If you’re trying to make professional connections, LinkedIn is clearly the place to be. Everybody’s there, everybody’s connecting.
But I’m surprised at the number of people who haven’t given much thought to the image they’re projecting.
You’ll hear lots of variations on the “80/20 rule”:
I’m having a discussion with someone, and they just don’t seem to get it. Everything is so clear in my mind, so obviously they’re not as smart as me – otherwise they’d know what I’m saying.
There’s many a slip ‘twixt the mind and the mouth.
The problem is that communicating with other people is a very messy and imperfect activity.
The Career You’ll LoveSponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com |
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Where do you find Influencers?Whether you’re looking for a job, or to advance your career, one of the key needs is to find the decision makers who could help you achieve your goals. These are often highly placed managers who are given formal authority by the organization. They’re pretty easy to find, but often hard to connect with. That’s where the Influencers come in. Read the rest of this entry » |
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How much is your time worth?
I know some people who would say that all of their time should be judged by the wage that they get paid on the job. Suppose you’re paid $20 an hour, then you should think of your time spent eating meals as if you’re NOT getting paid $20 an hour to do that. If someone asks you for help, you should be thinking about whether it’s worth $20 an hour of your time to give them some assistance.
I don’t buy it.
What puts you “in the zone?”
We’ve all been there. It’s the place where you’re fully engaging all your energy, your passion, both the left and right halves of your brain.
You’re in the zone when you lose sense of time, and you have a heightened sense of engagement and accomplishment. And you’re having fun.
When I work with people on their career plans, I’m often asked what I mean by creating a long-term plan. Does this mean you’re supposed to detail out what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life? Impossible!
I had a client a few years ago who had a career plan for the next 25 years. Seriously. Personally, I find it challenging to map out five years.
We all have our famous heroes that serve as models of what we dream of becoming. That’s all well and good, but it can tend to make us into passive observers, rather than active contributors.
I might hold up Nelson Mandela as a personal role model, but I don’t really have the opportunity to make the kind of contribution to the world that he has. My situation is much more modest.
The Career You’ll LoveSponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com |
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| Welcome to my new career tips newsletter! I encourage you to pass this to anyone who might have an interest in revitalizing their career – instructions for subscribing are at the bottom. | |
Your choices when a company is shaken
As an employee, I lived through CEO changeovers three times before, and I realize that there are some important choices that you need to make – as an employee, as a customer, or as a shareholder. But they’re not what you might think. |
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I’m as ambitious as most people, I suppose. I’m always looking for new experiences, new things to do, more ways to win.
But some days it’s good to recognize the blessings you have.
As many of you know, I had a long career with Hewlett-Packard. On Friday, I was surprised to hear that the CEO resigned amidst murky circumstances. Perhaps we’re hearing the real story, perhaps we aren’t, but it doesn’t really matter that much. HP is starting another change of leadership.
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