Big & Bold! Coaching
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1> Listen
Listen to your team. Ask their thoughts, opinions, ideas, concerns, dreams, etc and then listen. Find out what they love doing, what they hate doing, what they would like to do differently, where they want to be in five years. Paraphrase what they say, and ask them to elaborate and clarify, so they know you are listening. You don’t have to agree with them, but avoid arguing, explaining, or justifying, or they won’t be honest with you. This is huge. If your team knows you hear them, they will tell you what you need to know.
Please feel free to pass along. I hope this proves helpful.
So you have been laid off, or your company closed its doors, or you got fired. Whatever the reason, yesterday you had a job and today you don't. Here is what you need to do:
1> Do the paperwork, make sure COBRA, unemployment, outplacement, etc are in order. Do it quickly before you lose things and forget.
2> You are upset. Let it out in an appropriate way. Cry, yell and scream (where no one will hear you), complain, gripe about how unfair it is, whatever. Don’t hold back, get it off your chest once and for all. You need to get this out of your system, because if you are still crying, yelling or complaining after the first few days, you are only making problems for yourself and others.
3> On the other hand, remember that you are the same great person now, without a job, that you were when you had a job. You are more than your job, remember that.
4> Prepare for a long haul. Look at your finances. How long can you last? Reduce your expenses and consider what you will want or need to do if you don’t have a job at 3, 6 and 12 months. Why? Because this will help you relax and be confident, knowing you have a plan, and this will likely shorten your search time. The alternative is you will feel desperate as cash gets tight and you don’t have a plan, and desperation is the Kiss Of Death.
5> Consider contract work, consulting or temping if you can get this without too much trouble. This will help keep you afloat.
6> Schedule a day or two of rest. Job loss is hard, and job search can be hard, make sure you are rested.
7> Establish routines. Get up and get active at the same time. Be sure to get out of the house for networking, errands, social support, etc. Don’t hide in the basement cranking out resumes all day! Include self-care like exercise, prayer or meditation, healthy diet, etc.
8> Start doing favors. Find out who needs what and start helping. This will help your self-esteem and it will accrue good will which you will need later.
9> Find an accountability partner. Tell him or her what you plan to do today, this week, and then check in with him / her to say you did or did not do it. Just telling someone makes it more likely you will get things done, and that is important, because you don’t have a boss to hold you accountable anymore.
10> Figure out what you want in a job, and get specific. Why specific? Because it makes it easier for people to help you, and it makes you more memorable. If you ask me what kind of job I want, and I say “Accounting,” you can’t help me much, I am making you do the work, so you probably won’t help me, even though you want to help. If I reply “International Tax Accounting at a pharmaceutical company on the North Shore,” you are better able to help me, because I have made your job easier. Even if you can’t help now, my ask is simple and memorable, so if you make a contact later, you will remember me. This is huge, folks, help people help you, BE SPECIFIC!
11> Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job, and what you are looking for (see #8, be specific), but don’t ask anyone for a job, it’s creepy and desperate. If they like you, they will suggest the next step.
12> Build out your LinkedIn profile. Cut and paste from your resume.
13> For both resume and LinkedIn, think about the job you want, and include items that support that job, and leave off things that don’t. If there are tasks you have done that you don’t want to do anymore, leave them off your resume, because you might get hired to do them again and you won’t like that.
14> DO NOT PUT YOUR RESUME ON JOB BOARDS! This is a waste of time. Similarly, answering postings on the company website is a low pay-off activity that steals time from more useful activities. So what do you do instead?
15> Start networking. “Networking” is simpler than you think. You go to coffee or lunch. Ask people how you can help them (who is their ideal client, who would they like to meet, what sorts of information would help them, etc) and then help them. Tell them what you are looking for and how they can help. Again, BE SPECIFIC! (i.e. “do you know anyone in the Tax Department at Abbott or Baxter?”) When they can help you, they will! Networking is like tending a garden, nurture your contacts, keep coming back, helping them more, and remind them how they can help you (specifically).
16> If your job search is simple, meaning you are staying in the same field and you are an experienced networker, you may not need a coach, but you might want one anyway, just to help with options and accountability.
17> If your job search is complex, meaning that you want to change careers, maybe you don’t even know what you want, or maybe you haven’t done this in a long time, then find a good coach who can help you. If you wait until you have been unemployed for 9 months and exhausted your severance and savings, you will likely discover that you can’t afford a coach when you need it the most. Working with a coach has been shown to reduce search time 15% - 46%, according to a study by Lee Hecht Harrison, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Contact us to set up a complimentary consultation.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ALONG, ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU LEAVE MY WEBSITE ADDRESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. THANKS!
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Sometimes, you just feel worthless. You feel like what you have to offer just isn’t worth much. One of the best cures for this is to volunteer your time and energy, doing something that is meaningful for you. There are surely groups who need your talent but can’t pay for it. You do something for them, you make a difference for them, and they value it, and by extension, they value you! They are grateful…to you…for something you have done! You have helped someone. And, if you do it right, you benefit as well, by volunteering for a task and for a cause that you enjoy, that has meaning for you. This can be a great way to gain experience you don’t have, or to develop a hobby or a passion to balance your day job. Perhaps you want to get a job as a fundraiser, but you’ve never done it before, so you join the fundraising committee for your local Parent-Teachers Association, church or political organization, and you get experience and contacts. You may make mistakes and screw things up, and the beneficiary of your efforts will still get more than their money’s worth, because they aren’t paying you, and they will be incredibly grateful for your time and energy.
When I first started coaching, I had raw talent but I was inexperienced. No one was going to pay me big money yet, so I volunteered at a local career center, and I had a blast, I learned a ton, I made contacts and got referrals for clients, and I made a difference in the lives of people who had lost their jobs, and maybe lost their hope. That felt good, and it helped me feel confident about my abilities as a coach.
I am working on rolling out a new coaching product, to supplement and eventually replace my work with job-seekers. Here is a brief description:
Niche
Who: Director / VP level men at small to midsized entrepreneurial professional services firms in and near Evanston, IL
What: The idea is to take men who are capable administrators and managers and help them to become leaders by 1> getting them in touch with their values, and leading authentically from this place; 2> developing emotional intelligence (Daniel Goleman style), so that they have a better understanding of emotions, their own and others, so they can lead effectively; 3> giving them a combination of “charm school” and ballsy coaching that will help them to project Executive Presence or Command Presence, including a certain aspect of being The King or The Alpha (in a healthy way in service to a higher cause). I have a lot of juice around this idea because my own growth has included many of these elements, I think the world is lacking in true leaders (as opposed to bean-counting administrators or overbearing bullies), and there is a willingness on the part of individuals and firms to pay for leadership training.
Ideal client
Fun, good sense of humor, imaginative, coaching is a perk not a punishment, hi-potential, leader, wants to stretch and grow, willing to try new things and risk failing, want the best, “trained” client, open-minded, intelligent, and willing to consider increasing emotional range and power in order to get better results as a leader , in 30s or 40s, progressive industry, mid-sized company. Client’s company has minimal “red tape,” pays quickly and is easy to deal with. A man, since I have a better grasp on both the big ideas and tactical techniques that would be required. Not opposed to working with women, but I don’t think I have the chops for it right now. Smart, driven, wants to take risks and learn to lead from head, heart and balls.
Ideal gig
6 – 12 month assignment, on a challenging topic, that is a doable stretch for the client. Clients find me and want to work with me, by reputation, so there is minimal competition and marketing (especially paperwork). We check in frequently so the client can see progress and report to organization. Administration and record-keeping is simple.