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Hate Your Job? Stop Complaining And Take Action

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As a career coach, I hear every complaint under the sun as to why someone doesn’t like their job. I also see people get into the rut of constantly complaining about the situation without feeling empowered or responsible to do anything about it.

But it’s a new decade, and a perfect time to seek new opportunities. According to Glassdoor, in January, there are 22% more job applications started on their site than in a typical month. Take advantage of a fresh new year to create your own fresh start.

Below are some tips to help you transform your current career roadblocks into guides for taking action.

1.    Assume abundance vs. limited options. This is the first thing that needs to be tackled. The mindset that there are no options is the number one reason that people throw their hands up and take on the role of a victim. Though there are definite roadblocks that people face such as geography and experience limitations, we are experiencing a great job market at the moment. Even in tougher times, opportunities exist that go beyond your geography due to the accessibility that online businesses and work from home options that are available.

 

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2.    Look at where job growth and demand are already abundant. Glassdoor is a great resource to get you thinking about what’s possible. They’ve just released their annual report that reveals the 50 Best Jobs in America. They’ve researched which jobs based on earning potential, job satisfaction and job openings. It’s a great place to get ideas of where you might want to invest some time and energy.

3.    Align your career choices to your personal purpose. Though job growth and market trends are insightful of where the job market is going, it shouldn’t solely dictate your career decisions. The clearer you are on what your individual purpose is, the more proactive you can be in building a career that supports that. People who are clear as to how their job supports their individual goals tend to have higher levels of job satisfaction. If I know this job is really about creating time for me to be with my family over rapid growth, then I’ll enjoy a more low-key environment. On the other hand, if I’m all about taking on complex challenges then long hours will feel worthwhile.

4.    Shift to listening for the opportunities and guidance vs. obsessing over your grievances. If you find yourself hating your job, don’t waste your time complaining. Instead, tune in to what the situation is challenging you to do. Should you be going back to school to set you up to qualify for the job you want? Do you need to speak up and make sure your viewpoint is heard? Do you need to finally take that step you’ve been afraid to take towards your dream but risky career path? This isn’t about falsely sugar coating your situation. It’s about using your experiences as a compass vs. getting sucked into a victim mindset.

5.    Take one step at a time. Too often, people are waiting for all the pieces of the puzzle to be perfectly clear and understandable. That’s no way to make things happen. Instead, know what steps you can take while you figure things out. You can usually start reaching out to people that may have more information on what you’re looking to do. At the very least, you can start to look up websites, send away for information and read up on companies or jobs that you’re interested in.

Author:  H.V. MacArthur

Forbes.com | January 15, 2020

Must Read: How To Make Career Decisions Without An Ounce Of Regret.

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These days, we have access to nearly unlimited resources, advice, and tools to help us plan our career paths.  Of course, that makes things pretty tricky, too.

Often, there are a seemingly infinite number of paths you could take or opportunities to pursue. How do you know what the right decision or direction is? There’s nothing taught in school about how to manage career decisions with confidence.

Because of this, we often make decisions based on the advice we get from others: bosses, colleagues, even well-meaning friends and family members. Or, we make them out of pressure or desperation, when we’re feeling the least confident and most unsure of the next step. 

This is a recipe for career regret. When you make decisions that aren’t right for you, you won’t be happy, and your work will likely suffer, too.

How, then, can you make decisions without regretting them?  The solution depends on doing the following six things:

1. Know Your Zone Of Genius

Your Zone of Genius provides two essential data points to great performance: your Genius and your Purpose. Your Genius is the kind of thinking or problem-solving you’re best at. Your Purpose is the impact on the world or others that’s most meaningful to you. Know this, and you can confidently determine whether or not a potential decision—like accepting a promotion or taking on a new role—is a great fit. If you can’t be challenged intellectually or fulfilled by the impact it has on others, then it’s a definite no.

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2. Build Your Confidence Muscle

Confidence can seem fairly elusive like it’s a trait that some people have and others simply don’t. First and foremost, forget that. After years of working with successful executives, I’m here to tell you: Everyone deals with confidence issues. It’s universal. However, it is absolutely possible to build up your confidence over time—and when you do so, it’ll be a whole lot easier to make those big decisions with ease.

Start by telling yourself every day that you appreciate and value yourself. This may sound hokey, but the way to rewire your brain is to re-write the messages you tell yourself. If you typically tell yourself negative things, then over-riding those messages with positive ones will start to make you feel different.

3. Seek Support Instead Of Advice

Advice is everywhere! And, more often than not, it’s based on what worked for that one person or situation. But just because it worked for someone else’s career path, doesn’t mean it’ll work for yours.

You need to filter advice through the lens of, “Does this make sense for me? Does this excite me?” If it doesn’t, discard it and move on—no matter who gave it to you. Instead, seek out people who will take the time to know who you are, understand what’s right for you, and support you in the process of figuring things out.

4. Be Clear About What You Want

Create a vision for yourself and your career. Where do you want to be in the next three years? What do you want to focus on, and what do you want to give up? What are the key goals you have? Make sure your vision is exciting and energizing for you to think about.

Once you have this vision in place, use it to help you make decisions. When facing new projects or opportunities, consider: Will this decision help you actualize your vision? If not then the answer is no; if so then it’s an easy yes.

5. Appreciate And Value Who You Are—Not Extrinsic Rewards 

This one is so important. If you don’t appreciate yourself, then you’re going to be more easily swayed by extrinsic rewards such as prestige, money, and perks. Because when you’re not happy or don’t love yourself, you need more external validation.

The reality is, external rewards will never do anything other than give you a small blip of joy, and then you’ll need another one right after. Appreciating and valuing yourself is more valuable than anything you can get. Make this a priority.

6. Resist Conformity

The urge to conform is powerful. We want to be a part of the group, and being an outsider can be painful. It’s instinctual to change who you are to fit in.

Resist this. It can be difficult, but ultimately if conforming means losing yourself or letting go of your values, don’t do it. The best decisions are made when you’re being absolutely true to who you are.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.

Author: Laura Garnett

I am a performance strategist, Mother, TEDx speaker, and author of, “The Genius Habit”. I work with CEOs and executives to identify their unique genius and purpose an…

Forbes.com | January 15, 2020

#BestofFSCBlog :How To Cope When Your Career Hits A Wall. The Challenge is that When Bad Things Happen, Most People become Shell Shocked.

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You’d love to start the new year filled with excitement and high hopes for your career. For many, unfortunately, just because we flip the page in a calendar, it doesn’t mean their work-life miraculously changes overnight. For some people, things are not working out at all. You take on more of a mental and emotional burden, as society says you should be charging into 2020 feeling great and ready to succeed.

Although we have a reported red-hot economy with record levels of employment, not everyone is benefiting or doing well. Sometimes, it’s due to matters out of their control. Your company may be relocating jobs to lower-cost cities and countries or deploying artificial intelligence and new technologies, which results in the loss of a job. 

Surround yourself with a support group consisting of family and friends who can cheer you on and pick you up when you feel down. 

Sometimes you’re in a good job, but you feel stuck. There is a roadblock on the corporate ladder. Your managers are not going anywhere soon and you can’t see any path forward. You can be in an industry that is undergoing serious changes and you’re beset by anxiety over what to do next. It’s especially difficult when you’re over the age of 40, earning a certain salary level and it becomes clearly obvious that companies would rather hire a younger and less costly person. Alternatively, you may be relatively young, possess fantastic abilities, but are overlooked because you don’t have some grey hairs.

The challenge is that when bad things happen, most people become shell shocked. They are used to a pretty good run of a career and have never really confronted any major setbacks. Their initial response is disbelief that their job is going nowhere or may be eliminated. It’s easy for them to pretend that this isn’t happening and the circumstances will change in their favor. The problem is that the longer you ignore the upcoming train coming your way, the harder it is to get off the tracks to safety.

Here is what you need to do if your career is hitting a wall and you’re paralyzed with fear, indecision, disbelief, and frustration. 

Don’t Ignore The Problem—Acknowledge What’s Happening

It’s the path of least resistance to hope the problem will just go away. You scoff at the thought that you could be replaced by technology or a junior person in India. The natural tendency is to think that your boss will come around and recognize how awesome you are, your nasty co-workers will change their tune and become your allies, the company pulls out of its death spiral or the takeover by your competitor will never happen.

You need to acknowledge what is actually happening. Hopefully, things will work out your way, but you can’t depend upon hope alone. It’s okay to want to believe that things will improve, but you need to plan for the worst-case outcome. You need to accept the reality and start planning for your next move.

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It’s Not Just You

If you read the biographies of successful people, such as Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, J.K. Rowling and Albert Einstein, you’ll notice that they’ve all failed—sometimes often and spectacularly. It’s extremely rare for someone to steadily climb forward in their career without any major setbacks.

The challenge is that society likes to talk about and reward those who are already successful. We are beset online and in the media with celebrities who have wealth, privilege and fame. When you scroll through Facebook and Instagram, you see a cultivated awesome lifestyle of your friends that makes you feel inadequate.

This is not reality. In real life, most people fail many times. They face job losses, businesses that go bankrupt, make investments that blow up and miss out on the big promotion. What makes matters tough for you is that our culture doesn’t like to talk about the people who are struggling, so you feel alone.

The key is to recognize that the best and brightest understand that the need to accept and deal with rejection, failure and bad luck. They view it as all part of the game. By recognizing it’s not just you, but that everyone is going through the same travails, it could offer some solace and peace of mind.

Push Yourself To Engage 

When you experience a career setback, it’s natural to withdraw. You don’t want to have to tell your family and friends that you lost your job or the promotion you told everyone about didn’t materialize. To avoid awkwardness in social settings, people pull back. They withdraw into a cocoon in their sanctuary, which is home.

This is the direct opposite of what you need to do. When you are experiencing career-related challenges, that’s the time to engage with people You need to let others know what’s happening; they may have some answers for you or leads on new opportunities. They may have been down the same road and have some wisdom to impart. It feels better to get things off of your chest by sharing with others.

If you stop taking proactive actions, you actually move backwards. In science, an object in motion stays in motion. Once something stops, it’s hard to start up again. You need to keep pushing forward—even if you only want to pull the covers over your head and stay in bed all day.

Come Up With A Game Plan

No one is going to knock on your door with a great new job or opportunity. You need to make your own breaks in life. Instead of being a victim, take aggressive bold actions. If you think your job is in peril, demand to speak with your boss and ask her what is really going on and how you will be impacted.

It’s a little scary to start a job search, but that may be the best path forward if you don’t have a future where you are. Put together a résumé, enhance your LinkedIn profile, network with former co-workers and reach out to recruiters.

It could be that your career is not cutting edge and there is less need for your services. There may be little hiring and not be many jobs in your field. It’s time to reassess and think about a career pivot. It won’t be too easy, but it may be the best option if all other doors are closed off to you.

Remind Yourself How Remarkable You Are

When you are in a tight spot, it’s not uncommon to lose confidence. You start doubting yourself and second-guessing all of your decisions. Negative thoughts keep running through your mind. Sometimes, these thoughts become really dark.

It’s important for your mental and emotional health, as well as your career, to counter the tendency to lose faith in yourself. When you find this happening, remind yourself of all of your past accomplishments. Stop ruminating and start reciting all of the good qualities that you possess. List all of the reasons why you are special and what skills and experiences you have to offer that any company would love to have.

Surround yourself with a support group consisting of family and friends who can cheer you on and pick you up when you feel down.

 

Forbes.com | January 13, 2020 | Jack Kelly

How To Manage Your Career For The Next Decade — Three Career Trends To Watch In 2020 And Beyond.

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I have been watching careers as a consultant, recruiter and career coach for just over 20 years now. In the first 10 years, I focused on big changes in entry-level recruiting, specifically the decrease in organized campus recruiting for a more diffuse hiring process that required new entrants to the workforce to be proactive about managing their careers from day one. The second 10 years, those changes moved up into experienced recruiting, and the 24/7 job search became a harsh reality for every professional.

Today’s professionals still need to be proactive and manage their careers 24/7, but also need to manage for different careers altogether. Here are three career trends to watch in the next decade:

Everyone is an entrepreneur

Freelancing is on the rise – 1 in 3 Americans freelanced at some point in 2018, and 28% of freelancers are full-time compared to 17% in 2014. This is a career trend that is hard to undo since employers benefit from getting the specific resources they need when they need them (and save on the increasingly expensive benefits costs of traditional employees). Freelancers also report being happier than traditional workers.

The fix? Even if you stay in traditional employment, you will compete with freelancers. The most hirable professionals will manage their career (and job search) like the freelancing entrepreneurs. You have to sell yourself harder – you will need more than a resume to get hired. You have to be more targeted with your networking. Like a business, you will benefit from the publicity and will need to build a brand.

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Reskilling is the must-have skill

AI, robotics and Big Data are some of today’s big disrupters, but there will be other disruptive innovations that add brand-new jobs and make other jobs obsolete. It is not a matter of if your job will change, but when. Today’s professional needs to know how to proactively change careers, not just search for a job in the same career –your original career choice may cease to exist or be unrecognizable.

The fix? Sure, you can research what the hottest jobs are right now, but those jobs will invariably change, and the requirements for individual jobs continually change. Rather than focus on what skills you need right now, make it a habit to continually reskill over time. Build a professional development plan, and budget it into your regular calendar. If it’s been a while since you have learned something new, start with something you enjoy even outside your career – learning how to learn, being comfortable as a student/ beginner again and building a love for learning are all helpful skills to have.

The new retirement age is never

People live into their 70’s on average, but peak earning years are your 50’s and 40’s (pay growth for college-educated women peaks at 40!). You need to be a good money manager to bank those earnings and stretch them as inflation increases and your average salary decreases over 20-30 years. 67% of seniors would prefer to not be working or to work fewer hours. One upside to working longer is that you could choose to move into a new career you enjoy.

The fix? Manage your money as closely and proactively as you manage your career. Manage your career for the ebb and flow of peak earning times and periods of unemployment and underemployment. Pursuing FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is one way withstand career volatility. Reskilling and embracing an entrepreneurial approach (as noted above) will also help with career longevity. Since you need to focus on longevity, you also need to guard against burnout and keep yourself engaged and excited about your work. Finding success stories, like this 104 year old artist who sold her first painting at age 81, can help.

You have choices for where to take your career

It might sound scary to think about working longer, but it also means you have the time to build a career you love. It could be a lot of work to reskill, but it is also an opportunity to learn different things. It takes a different approach to manage your career like an entrepreneur, rather than an employee but it puts you in control.

Today’s professional has choices. Does that make you feel overwhelmed or excited? Are these trends an obstacle course to endure or an adventure to begin? How will you choose to approach this new decade?

 

Forbes.com | January 5, 2020 | Caroline Ceniza-Levine

Your Career: 5 Things To Ask Your Boss In The New Year.

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You have control over your career if you speak up and ask questions. Maybe you don’t know what to ask for or you’ve been holding off on asking for something because you did not know how to ask. Consider this your nudge.

This is your push to ask for what you want in the New Year. Here are five things to consider asking for from your boss next year:

1.     Business goals.

If you do not understand why you are doing the work you are doing, it is difficult to understand the purpose of your work. When you work without purpose, you may lose your enthusiasm and the level of quality that is required to succeed.

Ask your manager, “What are this year’s goals for the organization?” “What are your upcoming priorities?” The answers to these questions will help you understand how your role plays a part in reaching your company’s goals and helps to ensure that your efforts continue to meet goals. When you meet or exceed your organization’s goals, you demonstrate value.

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2.     Expectations.

You may think you know what is expected of you at work, but are you absolutely clear on expectations? To avoid confusion or misunderstanding, ask your manager what is expected of you. When you are clear about what people expect from you, you will increase your chances of meeting or exceeding expectations.

3.     Flexibility.

Would it benefit your health, family or projects to work from home one day a week or slightly shift your daily schedule to be able to arrive later and leave later? If you think some form of flexibility would help you be more productive with work, inquire about it. Communicate how the change will help you with your work. If you are already demonstrating solid work, it will be easier for you to ask for more flexibility.

4.     Money.

If you want a raise, ask for it. If you need more resources for a project, ask for it. Assuming you are producing quality work, ask for what you need to continue to be the best professional that you can be and produce great work.

5.     A promotion.

If you continue to prove your worth, consider asking your manager for a promotion. Don’t run the risk of not asking and build up resentment that may undermine your work product and impact your relationships with colleagues.

Keep in mind that asking for a promotion, more money and flexibility in one year or a short time span might not be wise. You should ask for what you want, but don’t go overboard. Consider prioritizing what you want in the upcoming year. A successful career is built on years of experience and climbing the ladder. The higher you go on the ladder, the move opportunity you will have to ask for what you want.

Ask about business goals and expectations. Arm yourself with the information to show your worth to your organization. When you demonstrate your worth, you have the leverage to ask for things like flexibility, a raise or a promotion. Questions have answers. Ask the questions to know the answers and see the road that will help you reach your goals.

 

Forbes.com | December 29, 2019 | Avery Blank

Your Career: Recent Study Shows Early Career Setbacks Are Key To Long Term Success.

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It is logical to deduct that success early on in a career is an indicator of future success, but a new study from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management found the opposite: an early career setback is a better indicator of future success than early achievement.

Scientists who nearly received a significant grant from the National Institutes of Health ultimately published more work than those who barely received the grant. Dr. Dashun Wang, an associate professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School and a co-author of the study told the Kellogg Insight that in the long run, “the losers ended up being better.”

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Their conclusion is counter-intuitive and contradicts everything we are taught as a culture: that success breeds success. Entrepreneurs and creatives have claimed for a long time that failure is the foundation of their success. Stephen King wrote in his book On Writing, “The nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.”

The spike was evidence of his effort. J.K. Rowling gave a commencement address at Harvard in 2008 titled, The Fringe Benefits Of Failure And The Importance Of The Imagination. She said, “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos often discusses how failure is the key to innovation, and how there is no innovation without failure. In his 2016 letter to shareholders he wrote, “Failure comes part and parcel with invention. It’s not optional. We understand that and believe in failing early and iterating until we get it right.” The difference is now this theory is backed by scientific research. If you take Cialis according to the individual dosage, this will eliminate the negative consequences. The substance will work even if you take a small amount of alcohol in parallel. It is only important to remember that alcoholic beverages can depress the sexual system, so you should not abuse them. For more information about the drug, see https://tadalafilhome.com.

The authors of the study eliminated all other variables that could have impacted this progression, like partnering with influential collaborators, changing to more prestigious institutions, changing research topics or moving into a “hot” field of research, but those variables were still not enough to account for the ultimate gap in success between the “near miss” scientists and the scientists that barely received the grant.

With no clear external variable that could have impacted the scientists’ success, the team’s analysis indicates that the failure may have motivated the “near miss” scientists to improve. Kellogg strategy professor and study co-author Benjamin F. Jones told the Kellogg Insight, “The advice to persevere is common,” he says. “But the idea that you take something valuable from the loss—and are better for it—is surprising and inspiring.”

 

Forbes.com | December 22, 2019 | Frances Bridges 

Must Read & Share: Give Yourself The Gift Of The Greatest, Most Successful Decade Of Your Life.

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This is the season of giving. You spent the last couple of months meticulously searching for the perfect gifts for your family, friends and co-workers. Now, it’s time for you to take care of yourself. Use this holiday season to give yourself a special gift—the permission to change your work-life for the better. This is the time to give yourself the gift of the greatest, most successful decade of your life.

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The Team here at FSC LinkedIn Network would like to wish you/yours a Wonderful Christmas & a Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous 2020!

We are our own worst enemies. We hold ourselves back by being too self-critical and deathly afraid of taking on new risks and challenges. It will soon be a new year and new decade. It’s time for a radical change. Make this your decade to succeed.

You always have some reason to put off going after a new job or pushing for a promotion. When you ruminate over the excuses, they seem rational, but deep down inside you know that it’s inertia. It’s easier and less stressful to stay where you are.

You think that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know. It’s the path of least resistance to just stay put and promise yourself that one day you will summon up the courage to take action. This new and upcoming decade is the perfect time to pursue a change. Stop telling yourself why you shouldn’t do something and start demanding yourself to go after what you deserve.

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Give yourself the gift of courage. No one else is going to do it for you. You must be the hero of your own story. There won’t be anyone coming to knock on your door with offers of a great new job. It’s solely up to you to make something happen. Instead of procrastinating, start right now! Fight back against the negative and fearful thoughts running through your mind and forge ahead. Be brave and bold. If you don’t get that job, try for another one. Keep moving forward with determination and optimism. The laws of science say that an object in motion stays in motion. It’s similar in life as your energy propels you forward and attracts people and opportunities to you. Conversely, if you stay still, nothing will ever change and you’ll always have regrets.

We hold ourselves prisoners to our past. Mistakes, poor decisions and bad luck make you doubt yourself and your abilities. You’re afraid to shoot for something new, as you feel you’ll just fail once again. It’s a downward-spiral way of thinking. Keep in mind, this is the season for forgiveness and love.

Forgive and forget all of your former bad decisions, choices and indiscretions. Give yourself the gift of leaving the past in the past. Don’t let the choices you’ve made over 10 years ago define who you are today. Start the new decade with a clean, fresh slate. Let go of past grudges and grievances. Make your inner peace with everyone around you. Carrying the heavy weight of hate, jealousy and anger wears you down. Shed this weight and start living the life you truly want and desire.

 

Forbes.com | December 17, 2019 | Jack Kelly

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The Two(2) Things Your Boss Must Do To Set You Up For Success. A Must Read !

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Years ago, back when I was teaching high school and college students, one of my mentors told me that the teacher made the difference in the classroom. She told me that instructors had to own the success and failure of their students. I agreed, and now—after years of hiring and supervising staff and leading teams—I help executives and supervisors understand that they make the difference in their organizations. They make all the difference (for success and failure) with their teams and employees.

It is the responsibility of your supervisor—the person you call your boss—to set the stage for organizational and operational success and create an environment for you and your colleagues to do your best work. Supervisors are the difference between success and failure, between high morale and low, between engagement and apathy and between a thriving culture and a toxic one.

Every supervisor—the good and the bad—impacts organizational, operational, team and employee success, but the worst ones have a negative impact because they fail to prioritize their employees’ needs. However, if you work for a supervisor who consistently does these two things, you are being set up for success and will likely have a great work experience.

Your boss must define what success looks like.

Supervisors who don’t distinguish high performers may very well end up rewarding the poor ones, and this is a key factor in toxic organizations.

If your boss doesn’t define what success looks like, he is doing way more than undermining overall organizational success. He is indeed sabotaging your ability to succeed as a contributing member of the team and, quite possibly, setting you up to fail. Defining success is a key responsibility for effective supervisors, and when they can’t or won’t define it, you can bet your bottom dollar they aren’t going to work to help you achieve it either.

Why it’s critically important for effective supervisors to define success:

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  • When success is defined, it can also be recognized and rewarded. But when it isn’t defined, you can put in all kinds of work and produce major deliverables and still not be adequately recognized or rewarded for your high performance.
  • When success is defined, employees understand how to become high performers. They become more engaged in goal accomplishment and better able to position themselves for a promotion and secure merit bonuses and raises.
  • When success is defined, it’s a sign that the organization likely has a transparent performance management program that it takes seriously, and it’s also a good sign that due diligence is taken to ensure employees understand the performance process and receive effective coaching throughout the entire year.
  • When success is defined, a culture of accountability—as opposed to a culture of toxicity—can be created because there is less chaos about roles and expectations, and there is less confusion about performance expectations.
  • When success is defined, it forces or prompts a review of the overall organizational or operational strategy to ensure alignment between performance expectations and strategy. Also, more attention gets paid to position descriptions to eliminate discrepancies that could lead to conflicts with goal achievement or create ambiguity among various roles.

If your boss doesn’t define what success looks like, he really can’t set proper standards for performance or accountability. As a result, everyone’s performance—the high and low performers—just ends up getting treated equally. Employee morale decreases, and over time, the culture could become toxic as well.

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Your boss must provide resources and remove obstacles.

Supervisors who can’t be bothered to prioritize their employees’ needs should never expect their employees to prioritize the organization’s needs.

If your boss doesn’t provide the resources you need to effectively do your job, he is undermining your ability to succeed. And, if he doesn’t remove obstacles that impede performance, he hinders trust and makes it difficult for employees to thrive. Next to the need to define success, supervisors have an absolute responsibility to listen—and respond—to employee needs. It is the supervisor’s job to leverage his influence and leadership on behalf of employee success. If employees don’t have the resources they need to perform at high levels, the organization will suffer, and everyone will eventually feel it.

Why it’s critically important for effective supervisors to provide resources and remove obstacles.

  • When resources are provided and obstacles are removed, employees have what they need to do their jobs well and deliver meaningful results. Also, workplace obstacles are minimized or eliminated. Obstacles such as conflicting policies that impede the customer experience get modified or removed. Obstacles such as broken communication flow, process redundancies, duplication of effort and procedural gaps get dealt with.
  • When resources are provided and obstacles are removed, employees can focus on making themselves, their team members, their bosses and their organizations look good instead of fighting to be heard or spending unnecessary time complaining about what’s getting in their way.
  • When resources are provided and obstacles are removed, employees feel heard, appreciated, respected and valued. As a result, they become truly engaged on what matters to their bosses. This leads to organizational leaders getting more input and deeper levels of investment from employees.
  • When resources are provided and obstacles are removed, employees are free to use their talents to think, experiment, create and innovate in a way that will elevate operations and help to achieve strategic goals. Change management efforts and disruption issues have less of a negative impact on organizational performance and profits.
  • When resources are provided and obstacles are removed, supervisors with a tendency to micromanage employees feel less of a need to do so. Instead, they can focus more on the big picture. They can become better leaders and better change agents because they realize they can actually get out of the way and allow their employees to confidently shine.

If your boss doesn’t take the time to understand what resources you need and which obstacles are in your way, he is not making you a priority. Surely, as a consequence, you might start to question whether you need to make him a priority either.

Key takeaways

For supervisors

If your goal is be an effective leader and create a high-performance culture of accountability and trust, it is critically important that you define success, provide resources, remove obstacles and then get out of the way and let employees do their best work.

You can give the best office and holiday parties, but fail to do these things, and it won’t really matter. You can provide your employees with the best work schedules, but fail to do these things, and it won’t really matter. You can pay employees great salaries, and still it won’t really matter if you neglect to prioritize these things.

For employees

If your supervisor won’t make defining success a priority, he is showing you that you aren’t a priority. If you work for a boss who doesn’t provide clear performance expectations and a definitive understanding for what success looks like, he is setting you up to fail. If your boss consistently neglects to ask about what resources you need to do your job or what obstacles may be in your way, you might want to run like hell before he sets you up to fail.

One of the worst things you can do is just stay on the job hoping that your work product meets with your supervisor’s goals. That hope will quickly turn to disappointment after you have given all you can only to receive poor performance reviews, get overlooked for raises and promotions or find yourself treated no better than any poor performer who does half the work as you do for twice the pay.

Author:  Terina Allen Contributor  Careers   I cover careers, professional advancement and leadership development.

 

Forbes.com | December 12, 2019

 

#BestofFSCBlog : What Successful People Do During The Holiday Season To Improve Their Careers.

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It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving Day is next week. In no time at all, it will be Hanukkah, Christmas, then the New Year.  

This is a season where it’s easy and socially acceptable to coast. Many of your co-workers and clients are going to be out of the office taking their vacations. The mood in the office is generally upbeat and the pace of work appreciably slows down. Most people enjoy the season, but pay scant attention to their jobs and careers. They put themselves on autopilot and glide through the end of the year. They’ll say that they deserve a break and promise to get their act together and into high gear once 2020 commences.

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People who have achieved great success in their lives and careers look at this time period very differently than the rest of us. They recognize that there is less than two full months until the year ends and there is still so much yet to accomplish. For them, there is enough time to take proactive steps to improve themselves and enhance their careers and lives. They’ll enjoy the holidays, but won’t frivolously squander their precious time.

Here is what successful people do over the next six weeks.  

  1. They don’t procrastinate. Instead, successful people wrap up any and all of their important, outstanding projects. It’s easy to push things off and blame the holidays. They get things done right now—without any excuses.
  2. Successful people start a list of goals for what they desire to achieve in the next year. They don’t just hope and pray that things will work out. They’ll write down an action plan that focuses on all of the daily steps needed to accomplish their objectives. By writing down their ambitions, it becomes real and they hold themselves accountable to it. If you tell someone about your aspirations, it motivates you further to intensely focus on the game plan, as there will be someone you respect checking in on you.
  3. Motivated people purposely block out all of the extraneous distractions that arise over the next bunch of weeks. They’ll attend parties and family functions, but won’t eat and drink excessively, as they know they need to stay clear headed and on top of their game.
  4. Smart, fast-track and career-oriented people actively turn up the heat on their job search. The vast majority of job seekers put their search on hold during the holidays, as they don’t want to be bothered with ruining their fun. If you are aggressively looking, you’ll stand out with much less competition.
  5. Use this time to refresh your résumé and LinkedIn profile, contact recruiters, check out job boards and invite people out for coffee or a cocktail to pick their brains about potential job openings.
  6. Take advantage of the holiday season’s shopping sales to pick up a couple of new interviewing outfits.
  7. Intelligent people start preparing for their annual review. They’ll gather a list of all their great accomplishments and carefully practice what they’ll say to their boss to secure a raise and promotion.
  8. Forward thinkers contemplate where they are in their lives and what they want to do next. This may entail going back to school, pivoting to a new career or completely reinventing themselves. This time is perfect to seriously contemplate the next chapter of your career.
  9. Successful people are not afraid of constructive criticism and are self-aware. Engage in self-reflection about who you really are. Think about whether or not you’re happy with your life choices. Maybe you will decide to lose five pounds, become more optimistic and positive, treat people better, give to charity or work toward becoming the best version of yourself and the person that you know could be.
  10. Those rare, successful people have a certain mindset. They give thanks to all of the wonderful things they have in their lives. Show appreciation to the ones you love. Express gratitude for everything good that’s happened to you. Forgive, forget and let go of all the past regrets, slights, indignities and bad decisions.

This is just a start and you can continually add to this list. You are now prepared to start the holiday season and enter the new year feeling happy, confident, productive, both mentally and emotionally strong and successful.

Author: Jack Kelly Senior Contributor   Careers :  I write actionable interview, career and salary advice.

Forbes.com | November 20, 2019

#CareerAdvice : #YourCareer -Why You Should Always Be Looking for Work….Best Advice You will Read!

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The new world of work is unstable in ways that previous generations could not have imagined. In fact, the structures have changed so significantly that the landscape is barely recognizable. So the adages that used to make sense — keep your head down, focus on excelling at what you do, work your way up the ranks — often don’t apply.

Today, to build a successful career, you need to always be looking for work.

To understand why, let’s start with the big picture. More and more businesses have entered the “gig economy.” While that term, for many people, conjures up images of Uber and Instacart, these types of platform-based businesses are only a small fraction of the overall gig economy.

Increasingly, all sorts of businesses are hiring temporary or contingent workers rather than traditional full-time employees with benefits. NPR reports that one out of every five jobs is held by a freelancer, and that within a decade, contractors and freelancers could make up half the workforce.

They often lack benefits. They’re also often the first to be laid off when an economic downturn comes along, and in most cases they cannot collect unemployment.

4 Ways to Protect Yourself From a Layoff

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Meanwhile, even people who have full-time jobs with benefits are often scraping by. A recent Bankrate survey found that 45% of workers have a “side hustle,” including 43% of full time workers. The most common reason is that they need the money to get by.

Meanwhile, in another survey, 78% of workers reported that they are living paycheck to paycheck.

As co-founder of Steady, a startup assisting people in creating a stable monthly income, I hear from users all the time who share stories of their struggles. Some are young workers who aren’t making enough to live and pay down their massive college loans. Others have been in the workforce for decades, and always thought they’d have a job until retirement — only to find that their jobs are being replaced by contractors or, in some cases, automation.

They come from a wide range of industries and report that their hours are cut back, their side hustle isn’t paying as much as it did, or they’re suddenly in danger of being laid off. Some are from high levels of a corporate hierarchy. In fact, a LinkedIn analysis found that traditional employees have lost their lock on managerial roles in an organization. Contractors now “work in higher seniority roles a year sooner than peers in non-contract roles on average.”

Stability is becoming a relic of the past. The deck is stacked against workers. And while we do need new laws and policies to help give people some guarantees and improve their pay, the most important step individuals can take to protect themselves from the tumultuousness of this reality is to always be looking for new, better opportunities.

How to Find a Side Job

I recommend making it a daily habit. Every day, take action toward discovering new opportunities.

For starters, get your profile up on any and all jobs boards that include the kinds of positions you may be interested in. Keep updating your profile with your latest achievements, accolades, and recommendations. Do the same with your resume. (Check out “the anatomy of a perfect resume” for ideas.)

Set up notifications for all the relevant jobs boards as well. Take five minutes each day to look at what positions have just been loaded up. It helps to move quickly if one interests you, and it’s also a matter of educating yourself. The more you look at the kinds of positions opening up at different companies, the clearer a picture you’ll get of the job market.

Perhaps most importantly, take the time to consider and analyze your skill set. Many people don’t realize the full scope of their skills, or how well those skills can transfer from one field to another. (See how an opera singer discovered that his skills could help make him a great sales leader.) Berkeley offers tools to help you determine yours.

Once you’ve done this, look into how other people with skills similar to yours have progressed in their careers. LinkedIn can be very helpful for this. Look at the skills of people in your network, and ask them about their career progressions.

And if there are any “dream jobs” that interest you, reach out to people who currently have those jobs and ask them how they got there. Often, you’ll find that people are happy to give advice.

You owe it to yourself to always chase a better professional situation — more hours, more security, better benefits, and higher pay. By taking a step in that direction every day, you’ll be on your way.

Author: Adam Roseman is co-founder and CEO of Steady, an Atlanta-based startup that assists workers and job seekers in creating a stable monthly income and a more solid financial future.
GlassDoor.com | June 28, 2019