First Sun Blog Archives - Page 141 of 235 - First Sun Consulting, LLC | Outplacement Services and Career Transition Firm

#Leadership : How To #Communicate With People Who Disagree With You…Research Suggests Oral(Ouch!), Not Written, Communication Works Best.

January 11, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

We’ve all been there: those times you need to argue your point of view to someone who you know disagrees with you. You immediately go to your keyboard and start to type out that 280-character tweet, the Facebook reply, or a paragraphs-long email. Surely the reason, logic, and sheer power of your written words will convince whoever it is who disagrees with you to see your point of view? But new research suggests these written arguments may not be the best approach.

That research was conducted by Juliana Schroeder, assistant professor of management of organizations at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and her colleagues. In Schroeder’s study of almost 300 people, participants were asked to watch, listen, and read arguments about subjects they agreed or disagreed with, including abortion, music, and war. They were asked to judge the character of the communicator and the quality or veracity of the argument. Schroeder’s team found that the participants who watched or listened to the communicator were less dismissive of their claims than when they read that communicator’s same argument.

Schroeder’s findings have obvious implications for all forums for communication, especially those in the workplace. The idea for her study came from a newspaper article about a politician, she told the Washington Post:

One of us read a speech excerpt that was printed in a newspaper from a politician with whom he strongly disagreed. The next week, he heard the exact same speech clip playing on a radio station. He was shocked by how different his reaction was toward the politician when he read the excerpt compared to when he heard it. When he read the statement, the politician seemed idiotic, but when he heard it spoken, the politician actually sounded reasonable.

Schroeder’s research also found the participants who listened to or watched the communicators talk were also less likely to dehumanize them–a phenomenon where we subconsciously belittle or demonize the cognitive capabilities and moral attributes of people who hold views other than our own. So whether it’s convincing a stranger that #MeToo matters, discussing politics with a friend, or explaining to other board members why your vision of the company is the right one, here are three tips to communicate effectively to give your argument the chance of being truly understood.

1. WORK BACKWARDS FROM ANOTHER PERSON’S KNOWN BELIEF

We live in a world of digital, primarily text-based, communication. While that is great for convenience (you can read a message when you want to), Schroeder’s work suggests that’s horrible for times when you need to convince people who disagree with you, as people are more prone to dehumanize you when you communicate in writing.

“The intuitive tendency to dehumanize opponents stems, in part, from the fact that we’re unable to directly experience another person’s mind compared to our own,” Schroeder told me. “Instead, we have to work backwards from another person’s known belief (say, ‘Gun control is bad’) to his or her unknown thinking or reasoning. A seemingly nonsensical belief, the inference process goes, comes from a nonsensical mind.”

Of course, sometimes we have no option but to communicate via text. If this is the case, it’s imperative to be extra attentive to your choice of words and phrases. Using non-emotive, fact-based, to-the-point arguments are the best way to combat the reader’s natural penchant to dehumanize you.

Like this Article ? Share It ! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

2. OPT FOR IN-PERSON COMMUNICATION IF POSSIBLE

Ideally, you’ll want to always choose to convey your argument in person if you can. “Hearing a message from a political [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][or other] opponent can humanize the opponent, compared to reading the same message,” said Schroeder via email. “One reason for this seems to be that variance in communicators’ natural paralinguistic cues in their voices (e.g., tone) can convey their thoughtfulness.”

While this may be impossible to do with the anonymous masses on Twitter or impractical with all of your Facebook friends, in the workplace, speaking to someone in person often involves nothing more than walking a few doors down to their office. And that’s exactly what you should do if you need to convince that boss or colleague of why your blueprint for the company or project is the right one.

3. VIDEO CONFERENCING IS BETTER THAN EMAIL

But even if you don’t work in the same building as your colleague, or live in the same state or country as one of your Facebook friends you’re arguing with about gun control, you’re not out of luck. It’s now easier than ever to communicate with people by voice or video call. So before sending an email or posting a message, open Skype or Facebook Messenger for an audio or video call so the recipient of your message can hear the variance and paralinguistic cues in your voice.

Only as a last resort should you try to communicate with someone who you disagree with over social media. Twitter’s limited text allowance and social media users’ short attention spans make arguing your point an uphill battle.

FastCompany.com | January 11, 2018 | BY MICHAEL GROTHAUS 4 MINUTE READ

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Your #Career : The Best Way to Answer “Why are You Leaving your Job?” Without Making your #Interviewer Worry… There are Many Reasons Why you Might have Left your Last Job, and Not All of Them are Rosy.

January 10, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Answering the interview question “Why are you leaving your job?” can be difficult.
You want to show your motivations, but also not worry the interviewer.
Emphasize results, be polite, and don’t dwell on your current/previous employer. Focus on you.

There are many reasons why you might have left your last job, and not all of them are rosy. Perhaps you worked for a toxic boss, or you met obstacles on your way up the ladder. Or, maybe you were just plain bored with your work.

When an interviewer asks why you want to leave your current job, he or she wants to try to “understand your motives and gain insight as to how [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][you] handle work relationships,” says Duncan Mathison, author of “Unlock the Hidden Job Market: 6 Steps to a Successful Search When Times are Tough“. “In particular they are asking themselves, ‘Will they leave us in the lurch if they become dissatisfied?’ or, ‘Is there some dirt here?'” In short, asking “Why did you leave your last job?” is one way for the interviewer to ensure you’re a person of integrity.

How to answer interview questions like this

The best strategy for effectively answering this tough interview question is to prepare for it. Here’s how to be ready and how to recover when you’re not.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

Emphasize results

Do: Focus on results: Make a list of things you accomplished in your last position and focus on those, ending with something like, “‘Having successfully done that, I’m ready for another challenge,'” suggests Stephen Balzac, president of 7 Steps Ahead, a business consulting firm in Stow, Massachusetts. “Now what you’re saying to the interviewer is: ‘You can count on me to get results and stay here until I do.'”

Don’t: Answer in a way that doesn’t reassure the interviewer. “Answers such as, ‘I wasn’t being challenged’, ‘The work was no longer interesting’ or ‘The pay was too low’ all say the same thing to the interviewer: that you might leave at any time if things aren’t to your liking,” Balzac says.

Recover: If you give a bland answer, circle back to it quickly. And if you can’t, revisit why you left your last job just before you end the interview. This allows you to leave the interviewer with your previous accomplishments top of mind.

Be polite

Do: Remember that employers run the show and can act as they see fit, Mathison says. “Yet, at the same time, make it clear that the organization you seek has the qualities to perform at a higher level,” he says. An example: “We all know that sometimes promises exceed reality. Our CEO was comfortable, as many are, with pushing the limits. But I feel that lasting business partnerships and profitability are built on my ability to deliver on my promises, so I’m looking for that type of company.”

Don’t: Badmouth the boss or the company. “That implies you may be difficult to manage,” Mathison says.

Recover: Acknowledge you were hard on your previous employer and restate your answer like this: “That might be a little harsh. I know that my former company is trying to do its best under the circumstances. I’m looking for a company that’s a better fit for me.” This also shows that you’re self-aware and have decent manners.

One final tip for the interview

Don’t dwell too long on your previous employer—the interview is about you, after all. “Always bring the conversation back to your results and reliability,” Balzac notes.

BusinessInsider.com | January 10, 2018 | Margot Carmichael Lester, Monster

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

#BestofFSCBlog : These Methods Will Finally Help You Organize Your Job Search Better.

January 10, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When you’re actively looking for a new job, you can’t afford to wing it on the organizational front. Whether you apply for five jobs or 100, you’ll soon find yourself buried in an extraordinary number of resumes, cover letters, job descriptions, and interview invitations. If you don’t keep them carefully organized, you may not identify the right opportunity–or worse, you’ll flounder when the right opportunity comes along.

If you want to stay on top of all of the applications, LinkedIn requests, and other digital paraphernalia that go along with your job search, it’s time to break up with your bad organization habits. Here are seven techniques that will help you overcome the most common job hunt organization issues so that you know the where, what, who, and how for your next interview:

1. IF YOU AREN’T GOOD AT ORGANIZING . . . FIGURE OUT WHY

Organizational skills aren’t one-size-fits-all. There are just as many ways to be disorganized as there are to be organized. Instead of haphazardly applying “organization tactics” to your job search, try to identify specific ways that you tend to be disorganized and troubleshoot those issues directly.

For example, do you tend to lose hard copies? Digital apps will be where it’s at for you. But if you forget anything that isn’t written with pen and paper, a paper calendar or sticky note wall will be a better solution. And if you aren’t sure how you like to stay organized, try something new. If you’re usually an Apple Calendar kind of person, start using a paper planner, or vice versa.

2. IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME FOLLOWING UP . . . USE A SPREADSHEET

When your job search is in full swing, it’s way too easy to send an email and forget it. Not only can this cost you when you aren’t following up at appropriate intervals, but it can also make you feel like you’re constantly treading water without getting anywhere. Your job hunt becomes an overwhelming, never-ending headache instead of a systematic, purposeful journey.

Combat this by starting a detailed spreadsheet that tracks all the pertinent details of your job search, such as the company, job listing, and contact details. As you move through the job hunt process (and the interview process), highlight the steps you’ve “completed” so you can show yourself just how much work you’ve done along the way.

Like this Article? Share It! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award-Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-g-laughter-b46389198/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs @

https://twitter.com/search?q=bestoffscblog&src=typeahead_click

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of the article:

3. IF YOU NEED REMINDERS . . . GO HIGH TECH

There’s nothing wrong with manual spreadsheets that lists all of the job search details you need to know if it’s working for you. But if it’s not working for you– if you frequently forget to update the spreadsheet, and you’re never quite sure about what your next step should be–you need to take your job search into the 21st century with a free online project management tool like Trello or Wrike.

Using a project management tool as a job seeker allows you to organize all of the job search details and automate when and to whom you should send a follow-up note. You can also adjust your settings to automatically receive reminders when it’s time to update the individual jobs or check in on the progress of the hiring manager.

4. IF YOU’RE A VISUAL PERSON . . . TRY STICKY NOTES

The sticky note wall is a tried-and-true organizational method that works for writing a book, setting goals, and yes, getting a new job. First, pick a large wall you can divide into three or four columns. At the top of each column, mark out a different stage of the job process or your job search to-do list (e.g., “Draft Resume,” “Apply,” “Interview”). Then, write each job on a sticky note and set it in its appropriate column. As you work through your job hunt and make progress, move the sticky note to the next step.

Not only can it be very motivating to see your progress in such a visual way, but it is easy to get a quick snapshot of where you are in the process by simply glancing at your sticky note wall. Pro tip: You can also use the “Sticky Notes App” on your phone or computer if a digital version of the sticky notes would save you the wall space.

5. IF YOU FORGET THE DETAILS . . . KEEP THOROUGH NOTES

If you’re speaking to one or two prospective employers each week, it can be tough to remember who’s who and what you talked about. If you don’t take careful notes, you may unwittingly repeat yourself or send a thank-you note to the wrong person and reference the wrong conversation. Talk about awkward!

If that sounds like something that could happen to you, use a free tool like Microsoft OneNote or Evernote to keep track of the meetings you have. For extra memory help, pull the LinkedIn photo of the person you’re speaking with into the note sheet and capture notes like the person’s company, job title, and location. Not only can you look at a picture of a real person when you’re in the midst of a phone screen interview, but you can also easily go back and remember who you spoke with when you’re considering job offers or writing thank-you notes.

6. IF YOU’RE LOSING MOTIVATION . . . MAKE A LIST OF REASONS YOU’RE SEARCHING

If you find yourself putting off your job search or simply not looking forward to any part of the process, you’re letting the discomfort of a job hunt distract you from the reason you’re looking for a new job. Get back in the right headspace by bringing the focus back to what motivates you.

Make a list of the reasons you’re looking for a new job–toxic workplace, skipped over for a promotion, low salary, etc.–and keep it in a prominent place. Not only will this motivate you to stick to your plan and find a new job, but it will also prepare you for the interviews ahead by keeping your deeper purpose of your job search front and center.

7. IF YOU’RE FEELING BURNED OUT . . . SCHEDULE SOME DOWNTIME

Little tasks can pile up, especially if you’re managing a full-time job during your job search. Instead of spending a whole day on your job hunt once a month and getting frustrated with your lack of progress, set short but regular periods of time to check in and make consistent progress. A half-hour two or three times a week will ensure that you’re responding to hiring managers at appropriate intervals and staying on top of new opportunities as they come out.

A job search is a job of its own: You’re practicing time management, patience, and even customer service as you balance your search with your current job. But you don’t have to let the complexity of all the resumes, cover letters, applications, and interviews throw you off. Just find an organizational method that works for you so that the energy you put into the job search pays off with a new job–not a new headache!

FastCompany.com | January 10, 2018 | BY SARAH GREESONBACH—GLASSDOOR 6 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : Lessons In Leadership From Alabama Football’s #Saban, Tagovailoa & Hurts… Make Sure you’re Building your #Team for the Future – When it’s your Turn to Be the Next Man Up, be Ready to Go, No Excuses.

January 9, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

So many great moments in last night’s college football championship game. So many people stepping up in different ways. Three stand out as leaders: Coach Nick Saban being ready to make required changes and having the courage to make the changes when he needed to do so; freshman reserve quarterback Tua Tagovailoa stepping up to do what he needed to do to win the game; starting quarterback Jalen Hurts keeping his head in the game even after being pulled out.

For those of you who missed the game (and you missed quite a game), Georgia crushed Alabama in the first half, completely choking off the Alabama offense and heading into half-time with a 13-0 lead. Saban went with his back up, true freshman quarterback for the second half, leading to a heart-stopping 26-23 win in overtime.

Nick Saban

Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll describes Saban’s (and Belichick’s) philosophy of “Next man up, ready to go, no excuses.”

Let’s unpack that.

“Next man up” is the result of future capability, succession and contingency planning. Saban is already building his 2025-2026 team. He’s got people scouting all the rising grade school and high school stars. He’s getting to know the players he wants on his team. He won’t get all of them. But he knows what capabilities he’s going to need on his future teams and is working to fill the gaps.

With a more short-term perspective, he does succession planning. He creates opportunities to give his future starters playing time. Back up quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for example, played in over half of Alabama’s games this season, completing 49 of 77 pass attempts for 636 yards.

Saban’s contingency planning is closely linked to his succession planning. The players on his depth list need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Saban says he trusts players. “Players that do things the right way. Players who prepare the right way, practice the right way. They’re dependable.”

The “no excuses” part of the philosophy goes both ways as well. No excuses for coaches that do not give their rising stars the opportunities to learn and grow. No excuses for players that don’t get themselves ready. No excuses for not making the right moves at the right time. With Hurts struggling, Saban had Tagovailoa ready and was ready himself to make the move.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

Tua Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa was the next man up. He was ready. He made no excuses. To be clear, he did not play perfectly. He threw an interception and suffered at least two big sacks on plays in which he should have thrown the ball away for no loss. He made a bunch of other mistakes. But, and it’s a big but, he ignited the team, made big plays to keep drives alive and score when he needed to do so. Bottom line, he delivered what the team needed to win the game.

Jalen Hurts

Jalen Hurts kept his head in the game, switching roles with Tagovailoa at half-time. That’s a hard switch for a starting quarterback. Throughout the second half he was right by Tagovailoa’s side on the sideline, paying attention to everything the coaches were saying and encouraging Tagovailoa and the rest of the team every step of the way. Had Saban needed to go back to Hurts, he was the next man up, ready to go, no excuses.

Implications for you

Your organization needs all sorts of leaders: artistic leaders, scientific leaders, interpersonal leaders, strategic leaders planning the alignment of forces before the battle, tactical leaders moving forces in the battle and supportive leaders. Make sure you treasure all of them.

Make sure you’re building your team for the future – with future capability planning for the long term, succession planning for the mid term and contingency planning for, wait for it, contingencies.

When it’s your turn to be the next man up, be ready to go, no excuses.

When it’s someone else’s turn, make sure you’re supporting them and ready yourself.

Click here to see all my Forbes articles and get a summary of my executive onboarding book: The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan.

Forbes.com | January 9, 2018 | George Bradt , CONTRIBUTOR

#Leadership : The Secret To #Teamwork Isn’t Managing Personalities Stop Trying to Turn Everyone into “Team Players.”…Here’s How to Set a Baseline that Everybody can Commit To–No Matter How Different they Are.

January 9, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When I started out as an illustrator and designer, I focused way too much on myself. I thought I was only expected to do the work I was skilled at, figuring that the task of getting everyone on my team to pull together was our boss’s job, not mine.

That assumption wound up hurting me. I didn’t understand how to communicate. I followed my own agenda, unwittingly adding to team drama with unhelpful gossip. And when one of my first performance reviews included a critique from my supervisor that I wasn’t a “team player,” I actually took it as a compliment: “Team players” were losers, and I was a uniquely gifted winner. I quit soon afterward.

It took me a while to shake that egotism–and learn not only that teamwork makes everybody’s work better, but also that you don’t have to surrender your personality to be a team player. As a manager, I’ve since learned how to ask employees to focus more on their team without having to downplay their individual strengths and quirks. The secret is simple: It all comes down to the norms you set.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR NORMS

Norms, for starters, are expected shared behavior. No matter what they consist of, they’re the known but mostly unspoken “way we do things around here.”

Teams can have strikingly different social behaviors and still produce exceptional work. I’ve seen teams with an informal brainstorming process–they always went off track during team meetings–be just as successful as extremely formal teams that were totally goal-focused. What matters isn’t the style of behavior, but that all team members feel good about that style.

This also leaves room for individuals to improvise and do their own thing. If one team member’s approach to a certain task differs from her coworkers but they’re similar in style (if not substance), chances are they’ll still be able to collaborate. The norms govern a certain set of behaviors that bind the team members together. As long as everyone’s broadly in sync with them, you won’t need to spell out a best practice for every single task or activity. In general, norms must accomplish these five things:

Guide how much personal sharing is part of team meetings.
Determine how critical feedback is shared and how praise is used.
Keep the group from splitting into cliques and factions.
Be inclusive and serve as a binding agent that holds everyone together, even when opinions differ significantly.
Prove strong enough to ensure that even divisive opinions are respected and encouraged (since they’re often where the best solutions come from).

If a team member or leader breaks with these norms, they do so at the risk of diverting the team’s attention away from the shared goal. Best of all? Encouraging and enforcing your team norms frees managers from having to do the impossible and “manage” their team members’ personalities.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

EMBODYING YOUR TEAM’S NORMS

Once you’ve identified your norms, it’s easy to draw up more specific guidelines that reflect them. Here are a few that I’ve found are especially helpful for managing teams of creative people whose personalities may be more likely to clash:

Manners matter. Civility provides a feeling of safety. Once civility becomes the norm, it’s easier for team members to do work that challenges each other as well as conventional wisdom. As long as you can be civil in the way you disagree with each other, you can put forward radically different ideas in pursuit of a shared goal.

Inclusion. If civility helps everyone feel respected by their coworkers, inclusion is what lets everybody feel equally valued and empowered. In meetings, for example, this norm might dictate that all team members speak for roughly an equal amount of time. Those who really listen to each other feel respected, included, and at ease sharing decision-making power evenly.

Dependability. For the team to succeed, each member must not only commit to doing their share of the work, they must also complete it on time. The simple tenet of always doing your part and honoring your commitments is fundamental to any cohesive team.

Role clarity. Each team member has to know their own role, be completely committed to it, and understand how it supports the roles of the others. This is what gives team members confidence in their value to the group and in their colleagues’ contributions.

Higher purpose. Everybody needs to grasp why we’re doing what we’re doing and believe that it matters. That underlying sense of purpose is (ideally, anyway) what motivates everyone to make an earnest effort individually.

Honest critique. This one is sometimes under-appreciated, but effective teamwork depends on being able to step back and question how the work is progressing and whether it’s serving the goals. Effective critiques challenge and examine different approaches, thinking, and methods, sometimes leading to a change in direction. This type of feedback needs to focus on the work, not the person who did it; done wrong, criticism can stir up vulnerable feelings of not being good enough rather than strengthen everybody’s stake in the process.

Healthy controversy. Seemingly risky or silly ideas are essential to collaboration. Encourage your team members to ask challenging questions and look for unusual solutions. A committed, supportive team creates an emotional environment where controversy can flourish and be positively channeled.

No bad behavior. Damaging interpersonal behavior is off-limits. That means no personal gossip, no back-channeling, no undermining, and no shaming or blaming.

You’ll notice that these norms and guidelines don’t have much to say on the question of personality type–and that’s by design. Rather than managers or team members adapting their approach to the personality of whoever they’re working with at a given moment, norms set a common baseline. This way, everyone knows how to behave to be a “team player”–even though they may be a proud individualist at the same time.

FastCompany.com | January 9, 2017

Your #Career : Here’s What To Do When Common #CareerAdvice Doesn’t Work For You.. When working with your Former Company’s Sponsored ‘highly processing’ #OutplacementServices & Programs. Here is What you Can Do on your Own.

January 8, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

“After Cattle Call Meeting to Simply Sign Up on their Website. Now What??”
You’re smart enough to spot bad career advice, but what about when you get good advice that you know works for a lot of people, but doesn’t work for you?

It can be tempting to throw your hands in the air and say “I give up.” But this isn’t your only option. Here are some ideas on what you can do when following common career advice isn’t bringing you much success.

INSTEAD OF: BE SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT

TRY: BROADENING YOUR HORIZONS AND LOOKING FOR WHERE THE DEMANDS ARE

We’re often advised to be specific and strategic about what we’re after. While this might be great advice for some, others might find that this approach yields little results for them–particularly when they’re trying to land their first entry-level job.

These days, it’s no longer enough to have a college degree, candidates need to have work experience, whether it be through internships or part-time gigs. But sometimes, even that isn’t enough. Marketing professional and freelance writer Brittney Oliver witnessed this when she embarked on her post-college job search. Despite five internships under her belt, it took her eight months and over 100 interviews before she landed her first job.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

As Oliver previously wrote in Fast Company, being a woman of color presented her with additional challenges that her white peers might not have had to face. But considering that the interviewers’ unconscious bias wasn’t something she had much control over, she focused on what she could control. When she started her job search, Oliver had her sights only on PR jobs in New York City. But after struggling to secure a position, she saw her peers turn their degrees into “transferable skills that helped them land jobs outside of their fields.” She began to do the same.

This was also a strategy that Sydney Brunson, a diversity programs specialist at Pinterest, employed. Brunson told Oliver, “had I solely focused on jobs and careers in public relations or communications, my story might be different. I would encourage students to broaden their horizons and scope when searching for jobs.”

Another practical tip could be to look for roles that companies have difficulty filling. Ify Walker, founder of talent matchmaking firm Offor Walker Group, suggested that candidates who are having trouble landing jobs should try to put themselves “in places where others might say, ‘I don’t want to do that, or that’s too hard.’”

INSTEAD OF: EXPAND YOUR NETWORK

TRY: FIGURE OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP OTHERS IN YOUR EXISTING NETWORK

It’s true that having a large professional network never hurts, and you never know what opportunities could come out of new interactions. But if, like most people, your time is limited, making yourself attend three to four networking events a week in attempts to “widen your network” might not be the best use of your time.

Chances are, you probably have a few people in your current network that can help you get ahead. Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew, cofounders of career site The Muse, listed these types of people in their book, The New Rules Of Work: The Modern Playbook For Navigating Your Career. From those who hold similar positions to you, people related to your industry or role but with different responsibilities, the person one or two levels ahead of you and even the newbie who just started their careers–these are all valuable relationships to cultivate.

Of course, it goes without saying that in order to reap the benefits, you have to be willing to give. For example, you might recommend a candidate to your senior coworker when you hear that they’re hiring. When it comes to those who have a similar job to you, you might share your learnings and lessons and act as each other’s “buddies” when you do attend a big event.

INSTEAD OF: FIND A MENTOR

TRY: FOCUS ON MAKING YOURSELF MORE VALUABLE

No one really “makes it” on their own, so it’s no surprise that many successful people attribute their success to the help of others. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the idea that for our careers to have any chance of flourishing, we need to have a go-to mentor–a leader in our field who we can turn to for advice in times of trouble. Oh and they need to be as equally invested in our careers as we are.

Of course, finding a person like this is definitely great for your career, but busy and important people don’t always have time to be unpaid career coaches. And plenty of successful people have had thriving careers without one consistent mentor (WeWork’s CEO and cofounder Adam Neumann is a great example). Having a mentor is not the be all and end all to your career.

Instead of focusing on what you can get, focus on what you can give. You can start with doing this at work, by making sure that you’re fulfilling every aspect of your job description, and going above and beyond when possible. Then you can also position yourself to “get in on what the higher ups” are saying, as Fast Company‘s Rich Bellis wrote in a previous article.

There are several ways to do this if you’re a junior employee–you can ask your boss directly to see if they can fill you in on what they discussed at the leadership meeting, or you can muster the courage to introduce yourself to the company’s leaders when you see them around the office. You’ll not only gain valuable insights about how your company works, but you might develop a relationship with someone who literally has control over your career.

INSTEAD OF: BUILD AND CULTIVATE A PERSONAL BRAND

TRY: FOCUS ON DEEPENING YOUR EXPERTISE IN YOUR FIELD

In the age of social media influencers, it’s easy to get fixated on making our online presence as polished (and popular) as possible. But unless your job title is social media marketer, at some point, you’ll probably see diminishing returns to all this self-promotion–particularly when the time you spend trying to gain followers on Instagram is cutting into the time you’re spending on your actual work.

In his book Perennial Seller: The Art Of Making And Marketing Work That Lasts, marketer and writer Ryan Holiday stressed that if you want to create a product that will stand the test of time, you have to create a great product. He wrote, “even the best admen will admit that, over the long term, all the marketing in the world won’t matter if the product hasn’t been made right.”

The same logic can apply to our careers. If we’re not good at what we do, no amount of retweets and likes will hide that fact. As entrepreneur John Rampton wrote in a previous Fast Company article, “It’s one thing to tout your best qualities and another to push them so hard that you fall into false marketing.”

INSTEAD OF: PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE

TRY: PUT YOURSELF IN SITUATIONS THAT LET YOU BE YOUR BEST

Many of us have a conventional idea of what success looks like. Go for the biggest job and opportunity, have lots of powerful friends, make a lot of money.

For some people, this “overachieving” mind-set is a surefire recipe for disaster and exhaustion, as Morra Aarons-Mele wrote in her book, Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home). She wrote, “If you need more control over your space, pace, and place of work than others, the traditional career-ladder approach to success is all the more daunting–and possibly futile.”

Aarons-Mele went on to write, “But let me be clear: When introverts like me realize that the success they’re chasing isn’t making them happy, it’s not because they’re lazy or unambitious.” Rather, it’s about understanding what environments make you perform at your best, and what environments make you struggle–and embracing it. After all, life doesn’t require you to conform to society’s perceived idea of career success. What that looks like to you is wholly up to you to decide.

FastCompany.com | January 8, 2018 | BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON 6 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : Starting A #SideProject In 2018? Here’s How To Make It Successful..While some #Projects go on to Become a Full-Time Business, Even the Ones that Eventually Fizzle Out Serve an Important Purpose.

January 7, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

For businesses, giving resources and time to side projects has proven over and over to be worth it. Slack, everyone’s favorite communication hub, started life as a simple tool for a group of game developers.

“While some projects do go on to become a full-time business, even the ones that eventually fizzle out serve an important purpose. Building and launching a side project is about the experience, and the people you meet along the way.”

Side projects help us uncover new interests, promote divergent thinking (one of the building blocks of creativity), and can potentially take your life in an unexpected direction. However, that’s also what makes them scary. They require time and money–and more importantly, you’ll need enough motivation from the meaning the side project brings to keep going when it’s tough.

So what makes a personal side project successful? After reading the stories of 10 creators, I found these 7 common “ingredients” for starting, building, and launching a successful personal side project.

1. FIND SOMETHING THAT SITS BETWEEN “THINGS YOU ENJOY” AND “SKILLS YOU WANT TO BUILD”

As Julie Zhou, product design VP at Facebook and avid side project champion explains, “Side projects work best when they live at the interaction of ‘Things you enjoy’ and ‘Things that help you practice a marketable skill.’”

While this is simple in theory, it can quickly get murky. Start a side project solely because it will help you get ahead in your own job and you run the risk of that project becoming just an extension of your work. Rather than feeling motivated to spend time on it, you’ll approach it just like another task on your work to-do list.

However, if your project doesn’t help you build a skill you can use in other parts of your life, you’re just having fun. Which is fine, of course. But won’t necessarily bring in a level of meaning to your life.

The goal then, as Zhou explains, is to find that sweet spot in the middle. A good litmus test is that side projects are typically productive, not consumptive. That’s not to say side projects have to be 100% focused on production.

For example, you may be interested in building an app, but not (yet) have the technical skills to do it. So step one would be to take an online course on app development. Then, throughout the course, you could work on the app, knowing it will take a while, but always with that goal keeping you motivated.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

2. TREAT YOUR SIDE PROJECTS AS EXPERIMENTS

The hard thing about side projects is that there’s a lot more of us in them than in our usual work. When you’re having an off day in the office or on a work project, it can be easy to push through. You’re getting paid for this after all, right?

But when we’re doing something for ourselves, that mental strategy for motivating us falls short. According to freelance web designer-turned entrepreneur Paul Jarvis, to get over this hump, we need to treat our side projects as experiments.

“Experiments don’t “fail”—they simply prove or disprove a hypothesis. For example, despite my day job as a designer I had the hypothesis that I could also write an e-book. I then simply started writing. I didn’t focus on the outcome, how the book would be received or what others would think of it. I figured, ‘let’s give this a try’.”

The point here is that you’re simply trying something out with your side project. Rather than place the same level of importance on your side project as you do on your job, focus on getting something done. Getting early results will help you learn and grow.

3. PITCH YOURSELF

If you want your side project to be more than just a hobby, successful creators say you need to learn how to talk about it.

Before he built multiple startups (which all started as side projects) and created one of the largest design communities in Israel, Sagi Shrieber was just another design student with one side interest: He felt passionately about starting the first design blog written in Hebrew. Rather than building it in private, however, Sagi took the stage at a local event and told the 300+ room what he was doing and when he would launch (even though he didn’t have anything made yet).

Going public with your side project can give you the momentum to go through with it and also help you find a community of like-minded people to help you along the way.

4. CHARGE FOR YOUR WORK

Selling seems antithetical to creation. One is pure, unadulterated originality, the other simply squeezing hard-earned dollars and cents out of another person. But if you want your side project to be a success (and it’s something you plan on selling), this is the wrong way to think about it.

Successful side project creators don’t think about price, they think about value. If you value the work you’re doing, and you’re creating something that has meaning to you, then there should be someone else out there who feels the same way.

As a full-time marketing director, Noah Kagan was no stranger to the art of sales. Yet, when he launched his side project, AppSumo, he still fell into the trap of feeling guilty about asking for money. To get over this awkwardness about pricing, Noah reminds himself of a few simple facts every time he launches a new side project:

Whatever you’re doing, you’re creating value for someone else.
People pay for time. If you make something that helps them save time, they’ll feel good about paying for it.”
It’s human nature to feel better about things we pay for. Going the free route isn’t always the best way if you want people to take your side project seriously.

5. FIND PARTNERS, COLLABORATORS, AND CHAMPIONS

Side projects are a great opportunity to not only learn new skills, but to work with people you’ve always wanted to. When we let other people into our creative process, we learn to challenge thoughts and values that have been so stubbornly ingrained in us.

When you’re planning your project, think about who you could include. Who would be a good partner? Who could you ask for feedback from early on? Who will challenge the way you think and push you into uncharted territory?

6. BE OKAY WITH FAILURE

Big, audacious goals are great. But focusing too much on the potential end result of your side project can kill your motivation and leave you drained and bitter if things don’t go exactly as planned (and they never do).

Over the course of interviewing hundreds of people who’ve launched and grown side projects over the past few years, entrepreneur and side project coach Ryan Robinson found that the benefits aren’t always what they seemed at the beginning:

“While some projects do go on to become a full-time business, even the ones that eventually fizzle out serve an important purpose. Building and launching a side project is about the experience, and the people you meet along the way.”

FastCompany.com | January 6, 2018 | Zapier.com

Your #Career : Here’s How to Answer 5 of the Most Difficult #InterviewQuestions … The #Interview is an Elimination Process. The #Employer is trying to Weed out Those Who are Not the Most Worthy of the Position.

January 6, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

You reworked your resume, perfected your cover letter and landed the big interview. But walking through the door is only the beginning — especially if the interviewer throws some hard-hitting questions your way and you don’t know how to respond.

“The interview is an elimination process,” says Dr. Thomas J. Denham, a career counselor at Careers in Transition LLC in Colonie, New York. “The employer is trying to weed out those who are not the most worthy of the position.”

Here, Denham offers some advice on how to answer five of the toughest interview questions:

1. What is your biggest weakness?

Strelka Institute/Flickr

Questions like these, says Denham, are asked so that interviewees admit a weakness that justifies their being shown the door. He recommends responding with: “I have a tendency to say yes and get over-committed.” Then follow that with an example of how you are working on prioritizing and setting personal limits. Never draw negative attention to yourself by stating a weakness that would lead an employer to think you are not the best person for the job, Denham says. “The focus of your interview should be on your strengths,” he says.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

2. What salary do you think you deserve?

“The person who states the salary is the loser,” says Denham, explaining that if you are the first to throw out a number, the number you give could be less than what the employer was planning to pay. Wait for the employer to give a range, and when it does ask you for a figure you expect to be making, choose a salary that is higher than the median they provide. Use our salary tool to find out what you can realistically expect. Also, don’t talk salary on the first interview.

3. Why should I hire you?

Strelka Institute/Flickr

For this one, Denham says it’s important to prepare before the interview. “Go back to your resume and look through it for the three to five things that make you outstanding,” he says. These qualities should accent your work ability, like “I’m a hard worker” or “I get things done.” You have to demonstrate a track record of results. “The notion is that past performance is always the best predictor of future performance,” Denham says.

4. What didn’t you like about your last job?

The employer who asks this question could be looking for you to answer with something that would indicate a weakness of yours, once again in an attempt to eliminate you. So while it may be tempting to trash your boss or complain about the hours (they expected me to be in at 8 a.m.!), try answering with something like this: “I did not feel my responsibilities were challenging enough.” Then the employer will feel confident that you are ready for whatever they may throw at you.

5. Where do you see yourself in three to five years?

Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design/flickr

The worst answer you can provide to this one, Denham says, is “I have no idea,” even though that might be the truth. “It’s basically like saying, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing with my life and I have no idea how long I’ll stay with this job,'” Denham says. Try a response like “I’ve done a lot of self-assessment, and what I’ve learned about myself is that I want to make a commitment to this career and I want to build my career here.”

Answering tough interview questions is just one step in landing the job. There’s follow-up interviews, salary negotiation, then making a great impression when you start working. Join Monster and you’ll have access to expert job search advice, plus job alerts sent to your inbox.

Career expert and best-selling author of Girl on Top, Nicole Williams is redefining the world of work—making it glamorous, entertaining and relevant to modern women. Her Web site, Nicolewilliams.com, is the go-to destination site for modern working women.

FastCompany.com | January 5, 2018 | Nicole Williams, Monster

#Leadership : How To Deliver Your #Presentation In Half The Time You’d Allotted…Talking Faster During a Presentation is a Bad Idea. Here are a Few Better Ones.

January 5, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It’s the day of your big presentation. You’ve spent the last few weeks fine-tuning every detail. You rehearsed last night, and you were flawless. You’ve never felt more prepared.

But then you hear something that makes your stomach drop: “Sorry, but we’re going to need you to keep this to 10 minutes.” You’d planned for 20. How can you possibly pull it off in half the time?

Your first instinct is to just try and talk faster and maybe breeze past a less-important point or two–hopefully you can still cram in everything else, even if it’s a little rushed? Nope, wrong strategy.Nobody can be effective speaking in hyperspeed. Here’s what to do instead.

GIVE YOUR CONCLUSION FIRST

If you have only one takeaway from this article, make sure it’s this one: Always state your conclusion first. Running out of time before getting your key message across is devastating. So don’t wait. Get to the point right away, no matter what. You may worry that your core message is kind of complicated and takes a little bit of background to spell out. Even so, get it out there first and then use your remaining time to fill in the context. If you can’t put your finger on what that essential conclusion actually is, though, you may have a bigger problem (but here’s how to solve it).

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

SPEAK EITHER IN “LAYERS” OR “MODULES”

Sometimes you may have a hunch that things could change and your talk might get cut short–which is great, because it gives you a chance to line up some contingency plans. There are two methods you can use to design your presentation with flexibility in mind so you can still manage to get through everything, even if you’re given less time:

Layering. This approach simply means designing your presentation from the inside out. The inner “layer” is your key message–the most important takeaway you want your audience to leave with. The next layer consists of your other major points that directly support that key message. Then you have the details that support those key points–which together make up a third layer. Think of it kind of like dressing for cold weather: If you get too warm, you can always take off a layer. Similarly, if you get short on time, you can take off one of the outer layers. What’s really important is that you communicate your inner layers effectively.

For example, let’s say you’re presenting about a project you’d like to get approval for. With the layering approach, you’d first deliver your key message about seeking approval for your project, followed by the supporting arguments and fundamental issues–the main benefits to approving the project, the outcomes it will deliver, and the challenges you may face. If you’re pressed for time, you’d simply leave out any additional details beyond that and stick just to those key points.

Modularizing. This means designing your presentation in “modules” that you can eliminate if necessary. While you still give your key message first, you don’t share all of your key points right away (even if they’re all relatively equally important). Instead, you leave out some of the points altogether, depending on how much time you have. The thinking here is that it’s better to do a great job spelling out just one supporting argument, than doing a mediocre job rushing through three of them. Think of it like going to dinner: You may want to skip either appetizers or dessert if you’re worried you’ll be late for the movie you bought tickets for.

So to continue the example from earlier, you’d deliver your key message, followed by your first key point (the reasons why the project should be approved) along with any relevant details. Then, if you have time, you can go over your next key point (intended outcomes of the project), along with those details. If you’re pressed for time, you’d drop the “challenges” point entirely.

ADJUST YOUR SLIDES ACCORDINGLY (OR MAKE MULTIPLE VERSIONS)

Finally, if you sense your presentation time might get cut down, you should design your slide deck to adapt–reflecting either a layered or modular approach, depending on which one you’d prefer taking. Or you could just save a couple different versions of your deck so you can pick the right one depending on the circumstances. At any event, when your time gets cut short and you’re forced to give an abbreviated presentation, having your slides out of order is going frustrate you as well as your audience. It’s much better to create either a few different slide decks or one that will work in any situation.

While time is one factor you may not be able to control, how you use it is.

FastCompany.com | January 5, 2018

Your #Career : Six Steps To Get Promoted This Year…This is your Guide to Fast Track your Career in 2018.

January 5, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It’s a brand new year, and you’ve decided that it’s time to kick your career into high gear. Whether you’re gunning for a promotion or simply want to improve your performance, these six steps can move closer to your goal.

CHECK YOUR DIRECTION

Before you commit to moving forward on your current career path, take a moment to review where you are. How do you feel about your work? Are you happy? It’s harder to be successful in an area for which you don’t feel passion or a sense of purpose, says New York City-based career counselor and executive coach Roy Cohen, author of The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide.

“No matter what advice we give ourselves, if we really don’t enjoy the work itself, these tips and tricks won’t necessarily work for the long term. They won’t have staying power,” he says.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

BUILD YOUR PLAN

A career plan includes your short-term (three- to six-month), medium-term (six months to several-year), and long-term (five- to 10-year) goals, as well as a list of tasks or actions you’ll need to complete to achieve them, says Cheryl E. Palmer, owner of Colesville, Maryland-based career coaching firm Call to Career. Looking at where you want to be 5 or 10 years from now can be overwhelming, she says. But when you think about what you can accomplish in the next three to six months, it becomes easier to visualize and accomplish, and builds the foundation and direction for more long-term achievements, she says.

“They all tie together but it helps to break them down like that, so that you actually know what it is you’re trying to accomplish and within which time frame,” Palmer says.

Angelina Darrisaw, founder of The C-Suite Coach, a New York career coaching firm, advocates planning quarter by quarter. When you build your plan that way, you can see the natural progression, but it also shines a light on what needs to happen for your plan to be fulfilled, she says.

“You start to make a list [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][and see] what am I missing, are there any gaps in relationships I might need to have, and stakeholders at work that I might need to be engaging and developing a relationship with. Maybe there are some credentials that I’m lacking, and I need to see if my company has some training that I can take advantage of or tuition reimbursement programs that I can leverage to fill in those gaps,” she says.

UNDERSTAND–AND ENGAGE–SPONSORS AND MENTORS

Finding someone who can give you advice and help you move your career forward can be invaluable–but those two roles are often misunderstood, says Kim Powell, principal with Chicago-based leadership and change management consulting firm ghSMART and co-author of The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People Into World Class Leaders. A mentor is someone who can give you advice and act as a sounding board with the added benefit of experience. A sponsor is someone who is in a position to take action on your behalf, she says.

In research findings detailed in her book, Powell says she looked at “sprinters”–people who got to the C-suite faster than average. Roughly half had sponsors. “They worked with these individuals thoughtfully. They shared aspirations, not problems. They linked to what was relevant to the sponsor. They made requests easy to fulfill, and most importantly, they followed through relentlessly. Meaning, they’re very reliable. So the sponsor made an introduction or did something for them. They didn’t let that ball drop,” she says.

Mentors, on the other hand, can give you guidance and add an objective, experienced voice to help you make decisions. When looking for a mentor, be sure to choose someone who can devote the time you need, Cohen advises. Even well-intentioned mentors who are too busy may not be effective.

LOOK FOR RESOURCES YOU ALREADY HAVE

Depending on the culture of your company and what you hope to achieve, Darrisaw says it may be a good idea to share your goals with your manager to help you advance your career. “For the most part, most managers do want to see their people succeed and do well and achieve what it is that makes them happy,” she says. “They’re able to look at where you are with a different perspective and can be very helpful in engaging with you in filling out those gaps that you might have. So, making sure that they’re aware of what it is that you want so they can help present opportunities to you.

Palmer adds that it might be time to become more of a “joiner.” If you’re part of a larger organization, look for committees, projects, or task forces you can get involved with. If you’re part of a smaller organization, look for ways to take on new responsibilities and make a difference. She shares one caveat, though: Be sure you’re working in areas that matter to the company and will move you toward your goals. It’s easy to find ways to be busy that either aren’t aligned with what the leadership values or that won’t develop skills or visibility you need. So, choose these added efforts wisely.

LEARN HOW TO SHOWCASE–WITHOUT SHOWBOATING

In order to be considered for promotions or other advancement, it’s important that leaders know your abilities and accomplishments. But, being braggadocios isn’t the way to win. “We call it the self-interest torpedo. If you come across as trying to self-promote, it can be a torpedo from a career perspective. So, the trick around building visibility is really around how you go about doing it,” she says.

Finding the right sponsors who will toot your horn for you helps, she says. In addition, if it’s possible to be thoughtful about the boss you have, choose someone who is generous about sharing credit. Building a reputation for being reliable and for following through was also common among the fast-track CEOs she and her team studied. With the right approach, you can let people know your contributions without overselling yourself.

RALLY SUPPORT AT HOME

One area that rising professionals often overlook is support at home, Cohen says. Putting in more time at the office or being more focused on your career may mean that a partner or family members need to make sacrifices. Discuss these potential changes and be sure that the people in your life understand or work out compromises for work/life balance. Resistance or conflict at home or within your support system can be distracting and drain energy that you could be devoting to your goals.

FastCompany.com | January 5, 2018

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]