Career Boost Newsletter Articles

Is Your Career LinkedIn?

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Social networking is the buzzword of the moment...Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, LinkedIn and many more. People are asking, “is it relevant to my career or professional life?” With so many options, it’s easy to become overwhelmed if you’re trying to figure it all out, and you may even question whether it’s worth the time to invest in setting up an online profile. 

If you’re searching for a new job, wanting to change careers, trying to advance in your current field, developing your credibility as subject matter expert in your field, or building your own entrepreneurial venture, LinkedIn is an invaluable resource.

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Mistakes Happen!

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Dennis, an accountant, was part of an audit team for a large corporation. As he was reporting some data findings to his project manager and the rest of the team, his manager pointed out an incorrect assumption Dennis made that resulted in erroneous figures and that could have legal repercussions. Fortunately, the mistake was found before the results were presented publicly and Dennis was able to correct his reports. Unfortunately, this incident left Dennis feeling incompetent, embarrassed and questioning his professional abilities.

Most of us have made mistakes in the workplace. They happen! Some are small and can be easily rectified. Others may seem larger, impact other people and projects, and may cause embarrassment, frustration and self-doubt. What do you do in order to rebound from an error and continue moving ahead professionally?

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Sorry No More

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Do you find yourself saying “I’m sorry” too often at work?  Have you noticed a pattern of prefacing feedback or sharing of your ideas with an “I’m sorry, but?” Clients often come to me noticing their overuse of this phrase and the negative impact it has on their professional stature.  What place does saying “I’m sorry” have in the workplace?

Words Matter

The words that you communicate with tell more than just your message.  These words also tell others about you and how you interact with your world.  Here are some examples of the potential negative impact of over-apologizing:

• Tom works in an advertising agency where he was hired for his creativity and cutting-edge ideas.  At brainstorming meetings, he often sits back while colleagues share ideas.  He waits until he’s ready to share what he believes is something more powerful, creative and meaningful.  When he presents his perspective, he always begins by saying, “I’m sorry guys, but what do you think of this idea?”   
  
  Tom is consistently frustrated because his great ideas never get any traction.  Tom feels the need to apologize because he’s not agreeing with the ideas of the group and yet, the group doesn’t spend time on Tom’s possibilities as he hesitantly presents an alternative viewpoint.  Tom’s colleagues shut down their focus after they hear “I’m sorry, but” as they’re assuming the content is a mistake.


• Rebecca, an IT Manager with a team of five direct reports, starts most of her conversations or emails with “I’m sorry.”  It may be “I’m sorry to bother you,”  “I’m sorry that I need you to do this,” or “I’m sorry to disagree with you.”  She is a highly competent IT professional.  She can’t understand why her staff often leaves her projects and request to work with other managers.  Her team members also leave the company at a higher level than any other manager. 
  
  Rebecca’s direct reports have no confidence in her ability to stand up for them when it comes time to granting bonus pay and promotions.  They feel that since she can’t be direct with them, she must not be direct with her peers and supervisors.  She has no credibility as an assertive and confident advocate.

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Career Tune-up: Maintaining your Professional Path

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

As 2008 begins, it’s the perfect opportunity for a Career Tune-up.  The New Year provides a natural time to evaluate how your career progressed over the past year and to determine what you want for the year ahead.  Investing time in assessment and planning will enable you to have a greater impact on your professional development. 

The Past Year

When you review your career milestones of the past year, you’ll want to take a candid look at what worked and what didn’t work for you, your clients and your organization.  Defining this will help you to make decisions about next year.

First, start with what went well this year.  What accomplishments are you most proud of and which have had the most impact?  In what situations were you successful?  Where did you significantly contribute your expertise and your energy?  For what situations did you receive great feedback? 

Once you’ve defined these positives of the past year, celebrate or reward yourself.  Accomplished, achievement-oriented professionals are very good at figuring out ways to improve or defining what did not work well, but often forget this valuable step of acknowledging what they did well.  How and when will you celebrate your past year’s victories?

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Can I Really be Satisfied with Work?

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Do you feel like you fell into your work?  So many of us go to law school because it was expected, or we become doctors because it's the family profession.  Professional choices are made because it's what we 'should' do, as opposed to pursuing what we want to do.

The results of making these decisions, or lack of decisions, can be varied.  For some of us, this path is acceptable.  The work may be interesting, challenging, or financially rewarding - which can be enough to keep us engaged most of the time even if its not ideal. 

Alternatively, we may view work as a means to an end.  Work is just something we do in order to 'pay the bills' and how we feel about our work and career isn't relevant.  It's what the work provides outside of work time that is important. 

However, we may want more from our work and careers, and feel dissatisfied by their lack of fulfillment from our current professional state. 

The reasons for dissatisfaction are wide-ranging and can include:

The lack of:

• Challenge,
• Meaning,
• Success, or
• Camaraderie

Or, too much:

• Stress,
• Hours,
• Monotony, or
• Micro-management.

Are You Feeling Stuck?

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Dealing With a Difficult Boss

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Does Your Boss Drive You Nuts?

One of the most important factors in determining an employees’ satisfaction is the relationship with their immediate supervisor.  According to Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in First, Break All the Rules, your supervisor “defines and pervades your work environment. If she sets clear expectations, knows you, trusts you and invests in you, then you can forgive the company its lack of profit-sharing program.  But if your relationship with your manager is fractured, then no amount of in-chair massaging or company-sponsored dog walking will persuade you to stay and perform.”

If you are blessed with a fantastic boss - one who is supportive, encouraging, competent, and confident, who wants you to be successful and cares about your professional advancement - then you’ve hit the jackpot.  Nurture this relationship and work hard to show that your boss’s investment in you is worthwhile to him/her.  Unfortunately, not everyone’s boss is close to this ideal. 

The following are examples of difficult bosses and how you can make working for this person more manageable.  If you are dealing with one of these situations, this should give you some ideas in how to manage more effectively.  If you haven’t faced these challenging situations, you may in the future and this will arm you with tools to help you.  And, if you are a boss, read on to make sure you are giving your direct reports what they need to excel.

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What is Work/Life Balance, Anyway?

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

I just got off the phone with a client, Rob, who works 70 hours per week, plus he has numerous conference calls and follow-up work during the weekend. He’s married with a young child and would like to spend more time with his family. He used to play tennis regularly but hasn’t been on a court in over 2 years. Rob hasn’t even been out with his close circle of friends in months. 

Rob is often miserable, and finds it difficult to balance his challenging work with other things that used to bring him enjoyment.

Lauren, another client, has similar professional and personal circumstances as Rob: working very long hours with a small family; wishing she had more time to be with her son and husband; she used to jog regularly and yearns to take a yoga class occasionally. 

Through all of this, Lauren is energized and enthused about work and life, and makes the most of each free moment. 

Both Lauren and Rob are in similar situations - they both work very hard professionally with little time for personal commitments.  How can they have such different responses to their extremely busy lifestyle?  It’s all about how they look at work/life balance.

It’s a Journey, Not a Destination

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The Opportunity of Conflict

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

You’ve been working very hard on a new project. You’re counting on everyone to get their pieces in, on time, and to standard. However, you dread getting John’s project. Every time you receive something from him, it’s laden with typos, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, and you have to do it yourself. You don’t want to hurt his feelings, but you’d rather not expect anything of him than receive sub-par materials.

Does this sound like you? Everyday we encounter conflict. We spend so much time avoiding conflict, but what would happen if we embraced it?

We avoid many different things. For example, we avoid:

• Sharing a new idea that differs from all the others. 
• Speaking up when we believe a business decision is unwise, ineffective, or unethical.
• Telling someone they’re not performing some or all of their job responsibilities.
• Telling a colleague you are uncomfortable with their gossip.
• Requesting that your boss assign you to a different project that better utilizes your skills and talents. 

This list is endless! Human relationships, no matter their nature, all have conflict – and some conflict is more painful than others. So, what are some of the reasons we avoid conflict?

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Doing, Doing, Done - Finishing That Big Project

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Big projects are daunting, whether it’s a strategic plan, a screenplay, a new business plan or a book. Although you want to complete it, you find that things prevent you from attaining the goal – getting it done.

During a large project it’s easy to become distracted. Procrastination sets in, you lose focus, you become frustrated, and you check email 47 times a day. You doubt your competence and ability to do what you set out to do. These factors pull you away from the task at hand. What is needed to stay on track, feel good about your progress and finish?
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Networking is Not a Dirty Word

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

You walk into a room filled with people. You look left. You look right. All you see are dozens of people wearing “Hi, My Name is ____” badges. You panic. You want to run and hide. “I don’t want to make small talk with these strangers,” you cry to yourself. But alas, you’re here, at the dreaded networking event. Anxiety sets in. You want to go home and never go to another networking event again.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We all make excuses for not networking: “I don’t want to sell myself,” “I don’t want to impose on anyone,” “It feels sleazy,” “I hate small talk.”  There are many more excuses, but they all miss the point: Networking is a valuable tool that enhances your job search, your career advancement, and enables you to find a satisfying and rewarding career path and more. Overcoming the resistance to networking is crucial to your career, job search, and life.
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Bouncing Back from "Bad" Feedback

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Feedback has an effect on you whether you're receiving it from an annual performance review, a 360 feedback assessment, or a seemingly well-intentioned comment from a supervisor or colleague. Your interpretation of the feedback depends on a multitude of factors including the source, the content, the intention, your ability to change in relation to the feedback, and how you're feeling when you receive it.

In some instances, the new information rolls off your back with all of the other data you process each day; other times you can use it to change behaviors, improve performance or enhance business results. A challenge can arise when the feedback seems ill-intentioned, doesn't come with support or direction, completely surprises you, addresses a very sensitive issue, or seems just plain wrong. The resulting impact can include diminished motivation, disillusionment with work and career, anger, increased insecurities or feelings of professional futility...
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Delivering Difficult Messages at Work

Written by Julie Cohen, Professional Certified Coach

Feedback is essential to the professional development process. As you advance professionally, you will be placed in more situations in which you will need to give feedback to others. Letting your direct reports know how well they are doing is usually the enjoyable part of the feedback loop. It's when a difficult message has to be given that many managers and leaders stumble. Whether the information needs to be shared with an individual, a group or an entire organization, these instances can truly become an opportunity for all parties involved. Opportunity arises when the outcome of the interaction leads to greater awareness, learning, motivation, support and creativity as well as a call to action.

Faced with this challenge-cum-opportunity, how do you actually do it?
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