What is Your View of You? How do you view yourself in the job hunt? How do you view your employability? As you are job hunting, it is more helpful to think of yourself as a person with skills rather than a particular job title. This is "Brand You." If you have put yourself in a specific job title box, thinking of yourself in this way will break you out of the box and into more job prospects. If you are looking to find a job title, you will have a harder time trying to find a job and the job you do get may not be the right fit. This is a common problem among job-seekers. This can be especially true if the job title was attractive or prestigious. For example, I was a president at one point in my career. If I had only looked at presidential jobs for my next one, I might never have become employed. I subsequently became a trainer, vice president, an analyst and now a CEO. Quite a variety! The problem is: Over-identification with a job title. The solution is: Analyze what you’ve done, not just your job title. A teacher I coached found it hard to change jobs because he only thought of himself as a teacher and only looked for teaching jobs. Scott had done most of the things done by most managers – organizing, coordinating, supervising, planning, directing, rewarding, encouraging. He had the skills to be a manager, as well as a teacher. By thinking of yourself as a person with skills rather than as a person with a particular job title, you can break out of the trap you may be in, the little box that you and others have put you into. The Next Steps to Take

1. Identify the roadblocks in your path to a new job. These will be your feelings about your job and your job title.

• Clear the clutter of any negative feelings about your prior employer and your new need to job hunt.
• See this as the opportunity it is to get your dream job or find work that has more meaningful to you.
• Let go of your "glamorous" job title. That was then, this is now. Employers have a way of defining what the job is, regardless of the title.

2. Make a list of all the work you’ve done, regardless of whether you thought of it as work or got paid for it.

• All experience is valuable. Remember the teacher I mentioned earlier? How we got him to "manager" is when he described coaching his son’s teams. All volunteer and all invaluable.

3. What limits have you put on your own job search?

• If you won’t accept anything that you perceive as less than what you had before, you maybe rejecting the best next job for you.
• This is a great time to look at your values and find a job/career that aligns with those values.
• Be open to all possibilities. The next job is the next step on your career ladder.

4. When people ask you who you are, what do you call yourself?

• Put a positive spin on your situation. Say you’re reevaluating you career choice. You are weighing options before you move forward. You are exploring various avenues and other industries.
• If you absolutely want to be X, say so. "I’m in the process of looking for a great X job."

5. When your friends and family talk about you, what do they say you do?

• Listen to what they say. It might also give you a clue as to what they see as your best skills.
• Family or friends may like you in a particular title. You are the one doing the job. So do the job that fits YOU the best.

Remember - The goal is to get a job!

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. This is a great time to contact me to put an action plan together to think of yourself in a new way and get a career that aligns with your values. I can assist you in creating your skills inventory, crafting a polished Brand You Sound-bite, getting you on the path to your dream job.

Don’t wait, call me now at 916.803.1494 or send me an email to eal@EALCoaching.com .

Warmly, Elisabeth

What to Say After a Job Loss — Part 2

You are at the kid’s sporting event. The new neighbor across the street comes up and says, "Hi, my name is Kendall. I'm in sales. What do you do?"



If you read and acted upon Part 1 of What to Say After a Job Loss, you know what to do and what to say.



Where are you?

A recap of the last article first. Where are you on the stages of grief today? Remember, this will not be a linear process of shock, denial, relief, anger, depression, acceptance. You may go back and forth between some or all of these stages of grief. That is normal. You will get through this. You are not alone, others have and are going through this right now.



Second, have you taken stock? If you haven’t listed your skills, knowledge bases and other unique qualifications, now is the time. Just do it! For assistance, see my July 2008 article, Who You Are, Not Just What You Do. This is Brand You.  



The Brand You Sound-bite

Now you take this information about Brand You, and boil it down to a 30-60 second sound-bite. This is sometimes known as the Elevator Speech.



What are the elements of your sound-bite? What should you include? What should you not say? How should you say it? Who is your audience? All are important questions to putting yourself in a position to reach for your next job.



You want to include things that are relevant to the next job that you want. I’m certain you have done a great many things and made some major accomplishments. And I am also certain you never want to do some of them again. That is just the nature of experience. Some of your experiences are valuable and will increase your marketability to your next employer, even if you don’t want to do them again. Therefore, the trick will be to put them in a form to showcase your talent, but not suck you into that job again.  



The Brand You Sound-bite Elements

The main elements include your name, education, a major project you worked, awards you’ve received, a problem you solved, position or type of work you are seeking, special training, certification(s), and other languages you speak, and any special skills. You end by requesting contact and re-stating your name.



Simple? Yes. Hard to do? It can be. That is why I’m here, to help you craft a sound-bite that will get you the job you want.



Your goal is to be short, straightforward, likable and memorable. You want to pique people’s interest in you. You want them to be intrigued enough to want to ask a follow-up question. You want them to want to know more. Short and sweet are your goals.



This is not the time to recite a shortened version of your résumé. That is boring. That is too much information at this time.



As you create your Brand You Sound-bite, keep in mind you will probably be interrupted. Memorize key words, not the entire speech. That way when you are interrupted, you can pick it up again easily. That will add to your coolness under fire and be very impressive to prospective bosses on a number of levels.
 


The Nitty-Gritty: 

Your Brand You Sound-bite is not meant to be a life story, but a quick way to showcase your Skills, Education, and Experience RELEVANT to the position or type of work you are seeking.

Components:

1. Name
2. Position or type of work you are seeking
3. Education, Degree(s), Special Training, Certification(s), and other languages you speak.
4. Achievements, Awards, Accomplishments, Special Skills
5. Request contact
6. Re-state name.

Create a worksheet for yourself by listing these headings, keeping a few lines between headings so you can fill in with the relevant information.



EDUCATION / LANGUAGES:

CERTIFICATES / AWARDS:

KEY STRENGTH 1 These are the three or four key strengths you want to include in your

KEY STRENGTH 2 sound-bite. Be brief. Pick your BEST three to four accomplishments or

KEY STRENGTH 3 strengths. We all have done more; the idea is to capture the interest of

KEY STRENGTH 4 the listener, not list our entire curriculum vitae.



Incorporating the points you have just listed above, create a first draft of your Brand You Sound-bite. Remember, it should be a short summary. This part should only be 30-seconds or less in the telling. By the time you add all the other elements, the entire presentation will take about 60 seconds.



After you complete this exercise, practice presenting your summary aloud. As you feel comfortable with it, read it to family member, friend or the family pet. Critique it. Improve it until you have a winner. Get feedback. Do not be afraid to modify your Brand You Sound-bite to fit each situation. Do not be afraid to leave out a key strength, if it is no longer relevant to your new job aspirations.  



Putting It ALL Together

 On a fresh sheet of paper write down (and fill-in the information)

1. Hi, my Name is ____________. 
2. I am seeking a position as ___________. 
3. My background is (general order is education, other languages, awards/certificates, key accomplishments/strengths): __________________. 
4. Ending: (Use key phrases. "Do you know anyone who is looking for someone with my skills and background?" Or "Please let me know if you hear of anyone looking for someone with my unique talents." Or __________) 
5. Again, my name is __________________. 

Comments:

In creating item two above, keep in mind that if you are looking for more than one specific type of job; you may have more than one Brand You Sound-bite. You should modify your Brand You Sound-bite to suit the person/situation you are addressing. Of course, if you don’t already know, you will have to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.



In creating #3 above, use supporting information such as, what you have been successful at and what accomplishments you have achieved. In this part, your 30 seconds should be stated in action phrases. The Brand You Sound-bite will expand on your list. Build interest by inserting "hooks" to capture interest. You want people to say, "Please tell me more about…"



The most important goal of the Brand You Sound-bite is to engage the people you are talking to in a conversation. Your Brand You Sound-bite becomes a conversation when one of the people you are speaking to ASKS YOU A QUESTION. Build your Brand You Sound-bite as if you are a "Fisherman" with the right kind of "Lures and Hooks" to prompt the first question from the listener(s).



More Help

If someone asks you "so what?" as you practice your Brand You Sound-bite, you may not have stated your accomplishments in terms that give value to the listener. The person you are talking to is most likely listening to you with a What’s In It For Me bias, so be sure each component of your Brand You Sound-bite gives VALUE to the listener.



How do you do that? State your accomplishments in a way that highlights the value to the company or to a client you served. There are two ways to do that. You can Tell A Passionate Story (TAPS) or state your accomplishment as a Problem, Action and Result (PAR). Some accomplishments have a natural affinity to one style of exposition. If you are in a helping profession (such as social worker) telling a passionate story about one individual that you helped will say volumes about everyone else you helped. Conversely, if you are a CPA, you may have solved an efficiency problem that netted a 30% savings to the company. Both are excellent examples and work for each person.  



PAR

Describe the Problem you faced, the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event.



Describe the Action you took and be sure to keep the focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did — not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did do. As you concentrate on your efforts, remember to show how that benefited the entire team or moved the team forward to the solution.



What are the Results? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? Describe your PAR in terms of:

• Time/Cost savings 
• Improved performance 
• Increased revenue  

TAPS

Why A Passionate Story? Many employers are looking for people who are passionate about what they do in life. They are looking for people who love to work hard and see their efforts directly impact the success of the company. For those companies, it is imperative in an interview that you communicate your passion for what you do. Drones are a dime a dozen. People who can convince the company of their enthusiasm in a half-hour interview are few and far between.



Enthusiasm It is important to demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm. Firms are looking for associates who are motivated, responsive, communicative, and passionate. Engage the interviewer in conversation and remember to always maintain eye contact.



Show your passion If you're interviewing for a position such as a direct patient care provider, it's good to emphasize your soft skills. Even in corporate jobs, the interviewer may be interested that you ‘play well with others’ and have good interpersonal skills. In jobs like teaching and patient care, those skills are essential. If you're particularly excited about the job for which you're interviewing, let your enthusiasm shine during the interview. If you're passionate about working for the company, it's going to be easier to sell yourself.
 


Even More Help

Now that you have crafted some tools (your skills and abilities list and your Brand You Sound-bite) get out and meet people! School has started. That means car-pools, kid’s sporting events and lots of opportunities for interaction. Exploit these opportunities to use your Brand You Sound-bite. This is a great opportunity to see if anyone has a connection or a lead to a job. This is old-fashioned networking disguised as school events. Networking is where the jobs are these days. Employers want to be sure they get the right person, which is more often than not, a known person. The more you get known, the better your chance of getting a job.



As you say your Brand You Sound-bite, notice people’s reactions, comments and things they don’t say. Evaluate this information for clues to improve the Brand You Sound-bite. Be flexible. Maybe this IS a good time to reevaluate your career choice. What other options are available? What about changing industries – same job, different industry?



Dream and Dream BIG

If you could do anything – anything at all – what would it be? If money was no object – what would you really like to do? This is the time to think about your dream job. Align your career goals with your values. What do you value? What is your purpose in life? Write your obituary, what dies it say about your career goals? How can your values be reflected in your job? What do you love doing? What do you hate doing? What is your favorite thing about working? What would you like to eliminate from your next job? What inspires you? What depresses you about working? How can you incorporate some of these elements into your next job?



What is your biggest job-related regret? What do you want to think about for 12 hours a day? What do you want to do for eight hours a day? (write, type, walk, paint, CAD, research, analyze, supervise, etc.) Where do you want to do this? (inside, outside, in a car, in a court room, in someone else’s office, in your own office, etc.) Do you want to do this alone? with others? a mix? with a particular group of people?  



Bonus Help

Your attitude is everything. Keep it positive and you will get a job faster. Stay hopeful and you’ll get the job you want. Your glass is either half full or half empty - Which is it??? Live in the present. The past is over and you cannot change it - let the past go. If you are driving a car, the past is your rearview mirror, the present is the windshield, and the future is the road. Don’t you see the road better through the windshield than the rearview mirror? You can see the turn you should take coming up and be ready for it when you look forward.



Don’t dwell on the past and relive it over and over. Take responsibility for yourself and your situation. Learn to accept what you cannot change. In most situations you are in control and your actions will influence the outcome of events.



Keep the job search under your command. Network, network, network - enlist the aid of everyone you know for help. Use informational interviews for information and networking. Talk things out with confidants. Find a positive way to vent your feelings. Jogging or walking is a great way to pound out your feelings in a productive way.



— : : —



This is a great time to contact me to get an action plan together to get a career that aligns with your values. I can help you sort through your skills and your dreams to get the right job for you. I can assist you in creating your skills inventory, crafting a polished Brand You Sound-bite, getting you on the path to your dream job.



Contact Elisabeth now:

By Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

By E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

What to Say After a Job Loss - Part 1

You are at the neighborhood bar-b-que. The new neighbor across the street comes up and says, "Hi, my name is Kendall. I'm in sales. What do you do?" “Oh great!” You think to yourself. “I just lost my job last week. What do I say? What do I call myself now? I knew coming to this thing was wrong.” What do you say? What do you do between jobs? The answer is not to stay home and never venture outside again. As the economy whittles away jobs at all levels, the newly jobless are learning a new vocabulary: how to make being unemployed not sound so bad. Saying you’re unemployed can be a conversation killer. People don’t know how to respond and they fear it may happen to them also. What To Do First of all, let yourself grieve the loss of the job. On some lists, loss of a job is third only to death or divorce of a loved one. Remember, this will not be a linear process of shock, denial, relief, anger, depression, acceptance. You may go back and forth between some or all of these stages of grief. That is normal. You will get through this. You are not alone, others have and are going through this right now. Second, take stock. If you haven’t listed your skills, knowledge bases and other unique qualifications, now is the time. For assistance, see my July 2008 article, Who You Are, Not Just What You Do . This is Brand You. The Brand You Sound-bite Now you take this information about Brand You, and boil it down to a 30-60 second sound-bite. This is sometimes known as the Elevator Speech. You want to include things that are relevant to the next job that you want. You want to include your name, education, a major project you worked, awards you’ve received, a problem you solved, position or type of work you are seeking, special training, certification(s), and other languages you speak, special skills. Request contact, and end by re-stating your name. You want to pique people’s interest in you. Do NOT recite a shortened version of your résumé. As you create your Brand You sound-bite, keep in mind you will probably be interrupted. So keep it short and sweet. Memorize key words, not the entire speech. That way when you’re interrupted, you can pick it up again easily. (I will be expanding on this subject next time in Part 2.) What To Say Now that you have crafted some tools (your skills and abilities list and your Brand You sound-bite) get out and meet people! School has started. That means car-pools, kid’s sporting events and lots of opportunities for interaction. Exploit these opportunities to use your Brand You sound-bite. This is a great opportunity to see if anyone has a connection or a lead to a job. This is old-fashioned networking disguised as kid’s soccer. Networking is where the jobs are these days. Employers want to be sure they get the right person, which is more often than not, a known person. The more you get known, the better your chance of getting a job. What’s that? Oh, what do you say about being unemployed – isn’t that the point here? Well then, … First, think about your audience for this piece of news. You may want to front-load a little optimism for parents (and others). If your parents grew up under the shadow of the Depression, they may not understand. They had the luxury of 30-year employment. “I’ve been unhappy at my job for awhile. It’s not personal, it’s business. And, business is bad. They’re offering me money to leave. I am so fine with this.” Another way to put it (and look at this time) is to say you’re reevaluating you career choice. You are weighing options before you move forward. You are exploring various avenues and other industries. This is a great time to look at your values and find a job/career that aligns with those values. Another Viewpoint Those on the sidelines, family, friends, former co-workers — are also uncomfortable. It is difficult to know what to say and when to say it. They want to respect your privacy and dignity. They also want to be helpful. They aren’t sure of the etiquette or protocol here. They are caught between the need to show they care and the fear they’ll offend because they are bringing up something painful. A way to cut them some slack is to be open. “I understand you’re sorry, so am I. But being sorry doesn’t help either one of us. If you want to help, tell me what you think I do well, who you know, and where you think my skills fit best.” This gives people something constructive to talk about and you’ve shown them a way to help. This redirects the tone of the conversation into being helpful for all. Former co-workers often feel survivor’s guilt at still having a job. They feel just having a job is rubbing your face in your loss. Some won’t be able to rise above this. They will start to feel there “must have been something” that you did or should have done. Because if there isn’t, then they are unprotected too. If it’s just random. If it’s just business. That is very scary. So when they say, “It isn’t so bad. It’s happening everywhere.” Be generous and be gentle with your response. When it’s you, it is bad. When it’s you, it feels personal. —  — This is a great time to contact me to get an action plan together to get a career that aligns with your values. I can assist you in creating your skills inventory, crafting a polished Brand You sound-bite, getting you on the path to your dream job.

Contact me now, Elisabeth Adler-Lund at

Telephone: 916 . 803.1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Thanks for reading!

Eight Tactics for a More Effective Job Search

How many of these are YOU doing? The fact is, the more diverse your job-hunting strategy, the more effective it's likely to be, and the more opportunities for success you’ll find. 1. Contact /Join Professional Organizations in Your Field National, regional and local professional organizations exist in great part to help their members with career development. This is just what you need. Many organizations include field-specific job listings on their Web sites or in their printed publications. Check them out! 2. Visit Company Web Sites Many companies and organizations post their job openings right on their own Web sites (usually under an "Employment" or "Career Opportunities" link). This is also a good time to do some research. 3. Apply Directly to Companies that Interest You Do you know you want to work specifically for Company X? If so, send a well-written cover letter and your résumé directly to the person who would likely make hiring decisions for the part of the organization that interests you. It isn't always easy to find the right person to get in touch with; you'll have to do some digging, which brings us to… 4. Network, Network, Network Generally, the most effective job-hunting approach. Networking is simply talking to people to either track down helpful personal contacts or learn about job openings that may not be advertised at all. Let everyone in your life know you're looking for a job, and give them an idea of what type of job you want. Ask others if they’ve worked for your target company(ies) and can offer any insight. If you can, get an informational interview with someone (anyone) at the company. Fifteen minutes of face-to-face interaction will be good as gold in your search. It can also confirm (or contradict) the research you’ve done. 5. Visit / Write Your Campus Career Center Yes, even if you haven’t ever responded to the alumni appeal. Yes, this is mainly for entry-level jobs. They can tell you what campus recruiters are looking for. Is there an area you need to improve? 6. Participate in Job Fairs A job fair is employers coming to you. Yes, there is a lot of walking, but you are meeting a lot of people, too. Get their business cards. Follow-up with telephone calls. Bring your résumé (at least 10) to hand out directly to the employers. 7. Use a Recruiter / Headhunter Even if they can’t find you a job, they may provide other assistance: market information, areas in which to look, markets to avoid. If they tell you there is a glut of people with your skills; that may help you decide to take a sideways approach to your job search. Heads-up: While most of these organizations receive their fees from employers, some will seek money from you. Also, some will want you to sign a contract. Don’t. So make sure you know who's paying the bill and for what services. 8. Consider Temping Sometimes, by working as a temp for a company, you can position yourself to be hired for a full-time, permanent position that opens up later on. Even if that doesn't happen, however, temping can help you see various companies from the inside, meet people, build your network, and earn some money. - ☼ - Contact me now to begin the journey of discovery and adventure as we get you to where you want to be. Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Who You Are, Not Just What You Do So who ARE you? Secure, lifetime jobs are a thing of the past for many workers. The economy changes quickly, companies change products often, and the world market changes. People used to look at jobs as lifetime commitments in which they identified closely with their particular job or company. For many, this way of looking at themselves is no longer useful. A change in the way people view themselves is necessary. Rather than saying "I’m an auto worker for General Motors," the new worker will learn to say, I’m a person with skills which can be used building cars for General Motors, building computers for IBM, working in a small machine shop, or a plastics manufacturer." This way of looking at yourself is called branding. It is way to think of yourself and to project yourself as different from other workers. It is a way to highlight your unique skills and abilities so that managers or employers can see exactly how you will fit into the job or fill a need they have. This will ultimately help you find a new job or get the promotion you want.

Looking At Yourself In A New Way You start by identifying exactly who you are and where you want to go. Let’s start with these questions:

• What are your values?
• What do you want in your next job?
• What do you NOT want in your next job?
• What do you want to think about 8–10 hours a day?
• What gets you excited about work?
• What type of working conditions do you want? (inside, outside, at a desk, in the field, …)
• What is your personality and preferred work-style?
• And so forth.

These questions and the answers they bring forth will help you identify who you are and what you want in a job. For example, for a person who values generosity, has an outgoing personality, likes to occasionally work alone and loves to work with people. They want to be able to have influence on which projects they take on, they get excited by innovation and don’t have a preference about the work environment. This combination would make a great reporter of technology, science or medicine. The budding journalist may have to spend some time writing obituaries or advertising, until they have paid their dues. But, they will know their goal.

The same combination of attributes would make a person who worked on a computer processing loan applications miserable. That person would value stability, dislike change and find comfort in the unchanging environment.

Let’s go back to the budding journalist. What can they do to maximize their ability to get the reporter job? What have they done in the past that uses the skills and abilities required of a reporter? Do they have writing samples? Have they managed projects? You get the idea.

It is separating out what you do, from who you are. It is about identity.

Often times our job and the job title morph into our identity. Then when we lose the job, we lose our identity. Sometimes we lose the job due to a personal or professional failure. Many successful people say they are more defined by their failures, than by their successes. Thomas Edison failed over a thousand times before he succeeded with the light bulb. Failure is an essential component of building character and gaining knowledge. How we handle failure and adversity becomes part of who we are.

If we identify too closely with the job title, we are empty when we lose the job. "If you are what you do, when you don’t, you aren’t." When I heard Wayne Dyer say that, I laughed in recognition. I had lost my job after eleven and a half years. I had worked over sixty hours a week. I had no "spare" time for friends. My life had been my job – period. It was devastating when it was gone. I no longer "did." With apologies to Descartes, "I laugh, therefor I am." That’s when I realized I needed a new way of looking at myself and how I presented myself to others.

Recently, this new way of looking at myself has become known as branding. It is a job in itself to define yourself in this way. It requires introspection and persistence and honesty. Not everyone is up to the task. The reward is being able to say confidently, who you are and what you offer to the world. I now think of myself as a unique bundle of skills, abilities, experience and knowledge. When people ask me what I do, I no longer reply with a job title. I now reply with a clear and balanced identity. Losing my job was a blessing. It gave me time to define myself and identify what is important in my life.

A brand is built upon what is valued by a person or a company. If the values are clearly identified, it is easier to stay true to the values. The identity will build to a larger vision, and the brand can be carried forward, regardless of apparent obstacles. It will become your foundation. A strong foundation can withstand a hurricane of change and upheaval.

Your particular brand will flow from this foundation. What you do and the results you produce becomes your brand. Your success, will come from your ability to be authentic in times of change.

So who ARE you?

Contact me now to begin the journey of discovery and adventure as we get you to where you want to be.

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Make Room for Yes, By Saying No

If we were to float up and hover above our daily life and look at all the things that make it up. At all the people and things that are part of it. At what we do with each minute of our 24 hours, each and every day. How much of that have we chosen? The truth is, at some level or another, we chose all of it. If there are things, we don’t feel like we chose, we certainly chose to allow them to continue. So if we have all this choice, how come we reach points from time to time where life seems incredibly cluttered and pressured? Perhaps we lost sight of what we’re saying yes to and no to... and why. Ask yourself: What was I doing this time last year? How much of what I have done in the past year contributed to the goals I had set for this year? Did I reach or make substantial progress toward my goals? How much of what I am doing is contributing towards my goals? If you’ve ever heard yourself say yes when you meant no, you know how bad that feels. I believe that we all have this situation to a greater or lesser extent. Perhaps we over-commit ourselves to work or other areas, try to fit too much into our time, attempt to do lots of things at once, find ourselves doing things that don’t energize us and perhaps in some cases drain us. So what can we do about it? Clear the clutter! The secret to spring cleaning your life is in those simple words ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Are there situations, commitments or people in your life that you’re regularly saying yes to, that you’d like to say no to? How much time could you free up by saying no to things that don’t give you anything and that you don’t enjoy? What could you do with that time instead? When you say "yes" to too many things, you overdose on stress. It’s an addiction that’s hard to shake. Maybe you fear offending a friend or colleague or are simply a hard core over-achiever. Whatever the circumstances, consider this therapy. Saying "no" to some things means saying "yes" to others. Always doing urgent things usually excludes important things. Decide what your highest priorities are and be brave. By consciously looking at what we don’t want to be doing with our time, we clear out the clutter and make space for a better quality of life. We open up our time for the things we enjoy, clearing the way for new opportunities to have fun and to grow. How refreshing will that be!

To what will YOU say yes and no? If this has struck a chord with you, take action now and answer these questions one at a time, making notes as a reminder:

• What do you spend your time on that you'd like to say no to?
• By saying no to these things, what will that free up time for?
• If you were to put yourself first, what commitments, situations and people would you be saying no to?
• What will you say yes to instead?

Implementing saying "No:" Usually the last question above is were articles/blogs/speeches end. All motivation and then you are left with "real life" and the fallout from saying no to someone. So here is some guidance on delivering the no. Involve the other people in your life in your planning. Pull out your planning device and let people know what you've got going. Including others in the decision helps shed light on what really matters most. Particularly those people who are affected by those plans. By involving them in the planning, they will see early on in the process that something has to give. They may volunteer to take you out of an activity so that you may work on your goals. A volunteered no … woo hoo! When you say "no," rephrase it. Make it sound more positive like, "I am honored you'd ask me, yet for a number of reasons..." Recognize they will be disappointed, but don’t buy the guilt trip. That trip won’t take you anywhere. Also, don’t play the "my goals are bigger (better, more important, …) than yours" game. Say no cordially, but firmly. If your goals are for your job, involve your boss and maybe colleagues. If you tie your goals to the boss’s goals or company goals, your boss will probably be enthusiastic and may help you develop a personal work-plan that can include training and/or assignments to get you there. Recognize that the boss may buy-in to it later, so stay focused on your goals. If you have ever flown in a commercial airline, you know the safety speech. "In the event of an emergency, place the oxygen mask on yourself first. Then…" Putting yourself first is not selfish. That is how you are best able to help others, from a position of health, strength and consciousness. If you run around putting oxygen masks on others first, you’ll pass out and just be in the way. If something sucks the oxygen out of your life, just say no. Make taking care of you a top priority. So take some quiet time and choose the "yes’s" and "no’s" for your life. In Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll wrote, "If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there." Plan your life’s trip so you take the road that will get you to where you want to go.

Contact me now for your complimentary consultation and begin making room for "YES" in your life. Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Sometimes Being Nice is Mean

As managers, a day without confrontation is a day of sunshine. Right? Instead of having one bad day and getting over it, continuing to avoid confrontation will just keep it in the background, sometimes for years. This is a recipe for a dysfunctional department with no discipline, lots of scheming and kvetching. It leaves employees hanging loose, not knowing where they stand. Worse, it leaves them to their own imagination. By avoiding an unpleasant conversation, you allow something worse, a festering problem that will grow. It may become the standard for that employee and it may spread to others. Employees know what the true measure of their performance is, and if one employee "gets away" with something, they will try to also. Short-term niceness is heartless in the long term. You doom the problem employee to non-improvement. Everyone realizes it is a deceptive peace and quiet. "In a knowledge economy, where work is more complex and interdependent, people need feedback more — what they particularly need feedback on are on things that are difficult to give: one's interpersonal style," says David Bradford, a lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Your employees want to improve and continue learning. But if you don’t give meaningful feedback, they will stagnate. They may adjust their performance or they may go elsewhere. As one employee said, "(my boss) would dance around the aspects of my reports that needed improvement. … I never knew exactly where I stood." Bad news will not crush the employee if delivered tactfully, honestly, to the point and in a timely manner. Your time spent to "nip it in the bud" or train someone how to write the report right the first time, will pay dividends later. Those dividends will be in all the time not dealing with the issue and all the "real" work you will be able to do. Here are some points to assist you in helping your staff. For feedback on job skills, ask yourself, "Do I use generalities? Do I use a one-size fits all type of comment? Or, do I use meaningful detail to illustrate my points? Do I use a ‘what & why’ in my comments"

• Good comment: "I think that organizing the data by type of event order will have greater value. It will be easier to analyze where the peak usage times are and where we are under allocated in resources.
• Bad comment: "Pay greater attention to detail."

For feedback on interpersonal issues, ask yourself, "Do I focus on the behavior, not the employee? Am I responding in a timely manner?"

• Good comment: "When you interrupt people when they are talking, it is disrespectful and you miss important information."
• Bad comment: "You have a bad attitude."

Employers and employees are looking for people with more than leadership skills and qualities. Employees see in these qualities evidence of effective leaders whom they can also trust. Are your "go to" leadership skills as effective as you want them to be?

I offer a FREE, 30-minute consultation to provide a "trial run" for you. It will give you an opportunity to experience my style firsthand and see if it is a good fit for you. If you would like to explore how executive and life coaching can benefit you, here is how we get started: Contact me now for your complimentary consultation Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Article idea and quotes taken from: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/careers/bal-bosses0303,0,2384662.story

I was coaching a client on honing their leadership skills. My client suggested I put it down in writing for others to benefit. Great idea. Great client! You have achieved success. You’re making progress — but something is missing. It’s taking too long. When the boss wants the report out "yesterday," it’s hard to practice on your leadership development. One of the outstanding golfers of our time is Tiger Woods. He has a coach. A coach takes an athlete’s natural ability and hones it to outstanding ability by working with the athlete toward a specific goal. It is the focus of the coach and the client that reinforces the learning and makes it stick. What is the ability that you want to make outstanding, to develope further? Leadership Are you taking people with you? Or are you having to push them along? Managing means the planning, organizing, coordinating and directing to utilize assets for maximum effect with minimum cost. Assets usually fall into five basic areas of People, Time, Equipment, Training and Money. Which one of these assets is the most volatile and dynamic? People! Is a manager different from a supervisor? Yes. How? The Supervisor is on the frontlines of the implementation process. Managers direct and organize the resources to create the reality of the vision. They set the goals. Supervisors develop the capabilities of individuals to implement the vision into processes and systems for execution. Many managers only want short-term success. Managers are pulled in multiple directions as they address various business issues, implement objectives and balance the needs of everyone. If management is maximizing assets, then what is leadership? Leadership is motivating people In other words, it is getting people to accept ownership of their job, duties and responsibilities. Leadership is achieving results through others. Can someone be on the front lines and be a leader? Absolutely. The formal leader is the one who is designated as the leader. An informal leader is the individual all of the people in the group go to when there is a problem or question. Watch the people in your group, you will see whom the others migrate to when there is a problem. There is your future leader. Is a leader always the person who does the technical aspects of a job best? No. Is it good for managers to become leaders? Yes. Managers are people-pushers – Leaders are people-pullers. How does one develop credibility and consistency as a leader? Know thyself! Know what you stand for. Know what you will not stand for. And how does that tie into the company mission statement? One way to do that is to develop a personal mission statement for yourself. You first define what matters most to you. What are your values, highest priorities, attributes and qualities? Then you create a plan of action for what matters most to you. What are the goals you want to achieve? Goals are dreams with deadlines. Then you act in accordance with those plans and what matters most to you. "The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value." — Stephen R Covey Leadership Results Employers and employees are looking for people with more than leadership skills. They are also looking for people with leadership qualities. Employees see in these qualities evidence of effective leaders whom they can also trust. Leaders with the courage to step up to the difficult moment, the tough challenge, the risky decision. Leaders whose skills and humanity shine through. Leaders who are genuine. Contact me now to improve your leadership qualities Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Welcome to my new blog. I'll be posting as something important or interesting surfaces. EAL Coaching comes by the title two ways. First it is my initials and I am a coach. Second, I am an Executive And Life Coach, so it seemed self-evident to abbreviate it to EAL Coaching. I have graduated from the Coaches Training Institute curriculum. I am a member of International Coaches Federation. I have been coaching people to success for over 20 years. Coaching is my passion. I am in the process of getting my website up and running. (http://www.ealcoaching.com) There is just a place holder at this point, with some very brief information. Until the Grand Opening, I will talk to you here. "Be the change you want to see in the world." - Gandhi Words I try to live by. Some days that is easier than others. You know what I mean ... but making the effort, going as far (or as well) as you can at that moment, is better than no try at all. What is easy for you? Elisabeth Adler-Lund