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Strategy: 6 Smart Ways To Self-Promote At Work…Remember: What You’re Doing at Your Company Isn’t as Important as What Others Perceive You’re Doing

January 13, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Wallflowers are so last year. In 2015 you’ve decided that standing out is the strategy you’ll use to accomplish your big life goals. And you’re already well on your way.

self-promote

So far, you’ve overhauled your dating profile to catch more eyes, and you’ve signed up to sit in the front row of your spin class for added motivation to get in top shape.

Now it’s time to map out how the “Look at me!” strategy can catapult you to career success—and not just annoy your coworkers.

Whether you’re angling for a job change, promotion, or just a pat on the back from your boss, learning how to promote yourself at work can give you the edge you need.

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Just ask Lauren Bowling, a content strategist in Atlanta. In 2012 the 27-year-old was applying for an administrative assistant position, but inadvertently landed herself a job she was more passionate about because she spoke so enthusiastically about her off-time interests, blogging and social media.

The hiring manager was impressed by the fact that Bowling had over 1,000 Twitter followers—more than the company had—and that she sought out webinars to learn more about how to market herself.

“I didn’t get the administrative assistant job, but three weeks later, they called and said they were looking for someone to run their social media,” she says. “They thought I’d be a good fit.”

The lesson learned? “If I don’t promote myself, no one else will,” Bowling says. “I’mthe expert on me and my story.”

To master the art of tooting your own horn like Bowling, check out these six techniques geared toward helping you build a personal brand that projects confidence—not arrogance—and will make others pay attention.

Technique #1: Keep Tabs on Achievements

Before you can talk about your accomplishments, you have to pinpoint what they are.

Think back: When was the last time that you updated your résumé? If it’s been a while, chances are there are awards you’ve won, speaking engagements you’ve rocked, and successful projects you’ve managed.

So keep a running list—whether it’s in a Word doc or the Notes app on your phone—and review it weekly, monthly or quarterly. Be sure to include impressive, quantifiable facts, such as saving the company money by bringing an outsourced project in-house, or increasing sales by 10% last quarter.

This way, when you’re ready to start self-promoting—more on that later!—you’ll know exactly what to highlight, says Leonard Lang, Ph.D., a career coach at Beard Avenue Coaching in Minneapolis, and the author of “Guide to Lifework.”

This can be especially helpful when you’re preparing for a performance review, Lang says, since that’s a time when you know your contributions will be evaluated. Plus, it’s an opportunity to position yourself for the promotion or raise you’re after.

Technique #2: Flex Your Storytelling Muscles

Of course, reading off that list isn’t the most palatable way to draw attention to your accomplishments—which is why Lang recommends refining your storytelling skills.

If your boss or another coworker asks you a general question—”How’s that big project going?”—instead of blurting out a fact—“Amazing! I’m singlehandedly increasing departmental revenue!”—take the opportunity to frame your success in narrative form, with a beginning, middle and end.

Add in moments of drama, such as problems that you had to overcome along the way, to keep it interesting and sustain the listener’s attention.

By doing this, you’re relaying a triumphant story that people will remember—and possibly even retell. The best part: You are the heroic protagonist.

Just don’t let that get to your head, and overuse the word “I.” Sprinkle in the term “we” and the names of other key players, to keep from sounding like a braggart.

Technique #3: Lend a Helping Hand

It may seem counterintuitive, but the Golden Rule—treating others as you’d like to be treated—works surprisingly well when it comes to getting ahead at work.

Helping someone else could be as simple as trouble-shooting with your coworker when she’s at a crossroads on an important project, or offering to make a strategic connection for someone you just met at a networking event.
When you go out of your way to be generous, Lang says, it builds your reputation as a kind and resourceful professional—and that sticks with people.

“Plus, that person you helped will inevitably try to help you in return,” Lang says.

Technique #4: Power Up Your Social Media Presence

Now that you have the skills to wow a live audience with tales of your success, it’s important to also keep your online followers updated.

A good place to start is your LinkedIn profile. “Add examples of projects that you’ve done, PowerPoints or charts, and images that showcase work you’ve completed—anything to make it stand out,” says Donna Schilder, an executive and career coach based in Long Beach, Calif.

Not only will this beefed-up profile garner attention from recruiters and other influencers in your industry, but it’s also likely to catch the eye of your boss if you’re connected on LinkedIn.

As an extra step, post regular status updates that hint at what you’re doing well at work, like a link to the academic paper you published, or a photo from a recent conference. And it’s especially advantageous to offer a tip every once in a while, so your connections can take away some value from your posts.

When one of Schilder’s clients was reading a leadership book her boss recommended, she posted nuggets of wisdom she gained from it. This move showed her boss that she paid attention to the request, Schilder says, and lent her credibility as a blossoming leader within the company.

Technique #5: Strengthen Cross-Functional Relationships

If your job description includes collaborating with employees in other departments, it’s crucial to nurture those relationships—it will give you a glimpse of your company from a different perspective, plus make you a more knowledgeable employee.

So set up regular one-on-one check-ins with your cross-functional partners to make sure the projects you’re working on are running smoothly, as well as brainstorm ways to work together more effectively in the future.

“Come with a set of intelligent questions, listen to what the person says, and then ask, ‘What are your challenges?’ ” Schilder says.

Once you’re equipped with this information, you can then segue into a discussion about how you can fix any issues that have arisen since your last meeting.

After all, the more value you can provide to people in different departments, the more valuable you’ll be to the company as a whole. And that’s exactly the kind of personal brand that can help you get to the next level.

Technique #6: Celebrate!

Did you break a sales record? Hire the employee of the year? Improve a business process that’s leading to more efficiency in the office?

Whenever you want to draw attention to something great you’ve done, Schilder and Lang both recommend asking your manager if you can point it out by recognizing everyone who helped you achieve that goal.

Maybe it’s a group dinner for the team of people who helped you develop a successful advertising campaign, or cookies in the conference room for the people who helped you boost customer satisfaction on a specific product upgrade.

Regardless, this move can give your colleagues a morale boost, endear them to you for helping promote their successes—and make them more likely to return the favor.

Remember: What you’re doing at your company isn’t as important as what others perceive you’re doing, so be proactive in spreading good news through celebrations.

Forbes.com | January 12, 2015 | LearnVest

Your Career: How To Get The Job Interview…What is Causing a Hiring Manager to Lose Sleep is the Business Pain in the picture, & it’s Almost Never Stated or Even Hinted at in The Job Ad.

January 13, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

The hardest part of a job search is getting the interview. Once you’re in the door at a job interview, your chances of getting the job rise dramatically. Of course, getting a good job isn’t just a numbers game. You have to have a good sense of what your hiring manager is dealing with — what’s keeping him or her up at night, in other words.

What is causing a hiring manager to lose sleep is theBusiness Pain in the picture, and it’s almost never stated or even hinted at in the job ad.

You don’t have to restrict yourself to reading job ads and responding to them, either. You can start a conversation with any hiring manager aboutBusiness Pain. You can write a Pain Letter and send it with your Human-Voiced Resume directly to the manager who’d be your boss if you got the job.

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How to begin? Start with this search on LinkedIn LNKD -1.76%. We teach this search in our LinkedIn workshops and it’s very popular, because the results you’ll get from this LinkedIn search will fuel your job search.

The search is called Who’s Around, because your search results will tell you which employers in your geographical area have people on board who do some of the same things you do in your work.

To begin a Who’s Around search, log into LinkedIn and look for the open search box at the top of the page. Next to the search box you’ll see the wordAdvanced. Click on that word; it will take you to the Advanced Search page of LinkedIn. We’re going to use the Advanced Search page to search the massive LinkedIn user database.

You’ll see open boxes all the way down the left side of the Advanced Search page. We won’t use all of them – just a few. We’ll use the keyword box (at the top) to search for keywords that are relevant to you in your job search. Think about keywords that are most pertinent to the sort of work you do. Here are some ideas:

Cost Accounting
RF
social media analytics
employee benefits design
software documentation
Channel Sales

When you conduct a Who’s Around search, you’ll plug one keyword at a time (one keyword or phrase per search) into the Keyword field on the LinkedIn Advanced Search page. Next, you’ll plug in your geography. That’s all the way down at the bottom of the Advanced Search page. You’ll be asked to enter a zip code or postal code so that LinkedIn can focus your Who’s Around search on people who are based near where you are.

Now, hit Search. What is LinkedIn’s search engine going to do? It’s going to look for LinkedIn users who have the same words in their profiles that you entered into the Keyword field, and who are are located not far from you. You’re going to get back a list of search results, and those search results are people. They’re other LinkedIn users. You’re going to read each profile, because some of these LinkedIn users work for employers who are doing work you should know about.

Some of the employers may be small. They may be flying under the radar. They may not even have a website yet! That’s okay. You’re going to look at the profiles and learn about these LinkedIn users who have keywords — interests, that is — in common with you. Who else are they connected to? Some of their connections are folks you should know — leaders at organizations who might be able to use someone like you.

You can send these leaders Pain Letters, and I hope you do. Pain Letters are not magic bullets — only about one in four Pain Letters results in a return phone call or email reply, but that’s still a lot better than the results you’ll get lobbing applications into faceless Black Holes recruiting portals.

Your Pain Letter will speak directly to a busy businessperson about something he or she cares more about than almost anything — solving his or her biggest problem at work.

That’s how you’ll get a job interview. It takes a little pluck and a bit of elbow grease to send a Pain Letter to your hiring manager, because you have to do some research to write a thoughtful and intelligent Pain Letter.

You have to formulate a Pain Hypothesis, but it isn’t hard to do. There are only a small number of possible Business Pains, to begin with. Your next employer may be having trouble getting new products out the door. They may be falling down in their marketing efforts.

You’re a wise businessperson — investigate and make an educated guess about which roadblocks are in your hiring manager’s way. Next, write about it. Tie your Pain Hypothesis to a quick story about a time when you solved a similar sort of Business Pain, and your chances at meeting the hiring manager face to face zoom upwards.

Try it! It’s a new year, a great time to step away from cold and dysfunctional systems that don’t work.

Read more about Pain Letters and the non-traditional Whole Person Job Search approach at the links below.

Forget Cover Letters- Write a Pain Letter, Instead!

Dear Hiring Manager, I Feel Your Pain

How to Get Past the Hiring Gatekeeper

Five Things You Don’t Need To Include On Your Resume

These Ten Zombie Phrases Are Killing Your Resume

How To Write Your Human-Voiced Resume

How to Follow Up on a Pain Letter

Is Your Resume Ready for Action? Find Out!

If You Did It, Claim It On Your Resume!

Is the Zombie Voice in Your Resume Hurting Your Brand?

Forbes.com | January 11, 2015 | Liz Ryan

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2015/01/11/how-to-get-the-job-interview

5 Ways To Stop Giving Negative People Too Much Power In Your Life…Sometimes, We Unknowingly Give Toxic Individuals Influence Over Our Thoughts, Behaviors, & Feelings

January 12, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It’s been said that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch and often, that applies to the business environment. It’s usually easy to identify that Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer who wreak havoc on morale. Their bad attitudes, catastrophic thinking, and fatalistic outlooks can infiltrate the ranks and spread like an epidemic.

Fotolia.com

Negative people can also cause problems for us on an individual level. Perhaps it’s that vendor who causes you to grit your teeth. Or maybe it’s a colleague whom you avoid at all costs. It’s important to recognize when these negative individuals intrude in your life in an unwelcome manner.

Sometimes, we unknowingly give toxic individuals influence over our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. Whether you spend two hours complaining about that boss you don’t like, or you let an angry customer ruin your day, it’s important to regain your personal power.

Here are five strategies to take back you power and reduce the detrimental impact negative people have in your life:

1. Guard Your Time

Negative people can monopolize your time – even when they’re not with you – if you’re not careful. It’s easy to spend two hours dreading a one hour meeting with a negative person. Combine that with two hours of venting to a co-worker after the meeting, and you’ve just given that person five precious hours of your time.

Don’t allow negative people to steal your time and energy. Rather than complain about people you don’t enjoy, choose to strike up conversations about pleasurable topics. Similarly, instead of spending your commute thinking about how much you dislike that person you have to work with, turn on the radio and listen to music that reduces your stress. Take back your power by limiting the amount of time you spend talking about, thinking about, and worrying about unpleasant people.

Negative people should get the least of our time and energy, yet we often give them the most attention.

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2. Choose Your Attitude

Spending time with negative people can be the fastest way to ruin a good mood. Their pessimistic outlooks and gloomy attitude can decrease our motivation and change the way we feel. But allowing a negative person to dictate your emotions gives them too much power in your life.

Make a conscious effort to choose your attitude. Create a mantra, such as, “I’m going to stay positive today despite the people around me,” and repeat it often to help you stay on track. Take a deep breath and decide that you’re going to make it a great day, despite what others say or do.

3. Refocus Your Thoughts

Negative people often influence what we think about. Perhaps you’re so distracted by your colleague’s know-it-all attitude that you can’t contribute productively to the meeting. Or, rather than think about how to improve your performance, you spend more time thinking about how upset you’ll be if that unpleasant co-worker gets a promotion.

Pay attention to how your thoughts change when you’re faced with negative people. The more time you spend dreading, fretting, worrying, and rehashing, the less time you’ll have to devote to more productive things. Make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of mental energy you expend on negative people.

4. Choose to Behave Productively

Negative people can bring out the worst in us if we’re not careful. Sometimes certain pessimists seem to have the power to raise our blood pressure, for one reason or another. A normally calm, mild-mannered person may resort to yelling when he can’t take one more second of negativity. Or, after being surrounded by negative co-workers for hours, an optimist may find herself convincing others that the company’s future is doomed.

Although it can be tempting to say, “She makes me so mad,” blaming others for your conduct gives them more power. When you act in a manner that isn’t consistent with your usual behavior, accept responsibility for it. Commit to controlling your emotional reactivity and staying true to your values, despite your circumstances.

5. Seek Out Positive People

It’s difficult to look on the bright side when you’re surrounded by negativity. Seek out positive people to keep you balanced. Just like negative people can rub off on you, a positive person can brighten your spirit.

Identify the positive people in your life. Proactively schedule time with them on a regular basis. A quick lunch with a jovial colleague or a family gathering that’s guaranteed to be filled with laughter can help you stay on track.

Decide that you’re not going to allow negative people to determine how you think, feel, and behave. Take back your power and focus your time and energy on becoming your best self.

Amy Morin is a psychotherapist and the author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, an Amazon top pick for business and leadership books in December.

Forbes.com | January 10, 2015 | Amy Morin

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2015/01/10/5-ways-to-stop-giving-negative-people-too-much-power-in-your-life/

Leadership: 5 Presentation Tips From CEO Keynotes At CES…Telling a Story to Set Up the Theme of Your Presentation, There’s No Reason to Overload the Audience with Words & Text

January 9, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Smart gadgets were all the buzz at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Smart drones were flying around the keynote stage, smartphone apps opened smart doors, and smart cars were driving themselves. There were also some very smart business leaders delivering exceptionally buzzworthy keynote presentations.

presenting numbers

I’ve worked directly with CEOs from major tech companies, crafting product stories for CES announcements. While I didn’t consult with the CEOs in this article, I’ve worked with enough of them to know why these speakers do what they do. Here are five tips that you can learn from CEO keynotes to knock your next presentation out of the ballpark.

Tell a story in the first two to five minutes. Smart presenters understand the power of story to make an emotional connection to the audience. Stories inform, illuminate, and inspire. Many people think of story as something personal that happened to them. While personal stories are, indeed, very impactful, storytelling can take many forms.

For example, Ford president and CEO, Mark Fields, delivered his first CES keynote as the new head of the company. Fields began the presentation by establishing a theme: Ford is passionate about designing products to address very serious problems in major cities around the world such as population density and congestion.

“Who finds it easy to get around Las Vegas during the show?” Fields asked as the audience laughed at the obvious reference to the notorious crowds during CES week.

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“It really is a challenge to get around Vegas during the show. But think about this. The Las Vegas metro area has just more than one million people. And with a population density of roughly 1,750 people per square kilometer, it puts Las Vegas at number 120 on the list of the largest cities in the world by population density. During CES, there’s an influx of another 150,000 people, most of them are concentrated right here on the strip. We put up with this for a few days. Imagine what people in Mumbai, India, face every day. More than 18 million people live in Mumbai and its population density is 17 times greater than here in Las Vegas.”

By building the comparison between something familiar—a crowded Vegas convention—with something that is unfamiliar to most of the audience—Mumbai congestion—Fields created an unforgettable story that framed the rest of the discussion.

Typical presentation slides cluttered with text would have detracted from the Fields narrative, so the first 13 slides of Fields’ presentation had no words, just photos. The photos showed the city lights of Vegas, taxi cabs, and the congestion in Mumbai. The Ford slides didn’t tell the story. The slides complemented the story.
When you’re telling a story to set up the theme of your presentation, there’s no reason to overload the audience with words and text. Try this. Limit the number of words you use on your first 10 slides to no more than 40. It will force you to tell a story using pictures, which are nearly always more impactful than text-heavy slides (If you can build the first 10 slides with no words at all, by all means try it).

Create lists of three to five key messages.People love lists. Lists make it easier to follow a presentation, to write about it, or to tell someone else about it. Too many items on the list, however, defeat the point. I recommend sticking to three, four, or five key messages. The overall presentation can be broken up into a list or you can use lists within the presentation.

Mark Fields had two lists. First, he outlined the “four mega-trends” driving Ford’s thinking around mobility (urbanization, global middle class, air quality, and changing consumer attitudes). Later in the presentation he unveiled Ford’s three-step blueprint for its mobile offerings.

Intel INTC +0.39% CEO Brian Krzanich kicked off his CES keynote with a list. He revealed “three forces shaping the next technology wave.” They are: 1) Computing unleashed, 2) Intelligence everywhere, 3) The wearable revolution. He also announced a $300 million investment to accomplish “three things:” grow Intel’s diverse employee base, fund initiatives to support participation of women and underrepresented minorities in technology, and to increase the pipeline of women and diverse candidates entering the tech field.

Build in wow moments everyone will be talking about. Intel’s Krzanich gave the media plenty to write about by calling out the drones, literally. While demonstrating Intel’s RealSense 3D camera, Krzanich invited members of a German company called Ascending Technologies to join him on stage as they controlled three drones. As the drones buzzed around him, Krzanich explained that the drones could avoid crashing into each other because of the depth-sensing camera on them, powered of course, by Intel.

Many presentations—especially product launches—lend themselves to a ‘wow moment.’ A creative and well-rehearsed demo generates a lot of talk and, if people don’t talk about your product, why bother?

Make your numbers pop. One of my favorite storytelling techniques is to make statistics jump off the slide. The president and CEO of Samsung Electronics , Boo-Keun Yoon, provided a good example of this technique in his keynote when he announced that “last year Samsung delivered more than 665 million products to the hands of consumers around the world.” Most presenters would have stopped there. The Samsung CEO took it one step further and said, “This number is set to increase to about 20 devices per second.” He stood quiet for a second and then said, “There’s another 20” as the audience laughed. Do you think the members of the audience will forget that Samsung delivers 20 devices per second? Not a chance.

Share the stage. Smart leaders share the stage. Intel’s Krzanich was joined by at least ten other speakers including Intel engineers, developers, and partners. Good presenters know that very few speakers can carry an entire hour without putting the audience to sleep. Only twelve minutes into his keynote presentations, Ford’s Mark Fields introduced Raj Nair, the company’s chief technical officer. Nair was followed by a third speaker, a fourth speaker, and yet another speaker. People get bored easily. Keep the presentation moving by introducing more than one voice.

You might never be invited to deliver an opening keynote at CES, but using these five tips in your next presentation will help you stand out from the competition.

Carmine Gallo is the communication coach for the world’s most admired brands, a popular keynote speaker, and author of several bestselling books including The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, The Apple AAPL -0.19%Experience, and his latest Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets Of The World’s Top Minds (named by Amazon and SUCCESS magazine as one of the best business books of 2014).

Businessinsider.com | December 9, 2015 | Carmine Gallo

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2015/01/09/5-presentation-tips-from-ceo-keynotes-at-ces

Your Career: A Guide To Networking For Shy People…Networking is Not Just for Extroverts Anymore. No Matter Your Preferred Style of Engagement, You Can Make it Work for You

January 8, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

While there are some people who enjoy networking and get a lot of energy from interacting with a crowd, many find it intimidating and draining. Traditional networking is not for everyone.

Likable

However, networking is essential in today’s job market. Experts estimate that well over half of jobs are found through networking and word of mouth. The old job search method of comfortably sitting at your computer sending off résumés and cover letters will no longer get you very far.

Luckily for introverts, there are multiple ways to network. Some may bring you a bit outside of your comfort zone, but that’s not a bad thing. Think of these as skills you are developing that could benefit you in a future job.

1. Start from a position of strength. When you’re employed, it’s much easier to promote yourself and talk about what you do. When you network while employed, you will exude confidence. Start building your network from there. And if it’s possible and of interest to you to meet new contacts within your company, begin with them.

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2. Refine your elevator speech. This is a tough thing for everyone to develop, so don’t think you’re alone if you’re not happy with yours yet. Your speech should evolve over time as you practice more or change your career focus areas.

Aim to compose one that tells your listener in 30 seconds or less why he or she should want to get to know you better. Keep it simple. Briefly explain what you do, where you want to go and why. If all goes well, you could end up with a referral.

3. Begin within your comfort zone. People tend to think immediately of large events as the sole networking opportunities. However, there is not only one type of networking.

It can happen in small or large groups or one on one, and it doesn’t even have to be in person – it can be on the phone, email, Skype or FaceTime. A good place to start is with a brief email introduction and a question. Figure out what you’d like to get from your interaction with this person. Do you want to hear about how they got into their field or how they like their company?

4. Be explicit with your requests. Think about what information you can possibly glean from the person you’re networking with. Don’t ask him or her to forward your résumé to human resources or help you get a job.

Briefly introduce yourself at the start of an email, call or in-person meeting, and tell him or her what kind of advice you are seeking. Asking questions will help take the focus off you and allow you to learn a lot about the other person.

5. Build new relationships by helping others achieve their goals. “You get what you give” extends to the professional world. If you help colleagues at work, they’re likely to help you at some point. If you make yourself available to junior staff, students from your alma mater or others who reach out and ask for your guidance, perhaps they will be able to help you in an unknown way in the future. Pay it forward, and you’ll likely see returns, even when you don’t expect it.

Determining what type of networking is most comfortable for you will make you confident. If you’re uncomfortable, it’s unlikely you will make a good impression. Use opportunities where you feel relaxed as chances to engage people on the subject of your career. This could be one on one at work or social events. Or you might find it easiest to begin on the computer through social media or email.

Be available to others when they request help. Not only will this help you gain self-assurance in your abilities, but this also helps you build contacts and trust among folks who may return the favor in the future.

Whatever methods you choose, the most important thing is that you can clearly and concisely define what it is you are asking of the person. You may be asking questions to make you more at ease with him or her, or you may want a targeted request for guidance on your next career move.

Networking is not just for extroverts anymore. No matter your preferred style of engagement, you can make it work for you.

Businessinsider.com | January 8, 2015 | MARCELLE YEAGER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2015/01/08/5-steps-to-networking-success-for-introverts#ixzz3OGiIwFBD

Your Career: The 23 Best Pieces Of Career Advice Readers Ever Received…”Have an Avocation. Don’t Let Your Work be All That You Are, Don’t Let It Consume You.”

January 8, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

A long time ago — or maybe it only feels that way — our careers were at their beginning. Full of promise, ambition, and possibly misplaced self-confidence, we embarked on our journey up the corporate ladder. The luckiest among us received plenty of advice from the wiser and more experienced people in our lives, whether they were our parents, teachers, first bosses, or friends. If we were really fortunate, we were even able to hear it.

Successful meeting

Here’s some of the best advice readers received from their mentors and colleagues:

1. Always be learning.

Kristin: “From my favorite professor/advisor: Should you leave a job for money? A promotion? Maybe. But the number one way you know it’s time to go is when you feel like you’ve stopped learning new things.”

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2. Get experience.

David: “Work part-time, do internships, volunteer, etc., in the field you want to work in while you are in college (and even high school). I did that and it made me realize I didn’t want to go to architecture school, and my wife did that and she was never turned down for a job in her field partly because of her impressive college internships.”

3. Go with the flow.

Crystal: “Quite simply, ‘Wu wei.’ (Go with the flow.)”

4. Work hard.

Lisa: “My grandmother told me that ‘if you want to put your hand out on payday, you have to do the work.’ Being successful means having a good work ethic, doing your job, etc.”

5. Learn other people’s jobs.

Kristin: “Don’t just learn your job. Know yours inside and out, then learn what those down the hall do. First, you’ll know who to go to when you need help. Second, the more skills and institutional knowledge you pick up, the more valuable you are to the company. I’m an editor, but I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities because I’ve gotten comfortable with development side of things, too.”

6. Look busy.

Matt: “Walk around the office with a stack of papers and look somewhat concerned. People will tend to leave you alone.”

7. You are not your job.

Connie: “My dad always said to have an avocation. Don’t let your work be all that you are — don’t let it consume you.”

8. Forget faking it till you make it — be real.

Kara: “I used to use ‘fake it till you make it’ to deal with impostor syndrome — because the only way to get over feeling like they will figure me out any minute now and take away these awesome projects is to jump in and take the risks. But now I prefer my boss’s advice: ‘be authentic.’ Does that mean I go around telling people, ‘Oh god, I can’t believe they let me run this project?’ No. But I noticed that once I let go of trying to be the perfect person in any given scenario, started sharing my experiences, and gave myself permission to be wrong in public, the actual work got a billionty times easier.”

9. …but maybe not too real.

Robert: “‘Just be yourself. But not here.’ – Warehouse manager at the blood center where I did PC support for nine miserable years.”

10. If possible, get it right the first time.

Susan: “‘If it goes through the typewriter more than once, you’re losing money.’ Which I translated as, ‘Get it right the first time and move on.'”

11. Money isn’t everything.

Rod: “Don’t be afraid to take a lower paying job if it’s the right next step.”

12. There’s no such thing as a perfect job.

Meghan: “Even the coolest, most glamorous jobs in the world have s****y parts, and you just have to deal, because that paperwork or those early mornings or that one awful co-worker lets you spend an awful lot of time doing something you love. Deal with it.”

13. Be loyal to yourself.

Dave: “‘Look out for No. 1.’ You can interpret that a few different ways, but coming from my father it meant, ‘Professional loyalty be damned … they’ll downsize you in a heartbeat if it makes operational sense,’ etc.”

14. Don’t burn your bridges.

Andrea: “From a mentor of mine: Your professional network is extremely valuable. No matter what your reason is for leaving a job, never burn the bridge when you move on … I’ve seen people basically ‘tell off’ a boss as they go out the door. Even if what you tell them is true, and you never want to work for this company again, you gain nothing by airing all your grievances on the way out. You never know where you may run into these colleagues again in the future!”

15. Neatness counts.

Sandra: “Make sure your desk is always neat before you go home. That’s not easy for someone who isn’t neat at heart, but people walk by your desk in an office all the time. They make judgments based on what they see. If you look neat and organized, you’ll make a better impression. Now that I work from home, the advice is more esoteric (sadly, for my desk). But it’s still important to try to be organized and efficient, and to make a good impression to every client.”

16. Sufficient unto the day are the troubles thereof.

Marc: “The best career advice I ever got was also the best life advice I ever got. Four simple words, from an old lady in Texas: ‘Honey, don’t borrow trouble.'”

17. Ask for what you deserve.

Amanda: “Re: salary negotiations. Don’t take a dime less than X, because ‘a man wouldn’t.’ Also, someone once told me don’t downplay your success. I didn’t realize I was doing it until I heard it out loud!”

18. Look beyond what’s already there.

Teri: “Re: career path. Don’t assume your next step must be an already existing, defined role. Look for what should be happening, and isn’t, and use that to create a new role for yourself.”

19. Don’t cry.

Jenn: “My mom told me never to cry in front of the boss. I don’t know if it was the best advice, but it’s been the most memorable.”

20. Keep your eye on long-term goals.

Thomas: “Don’t go looking for your dream job, look for the job that gives you the most options in the future. This means thinking about leveraging the skills you already have to get in a position to learn the skills you don’t.”

21. Don’t wait for people to ask.

Rod: “This one is my own philosophy and it has worked so far: The only way to get a seat at the table is to pull up a chair, because no one is going to offer theirs.”

22. Know that you’ll make mistakes.

Donna: “The only perfect employees are those that don’t do anything.”

23. Dress for success.

Sue: “(From a former boss.) When you ask for a raise and a promotion, maybe don’t wear a Rainbow Brite T-shirt to the meeting.”

Businessinsider.com | January 8, 2015 | JEN HUBLEY LUCKWALDT, PAYSCALE

Strategy: 25 Time-Management Tips Every Young Professional Should Know…”No Car goes Without Gas, Manage Your Energy, Not Just your Time

January 7, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Montreal-based designer Étienne Garbugli spent most of his 20s equating long hours of hard work with success. But as he got older, he learned better ways to manage his workload and schedule his days.

Garbugli’s presentation “26 Time Management Hacks I Wish I’d Known At 20” was viewed millions of times and became SlideShare’s “Most Liked” presentation of 2013. He’s now raising money via a Kickstarter campaign for an in-depth book on the subject, “Hacking Time.”

Here, he’s shared his new presentation, which includes more productivity hacks he’s learned himself and from entrepreneurs.

Étienne Garbugli

From “Rules of Productivity.”

Étienne Garbugli

Businessinsider.com | January 7, 2015 | RICHARD FELONI

http://www.businessinsider.com/time-management-tips-for-young-professionals-2015-1?op=1#ixzz3OASNVN3K

Your Career: How To Not Work For The Rest Of Your Life…It’s 100 Percent Possible for You to Not Feel Like You’re Working for the Rest of Your Life, I’m Not Throwing Around Empty Inspiration

January 6, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

I was fascinated and thankful to recently read, “How to Accept that You Have to Work for the Rest of Your Life,” because it opened me up to a big realization, which went something like, “Holy crap! I totally forgot that a huge chunk of our generation feels like this!”

We need to stop and have a meaningful conversation about this, and I’m so glad to have been reminded of the necessity.

I remember well the terrifying prospect of graduating college and being faced with the interminable reality of working for 40 or 50 years. Personally, it made me break out in cold sweats and I ended up quitting my first job 18 months after I graduated … because reality was just a little too real for me.

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Very long story short — I ended up becoming a life and career coach for women of our generation. I help people pinpoint the intersection between their career and their passion so they can feel alive and fulfilled. I’ve personally gone from being terrified to “work” for endless decades to feeling like everything I do is “living,” not just “working” (and living around the confines of work).

When I say that it’s 100 percent possible for you to not feel like you’re working for the rest of your life, I’m not throwing around empty inspiration. I know that it’s possible because not only have I done it for myself, but I’ve also helped hundreds of women in our generation do the same.

It’s not peddling magic or false hope or unicorns and rainbows. I’m talking about having a passionate life and career that’s real, attainable, grounded, actionable, and that you (yes, you) can actually make happen. Let’s talk about how to get started.

1. Know that what you believe to be true will continue to be true for you.

It’s very normal to graduate college and be forced to accept the reality of working for the rest of your life. But “normal” doesn’t have to mean “necessary.”

If you believe without question that life has to be a matter of sitting at a desk, commuting, feeling so-so, and living your life in the limited space in between, then that will continue to be your reality.

It sounds simple, but it has profound impact when people take this to heart: When you choose to question what you believe to be true, everything can change.

Even believing that you could just maybe do something that excites you more, allows you to leave the desk, or gives you plenty of flexibility (or whatever else you’re craving) will change the way you think and act.

When you’re open to more possibilities, you might give yourself permission to job search, or put firmer boundaries around the time you spend working, or (gasp!) quit your job.

2. If you feel like you’re tolerating your work (or life), something’s off.

Honestly, more often than I wish were the case, I get asked: “Does this really have to be it for me? Is this really all there is to being an adult?”

No. Please believe me when I say that life doesn’t have to peak at “acceptance.” Life peaks at “thriving,” “joy,” “fulfillment,” “deep satisfaction,” “excitement,” and “passion.”

If you feel like you’re accepting or tolerating your situation, that’s not a sign for you to shrug your shoulders and learn how to cope with your reality.

It’s a sign (consider it a big, neon, blinking one) that you’re not feeling totally fulfilled, and that it’s time to take action and change your reality. Which leads me to…

3. You might not be working the right way for you.

This was so not obvious to me when I graduated college, and it’s taken me years to understand and refine this point: Not everyone is meant to work the same way.

If you can’t tolerate sitting all day, there’s nothing wrong with you. You need to move.

If you can’t fathom someone telling you what to do with your time for the rest of your life, there’s nothing wrong with you. You need autonomy.

If you can’t get excited about the mission of your company, there’s nothing wrong with you. You need purpose.

I feel so strongly about this that I encourage you to take The Passion Profile Quiz. It’s a free resource that my business partner (the awesome Kristen Walker) and I created to help women of our generation figure out how to discover the intersection between their career and their passion, so that they can have a career that feels good to them.

And lastly…

4. Be willing to confront the fear of not accepting your situation.

It’s easy to start tolerating the idea of “working” forever, even if the thought kind of suffocates you, because it’s understandably scary to take the action required to change.

Weigh your options. How does it feel to contemplate being in toleration mode indefinitely? How does the thought of opening yourself up to something else (even if you don’t yet know what that is) feel?

I know it’s possible for you to feel awesome about your career and life. It’s actually so possible that I had forgotten other people believe they should “accept” the way the work world is.

So, I’d love to know how much you’ve felt like you should accept your situation and what you might be thinking now. I’d love to connect with you in the comments below!

Businessinsider.com | January 6, 2015 | RACHEL EAST, LEVO LEAGUE

http://www.levo.com/articles/career-advice/how-to-not-work-for-the-rest-of-your-life#ixzz3O4muEKw7

Leadership: Why You/Your Boss Lacks Emotional Intelligence…Whether You’re a Leader Now or May Become One, You Don’t Have to Succumb to This Trend

January 6, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Over the past century, the heartless, no-nonsense CEO has become something of an icon—and a cliché—in American society. Hollywood would have us believe that the Machiavellian chief exec is still alive and well. Whether it’s the Donald from The Apprentice or Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock, these eat-the-weak-for-breakfast-types seem to be as powerful as ever.

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Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? Don’t be that guy.

Whether you’re a leader now or may become one in the future, you don’t have to succumb to this trend

But that’s just TV, right? How about in the real world? Do businesses today still allow these inhumane relics to survive?

To find out, we analyzed the emotional intelligence profiles of the million-plus people in our database—workers from the frontlines to the C-suite. We discovered that the answer is yes, organizations today do promote the emotionally inept … except when they don’t. Allow me to explain

just the facts_6

We found that scores climb with titles from the bottom of the corporate ladder upward toward middle management. Middle managers stand out with the highest emotional intelligence (EQ) scores in the workplace because companies tend to promote people into supervisory positions who are level-headed and good with people. The assumption here is that a manager with a high EQ is someone for whom people will want to work.

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But things change drastically as you move beyond middle management. For the titles of director and above, scores descend faster than a snowboarder on a black diamond. CEOs, on average, have the lowest EQ scores in the workplace.

The trick is, for every title in the graph above, the top performers are those with the highest EQ scores. Even though CEOs have the lowest EQ scores in the workplace, the best-performing CEOs are those with the highest EQs.

The higher you go above middle management, the more companies focus on metrics to make hiring and promotion decisions. While these bottom-line indicators are important, it’s shortsighted to make someone a senior leader solely because of recent monetary achievements. Even worse than metrics, companies also promote leaders for their knowledge and tenure, rather than their skill in inspiring others to excel. Companies sell themselves short by selecting leaders who aren’t well-rounded enough to perform at the highest levels for the long term.

Once leaders get promoted they enter an environment that tends to erode their emotional intelligence. They spend less time in meaningful interactions with their staff and lose sight of how their emotional states impact those around them. It’s so easy to get out of touch that leaders’ EQ levels sink further. It truly is lonely at the top.

Whether you’re a leader now or may become one in the future, you don’t have to succumb to this trend. Your emotional intelligence is completely under your control. Work on your EQ and it will boost your performance now and ensure that you don’t experience declines as you climb the corporate ladder. Even if your employer promotes you for the wrong reasons, you’ll still outperform your contemporaries.

To help you get started, here are five of my favorite EQ-boosting strategies for leaders. They apply to anyone, so give them a try, even if you’re not a leader.

Acknowledge Other People’s Feelings

Assertive, action-oriented executives don’t exactly ignore other people’s feelings. What they tend to do instead is to marginalize them or “fix” them so that they don’t get in the way of action. While some have suggested that this is a predominantly male problem, it can more accurately be described as a “power problem.” People who fail to acknowledge other people’s feelings fail to realize that lingering emotions inhibit effective action. So the next time you notice someone on your team expressing a strong emotion, ask him or her about it. Then listen intently and play back what you have just heard in summary form. By validating their emotions, you’ll help them feel understood so that they can move forward without hindrance.

When You Care, Show It

This might be the easiest thing you can do—as long as you actually do it. Good leaders always notice when people on their teams are doing good work, but they don’t often show it. When you appreciate something that another person does, let him or her know about it. Even a quick email or pat on the back goes a long way in this regard. There are people who do great work around you every day. Don’t put off letting them know how you feel about it. Your praise will build fierce loyalty and inspire your people to work even harder.

Watch Your Emotions Like A Hawk

The techniques above are extremely effective, but both require an awareness of your own emotions in the moment. You may think you have a world-class poker face, but if you’re like the average executive, your weakest self-awareness skills are “understanding how your emotions impact others” and “recognizing the role you have played in creating difficult circumstances.” In other words, you would become a much more effective leader if you obtained a better understanding of what you feel, when you feel it. Practice this by taking notice of your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors just as a situation unfolds. The goal is to slow yourself down and take in all that is in front of you, so that you can understand how your emotions influence your behavior and alter your perception of reality.

Sleep

I’ve beaten this one to death over the years and can’t say enough about the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and improving your relationships. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams), so that you wake up alert and clear-headed. Your self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when you don’t get enough—or the right kind—of sleep. Sleep deprivation also raises stress hormone levels on its own, even without a stressor present. The pressure that leaders are under often makes them feel as if they don’t have time to sleep, but not taking the time to get a decent night’s sleep is often the one thing keeping you from getting things under control.

Quash Negative Self-Talk

A big step in developing emotional intelligence involves stopping negative self-talk in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that—thoughts, not facts. When you find yourself believing the negative and pessimistic things your inner voice says, it’s time to stop and write them down. Literally stop what you’re doing and write down what you’re thinking. Once you’ve taken a moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts, you will be more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity.

You can bet that your statements aren’t true any time you use words like “never,” “worst,” “ever,” etc. If your statements still look like facts once they’re on paper, take them to a friend or colleague you trust and see if he or she agrees with you. Then the truth will surely come out. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural threat tendency inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. Identifying and labeling your thoughts as thoughts by separating them from the facts will help you escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive new outlook.

Travis co-wrote the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and co-founded TalentSmart, the world’s #1 provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving 75% of Fortune 500 Companies.

Forbes.com | January 6, 2015 | Travis Bradberry

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Strategy: 9 Predictions for the Search Industry in 2015…You Can Say What You Want About Google’s Motives/Morality/Evilness, but the Basic Fact of Their Power Does Raise Concerns

January 6, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It’s January, and a great time to offer some thoughts on what we might see this year. What follows are my predictions for 9 things to expect in the world of search in 2015:

1. We Will See Massive Expansion of Google’s Knowledge Graph: This is a one of the bigger areas of investment for Google, and they are going to keep pushing more and more new answer boxes and related search features into the search results. They are pushing steadily towards building the Star Trek computer, i.e., a computer that you can have a natural language conversation with, and it can understand you and answer your questions.

If you are not sure what I mean when I reference an “answer box”, here is an example of one in response to the query “apples vs oranges”:

Notice how Google answers the question you have asked directly, and shows that answer above the regular search results.

2. Google Will Acquire One or More Companies Related to Articial Intelligence (AI): AI is integral to the Google strategic plan. Yet, the field is still very much in its early days. Google will look for companies that have developed technologies that can help them accelerate their progress. In some cases, the acquisition might be as much about hiring the people as it is about the tech they have developed so far.

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3. Mobile Search Will Become a Confirmed Ranking Factor: On November 18th, Google let it be known that they are experimenting with mobile friendliness as a ranking factor. I believe that they will make this permanent, and that Google will set this up as something that impacts the rankings users see only when they are on a mobile device. In other words, your site might rank differently for mobile searches than it will for desktop searches.

Currently, if you are able to get a mobile friendly designation using this tool, you will get the rankings boost. You will also get a “Mobile-friendly” label added to the search results for your site when someone searches for it on a mobile device:

In addition, I predict that they will turn up the significance of this factor. As early as March of 2014, Google was saying that mobile search volumes would start to exceed desktop search volumes before the end of 2014. That’s a big deal, and Google is going to place a tremendous amount of emphasis on this.

As a bonus element to this prediction, I also believe you will see the needs of the mobile device UI dictate the overall UI (including that for desktop searches). Google is always looking towards the future, and they believe the future is mobile.

4. Google+ Will Not Die: I am sure this one reads a bit oddly, but the reality is that there are tons of search industry media that keep writing articles about Google+ dying. It’s the social platform that the tech media loves to hate, and to be fair, it’s not a runaway success.

But, sadly for those media people, Google is going to continue to invest in this platform. No doubt that it has a long way to go to be what Google wants it to be, but they do make money on it. How you ask? It drives a great deal of personalization in the search results, allowing them to serve better results and more targeted ads, and this increases ad click-through rate.

It’s also a source of data on people, and for this reason, succeeding in social is just way too important for Google.

5. Google Will Acquire at Least One Social Media Platform: As I just noted, building a powerful presence in social media is critical for Google. Google+ is currently just one piece of this. So is YouTube (which is linked to Google+ via the commenting system), and no one will dispute the success of YouTube. But, this is not enough. I think they are looking for other ways to develop a strong presence in social media.

I don’t think that the acquisition targets will be any of the current top players (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest). I think that the targets will be smaller up and coming players that can fit into their social media portfolio.

6. Bing Will Focus Their Business on Embedded Partnerships: At the November Web Summit conference in Dublin, Bing’s Stefan Weitztalked about Bing’s focus:

The question is, where is search really going? It’s unlikely we’re going to take share in [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”][the pure search] space, but in machine learning, natural language search… and how we can make search more part of living. For us, it’s less about Bing.com, though that’s still important. It’s really about how we can instead weave the tech into things you’re already doing.

Look to Bing to keep working on partnerships to embed search technology in other people’s devices and apps, and to acquire companies with devices or apps that they can enhance with search technology.

7. Yahoo Will Continue to Build Their Presence in Search: Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer was recently able to complete a deal with Mozilla Corp to take over as the default search engine in Firefox. This was just a start for Yahoo, and you should expect that they will pursue more such opportunities.

This will put them head to head with Bing in pursuing these types of strategies. This creates an interesting dynamic because the Yahoo – Bing search partnership arrangement is due to last until July of 2019, so there is a long way to go there yet! But, Yahoo will work around the edges of this deal in as many ways as possible. One way or another, Yahoo is staying in search.

8. The EU Will Continue to Go After Google: It’s no secret that theEuropean Union is not fond of Google. To be sure, much of this is because of the ignorance of many regulators on how the Interwebs work, but, there is also the very real concern with how important Google has become.

Google is more powerful, and independent of, most governments. This has come about because the value of their service is so high, and so far ahead of competition. You can say what you want about their motives/morality/evilness, but the basic fact of their power does raise concerns.

I, for one, believe they remain a pretty ethical organization (not perfect, but better than most), but that does not mean that this will last indefinitely. The EU is going to continue pushing them hard. Don’t be surprised if you see some shocking rulings coming out of Europe.

9. Net Neutrality Will Suffer a Setback in the US: I hate this prediction, but I do believe there is a decent chance that network neutrality will take a hit this year. A ruling is expected out of the FCC early this year. This could mean that network carriers can start treating service providers differently. For example, they could choose to lower bandwidth for YouTube videos, either to offer a competing service, or to make YouTube pay fees to get higher bandwidth.

This would severely hamper the fundamental freedoms which the Internet provides. I know, you may disagree with what I just wrote about that, and this is your right. But whether or not you agree with me on whether or not this is good or bad, I do believe that there will be some changes to Network Neutrality in the US in 2015. Hopefully, they will be small ones!

Summary

There are 9 predictions for you for 2015. I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on what will happen in the coming year. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Forbes.com | January 6, 2015 | Eric Enge

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