career coach

What do you know about your employees?

May 18, 2012

Charley Charley, a new retiree-greeter at Wal-Mart, just couldn’t seem to get to work on time. Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, really tidy, clean-shaven, sharp minded and a real credit to the company; obviously demonstrating their “Older Person Friendly” policies. One day the boss called him into the office for a talk. “Charley, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang up job. But, being late so often is quite bothersome.” “I know boss, and I am working on it.” ”Well good, you are a team player. That’s what I like to hear. It’s odd though your coming in late. I know you’re retired from the Armed Forces. So, what did they say if you came in late back then?” ‘‘They said, ‘Good morning, Admiral, can I get you coffee, sir?”’ What do you know about your employees? Some of them have skills and talents that are far beyond what you see of them day in and day out. The Problem Several years ago, I had an opening for a computer programmer. One of the computer operators approached me with an

What is a BA, and why do I need them?

May 16, 2012

Recently, a colleague asked me a question. He asked “What is a BA, and why do we need so many? What do they do?” I am always surprised that people ask me questions like that. Then, I stop being intellectually arrogant, and realize I just know “stuff” and just answered him. A BA is short for Business Analyst. A BA wears many hats in an organization. If they are correctly used, they can be the most important part of a well run IT organization. Let me give you a brief history of the BA. Rock on dude! I started in IT back in the 80′s. AC/DC, Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and KISS were the bands of the day. Big hair and make-up on guys was ok, and politically we were moving from Jimmy Carter and onto Ronald Reagan. In the early days of IT, we programmers did it all. We were even more interesting than the Dos XX guy. Once a user requested a project, the programmer would meet with them, gather the business requirements, turn them into technical requirements, create a project plan of sorts, and then start programming. We ran

7 Business Terms You Need to Know

May 15, 2012

Mentoring is a nearly dead art. Gone are the days when a veteran employee or manager will take the time to take someone under his wing and show them the ropes. There are many reasons why, but I think the fact that people change jobs, careers, and companies way more often today than they ever did in the pre-1980′s “Greed is good” period of Gordon Gekko in a major factor. For that reason, I have found that many young people are less prepared for the real world and have little opportunity to learn things that people of my generation learned from seasoned professionals. For that reason, I am taking some time to define some terms that I continually see people misunderstand or misuse. #1 – Draw Against Commission Many companies will hire commissioned sales people that may not receive a commission check for many months after starting their new job. If the position is highly commissioned, meaning the bulk 2of their paycheck is from commissions, the company will loan money to the new salesman that is to be paid back from future commission checks. This keeps the new salesman’s cash flow steady while he builds up his business and starts

Should you get an MBA?

May 12, 2012

Many of my career clients often ask me if they should go back to school for an MBA. Most of the time they are asking as a result of some negative experience they just suffered. It usually comes while they are looking for a job and aren’t getting offers, or even interviews. Generally, my answer is no, don’t go back. Why would I discourage someone from getting more education when the conventional wisdom might say otherwise. Well, it is because you must examine your motives whenever you do anything. If you are going back to school because you feel the additional knowledge will make you a better employee, then yes, you should go. But, if you are using it to add a pedigree to your resume, then forget it. The MBA might get you in the door and could possibly get you to the finals, but your work experience and the chemistry you create with the hiring authority is what will get you hired. Sorry, your credits aren’t any good here I am not a big fan of the industry of higher education. College is a business. The business of college is to collect tuition, turn out graduates, and recruit

Do you know where the greatest treasures in the world are buried?

May 11, 2012

I heard a guy ask once “Do you know where the greatest treasures in the world are buried?”They are not buried in the diamond mines of Africa.They are not buried in the oil fields of the middle east.They are not buried on sunken treasure ships deep in the Atlantic. No, they are buried in the billions of graves all over the world, along with the books that were never written, the businesses that were never started, the athletes that never reached for the stars, relationships that were never fulfilled, and many more unfulfilled dreams because the people buried there took their dreams with them to their graves, afraid to fail. We are each blessed with so many talents that come standard with who you are. The irony is that most us don’t know what that talent is because it is something so natural and easy for us to do that it just doesn’t “can’t” be a talent.Talents are obvious, right?I used to listen to people sing and think “oh, I would love to be able to do that.”I used to see beautiful art and think “oh, I could never do that. I don’t have that talent.”I never thought I had

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

Career advisors (aka In-flight Consultants)

May 9, 2012

I have had far too much experience in my career with people who believe everything that they see and hear is fact, before actually doing any research to find out the truth. I have had bosses, co-workers, subordinates, and friends who will declare something as fact when the facts are actually in opposition to their point. I will give some examples of someone’s perception being their reality. Some years ago there was a new fad in toys called pogs. It was a game where you would try to flip disk shaped pieces of plastic into a cup. Our CEO at the time came back to the office and said he had a conversation with a 16 year old kid on a flight who told him that pogs were the next big thing. A 16 year old kid? Our CEO then ordered the toy buyer to go out and corner the market on pogs. He directed him to buy millions of dollars of the stupid little game. The buyer argued that we should test the product before buying that many, but the CEO over-ruled him and forced him to move ahead. Well, I’m sure by now you have guessed the end

Chain of Command

May 3, 2012

I spent four years in the United States Navy. I learned a great many useful life lessons during that time, but the most significant lesson I learned was to respect the chain of command. In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed within a military unit and between different units. Orders are transmitted down the chain of command, from a higher-ranked soldier, such as a commissioned officer, to lower-ranked personnel who either execute the order personally or transmit it down the chain as appropriate, until it is received by those expected to execute it. In general, military personnel give orders only to those directly below them in the chain of command and receive orders only from those directly above them. Thank you sir, may I have another? The concept of chain of command also implies that higher rank alone does not entitle a higher-ranking service member to give commands to anyone of lower rank. For example, an officer of unit “A” does not directly command lower-ranking members of unit “B”, and is generally expected to approach an officer of unit “B” if he requires action by members of

Job hunting in a tough market!

April 29, 2012

In recent weeks, several of my clients have asked my help in finding them a new job. They each have different reasons for wanting to change jobs. Some just want more money. A few are not comfortable with the financial health of their current employer. And, I have one entry level client and one recently “outplaced” client that just need help getting started. Finding a job is not necessarily that hard, but finding the right job does take a plan. There was a time in the recent past when people would just shotgun resumes or respond to every job ad they saw. That method does work, but it is a lot more painful in terms of time, and success. If you think about it, you need to hit the right company at the right time looking for your credentials. Odds seem a little against you. So, it is best to create a plan of attack, and to work your plan. This will take how long??? The first rule of thumb that people need to know in the job search is that, as non-scientific it may be, you should expect to spend about one month per $10,000 of salary hunting for

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

Page 1 of 10

1 2 3 … 10 »

Career and Management