Yesterday I heard someone say that they had climbed the ladder of success but when they got to the top, they realized it was leaning against the wrong wall.  What a great visual metaphor for our career journey!

I think the concept may have come from a Stephen Covey quote: Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

It is good to ask ourselves from time to time if OUR ladder is leaning against the right wall.  After all, once you get to the top, the only way to choose …

Continue reading »

When you think about it, the whole process of finding a job is like playing a game of baseball – you probably aren’t going to get to home base the first time you get up to bat, so keeping your eye on the next base is the name of the play!

STEPPING UP TO BAT: You have to step up to bat over and over so you get the practice of focus and fine tuning the way you present yourself (the resume)!

FIRST BASE: Your goal at bat is to hit the ball so you can get to first base and at least …

Continue reading »

I guess it started with the three magi and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh or the miracle of the oil and Chanukah Gelt, or maybe the introduction of St. Nick or Santa Claus or perhaps gifts to celebrate Epiphany or the New Year! Whatever the messages from your past or from the media that stimulate you to think about giving – here are three different ways for you to think about gifts during this season:

The first is to consider your own gifts and to give them freely!  Often we undervalue our own …

Continue reading »

For almost everything we do, we can approach “It” with a mindset that makes it a big stakes game of win or lose OR we can approach it as “an experiment.” When you make it an experiment, it isn’t just about doing it the right way or the wrong way, it is about learning from the actions you took, the technique you applied, and the learning that resulted from the experiment.

If you see everything you do as having a huge meaning for you, if you focus on the horrible consequences if you don’t do it perfectly, or when something …

Continue reading »

And a related question we will answer here about the interview PROCESS: who is interviewing whom?

You are there to find out what they need. And when you find out what they need you can share with them what you have that will help them address that need and get the results they are looking for.

The key to finding out what they need is to ask questions.

In order to ask good questions you need to get a little insight into the context of the job, get a general understanding of some of the needs they may have and results they …

Continue reading »

Navigating to the CEO Spot for Association Executives – Great Attitude, Great Relationships, Great Fit!

“Great attitude, great relationships and great fit: that is what it takes to be successful” according to Brent McClendon, CAE, currently Executive Vice President of the International Wood Products Association in Washington, D.C.

Great Attitude

To move ahead in my career I had to move every three years or so.  And I had to travel a lot – I didn’t have a lot of preconceived restrictions about what I was willing to do to or not do.  A great attitude is not saying I am only going to …

Continue reading »

Getting Organized for the Job Search: 5 Tips for Creating a Daily Schedule that Works!

The job search is not the same as a job!
The job search is different from having a job – you are not part of a team, your mission is personal, and the dead ends and no responses can drain your energy, de-motivate you and worse – impact your perception of self worth.  So, the advice to attack the job search like a job and work a 9 – 5 schedule is missing something – consideration of what works for you!  This may be trial and error …

Continue reading »