Category Archives: Quotes

Getting Discovered: How Powerful People Find Great Jobs

Getting Discovered: You have all the skills, the talent, intelligence, charisma, and emotional intelligence for success.  But what does it matter if no one knows?

Spread the Word

Retailers, manufacturers, and service providers have resources for putting their name out there.  They run ads in print, radio, television, social media, and billboards.

Furthermore, they sponsor public events.  They take part in community service projects with volunteers and donations.  Their executives do interviews on mass media.

Additionally, these companies have the money and the professional support to engage shoppers and spread create awareness of their products and services.

Confidential Job Search

You can use the same principles of putting your name out here as companies use.

Furthermore, you can promote your job search with nominal expense and minimal exposure.

Here are some suggestions.

Recruiters

There are pluses and minuses to using recruiters.  The top recruiters represent companies that offer more than a job.  They offer great opportunities for a career with long-term professional and financial growth.

Furthermore, unlike some employment agencies, recruiters don’t charge the job seeker a fee for helping them find a job.  The hiring companies pay the fee.

If you are uncertain about the terms of working with recruiters, ask each recruiter directly who pays the placement fee or any other recruiting costs.

Applying for a Job In-Person

When you apply for a job in person, bring the information with you that you need to complete an application.  Some examples include your salary history, job history, and references.

Resumes

Sending recruiters and hiring managers your resume is an essential step in getting discovered in a professional career.

Important point:  you don’t need permission to send your resume.  All you need is a postal address, email address, or a website upload link.

Recruiters on LinkedIn, often have their email address on their LinkedIn profile.

Volunteering

Volunteering for activities where you can use your professional skills is a way to expand your network and become discovered.  Furthermore, these volunteering opportunities can help you meet employers and meet people who know employers.

Internet Profiles

You can post your profile in multiple places on the Internet. The best places include LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Additionally, if you are willing to create a website, you can put your name out there as a source of information and assistance to other people.

Speaking Opportunities

If you have the skills and the contacts to speak in front of audiences, you can become discovered for your skills and experience at events where employers will see you.

Based on your skills and education, your opportunities to speak or do interviews can vary from mass media to trade shows or college programs.

For example, when I worked for Polaroid, I would contact local television stations to give interviews and discuss new cameras.

Conclusion

Just as retailers, manufacturers, and service providers do, you can become discovered by putting your name out there where the best people to help you will find it.

Fate and Luck I have had good luck and bad luck.  But without work, I could not have had the luck to do so many things I enjoy.

Fate and Luck: Playing Comes Before Winning

Fate and Luck: Luck comes to those who act.  Fate decides who wins.  But acting often and acting smarter increases our odds of turning fate in our favor.

In life or in cards, we can’t win without playing.
~ www.jaywren.com

Fate and Luck

I have had good luck and bad luck.  But without work, I could not have had the luck to do so many things I enjoy.

My luck in college increased greatly when I realized that I didn’t have to be the smartest student in the room.  I had to put luck on my side by doing the things that, for me, were necessary to be as successful as people smarter than I was.

I was lucky to get into Naval Officer Candidate School. However, if I had not worked hard in college, I would not have had the opportunity to apply for NOCS and become a bridge officer on the carrier, USS Midway.

Also, I had the good luck to work at two major consumer companies. However, the time and effort I put into college and into my work as an officer in the Navy paved the way for me to get an interview with these companies.
Adrenal hormone in ED is not much clear, but many diagnostic reports predict its role in male impotence. *

As a business owner, I had success and frustration.  I learned early on that I could not control the results.  Results are about fate.  However, by making more phone calls, working extra hours, adjusting to changes in technology, I had the good fortune to run a successful business for thirty years.

You Can’t Control the Results

Some you win. Some you lose. Some get rained out.  The results are fate.  We work hard.  We do the correct things.  But the world changes. Technology, industrial dynamics, economics, and other things change.  Things beyond our control change.

However, you can do the things that influence the outcome.  For example, poker is a game of betting on the cards you have and the cards you hope to have.

However, great poker players know as well as anyone how fate controls the outcome of a hand.  Holding aces never guarantees a win.  But playing the hand, and playing it smartly, increases the odds of winning. And great poker players win often.

Not only in poker, but in everything I do, I play to win.  I know that taking the right action increases my chances of success.

Winning Performance: How to Build on Your Skills for Success

Winning Performance is not only about how hard you work or how many skills you have. It’s, also, about having the soft skills for working effectively. Day in, day out, equally talented people give different levels of winning performance. Likewise, equally talented people can have widely different career success. Here are 7 steps that will help you accomplish more with your time.

Seek Advice for Winning Performance.

Seek advice before acting on important decisions. It is so easy for me to go into difficult situations and make large decisions with the belief that I already have all the answers.  It is equally easy for me to overlook things that I should have considered before acting.  I have better results when I get ideas and solutions from other people.  I better understand my circumstances by discussing them with someone else.

Get the Greatest Results

Get the greatest results from each activity. The National Football League wide receiver Jerry Rice holds 23 NFL records.  He caught long passes. More importantly is the greater distance he gained after he caught the pass. From my observation, Jerry Rice trained harder and more skillfully than other athletes.  Jerry Rice brought winning performance to every game he played.

Listen to Other People

Business professionals can do a better job for their company by identifying those small details that turn mediocre projects into hugely successful projects. They do the same tasks every else does and achieve greater results than anyone else, often because of their getting input from people around them.  These people develop a team mentality that tells them when to act or when to set a finished product aside and return to it when they have a fresh perspective.

These people build companies like Apple, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, and so on across the spectrum.

Do One More Task

When you finish your work before the end of the day, do at least one more task before leaving work.  It is easy to sit around or leave early.  By starting and completing one more task on these days, you will find that your production can rise dramatically.  If you add and complete one extra task per week, you will complete fifty more tasks over the course of the year.  Your company will benefit.  Your value to your company will grow.

Read

Regularly read articles and books about your job and your goals.  Nearly every job continues to evolve.  Many jobs disappear entirely. New information and tools become available to make job performance easier and make you more marketable.  Take advantage of this information to grow in professional value and for personal enrichment.

See Solutions not Problems

Everyone has problems.  Everyone encounters obstacles.  It is easy to give up or procrastinate instead of acting on these obstacles.  In creating solutions, you can develop effective, often new ways of dealing with these obstacles.

As you create solutions, look for ways to help other people use your solutions.  People have founded companies based on providing products and services to overcome common obstacles.   If you can sell the solutions you have developed in overcoming obstacles, you have a business.

Build Your Network

Continue to build your network of friends and mentors.   One of the more interesting qualities of my son is that he has multiple circles of friends.  The people in each of these circles are people he has met at different times and in different settings.  Some of these friends are from high school classes. Other friends come from his sports activities.  Additionally, he has friends from college and his career.

Since graduating from college, he has met these people from different circles to pick up new hobbies and to travel.  He has traveled to Sweden, Peru, and Thailand to meet with friends he has met over the years.  You may also find that having new circles of friends can help you develop new and valuable career ideas and solutions for Winning Performance.

Set Goals

Continue to set goals.  Goal setting can have a subconscious power to drive your actions even when you are not working directly from a daily plan.  Additionally, having goals can give you a sense of purpose and a feeling of a richer quality of life.  Rather than focusing on the ruts of your life, you can focus on your goals and how to move toward them.  Goals lead to Winning Performance.

Leadership Qualities 1

Leadership Qualities that Create Great Teams 

Leadership Qualities: Some teams have a manager but still suffer from a lack of leadership.  What qualities help leaders raise the team standards and increase team success?

Four Leadership Qualities that Create Great Teams

Leaders have many qualities that make them more effective.  For example, a leader with charisma easily draws people to them and creates focus on what these leaders do and say. Leaders who are more intelligent and have greater experience help the team make better decisions.

Here are leadership qualities that you can claim today.

Self-honesty

Not just honesty, but self-honesty.

Self-honesty is about you recognizing and correcting your mistakes.  It’s the honesty to recognize your weaknesses.

It is burying your ego so that you can accept the truths that stand between you and success.

To be successful takes more than overcoming lying, cheating, and stealing.  For that matter, there are successful liars, cheaters, and thieves.

But even successful thieves benefit from honesty about their mistakes and their weaknesses.  Otherwise, they will never become more effective, successful thieves.

Open-mindedness

A closed mind is the wall between ignorance and learning.  It is also a wall between the shared intelligence of the team and the mind of a boss.

Of all the leadership qualities, open-mindedness might be the most important quality for creative, responsive teams.

Emotional Intelligence

First, learn to understand ourselves. Then we can begin to understand others.

Emotional Intelligence (sometimes abbreviated “EI” or referred to as Emotional Quotient “EQ”) is the ability to understand our own emotions as well as the emotions of other people.

People who have emotional intelligence know how to read people.  They have an intuitive sense of why people do things and how to motivate people to do things. With a combined understanding of themselves as well as an understanding of others, these leaders can make decisions and take action with greater intelligence.

Ability to Grow

A final quality in this discussion is the ability to grow.

Leaders who continue to grow become a source of continuous growth for the team.  Developing knowledge and skills, these leaders bring greater value to teams and increase the value of these teams to the organization. Effective new as well as tried methods, when introduced to the team, create both a greater understanding as well as more efficient ways of using new methods.

Leaders who develop the quality of continued growth can clear the clutter of methods that reduce the effectiveness of a team. Just knowing to evaluate procedures as time passes makes for greater effectiveness.

Teams that grow make the leap from short-term survival to long-term success.

Meeting Agendas

Meeting Agendas: Gaining Control Through Preparation

Meeting Agendas can empower you to set and control the purpose of a meeting as well as the agreements reached during the meeting.

Are you tired of meetings that accomplish nothing? These lessons from sales training might help.

Case Study

During lunch, a field sales manager of a major consumer goods company told me about an experience he had had during a day in the field with his company’s chief executive officer. He said that he went through the day will a well-planned series of meetings. Each meeting was important to the success of the company’s brands. And he felt that his day was a success.

However, the CEO showed him how he could have made each meeting more successful by entering the meeting with a prepared agenda.  He pointed to instances of the meetings getting off track and failing to obtain commitments that were there for the asking.

Preparation for a Sales Call

In my training at a major consumer products company, I learned how to plan a sales call. The night before, I would create a presentation for each call. The presentation included the objective of the call, the benefits to the buyer, and the quantities of products I planned to sell. Interwoven into the agenda were possible objections I might anticipate from the buyer and how I would handle them.

A Status Board as a Meeting Agenda

When I entered the recruiting industry, I first worked for a search firm that had a former pharmaceutical industry executive as CEO.  The only thing that he asked of us recruiters is that we sit down at the beginning of every day and go over a single sheet that contained a list of search assignments and prospects, code the status of the assignments, and update that sheet every day. From there he asked to see a copy of the sheet at the end of every week.

Each morning, we recruiters met to review our “Status Boards,” which were the agenda for the meeting.

In having us create this simple “Status Board,” the CEO established more than a plan. He created an agenda for our daily activity. We not only had to present the names of the hiring companies and the name of the applicants; we had to state our progress in the process. For potential candidates, we put no number after their name. If a candidate agreed to an interview with a company, we put a “1” beside the name of that candidate. When we had a candidate scheduled for an interview, we put a “2” beside the applicant’s name. A “3” meant that the candidate had an offer.  A “4” meant the candidate had accepted the offer.

What this CEO accomplished was to require each recruiter to know the details and progress of each search assignment. He called this sheet a “Status Board.” Implicit in this activity is that this CEO laid out the details of an agenda that kept us recruiters on track and kept him informed.

Meeting Agendas Across all Industries.

So began my practice of having an agenda for my daily activities.  I add to my agenda as new events arise. Again, this agenda is more detailed than scheduling a task. The agenda contains the objective, progress, and completion of the task.

A second example, is how I manage visit to the doctor’s office.  I state the purpose of the visit. Then I add a list of questions I plan to ask. I include a section for next steps. This simple method makes my appointments more meaningful, and I don’t leave the meeting with regrets for not asking the right questions or frustration on over not understanding the next steps.  Therefore, I can then take the steps for more successful action for my health.

Recruiters

Recruiters: What Job Seekers Need to Know

Recruiters: If you are in a job search, you may find it helpful to understand the relationships of recruiters, hiring companies, and job seekers.

As a recruiter, I contracted with over a hundred companies to fill their vacancies. I have friends who are recruiters.  My broader understanding of the types of firms started when I began my career with a company that had two departments: one for search and one for applicant placements. This article will help you understand recruiters and perhaps the best way to work with recruiters effectively.

Recruiters

Hiring companies contract with recruiters to find applicants that are often not on the market. If you are a working with recruiter, you are valuable to that recruiter.  The recruiter will not charge you a fee. The hiring company pays the recruiter.

This distinction over fee payments is one of the differences between recruiters and some placement agencies.

A recruiter does not find jobs for people. Instead they find people for jobs. Some people call recruiters “headhunters,” because they hunt for people to fill positions for the hiring companies.

Placement Agencies

These agencies often work to find jobs for job seekers. In some cases, employment agencies may charge the applicant a fee. The successful employment agencies have a strong network in a local market. Although employment agencies may recruit candidates for a specific job, these agencies are typically working with job seekers who have come to the agency’s office and completed an application.

Contingency Recruiter or Retained Recruiter

Both contingency recruiters and retained recruiters have a contract with the hiring company.  Also, both seek to find people for jobs.  The difference is that a contingency recruiter makes no money until a hire is made. On the other hand, retained recruiters receive scheduled payments as they work on the search.  Additionally, both types, myself included, are listed in national directories of professional recruiters.

You and the Recruiter

Recruiters get on phones and call people. They may publish job listings on their websites. My initial use of this website was to promote my recruiting efforts. Most recruiters specialize in searching for specific types of jobs.

If you have the skills that match a recruiter’s specialty, you might find this recruiter a valuable asset, because he or she will often have a number of jobs that fit your background.

The Limitations of Recruiters

I have a separate article on why you might not want to work with a recruiter.  You should be aware that recruiters are working to serve their own interests to fill jobs quickly.  These recruiters may not refer you to companies where they already have successful candidates in progress.

Winning Traits

Winning Traits: Empower Yourself for Success

Winning Traits: What traits do successful people have that empower them for success?  Are they traits that you can develop?

Horrible things happen to all of us.  Things beyond our control.  But developing winning traits can change the questions we ask when we meet challenges. We stop asking, “Why me?”  Instead, we ask, “What steps can I take today to make things better?” ~ www.jaywren.com

What is Self-Empowerment and How Can We Achieve it?

Self-empowerment is taking control of your behavior to reach your goals and achieve success.  This trait empowers us to do the things that we can do.  Furthermore, it enables us to recognize our weakness and turn them into strengths.

1. Hustle

The people who hustle move ahead of the competition. They are the ones who recover the fumble, catch the rebound, or bring their product to market before competitors do.

2. Integrity

There are many quotes about integrity.  Usually these quotes look something like this:  Integrity is what you do when nobody’s watching.  However, integrity is a quality that builds success whether people are watching or not.

People without integrity lie in public, con people into choices, break their commitments.  They lack loyalty, fairness, decency.  No one trusts people who don’t have integrity.

On the other hand, people with integrity do none of these things. Nor do they have any of those bad qualities.  Additionally, people trust people who have integrity.

3. Self-Honesty

There are two types of honesty.  Cash register honesty is one.  Certainly, cash register is important for building trust and staying out of jail.  However, self-honesty enables people to see their shortcomings.  More importantly, self-honesty enables people to correct their mistakes and strengthen their weaknesses.

To have self-honesty, we must be open-minded and have a willingness to change.

4. Absolute Ability to Set Priorities

Anyone can make a list of things to do.  However, a simple to-do list is not a list of priorities.  Successful people must have the ability to know the difference between the things that they should do today from the things that must do today.

5. The Ability to Act

Do not confuse motion with action.  A swivel chair has motion but it is not going anywhere.   People who move into action create self-empowerment to reach their goals.

6. Relentlessness

People who are relentless don’t give up on themselves or their success.  Through effort and intelligence, they move past obstacles to achieve their goals.  I write two to three blog posts a week.  Sometimes, I don’t feel like writing.  Other times, I can’t think of ideas for writing.  However, I have a relentless attitude to continue to read and grow and find powerful ideas to share on my blog.

Career Plan

Career Plan: Tailored and Flexible for Your Success

Picking A Career

In picking a career, start with an understanding of what you want to do and what you need to do to have that type of career. First, answer these questions.

    1. What Do You Want to Do?
    2. How Important is Income?
    3. How Well Do You Tolerate Risk?
    4. Where Do You Want to Live?
    5. What Education Do You Need?
    6. What Experience Do You Need?
    7. How Do You Relate to Other People?
    8. Should You Take an Aptitude Test?
    9. Who Hires People Who Match Your Goals and Abilities?

Be Detailed and Specific in Your Answers

Write down your answers to these questions.  Compare one against the other in terms of importance.  Reshuffle the order to match your priorities. Be as specific as possible.  For example, preferences on location can range from one neighborhood to one city to anywhere across the country. Write down whether you want to work from home or work in a place outside of your home.  Write down whether you want to work for yourself or for someone else. Notice how your interests in one of these options can limit or increase your opportunity in others.

Grow and Stay Flexible to Adjust Your Career Plan to Match Changing Conditions

You should use this process or a similar process every time you evaluate the progress of your career. A career is a process of continuous growth.

For example, as a recruiter, I started with a file card system. Additionally, I used postal mail. Over time, I added a fax to my office. Then I converted my file card system to a computer contact manager system.  Email replaced postal mail. Instead of making calls to reach people, I emailed people who were in meetings and seldom could get to their phone.

In Conclusion

Remain curious. Accept the realities of an ever-changing world of business.  You might need to return to college or obtain new credentials or certifications.  Continue to read to stay current with events of the day.  Strengthen your professional skills to become more effective in working with other people and to grow into greater responsibility.

Image Marketing

Image Marketing: How to Leverage Social Media for Success

Image Marketing: High-powered social media and mass media create an image of how they want you to see them. They are consistent with their message and their image creates loyalty among their followers.

Align Your Image with a Cause

More than establishing a theme for your social media, create a cause: political, charitable, social, career, personal growth, and educational causes show depth in your message. They help you develop your image with a consistent message.

Caveat: The cause must be consistent with the image you are creating in your marketing theme. Politics, religion, even education can trigger people.  And that is fine as long as the triggers draw the audience you are developing.

Dress for Your Audience

If you follow social media czars, you know that they dress for their audience. Gary Vaynerchuk, author, entrepreneur, best-selling author, social media guru owns a tie, but there aren’t many pictures of him wearing it.  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wears clothes for his Instagram feed (@therock) and Twitter feed #dwaynejohnson that display the images of the characters he plays in his movies: large, powerful, smiling, and approachable. Nearly always in a gym, he is the sweatiest man on the Internet!

Puncher or Counter Puncher?

On the other hand, are you a counter puncher? Leading political media figures are counter punchers. They take issue with their opposition. Television, radio, and Internet counter punchers are very effective in the political arena. They use anger and fear to trigger intense emotions in their audience.

Image Marketing Needs Consistency

In closing, as you develop your image, choose messages that you believe in. This choice ensures that you can consistently create a message that is genuine. You create faithful followers who identify with your image. Additionally, as you create content, you gain experience and knowledge that makes you more effective in building a credible image.