Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post One

Marcy Nala presents Be Your Own Guru posted at The Abundant Life.

As someone deeply devoted to personal development, I voraciously devour books, films, and podcasts on personal development and spirituality.

This focus, which has been fairly intense the last two years or so, has had a profoundly positive effect on my life.

But there is an aspect to the whole P.D. industry that worries me. There are certain people (O.K., a lot of people) who flock to so-called “gurus” in order to learn how to live their lives … step-by-step, if possible.

I’ll give you a brief example. I rarely attend live presentations, but when I do they have been very good (I am extremely selective). Last year I attended a two-hour talk by Wayne Dyer. He was very, very good. I brought my reluctant fiancée along, and he also very much enjoyed the talk. We even bought two plastic bracelets (I think they cost $2.00 total) to support a cause Dyer was advocating.

But that was it. I left feeling great and focusing on remembering a few points from the talk that were helpful to me.

I did not — as so many did — rush up to the stage during intermission, desperate to touch the hand of this man who might solve all my life problems. I did not stare in wonder at him as he paced the stage. I did not leave with a feeling of, “I need more Wayne Dyer, more!”

But so many people do seem to need Wayne Dyer. Or Deepak Chopra. Or Tony Robbins. Or Marianne Williamson.

Worse, they tend to gravitate toward one individual so that their need is focused on one “guru” in particular. In sum, they mistake the messenger for the message.

Look, I love many of the P.D. gurus. These people deserve every penny they earn for the changes they have made in peoples’ lives. But some of their devotees seriously need to learn to “take what you need and leave the rest.”

Another example: there is a very popular P.D. guy who blogs online. Most of you probably know of whom I speak but I won’t name him because this isn’t about him … it is about his followers. Most of his articles are great and many of his thoughts make me think critically in a way that I had not before.

Recently, he posted a pet theory about something we’ll call –for the sake of amusement — The Law of Magnetism. His theory about this “Law of Magnetism” grouped 1% of people into the thoughtful camp who had decided to personally become a magnet — or not. Again, I’m using analogies here; this wasn’t the actual theory. The other common 99% of people, according to the theory, float helplessly along in life, having chosen neither to become a magnet nor to become a non-magnet.

The theory was thoughtful but, to my mind, whacked out in many respects. To me, that’s fine. The guy is smart and critical but …. he gets stuff wrong — just like the rest of us.

Nonetheless, thousands of people rushed to the forum boards wondering whether they were among those who had decided to become a “magnet” or not. How did they know which side to choose? And what did the guru mean when he said X … and how did it apply to their lives?

It was crazy. It was like someone proclaiming that 99% of us are drifters, and 1% of us are magicians — but we have to decide which kind of magician … and then everyone re-framing their life to decide whether they are a magician or not. And what kind of magician precisely?!?!

People, please resolve to be your own guru. Even if a modern day certified savior were to appear and set out certain life precepts, wouldn’t you want to question these precepts and — if you decided you agreed with them — determine how to structure your own life accordingly, by means of your own critical thinking? You would not (I hope) run to this modern day savior and ask him or her about every detail of how to live your life. You would understand that we must know our own selves, and that we are all part of a divine intelligence that has given us the tools to take the basics and construct our own abundant lives.

At least I hope so.

I am not dismissing the gurus here. Rather, I am critiquing the phenomena of people desperately attaching themselves to one guru, taking everything the guru says as the Word, and then figuring out how they should live their lives according to the guru and that guru’s Word.

This is why so many people consume ridiculous amounts of products and seminars from particular speakers. Buying some books and films from various sources is one thing; hungrily devouring everything produced by one human being is another.

Please learn to listen to yourself. Read the books and listen to the podcasts. But be a critical thinker and take only what you need.

In short, be your own guru.

Editor’s Note:  The Title of this post on The Career Intensity Blog is intended to poke fun at Dave Lorenzo – who serves as The Business Guru for MaxBizAdvantage.com

 

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Two

Steve Faber presents How to Get A Raise – 4 ways to Make Sure Your Boss Says “Yes” posted at Debt Free.

There are three legs in your personal financial triangle you can use to get debt free; 1 - Make more money, 2 - Reduce your expenses, 3 - leverage your existing resources to do more with what you’ve already got. In order to improve your personal finance picture and get to debt freedom, you can use any combination of the three. Making more money is nice because you can use #3, leverage, to increase its effect even further.

Many people don’t get as many raises as they should, either because they never actually ask for one, or because they don’t do what they should to make sure their boss says “Yes!” when they do ask. Here are 4 things you can do to make sure you’ll get that “Yes” when you go after your pay raise.

Be careful about using another job offer as leverage. If you plan on taking the other job anyway, fine, take the job. If however, you’d really rather stay put, you should be very tactful when you present the fact that you’ve got a better offer, and you’d like your firm to match it.

1 – Have all your ducks in a row. If you want to get a raise, you need to be ready. Have all the reasons why you deserve a raise ready to present to your boss, in a clearly organized fashion. Not only will the reasons support your pay raise, but the fact you are so organized and actually have your supporting documentation will be a reason in itself for your boss to give you that raise.

2 – Think about it from your boss’s point of view. If you were your employer, what would it take to make you say “yes” to your pay raise? This is vitally important. Business owners, understandably, tend to think about things from a business perspective. They value high quality employees and don’t want to lose them. Looking at the question from your bosses point of view will help you think about why they should say “yes”, and what you can do to help them say it.

3 – Increase your value. Do what ever you can to increase your value to your company. This will actually take a bit of planning and groundwork. Think about your job functions and how you can do them more efficiently. You may have suggestions on how to improve your job’s process or your company’s overall efficiency. Additional training will almost always be viewed as a plus, especially if you undertake it on your own time and it directly benefits your job. If you’re in a sales position, remember that you are directly impacting your company’s bottom line. The more you bring in, the better the firm’s revenue, and ultimately yours. If you are compensated with a commission, obviously increasing your sales will increase your income. Increasing your value doesn’t mean working your fingers to the bone with endless hours of unpaid overtime, however.

4 – Propose a Different Pay Structure – Maybe you would be better compensated if you had performance bonuses or some other compensation structure that rewarded you commensurate with the value added you gave to the company. It happens in pro sports all the time. Players will be incentivized for hitting certain performance targets. An extra $50,000 for every touchdown over 15 per season, or $125,000 for each sack past 5 on the season. It’s normal in business for the same thing to be negotiated as part of a compensation package, and perhaps it would work for you too. A bonus structure is a win-win for all concerned. It gives the employee a chance to achieve greater compensation, and it gives the employer a chance to compensate the employee only for quantifiable value increases.

You could also look at getting unconventional compensation in lieu of just money. These are great in many cases, because they allow your employer to make use of underutilized resources, and you to benefit from them. Maybe you could get a company car or use your firms recreational property a few times a year. The possibilities here are endless, but vary tremendously depending upon your company.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Three

The Positivity Blog presents How to Make a Great First Impression posted at Personal Development with The Positivity Blog.

First impressions can be quite important.

Everyone stereotypes everyone on first impression, even if we are reluctant to do it.

We all get a first impression of a new person that creates a mental image of his or her personality in our minds.

That image of you often lasts and can affect the relationship that follows.

Another thing is that we often play different roles in relationships. With our parents we play one role, with friends another, with someone we are interested in/in love with a third, when shopping for clothes in a store a fourth. And so on.

A good or great first impression can create a positive role in the minds of the new people we meet. When we meet them again, we are often drawn back into this role. Sometimes it happens almost unconsciously until you after a few minutes notice that you have fallen into your old role - like when you meet friends you haven´t seen in years - in that dynamic once again. You may not always be drawn into that role. But if you do it sure is better to have a positive than a negative role saved for you.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned about improving first impressions. Of course, different environments like business meetings with suits and ties or parties with umbrella-drinks come with different goals and expectations so figure out what´s appropriate and useful in each meeting.

Act as if you are meeting a good friend
If you just imagine that the person you have just met and are talking to is one of your best friends you’ll probably adjust unconsciously and start to smile, open up your body-language to a very friendly and warm position and reduce any nervousness or weirdness in your tone of voice and body-language. Don´t overdo it though, you might not want to hug and kiss right away.

The nice thing about this is that you may also start to feel positive feelings towards this new person, just as you do with your friend when you meet him/her. This is a pretty good starting-point for getting them to reciprocate and for developing a good relationship.

Keep you body-language open
Smile. Don’t cross your arms or legs. Turn your body towards the people you’re are shaking hands with or talking to so that your body language is friendly and open. Make relaxed eye contact – don´t stare – when talking or listening. Don´t look the person in the eye all the time. When you break eye-contact try to do it kinda slow, don´t let your eyes just dart away. Making eye-contact can be a bit hard or scary but if you work at it you´ll get used to it.

For more tips, you may want to have a look at 18 Ways to Improve Your Body Language.

Stand up straight
Keeping a good posture certainly improves on the impression one makes. Don´t slouch. Sit or stand up straight.

Be positive
Sometimes you can go in all positive in a first meeting. Sometimes it may not be the best approach to go in too positive as it can be seen as bit abrasive or inappropriate. A better way to convey a positive attitude in a first meeting can then be to read the mood of person(s) before you start talking – by just watching them - and then match it for a short while. Then - when you have an emotional connection and the other person feels you are similar to him/her - you can let your positivity arise a bit more.

Regardless if you start out positive from the get-go or a short, short while into the meeting, be sure to positive. If you, for instance, start a first meeting by complaining, there´s a big chance the people you meet will mentally label you as a complainer or a negative person.

Don’t think too much
Try, as much as possible, to stay outside of your head and focus on the people you are talking to rather than focusing on yourself.

Mentally rehearse before you even enter the room
Visualize how great the events will unfold - see and hear it - and also how great will you feel at this meeting.

See yourself smiling, being positive, open and having a great time. See the excellent outcome in your mind. Then release by visualizing that it has already happened, that the meeting is over with the desired result. This is surprisingly effective and will get you into a great and relaxed mood before even stepping into the first, second or twentieth meeting.

You may also want to check out the ever-popular Do you make these 10 mistakes in conversation? for more information on stuff like listening, hogging the spot-light, what to talk about (and not to talk about) and the very common need to be right.

What you say isn´t that important
I´d say that mental rehearsal followed by acting as if you´re meeting a friend are the most important parts of all of this. They often solve the rest of pointers in this article unconsciously and automatically and keeps your thoughts focused outwards instead of inwards.

The problem with an inward-focused meeting - where you focus on what you just said, how you look and what the other person thinks of you right now - can reduce anyone to a bumbling, second-guessing, fidgeting shadow of their former self as the self-consciousness becomes almost paralyzing.

Also, as long as you try to use the first and the last point it doesn’t really matter too much what word or phrase you use to start the conversation. The words are only 7 percent of your communication. 93 percent is in your tone of voice and your body-language.

So, a simple “Hi!” may do just fine.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Four

Joan Schramm presents Accelerating Momentum; Maybe They Just Don’t Like You! posted at Accelerating Momentum.

Everyone knows people at work who are extreme annoyances. They’re everywhere – drinking all the coffee, interrupting your work, brown-nosing the boss and generally making everyone else’s life miserable. Of course, you’re not one of “those” people. Are you?

Here are the top five reasons people at work just don’t like you.

1. “It wasn’t last November. It was October!” Details, details, details. Sure, you’re the smartest person in the room. But do you have to constantly prove it? No one cares if the sky is plain blue, robin’s egg blue, or cyan. You’re not the next Ken Jennings, so let it go and maybe people will start inviting you to lunch again.

2. Gossip Central. You know every tiny detail about everyone’s personal life, and you have a very good memory. Well, keep it to yourself. If you want to stay on a friendly basis with your co-workers, learn to keep your mouth shut.

3. Clean up your act. No one wants to see your leftover lunch dishes in the sink, or the splatters inside the microwave, or the half-empty cups of coffee on your desk that now look like a science experiment. Your mother doesn’t work here, so clean up after yourself.

4. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Do you spend most of your day wandering around, dropping by other cubicles just to chat up your colleagues? Maybe…just maybe…they have work to do, which is why all you get are grunts and “uh-huh” in response. Go find your cubicle and stay there.

5. Helpless Harry. At the first sign of difficulty, you back off and start to whine. You can’t work the copy machine. You don’t know how to change your phone message. You’re lost if you have to refill your stapler. Please. You’re an adult. If you can drive yourself to work, you can make a two-sided copy.

Take a long look at yourself and see if you recognize any of these types lurking inside. If you do, make a promise to yourself to do a personality overhaul and start enjoying your work life more.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Five

John presents Bad Bosses: Coping (and Ranting) posted at Queercents.

A recent survey by Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.com suggests most of America is happy with their boss. I was astounded. Were they asking monks? The survey also suggests that employees aren’t as satisfied with top executives, however. Now that makes a bit more sense, but not entirely.

Here’s my bias. I’m not the biggest fan of authority. In fact, I’ve been known to portray bosses I’ve had as demonic, deranged, diabolical, brain-dead and/or hateful of all humanity. Maybe it’s just bad luck with bosses, but really I’d rather be my own. I’m also a creative-type, and working for corporate America is not my thing. Maybe that’s everyone who posts on Workrant.com.

Now and again I need some advice dealing with bad bosses so that I can keep my job that’s paying the bills. Thankfully Yahoo! had another winner of an article this week called Bad Boss Blues: Tips for Surviving Challenging Supervisors. Take a look at the five types of bad bosses. Which one is your boss? How do you cope? Please share.

Yahoo! hotjobs presents these five bad bosses:

1) “The Box of Chocolates: As with selecting a bonbon from an assortment, you never know what you’re going to get with this boss. The manager may confide in you one day and turn a cold shoulder the next.”

2) “The Bully: This boss has a consistent disposition: overbearing. This type of supervisor also tends to be gruff with others and is easily frustrated.”

3) “The Control Freak: This person wants to know every detail of every project. He or she also has trouble delegating tasks, and may not give you very challenging assignments.”

4) “The Mute: This manager lets staff members “figure things out on their own.” Because this person relies on email — and works behind closed doors — you rarely have the opportunity to clarify ambiguous messages.”

5) “The Best Friend: This person is afraid to set standards because he or she wants to be liked by everyone. This manager frequently relinquishes responsibility for the sake of friendship, compromising the team’s ability to function.”

All of the coping advice offered by the Yahoo! article is helpful, but not complete. Your bad boss may be a combination of a few or all of these. I’d love to hear how you cope.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“Leadership is demonstrated at the moment of need. You learn to be a leader by acting, by doing.”

– Carlos Ghosn

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.”

Golda Meir

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Harry Joiner at Marketing Headhunter points out why it is critically important to answer this question.  He says:

“ I interview a ton of candidates, and my first call with them always includes the question “Why did you leave your last job?”  Come to think of it, I have never seen a candidate get hired without having to answer this question.  Not even once. So get good at explaining why you left.  Your interviewer doesn’t want all the gory details about why things didn’t work out in your last job.  But the hiring company’s due diligence requirements compel the interviewer to ask – and you should have a brief, logical, professional answer that reflects well on you and your former employer.  When in doubt, be hard on the issues and soft on the people.”

Great advice. 

Never, ever say anything negative about your former boss.  Always talk about the issues. 

You never know who you are going to run into (or work for) in the future.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

– Thomas Edison

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Most people don’t like what they do.

This sets them up for big problems.  

Why?

People who hate their jobs are more likely to:

Get fired – If you hate your job it is more difficult for you to concentrate.  If you lose focus you are more likely to make mistakes.  If you make mistakes consistently you will get fired.

Get sick – Your emotions affect your immune system.  If you are miserable, you will become run down and you are more likely to get sick.

Lose friends – People get sick of friends who complain.  In fact, the number one reason most people stop talking to others is because they complain.  Imagine how much you will complain if you hate your job.

The bottom line is this:  You need to do something that makes you happy.  If you don’t you are in for trouble.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big.”

– Babe Ruth

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Here are the latest posts from the Carnival of Career Intensity:

Karen Lynch presents No Matter What posted at LivethePower.

A few years ago I saw a famous actress being interviewed on T.V. The gist of the conversation was how she Loved acting, how she felt compelled to act and how she would still want to act even if she never made any money from it. Acting was her passion, her joy, her modus operandi for life.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

Scott H Young presents Be Decisive posted at Scott H Young.

Decisiveness is defined as being “characterized by firmness and decision.” Being decisive means that you have the ability to decide. From the strength of a decision you then have the ability to act. Leadership requires that you are able to make key decisions effectively. Decisiveness then simply means being the leader of your own life. Decisiveness is both a skill you can build and an internal state you can summon when you need it.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

Peter Kua presents There is only ONE reason an employee stays posted at RadicalHop.com.

Many companies think they can hang on to talented employees by paying them generously, well above market rate. Wrong! Maybe a fresh grad might habitually job hop, going after pay increment after pay increment. But fresh graduates usually don’t become the best workers simply because of their deficiency in industry experience.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

Thom Singer presents Your Personal Vision Of Success Makes The Difference posted at Some Assembly Required.

Successful people think differently. How differently will directly attribute to how successful they become. I recently heard a successful executive of a top-tier company credit her rise in corporate America by saying, “I do not destroy things. From early in my career, when I touch something I have made it grow”. This was not bragging, it was a statement of the facts - she has done exactly that over thirty plus years.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

Charles H. Green presents Trust Tip 35: Reciprocity, Sales and Suicide Hot Lines posted at Trust Matters.

In his classic best-seller Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,  Robert Cialdini lists the main forces or dynamics which explain how we come to be persuaded to believe what another tells us or asks us to do.

Chief among them is the idea of reciprocity: if you do for me, I will do for you.

For those in sales or advice-giving roles, It’s tempting to read this as a suggestion to exchange favors.  But it would be wrong.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

Thanks to everyone who submitted a post.

The Carnival of Career Intensity appears every Saturday on The Career Intensity Blog. 

Send your posts in by 5PM Friday evening to be eligible. I select and print, in full, the five posts that I feel best exemplify Career Intensity.

To enter e-mail your best article to Carnival at CareerIntensity.com.  (Replace “at” with @). 

If you’re looking for an easier way to enter the carnival, just fill out the form at http://blogcarnival.com.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“I don’t know that there are any short cuts to doing a good job.”

– Sandra Day O’Connor

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post One

Karen Lynch presents No Matter What posted at LivethePower.

A few years ago I saw a famous actress being interviewed on T.V. The gist of the conversation was how she Loved acting, how she felt compelled to act and how she would still want to act even if she never made any money from it. Acting was her passion, her joy, her modus operandi for life.

It’s obvious why she is an Academy Award winning actress. She has the passion. She found her niche. She lives in the flow of her life and it carries her to the greatest achievements. We see it on the big screen. She feels it in the depths of her soul.

A question that often comes up about the Law of Attraction is why everybody doesn’t create success at whatever it is that they want. An example that everyone seems familiar with is Hollywood. Why do some people go to Hollywood with the big dream yet they never are able to fulfill that dream? Do they not want it as much? And if we can “be, do or have” anything that we want then why, Why don’t we all create the success?

Well perhaps the answer lies in the old adage “Know Thyself”. We all have talents and strengths but more importantly we all have passions. I mean real passions, the things that keep you going, the things that give your life meaning, the things that you would do “no matter what”. “No Matter What” as in no money, no awards, no accolades, no recognition, no matter what you would do it anyway, just for the Joy of doing it.

There is a distinct difference between going to Hollywood because you “want to become a star” and going to Hollywood because you feel a “passion, a deep desire and a stirring in your soul, a compulsion to actually act, to be an actor”. Do you see the difference? The actress I spoke of had the passion, she didn’t do it to become a “star”, she did it because she loved it. She felt a compelling desire to act, not for the accolades and awards but rather for the Joy. It was her passion that carried her to stardom. That does not mean that there are no doubts, no questions on the road. In the same interview the extremely talented and award-winning actress had a moment of candor, an expression of being human. She said that she often wonders why she is chosen for the roles and if she can actually pull it off. Talent does not always recognize itself. But she recognized her passion; that was clear.

When you discover what gives your life meaning, what you love to do, what your life’s purpose is, your thoughts and your vibrations are on the doing, the perfecting, and the fun, joy, happiness and fulfillment of your path. That is when deliberate creation and the Law of Attraction work in your favor because your thoughts and your vibrations are purely on your passion.

So it really is important to consider what it is that you want and why it is that you want it. One caveat to consider is the fact that passion and the true rewards of passion comes from inside of you, from the depths of your own soul and from the joy and the pleasure of the doing and the being. The exterior rewards, the trophies, the monuments, the accolades and the awards, they are just the bonuses.

Find your true passions, your true purpose; what truly gives your life meaning and then you can deliberately and with a pure intent create the life you truly want.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Two

Scott H Young presents Be Decisive posted at Scott H Young.

Decisiveness is defined as being “characterized by firmness and decision.” Being decisive means that you have the ability to decide. From the strength of a decision you then have the ability to act. Leadership requires that you are able to make key decisions effectively. Decisiveness then simply means being the leader of your own life. Decisiveness is both a skill you can build and an internal state you can summon when you need it.

The virtue of decisiveness hasn’t received a lot of support lately. With world leaders refusing to admit mistakes when the evidence becomes overwhelming, their apparent decisiveness seems to be a fault. Others question whether decisiveness causes hasty decision making resulting in costly mistakes.

Decisiveness does not mean being stubborn, arrogant or hasty. Decisiveness is simply the ability to decide with speed and clarity. In any situation the ability to decide is crucial. Whether it is with an emergency room doctor or the high school graduate debating what to do with her life, without clear decisions there can be no action and no results. Inside your skull sits the most powerful processing unit in the known universe but without decision it goes unused.

The reason people aren’t decisive isn’t because that is an effective strategy for problem solving. Indecisive people act that way simply because they assume others will make better decisions for them. These people end up being subjected to the whims of others and have to rely on the thinking power of others to survive.

Decisiveness also means being able to make clear decisions quickly. In any decision you should decide a course of next action in only a few minutes, even if the decision is simply to do more research or brainstorming. Until you have made a clear decision though, you are simply procrastinating and wasting time. Few people decide what to eat for dinner in less than a minute, hardly the decision that begins the course of action to influence their entire life.

Being decisive is simply the most rational way to take on any problem. You observe the information you have available and then you decide what would be the most successful course of action. If it is possible to get more information, you decide how to get it. If you can’t get more data, you simply decide with the facts available.

Instead of being decisive, most people procrastinate. They don’t spend more time researching but simply avoid the decision entirely. Asking someone who is dissatisfied with his life what he plans to do about it, usually the response will be a confused stare. Without a decision no progress can be made.

Decisiveness in Uncertainty

Although it would be nice if we lived in a world where perfect information can be retrieved readily, being decisive ultimately means recognizing when you already have the best information you are going to get. At this point you simply need to make a decision with the faulty information at hand and move forward. Waiting longer is just delaying the inevitable, so you must decide even in the face of uncertainty.

The best decision is the best one you can make with the information available at the time. In Texas Hold’em poker, novice players might fold a hand that they later realize would have won. These players then believe they made a bad decision because unexpected cards came up. Professional players understand that whether you should have bet or folded doesn’t depend on the cards that came up but what the best decision was with the information you had at the start. Just because you win one hand with a 3 and a 9 doesn’t make this a good hand to bet on next time.

Even outside the casino you need to understand that almost all decisions will be based on incomplete information, and the best choice you can make is with the information you have. You can’t know for sure whether your business idea will fail or succeed, you can gather information to help you refine it and to understand the risks, but ultimately you need to make a decision. Certainty doesn’t exist in the world and only a fool will expect to find it.

Ready, Fire, Aim…

Ultimately the majority of decisions you face will not have huge repercussions for mistakes. Often you will face greater damages by making no decision at all then by making a bad one. Even if the decision was poor, that was simply the price necessary to gather more information and make a better decision next time.

Decisiveness is not the same as being stubborn. Stubborn people continue to make the same decision repeatedly even when initial evidence offers a better solution. A decisive person will learn from each decision so that the next one has a larger base of information and is more likely to be on target.

Decisiveness as a Skill

The ability to make firm decisions quickly is a skill that can be practiced. You can start by simply timing how long it takes you to make decisions. Minor decisions, such as what movie to see or restaurant to go to, should be made in thirty seconds to a minute. Major decisions should be made in less than five, even if that decision is to do more information gathering so that a decision of action can be made more effectively.

The next time you are deciding what to eat time yourself and only give a minute to answer. Once you get used to making decisions rapidly you will start to realize that clear, firm decision making often results in better decisions then ones where you stew around with the same information over and over again. Running in circles, indecision is usually procrastination not problem solving.

Decisiveness as an Emotion

Decisiveness is more than just a skill, it is a feeling. There must have been moments when you felt decisive. Certainly it felt different then when you were confused and unsure. Decisiveness is similar to a feeling of confidence, strength and assuredness.

Think back to a time when you felt particularly decisive. How did you hold yourself in that state. You probably stood tall with your head high and your breathing steady. Your movements were probably controlled and smooth. Your voice probably resonated and projected well, it likely wasn’t nasally and quiet. This physiology is critical to your feeling of decisiveness. Try stepping into that state and you will probably feel more able to make firm decisions.

You can feel decisive at any moment by triggering the same physiology and mental patterns of when you had felt decisive before. You can modify the mental patterns by timing your decisions and recognizing that you need to decide firmly and quickly. You can modify your physiology by adopting the body posture, breathing and speech of someone who is decisive.

Don’t look for certainty in the world before deciding to act. Don’t wait for others to make decisions for you. Operate from an internal source of strength and plan the right course of action. Be decisive and choose for yourself.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Three

Peter Kua presents There is only ONE reason an employee stays posted at RadicalHop.com.

Many companies think they can hang on to talented employees by paying them generously, well above market rate. Wrong! Maybe a fresh grad might habitually job hop, going after pay increment after pay increment. But fresh graduates usually don’t become the best workers simply because of their deficiency in industry experience.

We are talking about employees with many years of know-how under their belt. As a leader, you need to know what drives them to stay on with you:

1. YOU
2. Competitive salary
3. Health benefits
4. Piece of the pie (equity, stock options, profit sharing, etc)

You are, by far, the most important reason why employees stay on for many years to come. It may come as a surprise you are more significant than money. But it’s true. A high-paying job is nothing if the manager is crappy. Employees need challenges. They need time off too. They need motivation. Your staff needs you to shield them from company politics and bullies. They need to feel your company is a GPTW (great place to work). Breadwinners need someone to talk to, and somebody to look up to. They need a good leader in you.

Easy? No. But it’s something money can’t buy.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Four

Thom Singer presents Your Personal Vision Of Success Makes The Difference posted at Some Assembly Required.

Successful people think differently. How differently will directly attribute to how successful they become. I recently heard a successful executive of a top-tier company credit her rise in corporate America by saying, “I do not destroy things. From early in my career, when I touch something I have made it grow”. This was not bragging, it was a statement of the facts - she has done exactly that over thirty plus years.

The declaration has stuck with me. This executive knows in her soul that her job is to grow business. There is never a question in her mind of “if” she can do it, she clearly focuses on “how” she will do it. I am confident that those who work with her also know that failure is not an option.

Many people get caught in the daily routine of their jobs and loose sight of the grand plan. I too struggle with the big “IF’s”. Office politics, fear, busy schedules, lack of experience, and countless other faux problems stop us from being focused on long term success.

I enjoy talking with people who are extremely successful and self-made. Most of them are confident in their own abilities to achieve, and look for ways to help others find a path to excellence. (However, you can always tell successful individuals who got “lucky”….they are the ones who are petty, selfish, guarded, and cocky! My advice is to avoid the phonies!). The genuine leaders view the only road blocks to the top as internal, and know first hand that anyone can accomplish more with the right mindset. They want others to succeed and are never jealous of another’s climb to the top (even if they surpass them!).

The sky is the limit….. if you know in your soul that the sky is the limit. If you believe the limit is the top of the fence, then that is true as well. I don’t know about you, but I want to be like the person who makes things grow.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Five

Charles H. Green presents Trust Tip 35: Reciprocity, Sales and Suicide Hot Lines posted at Trust Matters.

In his classic best-seller Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,  Robert Cialdini lists the main forces or dynamics which explain how we come to be persuaded to believe what another tells us or asks us to do.

Chief among them is the idea of reciprocity: if you do for me, I will do for you.

For those in sales or advice-giving roles, It’s tempting to read this as a suggestion to exchange favors.  But it would be wrong.

Michael Lindemann tells of his experience on a suicide prevention hotline in Manhattan.  Earnest volunteers, eager to help those in arguably the greatest need, must be trained to contradict their instincts.  Those instincts are to persuade and convince the person of the value of continued life.

Turns out, those instincts are what drive jumpers to jump.  The average call lasts twenty minutes—that is, if you spend the first ten minutes listening, which is what volunteers are trained to do.  Listen, then offer advice.  Only then. Reciprocity.  If you listen to me, I will listen to you.

Thomas Friedman (New York Times columnist, author The World is Flat),  said in his commencement address at Williams College in 2005,  “people often ask me how I, an American Jew, have been able to operate in the Arab/Muslim world for 20 years, and my answer to them is always the same. The secret is to be a good listener… Never underestimate how much people just want to feel that they have been heard; once you have given them that chance, they will then hear you.”  Reciprocity.  If you listen to me, I will listen to you.

John Gottman, author of The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, says “understanding must precede advice. You have to let your partner know that you fully understand and empathize with the dilemma before you suggest a solution.”  Reciprocity. Let me know that you have heard me, and I will then listen to you advice.

Reading Cialdini, it’s hard to doubt that the principle of reciprocity is at the heart of trust, influence, and successful selling.

What’s easy to miss is the most common and powerful form of reciprocity—listening.

Want to persuade/sell/influence someone? Then stop trying to persuade/sell/influence them.  Just listen.

Then let nature take its course.

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

– Antoine de Saint Exupery

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

It’s not fun to make mistakes.  It is even less fun to admit that you made one.

On February 6, 2007 I put up a post about reinvention that referenced the Smart Lemming Blog.  The actual content of the post was contributed by Pamela Mitchell, CLC, the CEO and Chief Vision Officer for The Reinvention Institute™.

I neglected to cite Ms. Mitchell as the source of the information in the blog post.  I have corrected that error.

Please visit the Reinvention Insitiute’s website for lots of valuable information.

I apologize for the error.

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”

– Colin L. Powell

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Do you ever get the feeling that people are just not listening to your advice?

If the answer is “yes” the problem is probably not in what you are saying but in how you are saying it.  There are three specific steps involved in convincing people to take action based upon the wisdom you provide.  Those three steps are:

1. Make an emotional appeal to the other party
2. Give them specific action steps to follow
3. Associate negative consequences with NOT taking action

To find out more, click here to read the entire post.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.”

– Theodor Seuss Geisel

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Here are the top five posts from this week’s Carnival of Career Intensity:

What Do You Want?

John Wesley presents You Aren’t Getting Anywhere Because You Don’t Know What You Want posted at Pick the Brain.

The statement, “You can do anything you put your mind to,” leads us to believe that all you must do is imagine what you’d like to accomplish, set your mind to the task, and wait for success.

To a certain degree this is true. Focused intention combined with action is a powerful force. But the statement is misleading because it fails to mention the difficulty and necessity of focusing your mind on a specific goal.

Click Here for the Entire Post

 

Building Buzz is Serious as a Heart Attack

Michelle Cramer presents Marketing with a Dash of Controversy posted at GreatFX Business Cards.

Heart Attack Grill – the name just makes you want to run, but which direction? It’s intriguing, to say the least.

So is the whole atmosphere of Jon Basso’s grease-filled restaurant in Tempe, Arizona, which opened just over a year ago. It’s that atmosphere and the controversy surrounding it, that has put Basso’s business on the map. Advertising isn’t even necessary for him these days.

Click Here for the Entire Post

 

The Best Careers for the Next Five

Steve Faber presents Top Careers for the Next Five Years posted at Debt Free.

Weather you’re in college and you think what you’re studying now will actually be the same as the degree you finally leave with or you’re looking to make a career change, you’ll want to consider what’s going to be in demand in the near future. As with everything else, the government has departments and bureaus for keeping track of that sort of thing. There are also top private firms that track career paths. The upshot is that you actually have a list of great careers to pick from.

Click Here for the Entire Post

 

Is the Grass Always Greener?

Alexandra Levit presents The Grass Is Always Greener? posted at Water Cooler Wisdom.

One unfortunate aspect of human nature is that we tend to look at other people and say: “he’s more successful, luckier, smarter, better looking, more popular, and has more money than me.”  Ambitious, driven people are particularly prone to this mindset.  For years, I myself have looked at other young authors and have been secretly jealous of them.  This person got a book deal for $300K and had her first novel published at twenty-four.  That one got to promote his book on Oprah.  And so on and so forth.

Click Here for the Entire Post

 

It’s All Personal

Hunter Arnold presents Workplace Myths: You Shouldn’t Take Business Personally posted at Make More of Your Job.

The next time someone in your office tells you that you shouldn’t take a business issue personally, punch them in the face. Once they’ve gotten back to their feet, tell them that they shouldn’t take being punched in the face personally. Telling this person that being punched in the face shouldn’t be taken personally makes about as much sense as what they told you.

Chances are you’re doing everything in your power to improve your career path and increase your standard of living. If that’s true, the best thing you could do is start taking everything at your work personally.

Click Here for the Entire Post

Thanks, once again, to everyone who submitted a post.

The Carnival of Career Intensity appears every Saturday on The Career Intensity Blog. 

Send your posts in by 5PM Friday evening to be eligible. I select and print, in full, the five posts that I feel best exemplify Career Intensity.

To enter e-mail your best article to Carnival at CareerIntensity.com.  (Replace “at” with @). 

If you’re looking for an easier way to enter the carnival, just fill out the form at http://blogcarnival.com.

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“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them to the impossible.”

– Arthur C. Clarke

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post One

John Wesley presents You Aren’t Getting Anywhere Because You Don’t Know What You Want posted at Pick the Brain.

The statement, “You can do anything you put your mind to,” leads us to believe that all you must do is imagine what you’d like to accomplish, set your mind to the task, and wait for success.

To a certain degree this is true. Focused intention combined with action is a powerful force. But the statement is misleading because it fails to mention the difficulty and necessity of focusing your mind on a specific goal.

Most of us don’t know what we want. We think we do, but we really don’t. We only know what we don’t want. We don’t want a boring job. We don’t want to be poor. We don’t want to disappoint our loved ones.

Knowing specifically what you want is much different than knowing what you don’t want. When you only know what you don’t want, your intentions aren’t focused. Consider this example.

Pete doesn’t want to be poor. He’s sick of earning less than his friends, and he’s determined to raise his status. To accomplish this goal, Pete could take many different paths. He could train for a high paying profession, such as doctor or lawyer. He could start his own company, go into real estate, or do many other things that would lead to acquiring wealth.

But Pete isn’t sure what he wants to do. He doesn’t know which path best fits his skills and personality, so he doesn’t resolve to follow any particular path.

Hoping to answer this question, he investigates a dozen possibilities, but as soon as he runs into adversity he decides that path isn’t for him and moves on to a new solution.

Pete’s actions aren’t focused. Although he works very hard, his efforts don’t build on each other. Rather than building one giant impenetrable sand castle, Pete has built twenty smalls ones that are easily toppled. He ends up confused and discouraged. Ultimately Pete’s lack of focus leads to failure.

Now, what if Pete had chosen a specific path? Suppose he decided on the law profession. His actions would have been clearly defined:

• Get a high score on the LSAT
• Attain letters of recommendation
• Get accepted to a good law school
• Decide on a field of law
• Earn a law degree
• Find a high paying job with a good law firm
• A set of specific goals is much easier to achieve than a vague end goal like becoming wealthy. Being focused on a path gives Pete a logical set of actions to follow. Each accomplishment is one step closer to the final goal.

I think we can all agree that committing to a clearly defined path, regardless of which one, gives Pete the best chance of becoming wealthy.

But how can he choose a path if he doesn’t know what he wants? Maybe money isn’t his only goal. Maybe he wants to do something he loves at the same time. Maybe he can’t afford to go back to school. Reality is complicated, and Pete doesn’t want to commit too soon.

And that’s why he fails.

But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Most people don’t fit neatly into a predefined path. Forcing yourself into one may lead to success, but it probably won’t make you happy.

This is the point. If you want to be conventionally successful, to attain wealth and status, you need to choose a specific path (preferably something mainstream) and follow it to the letter.

On the other hand, if you aren’t particularly concerned with wealth or success, you can take your time searching for that perfect niche.

Just don’t wait too long to decide. Each moment you deliberate, your already committed competitors sprint further ahead.

But, then again, maybe life isn’t a race, and maybe the most interesting people follow a path all their own.

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Two

Michelle Cramer presents Marketing with a Dash of Controversy posted at GreatFX Business Cards.

Heart Attack Grill – the name just makes you want to run, but which direction? It’s intriguing, to say the least.

So is the whole atmosphere of Jon Basso’s grease-filled restaurant in Tempe, Arizona, which opened just over a year ago. It’s that atmosphere and the controversy surrounding it, that has put Basso’s business on the map. Advertising isn’t even necessary for him these days.

The attention he’s getting revolves around items on the menu such as the Quadruple Bypass Burger and Flatliner Fries, some topping out at 8,000 calories each! Other items available for purchase include full-sugar sodas from Mexico (no Diet Cokes here) and even filterless cigarettes.

And, get this, the guys used to own fitness training studios! But, after hearing weight-loss motivated clients confess over and over about their diet cheats, Basso decided that everyone needed a place to dive into the grease once in a while and indulge themselves.

The boldness doesn’t stop there. He has already faced opposition from the Arizona Board of Nursing and the Center for Nursing Advocacy because of his waitresses being scantily clad in sexy nurse uniforms. The associations claim it “degrades” the profession, but Basso claims that it helps to “glorify the job for the younger workforce.”

And Basso is eating it all up (pun intended). After all, he’s already obtained national recognition for his grill. And, despite the negative tone many reports may take, business is booming! Can you say viral marketing?

It don’t know that the Heart Attack Grill is on my list of places to go before I die (or maybe to die, in this case), but I commend Basso for his enthusiasm, creativity and daringness to be different.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Three

Steve Faber presents Top Careers for the Next Five Years posted at Debt Free.

Weather you’re in college and you think what you’re studying now will actually be the same as the degree you finally leave with or you’re looking to make a career change, you’ll want to consider what’s going to be in demand in the near future. As with everything else, the government has departments and bureaus for keeping track of that sort of thing. There are also top private firms that track career paths. The upshot is that you actually have a list of great careers to pick from.

What is important? Well, in the grand scheme of it all, many things, but beyond things such as world peace and food for the hungry, when looking for a new career, you’ll want to consider things that impact your personal economics, security and satisfaction. The three most important factors used to compile this list are:

1 – Demand - Obviously you want to choose a career that has a high demand, so you have as many options open to you as possible. You’ll be less limited on where you can work and the companies you’ll work for. Typically the demand for a product or service has a dramatic effect on the next item on our list, money.

2 – Salaries – After investing 4 to 6 years of your life and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in a college education, you’ll be looking for a solid return on your investment. The same holds true if you’ve been in the workforce for years and are looking to make a change. In that case, you want to be sure the money will be there, although there are more reasons than money for choosing a career path. You want a job that has a high job satisfaction rating. After all, precious few careers will compensate you sufficiently for spending you life doing a job you despise.

3 – Job Satisfaction – The world is replete with tales of those leaving highly paid, high pressure careers for those with lower pay, but more job satisfaction. Remember that satisfaction means different things to different people. Some employees relish high pressure, fast paced environments, while others would just as soon spend their time in positions a little more relaxing. Typically money is a component of job satisfaction, but not everything. Factors most strongly correlated to job satisfaction in University studies include the following: autonomy, perceived control, workload, complexity, quality of coworker relationships, coworker satisfaction, and of course money.

Here then, are some of the top jobs throughout the end of the decade -

1 – Personal Finance Advisor – Hey, look at this! This should be right up the alley of those with, or frequenting PF blogs. Basically you get paid, and quite a bit too, for helping people determine what to do with their finances. You’ll be matching personal risk tolerance with investment goals to help them achieve those goals without losing too much sleep. Growth in personal financial advisors is predicted to be strong throughout the decade, at over 35%. To top it off, you’ll be extremely well compensated for your efforts with salaries topping out at far, far beyond $100,000/ yr.

2 – Software Engineer – The demand for those who create the stuff that makes us, alternately productive and happy, and then fist pounding lunatics, is predicted to be extremely strong throughout the decade. Software engineers make bank, too with salary ranges for the middle 50% from $63,000 to $98,000 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you’re an ace, you can earn well beyond $100,000 in the software engineering field, however. In 2004, the top 10% pulled in an average of $118,000, and you’d have to think that’s grown a bit by now, unless those jobs have all moved to India. You can also be a consultant or temp with software engineering credentials, if flexibility is more important to you than security.

3 – Environmental Engineer – As the furor rises over the global warming & climate change thing those of you in the northeast / midwest called BS on this winter, it will do one thing; keep demand for environmental engineering professionals strong. These folks design systems to get clean water to us and get waste away from us. They also help with recycling and pollution control. You’ll typically need alot of schooling for this sort of position, so maybe it’s not something for those contemplating a career change. However, if you want to feel good about helping the environment and walk into a good job after college, it’s a hard field to beat. You’ll be looking at a wide range of compensation. Many of these positions are with government agencies, and you know what that means; lower pay, but you can’t ever be fired. There are however, top paying positions available with oil and gas companies, and environmental consulting firms. Snag one of those, and you’ll be in line for an $85,000 to $100,000 year job.

4 – Pharmacist – You like white coats? Great, be a pharmacist, it’s the standard attire. As the population ages and our elderly have an increasing appetite for products form the pharmaceutical industry, the demand for pharmacists is predicted to be very strong throughout 2014. Not only do you get to work in a clean, whit coat, you can make some serious money as well. The average (middle 50% salary range) grocery store or hospital pharmacist grosses about $85,000 a year. You can do much better. There are stories of recent school graduates being offered positions in that range complete with hefty signing bonuses (Hey, it’s like being drafted by the Yankees). Top earners make around $110,000 a year. You can also use the position as a gateway to a pharmaceutical sales career, where you’ll make a nice livin’ too.

You can stay debt free so much easier if the income leg of your financial traingle is strong and stable.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Four

Alexandra Levit presents The Grass Is Always Greener? posted at Water Cooler Wisdom.

One unfortunate aspect of human nature is that we tend to look at other people and say: “he’s more successful, luckier, smarter, better looking, more popular, and has more money than me.”  Ambitious, driven people are particularly prone to this mindset.  For years, I myself have looked at other young authors and have been secretly jealous of them.  This person got a book deal for $300K and had her first novel published at twenty-four.  That one got to promote his book on Oprah.  And so on and so forth. 

Then, this week, I met someone who admitted that she was jealous of ME.  She said that she envied me because I became a published author at such a young age and as a result was able to shape my career around the things I felt passionate about.  She thought I promoted myself and my work effortlessly, and that when I lectured to an audience, I sounded like I had it all together. 

Now, from my perspective, the transition from full-time marketing communications professional to author and public speaker has been anything but easy.  I’ve been turned down by New York publishers so many times I’ve often doubted my own ability.  I worry constantly about whether I really have what it takes to survive in my new industry.  I try very hard to do what I do well, but that’s not always enough.  I have setbacks.  I fail. 

My point is that the old cliché is true – the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. You may think the charming, upwardly-mobile senior executive who works in your department has the best life on earth, but you’ll never really know what it’s like to be in his shoes.  He surely has his own set of problems and insecurities.  So instead of being jealous of him, look for ways to improve your own situation, since, in the end, that’s the only one that matters.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Five

Hunter Arnold presents Workplace Myths: You Shouldn’t Take Business Personally posted at Make More of Your Job.

The next time someone in your office tells you that you shouldn’t take a business issue personally, punch them in the face. Once they’ve gotten back to their feet, tell them that they shouldn’t take being punched in the face personally. Telling this person that being punched in the face shouldn’t be taken personally makes about as much sense as what they told you.

Chances are you’re doing everything in your power to improve your career path and increase your standard of living. If that’s true, the best thing you could do is start taking everything at your work personally.

In my personal experience, all but one of my jobs has been created expressly for me. Only one promotion I ever received was a job that existed before I got it. Why? Because I take my success or failure personally. If the company is suffering or stagnating, there won’t be a lot of upward mobility for me, so I’m painfully aware that the company’s future success and my own are intertwined.

If one of my businesses has a disappointing quarter, I get mad, or sometimes sad, and then I pick myself up and figure out a way to get even. If someone were to pass me over for a promotion, I’d take it personally. If someone purchased my competitor’s product instead of mine, I’d take it personally and I’d take the opportunity to learn how to ensure that it never, ever, happened again.

The bottom line? My work is a huge part of who I am. Not taking it personally just isn’t an option.

Most of us are at our jobs a minimum of 8 hours a day. That means that 1/3 of our personal time is spent as an employee (or employer). If failures or successes of the company roll right off of your back, you’re wasting a third of your life. If your boss thinks you’re lazy or wrong for a job and that doesn’t bother you, get another job. Give the success to someone who cares.

Taking your job personally can be an emotionally rattling experience full of ups and downs, but there’s no other way to live your career. If you can’t find a way to be elated by the highs and fired up by the lows, chances are someone will be telling you to not take it personally when you’re on your way out the door.

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“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them to the impossible.”

– Arthur C. Clarke

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

If you want to make your goals become real please check out Creating Your Future over at the Business Advisor Blog. 

Included in this post are the seven components that are necessary to make your goals a reality.

Please check them out – they will help you accelerate your progress.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“There’s no substitute for hard work.  If you work hard and prepare yourself, you might get beat, but you’ll never lose.”

– Nancy Lieberman-Cline

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

If you want to be successful, regardless of your position or your industry, you must have a bias for action.

What does this mean?

It means you must take action when you have a good idea. 

You must jump up and make something happen. 

Yes, you should plan.  Yes, you should be certain that your action is legal, moral and ethical.  You should also make sure the action you are about to take brings you closer to achieving your goals.

Most people spend a great deal of time analyzing their options.  They spend time over-thinking the steps they need to take and they wait for a GOOD TIME to act.

Guess what.

The best time is RIGHT NOW.

 

 

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“Man errs as long as he strives.”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

“Perseverance is the secret of success. Procrastination is the secret of failure.”

– Milton Levine

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Please visit this week’s Carnival of Career Intensity.  Here are the terrific posts featured this week:

Ditch the Resume

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post One

John1212 presents Why the Non-Resume Strategy Beats Out a Traditional Resume Every Time! posted at OhCash.com.

You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. You need a resume to find a job. Right?

Wrong! What you really need is a non-resume strategy. That’s right. A job search approach that doesn’t require you to focus all your attention on preparing and distributing a resume.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

 

Fire Your Boss - Now

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Two

Emmanuel presents You want to fire your Boss? posted at Emmanuel Oluwatosin: Inspiring Excellence, Realizing Ambitions.

To survive in today’s business environment, you need to follow a new set of rules or probably define your own rules. The old way of thinking will just not make the cut amidst layoffs, bankruptcies, and the lack of job security. Believe it or not, you can take charge of your career.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

 

8 Common Mistakes Recruiters Make

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Three

Clint James presents 8 Common Mistakes Recruiters Make posted at Static Cure.

As a frequent interviewee I have started to notice that I’m not the only one capable of making mistakes in an interview. Recruiters, even the experienced ones, have been making some outstanding and absolutely abhorrent gaffs that have made me want to pick up and leave the room on more than one occasion. If you are a recruiter or a person studying HR please read this post and take this to heart. Yes, you have the mighty power of hiring or not hiring me after an interview but please consider the person across from you. Your job is just as much trying to find the right candidate as selling the job to the right candidate as well.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

 

Step by Step Gets it Done

Carnival of Career Intensity - Post Four

Azmi Mufti presents Taking it Step-by-Step posted at American Desi Notes.

As you’re working to get a higher education or a higher position in the corporate world it may seem overwhelming to see the big picture. You may think about the entire picture altogether, and you may think to yourself that it’s hard and you may not get there.

The problem with the majority of people is that they try to look at the entire picture, instead of the little things they should concentrate on, to get to the next level of what they are trying to reach. Weather you’re a businessman trying to raise your marginal revenue, or a sales employee trying to raise your position to a corporate position, you’re going to have to take steps to get there.

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

 

Clutter Happens - Find Out Why

Carnival of Career Intensity – Post Five

Jessica Duquette presents The WHY of clutter posted at It’s Not About Your Stuff!.

Most people never stop to ask themselves WHY they clutter…they focus their attention on HOW to deal with it, WHEN will they have the time to start, WHO is to blame, or ‘WHERE can I stash this stuff before my in-laws arrive?!” Yet WHY may be the most insightful question, the one that can finally bring much-needed relief.

In the decade that I have been working with people to break through their clutter, I have come to realize that your surroundings are like a mini-biography, the tangible evidence of what you are trying to say, both consciously and unconsciously. As an example; if you’re the company CEO, then why don’t you have an office that reflects your authority? If your bedroom is overflowing with stuff, what are you telling your spouse? If your home office is stuffed high with boxes and miscellaneous junk, what are you saying to the world? If your front hallway is impassable, or your kitchen is a tornado-swept landscape, how can people get close? How can you truly nourish yourself and your family?

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Thanks, once again, to everyone who submitted a post.

The Carnival of Career Intensity appears every Saturday on The Career Intensity Blog. 

Send your posts in by 5PM Friday evening to be eligible. I select and print, in full, the five posts that I feel best exemplify Career Intensity.

To enter e-mail your best article to Carnival at CareerIntensity.com.  (Replace “at” with @). 

If you’re looking for an easier way to enter the carnival, just fill out the form at http://blogcarnival.com.

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