Career Success Partners

Executive Coach's Tip: KNOW That Your Boss is NOT In Charge of Your Development

ONLY YOU are in charge of your personal, professional and career development.  Your boss or manager CAN be an ally, a fan, an advocate, and an influencer ... but ultimately, it's up to you to figure out your interests and direction, and then chart a path and plan for achieving that direction.

YOU are in control, YOU must invest the time and energy, and YOU must take responsibility for MAKING your wants and desires a reality.  It's truly up to you.

How CLEAR are you on where you want to go NEXT?  

Do you have a plan to get there?  

Are you fully aware of the obstacles and challenges, and are you taking steps to mitigate or eliminate those obstacles and challenges?

Is your boss, manager, board, etc. in support of your direction?  If not, why not?  Who else is supporting you on this path?

What action (or actions) do you have underway or in play NOW that put you squarely on the path to the direction you seek?

How WELL have YOU taken charge of your development?

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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

Photo Credit: www.BigStockPhoto.com

January - The PERFECT Time to Plan Your Best Year Ever

Okay .... the holidays are behind us and the reality of a New Year is upon us.  Many of my clients and friends (including myself) had the intention to formulate their goals and plans for 2012 before the end of the year -- during "available" holiday period time.  But .... as most of us found, the much talked about "available" time got consumed with other (and probably equally [or more] important) holiday and family activities.

 

So....what to do?  Make JANUARY your 2012 Plan development month.  Set a personal goal of formulating a COMPELLING personal and professional Plan for the year before the end of January.  Doable?  Absolutely!

 

In support of the above contention, I read an excellent article today posted on one of my favorite blogsites -- www.LifeHack.org (check it out).  The article, "Why You Should Start Your New Year in FEBRUARY," makes a number of compelling points (Read the full article HERE):

• The Holidays are Hectic - You’ve just come off of a hectic holiday season – and for some of us that started back in early November. You’ve been on the move since then, attending holiday parties, eating copious amounts of food and frantically trying to wrap up all of your open loops before the end of the year hits. 

• Make a SINGLE Resolution on January 1st - If you make a single resolution to take the first month of the calendar year to focus on the future through reflection and planning without the baggage of a worn out body and mind, wouldn’t you have a higher chance of achieving what you set out to do?

• Focus On a Quality Plan in January - Make January a month of setting yourself up rather than sprinting in to the new year with full intentions and not enough energy to see them through over the long haul. Remember that a year is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

To assist you in your effort, I offer the TWO following powerful PLANNING TOOLS, both of which I highly recommend ... and one of which I am PERSONALLY USING (as noted below):

• Launching 2012 with an Inspiring Personal Plan -- The 31-Day Success Plan offered (for free) by Accerate Success Blog host, Dave Carpenter (this is the one I am personally using and the one a number of my clients are using).  I am presenting Dave's Plan through a series of postings on MY own blogsite, Career Success Partners, and my Community site, Career Success Community over the coming days and weeks (check it out).

• Goal-Setting and Actions Workbook -- Presented later this week by Scott Dinsmore's "Live Your Legend Blog" (check it out).

January is a great month to reflect, inventory your prior year achievements and prepare and plan for the months to come.  You'll be MUCH better prepared in January to devote the quality of time and effort needed to formulate a powerful and compelling personal and professional Plan for 2012 -- one that will enable you to look back at the end of 2012 and call it YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

 

Take the plunge .... BEGIN TODAY .... CHART YOUR COURSE for the best year of your life in 2012.

 

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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

Photo Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

2012 Personal Plan - Step 6 - Scan for Opportunities for You in 2012

Day 6 of 31 days to Creating Your Inspiring Personal Plan for 2012.

Congratulations. When you have completed this step, you will be 20% of the way through the 2012 Plan process. 20% of the way to a plan that will inspire you and serve as a guide for your accelerating your success in 2012.

Before serving-up this final element in building a foundation for your plan, I want to give you some tools to bolster that you have done in the last couple of steps. For those of you who want some addition resources for learning more about your strengths (the focus of Step 4), I highly recommend the Kolbe Index, described here, and/or the excellent test in Tom Rath’s Strength Finder 2.0. (Both of these relatively low cost assessments are used in my Accelerate Success program for high performers.)

For those who are have completed the drafting of your own planning assumptions (Step 5), I have included a copy of my own planning assumptions so that you can see how I have taken expectations or predictions about the world and molded those expectations into planning assumptions that are a solid foundation for my personal plan. My planning assumptions need not be yours…and I would not expect that they would be. I am sharing mine so you can see how planning assumptions can be massaged to provide solid support for the plan that will be developed over the month.

So let’s review what you should have in place, or shaping-up into place at this point. You hopefully have a planning buddy (Step 1) and should be using your buddy to bolster your progress through the process. And, you hopefully have a Board of Advisors selected (Step 2) and awaiting your submission of your draft plan for their feedback. You should have listed your 2011 Accomplishments (Step 3) and celebrated them.

Also, by now, you hopefully have received most of your feedback on your personal strengths (Step 4). When you have all the feedback in, you should summarize your strengths on one page as described here. And, you have a draft list of planning assumptions (Step 5) which you can now polish using my own assumptions as a guide.

Besides the aforementioned clean-up, today is a day to focus on opportunities. Specifically, Step 6 is to identify three of the best opportunities for you in 2012. This is one of the more challenging and important steps so please follow this guidance very carefully.

Click HERE to continue reading the full "6th Step" article -- Scan for Opportunities for You in 2012.

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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

Photo Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

15 Incredible Business Men Who Refused to Retire

For many who reach the top echelons of business, retirement is a time to enjoy the spoils of a life well lived and years of hard work and perseverance. Others, however, take a different approach. For every businessman anticipating retirement, there’s also one who dreams of working until old age, and more than a few that make that a reality. Some don’t want to leave a company they’ve helped to build or say goodbye to the work they find so fulfilling, even if it means more time for family and relaxation.

Here, we’ve listed just a handful of the top execs, business leaders, and entrepreneurial geniuses who don’t want to leave the working world for retirement, despite having more than enough money to relax lavishly. These workaholics are keeping busy with work well into their 70s, 80s, and yes, even 90s, proving that age really is just a number.

1. Peter Cooper

   
   Peter Cooper is one of the best-known early American businessmen, working throughout his life in a variety of careers ranging from mechanic to teacher. He is most famous, however, for his work as industrialist, designing and building America’s first steam locomotive in 1830. Cooper would later run a successful iron mill and make some very savvy investments in real estate and the telegraph that would make him an even richer man. Cooper loved his work so much, he never truly retired, exchanging his career in business for one in politics, and eventually founding a college. Cooper died in 1883 at the age of 92.

2. Wallace Stevens

   
   Wallace Stevens is perhaps best known for his Modernist poetry, but many may not realize that he was also a lawyer and businessman who worked for Hartford Insurance. Stevens considered himself a poet, but he never retired from the insurance company, working there until his 1955 death at the age of 76.

 

 

1. Jack Mullowney

   
   Jack Mullowney had a pretty eventful life as a businessman. He published the Times-News in the 1960s, came up with the advertising campaign for the Jolly Green Giant, helped establish the College of Southern Idaho, and worked as a successful commodities trader. Mullowney was good at business and enjoyed being active, never retiring from his trading or public service work. He worked right up until his death at age 91 in 2010.

2. Warren Buffett

   
   Few names on this list are as well-known as that of iconic business and investment mogul Warren Buffett, especially with his recent pleas for higher taxes on the wealthy. Buffett began his career in finance in the early 1950s after graduating from Columbia Business School, going on to earn an estimated $62 billion dollars over his career. Despite being one of the world’s richest men, Buffett has no plans for retirement in the immediate future. While he has scaled back his other commitments, Buffett is still primary shareholder, chairman, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and at 81 years of age shows no signs of slowing down.

3. Al Davis

   
   Al Davis was a high profile football coach for the Chargers and later the Raiders, eventually going on to be the primary owner and CEO of the Oakland-based team. Davis made quite a name for himself on the business side of football, and under his management (and with the help of legendary coach John Madden) the team would numerous championships, titles, and three Super Bowls. Despite making it into the Football Hall of Fame, Davis had no plans to retire, announcing in 2007 that he would not leave his position until the team wins two more Super Bowls or he died. Unfortunately for Davis, his death came first, and he passed away in October of 2011 at age 82.

4. Richard DeVos

   
   You may wince when you hear the word Amway, but DeVos sure doesn’t. The company he started with high school friend Jay Van Andel in 1959 has netted him over $4.4 billion in sales over his lifetime. DeVos isn’t working with Amway any longer since he stepped down in 1993, but that doesn’t mean he’s retired. He now spends his time focusing on owning and managing the Orlando Magic and ran for governor of Michigan in 2006. Not bad for 85!

5. J.W. Marriott Jr.

   
   Bill Marriott, as he is most often called, is the son of the founder of the Marriott hotel chain. While his dad set the stage for success, Bill led the company into the international market, allowing them to maintain over 3,200 (and growing) properties worldwide. Marriott has been President and CEO of the company since 1993, and despite pushing 80, he isn’t planning to retire from the family business anytime soon. In fact, he even still maintains a blog.

6. David Murdock

   
   This 88-year-old businessman is one of the wealthiest men in the world, but that hasn’t pushed him to sit back and enjoy a lengthy retirement. Murdock turned the nearly bankrupt Dole Food Company into profitable business after his purchase of its managing firm Castle & Cooke in 1985 (acquiring the entire Hawaiian island of Lana’i in the process). Today, the company is worth over $446 million and he is still the Chairman and CEO of the company. Of course, like many on this list, Murdock isn’t just a businessman. After the death of his wife from cancer at only 42, Murdock became passionate about cancer research, and in 2006 opened the California Health and Longevity Institute.

7. Albert Frere

   
   Frere might not be a household name in America, but this Belgian businessman is quite a powerhouse across the Atlantic. Frere is the richest man in Belgium, building a $3.5 billion dollar fortune through his work as chairman and director of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. While you might be tempted to think he’s slowing down or playing it safe as he ages, his actions prove otherwise. In 2008, he brokered a huge deal with Gaz de France and keeps busy playing sports and drinking wine from the winery he owns with mega-rich businessman Bernard Arnault. This baron (literally) has no plans for retirement, even as he nears his 86th birthday.

8. Carl Icahn

   
   Ichan is famous for swooping in and taking over businesses, from Time Warner to Yahoo! His nine billion dollar fortune was accumulated through years of careful investing through numerous holding companies and with executive positions at Nabisco, Texaco, Motorola and Marvel, he’s a business legend to be reckoned with. The 75-year-old Ichan may be past retirement age, but he’s still working hard, taking on the role of director at Yahoo! in 2008 (he has since resigned) and planning a number of buyouts, investments, and takeovers (though not all successful) of big companies like Clorox, Lions Gate Films, and Research In Motion in 2010 and 2011.

9. Clive Davis

   
   Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Clive Davis, is one of the most famous producers in music history, signing some of the biggest names in the business, including Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, and Janis Joplin. Five Grammies and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later, Davis is a fixture in the music business and a multi-millionaire. Yet he isn’t content to retire. Seventy-nine year-old Davis is still working full time as a CEO.

10. Henry Kaufman

    
    Born in Germany and forced to flee the Nazis, Kaufman came a long way from his humble beginnings as the son of a butcher. A former Salomon Brothers managing director and board member at Lehman Brothers, Kaufman is a big name in the financial industry, though as of late perhaps not always in a good way (his work at the now defunct firm led to a lawsuit, though it was dismissed). At the age of 82, Kaufman still works full time at his firm Henry Kaufman & Co., and has no plans to retire.

11. Lee Shau Kee

    
    If you know anything about Chinese or international business, you’ve probably heard this billionaire’s name. Kee is the Chairman and Managing Director at Henderson Land Development and the founder and managing director of Henderson Investment. He is the second wealthiest person in Hong Kong and China, and is the 28th richest man in the world. If his investment and real estate endeavors didn’t keep him busy enough, this retirement-phobic 83-year-old also serves on numerous other executive boards.

12. Kirk Kerkorian

    
    Real estate investor Kerkorian is an absolute legend in Las Vegas and Hollywood. Starting his career as a pilot and later owning an airline, Kerkorian is famous for buying huge chunks of the Las Vegas strip, building Caesars Palace, the International Hotel, and the MGM Grand. Kerkorian also bought and sold MGM Studios three times and has, at one time or another, held large stakes in GM, Chrysler, and Ford. Today, the 94-year-old (yes, really) is still president and CEO of Tracinda, his private investment corporation, and spends a great deal of time working with charitable foundations.

13. Sheldon Adelson

    
    Adelson is CEO and Chairman of Las Vegas Sands and, like Kerkorian, he’s a legend in Vegas real estate. He purchased the Sands in 1988, and today the business has gone global, with Sands resorts and casinos in China, the Caribbean, and around the U.S. Adelson was one of the first to pioneer the ideas of the themed mega-resort, in 1991 breaking ground on the Venetian, a hotel that would set the standard for others in Vegas. Today, the still very active Adelson holds a $23.3 billion fortune, but has no plans to leave his position.

 

Source: Posted by permission from www.OnLineMBA.com.  Click here for the original posting.

Workers More Interested in Changing Jobs, Firms Say

In a number of sectors, workers are giving more consideration to switching jobs - a likely sign that people are growing more confident in the health of the job market.

Technology consulting firm Capgemini, for example, reported recently that employee turnover is increasing. In an earnings statement released this week, the French company noted that attrition among its staff rose in the third quarter.

The attrition rate stood at 18.8 percent between July and September, Capgemini said - higher than in the same period last year.

Offering further evidence that employers are concerned about turnover is a recent Wall Street Journal item on rotational training programs. The programs, which have been introduced by large companies like MasterCard and IBM, give new hires exposure to the many facets of the business world - but, the Journal pointed out, they're also designed to keep young workers from straying.

"New experiences can keep [young] employees from getting bored too quickly," the Journal quoted workforce experts as saying.

While the overall job market is likely to remain sluggish, the corporate world's concern about attrition is a sign that conditions are improving for highly skilled workers. Thinking critically about your current role - and polishing your personal pitch - could be smart moves.

Source: The Blue Chip Career Team.  Read the original post from Blue Chip Career HERE.

Photo Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

12 Crucial Factors to Career Satisfaction

Education expands one's career opportunities and skill set but isn't exactly a guarantor of contentment or success. While degrees open doors, they don't necessarily mean a particular position — or even path — will ultimately prove the most viable, comfortable fit. Some pretty basic factors need meeting before true happiness settles in. Basic factors requiring give and take on the part of employee, employers, and even consumers must take place for a positive career situation, and we'll take a look at the 12 most important here.

• Low stress - Many people enjoy touting how much they thrive under pressure, and most of them probably do. But that momentum, often propelled by youthful vigor, almost always stalls and sputters eventually. And once it does, the stress really starts ravaging one's health. A truly satisfying, sustainable career is a career lessening the risk of heart disease, obesity, depression and other not-so-enjoyable medical conditions. Which, in turn, also saves a right fair amount of money.

• Positive work environment - Despite laws protecting against workplace harassment, the issue annoyingly persists year after year. Negative environments, traditional office settings or not, compromise career satisfaction for obvious reasons. Most workers don't enjoy feeling unsafe or dehumanized day after day after day after day after you get the idea. And if the problem trickles down from higher up in the hierarchy, filing reports only renders the situation even more desperate. Even genuinely rewarding, enjoyable responsibilities lose spark when surroundings get off on humiliation and degradation.

• Productivity - Save for the most ardent slackers, most workers like feeling as if they've accomplished something, even if they still have a ways to go before finishing a project. Productivity increases positivity, and while positivity doesn't cure mental health issues, it is a nice, supplementary self-respect boost. And those who love their careers but hate their companies have something to flaunt once resumes get sent out.

• Fair wages - Greed isn't good, but everyone must meet their basic needs, hopefully with a little cushion leftover for savings and bit of fun. A fair salary (and benefits, if applicable) should be a basic human right, although one rarely met when one considers global economics. Nobody who works tirelessly to support him- or herself (maybe even a family or loved one) should have to worry about food, shelter and nourishment. Gratifying careers cannot sit on a foundation of hand-wringing over necessities.

• Safety and security - Everyone's risk-taking comfort levels vary, of course, but even (especially!) Hollywood stuntpeople and deep sea welders deserve the utmost safety standards. All employers must ensure their staff should never show up to work afraid their number may be up today. In fact, it really should stand as the utmost priority, with no expense spared. Most adrenaline junkies and seemingly fearless individuals still want some degree of security while doing their jobs.

• Stimulation - The majority of workers, from the most isolationist to the resident social butterfly, still need something piquing their senses and intellects. Stimulation doesn't have to be interpersonal: satisfying careers keep both bodies and brains happy in multiple ways. Individual workers should seek out jobs preventing slippage, while companies themselves might want to consider initiating activities promoting better mental flow.

• Inclusion - People like being asked for their input and ideas, even if what they have to say doesn't necessarily come to pass. Satisfying careers make sure to include everyone wanting to be a part of things, and while it's impossible to implement everything, just taking time to listen often proves enough. Managers and executives should especially exert the effort. Feeling valued bolsters motivation and productivity, so dehumanizing workers won't get a company terribly far.

• Health - Like safety, health also significantly factors into overall career contentment. Even beyond stress-related medical conditions, workers might fall victim to inadequately-ventilated or moldy buildings, food- and water-borne illnesses in company commissaries and other hazards. Although no solution for 100% prevention exists — and never will — businesses should still consider healthy, safe and secure customers and employees their utmost concern.

• The job doesn't take over everything - All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. All work and no play make Jack … something something … Go crazy?! DON'T MIND IF I DO!!!

• Room for growth - If businesses and career paths hope to grow, there's no way they'll sustain success if they don't allow the individuals involved to do so as well. Few people stay the same as they age, and most improve their valuable job skills over time. It makes perfect sense that they want their positions to accommodate their promise and abilities rather than shoving them into a rigid, restrictive box.

• Honesty - It is the best policy, after all. A career path littered with liars, cheaters and other underhanded folks is really only gratifying to liars, cheats and other underhanded folk. All of whom must constantly look over their back and worry about whether or not their cockiness will finally signify their downfall. Really, staying honest with everyone just makes life that much easier. Just don't forget to pair it up with…

• Respect - No matter one's career path, earning respect from coworkers, higher ups and customers (if applicable) renders even the most groan-inducing tasks at least a shred bearable. "Earning," of course, is the operative word here. But few things conjure up more dehumanizing emotions than genuinely caring for others' needs and receiving nothing — or, even worse, outright degradation — in kind. Retail, education and service jobs often needlessly inspire shoddy treatment, hence many individuals' reluctance to even bother with them.

 

Article Source: www.AccreditedOnlineColleges.com (posted with permission) - View and read the original article here: 12 Crucial Factors to Career Satisfaction

Start a Career Journal Today

One of the ideas that I share with my career coaching clients is to start and maintain a "Career Journal" -- usually in the form of a three-ring notebook. 

The purpose of the Journal or Notebook is to serve as a placeholder to gather, collect and maintain relevant career development and career management material -- including items such as:

1. Your Professional Development Plan,
2. Your "Learning List" -- things you need to learn to improve skills, develop strengths or improve areas of key weakness,
3. Career assessment and evaluation results,
4. Career development ideas and career ideas in general,
5. Letters of recommendation,
6. Awards and recognitions,
7. Achievement material,
8. Resumes and bios,
9. Contact network information, and
10. Anything else relevant to YOU in terms of your career advancement.

TRY THIS TODAY: (a 10-minute activity).  Find a 1 1/2" to 2" three-ring binder to use as your Career Journal.  Set up tabs relevant to you and the material you'd like to collect.  Keep it visible and up-to-date. 

NEXT STEP: Use the Journal as a tool; review it frequently.  Develop the habit of collecting anything you feel is relevant to your career development and advancement.  It's a great "feel good" experience to review your journal.  Encourage your team members to do the same!

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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!

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Visit the Premier Interactive Career Development Community:

A Great Time to Assemble Your Career Success Dream Team

QUESTION:
What are you planning to do differently the second half of
this year to springboard your career success?  

As you embark on the second half of 2010, consider the following 10 QUESTIONS and how they might relate to your current level of career success -- also consider how answers to these questions might correlate with your future career success:

• Who do you routinely call upon for career advice and career counsel?  What is the quality of that advice?  Do you value those conversations and always "take away" something new and insightful?

• Who do you call upon or meet with who helps you stretch your mind and challenge your thinking?

• Who serves as your tried and true "sounding board" for new ideas, crazy ideas, and "to good to be true" ideas?

• Is there anyone who reaches out to you on a regular basis with outstanding career opportunities?

• Who helps you thoroughly and objectively evaluate important career decisions?

• Whom do you consider as a career mentor?  What is the quality of your relationship with your mentor? How often do you speak?

• Who "has your back" at work?  Who looks out for your interests and serves as your advocate and champion?

• Who would recommend you, without reservation, to a new client or to a new employer?

• Who, outside of your family, is your biggest fan?  How many raving fans do you have?

• To whom do you turn to discuss extremely confidential career matters?

If your desire is to achieve sustainable, lasting and truly incredible career success, it is important you have a least one name that you can associate with each of the above questions.  Those individuals, collectively, are key members of your Career Success Dream Team.  DO YOU HAVE A ....

Assembling and NURTURING a Dream Team will definitely springboard your career success -- you simply CANNOT do it alone!  No one who achieves peak performance in their career does so alone...period.

Make this the time that you consciously and thoughtfully assemble your Career Success Dream Team. Consider ALL of the following roles as you identify members of this mission critical team:

• Mentor(s) - Individuals you look up to or aspire to be like.  Incredible role models of success in your field of play. Could be a formal or informal relationship.  Could be someone at your Company or outside of your Company.
• Mastermind Group Members - A Group assembled around a common theme -- to work jointly and collaboratively on similar projects, shared interests, or common causes.
• Career Coach - A fee-based support team member who can help you develop and implement effective career planning, career management and career development strategies and tactics.
• Professional Advisors - Third party advisors, some of whom may be friends, in fields that play into your career plans - lawyers, insurance professionals, tax professionals, accounting professionals, etc.
• Advisory Board - A diverse group of business professionals and executives with whom you meet quarterly or semi-annually, focusing on helping each other with career development ideas, strategies and tactics.
• Guides and Experts - Designated experts in areas in which you need assistance - social media experts, personal branding experts, website development experts, etc.
• Key Influencers - Individuals in influential positions who can help you make key connections in your field or industry area.
• Accountability Partners - Could be a coach, could be a friend, could be a colleague.  Someone to help "hold your hand to the fire" to get things done.

Begin assembling your Dream Team this month.  Begin by mapping out and identifying likely Dream Team members for each of the above categories.  Maybe you have other categories of Team members you'd like to add to your Dream Team.  Set a goal for when you'd like to have your Team assembled.  Nurture your team, communicate with your team and show gratitude for team member contribution.

Watch the MAGIC happen -- the transformative power of a Dream Team on your Career Success can be INCREDIBLE!

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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

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Visit the Premier Interactive Career Development Community:

How Well Have You Branded Yourself as an Expert?

In these tough times, it is absolutely critical that you continue to demonstrate your value to your employer, to your clients and to your colleagues on a daily basis.  Adding Value is THE buzz-word for "safe-guarding" your career and propelling yourself to the top of your profession.  Adding value is also KEY to creating and sustaining a compelling and memorable personal brand.

Branding Yourself as an EXPERT

Consider these questions:

• What are you "known" for? 
• What are you the "go to" person for? 
• When work associates think of you, what is "key expertise" that comes to their mind? 
• If you had a "byline" underneath your name on your office door, what would it say?
• When your clients or customers think of you, what is the key value element that comes to their mind?

To survive and thrive in the "new world" job market, it is absolutely essential that you develop and brand yourself as an expert in an area of high value. 

Take an inventory of your key strengths and key skills and identify those that you and others would rate you as a "10" in.  Are those highest-ranked strengths and skills considered extremely valuable to your current employer and to your clients/customers?  THEY MUST BE.  It is in the best interest of both your employer AND your own professional achievement that they must be.  If not, you've either GOT TO focus on developing strengths and skills that do add the greatest value OR you've GOT TO find a position or opportunity where your existing highest-ranked skills and strengths DO add tremendous value.

STOP and take a close look TODAY at your areas of expertise.  GO DEEPER into those that add the greatest value in your current situation.  Take personal responsibility for the learning you may need to hone those strengths, and aggressively seek out projects, assignments and opportunities to apply those deep areas of expertise.

Brand yourself as an expert in an area of high value and you'll dramatically improve both your job security and your own professional development.

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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

---

Visit the Premier Interactive Career Development Community:

Heads Up! You Already ARE In Business For Yourself

A Preamble to Today's Article

In the earlier part of my career, I was a CPA with the firm now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers ("PwC"). I quickly gravitated into PwC's highly profitable corporate finance consulting practice as a Director in the firm's Atlanta office, where I spent 10 years specializing in Financial Advisory Services to Fortune 500 companies.  The last 15 years of my work life have been oriented around my new passion -- human resource development and career development services targeted toward business leaders, executives and senior managers. My experience at PwC "grounded" me in the mindset of analytical problem-solving, "process-based" thinking and "bottom line" orientation.  Today's article reflects a blending of thinking between these two phases of my career, both of which I cherish immensely.

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FACT 1: You Already ARE in Business For Yourself .... and
You Always Will Be.  

At first, this may seem like a bit of a bold statement, but as you read today's article, I hope to convince you of this important FACT.  Working from the standpoint of understanding and embracing this important fact will empower you to peak performance and maximum achievement in your career and work life.  Ignoring it or dismissing it may truly be a risky proposition and may ultimately limit your career growth and income-producing potential.

FACT 2: The days of implied or perceived JOB security are gone FOREVER

Today's market and economic situation really bring this to light -- brought to light because we read about layoffs and downsizings on a  daily basis, AND we hear about job security fears constantly from friends, family members, business contacts and work colleagues.  As the market improves over the coming months and years and as unemployment rates ultimately return to "norm", this second FACT only becomes less visible and newsworthy.  The FACT, however remains.  It is therefore important that we make a paradigm shift from thinking about working FOR others in a JOB -- TO working for ourselves and producing income streams -- regardless of "place" -- whether through a single source (working at a company) or multiple sources. 

This shift in thinking does not necessarily change WHERE we work, but it definitely affects HOW WE WORK and HOW WE THINK ABOUT where we work and what we work on.

You Own the Business of "You"
YOU are a Profit Center and Sustainable Income-Producing Entity

So, let's talk about what all of this means in terms of HOW WE WORK and HOW WE THINK ABOUT WHERE WE WORK.  If you shift your thinking to a framework where YOU ARE IN BUSINESS FOR YOURSELF and you represent YOUR OWN PROFIT-CENTER, the following critical shifts in thinking will manifest for you:

• Focus on Sustainable Income Streams. Income can come from a variety of sources. Plan ahead and be prepared.  Consider alternative and complementary income sources; draw upon your outside interests as possible income sources.  Think like a business and consider the risk of "putting all of your eggs in one basket."  This is DEFINITELY a new way of thinking.
• Always Deliver Excess Value.  Stay attuned to and measure the value you deliver against your cost(s). If you're employed full-time at a company, then your "cost" is your salary and benefits, and it is incumbent that the value you deliver to your employer exceed your total cost of employment. Put pencil to paper and analyze it.....often.  Value can be intangible and difficult to measure accurately, but you can't ignore the principle.  See my recent article on "Maintaining an Add-Value Mindset."
• Anticipate and Respond Quickly to Market Opportunities.  Be alert to market trends and movements .... ahead of time.  If you're in a "business" that is not solving an existing market problem or responding to an existing market opportunity, you'll have a difficult time surviving in the intermediate and long term.  The business of "you" needs to be fully attuned to changing market conditions and opportunities.  If you're "reading the writing on the wall," it's too late -- you need to be one of those crafting the message that GOES on the wall.
• Take Ownership for Your Learning and Development.  A successful business is a learning organization.  Self-improvement and learning is COMPLETELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.....period.  Staying competitive and in-tune with the latest thinking in your field demands time for learning and knowledge development.  Make learning a priority and make it happen .... consistently and habitually.  See also my recent article on "Sharpening the Saw."
• Promote and Market Yourself Constantly.  Take responsibility for "tooting your own horn."  Stay in touch with and nurture your business network -- on an ongoing basis.  See my article on"Effective Networking - You Have Got to Give First."
• Focus on Exceptional Customer Service.  Customer "experience" with you and the product/service you deliver creates "gravity" if that experience is exceptional.  Gravity holds the relationship in place.  Your clients are your customers as are your work colleagues - your boss, your peers, and the management team at your employer all represent your customers.  It is critical that they all KNOW WHO YOU ARE and have memorable service delivery experience with you.  One misstep is often the the last thing on their mind.  Recover quickly from your missteps and deliver exceptional service to your customers at ALL times.
• Deliver an Outstanding Work Product.  Deliver high-quality, error-free and highly professional work product.  Take ownership for EVERYTHING you deliver -- services, communications and collateral material.  Develop processes to help you ensure exceptional quality is delivered consistently.
• Develop and Communicate Your Personal Brand.  What are those things that make you unique and set you apart from your peers and competitors?  What do you do differently?  What makes you memorable?  Take inventory of your personal brand elements and highlight them through the work you do.  See the recent article I wrote on Personal Excellence and Personal Branding.
• Manage Your Cash Flow, Liquidity and Reserves.  You simply cannot run a business effectively without managing your cash flow, liquidity and reserves.  Develop a budget and financial plan that you review and update regularly.  Manage your cash inflows and outflows carefully.  Maintain adequate reserves and savings.  Manage yourself like a well-run business; stay focused on the bottom line and control your costs.  ALWAYS think like a business owner.
• Know Your "Exit Strategy".  Plan ahead and map out your "exit strategy."  Build wealth and formulate a strategy for accumulating capital.  Work closely with a personal financial planning specialist and your CPA.  Plan, plan, plan.

Bottom Line:

Think from the mindset of business ownership -- The business of "You" -- and let that mindset guide your approach to how you manage and conduct your work life.

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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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