Posts Tagged ‘Professional’

In Seth’s latest book, Linchpin,  he spends a lot of time talking about maps and artists.  That being an artist means you create your own map, your own path.  And, that society is changing.  Rather than spending your life following a map someone else created, to be successful you’ll need to create your own map moving forward.

While I’ve not been an assembly line worker in a literal sense, it took me awhile (couple dozen reiterations) for what Seth was talking about to truly sink in…appreciating how much of it related to my own life.

Life was relatively easy, for a long time.  With a clear goal in front of me, I could move mountains to achieve it.  I would feel a sense of accomplishment, and life was grand.  So, for the first 3/4 of my life, this is how it worked.  Goal, after goal, after goal.  Going into the service, I bought a map out of the carousel, having chosen to go into aviation.  Once there, the Navy gave me a nice [flight] bag of additional maps to follow (exams, flight certifications, instructor certs, regular performance reviews, etc.).

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Ever wonder why customer service just plain sucks in so many cases?  Ever wonder why?   Perhaps you’ve been just so amazed, like ‘made your whole day’ amazed, when you actually receive good customer service?

A lot of it just plain comes down to a pure desire for the provider to care, passionately care, about the job they’re doing…for you.  After all, it isn’t about ‘where’ the service came from, or ‘who’ provided it, or ‘what’ they were providing it on.

Here in the U.S. it can be popular sport to gripe about the latest ‘terrible’ customer service experience.  All too often we blame it on some poor sap in India, sitting amidst 4 b’zillion other reps, that can’t speak ‘my’ language, and hasn’t gotten a clue.  Hey, I’ve been there, got the shirt, sure you do too.

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This is a topic I expect to revisit over time, likely more than once. Today’s trigger was a discussion with a friend considering a new leadership role.

Beyond the job description, she had already started looking at structural considerations, like compensation, reported corporate finances, and what she knew of the corporate culture. She just didn’t feel like she’d covered all the bases though. It helped I could relate some of my own lessons learned. There is a range of other, sometimes intangible, things to dig into.

Your personal network of colleagues, friends, and family, can provide invaluable feedback. In one past role, reaching out to folks in my LinkedIn network, I received a number of responses. Comments about past leadership successes, or failures, can arm you with poignant questions to ask hiring managers. Aside from making you look like you’re knowledgeable and prepared, it reminds them they need to sell themselves to you, as well.

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Sometimes we hide from it. Sometimes we do ‘other’ activities, instead. Sometimes we can put it off…for years. But eventually there comes a time where it’s necessary to face the cold, hard, brutal reality of a situation.

Normally it comes after reaching some kind of tipping point. For instance, the past couple months I’ve been dealing with a nagging problem on my laptop. When using some particular combination of applications, it ends up getting incredibly bogged down. Normally a reboot, or two, will alleviate the problem. Along the way, I’ve spent fifteen minutes here, thirty there, and so on, as I’ve tried to diagnose the problem.

And this is what so many do either personally, professionally, or both. Nursing things along, applying yet another band-aid to the current issue so it can live to get yet another band-aid tomorrow. The challenge is in being able to raise one’s head up, looking beyond the issues of the moment, and see a bigger picture. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so you have just read the title. You know what the article is about. Your expectations have been set. And, it has been pretty straight-forward thus far hasn’t it?

Over the past few months there have been a number of different articles debating whether we (in the US) are getting better or worse in our writing. The debate is often pretty black and white. One side cites examples of how Twittering (with its 140 character limits), SMS (phone texting with its 160 character limits), Instant Messaging, and the like are all promoting poor writing. The other side cites examples where people (particularly our younger generations) are incredibly effective at adjusting their messaging to suit the medium, and, how with all these new mediums—we are writing more than we ever have.

Regardless of Read the rest of this entry »

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to hear David Chinsky (David Chinsky & Associates) speak at this month’s CEO Connect. As a practitioner, and student of, effective business leadership I found his presentation very positive. His comments resonated strongly with me; enough so I wanted to expand on one topic:

“More than anything else, employees seek clarity from their leaders”

Call it what you will Read the rest of this entry »

Previously, I wrote a post discussing the need to challenge institutional knowledge.

Since then, I have come across a number of articles related to the basic notion.  An example I wanted to point out for you today, is Seth Godin’s own posting, The problem with doing it by heart.  He does an entertaining job of pointing out just how readily we keep on doing things the same ‘ol way, because, “…that’s the way it always comes.”

Do you do things on autopilot just because, that’s the way you‘ve always done it?  It bears emphasizing the ongoing need to avoid complacency, the need to continually monitor one’s self, one’s organization.

Just a quick update.  Last week, I wrote about Open Education.  Seems the thinking about education is becoming an ever-bigger topic.  Just recently, popular thinkers like Seth Godin are starting to write on the topic as well.  In the past week, Seth’s written about education twice, “Free work vs. internships,” and “Education at the cross roads.”

The open question remains, how best to education and certify ourselves moving forward.  It will become an increasingly important issue for me.  First and foremost, my own children will need my guidance.  Seth begged the question, “Isn’t it odd that we’re willing to spend $300,000 to buy an accredited but ultimately useless academic line on our resume…?”  That really is the $300K, $750K (my own comment last week), or $1M question, isn’t it?

So, how do we decide to continue educating ourselves, or, provide guidance to others seeking our input?  It’s no longer an easy answer.  Personally, I’ve enjoyed the structured, yet fluid form of education that an online college offered.  But, when degrees are often out of date half-way through the curriculum, what’s their value?

This topic alone warrants a blog or three all unto themselves.  Please, share your thoughts, I’d like to hear them.

Coffee Shops

If you know me much at all, you know I like coffee shops (a lot). Some time ago, I learned the working lunch has its uses. One good use, is simply relationship building. But as a tool for getting something done, the Working Lunch really isn’t that productive, and it’s expensive (even if we’re only talking my waist line). The goal? Get someone out of the office for an undistracted discussion, or, meeting someone whose schedule is jammed.

Using a coffee shop for a meeting is much more cost effective ($4 vs $40?), can be scheduled any time (6:45a, 1:30p, 6:45p), and have last as long or as little as both parties desire. Love ‘em. Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent post, Seth Godin talks about what to do with special requests. It’s worth a moment to read, especially for leaders and mentors. Boiling it down, if someone has a special request, don’t send them away because you’re busy. They probably will go (and stay) away.

So, what to do with them? This line of thinking triggered a not too distant memory. I had received complaints from other departments that this person’s most likely response to a request was, No!  The person in question was a high-value team member, responsible for coordinating team resources.  We were constantly stretched beyond reason, so hearing ‘No’ to requests might not seem unreasonable.

In line with Seth’s, ‘…cost you $90…,’ I gave some advice.  Don’t say, No.  No, in translation, was this person’s way of saying, ‘No (it cannot be done in the requested time frame).’  The recipient would bristle as a result.We probably all tend to bristle when simply being told, No.  Instead, tell them we’d love to do it, but it might be 5 days/weeks/months.  Anything but ‘No.’  Let the requester decide whether to pursue the issue, or not. After a couple of weeks, the complaints died down, and the internal friction from hearing ‘no’ faded away.

I’d also suggest a third reason for turning down special requests: They are not in line with your (organization’s) chosen path.  Just because you can, just because you’d like to, doesn’t mean it’s wise.