#Leadership: 8 Ways To Get Your Career Unstuck…You’re Bored Out of your Mind & Can’t see an Obvious Next Step Within your Current Employer

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You’re bored out of your mind and can’t see an obvious next step within your current employer. You might be stuck behind an ungrateful boss, or perhaps you’ve just been doing the same job too long. No matter the details, that feeling of “being stuck” saps your energy and makes you feel like there is no hope for your career.

manage-irrational-employees

“THBPBPTHPT!” as they say in the cartoons. That’s sheer nonsense. You just need break out of your rut. Here’s how to get started.

1.) Practice irrational optimism. Your first challenge is to escape the negative mindset that’s enveloped you. So, whatever it takes, create brief periods of time – an hour or an afternoon – during which you are irrationally optimistic. Forget about all the things that you perceive are holding you back. Just picture yourself as an incredible success, perhaps five years from now.

Read inspirational books. Watch movies and documentaries about people who overcame huge odds. Go to see inspirational speakers. Until you foster some optimism, you’ll be blind to the many possibilities that await you.

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2.) Create your bucket list of jobs. Make the longest possible list of dream jobs. These are NOT necessarily your next job; they are jobs you would love to have, in a perfect world. Think ridiculously big. Head of the World Bank. Publisher of The Washington Post. Founder of the next Google. Author of the #1 bestselling leadership book.

You don’t have to create the list in one sitting. In fact, you’ll get the best results if you keep adding to your list over an extended period of time.
3.) Fill in the details of your bucket list. As your list grows, look for patterns. Are you drawn to certain types of challenges? Do you crave prestige? Are all of your bucket list positions in education, while you work today in pharmaceuticals? Look for clues about what excites you and makes you feel energetic again.
4.) Rethink your image. Go find a mirror, and ask yourself whether you look and act the part of the positions at the top of your list. To make it easier for others to picture you in such roles, what do you have to change? Don’t limit yourself to just your appearance; look at your social media profiles, your resume, and even the ways you interact with others. You might even want to lease a new car.
Now, start to make some improvements. Take your time, and do it right. Shift your image in a positive direction.

5.) Proactively make new contacts. Use your bucket list as a guide to the type of opportunities you desire, and use LinkedIn and personal contacts to significantly expand your network. Go far beyond the people with whom you associate today; they have the “old you” image in their heads.

In my experience, you can reach much higher and further than you think, as long as you approach people with professionalism and confidence. Use these new contacts to learn about bucket list opportunities. I don’t just mean find jobs; I mean learn what it really would be like to be president of a private school, or on the board of a leading non-profit.

6.) Make a step-by-step plan. At some point, create a short version of your bucket list. These are the positions you actually want to pursue. Using the knowledge you gain from your expanded network, create an action list for pursuing these positions. Make it as specific as possible, because little tasks are easier to execute than big ones. “Use LinkedIn to find authors who went to my college” is an actionable item. “Look for ambassador jobs” is so big it will paralyze you.

7.) Rely on weak connections. When your big break comes, the odds are it won’t come from someone you’d name if you had to list the 50 people you know best. Most opportunities come from people at the very edges of your networks, such as the new contacts you’ll be making in #5 above, or from someone you haven’t spoken to since 2004.

8.) Say what you want. By the time you’ve gotten to #8, you’ve developed optimism and have upgraded your image. You’ve dreamed big and have filled in the details of how to get from Point A to Point C (your Dream Job after your Next Job). You have a growing list of new contacts.

All that’s holding you back is you. Don’t bury your dreams. Day after day, tell people what you really, truly want to do. Share your dream with them, and one of them will make that dream come true.

Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter and speaker.

Forbes.com | April 28, 2015 | Bruce Kasanoff

#Leadership: The 7 Habits Of Really Ineffective Managers…If You are an Expert on Everything & Never Wrong, you Prevent the Team Doing its Job.

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I thought it was about time I wrote a bestseller, but couldn’t come up with any very good ideas. Then I realised that I didn’t have to. I could hitch a ride on Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” It’s a great book, but Covey only covered half the topic. He talks about good habits, but someone needs to talk about the bad habits that get in the way, the ones that you need to get rid of as you develop Covey’s good ones.

ToughInterviewer

And this is where I have great expertise. I have been privileged (is that the right word?) to work with some of the world’s most useless, obstinate, short-sighted, value-destroying managers. I’ve been in situations where, if I’d had a number for a reliable hitman, I would have gone to the board for a budget and made that call.

 You see, I used to be a turnaround specialist. I was the guy they called when the previous guy had been found wanting and been fired. I met a lot of troubled companies, and noticed one very interesting thing. Some of them had been unlucky, in that a recession or sudden change in the market had caught them in a bad place, but there was always an element of rotten management involved.

So let me offer you the Seven Habits of Really Ineffective Managers, subtitle “They Made These Mistakes So That You Don’t Have To.” Avoid these seven and you will be doing well.

First habit: they have to be right. Always. About everything. I remember once, in casual conversation with a project manager, the question came up of which road it was that went from Derby to Stoke on Trent. I thought it was the A516. He thought it was the A50. The difference was, though, that he really cared about the answer. I was indifferent (I’ve been to Stoke once, and that was enough).

He, on the other hand, from his tone and body language, made it clear that he was ready for a big argument on the subject. I moved quickly to another topic. I checked a map later and it turned out, in the unlikely event that you care, that we were both half right. It’s the A516 as far as Uttoxeter, then the A50.

If he was so intent on being right even on this trivial, irrelevant, issue, what was he like on questions that mattered to the task at hand? You guessed it – a nightmare.

He had made two mistakes. The first was to attach his ego to be being right, and the second was to assume that the first answer that came into his head was right.

This habit is horribly damaging. It prevents you being an effective member of a team. The point of a team is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; team members cover each others’ weak spots and correct each others’ mistakes. If you are an expert on everything and never wrong, you prevent the team doing its job.

The antidote to this bad habit is simple. Practice saying two things:

“I think x is the case, but let me check..” and

“I might be wrong. ”

When did you last say anything like this? If your answer is “
can’t remember” or, even worse, “It never applies” then you know something is wrong.

Tomorrow: more bad habits from my Management Hall Of Infamy.

Bored or frustrated with business as usual? Join my linkedin group

Forbes.com | April 27, 2015 | Alastair Dryburgh 

Strategy: 5 things to Say Instead of ‘Sorry’…It Becomes Clear the Women Should Not be Remorseful.

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I recently came across a Pantene ad that went viral in June. Besides highlighting the flawless and beautiful hair of the actresses, it features multiple situations where women unnecessarily say “sorry” — a verbal tic that, for many women, has become entrenched in everyday conversation.

young professional women

In scene after scene of the ad, women are shown apologizing for a series of silly reasons.

It becomes clear the women should not be remorseful. Yet as I was watching, I had this horrifying epiphany — I do this. I do this all the time. I did this today.

So here’s a quick list of some common reasons women are quick to say “sorry” — and five things we could be saying instead!

1. To demonstrate compassion and empathy.

Many people, not just women, use “sorry” as shorthand for sympathy. While it’s both virtuous and smart to express compassion for your coworkers, apologizing for the random happenings of the universe is unnecessary and avoidable.

There are other ways to demonstrate understanding and to establish trusting relationships with colleagues. Arguably, this is one of the easiest ways to remove “sorry” from our vocabulary, because there are so many great alternatives!

Instead of: “I’m sorry you were late because of terrible New York City traffic.”

Try: “How frustrating that you were late because of that awful traffic.”

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2. To fill air.

Just like words such as “um,” “uh,” and “like,” “sorry” can fill empty conversational space. It might be because we are nervous or just babbling while our mouths catch up with our brains. Either way, in these cases, “sorry” loses its meaning entirely.

Instead of: “We need to … sorry … first, get the correct data from Finance.”

Try: “We need to < Pause | Silence >, first, get the correct data from Finance.”

3. To interrupt.

Most girls are raised to be unfailingly polite at all times, especially at work. For this substitute to work, it is crucial to know your environment.

Depending on the organizational culture, the type of meeting you’re in, and the other individuals present, interrupting with an apology can lower your status, especially when others aren’t doing the same. Listen to how your coworkers preface their contributions in meetings — and avoid saying “sorry” unless they do.

Instead of: “I’m sorry to interrupt …”

Try: “Let me say/ask this…” OR “Great points, I would like to add …”

Instead of: “Sorry, do you have a minute?

Try: “Excuse/Pardon me…”

4. To keep the peace.

Most women are also taught from an early age to be warm, nurturing, and agreeable, and we sometimes use “sorry” simply to maintain social harmony. Apologies are sometimes employed to help “reset the conversation” after a confrontational, argumentative, or uncomfortable moment. However, “sorry” also represents shame and regret and can make you look weak.

Instead of: “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand this strategy switch.”

Try: “I appreciate your work on this, but I don’t understand the reasoning behind this strategy switch.”

Instead of: “I’m sorry if this is offensive…”

Try: “What I am about to say might be controversial…”

5. To say, and actually mean, sorry.

There are plenty of times when it’s appropriate to apologize at work. The key is not only to say “sorry,” but also to express why you are sorry. If you are a chronic over-apologizer, I guarantee that training yourself to include a reason will cut down on the number of times you apologize unnecessarily. A sincere apology is more effective coupled with the reason behind it.

Consider the Pantene video. The man in the video shows up late and the two women scoot over to make room, apologizing repeatedly in the process. If they explained WHY they were sorry, it would go something like this: “I’m sorry that you were late to this meeting and I now need to move over, so you can squeeze into the space I was previously occupying.” (See? Totally unnecessary!)

Especially at work, it’s smart to figure out when it’s appropriate to say “I’m sorry” — and when you should say something else instead.

Businessinsider.com | April 27, 2015 | TORY PAEZ, CATALYST

http://www.catalyst.org/blog/catalyzing/five-things-say-instead-sorry#ixzz3YWh8YOGT

#Leadership: 10 Tips For Better Business Writing…“Clarity is the Most Important Characteristic of Good Business Writing,” – Mignon Fogarty

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The ubiquity of e­mail means that everyone in business, from lords of finance to programmers who dream in code, needs to write intelligently. By using simple, clear, precise language, and following a few other basic writing rules, you can become a better communicator and improve the prospects for your career.

ManJobInterview

“Clarity is the most important characteristic of good business writing,” says Mignon Fogarty, creator of the “Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” podcast. “Often businesspeople will use big $10 words because they want to sound intelligent. Instead, they end up sounding like they’re trying too hard.”
Start by writing short, declarative sentences. Never use a long word where a short one will do. (No need to write “utilize” when “use” works just as well.) Be ruthless about self-­editing; if you don’t need a word, cut it. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or any kind of jargon if you can think of an English equivalent. Regardless of how many times your managers ask you to “circle back,” or “move the needle forward,” take a stance against tired business jargon. These expressions may sound important, and like the official language of a club you’d like to join, but you will express yourself more clearly if you say what you mean in plain language.

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When you’re composing an e­mail, make your point and move on. If your big idea isn’t in the first paragraph, put it there. If you can’t find it, rewrite. “Simplicity doesn’t mean simplicity of thought,” says Kara Blackburn, a lecturer in managerial communication at MIT Sloan School of Management. “Start by asking yourself what you want the person to do as a result of this email. Just asking yourself that question can make your communication much clearer.”

Be specific. Instead of mentioning “the current situation,” explain exactly what it is, whether it’s low company morale, or an SEC investigation.

Curb your enthusiasm. Avoid overusing exclamation points, regardless of how energized or friendly you might feel. Choose professional sign­-offs like “Best” and “Regards” over the too-­cute “xoxo.”

Whenever possible, use active instead of passive verbs. Active verbs help to energize your prose. Instead of writing, “The meeting was led by Tom,” write: “Tom led the meeting.” Use a straightforward sentence structure–subject, verb, object–that people can read quickly.

Choose pronouns wisely, and don’t be afraid to use “me.” “I often read versions of ‘Send the memo to Bob and myself,’” says Fogarty. “For some reason people think that ‘myself’ sounds more important or formal.” To avoid this mistake, Fogarty recommends thinking about how you would say the sentence if you removed mentions of other people. “Send the memo to me” sounds correct. If you add “Bob” to that clause, the “me” pronoun still works.

Beware of common grammatical mistakes. Know when to use “that” and “which.” “That” introduces essential information in what’s called a “restrictive clause.” “Which” introduces extra information in a “nonrestrictive clause.” Here’s an example: “I’m interested in speaking with you about our new product, which has the potential to increase sales.” The second clause provides extra information, and it isn’t essential to the first clause. Therefore, “which” is correct. In a sentence such as “Computers are the only products that we sell,” the clause “that we sell” is essential to the meaning of the sentence, so the correct word is “that.” You can’t remove the “that” clause without changing the meaning of the sentence.
Another common error is confusing “affect” and “effect.” Affect is a verb meaning “to influence.” “Effect” is a noun that means “result.” The weather affects our ability to travel, and it had a terrible effect on my flight to New York.

For more writing tips, consult classic books on writing and grammar, such as The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White, The Associated Press Stylebook and The Chicago Manual of Style. On iTunes, download the “Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” free podcast. Happy writing.

This is an update of a story written by Helen Coster.

Forbes.com | April 27, 2015 | Susan Adams 

 

Your Career: How To Survive Your New Boss…One of the Biggest Risks to your #Career is When you Get a New Boss

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One of the biggest risks to your career is when you get a new boss. Gone is the understanding of your performance and contribution and the good working relationship you had with your previous manager.

Now you have to start all over again.

woman holding small man

© ArtFamily – Fotolia.com

Even worse, sometimes that new boss was hired to make changes or they simply want to put their own stamp on the organization. Sometimes that change ends up being you.

During this critical change, you must be proactive and strategic. Here are some survival tips you can use to break in your new boss and keep your job:

Start Before You Get a New Boss

If most of your interactions at the level above you are solely with your old boss, and his or her peers don’t know you or value your contributions, you are at a major disadvantage when your boss leaves.

To prevent this, extend your interactions and work to build relationships within the company beyond your manager so other people can become part of your support network. This takes time and effort and sometimes a very light step depending on your current supervisor’s approach, but you will be rewarded when he or she leaves. It is also one way to get considered for replacing your boss. If the decision makers don’t know enough about you, it’s hard for them to consider you for the role.

Learn All You Can About Your New Boss
If you know in advance, do some research on your new manager. If not, you’ll have to wait until the person is announced or, sometimes, after they show up.

This research is crucial to understanding what makes the new person tick, what is important to them, how they have handled or managed staff before, and what issues or risks you need to look out for.

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Start with a LinkedIn search. If they are in your network, you can find out where they came from and what companies they have worked for. Find common connections or check your own connections to see if someone worked in their previous company, and ask your contact what they know. Do some legwork and try to learn as much as you can about your new boss, preferably before you first meet.

Beyond LinkedIn, you can do a simple Google search. That may reveal associations they are involved with, past initiatives, presentations or talks they have given, or other background information that can help you understand them better.

Even more important, when you finally do meet the person, ask what their preferred approach is when it comes to meetings, status reports, workplace communication, or anything else related to your position. Instead of assuming they will operate like your old boss or they will immediately like how you operate, you should ask. If it is different from your approach, you have an opportunity to sell them on your way of doing things—or at least know you will have to work with it until you can convince them to change.

More AllBusiness:
99 Inspirational Quotes for Entrepreneurs
A 12-Step Guide to Building Your Very First Mobile App
10 Invaluable Tools for Running a Small Business
The Top 25 Home-Based Business Ideas

Pass the Interview

Often, the new boss will meet with their new direct reports to learn as much as they can about you, your department, and issues or opportunities. Don’t look at this as a simple meeting where you are sharing information and “bringing them up to speed.” This is a job interview and you need to sell yourself.

If you managed to learn more about your boss before this meeting happens, you’ll be better equipped to sell yourself because you will know your audience. If not, you still need to consider what a new boss would need, what to share, what to hold back (at least for now), and how to best position yourself and what you do.

Understand What Others Will Say

Your new boss will be in a learning mode, particularly if they are new to your company or your division. They will talk to and listen to many others, including their new direct reports, their peers, and their own manager or other senior management they interact with.

You need to have a good idea of what others may say about you, your department, or your staff so you can provide a counterpoint to misinformation or misunderstandings in a proactive manner. Do this carefully; don’t just say, “So and so will tell you this, but they are wrong.”

Instead, knowing what might be said to your new boss, simply share background information and the facts so that, when they are told something, they will be better able to understand the issues in context.

Don’t Badmouth Your Colleagues

It’s tempting to tell your boss that your underperforming colleague isn’t doing a very good job, or point fingers at others around you to make your new boss think you are the high achiever on the team.

That would be a mistake. What you can do is arm him or her with information and even questions to ask so they discover for themselves what you already know. This is a much more powerful approach than saying bad things about others—even when they are true.

Evolve Your Style

Let’s face it: you may have to change to fit your new supervisor’s style or expectations. If you want to stay and thrive, you must be flexible enough to make any changes needed to satisfy your boss and develop the understanding and trust necessary to move forward together.

Read all of Michel Theriault’s articles on AllBusiness.com.

 

Forbes.com | April 27, 2015 |  Michel Theriault

 

Strategy: Why this Google Exec would Always Keeps 200 Random Resumes Lying around his Office…Former Exec used to Keep the resumes of 200 Current Googlers Lying around his Office

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Google values and invests in its employees.  It provides resources like free meals and in-house dry cleaning to save their time and improve their health and productivity.

Jonathan Rosenberg

Jonathan Rosenberg.

It “defaults to open,” to prove it trusts employees, and encourages them to work on projects they feel passionate about.

By investing in employees and giving them mission-driven things to do, Google attracts great people.

In fact, its employees can be one of the company’s best recruiting tools.

Former VP of product Jonathan Rosenberg used to keep the resumes of 200 current Googlers lying around his office.

“If a candidate was on the fence about joining Google, Jonathan would simply give them the stack and say: ‘You get to work with these people,'” Google HR boss Laszlo Bock writes in his new book “Work Rules!”

The candidate could then thumb through the pile, seeing that he or she would get the chance to work next to “Olympic athletes, Turing Award and Academy Award winner, Cirque du Soleil performers, cup stackers, Rubik’s Cube champions, magicians, triathletes, volunteers, veterans,” and people who had worked at some of the most revolutionary companies, developing landmark products.

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Rosenberg swears he didn’t select certain resumes to keep around — it was truly a random selection. But according to Bock, Rosenberg never lost a candidate.

Which isn’t to say that Google has an ideal work force. Last year, Google published its diversity statistics, revealing that it employs mostly white and Asian men.

Businessinsider.com | April 23, 2015 | 

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-employees-2015-4#ixzz3YQ0ebyW9

Your Career: 7 Dangerous Assumptions That Derail The Older #Job Seeker…Job Search is Different for the Older Job Seeker, & Stereotypes do Exist.

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Donna asks: How do you get taken seriously when you’re job hunting in your mid-60’s?

Calita asks: How do I find a fulfilling job? I am 53.

Nancy asks: How does one find work/jobs for people over 40 who are labeled overqualified but under-experienced in their field? 

OlderWorker

I host a monthly radio show to answer career questions, and these are just a few recent ones from older job seekers. More than any other demographic, when I get a question from an older job seeker, it often includes a mention of their age or something age-specific in their question.

Many older job seekers I encounter feel stereotyped due to age – not taken seriously as Donna mentioned; or overqualified yet under-experienced as Nancy mentioned; or needing to do something different than the typical job search, as Carlita implies by adding her age to qualify her question.

Job search is different for the older job seeker, and stereotypes do exist. Here are seven assumptions that I’ve heard firsthand as a recruiter trying to fill positions and presenting older candidates. The seventh assumption is one I hear from older candidates themselves (and it’s the most detrimental one):

1- You’re too expensive
If I present an older candidate and don’t have the compensation numbers right at my fingertips, the prospective employer will automatically assume the person is out of budget. Most of the time, once I explain the compensation history and why this role makes sense (whether from a compensation perspective or for other reasons, and ideally both), the prospective employer stops to listen and we can rationally review the candidate on his/her merits.

Job seekers: You want to present your background in a situation where there is dialogue and not just a gut reaction. This means someone needs to refer you — a recruiter, an existing employee, or you refer yourself by directly contacting the employer. If you just forward a resume, you’ll get the adverse reaction with no one to represent the other side. Are you networking enough to get to decision-makers who can pass you onto the interview rounds?

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2- You’re not tech savvy

I was recently hiring for a marketing position, and the hiring group kept dismissing my older candidates for limited digital, social media, and video skills. Of course, the older candidates would have less digital in proportion to their overall experience because they had so much more overall experience! These skills would only have been in demand within the last few years so they are relatively underweighted overall. Once I reframed the experience, the group was more open to all candidates. As it turns out, the hire was a younger job seeker, but an earlier hire for this same group in the same role was an older candidate. This group was not deciding based on age though they had initial reactions based on overall experience.

Job seekers: This type of gut reaction about technology savvy is very similar to the compensation issue. You need to present a broader picture, and ideally you make your case in a back-and-forth dialogue, not just the resume. Are you marketing a complete picture to the decision-makers so they can make informed judgement calls?

 

3- You’re out of date

It’s not just technology tools that need to stay updated but communication styles, presentation styles, and how business gets done. I worked on a President search for a non-profit, where key hiring criteria were innovation and visionary thinking. Older candidates were absolutely considered for this role because its executive nature required a track record and years of experience. However, the hiring team didn’t want to see resumes written in last decade’s aesthetic. They also didn’t want to hear stodgy language. (One candidate used the phrase, “Back in the day…” This did not go over well.) When I think of three recent hires in executive roles who were older (late 50’s and early 60’s), they were all dynamos – incredibly energetic, incredibly well-networked, incredibly current on news and trends. Stodgy or out of date would never cross your mind with any of these three.
Job seekers: Up-to-date is about attitude and presence, as well as knowledge. You do need to stay current in skills, network and expertise. But you also need to appear current. This doesn’t mean you need to run out and translate your marketing material and interview responses into slang. There is never a good reason for someone over 40 to use the word, “cray.” But take a hard look at your marketing material, live communication and presence. Are you too stiff and formal in your language, dress, and energy you exude?

 

4- You’re inflexible

When I hired for a marketing analytics job, one of the hesitations about the older candidates was whether they would adapt to how much analytics had changed in this era of Big Data. The employer was a legacy institution in a traditional industry, so you could find people who had done this job for decades. But the role was changing. There was definitely the initial assumption (that gut reaction again) that older candidates would be inflexible and not adapt to these new changes. As it turns out, the candidate who was hired was an older candidate over 40 – she had a track record of implementing new solutions at her earlier company so inflexibility didn’t become an issue.

Job seekers: There might be an initial assumption that doesn’t go in your favor, but it can be overcome. Are you taking an objective look at your resume, social profile, networking pitch and interview responses against possible objections, such as being inflexible, out-of-date, or behind on technology? Are you providing compelling evidence that points otherwise?

 

5- You won’t respect a younger manager

I heard this assumption from one of the most progressive, forward-thinking people I know. If he has this stereotype, there are other young managers who think managing an older hire will be tougher. Interviews are already anxiety-provoking situations, what if the older job seeker’s regular case of nerves is interpreted as discomfort with the younger manager?

Job seeker: You have to put your younger hiring managers at ease, which means you have to be at ease interacting with them. Work on your nervousness — for any reason. If interacting with a younger manager is at all an issue for you, start working on this now, well before you get to the interview part of your search. Spend time with younger professionals, and not in a mentor/ mentee relationship, but in a social, peer-to-peer relationship. You should be doing this anyway because interacting with people at all levels provides the strongest networking opportunities and the broadest information pool. Do you have multiple, substantive relationships with younger professionals?
6- You don’t really want to be here

I hear this one almost as frequently as the compensation objective: why does this person want this job? Desire for the role is very important to the prospective employer. They want to know that you 100% want to do this job, in this company, in this industry, right now. If you don’t know enough about the job, company, and industry and don’t have a genuine reason why you’re making a move now, then they may assume it’s for a secondary reason – e.g., you need the money (your 401k hasn’t recovered from the recession), or you want a job where you can coast till retirement.

Job seekers: How excited are you about the jobs you are interviewing for?

 

7- If I don’t get the meeting, interview, callback, or offer, it’s because of my age

This last assumption is not from the employers but from the job seekers, and it’s the most dangerous of them all. You aren’t getting interviews and assume it’s an age issue. It might also be that your search is too passive and reliant on resumes! You aren’t landing networking meetings and assume ageism rather than that you’re not contacting the appropriate people or you don’t have a compelling enough approach or you are not following up enough. You get interviews but no callbacks and blame ageism rather than work on your interview technique. You get callbacks but no offers and blame ageism rather than practice your negotiation skills.
Job seekers: You do have to approach your job search differently when you’re older. You have to get past some of the gut reactions listed above which means more networking and active looking over passive techniques like resume submissions. You need to build into your marketing, interview responses and presentation contrasting evidence to counter negative assumptions.

This means taking an objective look at your marketing, interview technique and presentation, and proactively figuring out what to highlight and what to refine. But all of this hard work will be meaningless if you feel the goal of getting hired is unreachable so you exhibit low confidence or carry a chip on your shoulder or seethe with anger and frustration. Simultaneously, you need to both address the possible age issue in your preparation but then drop age as an issue in your attitude and demeanor.

For more career advice (for all ages of job seeker), check out SixFigureStart® free toolkits on Negotiation, Networking, and Personal Branding, including a free download for entrepreneurs.

 

Forbes.com | April 20, 2015 | Caroline Ceniza-Levine

Strategy: 3 Smart Ways To Regain Your Focus…When do you Tend to get Distracted? Ever Notice when you End up Browsing the Internet with No Particular Purpose in Mind?

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Working in a focused way can greatly boost our productivity.  It also helps us stay calm, as we tackle tasks with our full attention rather than flitting from thing to thing.

Cross Training

Here are some ways to regain your focus and combat distractions.
1- List it

Lists help because we don’t have to keep everything in our memory. That frees up space for us to focus on the task we’re doing in the present moment. If, instead, you try and keep a running To Do list in your memory, your mind will turn again and again to those things you need to remember to do. If you’re feeling overwhelmed about everything you have to do, try writing a list of all the tasks. This simple step can make a difference to feeling you are in control of the tasks – before you’ve even done any of them! Then, you can focus on doing one thing on the list at once (don’t try and multitask).

There’s no need to think or worry about the next thing on the list until you get to it – the list is doing that job for you. A list can also help direct your focus for making good use of your free time. This is a way to guard against a week or a month going by without getting round to anything you really wanted to do.

At the start of each month, think about what you want to get out of your free time in the month ahead. Set some intentions (big or small) and note them down. They might be as simple as meeting a friend for coffee or going for a run each Tuesday. You could also give each month a theme, if you wanted to concentrate, for example, on health one month, or creativity the next. Make sure the list is not so long it’s unachievable or overwhelming – remember there’s always next month.

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2- Monitor distractions

The first step in tackling distractions is to assess your level of distraction. Sometimes we don’t even notice that we’re repeatedly breaking off from our work and losing focus every time our smartphone beeps. Start to become aware, not just of your own distraction, but of the distraction of people around you. Look at how often people reach to respond to their phones. Notice when you switch to check email. Notice when you end up browsing the Internet with no particular purpose in mind.

When do you tend to get distracted? Is it always at the same time of day or when faced with a certain task? How long do you get distracted for? Start to time how long each distraction is taking up. Perhaps decide to have five minutes of deliberate distraction before you get on with a task (time it). How does that feel? Notice who is distracting you today.

Other people can be a major cause of distraction. Try saying you’ll get back to them later and write yourself a note (so you don’t have to remember). See what you can find out about what distracts you and when you get distracted. Try changing one thing about your behaviour so you begin to take control of distractions.

3- The feeling of focus

Most people enjoy the feeling of focusing on a task. Remind yourself what it feels like to concentrate fully on something. Turn off distractions or potential distractions, such as your smartphone and your email. Then sit down – for an hour if you can – and get on with something that really needs your attention. Enjoy the feeling of not being interrupted and of being able to give your 100% attention to this task.

If you feel tempted by distractions, or an urge to “just check” your messages, try getting up and walking around for five minutes instead of checking, then return to your task. One clear benefit to focused work is the boost in productivity it creates. Measure your output in your hour of focused work. How much did you get done? Is that more than usual? Choose times that suit you to work in a focused way like this.

Most of us work better at certain points in the day – so work with these productive times if you can. Make sure you take regular breaks and don’t expect yourself to sustain this level of focus for hours on end.

Frances Booth is author of The Distraction Trap: How to Focus in a Digital World. To get your free first chapter of The Distraction Trap, and for more productivity tips, join her mailing list here.

 

Forbes.com | April 22, 2015 | Frances Booth

#Leadership: 3 Success Traits Women Can Learn from Men…Men Brush off Criticism more Easily than Women — & We can Learn from Them by Doing the Same.

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Women are still not equally represented in the most senior leadership and executive roles in business. And one key question remains: Why?

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First, consider the facts, provided by Judith Warner, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Time.com. Although they hold more than half of all professional-level jobs, American women represent:

  • Only 14.6 percent of executive officers, 8.1 percent of top earners, and 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs.
  • Just 16.9 percent of Fortune 500 board seats.
  • 54.2 percent of the labor force in the financial-services industry, but only 12.4 percent of executive officers and 18.3 percent of board directors. None are CEOs.

The data speaks for itself — women are still struggling to get equal representation in top positions in the business world. The feminist movement did a lot for building awareness around the pay and power gap, but didn’t solve the problem.

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Today, the same challenges remain, but the solutions are evolving. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO and author of Lean In, and Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, longtime journalists and authors of The Confidence Code, identify a new, more relevant reason for the inequality in the numbers above: A confidence gap.

The good news? Confidence can be built. The bad news? According the to research cited in The Confidence Code, men are innately more confident than women in these three particular areas. But if women can work to overcome the three common confidence-killers below, then watch out, men — these statistics are going to change, and change fast.

Killer No. 1: Waiting to seize new opportunities. AHewlett-Packard study to identify ways to get more women into top management positions revealed that the women working at HP applied for promotions only when they believed they met 100 percent of the qualifications necessary for the job. Conversely, the men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet just 60 percent. Essentially, women wait until they are perfect candidates before reaching for new opportunities.

The takeaway: Women can learn from men to jump for opportunities that excite them and feel like a perfect fit with their strengths — no matter what the exact qualifications are.

Killer No. 2: Internalizing failure or dwelling on negative feedback. Legendary WNBA coach Mike Thibaulthas had the unique position of training both men and women (as an NBA coach and scout, he helped recruit Michael Jordan) and has been coaching women for 10 years. He had this to say the authors of The Confidence Code, about the difference in how his male and female players differed when it came to handling failure: “The propensity to dwell on failure and mistakes, and an inability to shut out the outside world are the biggest psychological impediments for my female players, and they directly affect performance and confidence on the court.

There’s probably a distinction between being tough on themselves and too judgmental” he said. “The best males players I’ve coached, whether it’s Jordan or people like that, they are tough on themselves. They push themselves. But they also have an ability to get restarted more quickly. They don’t let setbacks linger as long. And the women can.”

The takeaway: Men brush off criticism more easily than women — and we can learn from them by doing the same. Internalizing failure slows down the process of innovation and the ability to be your best self for the next opportunity that may be right around the corner.

Killer No. 3: Being held at the mercy of what others think. Other studies, according to The Confidence Code,suggest that men rely less on praise to feel confident than women do. I have seen this in my client work — men brush off criticism with ease, while women hold on it and spend way too much time wondering why it happened, what they can do to fix it, or beat themselves up for not being what those have criticized them for.

The takeaway: Women need to take a note from men on this one. The key to success is to not care what others think. While not an easy challenge to overcome, start noticing when you are making decisions or initiating action: Why are you doing this? Is this coming from your own truth or based on what others think? Once you notice how often you care what others think, you can begin to reverse the behavior. The more you can stay true to yourself in the face of opposition, the better.

While men certainly aren’t perfect, there are some key lessons in confidence and creativeness that they can teach women. While you can’t gain confidence with a snap of your fingers, it’s something that every woman can work on. My take? Once women start overcoming these confidence barriers, we will finally have a world that all women have strived for — one with balance and equal representation of the genders in all fields and levels of authority.

Forbes.com | April 21, 2015 | Laura Garnett

#Strategy: Here’s How to Win Any Argument…Attacking Someone’s Idea Puts them into a Fight-or-Flight Mode. Once on the Edge, there is No Way Getting Through to Them

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It’s easy for a calm debate to turn ugly. When this happens, it’s almost impossible to persuade your opponent. We created an infographic  of the most successful tactics to help you get your point across in a courteous and educated way.

argue-conflict-workplace

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How To Win Any Argument Graphic

Businessinsider.com | April 20, 2015 |