HOW TO FIND YOUR “DREAM JOB”

Last week I wrote about what hiring managers know. I wrote that to personalize all those faceless, and many times nameless, people you are trying to reach. If you understand whom you are trying to reach, you can tailor your approach so that you actually do reach them.

Today, I am trying to connect you to a job you will actually enjoy. You don’t go to heaven any more directly by working a job you hate. As long as you have to spend long hours working, you might as well find a job that suits you. A job you enjoy. Life is not supposed to be hard. Life can be easy.

What will suit me?
That is the question I am asked most often. Not surprising since I am a career coach. :) When I first started out, I would subject people to batteries of tests: personality tests, strengths finder test, color quiz, and many others. I took them myself, too. What I found out is, no test will accurately predict what you will excel at and that you will enjoy doing. No combination of tests will do it either.

The only reliable way to find a job that will suit you and that you will enjoy doing is based on just one question ...

What do you love to do?
Yep, it’s a simple question. It can be a difficult question if you look at the wrong answers. How does the question actually work?

When you love to do something, you are good at it. You take pleasure in the doing of it. That means you probably do it often. Therefore, you are practicing. And, as we all know, ‘practice makes perfect’. It is an easy jump then to say that what you love to do is one of your strengths. If you love doing something, it energizes you.

Think about a hobby of yours. You do it because you enjoy doing it. You do it because it energizes you. You do it because you are good at it and/or have become good at it. You can't wait to get to your “hobby time.” Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say all of that about your job too?

You probably know the advice about “play to your strengths” and that’s great – as far as it goes. The real problem comes because most of us don’t properly know what our strengths are. We think they are the things that we are good at, but that is only half the story. You can be good at something but drained by doing it. For example, I am good at accounting. But, it is totally exhausting for me to actually do. We can be externally rewarded for doing something well, but internally we pay the price. That can leave you confused in the short term, disengaged and burned out in the long term.

What energizes you?
Drawing the distinction between strengths – what we are good at and that energize us – and the learned behaviors that we do well but are drained by them (e.g., accounting for me). This is the critical distinction if you want to be fulfilled and productive.

I used to ask, “What are you good at?” That question can give the right answer, but most often it skirts the correct answer of what energizes you. I am “good” at accounting. It is one of my “strengths.” However, since it drains the life out of me, it is only half the answer.

Think about energy as an element of your strengths, and about how you assess your strengths. What you use on the job, hobby or at home is a realized strength. You are actually using this strength in some capacity. If you have a strength that you are not using, it is unrealized. This could be an area of great potential and development for you. What do you love to do and that energizes you, that is under-utilized in your job? That is your potential. Develop your potential. See how much fun you can have at “work.”

It’s Déjà Vu, All Over Again
Do you remember those grade school report cards? Yes, I sadly got repeat scores of, “not working up to her potential.” You, too? Remember the boring lectures that came with those scores? “School is not meant to be play.” “You have to buckle down and study harder.” “Real life is about work, not play.” And, a personal favorite, “It’ll go on your permanent record.”

Put all those lectures in a work context, and that is why we don’t revolt when work drains the life out of us during the day. Years of brainwashing have convinced us that it is OK to be miserable at work. Who says, “Work is not meant to be play?” Why not? You don’t have to “buckle down and work harder.” You do have buckle down and develop your potential. But, that will energize you. As you develop, you will realize that you are having … fun! It is NOT a sin to have fun at work. Happy people are more productive people.

Confucius said, “Get a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Isn’t that a worthy goal? You can be happy to go to work in the morning, not dread Monday morning, and the day zips by in a blur of productivity. At the end of the day, you go home satisfied by your accomplishments. And, I dare say, happy!

This Week’s Coaching
1. Sit down with paper and pen or computer and favorite software and list all your strengths or things you are good at doing. If you are having trouble coming up with words think action verbs (lead, execute, discover, supervise, coach, demonstrate, plow, assemble, etc.)

2. Circle all the strengths that energize you. These are the strengths that are essential for your job.

3. Make a new list of skills that energize you, but are under-utilized at your job. These are the strengths that you should be developing in your job.

4. Compare these two lists to your actual job duties. Do they match up? Can you talk to your boss about getting them to match up? A new assignment or short-term project will give you development opportunities. (How does your development needs align with the company’s business need?)

5. Is it hopeless? Do you just need to find a new job? It’s a bit harder, but find the new job while you still have the old job. This economy requires this kind of prudence.

I’m curious; does this help you define what your job could be? Does your job already suit you? Let me know via the comments section below or by sending me an email. I’d love to know if this helps you.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,
Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund
Executive and Life Coaching
Telephone: 916 • 803•1494
E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

TOP 6 THINGS HIRING MANAGERS KNOW

I was talking to a manager this week. She was on an interview panel for one of the rare openings at her work. She knew one of the applicants because he is an internal candidate and knew he could do the job. However, she had to put him down as a “maybe” on the interview list. Why? Because he wrote himself up to be a manager, not the line person this job requires.

Let me repeat that last sentence. He wrote himself up to be a manager, not the line person this job requires. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of tailoring your application materials to the requirements of the job posting.

BE the Job Posting

Scrutinize the job posting and use their words and phrases in your résumé and cover letter. List only those skills needed for the job as it is posted. Use only the examples from your work experience that illustrates those skills. Use the words and phrases from the job posting in your application materials. This will demonstrate you have done your homework and can translate your experience into their terms. Using their words is critical if they do a keyword search of your résumé. For example, if you are applying for a sales job, a key word won’t be “sales,” more probably it’ll be “closed.”

What Hiring Managers Know

Here are a few things hiring managers know about the candidates for their jobs. 

1. They know some applicants are under-qualified. These people apply for every job opening they hear about. These people are the bane of every hiring manager and other applicants. They waste the manager’s time and their own time. It is these people that cause you to have to work so hard to find a job.

2. They know some applicants are over-qualified for the job. This can be a good news – bad news dilemma. Good news in that they can get someone very good with the potential to do more than is required. They won’t have to worry about the job being done right. This person may be able to expand the job in the direction they want it to go. To put it in other words, they are getting more than they are paying for.

3. The bad news about over-qualified applicants is this person may not be happy working at this lower level. Therefore, this may just be a stopgap job for them and they still might be looking. Or, they might cause discord in the group, or not be happy taking direction from someone they may feel is not as qualified as they think they are. The hiring manager may also feel that you will judge them/the department/other employees because of your greater experience. They may think you are gunning for their job, too. It is all of these fears that you must address when you are over-qualified and apply for the job.

4. Hiring managers know it is an employers’ market. They expect you to tailor your résumé and cover letter to their needs and requirements. If you don’t, they think you are lazy, or don’t have what they need, or are not really interested in their job. In the computer age, you have no good excuse for not tailoring your résumé to each job opening.

5. The hiring managers I have spoken with are still trying to get top dollar out of their reduced budgets for top quality candidates. The level of “top dollar” may be less than it used to be, but they aren’t trying to hire cheaply. I think that is important to note. They are still trying to pay as much as they can. So, even though they are hiring fewer people, they are still paying as well as they are able.

6. Employers want to see results. They want to see how you grew at a company or within a job. What are your concrete accomplishments? They do not want to see a list of job duties or clichés on your résumé. Illustrate your accomplishments with numbers or percentages (e.g., 9% improvement in productivity; 12% reduction in expenses). Doing so will also demonstrate your attention to the business bottom line. Something every business is constantly monitoring today.

Get Out of Your Own Way

Like the applicant at the top of this article, don’t list what you want to do or what you think of as the pinnacle of your career thus far. List what you can do that the job requires. That applicant is over-qualified for the job. He lost a manager job, two jobs ago. It appears he is still mourning that loss. He applied for a line job that he won’t get because he listed his skills at the wrong level. He is stuck in the past. Don’t make these mistakes.

This Week’s Coaching:

1. Take a job posting and highlight all the key words. Find a way to use those key words in your résumé and cover letter. (e.g., them: collaborate, you: team player. Make the change to “collaborate.”)

2. Beyond the job posting, what are the keywords for the job for which you are applying? Think industry and company. Write down at least five.

3. Are you illustrating your accomplishments in your résumé? Purge out the job duties. Put in examples of your accomplishments.

4. Do your application materials reflect the level of the job for which you are applying? If you are applying for a manager spot, are you illustrating your decision-making and leadership? If you are applying for a line job, are you illustrating that you are a good follower?

I’m curious about your job hunting experiences. Let me know via the comments section below or by sending me an email, the answers to this week’s coaching questions.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund

Executive and Life Coaching

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

3 KEY BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

 or

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Conflict.

What does that word mean to you? What is the perception of conflict? A negative experience, something “bad.” And, something to be avoided. Right?

What are the realities of conflict? The reality is that conflict is a common, everyday occurrence. It is something with which we are all familiar. No surprise, but not all conflicts can be resolved. Surprise, it can be constructive and rewarding.

Effective communication is essential, in the workplace, at home, shopping ... everywhere. Effective communication will reduce conflict and misunderstandings and facilitate “getting along” with each other.

3 Key Barriers

Why does the communication process lead to conflict? Some of the tools to resolving conflict are in understanding the subject. We cannot avoid conflict – it is everywhere. Avoiding conflict is a dysfunction worthy of its own topic.

There are three key barriers to effective communication. We are going to learn how to get break through them and become effective communicators.

1.       Barriers to effective listening

2.      Semantic barriers

3.      Cultural barriers

This is not about a dissatisfied client or an angry person. An angry person can ruin your day, but it is the daily minor conflicts can wear away a person's enthusiasm and joy. It is their very subtlety and smallness that makes us feel as though they are part of the cost of going to work or living with another person. We usually dismiss them with comments, such as, “I shouldn't make such a big deal out of it.” Or, at its extreme, “I need a new place to work.”

Meanings Are In People Not In Words

Language is a barrier. This is also known as semantic barriers. It can also be a cultural barrier. Just because English may be a common language between us, does not mean we are saying the same thing. Even if we are using the same words. Each of us has our own meanings for words because we filter them through our varied beliefs, knowledge, education, experiences, and upbringing. We need to understand that the words may not mean the same things to the listener that they do to the speaker. Meanings are in people not in the words.

It is in the same way we need to be aware of cultural barriers. The listener’s way of doing things may be different from the speaker’s way. The listener’s experiences are different from the speaker’s. Experiences are personal, not right or wrong, just different. That is why diversity is so dynamic and creative. You have to learn and understand where the person you are in conflict with is coming from culturally and linguistically.

Understanding Conflict:

Understanding is key to resolution, and the key to understanding is knowing what we are talking about. We need to understand before we can resolve. What is the definition of conflict?

• Differing goals of the people involved.
• Sometimes a sign that greater change needs to take place.
• Unresolved, it can lead to violence.
• Part of the larger communication picture.

We cannot avoid conflict. Conflict is everywhere and we all need to develop our skills to work with it constructively. To resolve conflict we want to re-direct the focus from the people to the issues. However, to prevent conflict we need to understand the people involved. This is not as contradictory as it sounds.

When we talk about conflict, we are discussing attitudes to the whole of human life. Why do we have conflict? What does it look and sound like?

Some manifestations of conflict:

• Self-esteem:  “If you can't handle the project, Vijay can.”
• Bullying:  “Out of my way, I need the copier for my job.”
• Responsibility:  “Pat never answers the phone in a timely manner.”
• Anger:  “You tick me off.”
• Control:  “We’ll do it my way.”
• Power:  Withholding of key information.
• Fear:  “Enjoy it while you can, we get back to work Monday.”
• Innuendo:  “We’ll keep old Sam around forever to deal with our older customers.”

To some extent, all conflict is cross-cultural. Resolution work therefore aims to help people of differing views and backgrounds to understand each other better. A lot of external conflict is really internal conflict. Many people are not aware of this, even as they are engaging in conflict. It may be your need to be in control that has you in conflict with your sibling, rather than the subject of your conversation/conflict.

Effective Listening

Listening is a key component of effective communication. 40% of our time is spent listening, 35% talking, 16% reading, and 9% writing. That makes listening the foundation of our communication. Studies show people are only about 25% effective at listening.

That is because most people think listening is the same as hearing. However, listening is not instinctive like hearing is. This creates unnecessary problems.

From the dictionary (Webster's New World Dictionary), we get these definitions:

Hear: to be aware of sounds by ear.

Listen: to make a conscious effort to hear.

Listening requires sophisticated mental processes that require energy and discipline. Listening is a learned skill. It is an active skill. There are essentially three levels of listening.

Level 1 – We are tuning in and tuning out, being somewhat aware of others, but mainly paying attention to ourselves and/or our tasks. This is passive listening; the words just wash over us. We are often faking attention while forming judgments, creating a response/rebuttal/advice, thinking about unrelated matters, or preparing what to say next. This is the multi-tasking level of listening.

Level 2 – We stay at the surface of communication and do not understand the deeper meanings of what is said. We try to hear what the speaker is saying, but little effort is made to understand the deeper intent. We are listening logically, being concerned primarily with content rather than the feeling behind the content.

Level 3 – We refrain from judging the talker and place ourselves in their position, attempting to see things from their point of view. Some characteristics of this level include being aware and in the present moment; acknowledging and responding; not letting ourselves become distracted; paying attention to all aspects of communication, body-language, expressions, gestures, tone of voice. Being empathetic to the speaker’s feelings and thoughts; suspending our own thoughts and feelings so attention is focused on the speaker.

Resolution

To be a master in conflict resolution one must be in the present moment, one must seek first to understand, one must see that there is some “right” to both sides of the issue, one must seek resolution, not compromise, and not “winning”. The goal is to enhance the dignity of all participants.

This week’s coaching:

Notice where you have conflict in the coming week. Ask yourself –

1.       What is really going on here?

2.      What may be the under lying issues? (See the manifestations list above.)

3.      Are you really listening to the speaker at level 3? (Which reminds me: you have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use them in that proportion!)

4.      How can we both win this conflict?

Let me know via the comments section below or by sending me an email, the answers to this week’s coaching questions. I’m curious about your reaction to conflict. What is your conflict resolution quotient?

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund

Executive and Life Coaching

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

SPRING CLEANING LIFE’S CLUTTER

I was reading a great article in my newspaper about cleaning up one’s digital clutter. I thought a better title would have been, “Spring Cleaning Digital Clutter.” That led me to realizing a good topic for today would be, “Spring Cleaning Life’s Clutter.” 

What is Life Clutter? It is anything that clutters up your life. Your clutter may be different from my clutter, which may be different from your partner’s clutter. It is anything that no longer serves you and gets in your way. 

It may be old and familiar. Some examples of this type of clutter are: 

• Newsletter and e-zine subscriptions you no longer read or are no longer relevant to you where you are now. 
• Ditto for magazine subscriptions.
• The resentment/fear/anger you still harbor for someone in your past. 
• The piles of ___ that take up space and only gather dust. 
• Hosting the traditional holiday/birthday/anniversary celebration as you’ve always done.
• Your job. 

 It may be new clutter:

• The volunteer gig you signed up for because ___ asked you. 
• It’s a worthy enough cause, but you’re not particularly passionate about it.
• TV 
• Your email account. So much comes in to you, you can’t find important emails. 
• Your job. Your formerly “great job” no longer is so great. 

New Territory

We have never been in this place before of information and action overload. In my first email account (a Yahoo account), I had over six thousand unread messages at one time. It became so overwhelming to me, I just stopped opening it up. That really cut down on what I received. NOT! I went in and unsubscribed to some interesting e-zines and newsletters. I only kept what I could read in 3 hours a week AND tied directly to where I was in my life. I mass deleted everything past a certain date. I just knew I was deleting some really “good stuff.” I held firm and just did it (with my eyes closed when necessary). Today, I have cut down the allotted reading period to two hours.

The Past is, well, Past

Hanging on to past resentments, fears or anger you still harbor for someone or something in your past is a waste of today’s resources. It does not hurt these people to hang on to that stuff. You only hurt yourself. Letting go of the resentment, anger or pain does not get those people off the hook for what they did to you. It just allows you to be pain free.

Less pain from the past means less baggage to cart around today. I once told a person who was struggling to separate work from home to pack her personal baggage in the trunk of her car when she got to work and take out the work baggage. Then to reverse it at the end of the workday when she went home. I must tell you that I had never seen this woman smile or just be happy. After about a month, she came into my office humming and smiling. She said, “I got tired of packing and unpacking all that baggage. So, I decided to dump some of it. I travel lighter now. And guess what?” “What?” I asked. My husband and I aren’t getting a divorce anymore!” She went on to explain that once she stopped carrying the grudges around, she stopped feeling so resentful. That in turn allowed her to have a conversation about the future with her husband. Together they decided they wanted to travel the future with each other.

Yes to Ourselves

For those of us who are people pleasers, it is hard to disappoint people by saying “no” to requests. So we say yes. Then we disappoint ourselves. One of the most important people we need to say yes to is ourselves. We often treat ourselves like second-class citizens. We would never treat other people the way we treat ourselves. What is up with that?!

Repeat after me, “I just can’t do that. Sorry.” Again, only this time, say it out loud, “I just can’t do that. Sorry.” One more time with feeling and sincerity, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that.”

Please note, you don’t have to really feel sorry. In the beginning, you might feel sorry. But, as you practice this skill, it will get easier and you will feel less sorry. With the additional time, you will be able to participate more fully in those “yes” tasks and activities. You will provide more quality with less quantity of tasks. The amazing thing is how few people will actually ask you, "Why not?"

Self-Care

Many women, and particularly mothers, struggle with giving themselves permission for self-care. Maybe on Mother’s Day, they will allow others to do things for them. Rather, to be healthy and resilient to the daily stresses and strains, daily self-care is a better practice.

I can hear you now. So repeat after me, “I’m sorry, I just can’t do that.” Teach your children and spouse  independence by allowing them to clean up after themselves. Or, to cook dinner. Or, to do some laundry. Provide some initial training, but then step back. Sure, mistakes will be made. But, you are teaching them life skills for their future and yours. And remember, once upon a time you were a beginner at those tasks too.

In the process, by taking care of yourself, you also teach them to do the same. Nurturing yourself is not selfish. By taking care of your own well-being, you will be better able to be there when they really need you. You will be able to give more to others and with better quality. Giving and receiving are two sides of the same coin. When you give, someone receives. When you receive, you allow someone to give you a gift. That sustains the natural balance of life.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t need to be elaborate or consume large amounts of time. Here are some easy ways to practice your self-care:

• 15 minutes for meditation or solitude,
• Going to a movie you’ve wanted to see,
• Mindfully enjoying a treat,
• Take a walk outside,
• Take an aromatherapy bath,
• Play like a kid,
• Have a cup of herbal tea while doing nothing else, and
• Put on some music you love and sing or dance like no one is watching.

Only you know what will fulfill your needs. Here are some other examples of ways to self-nurture:

• Sign up for a class for fun.
• Enjoy a nice meal alone or with a friend or loved one.
• Buy yourself some flowers or a plant.
• Get a professional massage.
• Explore sensual and sexual pleasures with a loved one or by yourself.
• Get a manicure or pedicure.
• Listen to or read uplifting literature.
• Go to a concert or theater.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Go do it. Do it NOW.

This week’s coaching:

What is your life clutter?

1.      What can you get rid of in your life?

2.    By saying no to some things, what will you say yes to?

3.     What baggage will you unpack and dump?

4.    Which of the easy self-care items will you do today? Tomorrow?

5.     Which of the more elaborate self-nurturing items will you do this week?

Let me know via the comments section below or by sending me an email, the answers to this week’s coaching questions. I’m curious what you will say no to, to get to yes.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund

Executive and Life Coaching

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN

There seems to be a new way of talking to each other that includes using exaggerated words that immediately takes you to an extreme position. I have even noticed this in the everyday pleasantries at the stores. No longer am I told to ‘have a good day’. Now I’m told to ‘have a great day’. Is great better than good? Do I need to have a great day everyday?

Of course having a ‘great day’ is at least a positive exaggeration. Although a friend jokingly said, “I can’t stand the pressure to have a great day. It makes me feel bad when my day is only good.” I am not positive my friend was completely joking. Therein lays a problem with using exaggerated language. You have to be at an extreme position. I am happy for all my good days. I am happy for my bad days too. Bad days make my good days sweeter. Some days, are just … ok – neither good nor bad. Just another day that happened. How un-extreme can you get?

At its worst, extreme language can incite riots, hate crimes and other violence. At the memorial for the Oklahoma City bombing on April 16, 2010, Bill Clinton said, “the words we use really do matter.”

The Words We Use Really Do Matter

Former President Clinton said incendiary language might be taken the wrong way by some people. “But what we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold, but that the words we use really do matter because there are – there’s this vast echo chamber. And they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious, alike; they fall on the connected and the unhinged, alike,” he said.

When you use extreme language, people who don’t know you well, don’t know how to gauge the seriousness of your speech. They may act on your speech in ways you don’t anticipate. Haven’t we all said, “I’ll kill so and so, if they do such.” What if the person you were talking to actually killed that person? I can hear you now, “Everyone knows (or should have known) I was just upset/kidding.” Why? Say what you mean (I’m very upset with so and so for wanting to do this), and mean what you what you say (it will bother me or anger me).

A Contentious Time

More people were working harder for less. And now, we have the highest percentage of Americans who’ve been out of work for six months or more than we have had in decades. This can be disorienting. People are looking for anchors to make life simple and understandable, and sometimes with the idea that they need to go back to an idyllic time that never existed. So then, Arizona passes a law based on how you look. All of this is really about how to feel secure in the face of insecurity, how to feel ordered in the face of apparent chaos.

However, we can’t let the debate veer so far into hatred that we lose focus of our common humanity. That is very important. We can’t ever fudge the fact that there is a basic line dividing criticism from violence or its advocacy. And the closer you get to the line, and the more responsibility you have, the more you have to think about the echo chamber in which your words resonate. We live in a highly contentious, partisan and uncertain time.

The same is true in the language being used today. The media is “this vast echo chamber” and that language is falling “on the serious and delirious alike.” When you demonize someone, you can’t claim surprise when someone then acts violently towards them. You have to take the responsibility for your words and your actions. Mr. Clinton went on, "But remember, words have consequences as much as actions do, and what we advocate, commensurate with our position and responsibility, we have to take responsibility for.”

Simple Solutions

Part of the allure of extreme language is that it removes all the gray areas. It removes most of the complexities of the discussion, and boils it down to “us” versus “them”. And, “us” is right and “them” is wrong. It closes the discussion. It creates a shouting match, where the louder voice wins. Often that louder voice is an abusive voice. In eliminating all the gray areas, it artificially simplifies things. It appears that the solution is simple. Of course, the right way is my way.

Our world is a complex place, full of different ways of thinking, of being, and of living. We have a variety of religions, governments and philosophies. That can make it a scary place when you only think in terms of right or wrong, “us” or “them.” If you don’t learn about these differences, it can be scary because you don’t know “them” or what they are thinking. So it is better to condemn “them” first and learn about “them” second. You can’t be too careful, you know. That is an emotional response. Much as standing in a theater and shouting “fire” is an emotional response. It gets people moving, but in a chaotic way; in a way that causes more damage and less solution.

Instead, we should be open the richness of the discussion. All those points of view see things that other views don’t. If you have a busy intersection, with four people each standing on a different corner, each one will see a different car accident in the center of the intersection. That is true even if each one is the same gender, religion, ethnic group, etc. That doesn’t make one of the people wrong and another right. It just means each person sees it from a different angle and reaches a different conclusion. Or maybe they reach the same conclusion, but for a different reason.

That makes the viewers of the accident all right AND all wrong. All only have a piece of the entire accident. It is only when you put all the viewpoints together do you have a complete picture. When everyone comes together to the discussion and airs their points of view in an open and respectful atmosphere, do you start to see a whole picture. Then compromise can enter and a viable solution can be found.

We all want the world to make sense. But it won’t be found in strident, extreme language. It won’t be found in artificially simple solutions. It won’t be found only in emotions or only in rational thinking. Instead of dividing ourselves into the “us” and ‘them” camps, let us come together. Let us celebrate our differences. In the celebration will come learning about each other. Perhaps a new way of looking at old problems. And in that new way of looking, a new solution. Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Perhaps it will be just a different solution. Only when diversity comes together and is shared, do you have a complete picture. The whole story. And only then, can real solutions be found and implemented. What we have in common is more important than our differences.

This week’s coaching:

Say only what you mean.

1.       Examine your language and word choices this week.

2.      Avoid using words to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.

3.      Avoid using extreme language or incendiary language.

4.      Use the power of your words in the direction of truth.

5.      Carry a positive tone in your words and be a constructive contributor to the conversations around you.

6.      Find out what you have in common with those around you.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund

Executive and Life Coaching

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com