Month: April 2014

“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”  Mahatma Gandhi

Saying ‘No’ without feeling like a jerk or acting as if a jerk is an important skill.

You can’t say “Yes” to everything.  You will end up with things that you do not want.  You will end doing things that you do not want to do.  You will waste your money.  You will waste your time.

If you are representing a company, you have to be able to say “No” to help your company.  You have to be able to say “No” to workers who ask you to do work that are not your job.  You have to say “No” to invitations that are not good for you or your company.  If you are a buyer, you have to say “No” to vendors who want to pressure you.

For many people, saying “No” is difficult.

They do not want to hurt people’s feelings.

They do not want to haggle.  They do not want the pressure for them to say “Yes.”

They do not want to sound like a jerk.

They do not want to feel like a jerk.

However, saying ‘No’ is important.  Saying “No” is just part of a healthy life.  It is okay to say ‘No;’ developing some simple ways to say ‘No’ may help.

“No, thank you”
“I’ll pass.”
“  I do not want any.”
“  I appreciate your offer, but my answer is, ‘No.'”
“Not for me.”

If you find yourself under pressure to say “yes,” just stop responding to the person applying the pressure.  I was negotiating buying a car one day.  I could see that the sales rep and his manager were just going to continue to pressure me to accept their offer.

I said that I needed to take a break.  I went home.  The sales rep called me later and told me that the car dealer had a policy that buyers could not leave until the negotiation was final.  I said then the deal was final.  My answer was “No.”

Telling someone “No” has emotional impact on both sides.  Saying “No” is not always easy.  Hearing “No” is sometimes unpleasant.

However, for your career and your personal life, you must say “No” to things that are not in your best interest.

“Most people are as happy as they make up their mind to be.”  Abraham Lincoln

Job Security: How to Stop Scaring Yourself

Who doesn’t have days when they worry about things going badly?  Sometimes these worries are about job security.  Job security worries are often scary.

Here are five key elements to understanding worrying.

No matter how great the likelihood of something happening to our job security, worrying about it only exists in our head.  When we worry, we are scaring ourselves with our imagination.  We have to imagine that threats to our job security will actually cost us our job.

Worrying about job security requires thinking about something in the future.  No one knows the future.  If we have a job today, we have job security today.  An oft-repeated idea is that people have many problems, most of them never happen.

Worrying about job security does not offer solutions.  We find solutions to scary situations when we stop worrying and let our minds give us solutions.  The solution to job security is thinking clearly and making good decisions.

Worrying about job security wastes time and makes us tired.

Two thousand years ago, Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger wrote,

“There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness it is in your expecting evil before it arrives!”

The anxiety of worrying about job security threatens our health.

A better way to deal with job security anxiety is to start with healthy living:

• Eat healthy.
• Avoid caffeine.
• Take breaks to relax.
• Exercise.
• Write what we feel.
• Talk to someone.
• Read, watch, and listen to positive information.

So what can you do to lower or end job security problems?  Take some practical steps.

Stop worrying and start working. If you are focused on working, you won’t have time to worry.

Develop new skills that will give you job security.

Identify the things that could threaten your job security. If you can fix them, fix them.

If getting job security where you work is out of your control, privately seek another job.

Prepare your resume.

Talk to friends you trust.

When you are off work, look for classified job listings.

Apply for a job directly with companies where you would like to work.

Do not worry about job security. Create job security through doing a good job where you are or finding a better job somewhere else.

Start by setting your own rules for email.  In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.  He put his personal rules on email on the website World Wide Web Consortium.  He wrote eleven points for sending email.  He put these points under these three headings.

1. “Before you email me.”
2. “What not to email.”
3. “What you can email.”

With these points, he helps people know which emails to use for which purpose.  He tells people which types of attachments he will not open.  He tells people which types of attachments he will open.

You will get your job done fast when people know how to work with you efficiently and effectively.

Read for content.  The title and the first paragraph of an email or article give you the content.  If you do not need the content, delete the email or close the browser page.  You will get your email job done fast.

Safely unsubscribe from spam.  You will get your job done fast when you only receive what you need to receive.  Nearly everyone gets spam from valid companies trying to sell something.  Although these companies you in to their email list, you can safely opt out by selecting the unsubscribe options in the email

Emails from unknown sources that have nothing but a URL are malicious.  Delete them without thinking twice and you will get your job fast.

Emails with zipped attachments can harm your computer.  If you don’t recognize the sender and if you don’t, delete these email.  Do not open the attachment.  If you do not harm your computer, you will get your job done fast.

Set a time limit on reading your email.  Ten minutes should do and you will get your job done fast.  Read your email twice a day:  first thing in the morning, last thing in the afternoon.  If you quit going to your email file, you will get your job done fast.

Ask people to call you if something is urgent.  You can get your job done fast if people are helping you with urgent things.

If the answer to the email question is, “yes” or “no,” reply “Yes” or “No.”  Writing shorter emails will help you get your job done fast.

Unless there is money involved, do not respond to emails to schedule phone calls.  People who want to speak with each other, call each other.  You can get your job done fast when you quit wasting time with people who are not willing to help you with urgent matters.

List five things to do each day.  Line each one out as you complete it.  You will stay focused and get your job done fast.  If your job is processing email instructions and attachments, email goes on your list of five things to do each day.  Set a timer.  Complete your work within four hours.  Focusing on your priorities will help you get your job done fast.

Do not go to a meeting you can cover with a phone call.  Do not make a phone call you can cover with an email.  Do not send an email you can handle with a text.  Priorities are a great way to get you job done fast.

Only call people at times when they answer their phone.  If the secretary leaves at 5:00 PM and the person answers the phone after 5:00 PM, call the person after 5:00 PM.  Not wasting time on call screening will help you get your job done fast.

Do not call people between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM.  They are eating.

Not do Social media and personal email before 6:00 PM.  You cannot get your job done fast when you are playing on the job.

Skip Surveys and polls. They are a waste of your time and keep you from getting your job done fast.

You Have Enough Talent. Now Work on Your Skills.  Your skills will create your success.  Don’t let your feelings about your talent discourage you from success.

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”  Albert Einstein

We’ve all known the kids with talent. These are the gifted students. They are instantly successful.   They have math talent.  They develop math skills easily. They have science talent. They develop science skills easily. They have talent for foreign language. They develop foreign language skills easily.

In “THE TALENT MYTH, Are smart people overrated,” The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell explains that a high IQ is not the most important factor to success. More important than IQ is common sense and how well you work with other people.  Gladwell emphasizes the development of people skills.

In the beginning of the school year, the teacher can see which students have talent. These kids know the answers immediately. As the school year moves along, more kids become members of the smart kids group. These kids do their homework. These kids have less talent. By doing their homework, they can give the correct answers just as quickly as the kids who had talent. These kids with less talent develop the same skills as the talented kids. They get the same grades. In terms of results, it does not matter whether these kids have talent or they just work hard. They are on the principal’s honor roll. They are in the National Honor Society.

Some kids show talent the first very first day of school in the first grade. Other excellent students quickly become successful students.   They immediately develop school skills.  Each year, their skills grow.

Often talented students fall behind other students.  These talented students do not continue to develop skills.

Some kids start late. These kids do not have to get lost. They can do extra homework. They can take classes during the summer. They can get tutoring for their weak skills. They can catch up with the students with great skills.

If you are struggling in your career, remember that it is never too late to develop new skills.  Focus on skills that will help you become successful.  Have confidence in your value.  Eliminate procrastination.  Do one thing each day to build your skills.  Each year, your skills will grow through the daily steps you have taken to become a more valuable professional.

Onboarding eases the transition into a new job.  Starting a new job involves meeting new people.  New employees must learn new places.  They develop new skills.  They learn to adapt to new expectations.  New hires often feel uncertain about what to do.  They are often uncertain about how well they fit in with the other people.

Onboarding accelerates performance growth.  Through onboarding, new employees develop loyalty and confidence.

The onboarding process tells new hires three things.

“Here is your job.”

“Here is how you do it.”

“You have everyone in the company to support you in your success. “

Onboarding benefits the hiring company.

• New employees have a better understanding of the company.
• Onboarding creates a more meaningful connection for employees with their work.
• New employees become better members of teams. They feel they are part of the organization.
• There is reduced turnover.
• Through increased understanding, there is better communications throughout the company. New employees understand the company communications.

Each new hire should have a trainer.

• Trainers help new employees connect.
• They introduce the new employees to other employees.
• The new employee feels welcome and engaged. They feel like of a member of the company.
• Trainers explain the duties and tools for the job.
• They explain the expectations of the company.
• They explain how to do the job.
• They teach the new employee their well-defined role.
• They set up a place to for the new hire to work.

Supervisors play an important role during onboarding. The first week, the supervisor gives direction on what to do. The first 90 days, the supervisor focuses on skills development.

The human resources department is important in onboarding.

• They give new employees a job description.
• They help new people complete paperwork.
• They explain the company benefits. They enroll new employees in benefit programs. They explain that the benefits grow with the time.
• They have new people sign any documents. They protect the company for non-disclosure and patent agreements.
• They give new employees with an organization chart. Onboarding employees can see that they are part of a company. They can see their purpose in the company.

The human resources department conducts orientation. These sessions are one-on-one or in groups. The orientation shows the company’s products or services.  During orientation, new employees learn the location of the company offices, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, meeting rooms, and equipment.

All of this information creates commitment.  Things become clear for onboarding employees. The onboarding employees see that they are a member of an effective, well-organized company.

10 Ways to be More Likeable

Likeability is a soft skill that helps people build relationships and forge alliances.  The things that students do to become likable are the same things that make workers likable. However, with evolving technologies and changing social norms, the skills and etiquette for likeability are more complex.

In the “Wall Street Journal” article, “Why Likability Matters More at Work,” Sue Shellenbarger writes that social networking and videoconferencing make being likable more difficult. People just do not seem as personable in social networking and videoconferencing as they do in person.

Here are ten suggestions to simplify behavior for likeability in the workplace.

1. When you leave a meeting, clean up your workspace.  Since more people use laptops for notes and calendars, meetings rooms are less cluttered. Some people notice and get annoyed when people leave a mess behind.  You do not want to be the pig in the parlor.

2. Do not check your smartphone during lunch or a meeting. Turn off the phone or put it on vibrate. If you want to check your smartphone, get out of the room before you take it out of your pocket.   Checking your phone in a meeting is using your phone in a meeting.

3. Dress appropriately.  If the norm in your workplace is to wear a shirt or blouse, close all the buttons except for the collar button. Take off your hat or cap when you enter a building. In videoconferencing, what you wear is especially important.

4. Do not wear after-shave lotion or perfume. Most people do not want to smell you.

5. Do not talk about other people when they are not in your presence. Office gossip has a way of becoming a virus.

6. Leave equipment in working order. When you finish using a copier or a printer, make sure there is paper in the machine so that the next person can use it.

7. In office disagreements, take the high road. If someone criticizes you, do not criticize the person in return.   If you find something useful in what the person is saying, thank the person for the information. If the person is sounding off, tell them that you regret that they feel that way.  You do not have to tell them they are wrong.  Simply say that you feel differently.  The practice of not criticizing people is especially important in emails where you leave a paper trail of poor behavior.

8. Avoid borrowing from your coworkers. Plan and keep on hand the things you need to get your work done.  If you do have to borrow something, get permission. As soon as possible, return or replace it.  Never use another person’s computer when that person is not present.  The invasion of privacy is similar to going into a person’s home when they are not there.

9. In the workplace, don’t touch other people. There is no line in the workplace for what is too little or too much when it comes to touching. For that matter, give people space. Three or four feet is usually enough for social comfort. With the issue of the pandemic, six or more feet is comfortable for some people.

10. Do not invite your boss to connect in social networking. The pecking order for networking invitations runs from the top down through an organization.

Saving Your Career from Job Burnout

Are you working on adrenaline and caffeine to push yourself to work faster and for longer hours?  Are you working under constant pressure from your supervisor or from your working conditions?  Are you taking shortcuts by eating at your desk, reading your email on your smartphone during breaks, and trying to do several tasks at the same time?  Your efforts for high achievement can destroy your success.

Herbert Freudenberger popularized the term job “burnout” in 1974 in his book “Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement.” He defined burnout as “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.”  Freudenberger described a burned-out worker as resembling the shell of a burned out building.

Here are common symptoms of job burnout.

1. You lose interest in your job.
2. You procrastinate, or you simply cannot work.
3. Your work has lost its meaning.
4. You feel powerless over the results of your work.
5. You feel exhausted.
6. You suffer ongoing depression or anxiety. 
7. You criticize everyone.
8. You become a perfectionist. You work too long, because nothing is ever good enough.

Job burnout can come from several factors.  

1. Doing endless hours of work that is mind numbing or stressful
2. Working under constant criticism and correction
3. Not taking regular breaks to eat or rest
4. Failing to do things that give your mind a change in activity
5.  Working in a job that is a mismatch
6. Working too long each day and too many days a week

The solution for job burnout is change.

1. Take breaks.
2. Find emotional support through friendships and family.
3. Try new things.
4. Make a list of your work priorities.  Do one thing at a time.
5. Get regular physical exercise.
6. Learn techniques for resting your mind from work: meditation, pleasant and interesting reading, watching or listening to television, radio, or video programs that are relaxing, motivational, or inspirational.
7. Change jobs.

The danger of job burnout is that you ruin your health, and you ruin your career.  Having a successful career begins with you taking care of yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally.