Golden Job

It's all about Job and Career!

Within the organization, are you expected to follow the group or if you move outside the group thinking will you be ostracized? Do you hide in the group or are you willing to achieve success on your own?

All are important questions to answer. Are you willing to take the risks to your career to put your ideas into action? If you are willing to take initiative, responsibility and break some rules you career will flourish and in the right environment you’ll move up to areas of more responsibility and more rewards. Don’t play it safe and take the easy route and hide behind the rules.

Here are some actions you can take to advance your career by breaking the rules within the rules:

1. Think like an entrepreneur. If you owned the company what would you do differently? Step out of your job and career and act like the CEO, fairly analyze your contributions, your departments results; what more could you be doing?

2. What rules are getting in your way? What rules are getting in your department’s way? Study how the rule came about. Is it still meeting the organization’s needs? Maybe part of it is still valid, how can the rest of the rule be modified or eliminated to help the business or customers.

3. Define the problem. Write it out. Ask for help and ideas from others in the department. Run the problem by people you know in the industry. What did another company do to solve the problem? Is it applicable to your situation? Take the best ideas (giving credit where credit is due) and work them into the solution.

4. Become known as the idea person and problem solver. Search out others to be sounding boards for your ideas and possible solutions. Think other ideas through. At meetings if an idea is presented and you don’t agree, present a different solution or a well reasoned argument why the proposed direction won’t work.

5. Strive to have a plan of implementation for every great idea you come up with. Think benefits both for the department and the company. Quantify possible results.

6. Always look for ways of improving what is being done and moving the company forward. Consider taking a different approach in dealing with a customer. How can meeting presentations be improved and streamlined?

Keep this overall approach on the forefront of your thinking every day. Being average with the group is never good enough. Raise the bar.

As you challenge the rules that don’t contribute to the bottom line, or don’t help your career growth or the company’s mission statement you’ll find your career growing.

Importantly your career will have more satisfaction, your responsibilities and rewards will increase all because you learned to break the rules with the rules.

Whether they realize it or not, most Americans have been brainwashed to believe that their value as a human being is determined by what kind of job they have, what kind of house they live in, what kind of car they drive, how they dress, and who they choose to marry. So they’ve spent their entire lives trying to live up to society’s expectations.

The harsh truth: You’ve been brainwashed to feel like a failure.

Nobody told you that this mentality based on external values could only result in disappointment; that you would be only a shadow of what you are capable of being.

The solution: This is your wake-up call , your opportunity to reevaluate your life, claim your birthright and become the person God intended for you to be. By liberating yourself from society’s expectations, you can discover what it takes for you to feel truly happy and fulfilled. Now you can be free!

You = A Robot

Most people have been trained beginning in childhood by a reward and punishment system, not unlike that used with the family dog. It creates a yearning for rewards given for being “good” and a fear of punishment or rejection if we do not comply with the desires of our authority figures.

Without intending to harm or deceive you, your parents, family members, schools, teachers, peers, organized religions, and the media trained you to be a mental slave. You were given incorrect information, and so you made wrong choices. As you attempted to meet the expectations of other people and gain their approval, you also gave up your own individuality and accepted less than what we truly wanted in life.

Still, there remains somewhere within each of us the spark of our own true desires, which cannot be extinguished. When that spark cannot ignite our true passions, we feel uninspired, unfulfilled, anxious, depressed or out of control. We lose the clear connection between God and our true selves that is called passion. We go through the motions each day like robots. Eventually we may be unaware of all the ways our lives could be different; we are unable to even see what we are missing. We feel like losers.

If you have been caught up in an endless cycle of meaningless activities on the road to nowhere, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know any better. You worked at a job you didn’t like in order to make money to buy things you didn’t need. You became a slave to financial institutions who tricked you and lied to you. Your physical and mental health suffered because of stress and pressure you felt to achieve goals set by someone else. Your relationships suffered because you focused too much on your job/career and your finances. As a result, you couldn’t find time or energy to do something worthwhile with your life, to achieve a meaningful goal or make the world a better place. You may even feel that God has deserted you.

You are not alone.

If you’re struggling in the job market or financially, you are part of the majority of Americans. These are the facts:

* There are 140 million people in the labor force of the United States.

* The official unemployment rate is around 10%–that’s 14 million people out of work.

* But the real number is double that, more like 28 million people when you count those not officially included: part-time workers, temporary workers, those no longer qualified for unemployment benefits; and the dropouts (those who gave up on finding a job or returned to school).

* Studies show that 55% of working people (77 million) fear losing their jobs and feel out of control. They are afraid that without a paycheck, they’ll also lose their cars, their homes, and won’t be able to feed their families.

* So, more than 70% of Americans are experiencing difficulties and fear in the job market.

Why are you struggling to hold onto or regain something you never really wanted in the first place?

Recent studies conclude that at least 50% of working people in the United States are actually unhappy in their jobs. That’s half. No one is polling the recently unemployed, the persistently unemployed, or those desperately trying to get back into the types of jobs they were working in before.

I contend that people are trying to secure new jobs that are similar to those they’ve done before only because they have been brainwashed to believe that’s what they must do. Certainly everyone needs to work in order to make money to support themselves and their families, but if people truly had a choice, would the jobs they’ve lost (or left behind) really be the same jobs they’d want back if they had the opportunity to make a different choice? I believe the answer is, “No.”

When reviewing the larger picture of your life, what do you see?

Certainly the ups and downs of life present us with challenges. But many of our challenges are a result of the wrong thinking indoctrination we have been programmed to believe. We believe happiness is just around the corner if only we do this thing or that thing, that happiness will be found and the respect of others gained by achieving society’s goals; that earning enough money will automatically eliminate all of our other problems. We have been programmed to believe that any sacrifices of our physical health, relationships and spiritual well being made while we seek career success are worth it. But most people are disappointed to realize after securing their respectable dream job that it does not result in the happiness they worked so hard to achieve. They realize that they were chasing goals that actually prevented them from living in the NOW-which is all there is.

If your obituary were written today, what would it say about your life? How would you want to be remembered? How would you like your accomplishments in life to be honored?

Sit down now and write the things that would be important to mention about the five key areas of life: your job/career, your financial stability, your marriage and family, your physical vitality, and the ways you give back to society.

I was at a funeral recently for a hard-working man who died in his eighties. For over an hour one person after another stood up and conveyed memories of their times spent with him. Each person presented a different observation of the man’s admirable qualities, based on their personal interactions with him. No one spoke of his career accomplishments or his financial success. Finally, a little elderly woman slowly stood up. “In the end,” she said, “the best that can be said of him is: He was a good man!” Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.

Rewrite the story of your life to be more than your job/career.

Certainly facing a job/career or financial crisis is very scary and stressful. Not knowing when you’ll get your next paycheck or if you’ll be able to hang onto your job (if you still have one) can become an all-consuming worry. But look at the positive side of your situation: If you are struggling in the job market or financially-and perhaps you have nothing to lose-this is a great opportunity to reinvent your life to be exactly what you want it to be. By seeing that trying to live up to society’s expectations did not guarantee your success, or happiness, but only resulted in disappointment and disillusionment, you are in the most powerful position of your entire life. Instead of being afraid, for one day, allow yourself to view your situation as having unlimited possibilities. Now is your chance to create the life you really want, a life that is truly meaningful. Now you can begin living your second life.

Playing the game of life to win.

Winning at the game of life requires achieving balance in all five key areas of life. This isn’t always easy, particularly when we have been indoctrinated to believe that the dictates of society’s rules are more important than honoring our life purpose by mastering our God-given gifts.

The ideal is that each of us is a sum total of all that God has given:

- Our job/career provides us the financial resources to support ourselves and loved ones materially while giving back to society.

- Our physical health is the vehicle that houses the soul and carries us through our every day endeavors.

- Our relationships (with ourselves and others) are a reflection of our values, principles and beliefs.

- Our spirituality provides the consciousness of living in Oneness with all other living things by being of service to others in our every day lives while fulfilling our own life purpose using our God-given gifts. While mastering these five key areas of life you can begin living A Second Life , being the best that you can be.

A proven system for making your job search more successful is detailed in the life manual, A Second Life, God is giving you a second chance. It contains an extensive chapter with detailed guidance on how to find a job, interview tips, winning the job and creating a job insurance policy once you’ve got the job. It also tells you how to fully develop all five key areas of life, so that if you are struggling in the job market, you won’t feel like the world is going to end. Go to the Web site: ASecondLife.com to download a free book excerpt and articles containing more job/career tips.

Several years ago, while volunteering in my children’s school, I had one such people-watching occasion that continues to haunt me more than five years later. A class of grade 4 students was selecting purchases from the annual book fair. At the centre of one boisterous group, a good looking boy, who I will call Ian, was using verbal teasing that verged on bullying to exercise control and power over those under his thrall. Of course, I am probably reading more into the situation than was really there, but the thought that came into my mind as I watched him was “snake oil salesman.” Under Ian’s direction, the boys eschewed books of any kind, and invested their funds in novelty pens, fancy erasers and instantly forgettable knick knacks.

Over in the senior-level book section, a young girl, who I will call Laurie, carefully reviewed the jacket covers of  novels targeted to teens. After thoughtful consideration, she chose a book by one of my favourite authors. We spent a few minutes discussing other books the author had written, and I assured her she would find the latest novel a thoroughly enjoyable read. Laurie struck me as bright, articulate, and very insightful for a nine year old, and I was confident that this was a girl who would be going places in her life.

With the completion of her transaction, Laurie joined the line of students who were waiting to return to their classroom. But before she did so, she handed all of her change over to Ian, and I overheard her say, “here, I don’t need this.” She was blushing as she said it, and it was evident that Laurie was in the throes of a crush. Ian, on the other hand, behaved as if having money freely given was the natural order of things. He immediately bounded over to the novelty table, “some girl gave me money”, and bought another junk trinket.

I was sorely tempted to tell him that this “some girl” had a level of intelligence that he could only dream of. More to the point, I wanted to grab Laurie by the shoulders and give her a shake, warn her not to undersell herself like that, and tell her that the “Ian’s” of the world are a dime a dozen, but the “Laurie’s” are a rare and precious commodity. I didn’t of course. Some lessons can only be learned by living.

Why was this incident so memorable? Because it represents in microcosm what so many of my clients – particularly professional women – do to themselves during their careers. They undersell their strengths and abilities, and fail to recognize their personal worth.

All too often, clients – both women and men – come to me with original résumés that are merely a laundry list of job duties. They are reluctant to toot their own horn, and don’t have a measure of what they have accomplished. It is only after we start an intensive interview process, and I begin to dig beneath the surface, that these clients get a hint of their true value proposition.

The Office Administration case study (anonymized to protect client confidentiality)  in my web portfolio is an example of one such client. Hannah arrived in my office looking defeated. She had been laid off four months before, and was struggling to even get an interview. I looked over her original résumé and wasn’t surprised. While she had dutifully chronicled each position she held over the past ten years, there was no “meat” attached to any of them.

As we began the process of exploring her accomplishments, I was amazed at the wealth of untold story in her career path. There were administrative systems that were set up from scratch, complex client and supplier relationships skilfully managed, a backlog of accounts receivable issues resolved, and innumerable process improvements that greatly increased operational efficiency. With each new accomplishment uncovered, Hannah sat up a little straighter, and her eyes began to brighten. When she left my office, she had a renewed energy and confidence in her job search, and that was even before she had a copy of her new résumé.

I am pleased to say that, within two weeks of distributing her new value-focused résumé, Hannah was invited to three interviews, and has accepted a position as Office Manager with a mid-sized marketing company.

And Ian and Laurie? The last I heard, Laurie was an honours-level student who, thankfully, had outgrown her earlier self-consciousness and was an active leader in her high school. Ian, on the other hand, had a difficult transition from his small-pond big-fish grade school environment, and was struggling to find a place for himself in the “new normal” of high school life. Restorative justice? Not really. Ian just needs to re-invent his own value proposition.

Coaching is no longer reserved to sports teams. It is now one of the key concepts in leadership and career management. Why is coaching popular?

Coaching is a solution-focused approach and recognized discipline used in people development to help clients articulate their dreams, desires and aspirations, clarify their mission, purpose and goals. It is a unique form of helping people to build self confidence realise your true potential through a process of uncovering and eliminating limiting thinking patterns and behaviours in your life. This is achieved by empowering individuals with specific tools and scientifically tested techniques that work.

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman. Moreover, it is a behaviour or role that leaders enforce in the context of situational leadership.

Coaching builds up confidence and competence.

Individual career coaching is an example of situational leadership. It aims to mentor one-on-one building up the your confidence by affirming good performance and increase competence by helping the individual assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development.

Coaching promotes individual and team excellence.

Excellence is a product of habitual good practice. The regularity of meetings and constructive feedback is important in establishing habits. Coaching sessions constantly highlight and expose individuals’ strengths and direct focus on actions linked directly with developing his/her excellence.

Coaching develops high commitment to goals.

Coaching helps you to balance the attainment of immediate targets with long-term goals towards the vision of an organization you work for or you own. As mentioned earlier, with the alignment of personal goals with organizational or team goals, personal interests are kept in check. By constantly communicating the vision through formal and informal conversations, the individual is inspired and motivated. Setting short-term team career goals aligned and making an action plan to attain these goals helps sustain the increased motivation and commitment to the long-term broad goal.

Coaching produces valuable leaders.

Leadership by example is important in coaching. A coaching leader loses credibility when he/she cannot practice what he/she preaches. This means that a coaching leader should be well organized, highly competent is his/her field, communicates openly and encourages feedback.  By vicarious and purposive learning, coached individuals catch the same good practices and attitudes from the coaching leader, turning them into coaching leaders themselves. If the individual experiences good coaching, he/she is most likely to do the same things when entrusted with formal leadership roles.

Firstly, remain calm in the morning. Nervousness is natural but don’t let it overtake you and affect your behavior. If nervousness leads to anxiety and shows on your behavior with others, it will lead to a negative impression of you. So, keep anxiety at bay and go with a confident and positive outlook. In fresher jobs, other colleagues and your boss would know that you come with no prior experience but that does not mean that you allow yourself to be taken for granted.

Dress up appropriately for the job. Irrespective of whether you know the dress code or not, dress up in formal attire. This projects a professional image of you. Being a fresher, are not expected to wear a formal suit to work but a full-sleeved shirt with a tie and formal trousers would work for boys. Girls may want to opt either for a salwar-kameez or a formal trouser with a business shirt. Eventually, even if your job profile does not require you to dress up formally, you cannot take that liberty on the very first day. Once you find out what the dress code, you can adhere to it later on. Since your first impression counts a lot, you must make sure that you make the right first impression. It will also speak about your approach towards the job.

On the first day, when you reach the office premises, you will have to undergo an induction process. Generally, this is done for all levels- jobs for freshers, jobs for mid level or jobs for senior level. At office, an executive from the HR department would meet you and take you through all the formalities. Since you are a fresher and have no prior experience in these things, you would get all the required guidance and assistance required to go through this process. Also, you must not hesitate in asking and seeking help if you are stuck anywhere. Once the induction formalities are over, there might be an orientation programme on the same day. It might be conducted a few days later too. The purpose of the induction programme is to familiarize you with the goals, objectives, values and the ways of working of the organization.

After this, when you are seated at your desk, and are being introduced to the rest of the members of your team, make a little extra effort to get to know people in the same department. Try and be friendly with everybody. Also, make an extra effort in finding out what your job profile entails. Be inquisitive and open-minded. Read up about the company and its history. It is good to be inquisitive but make sure you ask intelligent questions. You would not look like a fool by asking questions but they must express your desire to learn and not as stupidity. In fresher jobs, your seniors would know and expect this from you.

From the first day itself, create a professional image of yours. That does not mean that you do not make friends at work but remain focused and professional in your approach towards things. Don’t compromise work to make friends and don’t act and sound casual with things and the responsibilities given to you. Since your first job is like your launch pad, it is for you to decide how you want to utilize this window of opportunity to give you a successful career ahead.

Apart from these small tips, there are other general things that can help you establish a positive picture f yourself in your first job. For instance, being polite to everyone, willingness to work extra, keenness to learn new things and pushing yourself extra to achieve perfection in whatever you do are things that will ensure that you make a good start to your career.

It is quite rare, however for one to start as manager immediately. This job entails the worker to start below and move up the ladder after several months and years, depending on your work environment. An excellent way to start is by starting out in a job you like. Inform and show signs to your employer that you are also interested in a managing position, and spend the next months proving to them that you can be a good manager. Chances are you’ll get promoted to a managerial position after a certain amount of time. Then try holding the career and earn a few awards here and there for a few years to prove to the company that you have staying power. This can be your jump-off point to applying for management positions in other corporations without starting from the ground up, and the best method there is to starting a career in management.

However, if early on you realize that the field of management really is for you then get a degree in one. Many colleges and universities offer a degree related to the kind of skills you will use as a manager. A degree in Business Administration, for example, equips you with useful skills in your management career. From there, they should be able to point you to a major that will best suit your career goals and get the entire essential skills in managing groups.