Career Success Partners

Easy Ways to Improve Your Conversation Skills

Have you ever had the experience of being somewhere outside the home, with many people but no one you know (perhaps in the grocery store, shopping mall or big box); and someone calls your name. . . or a child's voice calls "Daddy or Momma" and you turn because you think they are calling to you?  Whether they are calling to you or not there usually is a very intimate feeling, a sense of closeness and familiarity if only for a brief moment.  If strangers that are not even addressing us can move our emotions in a fraction of a second with no such intention, imagine how we can influence others when we are joined in intentional dialogue. 

How do you wish to leave someone feeling about themselves whenever you engage them in casual conversation?   If you desire to leave others feeling better about themselves, more understood or inspired, then there are some easy skills you can use to incorporate into the conversation by focusing your intent.  Your intent is much more important than your technique.  In fact, not being too polished is usually interpreted as being genuine, original.  So use your natural personality and incorporate some of these easy skills into your next conversation.

Conversation Tips:

• Address people by their name.  It has been said that hearing one's own name is the sweetest sound on earth. 
  

• Genuinely smile at the person you are addressing.  This is the most powerful thing you can do to make someone feel good about the discussion they are having with you.  It is hard to smile when you are feeling stressed, so relax and have confidence that you know what to say and do and just be yourself.

• Seek first to understand the person and their perspective.  When people feel understood they extend trust to the one that does the understanding.  If you can leave someone feeling understood, you have created a strong relationship based on trust.

• The greatest conversational tool is the question.  Make some mental notes about possible topics to ask someone about (for example: the primary purpose you are both together, explore their hobbies away from work, and family).

• Get comfortable with silence.  Don't rush the conversation because there is dead-air.  Letting someone talk at their own pace and cadence instills comfort.

• Flattery will get you everywhere.  A sincere compliment makes people feel good about themselves and by natural law associates you with that positive emotion.  Look for areas that you think are important to them, register with you (eye of the beholder) as worthy of praise, and perhaps not so noticeable to the masses.  Compliments about their children or their friendliness towards others will make an imprint . . . if genuine.

• Do use gestures.  People like to see the real person, so be aware and use body language to fully communicate.

• Exit gracefully.  As Momma use to say "don't wear out your welcome".  

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Jim McBrayer, Sales Training and Negotiation Training Expert
President, Program on Persuasion
Contact: [email protected], 678-610-6509

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I'd like to thank friend and Career Success! Partner, Jim McBrayer, a regular contributing expert to our blog site, for his excellent tips and ideas on improving our conversational skills.  Effective conversation is an important personal branding element that will set you apart and create a lasting positive impression.

Jim's insights, ideas and wisdom on the subject of Selling and Negotiating -- both of which are key Career Success Skills -- will hopefully resonate with you in your journey to achieving incredible career success.

Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

For Email Marketing you can trust

Have you ever had the experience of being somewhere outside the home, with many people but no one you know (perhaps in the grocery store, shopping mall or big box); and someone calls your name. . . or a child's voice calls "Daddy or Momma" and you turn because you think they are calling to you?  Whether they are calling to you or not there usually is a very intimate feeling, a sense of closeness and familiarity if only for a brief moment.  If strangers that are not even addressing us can move our emotions in a fraction of a second with no such intention, imagine how we can influence others when we are joined in intentional dialogue. 

How do you wish to leave someone feeling about themselves whenever you engage them in casual conversation?   If you desire to leave others feeling better about themselves, more understood or inspired, then there are some easy skills you can use to incorporate into the conversation by focusing your intent.  Your intent is much more important than your technique.  In fact, not being too polished is usually interpreted as being genuine, original.  So use your natural personality and incorporate some of these easy skills into your next conversation.

Conversation Tips:

• Address people by their name.  It has been said that hearing one's own name is the sweetest sound on earth. 
  

• Genuinely smile at the person you are addressing.  This is the most powerful thing you can do to make someone feel good about the discussion they are having with you.  It is hard to smile when you are feeling stressed, so relax and have confidence that you know what to say and do and just be yourself.

• Seek first to understand the person and their perspective.  When people feel understood they extend trust to the one that does the understanding.  If you can leave someone feeling understood, you have created a strong relationship based on trust.

• The greatest conversational tool is the question.  Make some mental notes about possible topics to ask someone about (for example: the primary purpose you are both together, explore their hobbies away from work, and family).

• Get comfortable with silence.  Don't rush the conversation because there is dead-air.  Letting someone talk at their own pace and cadence instills comfort.

• Flattery will get you everywhere.  A sincere compliment makes people feel good about themselves and by natural law associates you with that positive emotion.  Look for areas that you think are important to them, register with you (eye of the beholder) as worthy of praise, and perhaps not so noticeable to the masses.  Compliments about their children or their friendliness towards others will make an imprint . . . if genuine.

• Do use gestures.  People like to see the real person, so be aware and use body language to fully communicate.

• Exit gracefully.  As Momma use to say "don't wear out your welcome".  

New Job? How to Make a Resounding Impact in Your First 90 Days

Time to "Hit the Ground Running!"

Your first 90 days in a new position (whether at a new company or not) is the period under which you're under close observation -- some consider it the "probationary period" -- the period where you've got to quickly prove your worth and value to your new employer.  Perceptions are "cemented" during that time period -- good or bad. So...it's important that you take conscious control over how you perform during this critical period.

Consider these actions and activities as important elements in transitioning effectively into your new position during the first 90 Days:

The First 90 Days

Before You Start:

• Develop List "A" and List "B".  List "A" is a list of declarative sentences that would cause your first 30 days to be a "resounding success" -- develop a similar list for your first 90 days.  List "B" is a list of things that would cause your first 30 days to be a disaster.  Be creative and think outside the box with both lists.  Identify items on both lists that are either (1) under YOUR control or (2) outside of your control.

• "Personal Inspiration" List.  Formulate a list of all of the GREAT reasons you chose this job and why it will or could have such a positive influence on your career.  Develop this list with a career coach if you have one. This list will serve as your "compass" and inspiration during times of stress on the job.

• Understand the Likely Challenges.  Formulate a list of all of the challenges you're likely to face in the first 90 days of employment.  Make separate notes for ways you can mitigate or handle these challenges.

Learn the Landscape and the "Mindfields":

• Understand Official Company Policies.  Know what's permitted and what's not permitted by company policy.  Understand the playing field rules.

• Understand "Unofficial Company Polices (the "Unwritten Rules").  Learn the things that are generally frowned upon or put your at risk if you do them (although not officially against company policy).  Ordering an alcoholic drink at lunch, for example, may not be against company policy, but could be frowned upon.

• Develop Your "Listening System".  Learn and understand from others.  Asking questions is a great way to get to know team members and colleagues across the organization. Spend time with individuals and small groups of people from across the company.  Let them know you are counting on them to fill you in on some basics about the company so you can be both more effective and more sensitive to people’s perspective. Questions such as “what’s it really like to work here?” and “How would you describe the culture and the unwritten rules for success?” can yield great insights.

Develop Alliances and Key Relationships:

• Be Approachable, Respectful, Kind and Considerate of EVERYONE.  It's okay to be firm when necessary, but firmness plays much better when you're viewed as a considerate manager who cares for your people.

• Share Lunch with Colleagues.  Spend lunch time getting to know people on a personal level.  This is another great time to ask questions.

• Find a Mentor and Develop a Great Relationship with Him/Her.  It's vital to have an ongoing dialog with somebody who knows the company well -- quickly identify the people at your company who can help you and figure out how to get in front of them. 

• Identify Your “Trustees” - No one succeeds in an enterprise entirely on his or her own. Early on, decide which few people you can trust with your private thoughts; determine who will be in your inner circle and begin the process of enlistment. Also determine who in the organization can be a secret angel, making good things happen if treated with respect.

• Understand the Political Structure. Find the formal AND informal "seats of power" and develop positive relationships with those individuals (could be that that your colleague's administrative assistant is a family member of the company's owner).

Make Things Happen! -- Deliver Results:

• Avoid Changing the World.  Understand fully how things work before you try to change things -- there may be a very good reason WHY things are done the way they're done.

• Avoid Doing "Too Much Too Soon" -- Tread Lightly.  It's better to purposely under-commit and over-deliver than vice versa.  You don't want to bite off more than you can chew.

• Put Your 90 Day Expectations In Writing - Your 90 Day Plan.  Be proactive in developing your key goals for your first 90 days of employment.  Sit down with your manager and discuss those expectations, ask for his/her input and make necessary adjustments to your 90 day plan.  Before presenting initially, ensure it meets "SMART Goal" standards.

• Tactical Top Ten Lists. What are the top ten key things you want to get done in the first 30 days to establish momentum with your 90 Day Plan?  Write them down.  Prioritize them.  Review them daily and schedule time on your calendar to get them done.

• Score Some "Early Wins."  Look for opportunities to score some noticeable "early wins."  What are some things on your manager's near term or immediate term "radar screen" that you can handle effectively with positive results.  Ensure those things are incorporated into your Tactical Top Ten Lists and your 90 Day Plan.

Your BOSS/Manager is the Key to Your Success:

• Get to Know Your Boss .... Very Well.  Your number ONE relationship in your new position .... period.  Look for opportunities to spend time with your boss or new manager.  Anticipate his or her needs.  Make him or her "look good." 

• Be Visible.  Arrive early and stay bit later, particularly during the early period in your new job tenure.  Attend all required meetings -- arrive on time; no exceptions.  Be accessible, resourceful, helpful and friendly.

• Practice Personal Excellence; Become a Role Model in Your Boss' Eyes. Step up to the "A Team" with the great tips in THIS article.

Other Excellent Resources to Consider:

• Book: "The First 90 Days" written by Michael Watkins.  THE best book on the market for guidance in new job transition situations.  A must read.

• Whitepaper: Portions of this article incorporate some of the ideas discussed in this excellent whitepaper written by Stephen H. Baum - www.Stephenhbaumleadership.com.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

Maintaining Networking Momentum After You Land the Job

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Weekly Smart Networking Wisdom of Liz Lynch
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Maintain Networking Momentum

Networking is something many job seekers get into reluctantly. It can feel awkward if you haven't done much of it before. What do you do, where do you start?

Losing your job, especially, can make you want to hold back from meeting new people and talking about yourself. What will you say when they ask what you do, and more importantly, how will you project confidence when so much of your identity had been wrapped up in a job you were forced to leave?

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It's understandable then that as soon as you do land a job, you'd want to stop networking. The desire to dive into your new cubicle or office and bury yourself in your work can be very strong. And it's easy to use the excuse of being too busy learning your new job to get out there and network.

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In an ideal world, you'd keep up some networking momentum, perhaps shifted down a gear or two. What this current job market has illustrated is that having a strong network on the look out for opportunities for you, and willing to recommend you for them, is the key to minimizing your time in the unemployment line.

An ever ready network

Since you never know when you'll need your network again, before you withdraw back into your comfort zone, there are a few things you can do to make sure your network is ready to go again whenever you are:

1) Close the loops

• Update your LinkedIn profile. Add in your new company, title and job description. Rewrite your summary, if necessary.
• Update your contacts. LinkedIn allows you to send a message to up to 50 contacts at a time. If you send out an email blast, be sure that all of the recipient emails are listed in the bcc line to maintain everyone's privacy and avoid multiple "Reply All" emails.
• Send a personal thank you email or handwritten note to anyone who helped you during your search. While you should have been doing this all along, if you missed anybody, now is the perfect time to make up for it. It will only get more awkward the longer you wait.

2) Start making internal inroads

• Get introduced to the people around you. Being proactive in meeting people in both your department and adjacent ones, rather than waiting for them to come to you, will help you get up to speed more quickly and be more effective in your job.
• Join the LinkedIn and Facebook groups for your new company, and follow your new employer on Twitter. Sometimes it's the best way to stay updated on news and developments.

3) Maintain your outside network

• Make a commitment that at least once a month you'll have lunch away from your desk and away from your closest co-workers to catch up with outside colleagues.
• If you haven't already done so, check out the professional associations for your industry and search LinkedIn for relevant industry groups to join.

All of these activities keep you visible and in the flow of new ideas and opportunities that can help advance your career.  They also keep you in the right mindset for networking. When you're not putting pressure on yourself to get something, you put less pressure on others, and at the same time, become more comfortable with networking overall.

Read original post HERE.

Liz Lynch is author of Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online (McGraw-Hill, 2009) and a sought-after speaker who brings a practical and insightful perspective to networking that has connected with a global audience. Liz is also founder of the Center for Networking Excellence, a company that develops products, programs and seminars to help entrepreneurs and professionals get clients, build their businesses, and accelerate their careers through networking.

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Liz brings up a key point to remind job-seekers that "finding a job" does NOT end the networking process; your networking pump is now primed! Keep the open lines of communication flowing. Look for ways to communicate with your network on an ongoing basis; consider social media applications that facilitate such communication. Thanks Liz!

Career Success! Partner Liz Lynch is a regular contributing expert on our blog site.  Visit us every Friday for Liz's insights, ideas and wisdom on the subject of Smart Networking -- building powerful connections -- offering information that I hope will resonate with you in your journey to achieving incredible career success.

Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

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Weekly Smart Networking Wisdom of Liz Lynch
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Smart Networking Wisdom of Liz Lynch
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Advice for Boomers in Career Transition

I was recently interviewed by Bill Vick, host of BoomersNextStep.com, to give my perspectives on the career transition landscape for the Baby Boomer generation.  Many of my Career Transition Coaching clients are in that generation.  My appreciation to Bill and the wonderful resources he provides on his blog site dedicated to the Boomers out there.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

How Well Do You Evaluate Progress Toward Your Goals?

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Pamela Busch owns a restaurant in San Francisco. Like everyone else, she felt the pinch of the economic downturn as people stopped going out to eat. She decided to adapt by offering a three-course tasting menu at a set price.

Great. Her desired outcome is to stay in business. She’s accepted the fact that change is needed, thought through her options, created a plan of action, and put her plan in place. What’s next? Paying close attention to whether her plan is getting her the results she wants. Other restaurateurs are lowering prices, closing on Sundays and Mondays, switching to lower end dining. Who’s to say which or which combination will be effective? There are so many factors involved—where the restaurant is, what kind of clientele,  what happens with the economy, luck….You can only know by trying.

Whatever actions you’re taking, evaluation is important, because you don’t know what things are going to get you where you want to go. You’re taking your best guess, but if you don’t stop to evaluate, you won’t know if your guess paid off. This sounds so obvious but I can’t tell you how many individuals and organizations mess up here. They put something into action, assuming it will work, and never stop to analyze whether it actually is. Or they evaluate vaguely—sure, I’m delegating better—but don’t analyze exactly how much and whether it is making a significant enough difference. Or they evaluate months later, rather than checking in a short time frame because they put something in place and feel they’re finished.

Here’s an easy way to think about it. You know what you want—stay in business, lower costs, get a good mentor—but how you’re going to make that happen is in the nature of an experiment. You try something, get a result, evaluate progress, and then readjust if necessary. You don’t give up on the what unless you really have to, but your hows may change many times based on what you learn from your experiment.

Measurements can be things like dollars in and out. Or results such as maintaining customers or the number of ideas your team comes up with and puts into action. Or feedback from others—“yes, we see you making the changes you committed to.” Don’t get in the trap of analyzing time or effort spent—you can spend a lot of time on things that aren’t getting you productive results.Challenge yourself to measure concrete results that matter.

Don’t be tempted to skip this stage. When clients of mine take a new job, I always advise them to ask their boss what results they are going to be evaluated on. Of course you have your own ideas of what’s crucial, but you should at least know what the person who is going to evaluate you thinks. This is especially important when the job is amorphous or long range.

Make sure you are measuring progress and readjusting if necessary.

Original Post by M.J. Ryan: CLICK HERE

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M.J. Ryan is a widely recognized Change Expert and author of the book, Adaptability - How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For.  She is also one of the creators of the New York Times bestselling Random Acts of Kindness series and the author of The Happiness Makeover (nominated for the 2005 Books for Better Living award in the Motivational category), Attitudes of Gratitude, The Power of Patience, Trusting Yourself, The Giving Heart, and 365 Health and Happiness Boosters, among other titles. Altogether, there are 1.75 million copies of her titles in print.  Learn more about M.J.

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Another excellent article by friend and Career Success! Partner, M.J. Ryan -- a regular contributing expert to our blog site.  I agree with M.J. -- if you're not consistently evaluating how you're doing, how will you know when to make adjustments and changes.  M.J.'s insights, ideas and wisdom on the subject of Dealing Effectively with Change will hopefully resonate with you in your journey to achieving incredible career success.

Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on Effectively Managing Change with M.J. Ryan
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

Preparing and Planning for Your Next Career Move

Gail Geary
Career Transition Expert
is interviewed by cohosts Carrie & Andy Robinson

On the Career Success Radio Show

Listen Now!

Career Transition expert, Gail Geary, discusses her latest book, "Your Next Career -- Do What You've Always Wanted to Do," on the Career Success Radio Show.  Join us in our discussion with Gail as she helps you understand the following:

• Weigh your career passions and interests against current employment trends
• Explore nontraditional work arrangements and entrepreneurship
• Update your skills, education, and image for exciting new opportunities
• Conduct a quick and effective job search with an outstanding resume and dynamic interviewing skills
• Promote yourself and your business to maximize opportunities

Gail Geary, J.D., CMC, is the owner of Atlanta Career Transition, an international career transition and outplacement firm, and is also a career management consultant for Right Management Consultants.  She is a front-line correspondent working with individual career changers and major corporations.  Gail has also been on the adjunct faculty for the American Management Association and three Atlanta-area universities.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love

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Weekly Wisdom on the Work/Life Merge with Judy Martin
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing what You Love, is profiled in this weeks WorkLife Nation webisode. It’s timely because the intersection of career, happiness and productivity is the meat of debate lately. Even amidst our “career chaos economy,” some corporate loyalists are going renegade, seeking a more fulfilled working experience. For some it’s meant giving up the big bucks for a bit – or switching careers.

The definition of “career” is being deconstructed. The traditional life-long or 9-5  job is changing its face for a lot of reasons:  we’re living in an ever-changing economy due to globalization, the internet has upped the entrepreneurial game, rough economic conditions have sparked innovation, and the desire to be treated like human beings at work and in business -  is stronger than ever before.

With the chaos over the last year has come plenty of opportunity. New business niches are being revealed as we change the way we work. The internet, technology, telecommuting, and a desire for a better work life fit have fueled innovation and fed a new stream of entrepreneurs. These changes have even stirred up the work life balance debate in corporate America.

Jonathan Fields talks about his journey, in this weeks WorkLife Nation webisode.

Original article from Judy Martin HERE.

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Judy Martin, Work/Life Integration Expert, Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist
Host, Work/Life Nation - Success, Serenity & Significance 24/7
Contact: [email protected]

Judy Talks About the Work/Life Merge Here:

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Great article by Career Success! Partner, Judy Martin, a regular contributing expert to our blog site. Judy's weekly insights, ideas and wisdom on the subject of Work/Life Integration -- integrating life and work concerns while thriving on the threshold of change, ultimately enabling success, serenity and signficance 24/7 -- will hopefully resonate with you in your journey to achieving incredible career success.

Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

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Weekly Wisdom on the Work/Life Merge with Judy Martin
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on the Work/Life Merge with Judy Martin
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

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Weekly Wisdom on the Work/Life Merge with Judy Martin
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

How to Successfully Navigate a Major Career Transition

Michael Watkins, author of the books, The First 90 Days and Your Next Move - A Leader's Guide to Successfully Navigating Major Career Transitions, is interviewed on the Harvard Business Review YouTube Channel on the subject of successfully navigating major career transitions.

How can you improve your odds as you prepare to make your next move? Michael discusses to two key challenges you face in any career transition:

• What do I need to do to adapt to the change and the challenges inherent in the change, and
• What do I need to do for the organization -- what are the key goals and objectives

Getting clarity on BOTH of the above is key to navigating and realizing a successful career transition.

Michael also poses two great questions for those making a career transition:

• What are some things I really do well, that I probably need to drop or no longer do in the new position?
• What are some things that I DON'T do well, that are going to be important elements in the new position -- and therefore important for me to improve upon?

I highly recommend viewing this video for anyone in a leadership position about to embark on any of the following major career transitions:

• A new promotion
• Onboarding into a new company
• Leading/managing individuals who were formerly peers
• Turning around a business in crisis

Source: Harvard Business YouTube Channel - Original Telecast

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

Career Success Tip: Remember This One Thing to Conquer Fear

He didn't fall on top of Mount Everest . . . he climbed it!  Great achievements are great because of the trials and setbacks overcome to reach them.  What is the greatest accomplishment in your life thus-far?  The "one thing" for which your are most proud and makes you feel the best about yourself? 

What, specifically, about your greatest achievement makes it worthy of the emotion it elicits within you?  Is it the fact that deep down, it truly tested you -- that there were times when you really did not know if you had what it took to succeed? -- those times when the all-encompassing emotion of fear had its grip on you? 

Many heroes would not have achieved greatness had they not been forced into the "unknown" and out of their comfort zone -- forced by their termination from a great job or forced to becoming a single-parent due to the leaving of a spouse.  Greatness comes from stepping to the edge of the precipice.  It seems we must walk in or near the brink of disaster in order to extract the best of ourselves.  Perhaps that is true of you or perhaps you willfully took the risk to pursue your life's purpose.  Either way, it seems that only when pressed do we realize something we did not know before . . . we do indeed have what it takes!

The comfort zone is the biggest obstacle, for most of us, in achieving our heart's desire.  Our desire reveals our design, and our design our destiny.  We deny our God-given destiny when we succumb to the familiarity of the comfort zone.  It's not that the comfort zone is all that comfortable, it's just familiar and stepping outside of it is "unknown" and scary. 

So here it is, the one thing I want you to remember the next time you are flushed with fear . . . you do have it takes, you have reached greatness before, and now you will again, because you have no other choice but to reach down and find what it takes for you to get up and move forward -- right in the face of your friend . . . fear.  Fear is familiar, you know fear.  Fear has always helped get the best from you. 

Feel the fear, but don't quit; the fear will help you reach something you knew not possible.  Embrace the fear and something magical happens . . . it disappears.  Some choose to risk it all in order to reach levels previously unattainable and some have fear cast upon them, either way, if you keep getting up and moving forward you will never truly fail, eventually you will find yourself on top of your own Mount Everest.

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Jim McBrayer, Sales Training and Negotiation Training Expert
President, Program on Persuasion
Contact: [email protected], 678-610-6509

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I'd like to thank friend and Career Success! Partner, Jim McBrayer, a regular contributing expert to our blog site, for his excellent insights on facing and dealing with fear.  Fear rears its head in many situations throughout our career; consider Jim's advice and learn to overcome that fear; the results could be tranformational to your career success.

Jim's insights, ideas and wisdom on the subject of Selling and Negotiating -- both of which are key Career Success Skills -- will hopefully resonate with you in your journey to achieving incredible career success.

Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

What, specifically, about your greatest achievement makes it worthy of the emotion it elicits within you?  Is it the fact that deep down, it truly tested you -- that there were times when you really did not know if you had what it took to succeed? -- those times when the all-encompassing emotion of fear had its grip on you? 

Many heroes would not have achieved greatness had they not been forced into the "unknown" and out of their comfort zone -- forced by their termination from a great job or forced to becoming a single-parent due to the leaving of a spouse.  Greatness comes from stepping to the edge of the precipice.  It seems we must walk in or near the brink of disaster in order to extract the best of ourselves.  Perhaps that is true of you or perhaps you willfully took the risk to pursue your life's purpose.  Either way, it seems that only when pressed do we realize something we did not know before . . . we do indeed have what it takes!

The comfort zone is the biggest obstacle, for most of us, in achieving our heart's desire.  Our desire reveals our design, and our design our destiny.  We deny our God-given destiny when we succumb to the familiarity of the comfort zone.  It's not that the comfort zone is all that comfortable, it's just familiar and stepping outside of it is "unknown" and scary. 

So here it is, the one thing I want you to remember the next time you are flushed with fear . . . you do have it takes, you have reached greatness before, and now you will again, because you have no other choice but to reach down and find what it takes for you to get up and move forward -- right in the face of your friend . . . fear.  Fear is familiar, you know fear.  Fear has always helped get the best from you. 

Feel the fear, but don't quit; the fear will help you reach something you knew not possible.  Embrace the fear and something magical happens . . . it disappears.  Some choose to risk it all in order to reach levels previously unattainable and some have fear cast upon them, either way, if you keep getting up and moving forward you will never truly fail, eventually you will find yourself on top of your own Mount Everest.

How to Embed a VIDEO Into Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn has without question become the de facto online media application for business networking.  Whether you're looking to develop business, expand your business network, seek a new job or build relationships with experts with whom you can collaborate, LinkedIn should definitely be a component of your strategy and action plan.

A Compelling LinkedIn Profile is Absolutely Essential

Regardless of your objectives in using LinkedIn, your LinkedIn Profile is the YOU that all others SEE on LinkedIn.  A compelling and memorable profile is therefore key to setting you apart and clearly communicating your personal brand and your key value proposition.

I've been asked by many of my coaching clients if it is possible to embed a VIDEO in your LinkedIn profile -- a video of yourself, a video that shares interesting content or an interesting message, or any other video that complements your personal brand.

Add a Video to Your LinkedIn Profile

The accompanying video does an excellent job of showing you, step by step, how to embed a video into your LinkedIn profile.

How can YOU use Video Media to enhance your profile
and enhance your branding message on LinkedIn?

Attribution and special thanks to Jonathan Cover for this tutorial.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

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