Synergy versus Silos: Increasing Your Company’s Success

Synergy versus Silos: Synergy is the process of combining the efforts of individuals or organizations to operate at level greater than the combined talent of the individual members. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Said another way, in this process, teams produce greater results together than the total combined results of working separately.

For example, let’s say that companies X, Y, and Z earn a total of $5 million working separately. However, by merging their talent, knowledge, skills, networks, and other tools, these three companies earn $10 million.

The efforts of the synergistic teams do more than add more more assembly lines. These teams mesh as a unit. A football team is an example. Small quick running backs run through holes that huge power lineman an create.

First-Hand Experience

Large, national search firms have many recruiters collecting and feeding information into a shared database. Managed properly, these firms can become powerful through the shared information in their system. However, these recruiters must have training that makes their efforts work in the best interest of everyone in the company.

In my own experience, I teamed up with other recruiters to share work. By combining our resources, each of us made more money than we were working alone. I had recruiting contracts and job applicants. The other firms had different recruiting contracts and different job applicants. Together, we each made more money.

Furthermore, by working with each other we made money faster. For example, with the help in recruiting candidates, we could spend more time developing new clients or hiring companies. By having more clients, each of us had more companies to place our database of applicants.

These two factors working together gave us all more security.

Synergy versus Silos

We coordinated our work through regular calls to discuss our progress in current assignments. Each person could then prioritize their work based on the progress of each search.

In any company, each department has a different function. Sales planning does sales planning. Marketing does marketing. Research and development department does research and development. Manufacturing produces the product.

In the end, the company must produce a successful product or service. One way to perform these tasks is to have each department complete a task. Then the company hands the project to the next logical team. The concept is that a successful project is the result of a series of efforts among different people or different departments.

However, this system of management can lead to snares and mistakes. For example, if a company doesn’t recognize mistakes early in the process, the company must backtrack to workout product issues. The result can be costly in terms of finance, time, and product delays.

On the other hand, teams or departments can meet regularly to evaluate, adapt, and correct mistakes before moving a flawed product further through the system. Working in a silo, teams or departments may perform at their highest potential. But they are at risk of lost money and lost time.

However, companies that routinely bring these departments together can adapt and refine the process for more successful results. The company becomes a synergistic team. The result is that the company’s results are greater the individual efforts of each team working a silo.

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Happiness and Joy: Steps for Finding Happiness Now

Don’t Wait for Success to Find Happiness.

Happiness and Joy don’t happen in the past or the future.  Everything can only exist here and now.  Becoming happy and finding joy today gives us energy and brings joy to our lives.

The past and the future are just thoughts. They are only as real as we make them. www.jaywren.com

Thinking about the past opens the door to regret and guilt.  Thinking about the future opens the door to the fear of losing something or failing to get something.

When we are living inside our heads, the world moves along without us.

While many people spend time thinking about the future, other people are living in the present moment to build success and security.  They are allowing themselves to know joy and happiness. They live fuller lives.  Their minds are free and energized with focus.

Most people have found satisfaction in achieving a goal.  There is peace of mind in having financial security.

But happiness must happen as we go along in life. Being happy gives us the energy to achieve our goals and create security.

Be Open Joy and Happiness

If we say that I will be happy when I get that job or that car or that other person in our life, we are cheating ourselves but putting conditions on our happiness.  What happens to our lives when we find that we have plenty of money for our security but live in fear of losing that money?  How happy are we when we have plenty of security, but are jealous of people who have more prosperity than we have?  The fact is that we are not happy.

The first step in achieving joy and happiness is to get out of our head and into our world.  Thinking about the past or the future creates risks to our happiness.  Resenting people for their success takes our mind off the things we need to do to ensure our own success.

Take Action for Joy and Happiness

Here are things I do to find joy and happiness in the present moment.

Gratitude: I simply make a short list of things for which I am grateful.

Perspective:  Why fret over things that we can’t control?  I can’t control the weather, media, behavior of other people, and fluctuations of the stock market.  However, I don’t have to think about those things.

We don’t have to wait for success to be happy.  We just take action to create a healthier mind.

Education and Your Job Search

Education requirements vary. The requirements vary by the job type. Additionally, education requirements vary from job sector and from one employer to the next. This article shows you how to prepare for presenting your education to get the maximum interviews.

Understanding Education Requirements

Knowing the education requirements of any job is important. Before going to a job interview, attempt to get a job description. Here are some places to find job descriptions.

  1. Job boards and job search engines
  2. Recruiters
  3. Hiring company websites
  4. Direct contact with the company’s human resources department or from the hiring manager
  5. A jobs search with your favorite search engine

Do You Need a College Degree?

In some companies, college degrees are not a requirement.  Some of the most successful company founders don’t have a degree. In the tech sector, airlines sector, construction and home repair sector, sales positions, and other roles often don’t require a college degree.

On the other hand, many companies require a college degree. In some professions, a college degree plus college credentials or advanced degrees are requirements. College requirements are important in many fields. Additionally, credentials or certifications may be required.

Some organizations have specific training for their new hires. Furthermore, these companies train you in specific skills that last you throughout your career. In working for a company that is well known throughout your industry as a training company makes you more marketable.

However, a college degree may prove helpful to move into leadership roles for these positions. Please do your own research through job listings to find the education requirements.

How Important is Your College Major?

The importance of a college major depends on the industry. Accounting, finance, chemistry, engineering, physics, biology, and other majors often qualify a person immediately useful for specific jobs.

On the other hand, some positions do not require a specific college major.

I majored in English. Then I entered Naval Officers Candidate School. The math and science I studied in college were sufficient to give me a basis to study Navy navigation and tactics. When I went aboard the ship, I continued to receive training on the operations of the ship. A year into my service, I qualified as a Navy bridge officer (Officer of the Deck). Additionally, I was promoted to a position as a public affairs officer. My studies in journalism and English gave me the groundwork to develop the skills to manage the shipboard radio and television station, the ship’s newspaper and cruise book, to write daily press releases Additionally, I was able to develop the skills to coordinate and escort VIPs like the Bob Hope and his troupe of performers and technicians.

Should You Get a Degree?

For students who are making a decision whether to go through devote four or more years and spend thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree, I want to share my thoughts.  Graduating from college did two things for my career. I got a key to let me through doors marked, “Degree required.” I gained acceptance into business circles and social circles where having a college degree meant credibility.

Career Strategy: Creating a Powerful Plan for Your Success

Career Strategy: Where do you start in creating a strategic plan that is tailored for you? What do you need to know about adjusting your plan to an ever-changing job market?

Check-off List

A career plan creates a check-off list. Through this check-off list, you will create focus and direction. Your intuition can emerge to see options that might somehow never have come to you.

Career Options

Identify your career options. Develop a refined list of options by examining your interests, skills, and values through self-assessment. researching companies, and talking to professionals in the field. You can further narrow your list when you take part in experiences such as shadowing or working alongside a company employee, volunteering, or internships.
Next, list all the things you need to do to accomplish your career goals.

Here are questions to ask to create a strategy for you career.

    1. Location: Where Do You Want to Live?
    2. Type of Job or Industry: What Do You Want to Do?
    3. How Well Do You Work with Other People?
    4. Opportunities for Promotion: Do You Want to Lead People?
    5. Money: How Important is Income?
    6. Risk: How Well Do You Tolerate Risk?
    7. Do You have a Mentor or Advisor?
    8. Job Security: What are the Risks of Playing It Safe?
    9. What Education Do You Need?
    10. What Experience Do You Need?
    11. Should You Take an Aptitude Test?
    12. Who Hires People with Your Goals and Qualifications?

    Organize by Your Priorities.

    It’s not enough to list options. You must prioritize them. What are your top skills? What interests you the most? What’s most important to you? Whether it’s intellectually challenging work, security and benefits, the right location, or a big paycheck, you must know your priorities.

    Compare one answer against the other in terms of importance. Reshuffle the order to match your priorities. Additionally, notice how your limits on any priority affects opportunities on your other priorities. Preferences on location can range from your home to one neighborhood to one city or to anywhere across the country. If you are open to living anywhere, your opportunities will increase for other priorities. For example, if you are open to relocation, your potential for promotions will increase to locations where a company has needs for managers. Additionally, your opportunities for security may increase with your willingness to change location.

Thinking: Learning how to Manage the Pain Between our Ears

Thinking: Happiness is easy when everything is going our way. However, we can suffer, even when have everything we want. By managing our thinking, we can find joy from learning how to think about our world.

Thinking: Learning how to Manage the Pain Between our Ears

Being happy is a normal. Staying unhappy is not. www.jaywren.com

Traditionally, we see our thoughts in three categories: the past, the present, the future. I add another category: the flow.

Ruminating

Ruminating about or regretting the past is painful. Additionally, filling our heads with anger over the past is enticing. We can imagine how we could have said or done things to people whom, we believe, have harmed us. Rather than allowing the past to haunt us, we can process these thoughts by taking simple steps to change our thinking. Simply taking a deep breath can change our thinking. Also, getting into action can change our focus. Take a walk. Finish a task we have been putting off. Writing a gratitude list put us into action mentally and can alter our mood.

Worrying

Worrying is a thief of our joy and clarity. We see problems as insurmountable. Worrying about the future steals our energy. Additionally, worrying clutters our mind. Rather than worrying, we can write about our concerns. From there, we can seek advice. Additionally, we can create a plan to see solutions. We might find that clearing our minds, we can see that we have options. Even when faced with unavoidable problems, we can prepare to meet them. Preparation builds confidence and helps us we that we will have the wisdom to deal with frightening situations.

Here are things that help me feel happy return to clarity and relief. First, can we simply let the feelings pass? Thinking about the unhappy experience heightens our unhappiness. Even years later, when we think of bad experiences, the unhappy feelings can return. Therefore, not thinking about the cause of our unhappiness allows us to find happiness and return to the present moment. A process for letting feelings pass is to sit with a feeling and focus on the feeling, not the things that we think are causing our unhappiness.

Second, can we change things that make us unhappy? If we can, we can concentrate on solutions and not the problem.

Present Moment

Thinking is still necessary. Sometimes diligent thinking is necessary. When I learn new skills, I must carefully think about what I am doing. I am in the present moment. But as I become more skillful, I move from the present moment to the highest level of thinking.

Flow

Returning the present moment is simple. We can focus on the things in front of us. An even higher level of thinking is living in the flow. Some people call this psychological condition “the zone.”

We stop thinking. We just move through time and action without analysis or distraction.

When I was a Navy officer, standing bridges watches was stressful. I commanded a watch team to keep the ship on course and speed. Additionally, I made changes in course and speed to keep the ship safe and on task. At first, I did a great deal of analytical thinking. As I became for capable, I was no longer analyzing. I simply performed.

Today, when I am writing I often find that my thoughts become like a flow. In those moments, I feel peace. My vigilance turns to a simple awareness of what is happening and what to do.

Career Plan Benefits: Understanding the Process

Career Plan Benefits: a great career plan is an opportunity map. As your career advances, industry will change. Your career plan must be flexible to adjust to changes in industry. With an updated plan, you will discover new roads for opportunities to success.

Great career plans not only define where you want to go. The plan helps you identify the tools, skills, and network you need to get there. ~ www.jaywren.com

The Benefits of a Career Plan

A Check-off List

A Career Plan Creates a Check-off List of What You Need as Your Career Progresses.

Part of creating a career plan includes writing a check-off list. Through this check-off list, you will create focus and direction. Your intuition can emerge to see options that might somehow never have come to you.

Here is a summary of things you might consider including in your career plan check-off list:

  1. The job you are in now
  2. The jobs you want
  3. People you will need to help you
  4. Things you want to achieve
  5. Places you want to live
  6. The amount of money you want to make

The Psychological Advantages of a Career Plan

A Career Plan Gives You a Sense of Purpose and Direction.

Have you ever found yourself in a meeting, working on a project, or in any situation where the question came to mind, “What am I doing here?” or “Why am I doing this?”

Have you noticed that associated with those questions is an unpleasant feeling that you are wasting your time? You have no sense of purpose for your activities.

Going to work every day with a sense of purpose is a lot more fun than going to work every day and wondering why you are doing what you are doing.

Also, it seems logical that going to work every day with a sense of purpose increases your likelihood of being more successful.

  1. Your interest in your work will increase.
  2. You will be focused on your work.
  3. Spontaneously, you will be more willing to invest energy and time in your work.

Preparation

Creating a career plan is preparation for each step of your career. You will more effectively gather the tools and develop the skills that you need. Furthermore, you will better understand which people to add to your network for success.

Mental Clarity

Whether you are working in front of other people or working alone at your desk, as you take advantage of creating a career plan, you will have more mental clarity and feel less stress.

Summary of Career Plan Benefits

In summary, you will have the following benefits from your career plan.

  1. Increased creativity and confidence
  2. Clear direction
  3. Less stress through simplifying a planned process
  4. Great habits for success
  5. The great feelings of a sense of purpose
  6. Spontaneity in handling the inevitable turns and redirections
  7. Creating a vision for success

In closing, you will have empowered your mind with a conscious and unconscious mindset to create a path for your success.

Leadership Development: A Four-Step Process for Success

Leadership Development:  How can companies hire and train people to become leaders? Here are four steps to effective leadership development.

Companies that produce great leaders become greater companies. ~ www.jaywren.com

Leadership Development — Four Steps

Creating future leaders is critical to the long-term growth of a company. An element in succession planning, creating leaders from within increases moral, loyalty, and engagement. Here are four elements to leadership development.

  1. Hire for Leadership
  2. Teach Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability
  3. Continual Training for Leadership
  4. Increase Responsibility

Hire for Leadership

People in any organizations have specific levels of responsibility.  Some of those people will stay in the same job for their entire time with the company.

Other people come into a company as developmental candidates.  These people may start in entry-level jobs.  However, the company has a plan to move these people into bigger roles.  Their responsibilities increase as they master each job.

Teach Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability

For new leaders to become successful, they must know their responsibility, their authority, and their accountability.

Responsibility defines the tasks and activities under a leader’s management. Authority is the power to make decisions and the power to hold team members accountable.  Accountability in leadership development creates an understanding of expectations of performance.

Additionally, leaders must use these elements to teach their team members what the leader expects of them. Leaders can use these elements as reminders for team members to stay on task.

Train for Leadership

Leadership is not a mere concept. Companies can measure the success of their leaders based on results. The best companies don’t wait to have a leader fail. These companies have experienced leaders who can teach new leaders how to succeed.  An ounce of foresight is worth a pound of hindsight.

These leaders must develop styles and practices that make their team as effective as possible. Training, hands-on management, greater feedback, asking questions that provide useful information are some of the methods companies can teach new leaders.

Increase Responsibility

For leaders to continue to grow, their responsibility must increase.  Companies promote new leaders into bigger positions.  These positions have a higher pay grade.  Additionally, they have the greater responsibility.

However, companies cannot always promote leaders. But they must keep the leaders growing and engaged.

What companies can do is relieve experienced future leaders of bottom rung responsibilities.  At the same time, companies can give them responsibilities that will prepare them for greater responsibility.

At Your New Job, Treat Every Meeting as a Job Interview

At Your New Job, Treat Every Meeting as a Job Interview

Once you land a job, you are competing with other people inside and outside your company to keep your job and to progress in your career.

If you want job security and, especially if you want to get promoted, treat each day as a job interview.

Starting of the Day

Before starting your business day, make a list of five things you want to accomplish that day. If those five things include business meetings within your own company or outside your company, preparing for those meetings is simple. At first, you may find that making these preparations may seem complicated and burdensome. I know that I did. However, I found that repetition made these preparations easier and the habit of making these preparations made them feel natural, even necessary. I also found that when I encountered new situations, these habits made preparation for those situations much easier as well.

Preparing for Meetings

Before going to a meeting, write down the following things.

  1. The purpose of the meeting
  2. Presentations you need to bring to the meeting
  3. Name of participants
  4. Location, time, and date of the meeting
  5. The things you want to accomplish in the meeting

During the meeting take notes. From your notes you can send follow-up emails and take action on your commitments resulting from the meeting. You will do a better job for your employer and your peers.

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How to Lose Friends and Followers on the Internet

Losing friends and followers on the Internet is much easier to do than increasing friends and followers. Here are things I try to do to build my network.

Trolling and Trolls

I love Internet forums.  I read forums for fun and for information.

But forums have a sneaky way of getting readers into a blind date with a troll. A few months ago, I gave my opinion on a political forum, only to find that another person snapped back at me.  The wrong way to respond to the negative comment is to reply to the comment. First, I would have given that person attention. Second, there is risk that the person would become a troll and follow me into other social media websites. How wonderful, I could have a relationship with a troll!

I deleted the comment.

Some trolls will post articles intended just to get a reaction from readers. The readers get upset. Comments turn into rants in running streams of comments. Others slap back. The more that people comment, the higher the post rises in Internet attention.

On LinkedIn, for example, when I comment on an article, my comment makes the article appear in my account. From there, other people see the post and may click to follow it. Then, when people comment on the article in my LinkedIn activity feed, the article can appear their LinkedIn account. The article becomes viral.

Internet Policing

Wouldn’t it be great if you could make everyone on the Internet either agree with us? Correcting people on the Internet feels so satisfying while I am writing my comment. But the blowback can get ugly.

Moreover, policing the Internet can damage relationships. As much as I want to fix what I see, I do not know how other people feel amount my correcting them. I can burn bridges and never know it.

Correcting People on The Internet is not my job.

Politics

Not all your friends and followers agree with your politics. The web is rife with political articles and post, especially during political seasons.  when it comes to politics, most people have a bias that overrides their brain.  Politicians do not give people information. They give the media sound bites and clickbait headlines. What many politicians want to do is chum the waters for political fish. When I see people posting chum in my Internet feeds, I unfollow them. I don’t see their face are opinions anywhere on the Internet.

Sometimes, I don’t unfriend or disconnect from people. I just unfollow Friends Who Post Politics on the Internet.

Acting out of Anger

The Internet is immediate, powerful, and permanent. Deleting things that you may regret doesn’t always save people from the negative responses. I have seen screenshots of deleted tweets, posts, and comments. To avoid posting things you will regret, write them down on your device. Come back to them in a couple of days to see whether you still want to post them.

When my gut tells me that I am posting something sketchy, I side with my gut. There is absolutely nothing I can post in a forum that is worth risking my reputation.

Changing People’s Beliefs

There is often little chance of changing the opinion of other people. We all want to see things that reinforce our beliefs.  On social, religious, and political issues, our feelings can easily override our judgement. When we argue with people, they are defending their beliefs. They are not changing their beliefs. Moreover, they may deepen their beliefs and hold resentments against us.

Unemployed Job Seekers: How to be Competitive

Unemployed Job Seekers: How unemployed job seekers become more competitive against the employed job seekers.

Unemployed Job Seekers

People without a job face additional pressure. Loss of income during unemployment can create anxiety.  To an employer, a person being unemployed creates the perception of instability. This perception can weaken an applicant’s ability to get interviews. During interviews, unemployed people are under the pressure to explain why they are unemployed. The issue of unemployment is a distraction. When you want to focus on your qualifications, you must first overcome the issue of your job status.

Your Employed Competitors

People who have a job are in a more competitive position than people who are unemployed. Leaving a company for a better opportunity when you are doing a great job at your current company makes you especially competitive. Therefore, the best time to get a job is when you have a job.

Solutions for Unemployed Job Seekers

I have helped dozens of applicants prepare to handle unemployment during an interview. Moreover, I have helped these people get jobs. Here are some steps that will help.

Resume

Step one, create a personal brand of success. Structure your resume to focus on your career success. Target your resume to the hiring company.

Some people think that your resume should not show that you are unemployed. These people recommend that you leave the dates off your resume. Others recommend that you write your resume to show that you are still employed: 2013 – Present. However, from my experience, a resume that does not include dates raises questions about what a person is hiding. As a corporate recruiter, the two key points I required from a candidate were a list of employers and the dates of employment. The list of companies told me whether I was working with an applicant who was in the correct industry for my job search. The dates told how quickly the person progressed in levels of experience. Moreover, misrepresenting your information can lead to problems even after you are employed.

Social Media: Likewise, your LinkedIn account should match your resume.

Your Interview 

You must be able to handle the issue of unemployment in your interviews. To prepare, write your answer. Then rehearse your answer so that you can give a short, clear reply. Test your answer with people you trust. Get comfortable with your answer so that it makes you look confident in your ability to go forward with success in your next job. Show the power of your qualifications. State how you are seeking the type of job the company offers. Give details of why the job appeals to you. Additionally, talk about the positives of the hiring company.

Conclusion

In conducting your job search, the solution is not to focus on why you are unemployed.  Rather the solution is to focus on the steps to getting interviews and getting job offers from those interviews.