http://directyourcareer.com/blog from MEA Strategic Solutions, LLC Fri, 18 May 2012 16:19:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-your-employees.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-your-employees.html#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 16:19:00 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=767   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 [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-your-employees.html/feed 1 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/10-business-terms-you-need-to-know.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/10-business-terms-you-need-to-know.html#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 14:42:12 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=1087 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 [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/10-business-terms-you-need-to-know.html/feed 6 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/annual-performance-reviews.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/annual-performance-reviews.html#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 12:44:34 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=57 In my opinion, one of the biggest wastes of management time are annual performance reviews. I know, I know that is heresy.  “Mike, isn’t it true we need let our staff know where they stand?  Where they can improve?” you ask.  Yes, every single day.  Each and every day your direct reports should know where they stand.  Reviews are an institutionalized exercise to overcome bad management.  You know, the guys that never get involved in what is happening and stay in their offices. I do these reviews, because it is part and parcel of the bonus or merit raise process, but they are a waste of time, encourage fear, and cause people to leave companies because the marginally competent managers gave them an unfair, low rating. No, I think reviews are ridiculous, but I do them. Click here to Subscribe to Direct your career! by Email What do you think? Visit http://www.directyourcareer.com often for FREE offers!]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/annual-performance-reviews.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/do-you-know-where-the-greatest-treasures-in-the-world-are-buried.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/do-you-know-where-the-greatest-treasures-in-the-world-are-buried.html#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 10:20:09 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=276 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 [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/do-you-know-where-the-greatest-treasures-in-the-world-are-buried.html/feed 2 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/seven-things-that-have-been-replaced.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/seven-things-that-have-been-replaced.html#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 08:07:52 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=1153 Just for fun, I put together the following list of common items that you will be hard pressed to ever see again, but were incredibly common just 20 years ago. 1) Phone Booth Once common on every street corner, airport, and hotel lobby, you will be hard pressed to find one.  They were so important to society, that Superman originally used phone booths to change out of his street clothes as Clark Kent and into his Superman costume. 2) Floppy Disks When I first came into business, there were 7 inch, 5.25 inch and finally 3.5 inch disks that would fit inside your computer that would be where you backed up your data.  You can put a box of floppies on one flash drive today. 3) Slide Rules Believe it or not, every engineer and engineering student had a slide rule in his brief case.  It was a manual device that was used to do complex mathematical calculations.  It cost as much as $100 in 1990 and was replaced by a free calculator. 4) Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) Ah yes, the VCR.  You cannot go to a yard sale today and not find someone trying to sell you a $500 [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/seven-things-that-have-been-replaced.html/feed 7 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens.html#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 07:29:02 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=248 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 [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/dont-go-in-the-cave-2.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/dont-go-in-the-cave-2.html#comments Sat, 05 May 2012 05:47:42 +0000 Mike http://justmike70.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/dont-go-in-the-cave/ 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 [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/dont-go-in-the-cave-2.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/there-is-no-they-in-your-career.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/there-is-no-they-in-your-career.html#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 01:39:38 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=1025 Like so many people, in my early years I often blamed a great many things in my career on the invisible “they“.   As in “they don’t care about us” or “they just don’t understand”.  It was the same thing so many people say that are not in control of their jobs or their lives.  Then, one day, a great boss  said to me “Mike, quit saying they.  There is no they.  There is only you.”  It caught me by surprise, but a second I realized it was some of the best advice I ever got. I have had many conversations with people over the years that talk about  “they”.   The fact of the matter is that whatever your rank, there is no they.   You can take control of any situation and demonstrate leadership once you accept the fact that you are they,  especially if you are in management, then, in fact, YOU are THEY. Do the right thing Whenever you are faced with making a decision, make it. If you do the next right thing, whatever that happens to be, you are most assuredly not going to get into trouble. There is an old management saying that goes “I [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/there-is-no-they-in-your-career.html/feed 5 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/get-ready-for-that-interview-3.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/get-ready-for-that-interview-3.html#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 00:41:59 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=729 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/get-ready-for-that-interview-3.html/feed 81 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/nih-not-invented-here.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/nih-not-invented-here.html#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:09:13 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=927 NIH is something that permeates bad management and bad businesses everywhere.  Basically, it means that if you or a member of your team did not come up with an idea, then you immediately discount it as being bad, or unworthy.  I know you have encountered NIH yourself, but maybe you didn’t realize it. What you talkin bout Willis? Well, let’s say you have had a consultant thrust upon you. This consultant was hired to help you to do something that you feel you are doing just fine, but management wants you to do it better, or minimally to ensure or validate that you are doing it as well as possible. Well, the consultant begins by interviewing you and members of your staff.  Each time the consultant asks a question that seems to challenge you, you immediately answer with “We’ve tried that before, and it just doesn’t work here.” Even if you haven’t ever tried it you dismiss it because the idea was “not invented here” so it can’t be any good, right?  Each time the consultant suggests anything, his ideas are not taken seriously. I often encourage managers to “open the kimono” when it comes to consultants or new thinking. [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/nih-not-invented-here.html/feed 0