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How To Prepare For A Career Discussion With Your Manager

In order to have a productive discussion about career growth with your manager, it is important for you to prepare and think through some key items ahead of time. You want to be in full control of your career path and the best way to do that is to approach your manager with confidence and conviction around your career growth goals.

To prepare for the discussion, start by answering some basic questions about yourself and your career:

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How To Stand Out At A New Job (And Fit In Too)

Congratulations! You got the job! Getting a new job is exciting. However, after the dust settles from celebrating this accomplishment, you have some work to do.

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Why Great Leaders Need These 3 Personal Leadership Skills

Personal leadership is taking responsibility for all aspects of your life and leading it in the direction that is best for you.

In order to be successful in leading at work, having strong personal leadership skills is critical.

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What's My Brand? Why It's Important To Know

When thinking of a company like Apple, immediately their brand comes to mind: imagination, creativity, and design. When thinking of Oprah, immediately things like openness, authenticity, and personal dialogue come to mind. And Nike? Athleticism and victory. Related: There's No 'I' In Personal Brand Although those are globally known names and brands, each of us also has a unique brand we carry with us every day. Our brands are our own personal slogans or words that describe each of us, and what we do. Even if you don't think you have a brand, you do. It is what people think of you and the work you do regardless of whether you agree with it or not. Your brand is the conversation going on about you while you are not in the room. The question is: do you know what your brand is and are you managing it? Seeking feedback from trusted peers and mentors about how you are perceived is a good way to find out about your current brand. Once you know how you are perceived, you can take steps to manage that perception. You can choose to build upon the perceived brand or change it. That is the beauty of a personal brand - it's yours to create. For example, there was a young leader who wanted to advance his career inside a large corporation. He found out, although not intentionally, he was branding himself as a "reserved, thoughtful, hardworking, and quiet leader." He wanted his brand to bring up thoughts of a "charismatic, dynamic leader" who was also "hardworking and thoughtful" so he needed to change the current perception. He needed to build and portray his brand as a charismatic, dynamic, thoughtful, and hardworking leader. The best way to do that is to embody your brand. This young man had built his brand by default. He was not conscious of it nor was he trying to come across in any particular way; however, there was still a brand attached to his name and it was based on how he was behaving and how he was perceived by others within his company. The message here is to be aware that even though you may not think you have a brand, you do. And, if you want to advance and develop your career, it is a piece that should be managed so you are coming across in the exact way you want others to perceive you. Be aware of your brand in all that you do. Make an effort to exhibit it at all times. Just like Apple, Oprah, and Nike. Everything these organizations do and everything they produce promotes their brand. And, all you do should promote your brand. Promoting it is not difficult if the brand is true to who you authentically desire to be. The young man in the above example needed to practice being more dynamic and charismatic instead of quiet and reserved. Quiet and reserved were his default but dynamic and charismatic were his passion and true to who he wanted to be so that is how he began to brand himself. He began to embody the traits of a dynamic and charismatic leader and he focused on portraying them in all he did. Doing so changed the perception of him, just as he wanted. What is your brand? Are you aware of it and are you managing it? Are you embodying it in all you do? Hopefully the answer is yes because your personal brand is a very important piece of successful career growth. This post was originally published on an earlier date. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

The Power Of Persistence In Your Career

There is a framed photo on my desk of a runner out for a run in a beautiful field with mountainous views. The photo says, "Persistence - The race goes not only to the swift but to those who keep running." Related: Act Like A Business Owner To Advance Your Career I love this photo because it reminds me to be persistent in the pursuit of my goals and dreams. When we are persistent, we act with conviction, and that energy draws us toward those people and events that help our dreams come to fruition. Even if they don't show up exactly how we want or think they should or, we are met with obstacles and roadblocks along the way, it is the persistent pursuit of our goals that will eventually bring them into reality. This also holds true for our career goals. A great example of this happened with two of my colleagues who were seeking promotion opportunities inside their companies. In fact, they both had the same goal of reaching the highest-level sales position inside their (different) organizations. One colleague gave her pursuit approximately two years, and when she did not see the results she was seeking, she decided to pursue a different goal and left her company to start her own marketing consultation business. Two years later, her consulting business had not yet grown to the level she desired so she abandoned it. She went back to her original goal of seeking a high-level sales position inside another large corporation. She is 18 months into that job and I recently found out she is, again, not seeing her upward movement happen fast enough so she's beginning to consider alternate opportunities. Since setting the original goal to reach the highest-level sales position in his company, my other colleague has been in several different roles in his company (all sales related). He continues to broaden his knowledge of all sectors of his company and all their different customers in his pursuit of his ultimate goal. He has had some missteps and has taken a few steps backwards as he grown over the past few years, but he has not gotten discouraged. Some of his greatest learning has come from some of his low points. He knows the more he perseveres and the more he succeeds in his current assignments, the closer he gets to his ultimate goal. He has reached the position of Sales Director, which is several levels above where he was when he first began to consciously pursue this goal. This demonstrates his continued positive progression along his career path. Even events that seem like obstacles or that could be perceived as "slowing him down" do not discourage or derail him. He knows all the assignments and new learning are grooming him for the highest-level sales position. He also believes, despite how much he wants to reach that position in his current company, if it doesn't happen where he is presently working, it will happen somewhere else. He does not lose sight of his ultimate desire and he keeps persisting and pursuing because he knows the race will go to he (or she) who keeps on running. I love this story of his dedication and persistence. It is a reminder to us to never lose sight of where we want to go and to never stop persevering. If we are committed and persistent and open to the variety of possibilities and paths that will take us to our desired place, one day we will wake up and realize that we have reached that ultimate goal. Why? Because we kept on going. This post was originally published at an earlier date.

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How To Respectfully Stand Up To Your Boss When You're Overworked

Lately, I've been hearing heard a common theme among many of the senior leaders I coach. They are tired, frustrated, overwhelmed, and overworked. Maybe it’s the time of year, but many of these leaders feel they have little control over how they spend and manage their time since they are regularly responding to “urgent requests” from their executive leadership team. Related: Burned Out? How To Take A Vacation Without Taking A Vacation And, more often than not, these requests are not something they can delegate to their direct reports. As you may be able to understand, they are in fire-fighting mode more often than they want (or need) to be. So, what can you do to stop the feeling of overwhelm, which leads to the tiredness and frustration? Do you stand up to your boss?

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3 Steps To Help You Master The Art Of Delegation

One of the great opportunities of leadership is the delegation of tasks to others, which not only frees up your time to be more strategic but also develops those employees to whom you’ve delegated. Related: 6 Career Management Hacks That Will Get You Ahead Although it is a great opportunity for leaders, it is also a great challenge. Delegating means letting go of a fair amount of, if not all of, the control associated with the way tasks are completed. I find this to be a struggle for many leaders, myself included. As the owner of my business, I find that letting go of tasks and delegating to others can be quite a challenge at times. What if they don’t do it right? What if they don’t get it done on time? What if they upset the clients? These “what if’s” can go on forever! I've tortured myself through many of them and I've seen many of my clients do the same. What I’ve learned, both personally and through working with others in this area, are some key steps to take to ease concerns about delegating to others. First, you want to have a high degree of confidence in the people you delegate to; therefore, be diligent in your selection of those you hire to work for you. Often times leaders are in a hurry to get a position filled so do not take enough time to be sure they are making the best selection. Without confidence that you have the best people on your team, delegating can be difficult. Yet, when you know you’ve got the right people in place, it is much easier to delegate with assurance. Second, you will probably need a fair amount of updates and status checks on how your team is doing with the tasks. (Usually I need more updates and status checks early in the relationship.) Once you get to know the individuals and their work ethic, and your relationship develops, the amount of check-ins decreases because the expectations are well understood, and your confidence in their ability to meet your expectations increases. Lastly, you want to change any “what if” comments from negative to positive. So, instead of thinking, “What if they don’t do it right?” try, “What if they do it better than I ever could?” Or, “What if this works out better than I thought?” That mindset shift will help you expect the best as opposed to expecting things to go wrong. Does this mean things never go wrong? Of course not but it certainly sets up an environment that is more expectant of success than if you continue to think of all the possible ways things could go wrong. Although this is not always easy for leaders, letting go of control and delegating is necessary and highly beneficial for all. It not only enables you, the leader, to focus on more strategic items but it motivates your workforce to take on more responsibility and fosters more employee development. This month’s development tip: Have you mastered the art of delegation? If so, congratulations! We’d love to hear some of your success tactics so please visit our Facebook wall and share! If not, follow the suggested steps in this month’s article; with each step you should begin to get more comfortable with letting go. This post was originally published at an earlier date.

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To Reach Your Highest Potential, Start From Your Strengths

I just read a wonderful book called Unique Ability: Creating The Life You Want by Catherine Nomura, Julia Waller and Shannon Waller. The book is about identifying what makes us each unique and then sharing that ability with the world. It is about discovering our unique gifts and then using those to create our livelihood and life's work. Related: How To Stand Out: Define Your Strengths For me, reading this book reinforced what I've known and seen successfully demonstrated throughout my 16 year career as an HR coach and consultant; that is, when we work from our strengths and let our unique abilities shine through, we are most successful. By doing this, we thrive, and, in turn, those who work with us can also thrive. To reach our highest potential, we need to start from our strengths. I often see company leaders (and even HR professionals) focused on helping employees with their "developmental opportunities." They take a lot of time to identify what is wrong with the employees or what skills they are missing. They explore the areas where they are lacking and then hone in on getting the employees experiences or training so they can develop those "weak" areas. As an HR professional, I understand why this is important. Companies need to be sure employees are skilled enough to do the jobs for which they were hired to do; however, it is much easier to hire people who already are strong in the areas required for the job and then work with them to leverage and build upon those strengths. I have seen many people successfully develop or grow in an area where they were weak but that growth is often limited and may only last for a short period of time. Why? Because they are not starting from their strengths and it can be an uphill climb for any of us to develop in an area that does not come naturally or feel right to us. For example, when my friend, the artist, asks for a recommendation on a course in creating Excel spreadsheets (because she needs to learn Excel to help out with a family business), I can accurately predict she will complete the course but highly doubt she'll retain what she learns. Why not? Because she is being pushed to do something against her grain. It is counter to her unique ability and it is almost certain that, even if she does learn a lot about spreadsheets, she won't do it very well. Or, even worse, she will do it reluctantly. Yet, if you put her in a course on advanced photograph development, she will thrive, soar and excel because that is aligned with her unique gift. When hiring employees, we should seek them out for their unique abilities. Find out what comes naturally to them and where they excel. There is a reason why some of us got outstanding grades in art class as children and others did not. There is a reason why some of us stood out in science class and became doctors and others did not. When we start from where we are strong and build upon that, we are already ahead of the game. We are using our strengths as a bouncing off place to excel even further. Forcing someone to develop in an area where they are not strong, or, even worse, in an area that has no meaning to them will be like paddling upstream in a very strong current. The whole idea with operating from our strengths is to enable our unique ability to shine through. Instead of fighting the current, we go with the current. We need to start from our strengths and watch how naturally we can reach our highest potential. This post was originally published at an earlier date.

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