as he uses the following brief anecdote by Howard Ikemoto to illustrate the point:
“When my daughter was seven years old,” says artist Howard Ikemoto, “she asked me what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college, that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, ‘You mean they forget?’”

Of course, it’s one thing to hear a calling. It’s quite another to act on a calling. Levoy mentions that too: “Unfortunately, we often simply tune out the longings we feel, rather than confront and act on them. Perhaps we do not really forget our calls but we fear what they might demand of us in pursuing them. Anticipating the conniptions of change blocks us from acknowledging that we do know, and always have known, what our calls are.”

This reminds me of the Joseph Campbell’s famous words of wisdom: “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

I had to do what Campbell advised when I made my transition into becoming a full time career development professional in ’08. Back then I realized that I had to let go of my original plan. You see, I thought I was going to be a recruiter for at least 3 more years. Man, was I wrong!

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit afraid while also feeling the excitement of moving forward with my dream. I was concerned about changing, yes, but I was also fearful about falling flat on my face. But here’s the thing. Something almost magical happens when you become crystal clear and focused on what you want.

In my case, I knew I wanted to become a speaker and writer, and I knew I wanted to leverage my knowledge from so many years spent in the field of career services. Doing full time career development work as a coach and consultant was the next logical step. As soon as I gained clarity about what I wanted, put a plan into motion to move closer toward my goal and started talking about it to other people, my life shifted big time. It’s as though the Universe seemed to say, “Why wait? Let’s get on with it now!” And, bam! – here I am doing what I intended.

To act on true callings requires courage and faith in yourself. Courage, because, in spite of the fear, you’re going to act anyway. Faith, because you realize that you have carried yourself this far (which at one time was a new direction for you, by the way) and that you can carry yourself into the new direction just as capably.

And, actually, I’ll go so far as to assure you that acting on a true calling will prove that you are more than merely “capable.” Acting on a true calling will make you wildly successful in manifesting your intention… because acting on a true calling allows you to align yourself better for the next leg of your journey – it allows you to bring who you are to what you do. Infusing who you are into what you do is to ignite and then harness the topmost form of creative energy there is and will inevitably bring forth the abundance you are meant to possess.

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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The Science of Getting Unstuck and Getting What You Want

In case you didn’t know already, I’ve been volunteering my time and energy to co-host a live internet radio show since the summer of 2009 with Jay Markunas.  Each program that Jay and I do centers on a topic dealing with career transition, such as changing career direction, developing the resume, leveraging social media for job search, working with recruiters, etc.  We interview career experts, and sometimes we have folks on who tell us their helpful and inspiring stories about their own career transition. 

Our guest for March 5th, Tom Cassidy, will be a first for us for two reasons.  One reason is because he’s the first guest who will be joining us for a live on-air conversation from another country.  You see, Tom lives in Great Britain.  We think that’s pretty cool.  We also think it’s cool that he’s a physicist who likes to help people get the job of their dreams.  That’s right, Tom’s a physicist AND a career expert.  He’s a published author, too, having co-authored 2 books with Thomas Byrne – How to Win at Russian Roulette: And Other Fiendish Logic Problems and The Electric Toilet Virgin Death Lottery: And Other Outrageous Logic Problems. 

Tom is joining us on the show to discuss one of our favorite topics… finding the work you love.  Previously, we’d done some shows on the “Art of Finding the Work You Love” which were very popular. We can tell by the numerous times they’ve been downloaded by visitors to our webpage (our programs are all saved as archived recordings at www.jobsearchbootcamp.net).

This time, however, we get to tap a scientist’s brain and approach this subject from a new angle… we’re going to discuss the “Science of Finding the Work You Love.”  Tom is well-versed in the science behind what he calls the Law of Creation.  He has read and interpreted Wallace Wattles’ 1910 book, The Science of Getting Rich.  I love how Tom affirms Wattles’ work (and book title) by saying, “It’s a science because there are proven steps that work, or you can’t call it a science.” 

I doubt we’ll get to drill down too deeply into this during our half-hour show, but Tom is good at explaining the quantum mechanics behind using thoughts and inspired action to get unstuck and get what you want.  And he really nails it on the head when he states simply, “If you think about nothing, you’ll get nothing.”  So true… if you have no specific goals, how can you get specific results? 

Tom’s company, e2aplus.com, offers career transition tools that people can deliberately apply on a consistent basis and programs that are tailored around the areas that need most development.  They cite some pretty astonishing results, too:  “Everyone who has applied our system to the management of their career has been successful so far.” 

This promises to be a fascinating conversation, and we hope you’ll listen in!

If you want to join the show live, turn on your speakers and go to http://www.jobsearchbootcamp.net at 10:00am CT on Saturday, March 5th.  Don’t worry if you can’t make it or find this announcement after the fact.  About 20 minutes after the show ends, the free recording will be available at the site and on iTunes.

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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
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Throw yourself at the ground and miss

Finding the positive spin will help increase your emotional resilience.

I’m convinced that finding the positive spin is THE key to having strong emotional resilience.  Some might accuse me of having a pure “Pollyanna” outlook because of this.  You know, like I always look for the “silver lining” and all that.  Well, I do look for the silver lining, but I didn’t always.  I’ve worked hard to get into the habit of finding the positive spin because there have been many times in my life where it’s worked to help me be happier. 

Finding the positive spin
About 13 years ago, I took a job with a company that recruited me (I was very flattered, of course), but I didn’t know then what I know now, and I realized 30 or so days into my employment that the culture of this company was not a good fit for me.  Persistence is one my strengths but became a weakness in this case.  I stayed in this career hell for a year.  I was miserable and always at odds with my manager, but I wasn’t the only one.  It was a toxic environment, and nearly 100% of the staff turned over that year.  I should have been relieved when they fired me, but I was so crushed that they broke up with me before I could break up with them that I cried my heart out. 

Today I look back on that experience with no regrets and am even happy that I went through it.  Why? 

Because of what it taught me: 

• First of all, I learned what not to do. I learned to not stick with something I don’t love and doesn’t fit. Life’s too short!
• Secondly, it taught me empathy for those who are laid off or fired. Good people get fired all the time. This has made me so much better at my career services work.
• Finally, it was a very important (and necessary) catalyst to move me here where I am in my professional life now as a career coach. It helped me hone the ability and passion to help others to find the work they love and not settle for “just a job.”
• Oh, and one more addition to the positive spin on this particular story... I met a wonderful person at that toxic company. Over the last 13 years, she has become one of my dearest friends!

Becoming wiser than before
After my year in career hell ended, I went through a personal/professional self-esteem building process and landed a great job that was tailor-made for me.  I flourished there for 8 very happy years.  I might have stayed longer except the company was bought, the culture started changing, and, well, I’d become a lot wiser than I was before, so I broke up with them first!

 

The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. –Douglas Adams

Your Needs Compass - Setting Goals for your Life Journey

Recently, I've been thinking about how psychologists say we have to satisfy needs in 4 areas in order to find fulfullment and happiness:  Spiritual, Emotional, Mental and Physical.  But instead of thinking of them as a hierarchy of graduated needs (sorta like Maslow does), I've come to realize that these 4 areas of needs can serve as a compass for our life journey compass.  The 4 areas make up the 4 cardinal points.

Setting Goals
Using these compass points as our guide, we can set goals in various areas of our lives.  Below I show how... specifically in the social, personal and professional areas.

Spiritual
Your spiritual goals don’t necessarily pertain to your religious goals, though, of course, they can. To most people what lies underneath this cardinal point is determining how they make a difference.  Some people might go so far as to tie that into their mission statement or life purpose statement.

Emotional
Your emotional goals might be interpreted two ways.  You could examine where you want your relationships to be.  You could also examine your inner dialogue and feelings – meaning how you would like to “feel” about the various areas such as personal, professional and social.

Mental
Basically, your mental goals have to do with how you want to personally grow your intellect, how you want to educate your mind, how you want to increase your professional acumen and skills.  From the social perspective, analyze how your social life (such as community service volunteering, social networking experiences, etc.) enhances your skills and adds to your mental growth as well.

Physical
Naturally, your physical goals might pertain to your physical body, but we would also like to you consider the other physical aspects of your life and set goals in those areas.  Financial is one aspect you can consider.  From the professional perspective, this would be your income, of course.  From a personal perspective, would you like to have investments, retirement funds, etc.?  From a social perspective, set goals that describe how you will spend money on or raise money for social activities or how you would make donations to charities.  Do you have a long term goal to be a philanthropist?  How will you achieve this without setting goals?

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. – Jim Rohn

The Recession Gives Us The Opportunity To Reclaim Our Personal Power

Ever since it started, I have realized that this recession offered a mixed blessing.  The adversity could potentially open our eyes and could give us the opportunity to reclaim the power many of us had given over to others.  Now a recent survey reveals that 90% of employees recognize they're responsible for managing their own financial futures compared to 8% who say it's their employers' responsibility and 2% who say it's up to the government. 

During this past year and a 1/2, many people have confessed to me that they had become "comfortable" where they were in their jobs... they weren't thinking of what would happen if their companies weren't taking care of their futures for them.  Then, when they got laid off, their world was rocked.  No longer feeling that illusion of security and stability, they had to re-examine their lives from all angles.  Many have told me that they are committed to taking better responsibility for how they manage their careers (and their lives) from now on. 

Ruth Mantell of MarketWatch interviewed Max Caldwell from Towers Watson, the consulting firm who conducted the survey:

...the recession has accelerated changes in how employers treat workers, ending the old notion of paternalism in which companies take care of their employees...  "Individuals by and large have primary responsibility for virtually every aspect of their employment experience," Caldwell said.  "What these data really show us is that when it comes to people taking ownership of their career, their performance, their health and well-being, most organizations have seen this profound shift of responsibility of cost and risk to the individual." 

For job seekers, "constant change" should be expected, Caldwell added. "You have really got to take responsibility for yourself, your future, your career," he said. "Don't expect that there will be stability, expect constant change, be agile to deal with that change. Make sure that as an individual you are building skills that make you more employable."
(Source:  MarketWatch; http://twurl.cc/2cim)

Life's too short to "die an unlived life"

Watching my kiddo, who’s now 16, often reminds me of how at her age I never thought about life being as short as it feels now that I’ve been journeying for awhile on the other side of 40!

All throughout this year, I’ve met with men and women displaced from their jobs now pondering what else they might do differently in their careers and with their lives in general.  Of course, many have felt panicked by external forces like the economy, but many have told me that they relish this opportunity to explore new options. 

Some want new careers altogether.  Like one client who is leaving a successful, but unfulfilling, career in high-tech to create a health coaching practice.  She first thought of doing this when her parents became ill a few years ago. She is moving forward today because of her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis.  Now she’s filled with excitement, hope and purpose for herself and for what she knows she can do to help her husband and others.

Some just want to re-prioritize their lives.  I will never forget one gentleman saying to me, “I was with the company for almost 17 years.  After they laid me off, I decided to spend this summer with my son who’s in the Boy Scouts.  We’ve been camping all over the southwest.  One thing I’ve learned is that when I get my next job, I’m going to make more time for my family.  No more 60-hour work weeks for me.”

Because of these many encounters and because of my own personal career transition, I strongly desire to help people shift into a direction they might be holding back from doing.  Maybe they haven’t dared to allow themselves to explore because it seems too hard, too scary, too self-indulgent, or, maybe, they simply don’t know where to start. 

My partner, Jay Markunas, and I created the tele-coaching program, “The Art of Finding a Career You Love,” to help people with a starting place.  On December 2, we’re teaming up for another session.  It’s 90-minutes over the phone, costs $59 and includes a DISC assessment and a 14-page self-analysis worksheet.  More at:  http://www.careerfindermethod.info

Sometimes all it takes is a few degrees of shift to feel more fulfilled, and it’s never too late.  I personally knew a 72-year old woman who finished beauty school because she always wanted to get her cosmetology license.  During our program in October, Jay told the story of a woman who became a doctor at 70.  Did you know that Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds, started the business when he was 52? 

If, indeed, life is short, it’s definitely too short to “die an unlived life.”  After this year of working with such a large number of people shifting their lives forward, I have a new appreciation for the poem below that I previously shared on my very first post, Launch, back in July 2006. 

Sending you gratitude and warm wishes for a fulfilled life!
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I will not die an unlived life
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible;
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.

--Dawna Markova

The Art of Finding a Career You Love requires a whole-brained, balanced approach

I’m excited about the tele-coaching coaching session that my partner, Jay Markunas, and are teaming up to do together tonight.  The synchronistic way that it’s all come together still amazes me.  It’s got us wondering if we should perhaps offer this as an ongoing monthly program.  We’ll have to see!

This idea, which we’re calling “The Art of Finding a Career You Love,” came to us without us having to wrack our brains very much.  It kind of seized us and said, “Hey, there... listen up.”

When something finds me like this versus when I deliberately go looking for it, I think it’s especially fun to ponder the meaning.  Call it the philosopher in me, call it the spiritual seeker in me, call it the poet/intellectual in me.... but I love to see the connecting points and meanings in events, as well as in the words we use.  Interestingly, this is probably one of the qualities that allows me to be so helpful to others who enage my coaching services.

So yesterday I was wondering why in heck did Jay and I decide to call this coaching program, “The Art of Finding a Job You Love” – specifically, why is it the ART of...?  I mean, we didn’t really think about it – it just came to us as a package deal.  It said, “This is what you’re going to do and this is what it’s called.”  

Some thoughts that occurred to me:

Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, or in other words, each of us has a unique perspective.  What appeals to one person may not appeal to another.  One of my friends thinks Andy Warhol’s “32 Campbell’s Soup Cans” is not art at all – his idea of art (as is most people’s) would be Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine Chapel.  Like our tastes in art, our career choices are uniquely individual.

Art, they say, is a mainly right-brain directed activity, while science is a mainly left-brain directed activity.  Well, I can agree with that, but only up to a point.  I’d say that art and science both require inspiration to achieve leaps forward.  Most would agree that inspiration wouldn’t necessarily be considered a left-brain concept.  Besides the obvious reasoning that you need both hemispheres of the brain to function well at all, one can’t help but to see that art and science require actively engaging the right AND the left sides of the brain.  How else can you explain right-brain originated breakthroughs in science like Kekulé discovering the ring shape of the benzene molecule after dreaming of a snake seizing its own tail?  What about Da Vinci’s left-brained scientific studies of human anatomy and mechanical engineering?

“Art of” and “Love”... right brained.  “Finding” and “Career”... left-brained. 

Interestingly, our tele-coaching session tonight will be about the art of finding a career you love by accessing both brain hemispheres.  When we ask someone to fill out a 14-page worksheet filled with questions designed to pull out information that the right brain knows but the left brain might not be aware of (e.g. questions that access what one is passion about... what one loves to do), this is where the leaps forward begin.  When we ask that person to summarize, analyze the answers to these questions, as well as the results of a DISC assessment, we are taking information that the right brain so graciously provided so the left brain can make sense of it and apply it to the outer world.  This where the leaps forward really kick in!

So my ponderings have led me to see that “The Art of Finding a Career You Love” is really about passion AND research, which is a whole-brained, balanced approach.  That’s fine by me – I adore the balanced approach!

Are you doing the work that was born in you?

No man is born into the world whose work is not born with him. 
-James Russell Lowell

A few months ago, a woman at one my workshops was stumped with a series of questions during the group-sharing portion of the module.  The answer to these questions would reveal her childhood gifts and early interests, which would point the way to her work and the way she would do her her work in the world.

As the group continued through the other exercises (our intention was that each attendee walk away with an idea of their personal mission or purpose), this woman, a middle-school administrator, raised her hand.  When I acknowledged her, she excitedly told us that she'd figured out her answer and wanted to share her it.  Her enthusiasm was palpable, so even though we'd moved on to the next module, I encouraged her to tell us about her breakthrough. 

"Well," she began, "when I was a kid, I loved watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon.  You know, Jerry's kids?  Raising money for muscular dystrophy?"  

We all nodded, and she continued, "You asked us to think about what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I couldn't think of anything at first.  Then I remembered how I dreamed of being that little girl who held the basket during the telethon.  I wanted to do it so much that I would go around the neighborhood, getting all my friends together, and we'd have our own Jerry's Kids fundraisers.  I was only 9 at the time, but I see how this is still what I do to this day.  Organizing activities to help kids is still part of my work today!"

It's funny to me now that when I was a teenager, I had a pin button that said, "Work is a 4-letter word." Hey, wearing pin buttons were a fad when I was in high school, what can I say?  Anyway, today I think about that phrase and realize that when we do our work - I mean our real work, the work that was born in us, as James Russell Lowell so wisely points out - it doesn't feel like the 4-letter word my button implied.  Instead if feels like play (a much better 4-letter word!) and fun.  It feels natural, so natural that we are compelled to do the work.  If we deny ourselves the chance to do our work, we become mis-aligned, out of sorts, depressed, unhappy, angry, etc.

So, are you doing the work you love - the work that was born in you? 

It's What We Notice

A few evenings ago, I had the pleasure of listening to an interview with the venerable author of What Color is Your Parachute?, Dick Bolles.

At one point in the interview, Mr. Bolles cited another author, Don Tapscott, who’s written a terrific book called Growing Up Digital.  The phrase he cited from Tapscott’s book was “it’s not what we see, it’s what we notice.”  He was stressing the importance of becoming clear about what we want so that we begin to notice things in our path that help us get what we want.

Mr. Bolles then went on to tell a story about a biologist walking in Times Square with a friend.  The biologist heard a cricket chirping and asked his friend if he could hear it too.  The friend could not, at least not at first.  The friend asked him how he could hear such a thing in a busy, noisy place filled with city sounds.  Without saying a word, the biologist took a handful of coins from his pocket and tossed them onto the sidewalk.  People nearby in the crowd scrambled to grab the coins as they bounced and tinkled on the pavement.  “You notice what you want to notice,” the biologist told his friend.

Taking time to get clear or “doing homework on ourselves,” as Mr. Bolles calls it, is not just important to our personal development, it’s a vital step in getting what we desire.  When we get clear about what to notice, we’ll hear the crickets in Times Square even when no else does.

Job Search Boot Camp on Saturday, August 15, in Austin Texas

If you know anyone who is looking for a job, please send them to the "new" website my partners & I recently launched: http://www.jobsearchbootcamp.net.

The website has information about our live half-day seminar coming up this Saturday in Austin, 8/15.  However, folks outside of Austin can find advice and encouragement too (at least until we can start doing webinars).  I offer a free eBook on the site under the free resources tab. There's also a link to our internet talk radio show through a tab called Boot Camp Show. 

Every Saturday (except this one, of course) we do a live call-in radio show in which we give tips, information and encouragement. The programs are archived as recordings and are downloadable through our host, Blog Talk Radio, and are now also available as free podcasts on iTunes.  Just gotta love technology!

Okay, so about this Saturday's program.  It’s a one-of-a-kind, half-day interactive seminar that won’t be offered again until 2010. Attendees will get advanced job search tactics from three different career experts (including me!) and a 45-page workbook full of great information.  I’m also personally adding in a Special Bonus Gift to our attendees this time:  The Ultimate Job Search Strategy Guide (those who come on Saturday will be the first to receive this new eBook when it’s released).

People really seem to resonate with this seminar we've created.  The press showed up during the first time we gave it in February.  During the break, they interviewed one of our attendees, a computer industry senior manager, who said, "The first 15 minutes of this presentation met my objectives for the whole seminar."  We held the last event in May, and an architect/artist who attended later told me, "It’s the best $129 I’ve spent lately – the program was great.”

When people gain knowledge, they gain confidence.  When their confidence shifts, amazing things happen!  Our goal is to help people go from being job seekers to being job FINDERS!  What we share with them now will help empower them throughout their whole career.

Please help spread the word. Let's get some people shifting - let's get some people empowered!