Blog Archives

Persistence – Don’t leave before the miracle happens

May 10, 2012

I learned the hard way that the primary key to success is not talent. It isn’t brains, looks, or education. It isn’t any of the things that you are taught growing up. No, the key to success at any level is persistence. To succeed, one needs to continually strive to get what they want. And when I say continually strive, I don’t mean work harder, etc., I mean picking yourself up when knocked down and continuing the fight until you get what it is you want and to expect and learn from your failures. Some people call it suit up and show up. When I was a freshman in high school in 1776, I played soccer on the school’s soccer team. I didn’t go out for soccer because of some deep love of the game. No, as an American I played soccer because I knew it would force me to get into excellent physical condition for my first sport love, basketball. Even then I understood my own shortcomings and knew that if I didn’t have someone or something driving me to workout, I would not have been in good enough shape for basketball. Before each practice, our soccer coach made

The Best Management Personalities

May 7, 2012

As I have studied careers, business, and management over the years, I have come up with four personality types of leadership. The first is positive, the next two are neutral to negative, and the fourth is a disaster. The first management personality type is the manager who wanted to be the boss, and once there, likes being the boss. This personality type is normally very qualified for the job. They have a comfort level around their employees and around their peers. This is a very effective manager. The second and more neutral personality is one that wanted to be the boss, but once their hates it. They campaigned or pursued the job for much of their career, and in fact may have spent many years preparing for it. But, once there, for some reason they found that they really dislike or hate the job. Maybe they don’t like the politics. Maybe they don’t like dealing with or directing people, maybe they were very good at the job they had, but found management was not what they thought. This manager is effective, but not great. The third management personality is also neutral to negative. This boss who doesn’t want to be

Don’t go in the cave!

May 5, 2012

Have you ever noticed that every company seems to have at least one employee that cannot find anything good at all about coming to work. They hate their job, management, their pay, HR, the guy in the next cube, the cafeteria, their career, and everything, but you of course. Until you leave, and the next person is ok and you’re not!! I worked with this guy once that I thought was a great guy, we’ll call him Eyeore. Well Eyeore was always ok for the first ten minutes of any conversation. He knew sports, politics, and the weather as well as anyone. But if you stayed longer than ten minutes, something happened. Eyeore would go into the cave of depression, and he wanted to bring you with him.”Good morning Eeyore.”"Good morning Mike.”Ten minutes of healthy banter, but then:”Did you hear the company is for sale? Heard they have a buyer and they’ll be shutting down this office.”Now, that is pretty tough news early on a Monday. Come on in… I used to fall right into that trap and go right into that cave with old Eyeore. I would get all worked up, scared, down, and maybe even start asking others

Is college worth it?

April 28, 2012

Obviously, that is a loaded question. I can assure you that all of the people who have dedicated their lives, professions, and livelihood to education will and should give you an emotional “YES”! But what of the rest of us that worked hard in high school to get good enough grades to get into a top notch university? What about the parents and students who pay something south of $100,000 to get a four degree with absolutely no promise of a job afterward? And lastly, what about the 60 credits you are required to take, called electives to augment the 60 credits of your major so as to give you a well rounded education? When is the last time you used “The Planets, Stars and Universe” in your new job as an accountant? You need to go to the Business Office I have always held that there are two parts of the university environment. There is the education part, the one we all understand whereby college professors teach classes, do research, and publish papers. This is the part where crotchety old people who don’t work in the real world, essentially inculcate young heads of mush with the important facts they

I need a job!

April 16, 2012

In recent weeks, several colleagues have asked my help to find a new job. Finding a job is pretty hard, but with some skill it can be made easier. Most people just shot gun resumes until one sticks. That does work, but it is a lot more painful. How Long Will it Take The first rule of thumb that people need to understand is that as a non-scientific rule of thumb, it takes about one month per $10,000 of salary to find that new job. If you do a quick calculation, that means it would take about 6 months of job searching, sending resumes, and interviewing to find a $60,000 job. That is pretty long, so it is important that you are organized. Your Job Search is a Full-time Job Second, depending on your current job status, looking for a job can be a full time job. If you are currently employed, you can look part-time by searching job boards, answering, ads, and networking. You can work a couple of recruiters in your industy, but don’t work with more than two or three. If you are out of work, then work your job search for eight hours a day. -

What does your resume say about you?

April 15, 2012

I have read thousands of resumes in my career as a C-level executive. To be honest, I usually read the first couple of lines and scan the job titles of the candidate in an effort to glean what I am able to as quickly as possible. Do you know why? Not because I am too busy or too lazy to read them. No, it is because they are often so boring and poorly formatted that I can hardly get past the first few lines. Read me! To get hiring authorities to read your resume, candidates must find ways to create an eye appealing format. Whether you are an entry level candidate, or a senior executive, the first two people that read your resume are generally completely unqualified to make a determination as to whether or not you are qualified for the position for which you are applying. Executive Recruiters or internal HR staff only know on a superficial level whether your qualifications match up with the requirements of the job. Normally, knowing that is that is the job of the hiring authority, but only if your resume has passed on to them through the hands of the first level gate

Divide and Conquer Management Style

April 13, 2012

I guess you could say that all managers can be put into general management styles. Some are funny. Some are yellers. Some are dictators. Some manage by committee. Some never communicate face to face, but via email. So I suppose that since people are different, so should there be a variety management styles. One of the most dysfunctional management styles I have seen is what I call the Divide and Conqueror manager, aka the D&C. The D&C is a manager that chooses to have no structure in his life. He conducts no staff meetings, no structured one on one discussions, any meetings that are scheduled are without an agenda and normally called at the last minute so you can’t prepare. Pssst…got any gossip? The D&C likes to walk around a facility and get his information by talking to junior staff, mid-managers, or in some cases, complete strangers. He asks for opinions, dismisses fact, and tries to piece together the “truth” much like I would imagine a cold war era CIA agent would but getting his information from a variety of enemy sources named Natasha and Boris. The agent or the D&C never believes anything his direct reports tell him, and

Should you ever take a counter offer?

April 11, 2012

The great thing about looking for a new job is that you will eventually find one. You get to enjoy the rush and stress of interviewing, the code words you have to use to break away from work so you can go on an interview without burning a vacation day (dental appointment = interview), and finding that one person you trust to tell them how it went!! When can you start? Then comes the moment of truth when you get the offer. The compensation is a little less than you wanted, but 15% more than you make now, and you don’t have all that baggage from your current job to carry along with you. Nope, when you start the new job, you have all the credibility and respect you deserve. But then you go into your manager and say “Frank, I have some bad news. I have taken another job.” You then prepare for the worst. You think old Frank is going to erupt into a cacophony of expletives telling you how ungrateful you are!!!! But, no. He looks sad. He isn’t happy, but he isn’t mad. He is, how should I say it? Disappointed. Why would you leave him?

Behavior, Attitude and Training (B.A.T)

April 10, 2012

As managers and as employees, our work place demeanor is composed of three major components that I call B.A.T. – Behavior, Attitude, and Training. These three components are all that are needed for us to perform effectively, and to assess someone else’s performance in any task that is undertaken. Unfortunately, business people seem to misjudge performance by mistaking a change in one component for another when assessing performance problems. I will explain. According To Webster The dictionary defines behavior as a manner of behaving or acting. Not very specific is it? In my world, what I mean by that is assessing how someone deals with a variety of stimuli. For example, continuing to come in late is a behavorial problem. Using language deemed inappropriate by your workplace culture is also behavior related. The stimuli affecting the behavior can be work related, or completely un-work related (ie: a fight with your spouse). Attitude is a slighty different animal. Attitude is defined as a manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind, as in “he has a negative attitude”. Attitude is a little tougher to assess because it is more subjective,

Praise in public – criticize in private

April 8, 2012

How often have you seen it? The belligerent, screaming boss who ridicules the staff in front of everyone. Maybe you’ve seen in a restaurant. The owner is ranting at the waitress in front of customers. Maybe you have been in a store heard a supervisor make a quiet, snide remark at a cashier for something he did. Maybe your boss lost his temper at work and screamed at you in front of you co-workers for doing something wrong. Maybe you are that kind of boss. Maybe you “dress down” your employees in staff meetings, or make fun of them in front of your boss. Maybe you make them look bad in front of customers to make yourself feel better about yourself. Is that you? Click here to Subscribe to Direct your career! by Email There is no place in business for that sort of behavior. Whenever you as a fully functioning manager are required to handle a sticky situation, it is incumbent upon you to handle it privately, quietly, professionally, and in a dignified manner. People who are treated with dignity will accept your critique in a dignified manner. People are ridiculed will harbor resentments that will affect their future

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Career and Management