Thanks to everyone who linked to the Career Intensity Blog and received a free advance reading copy of Career Intensity.  The demand was tremendous.

If you missed out on this opportunity, you can still read some portions of the book for free over at the Career Intensity web site. 

So far we have posted the Table of Contents and the entire Introduction. 

If you would like to preorder a copy of the book click here.   Keep in mind that they will make great graduation gifts.

Thanks again for your support!

Filed under: Career Intensity - The Book
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Certain qualities are attractive and propel you toward goals, no matter what the field or area of life in which they are exercised. No matter who you are and where you go, you will get ahead if you:

Make smart, bold decisions.
Whatever you decide to do in life or your career, go all in. The force behind a clear and strong decision pushes you ahead to success. Even if you discover you are on the wrong path, confidence in your decision-making abilities will make it easier to alter your course, should you need to do so.

Flex and bend.
Seldom does everything go according to plan. While you should never waver on your goals (unless in the process of working toward them you realize you really do want something else), be open to the possibility of taking an alternate route to reach your destination.

Play well with others.
In life and in business, you have to interact with, understand, and convince all kinds of people of all kinds of things. Being personable and sociable to anyone and everyone will educate you and train you to get what you want in any situation.

Filed under: Accelerants
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The Entrepreneur:

• has high tolerance for risk
• finds new and improved uses for old ideas
• is an aggressive, passionate individual committed to the success of his career

The Intrepreneur:

• is often the first and best at critical tasks
• develops new ways to improve the value of her company’s business
• is a talented individual who creates value, preferably at low risk, usually in a corporate environment

Which of these traits do you already possess, and which could you consider developing in yourself? Some of these, such as risk tolerance, most of us either have or don’t have. Others, such as creativity and passion, can be improved through purposeful effort.

Filed under: Self Awareness
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We hear them all the time.  He’s a “workhorse”.  She’s the “smartest person in the company”.  He can’t close a big deal. Being type cast is often part of the work environment.  What should you do about it? 

Well, it depends upon how it effects you. In some cases being typecast is not a bad thing.  Being labeled “the next big thing” can be helpful in getting a choice assignment or soliciting help on a project.  After all, people love to surround themselves with winners.

If you are typecast negatively – like being the guy who can’t close the big deal – the best thing to do is to go right at the crux of your critic’s argument.  In the case of this example, the best thing to do is to keep quiet, keep working hard, and land a big account.  That will generally shut everyone up.

People talk.  That’s just a fact of life in the office.  If you become typecast your best bet is to work your way out of it.

Filed under: Self Awareness
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Last week I encouraged interviewees to ask their future employers the question, “Is that the best you can do”?  This is a tactic to feel out the company making a job offer to see if there is potential to increase the compensation package. 

Careerbuilder surveyed 875 hiring managers and found that 60% of them leave some “slack” in their offers to candidates.  So six times out of ten you would get a favorable response to my favorite question.  What is even more interesting is that one in ten of these managers thought less of a candidate if he didn’t ask for more money.

When you ask, you should bring some evidence for your request.  In that same study, 34% of the respondents said that they wanted some type of evidence to justify giving the increase.  The managers said they wanted specific examples from past employment to justify upping the ante. 

Thanks to Free Money Finance for pointing us to this information.

Filed under: Negotiation
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As you may know, I’ve been giving advance reading copies of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs away for the past couple of days.  The response has been overwhelming.

I have just a handful of books left and I want to give them away by the end of the day tomorrow.  Here are the guidelines: 

Write a post in your blog that contains a career development tip and link back to this blog and I’ll hook you up with a copy of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs.

If you need some ideas scroll down through The Career Intensity Blog.  There are over 300 posts here to inspire you.

Here are some guidelines:

• Link as much as you want but we can only give out one book per person.
• E-mail me a link to your post along with your address and phone number (I need to know where to send the book). My e-mail address is on the bottom of the sidebar on the right.
• Be sure to ping all of the blog-search sites after you post.  Here are a couple of services that will help you: Pingoat  or   Ping-O-Matic
• This offer ends when we run out of advance reading copies of the book.  We only have a few left so hurry! I’ll update this post when they are all gone.

Filed under: Career Intensity - The Book
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A Forbes Article posted last week and written by Scott Reeves has a money quote we should all take to heart.  Here it is:

“Jobs can kill you in different ways,” says Berch Parker, 37, a member of the Contra Costa County (California) Sheriff’s Department. “I didn’t look forward to a slow death behind a desk–I wanted to be enthusiastic about going to work every day.”

The article goes on to say that 87% of workers are unhappy in their jobs.  Although that figure may be a bit high (I’ve heard 50–60%), it does highlight the level of dissatisfaction in the workplace today.

How can you change this?

First: Take stock of your situation.  What are you passionate about?  Where do you add value?  Is there an opportunity for you to provide value to your current employer?  Can you provide more value to a different company?  Are you comfortable with risk?  Could you potentially go out on your own?

Answering these questions will help you come to grips with you current situation.  If you answer them honestly you will get a healthy dose of reality.  You’ll gain an understanding of some potential areas of opportunity.

Next: Put your talent, skill and knowledge to work.  Find a place where you can add value and go for it.  If you’re not making a difference in your current role you need to get out.  You owe it to yourself to make the most of what you have to offer.  Find a place where you can do just that.

Finally:  Demonstrate your value over and over again.  Show the world what you can do.  Get people talking.  Let the world beat a path to your door.

The key is not in doing this one time.  It is in doing it continuously throughout your career. 

Filed under: Career Commonsense
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We’ve talked a lot about attitude, but the point cannot be stressed enough. A great attitude can make a dump feel like a palace, and a bad one can make a castle feel like a shack. Whatever is wrong right now, with your career path or your life, pretend it isn’t for a while. Get yourself into a frame of mind in which you believe life is going along just as you’ve planned. Make the best of everything you’ve got. Then, from that positive and proactive place, you will have much more energy to achieve all the things you really want.

Filed under: Accelerants
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Many people have a mile-long list of goals they’d like to accomplish. Maybe you want to travel the world, own your own company, give a speech in front of 1,000 people, learn to play guitar, and have a fluent conversation in Japanese sometime in your lifetime. Or maybe, on the other end of the spectrum, you have no idea what you want to do. Whichever of these extremes describes you, it would benefit you to figure out which of your goals are the most important and which will be most worth your while.

Think about what you really want out of life. What’s most important to you? Do you want great relationships, a happy marriage, good friends, a nice home, financial stability, career success, health, unique experiences? Most of us want all of these things.

Make a list of everything you really want. Then make a list of all the goals you have considered. Which of your goals will fulfill the greatest number of wants?

For instance, owning your own company may mean that you can have better financial stability, which will make it more possible for you to travel, have more free time to pursue unique interests, and spend quality time with your spouse and friends. Figure out one to three overarching goals that produce the most desirable results, and bring them to life.

Filed under: Goals
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I have posted the entire Introduction from the book up on the book’s web site. 

Click here to read it.

Enjoy! 

Click here to pre-order the book.

Filed under: Career Intensity - The Book
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The world moves fast.  We often rely on technology to help us keep up. When making a connection with another person is critical, nothing tops an in-person meeting.  Sitting in a room with someone face-to-face allows the other party to completely experience your personal brand.  This experience takes place on many levels. The expression on your face, the tone of your voice, the look in your eyes all helps represent who you are and the nature of your visit.

Many people take this idea lightly.  I often hear people say that in-person meetings are a waste of time and money.  While it is true that you can save money by having conference calls and video conferences, the in-person meeting still has a place in business. 

Whenever people question the value of a face-to-face meeting I tell them the story of a young hotel manager from Northern New Jersey. This young man was wide-eyed and aggressive.  He was tasked with marketing a new hotel that was opening in an industrial area.  The young manager spent a significant amount of time researching the market and putting together a marketing plan.  He believed that he had thought of every detail.

When the time came to share this plan with the SVP of Marketing in his company, the manager made a compelling case.  He cited his facts and figures.  He referenced the market segmentation study he had completed.  He articulated a simple yet effective plan for his new hotel.  Or so he thought…

After the presentation, the SVP berated the young manager and told him that the plan would never work. She said it was too simplistic.  She said that she would come up with a better plan and present it to the hotel’s owner.  

The SVP of Marketing had always felt threatened by the young manager. She did not want the owner to see the true talent this manager possessed.  She also wanted to make sure the owner did not establish a direct relationship with this manager.  The SVP feared that the owner would see the young man’s marketing talent and replace her with him.

The manager was furious with this situation. He felt strongly that his plan was solid.  He knew in his heart that it would work.  He could not stand by and watch as his ideas were summarily dismissed. The manager knew that he would need to speak with the owner directly to make certain that his ideas were given a fair review.  The manager felt that it was his job to do what he thought was best for his business. He also felt that this was a meeting that needed to take place in-person. The owner needed to see the passion the manager had for his hotel. 

The manager drove eight hours to the owner’s office for their appointment.  He made a compelling presentation.  At the end of the meeting the owner thanked the young man for his ideas and his passion for the business.  The manager left the meeting and felt good as he drove eight hours back to his hotel.

About one week later the manager received some interesting news.  The owner met with the SVP of Marketing (after he met with the manager). It seems that she presented the manager’s plan as her own – down to the last detail.  The owner immediately saw what had happened and fired the SVP of Marketing.

In the end, it was not the fact that the SVP of Marketing adopted her subordinates work as her own that prompted the owner to fire her. It was the fact that the manager was passionate about his business and the SVP of Marketing was beating that passion out of him. 

Had the manager just met with the owner over the phone, the meeting would have not had the same impact.

Two years later when the hotel manager was promoted the owner used that meeting as an example of his passion and dedication to the firm. 

There is no substitute for an in-person meeting to give the other party a sense of your personal brand.  Consider this carefully as you look to climb the corporate ladder.

Filed under: Personal Branding
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We know that you should promote yourself by starting to blog. If you want to learn how to blog, Mike Sansone can teach you.  Everybody who signs up for the workshop will receive a copy of career intensity.  Here are Mike’s favorite parts of the book:

• Chapter 1 - Three Lies of Career Limitation. Learn how to blow the roof of your career ceiling. See page 24
• Chapter 2 - “Act As if..” has been a mantra of mine for a long time. As an employee, a manager, and a developer of communities. See page 37.
• Chapter 3 - Plan for Contingencies - Now I know what the “C” is in Plan “C”.
• Did you folks know I used to drive a cab? Yep (Loved it!). The story on Page 86 was how I operated. Wait until you read that story!
• Chapter 6 - Mastering the Random Encounter. Nobody will ever be a stranger again.
• Chapter 8 - Generate Buzz. The author practices what he teaches.

Mike has given me some good advice on blogging and I’m certain he can help you learn to blog and a blog can help you promote the value you provide.  It’s a winning formula.

Filed under: Career Intensity - The Book
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In case you missed them, here are the most popular posts from The Career Intensity Blog last week:

Get a Free Copy of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs – Link to this blog and get a copy of a great book before you can buy it. 

Meeting in Person Makes an Impact – Face-to-face is the best forum for sharing important information.

Five Things to Remember When Creating a Personal Brand Strategy – Establishing a personal brand is critical to a successful career.  Here are five things you need to know about personal branding.

Slacker Manager Reviews Career Intensity – A review of Career Intensity by Bren at Slacker Manager.  He liked it.

Become a Master Persuader – The first steps to getting what you want.

Read the Career Intensity Table of Contents – Here it is.  Get a great preview of the entire book.

How to Receive a Job Offer – A guide to making the most out of your next job offer.

Filed under: General Information
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I’m amazed by the enthusiasm for my free book offer.  We have already had a number of bloggers respond.  If you’d like a free copy of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs follow the guidelines below.

Write a post in your blog that contains a career development tip and link back to this blog and I’ll hook you up with a copy of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs.

If you need some ideas scroll down through The Career Intensity Blog.  There are over 300 posts here to inspire you.

Here are some guidelines:

• Link as much as you want but we can only give out one book per person.
• E-mail me a link to your post along with your address and phone number (I need to know where to send the book). My e-mail address is on the bottom of the sidebar on the right.
• Be sure to ping all of the blog-search sites after you post.  Here are a couple of services that will help you: Pingoat  or   Ping-O-Matic
• This offer ends when we run out of advance reading copies of the book.  We only have a few left so hurry! I’ll update this post when they are all gone.

Filed under: Career Intensity - The Book
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Want a free copy of Career Intensity? 

I want to give you one. 

Write a post in your blog that contains a career development tip and link back to this blog and I’ll hook you up with a copy of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs.

If you need some ideas scroll down through The Career Intensity Blog.  There are over 300 posts here to inspire you.

Here are some guidelines:

• Link as much as you want but we can only give out one book per person.
• E-mail me a link to your post along with your address and phone number (I need to know where to send the book). My e-mail address is on the bottom of the sidebar on the right.
• Be sure to ping all of the blog-search sites after you post.  Here are a couple of services that will help you: Pingoat  or   Ping-O-Matic
• This offer ends when we run out of advance reading copies of the book.  We only have a few left so hurry! I’ll update this post when they are all gone.

Filed under: Career Intensity - The Book
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It can be difficult to win over the hearts and minds of others. We make appeals to the people we encounter each day in an effort to get the to help us.  David Maister offers a thorough list of those appeals on his blog.  Here is his list:

• The Personal Request – Do it as a favor to me. I’ll owe you one.
• The Ego Protection Ploy – You’ll look bad in the eyes of others.
• The Team Play Appeal – It’s important to the team.
• The Fun Promise – You’ll enjoy it once you start doing it.
• The Isolation Gambit – You don’t want to be the odd person out.
• The Guilt Plea – You’re a better person than that.
• The Values Volley – It’s consistent with what you believe in.
• The Perspective Point – It will pay off for you in the long run.
• The Have Mercy Message – Other people will suffer if you don’t.
• The Contractual Comeback – You agreed to this when we discussed it.
• The Principle Principle – It’s the right thing to do.
• The Context Framer – When you do this, it has the following consequences for others.
• The Achievement Temptation – You could get good at this if you wanted to.
• The Recognition Response – People will really think highly of you if you do this.
• The Desperation Resort – Do It and We’ll Pay You (We promise.)

We often use these in tandem or in multiple combinations.  Notice how these are all emotional appeals.  In business we often make our case from a rational point of view.  We lay out the facts and figures and list the benefits to the recipient of the information. Yet this rational methodology fails about as often as it is successful.

A better approach is to combine an emotional appeal with the rational approach. Humans are emotional creatures.  How we feel influences our judgment and decision-making as much as what we think.  The next time you make a case to someone, be sure to link emotions with the rational components of the decision.  This will help you gain a commitment faster.

Filed under: Selling Yourself
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Seth Godin pointed us to a great site developed by a guy who is looking for a job in advertising.  His name is Jeff Clark and his best advertising project to date is marketing himself. 

Think about it:  Jeff’s site has been written about by Seth on his blog.  Over 10,000 people read Seth daily.  Many of those folks blog.  As of today, 10 other blogs had linked to Seth’s post on Jeff. Imagine the exposure Jeff is receiving? 

This is word of mouth marketing for the individual. Anyone can do this.  Set up a simple website. Put your site’s URL on all of your correspondance.  Tell your friends and neighbors and ask them to pass it along.  Add some remarkable features to your site to make it “sticky” – give people a reason to talk about it. 

Filed under: Personal Marketing
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Are you being underpaid?

Use this salary wizard to find statistics on pay in your field. Compare these figures to your income. If you are earning less than you should be, take a printout of this information to your next performance review and negotiate a better salary.

Many people are daunted by the prospect of asking for better pay, but remember—the worst thing they can say is no. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Filed under: Negotiation
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How rare is great customer service these days? In my experience, very. When a staff member goes out of his way to look after me, it makes a powerful and lasting impression. My faith, respect, and trust in this person and the company he represents skyrockets at once.

Make a point today of going out of your way to help a client, coworker, supervisor, or stranger. I guarantee your positive action will come back to you, most likely tenfold.

Filed under: Accelerants
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Business Week gives an excellent suggestion for selling yourself in an interview:

“You want to promote yourself, I know. But too much puff is a huge turnoff to employers. The key to presenting yourself as accomplished yet modest is to introduce all self-promoting topics with an air of humble gratitude, even mild bewilderment. ‘I’m not quite sure how it happened, but I won the Nobel prize.’”

This is really the best approach to self-promotion of any sort. Let’s face it—some people are threatened by accomplished people. An effective way of making them feel more comfortable and accepting of your success is presenting the facts gracefully and simply. Revealing the human and fallible makes people feel that something good is within their reach, too, and that is mesmerizing.

Filed under: Selling Yourself
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This CNN Money article, “Secrets Your Company Doesn’t Want You to Know”, points out once more that everyone has his own best interests at heart and reminds us that it doesn’t make sense to put your well-being in the hands of your employer. Anything your company invests in you is ultimately for its own profitability and success. You are the only one who’s looking out for your best interests. Keep the big picture of your life and career in mind, and make decisions on your behalf.

Filed under: Career Commonsense
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Those who have the most useful skills and talents are the most valuable to their company and market. Here are three tips for maximizing your career value:

1. Stay on top of new technologies and trends in your field. Take classes, learn new programs at work, or take on new responsibilities through which you can expand your knowledge. When you know how to do something that other people don’t, they will often look to you as the expert. Naturally, this will draw attention to you and your work and attract more opportunity in the future.

2. Pinpoint your strengths and develop them so you become a standout in that area. When you excel at something, the natural evolution is for you to become among the best at it. Doing so will build your reputation and the trust that others have in you.

3. Identify areas of greatest need in your company or field. Answer the call with actions geared toward solving those problems. Anyone who addresses a nagging concern will be seen as a hero who saves the day. That’s exactly the place you want to be.

Filed under: Career Intensity Challenge
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When someone offers you a job you need to stop telling them why you deserve it and start thinking about how to make the situation work to your advantage. When an offer is presented, for the first time in the interview process, the candidate has the power. Here is an effective protocol for receiving a job offer:

Thank the person for the offer. This is the time to appear humble.  You’ve spent a significant amount of time telling your counterpart how great you are and now they believe you.  Let them know that you are honored and flattered that they value you.

Ask for time to think about it. Even if they offer you the most money you ever thought you’d get try to let some time pass.  If nothing else, it shows your future employer that you are a rational decision maker.  If you join them, they will be investing in you.  An impulsive person is seldom given big responsibility.  Even if you just take an hour, take some time before responding.

Ask if that’s the best they can do.  It takes courage and tact but it works.  After you have taken the time you need to think things over, simply ask your counterpart if that is the best offer they can make.  On some occasions (and this has happened to me and a few people I know) they will counter-offer right away.  The key to doing this is to appear nonjudgmental and unemotional. Say something like: “Once again, I want to express how flattered I’m am with your consideration. Before I make my final decision I’d like to know if that is your best possible.”

Once you say that shut up.  Watch the reaction (if you are in person) or listen to their reaction (if on the phone) carefully.  If there is silence, DO NOT SPEAK.  Let the other party break the silence. If they ask why you are asking this question, simply say something like: “This is a major decision and I want to be certain I have all the information.  Is this your best possible offer?”

If they ask you what you are looking for and you feel compelled to answer directly give them something that is a stretch but not impossible. Ask for more than you expect to get but not so much that you look like a pig. If you want more money, say you want (insert salary here – 10% more). 

Now comes the gut-wrenching part.  Ask for more time again after they answer.  Even if they counter offer.  When you call back the next time you need to have a decision.

Accept or reject the offer with grace. This is the time for flattery. Complement the company. Complement the offer presenter.  If you reject the offer, give them a reason. If you accept, make sure you get the information in writing before you quit.

Every situation is different so you must use your best judgment when you receive a job offer.  Keep in mind that few companies, if any, offer the maximum amount of pay and benefits right of the bat.  There is almost always more you can get (either in an additional benefit or more pay) if you ask.   

Filed under: Negotiation
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When was the last time you let someone know about a success in your life? A lot of people refrain from talking about what they’re doing right because they don’t want to be seen as arrogant. Some people even go so far as to dismiss any praise that comes their way.

Now, humility and modesty are all well and good. Sometimes. But in the realm of your career, where it is critical that you stand out from the crowd, people need to know what you have to offer that is unique and exceptional. You don’t have to boast about yourself constantly to make people aware of your accomplishments. But don’t be shy about sharing your successes. Not only will you draw positive attention toward yourself, you will most likely inspire other people to win, too.

Filed under: Selling Yourself
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Attitude is important in life.  There’s no doubt about it.  Your mental approach to you career can enable your success or it can doom you to failure.

Careerbuilder has an article posted at MSN titled 10 Attitudes of Successful Workers that drives this point home.  Here are the 10 attitudes and my thoughts on each:

I am in charge of my destiny. This is one of the fundamental principles of success in any field.  You must accept accountability for your actions in life.  You have choices and those choices make up your destiny.  You choose the way you act and you chose the way you react.  Your destiny is in your hands.

Anything is possible.  If you believe it, you can achieve it. The human mind is an amazing thing.  To achieve greatness you must first believe that it is possible.  Start by constructing your dreams in your mind. Remember, the most successful people in the world are human beings just like you.  If they can do it, you can too.

No task is too small to do well.  Every activity has the potential to get you noticed. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing correctly.  You can never tell when the right person will be watching.

Everyone is a potential key contact.  Be nice. Go out of your way for people. Help out when you don’t have to.  Spend an extra minute asking people how they are doing.  This will not only make you feel great about yourself, it could pay off in the long run.

I was made to do this job… and the one above me.  This is a great job.  If it’s not, why are you doing it? You are a professional.  If you are being paid, you need to act as if you were born to be in your role.  If you want to get ahead you need to act as if you were born to be in your boss’s role too.  Anticipate her needs and get things done before she asks you to do them.  This will get you noticed.

It’s not just what I know, but who I know.  Most high-profile jobs go to insiders.  People who know people find out about things before everyone else.  If you would like opportunity to knock you have to position yourself to receive it. Think about who you know.  Work your network.  Randomly send out cards or notes to people to keep in touch. 

What else can I do?  Go a step above what is expected.  Go beyond what is normal.  Make people recognize you.  If you’re not sure if you can do more, ask.  Sometimes just asking will get you noticed.

Failure will help pave the way to my success.  Every time you attempt something you are a step closer to your ultimate goal.  Even if an action fails to produce the desired result, the learning you receive from attempting it will help you move forward.

I am my own biggest fan.  If you don’t tell others how great you are, nobody will.  Let people know about your accomplishments.  Don’t be shy.  Your future depends upon your ability to demonstrate your value to others.

My opportunity monitor is never turned off.  Fortune favors the well prepared.  Look for a chance to make a difference in your career every day.  We all are presented with numerous chances for success.  When the next opportunity presents itself will you be ready?

Filed under: Self Awareness
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Whether you’re at an interview, meeting a new client for the first time, or getting to know someone at party, make eye contact. This may seem very obvious, but I am often surprised at how rarely people establish and maintain eye contact. They look away, they look at their hands or feet, they look at the paperwork in front of them. To get ahead, you’re going to have to connect with people and make them feel that you are on the same side.

For many of us, our daily routine is rushed and impersonal. Making a real connection with someone is so refreshing and unusual that it’s bound to grab our attention. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Show them you have a lot to share and nothing to hide by looking them in the eye.

In addition to fostering a connection, eye contact communicates confidence and openness, which gives your counterpart all the more faith and confidence in you.

Filed under: Career Commonsense
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If you want to be successful as an Intrepreneur or an Entrepreneur you need to promote the value you can provide. This promotion will lead to many things but most of all it will help you generate positive word of mouth (also known as referrals).  This is gold in the world of Career Intensity. Superachievers cultivate referrals.  That’s how people land a great job before it is publicly available.  It’s also one of the most effective ways entrepreneurs market themselves.

One great way to promote yourself is to share your expertise with the world through a blog.  Short for Weblog, a blog is simply a web site that is updated regularly that allows you to share your thoughts with the world.  Most often, blogs take the form of an on-line journal, complete with dates and archive pages that keep your articles (known as “posts”) organized.  Each post is like a separate web page on the Internet.  The more pages you have up there, the more likely it is that people will stumble upon your valuable information and expertise.

I have been amazed by how many people I have come in contact with just through blogging.  I’ve also learned quite a bit by reading blogs. 

Start blogging and get noticed!  Who knows what could happen.  Your next great job could be waiting to find you.

Filed under: Personal Marketing
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Table of Contents

Introduction: Take Charge of Your Career

Your career is what happens while you are moving from job to job. We often measure progress by how quickly we move up the corporate ladder. We are content to take our performance reviews and our cost-of-living increases and move through our careers believing that this is the success we had hoped for. If we are lucky, a big event shakes us up and we realize that there is more out there for us. There is more value we can provide. We can make more money, have more fun, and help more people all at the same time. It can happen.

Chapter One: Compete in the Individual Economy

Developing a high-impact career involves understanding the changing dynamics of the business world. Today’s economy places enormous value on the performance of the individual. Successful people stay out in front of the latest initiatives. They create value within their organizations and do not wait for a roadmap to guide them or for a supervisor to tell them what to do. This drive for continuous, individual improvement—Career Intensity—is the hallmark of successful Entrepreneurs and Intrepreneurs.

Chapter Two: Channel Your Passion

A great career begins with an attitude adjustment. The mindset of career champions is noticeably different than the thinking of the rank-and-file. Top performers focus on providing value in every interaction. They realize that they are only effective if they face and defeat their fears. Superachievers know their strengths and weaknesses. They look for opportunities to do what they do best and pursue those opportunities aggressively. They channel their passion into an emotional competitive advantage that makes them unstoppable.

Chapter Three: Embrace Strategic Thinking

Successful businesspeople think long term. They weigh decisions based upon their impact on the big picture. They develop a personal strategic plan and use it as a framework to analyze the choices they make each day. It helps them prepare for any possibility that may surface and adds to their strength and confidence as they make decisions.

Chapter Four: Attack Your Goals

Translating the strategic plan into action is something an individual with Career Intensity does flawlessly. She sets short-, medium-, and long-term goals and aggressively works to achieve them. All of these goals are integrated and build upon one another. This approach helps to create a wave of momentum that leads to exceeding her highest career expectations. 

Chapter Five: Create Your Own Luck

Superachievers often describe themselves as more fortunate than their peers. This good fortune has little to do with chance. A combination of hard work and impeccable timing allows these winners to seize the moment of opportunity more often than the rest of the world. In many cases, they see opportunities where others see only obstacles. They are well-prepared, and when the moment is right, they strike with the force of a giant.

Chapter Six: Prepare for Every Interaction

Making things look easy is hard work. High-value individuals go the extra mile when they prepare for a meeting or event. They even seem to know what to say during a random encounter. They focus their preparation just as a detective focuses when he builds a case. They spend the time necessary to have a solid understanding of the desired outcome of each party in each situation. This preparation allows them to anticipate the needs of the other party and develop a deep and lasting relationship.

Chapter Seven: Master Perception

Individuals with Career Intensity have a distinct brand. They continuously work to maintain a specific image in the minds of their customers. This focus on their personal brand is critical to their future. Perception is reality and superachievers manage perception carefully. They work hard to build and maintain their reputations in the eyes of their customers.

Chapter Eight: Generate Buzz

Successful individuals are skilled at marketing themselves. They develop a marketing plan that not only helps them position their personal brand, but that also creates awareness of the value they provide. Word of mouth is the way superachievers communicate their personal brand promise to the world. These focused individuals build tremendous buzz, and they convert it into advancement opportunities.

Chapter Nine: Become a Master Persuader

Turning ideas into reality is critical to any successful career. This is not a solo effort. People with Career

Intensity are outstanding at convincing others to help implement their solutions. This often means having people adopt the best ideas as their own. Successful individuals are master persuaders who have subtle skills to help them get things done.

Chapter Ten: Maximize Your Career Value

Almost every action of an Intrepreneur or Entrepreneur is focused on increasing his value to his organization or business. These achievements increase the value of his career. Superachievers understand their own potential, and they draw a straight line from where they are to where they want to be. They follow that line as a guide toward their dreams, and they let nothing stand in their way.

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Forbes.com’s Loving the Job You Hate Feature offers tips for making the most of a bad job situation. In my opinion, the best piece of advice offered is: “Communicate. Let the boss know your achievements and problems. Create a sense of teamwork. Define the problem at hand and offer ways to solve it.” This is the best way to set yourself apart and earn better opportunities within the company.

This article estimates that as many of 87% of people don’t like their jobs. For most of these people, I would recommend significant and lasting change, rather than minor progression in their current situation. I agree that you should evaluate where you are now and consider whether untapped oppotunities are sitting right in front of you. If not, the key is to find your passion, determine career areas that allow you to pursue it, and go for it.

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Dress for success, the clothes make the man, you are what you wear – the cliches are endless.  They are also true. People make judgments based upon first impressions.  It’s unfair but that’s just the way of the world.

Fewer and fewer executives are willing to take chances when it comes to their professional appearance.  Gone are the days of selecting a white shirt to go with you navy blue suit and red tie.  Today you need to find a professional way to demonstrate a sense of professional style while maintaining some individuality.  Where does an aspiring executive turn when they need assistance in this area?  To a consultant, of course.

The Association of Image Consultants International (AICI) is a great resource for locating individuals who specialize in this field.  These folks can help you with everything from clothing to hair style. Some even offer tips on hygiene and etiquette.  They will analyze your body type, assess the different events you attend and make recommendations to match each situation. 

All of this advice comes at a price, after-all these folks are consultants.  Hourly fees vary however you can expect to pay anywhere from 100 to 250 per hour for their services.  In the long run, if you have any interaction with the media, these fees may be well worth it.

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Phil Gerbyshak from Make it Great provides us with three tips on finding help when we need it.  Phil says:

1. To enlist the help of others, the first thing you need to do is ASK for help. Most people are more than willing to help you, but you MUST ASK.
2. The next thing is, you must be willing to ACCEPT their help, and don’t worry about paying it back. Again, helpful people love to help. Let them dig deep to help you. It feels good to help others, so let them.
3. Last thing to remember is to always say THANK YOU. In fact if you want a really impactful thank you, send a personal note of thanks, and follow that up if you can with a personal phone call at an unexpected time, or if you can’t get a phone number, a nice personal e-mail thank you is nice too.

Good advice.  Ask, Accept (without feeling guilty) and Thank.  If you can do that, you will increase your chances for success by a factor of ten. 

For more on this topic see:  Asking for Help is Smart

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There is an interesting article by Alison Overholt in the March issue of Fast Company titled Creating a Gem of a Career.  Ms. Overholt hits on a few of the points we regularly discuss on The Career Intensity Blog.  Here are some of the ideas from the article that I think work: 

Networking is key and the web is enabling it.  The article highlights web services availabile from colleges and universities.  Those resources combined with services like LinkedIn and Plaxo not only allow you to remain connected with fromer coworkers and classmates tehy also alow you to get automatic updates when they make changes in their career.  Not only do you have a way to reach them, you can also see where they are and if they can be helpful for your career.  It is equal to having your perpetually updated resume out on the street.

Communication is important.  A Liberal Arts education is back in fashon.  Learning to research and update your skills – learning how to learn – is critical. Being able to market yourself is also as important as being able to calculate financial ratios. 

Work on multiple careers at once. Focusing on one speciality for decades is a thing of the past. Learning to expolre several opportunities at once (like being a part time entrepreneur) is the key to a successful future. 

It appears that some of the principles of Career Intensity are slowly creeping into the mainstream.  Let’s see if we can give them a push.

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A couple of weeks ago CNN Money posted an article that highlighted five professions where you could expect to find big bucks in the next few years.  Smart Lemming provided us with a good summary.  Here are the “big five”:

• Accounting: College graduates with an accounting degree but not yet a CPA designation might make between $35,000 and $45,000 a year, or up to $50,000 in large cities like New York. After a couple of years they can command a substantial pay hike if they move to large company as an internal staff auditor or to a smaller company as controller. At that point, their salary can jump to anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000. If they choose to return to a public accounting firm as an audit manager after a couple of years at a corporation they can earn a salary of $70,000 to $85,000.
• Sales and marketing: Sales and marketing in the healthcare and biomedical fields offer some handsome earnings opportunities for those on the business side. Business development directors, product managers and associate product managers working for medical device makers, for instance, can do quite well for themselves if they develop a successful track record managing the concept, execution and sales strategy for a medical device before jumping ship. An associate product manager might make a base salary of $55,000 to $75,000. A product manager can make a base of $75,000 to $95,000, while a business development director may make $120,000 to $160,000. Those salaries don’t include bonuses. The business development director seeking a vice president position could boost his base to between $150,000 to $200,000 — depending on whether the new company is a risky start-up or established device maker.
• Legal: Patent lawyers working for a law firm might make $125,000 to $135,000 to start or about $90,000 if they work for a corporation that’s trying to get a patent or to protect one they already have. With a couple of years’ experience, they can expect a 10 percent jump or better when they get another job.
• Technology: Two tech jobs in high demand these days are .NET (dot net) developers and quality assurance analysts. Developers who are expert users of Microsoft’s software programming language .NET can make between $75,000 and $85,000 a year in major cities when they’re starting out. If they pursue a job at a company that seeks someone with a background in a given field (say, a firm looking for a .NET developer experienced in using software related to derivatives) they might snag a salary hike of 15 percent or more when they switch jobs. Those who work in software quality management, meanwhile, might make $65,000 to $75,000 a year and be able to negotiate a 10 percent to 15 percent jump in pay if they switch jobs.
• Manufacturing and engineering: Process and manufacturing engineers might make between $65,000 and $75,000. With an LM certification and a few years’ experience, they can command pay hikes of between 15 percent and 20 percent if they choose to switch jobs. A plant manager making between $90,000 and $120,000 may expect to get a 10 percent raise or more.

My thoughts:

Any job on any list that appears with wide reach (such as CNN or Money) is probably going to have a glut of people flocking to that field.  In other words, this information has been common knowledge for quite some time.  So if you prepare to enter this field you will not be alone. I would rather see my clients disrupt the status quo by finding a new way to to provide value.  Rearrange some existing components of your current industry to create a new solution to an old problem.  Do some things people say can’t be done.  Do some things people say will never work.  Prove people wrong.

That’s how you stand out - regardless of your industry – or regardless if your position is “hot”. 

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Entrepreneur magazine offers a few time control tips, one of the best of which is Start Your Day Right. What is your morning ritual? If you’re always rushed, consider getting up just ten or fifteen minutes earlier so you have time to ground yourself and get a good start. Maybe having breakfast over the morning paper would make you feel calm and ready to have a great day. Perhaps you just need a bit more time to meditate on the day ahead. Try it for a week. An extra quarter hour might be enough to improve your outlook so much you end up making much more of the entire day.

And of course, if you’re having trouble getting up in the morning, you’re probably not getting enough sleep. Lack of rest can wreck your productivity (not to mention health, physique, and attitude).

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Seth Godin offers us some more great insight in his post on reasons.  Here it is:

• The reason they teach biology before they teach chemistry in high school is that biology was invented first. Even though you need chemistry to do biology, but not vice versa.
• The reason that you have a water bubbler in your office is that it used to be difficult to filter water effectively.
• The reason that Blockbuster exists is that VCR tapes used to cost more than $100.
• The reason that SUVs have a truck chassis is that the government regulates vehicles with a truck chassis differently.
• The reason you have a front lawn is to demonstrate to your friends and neighbors how much time and energy you’re prepared to waste.
• The reason the typewriter keyboard is in a weird order is that original typewriters jammed, and they needed to rearrange the letters to keep common letters far apart.
• The reason we don’t have school in the summer is so our kids can help with farmwork. Or because it’s too hot and there’s no air conditioning…
• The reason there’s a toll on that bridge but not on that road is that there used to be a ferry on that river, and the ferryman needed to make a living.
• The reason you go to a building to go to work every day is that steam or water power used to turn a giant winch-like structure that went right through the factory building. Every workman used that power to do his work. As factories got more sophisticated, it remained efficient to move the workers, not the stuff.

Sometimes the reason we set out upon a task– or even a career – is dramatically different from the reason why we continue to pursue it.  It is always a good idea, every so-often to take stock of your reasons for being in the job you are in.  This is an important part of a Personal Situation Analysis.

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This insightful Economist article reports that “a product with a known brand name is judged to taste better than the same product with a generic brand” and “students, after having caught colds, believed that discounted drugs treated their symptoms less well than did the same drugs bought at their full cost”. This suggests that consumers do believe they get what they pay for, regardless of the actual quality of the product.

To me, this gives one more compelling reason never to undersell yourself, never to settle for a mediocre salary, never to offer especially low prices or unwarranted discounts on your products or services. In fact, it reminds me that I should never settle for less than I want, as I will lose esteem in the eyes of the person with whom I am negotiating. If I sell myself at bargain prices, I shouldn’t be surprised if I end up in the dollar bin!

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Bren at Slacker Manager posted a book review of Career Intensity this morning.   He liked it.  In fact, Bren compares it to airplane fuel for a car – even if your car goes fast, a richer mixture of fuel will make it go faster.  That’s just what I was going for when I wrote the book.  The ideas are designed to accelerate your career.  Bren says:

“This is the second career focused book that I’ve read recently (the other had something to do with being radical) and though it isn’t as flashy as the other one, it is by far the most grounded and practical of the two. In addition to laying out the tenets of his philosophy, Dave often uses stories to illustrate his points. I found this to be a helpful technique for me–especially when I wasn’t quite sure I agreed with something he wrote, he’d illustrate the point with a story from his experience or someone he knew.

The book is broken into ten chapters….Each of the chapters is pretty well packed with good information about adding fuel to the fire.”

As an added bonus, if you want to receive an advance review copy of the book, Bren is giving away some copies.  Just leave a career development tip in the comments under his book review.  There are already a few comments up there so hurry or you could miss your chance.

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People who present well are often invited to take the fast track to success.  Delivering an entertaining and impactful presentation is a great way to demonstrate your value. Guy Kawasaki is one of the best in this area.  He regularly delivers compelling content in a way leaves everyone wanting more.

Below are some tips from Guy on presentation skills and style.  Click here to see his entire list.

Have something interesting to say. This is 80% of the battle. If you have something interesting to say, then it’s much easier to give a great speech. If you have nothing to say, you should not speak. End of discussion. It’s better to decline the opportunity so that no one knows you don’t have anything to say than it is to make the speech and prove it.

Overdress. My father was a politician in Hawaii. He was a very good speaker. When I started speaking he gave me a piece of advice: Never dress beneath the level of the audience. That is, if they’re wearing suits, then you should wear a suit. To underdress is to communicate the following message: “I’m smarter/richer/more powerful than you. I can insult you and not take you serious, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” This is hardly the way to get an audience to like you.

Tell stories. The best way to relax when giving a speech is to tell stories. Any stories. Stories about your youth. Stories about your kids. Stories about your customers. Stories about things that you read about. When you tell a story, you lose yourself in the storytelling. You’re not “making a speech” anymore. You’re simply having a conversation. Good speakers are good storytellers; great speakers tell stories that support their message.

Ask for a small room. If you have a choice, get the smallest room possible for your speech. If it’s a large room, ask that it be set “classroom style”–ie, with tables and chairs–instead of theatre style. A packed room is a more emotional room. It is better to have 200 people in a 200 person room than 500 people in a 1,000 person room. You want people to remember, “It was standing room only.”

Each one of these is a gem.  Use them and succeed.

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You goal in personal branding is to get your target market to see you as the preferred choice. You can do this by telling the world what you do differently from everyone else and why that difference is better.  Sounds simple, right?  You tell everyone why you are different and then you get them to see that difference as being better than what your competition has to offer.  Making the promise –articulating the difference – is only half of the bargain.  You must deliver on that promise – each and every time.  Don’t write checks you can’t cash. 

There are five things to remember as you begin the process of developing your personal brand.  They are:

1. You are what you are.  Popeye would be proud.  Any time you represent yourself to be something that you are not; you run the risk of losing a customer forever.  I can guarantee that you have some great qualities that can position you as different and valuable. You must be honest with your customers – and with yourself.

2. Consistency is critical.  People must be able to count on you.  This is true no matter what your business or your relationship with other people in life. If you want to impress your boss don’t complete an assignment early one time. Complete your assignments early every time.  The boss will know that you are the person to go to if she must have the critical project completed on time.

3. There are no “do-overs”.  First impressions are critical.  You can’t take back something you said to a customer.  Everything is on the record.  You should be yourself, but always remember that your reputation takes a lifetime to build and just a few minutes to destroy.  Follow the golden rule in every interaction; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  No one every truly wins an argument with a customer.

4. Clarity is a gift. Too many people use complex language to appear intelligent.  This just ends up confusing people.  Often it can make the speaker seem pompous and condescending.  Keep every interaction and every point of contact clear and simple. Be transparent.  Communicate simply and directly.

5. Show don’t Tell.  If you explain something to a person, they may get it intellectually.  If you tell them a story, show a picture or do a demonstration, they will make an emotional connection to the event, to the experience and ultimately to you.  The more senses (see, hear, smell, taste and touch) you can involve, the stronger your impression will be.

All components of your personal brand strategy should comply with these five rules.  This will help you stay on track as you develop a powerful personal brand.

For more on this topic click on the links below:

Perception is Critical

Managing Your Personal Brand

Your Personal Branding Challenge

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“If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”

                 Albert Einstein

Keeping your mouth shut is underrated.  If it was good enough for Einstein, then it’s good enough for me.

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Since I burned my RSS feed with Feedburner my subscriber number on Bloglines appears to have reset. 

Yesterday  25 people were listed as subscribers and today it is down to 2. 

Can anyone help with some insight?  Is this number accurate?  Where does this number come from?

Either respond in the comments or shoot me an e-mail. 

Thanks

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This post is a blatant attempt at sucking up to Guy Kawasaki following his own rules.

I read his blog every day and it is full of outstanding information and insightful commentary.  The added value in Guy’s blog is the fact that he has actually “been there and done that”.  If you ever find yourself doubting his advice, remember that he has actually done most of the stuff he tells you to do. 

Equally as inspiring is the fact that he actually adjusts his posts as much as we all adjust ours (if not more). You can watch each and every post evolve over time.  I have often considered quitting my job and just staring at my RSS reader for hours as Guy’s posts pop up over and over again.  I imagine myself in my comfortable chair at Starbucks letting the knowledge wash over me as I read his blog.

Alright, so I got a little carried away.  His blog is great and I do enjoy reading it.  I encourage you to do the same.  Click here to check out the latest information from Let The Good Times Roll.

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As we move closer to the publication date of Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs we will be posting excerpts of the book on the blog and on the book’s site.  It will be filed in the