The Career You'll Love » career

Nurturing optimism

Carl — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:57:56 +0000

The Career You’ll Love

Sponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com

Welcome to my 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.

Nurturing optimism

I’d like to be optimistic, but it’s not that easy. The economy’s terrible, the election’s coming up this year, people are still losing their houses, …

Here’s how I do it.

You may have some friends or colleagues who are “toxic people.” You know the type: For every positive sign, they can recite five negative ones. They relish in the opportunity to point out the black cloud behind the silver lining.

And, let’s face it, there’s a certain amount of perverse pleasure in complaining. It’s easy, and doesn’t carry the risk that you might actually have to DO something.

But the end result, over time, is that you take on the attitude of a slave. Other people have the opportunity and right to do things, and all you can do is to respond. You’ve lost all your freedom.

That’s no way to spend your life.

So the first challenge is to limit the amount of time you spend with these toxic “friends.” If three minutes a day is all you can take, then listen for that time, don’t participate much, and walk away. Maybe they’ll learn and adjust over time, but it’s not your job to try to “fix” other people.

Do the same with the media you consume. I had a podcast that I listened to faithfully for several years, and really enjoyed. But it was all about complaining and pointing out faults, not about coming up with useful solutions. I started noticing that after listening, I would become cynical for the rest of the day.

Because I don’t want to be that kind of person, I had to give up the podcasts. Guess what? I’m more positive now.

The third thing I do is to actively look for – and celebrate – positive signs. Last week my son had two high-value interviews, after having none for a year. Let’s consider that as a sign that his industry is turning up, and that he’s shifting his focus to get a little more serious about the job search. A year’s worth of new experience has helped as well!

I’ve been getting a sense that there’s more optimism here in January 2012 than there was in January 2011. Measurable? Not really. But I’ve been doing my part to tell people that this has helped me to be more upbeat, in the hopes that I can spread it around a little more. It seems to be working, little by little.

A couple of months ago, on one of my blogs, I mentioned my little experiment with changing the standard hallway exchange: “How’s it going?” “Fine.” This actually means nothing in our culture, other than acknowledging the other person’s existence. It certainly doesn’t mean that I’m “fine”, it’s just the standard response.

I changed my response to things like “wonderful!” or “excellent!” in order to see how people would react. And they noticed, yes, but more important, it changed my outlook on the day. I found that by telling someone I was having a wonderful time, that it actually increased the chances that the day would indeed be wonderful. Because I was working to make it that way.

And don’t we all want wonderful days?

Carl Dierschow is a Certified Small Fish Business Coach and author of the career management guide, Mondays Stink! 23 Secrets to Rediscover Delight and Fulfillment in Your Work. He is a career coach for those going through interesting transitions, and works with small business owners who need to create breakthroughs in achieving their business goals. Find out more at www.Dierschow.com and www.SmallFish.us.

If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com.

Connect with Carl on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com

Too much planning?

Carl — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:16:55 +0000

The Career You’ll Love

Sponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com

Welcome to my 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.

Too much planning?

I tend to put a lot of trust into planning. It gives me comfort that I’ve prepared for contingencies, that I know how things are going to happen, that I’ve avoided risks.

But … I’ve also learned that there’s such a thing as too much planning.

The first problem is that planning can be a way to avoid doing. I’m in the little cocoon of my plans – nothing can go wrong at this point. So the more time I spend in creating and refining plans, there’s no risk. Unfortunately, delaying is usually the risk I’m taking – but that’s not apparent.

The second problem is that not everything can be planned. Especially when you’re doing something new, something creative: Any plans are based on a poor understanding. A house of cards.

The third problem is that planning can take away the joy of experience and surprise. The best vacations I’ve had were where we had entire days which were unplanned, and therefore could be spent on … anything! If we want to go sit on the beach for an afternoon, that’s just fine, because there’s no plans. Want to eat dinner at 10:00? No problem.

Of course, I’m not comfortable with jumping past the planning stages in much of my work. The challenge is to find the right balance.

The most powerful example came when I joined up with Small Fish at the end of 2010. We were warned that there would be a certain comfort in creating lists, in planning activities, and in writing blog posts. But because our task was to get out there and sell our services, there was nothing to compare with getting out there and having actual conversations with potential clients.

And it’s made a world of difference: I now have clients.

If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com.

Connect with Carl on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com

If the job’s posted, it’s too late!

Carl — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:09:59 +0000

You’ve heard this advice before: If you wait until a job opening is posted, it’s too late!

How frustrating! You’re following the rules, and I’m saying that there’s no possible way to win. What – you’re supposed to break the rules and sprinkle magic dust in order to find a job?

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Time for a reboot?

Carl — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:37:00 +0000

The Career You’ll Love

Sponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com

Welcome to my 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.

Time for a reboot?

It’s the end of the year. I’m not a big fan of new year’s resolutions, really – I don’t see much reason to make up arbitrary goals with the realization that they won’t even last a month.

But…

There is a reason to use this time to think about your larger goals. First, for many, this is a bit of a slow time – perhaps you’re even taking some vacation. You can take some time to reflect about the course of your career, how you’re dealing with the normal stresses and strains of your job.

Second, typically at this time of year, you’ll be spending some time with family. Perhaps you’ll be exploring your spirituality a little deeper than normal. So it’s a time where you might be a bit more balanced, recognizing that it might be more important to spend time with your kids than to work another three hours on that report.

The challenge – one that I deal with as well – is how to do this without getting depressed. When you realize that you haven’t spent enough time with your family, that your career hasn’t advanced much this year, it can be a bit of a downer.

So counterbalance that with your achievements and bright spots. You had that great vacation with the family last summer. You’ve put some new accomplishments on your résumé or CV. Heck, even being gainfully employed for another year can be noteworthy these days. Or, if you’ve gone through some turmoil, at least you’ve survived and have a working computer to read this on.

My wife gives me a hard time because I always seem to respond to any of her computer hassles with, “Did you reboot?” It seems that with Windows PCs, this is the universal answer that magically fixes 90% of the problems.

Your job, of course, isn’t that simple. A complete “reboot” would mean going back to school, restarting as a newbie, being at the bottom of the ladder.

But we can use this time to “reboot” energy. Here’s some good questions:

What is it that gives you energy?
Why did you get into this career originally?
What makes your work worthwhile – to other people AND to you?

Use some slow-time here at the end of the year to see if you can recapture the energy and inspiration that you used to have. It may just help you enter 2012 with a bit of freshness.

Is it politically incorrect to wish you a Merry Christmas? Well, there it is anyway. Each of us is free to celebrate our spiritual rebirth however we wish, and that’s mine.

Talk to you in January!

If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com.

Connect with Carl on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com

Ten people you really should know

Carl — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:08:03 +0000

It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know. Right? So who is it that you should know?

The implicit assumption is that if you want to get a new job, you need to know people who have jobs. But that could be ANYbody with decision-making authority, so it’s not as helpful as you’d like to think.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Pulling vs. pushing

Carl — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:35:40 +0000

What’s the next step in your career?

The way you answer this question says a lot about how you relate to your work – whether it’s pulling you or pushing you.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Asking for help

Carl — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:51:18 +0000

The Career You’ll Love

Sponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com

Welcome to my 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.

Asking for help

I’ve noticed a curious thing about asking for favors.

You’d think that the difficulty of getting someone to give you something would directly relate to how valuable it is. If I ask for a dollar, you might give it to me. But ten dollars? That should be about ten times harder.

If that’s the case, though, I should never be able to convince you to help me with something that will take many hours of work on your part. You’re very busy – everybody’s busy – so what would cause you to just give me a lot of your time?

What’s going on here, it appears, is a much more complex transaction.

There’s a lot of value you might receive from giving me some of your time:

You might have some fun
You could learn something
You might have the satisfaction of knowing you made a difference
Your social standing could improve

These are often the reasons people contribute to charitable causes or join groups. Especially when you aren’t getting paid for your contribution, it’s clear that these other factors are what drives you to engage and help out.

What do we do with this knowledge?

A particular case I run into constantly is this: John would like to learn something from Jane, but is reluctant to ask for her time. He fears that he might look foolish, and is worried that Jane will see it as an imposition.

And in fact, she might, if John approaches it the wrong way. “I’d like to schedule a two hour meeting with you” seems difficult for a busy person. Why? Because it hasn’t conveyed that Jane is going to get anything useful out of it – perhaps it will just be a boring waste of time.

If John really values Jane’s knowledge, he should let her know. Here’s some useful phrases that he might weave into a question:

“I really think I could learn something from you…”
“I’m looking to learn from experts in this area…”
“I want to get my career moving faster, so I’d like to ask your help…”
“I’d really appreciate if you could mentor me…”
“I’d be so grateful if you’d help me learn more about this…”

Each of these, to varying degrees, conveys a sense of gratitude to Jane: She’s going to end up feeling good about having helped John’s career.

John will end up receiving priceless knowledge, and in the same way, Jane will receive priceless satisfaction.

That’s much easier, in fact, than trying to get a stranger to give you $10.

If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com.

Connect with Carl on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com

10 ways to improve your career over the holidays

Carl — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:37:51 +0000

Whew! It looks like we may actually survive to the end of 2011 – and it’s been a brutal year. If you’re lucky enough to have a job, you’ve probably worried about whether you’d keep it.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

How gratitude makes your job better

Carl — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:15:30 +0000

Some years ago, I ran across a person who asked me, “How’s it going?”. I issued the standard answer, “fine,” thinking nothing of it. End of conversation, nothing interesting said.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Ten ways to improve the relationship with your boss

Carl — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:38:30 +0000

Yeah, your boss is a pain. Always getting on your case about something or other, and she never listens to your requests for some time off or making your job easier.

Realize that being a manager is a real job, and your boss is a real person. She probably doesn’t WANT to make your life miserable, she just finds it a necessary part of getting the work done.