Tag: Growth
A Career To Be Grateful For
Being a stay at home mom has its perks – you don’t have to get dressed up, you can work out on your own schedule, and you don’t need to have the children’s lunch ready at 7 a.m. However, the most amazing and obvious benefit of being a stay at home mom is the opportunity to intimately know your children and to share all of the milestones of their young lives. No one can truly understand and love a child like their parent. Choosing to stay at home had its financial and career limiting consequences, but it’s a choice that I will never regret.
Being a stay at home mom however does not mean that you must put your brain or skills on hold. Especially in today’s modern world where there are countless ways for you to expand your horizons. And that’s exactly what I did. After driving many, many miles to practices, games, lessons and recitals, making sure that the homework was done and dinner was prepared, I spent countless late nights looking on the computer for ideas to sharpen my skills, and technology is what I came to love.
I am a problem solver. I love when I am given a challenge; know how to fix it, and how to fix it better. It started with setting up my own home wifi network. To most of my friends and co-workers, it’s probably no big deal, but in the stay at home mom arena – I was “big stuff”. Everyone wanted to know, “ how did I know how to do that?” Before I knew it, I was helping my neighbor, her friend, and then their elderly parents. And so began my journey, I became even more motivated to challenge myself. From school sports teams to the theatre department, the needs, as well as the expertise grew. I taught myself HTML, CSS, and how to create a Joomla site.
With each growing project a new skill such as Photoshop and Gimp emerged. I began to get noticed and was offered a position by my local principal in the Career Tech Department. The launching pad was perfect, it allowed me to further develop my skills and opened my eyes to the world of other opportunities out there. With my newly minted resume, an opportunity presented itself. The Global HR consulting firm, Exaserv, was looking for a Product Manager and the job description fit me perfectly. Some of the main requirements were organizational skills and the ability to prioritize, and all those years of being a stay at home mom had definitely helped to hone those skills. Not to mention my developed computer expertise!
It’s been over a year now since I’ve been back in the workforce and I have loved every day of employment. I am constantly learning and growing in my new role and enjoy all the “doors” that are opening for me. Staying at home to raise my children was the best decision I ever made, but taking that time to also sharpen my skills has given me the opportunity to go back to work and grow my career. It’s an experience for which I will forever be grateful.
About the author: Sophia Lidback is Product Manager at Exaserv, where her responsibilities include managing product development, writing and editing technical and functional user manuals and managing customer relations with respect to product implementation. Sophia is a wife and mother of 4.
{Women of HR Unwrapped} Fear Can Help You Grow
We are unwrapping some posts from the Women of HR archives for you this holiday season. Relax, enjoy and let us know if there is a favorite of yours you'd like to see unwrapped and run again.
How do you grow?
You don’t let fear get in the way of your doing what you need to do.
I have just worked through one of the hardest projects I have ever tackled in my life. I learned so much and the stakes were VERY high. Yes, there were times that the tasks were daunting. Yes, there were times when it was scary, but it is what I needed to do, to succeed and to get through to the other side. There were times when I shut the door, whipped out the iPhone and played a few games of Sudoku just to pull my heart rate down. I was determined to do the very best I could and to make all the right decisions.
I think too often people let the fear of their own unknown capabilities stop them from doing what is needed, or it prevents them from doing quality work on a project or a task. They don’t know if they can accomplish something and they let the fear sit on that negative perspective of the challenge. Another way to look at something that you have never done before, is that now you get to learn something new. Now you get to grow.
It had been awhile since I had done something in business that really had a fear element in it for me. I remember my first trip to Europe was on a business trip that I did all by myself. It scared me. All the firsts I had on that trip drove my adrenalin. I have never been afraid of travel to anywhere or into
any situation since then. I gained confidence. I remember the first international and the first $100,000+ deals I negotiated. They both made me nervous but they have lead me to relish, not fear, every customer conversation, the big deals and meeting anyone with any title from any walk of life.
I don’t really like the expression ‘facing your fears’ because that gives your fear a shape and presence that makes it even bigger. I think we need an expression more along the lines of “climb above your fear.” This keeps the awareness that we need to respect the trepidation, while using the endorphins to lift us up higher.
So the lesson I have now firmly cemented into my heart is that it is OK to have a fear of something if you use that fear to heighten your awareness and improve your performance. When you come out the other side of a project that intimidated you, you will have increased confidence and a new perspective.
It’s called experience and it is earned.
About the author: Lois Melbourne, GPHR, is CEO and co-founder of the global workforce planning and analytics solutions company Aquire, mom to one terrific young son and wife of co-founder Ross Melbourne. She maintains a strong personal commitment to career education and small business development and is a frequent speaker, author of industry articles, and an avid blogger and networker. Connect with her on Twitter as @loismelbourne.
Photo credit iStockphoto
Mentors: The Key To Your Success
I have a passion for mentoring. I have been helped by so many people to move from a small town student from Missouri to leading an international firm with some of the greatest employees in the world. I have experienced mentors that have moved in and out of my life and I have mentors who have been part of my life since I was 18 and remain touch stones of reality. These gifts from wisdom from mentors have made small and enormous differences in my life and the life of my teams. I spend all of my volunteer efforts towards various types of mentoring.
I started hearing about a group called The Levo League and am very impressed. Launched in March 2012 and based in New York, the Levo League is a social network for young professional women. It offers resources including a job opportunities board, mentorship programs and Q&A video sessions. Here is an interesting quote from a Wired article, The League of Extraordinary Women, from Levo League cofounder and CEO, Caroline Ghosn:
“We are not exclusive to women but we offer solutions for career issues commonly faced by young women,” says Ghosn. “For instance, a man will apply for a job if he has about 50 to 60 percent of the requirements. A woman will only apply if she fulfills 90 to 100 per cent. These are behaviors that we have to unlearn.”
I thought this was interesting and realized that I have seen many women that could benefit from reaching out to mentors and learning how they got where they are. I have seen counterproductive career moves in both genders. Sometimes hindsight is the way to see the woes of our ways. The only way to typically get a hindsight view is by talking to somebody who has “been there, done that.
A Starry-Eyed Skyward Trajectory
Almost seven years ago, I needed a new receptionist. I interviewed half a dozen candidates, with many different skills and abilities from right out of school to years of work experience. The person I hired was a recent college graduate.
Yes, there were candidates with more experience. Why did I chose the way I did? When she sat across from me, doing her best to convince me to give her a chance, she didn’t tell me she would be the perfect receptionist. What she told me, with her eyes sparkling, back straight, and with great pride, was that she had drive and determination and would not remain a receptionist.
It would have been easier on me in the long run to choose someone who was seemingly content to be a receptionist long-term. However, I don’t believe that does the company (or the person) any favors. We were pretty small at the time, with about 25 employees. I knew we would double in size pretty quickly and we would need people in the wings to step forward and assume different tasks.
I can’t say it was smooth sailing, because it wasn’t. Our personalities are very different and we did clash often. Fairly or not, her coworkers initially thought of her as an airhead party girl. She was impatient, chomping at the bit to do more, make more, to simply move forward.
She went back to school while working for us full-time. She earned a Master’s Degree. Along the way, she mellowed a bit. She moved into a data-entry role. She paid attention to what was happening in the office, and studied the interactions of her coworkers. When an opportunity in our merchant relations area came available, she was ready.
Today, she is a Sales Executive. She is rocking her new role. She’s making a direct impact on our bottom line, and she’s having fun doing it. I haven’t been her boss in years, and thankfully we don’t clash the way we used to. I took a chance on the young lady with stars in her eyes when I hired her. I was looking to the future, and I’m so glad I did.
Photo credit: iStockphoto
About the author: April Kunzelman, PHR, is a Human Resources executive with a wide range of experience in many aspects of personnel management. Currently, she serves as the Director of HR for fatwallet.com, an online resource community for savvy shoppers. April launched the non-profit organization Chemo Cargo, aimed at assisting first-time chemotherapy patients. Connect with April on Twitter as @akunzel and @chemocargo.
Career Advice from Women of HR
As the year begins to wind down, we are in the midst of making lists, checking them twice and planning for the holiday season. While our immediate sights are set on the weeks ahead, we are also looking into 2012 <and beyond> at life, travels and career.
If someone asked you what the best career advice you ever received was, what would you say? Well, I asked the Women of HR to weigh in and this is what they said.
Trish McFarlane • It may be simple, but early in my career someone told me to always just be myself. Sometimes that means that I don’t filter myself as much as I should, but as long as I’m being honest and not intentionally hurtful to anyone, I try to follow that advice. People seem to gravitate to others who are comfortable in their own skin. I would never recommend that someone conform to a job, supervisor or workplace if it meant going against who they really are.
Cindy Janovitz • I was recently told (and sort of already knew this, but it helped to hear it from someone else) that no one else is looking out for my career (generally speaking) and that if I want to keep moving forward, or up as the case may be, -I- have to do it and can’t wait for someone to come tap me on the shoulder with a great opportunity.
Vicki Shillington • I have a couple. One, that you should find a place to work where they want you there as much as you want to be there, and two, you are not what you do. Don’t let yourself identify so much with your job that it defines you – that way, if you have a bad day at work, or lose your job, things are still ok. I guess it’s another way of saying ensure work-life balance. You can have it all, just not all at the same time.
Bonita Martin, SPHR • Find a way to say Yes! This was specific to a career in HR. HR and legal tend to be the groups that say “No you can’t do that”. HR professionals need to better problem solvers by understanding the needs of the business and finding a way to help solve the problem. If the solution proposed is not going to work, suggest something else that might work. It can be difficult, but worth the time and effort!
Shandrika Combs (not pictured) • Sometimes people will hate you and sometimes those same people will love you. I pass this piece of advice to every HR person I know. Because it’s our job to try and get organizations straight, that means there will be times the employees aren’t happy and there are times when management/leadership will be unhappy. However, there are just as many times when your answer will make those people happy.
Lois Melbourne, GPHR • My late mother-in-law told us “You have to live like others won’t until you can live like others can’t.” This always struck me as meaning you have to put in hard work to get the reward. Not everyone will put in the hard work. Not everyone will take the big risks. But those that do, are likely to be rewarded.
Margaret Ward, PHR • Very early in my HR career, I wanted to apply for a position that would have been a huge promotion for me but I didn’t have all of the credentials required by the position. My HR Director (at the time) and mentor told me “Never tell yourself no. Let them tell you no. Where you may not have all of the qualifications for a position, you don’t know who you’re going up against. You may have more than anyone else that applies. When a position is posted, the ideal qualifications are listed but that doesn’t mean that they will find somebody who has all of those qualifications”. This has always stuck with me. And by the way, I got that job!
Teresa Rennie • I have two I would like to share. The first was that I tend to be very direct, let people talk and you will get more information by listening. The second was from my son who exclaimed after taking on a paper route that “work is very hard” to which I replied that if you want to progress in life then you really have to “very hard” to achieve your dreams.
Michele Sparling • The very first HR job I had I was told by the then President of the company “When the job stops being fun (i.e. you enjoy doing what you are doing), it is time to leave” and “Sometimes to move ahead, you have to move sideways” … which means taking work in another area either within or outside your area in order to develop yourself to obtain the work you want … a career path is not perfectly straight.
Joyce Jordan SPHR-CA • The most eye opening advice I received early in my career from a seasoned and educated woman in the organization was “you are only an employee”. Reminding me that I work for the company, I did not own the company and I should take care of myself. And, she was right.
Andrea Ballard, SPHR • Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it for a living.
Shellie Sturmer, SPHR • A senior executive once told me that I needed to stop trying to be the manager that people above me wanted me to be and to be the leader that I am. While I think the two intertwine in today’s business climate, that encouragement to not lose sight of the big picture and to inspire and instill trust hasn’t left me.
And in 140 characters or less . . .
@DebbieJBrown • be yourself
@theHRmaven (Deirdre Honner) • best career advice? 1) while it might happen periodically, don’t count on shortcuts; 2) sometimes it’s just not about you
There is nothing better than advice from those who have who have walked in your shoes and are willing share what they’ve learned. I have had the benefit of mentors and coaches over the years but the best piece of career advice I received was when I first starting out, frustrated that another colleague <obviously much less qualified than I> received a plum assignment I had my eye on. The advice went like this:
You are responsible for your own career. Stop thinking that if you work hard and do a good job people will notice. They are too busy working on their own careers. Uncomfortable as it may seem, tell people what you’ve accomplished, why it’s important to them and to you – and never forget those who helped you along the way. Give credit where credit is due but don’t minimize your own contributions.
Take a few minutes to share what you’ve learned either here or with us in the Women of HR LinkedIn group. It’s a manager’s choice discussion and there are more comments there. “Like” the comments you like, add your experience, complete a thought, blaze a new trail . . . go crazy.
Hey, we’ve got your back.
Change is good. Tough, but good.
Maybe I’ve grown old. I used to pride myself on being good at change – able to roll with the punches, take on new challenges. Recent events have made me aware just how set in my ways I can be, and I‘ve been humbled by how difficult it has been to adapt.
Two months ago, due to her long term unemployment, my mother moved in with me. Shortly after we settled in to the new living arrangements, I started a new job, in an entirely new industry.
While I am still working in Human Resources, I have always said that to do HR right, you must understand the business inside and out, and here I was, back at square one, unsure of the products, the lingo, the people, and whether I’d made the right choices.
Everything seemed different. When I came home, my condo had someone in it – someone very stressed and worried about finding work of her own. Things were rearranged. It felt crowded and foreign. At work, I was scrambling to get established, missing my old coworkers who knew and trusted me, and trying to make a good impression as quickly as possible.
And yet I was surprised by how little time it took to develop new routines to replace the old ones. My mother and I made space for each other, as best we could in a 550-square-foot place. We developed tasks to help each other out, and to create alone time. At work, I found a few new friends, admired my new managers for their skill and grace on the job, and even found a new place nearby to get good udon noodles for lunch.
The older someone gets, the harder it can be to make room in a life built just the way you like it for new people, new places, new ideas. When you are 20 years old, making room in your life is easy – everything is unfixed, and you are just discovering who you are. As years pass, a life is built, brick by brick, as you discover what is important and how to be authentic. Yet sometimes it’s healthy to kick the wall down and make room for something else entirely – even when it isn’t easy.
So, maybe I’ve grown older. But not too old – not yet. Though change isn’t easy, it is possible, and welcome, and ultimately, well worth the effort.
Photo credit iStockphoto
Accepting Feedback.The Right Way.
In today’s world most everyone has engaged in 360 feedback processes, bi-directional feedback, and opinion surveys of one sort or another in order to gauge leadership strengths, 360-degree job performance, what’s working/what’s not working, and overall customer satisfaction. Companies put employees through this rigor typically on an annual basis, with the end-goal being to learn and then improve the individual and/or collective team performance.
The response companies get back from the evaluated team members varies radically. Some are downright opposed to the process and even angry that they have to participate – scratching it up as a waste of time, and others embrace it as a way to improve and more quickly climb the professional ladder.
When managed properly, feedback is a gift and can be an indispensable tool in helping employees become fully aligned – as individuals, professionals, teams, and overall organizations.
HR professionals and company leaders should keep the following guidelines in mind when designing and implementing feedback programs:
There is value in knowing what others think about us, and there is equal value in staying open to that feedback.
Sometimes the truth hurts. Often times our first reaction is complete and utter disbelief – followed quickly thereafter with rejection that the source of the feedback simply ‘doesn’t get it.’ Some never get past this denial stage – and choose to stay as they are, discounting any and all suggestions for change because ‘they are who they are and others are just going to have to get over it.’ However, ignoring feedback hurts no one more than ourselves. Feedback, when received openly without filters, can be a powerful compass for change. And can be an opportunity for further personal growth when taken to heart.
Systemic integration of feedback processes, versus annual report cards, is imperative.
One mistake individuals and companies make is making feedback processes and/or surveys monumental, once-a-year events. The power and associated benefits of feedback occurs when it is integrated into a day-in, day-out expectation. Thoughtful, planned opportunities for the entire team to share with each and every member what they would like to see ‘more of’ and ‘less of’ from each other is far more powerful than an annual assessment. Systemic and expected, routine feedback becomes a regular part of the environment. Team dynamics become more collaborative, and open communication will foster honesty on a frequent and unsolicited basis.
The value lies in taking and integrating what you learn.
Ultimately, the trick is for employees to take the feedback and integrate it into their daily routines – expediently, consciously, and thoughtfully. If people don’t listen, hear, and apply what they heard, feedback surveys will be a waste of time, which does more harm than good on multiple fronts. When people do respond with action – publicly and overtly – they gain credibility, personally and collectively. And that improvement validates the organization’s feedback processes and practices with each performance improvement.
It is a well regarded fact that the most ‘self aware’ individuals become the highest performers and contributors in the workplace and in life. Being aware is absolutely the key to growth, whether this awareness is within the individual, within the team, within the company or beyond.
HR leaders who can get team members to see and respond to personal and performance feedback will be well on the way to total organizational alignment — within individuals and between teams, organizations, and extended alliances. This alignment will always result in higher performance.
So, yes, feedback really is a gift.
Photo credit iStockphoto
About the author: Kristin Kaufman is founder of Alignment, Inc.™, formed in 2007 to help individuals, corporations, boards of directors and non-profits find alignment within themselves and their organizations. A prolific writer, Kristin’s first book, Is This Seat Taken?, centers on her global experiences seeding her journey toward alignment. The book is scheduled for release in November 2011. Kristin is on Twitter as @KristinKaufman.
Renewal
If we had a crystal ball, life would be grand. But, because we don’t, we often find ourselves at the mercy of hindsight. Hindsight being 20/20, what is one setback you faced in your career that ended up being a blessing in disguise?
A long time ago, my father told me it was important to collect life experiences. It was not only important to collect them but to cherish and to learn and grow from them. Let me add . . . to heal from them.
As you journey through life, you collect personal and professional experiences. If you had asked me a couple years ago, I would have told you to let someone else collect them. I was done. I had had enough. Today if you ask me, I will tell you I am glad I did not.
Many people tend to believe you heal from the personal or private things in your life and that will affect or spill over to the rest of your life, to your professional life. I began to wonder if you also heal from professional experiences and when I shared this with a colleague, she paused momentarily and said, “Um, you are right. That is so true. I have never thought of healing in a professional capacity.”
And so my journey of professional healing ensued.
My healing started in 2010 with the passing of someone close to me followed by a series of wonderful and traumatic events in a short 18 month time period. I agonized over a decision that would have long standing affects: take a permanent leave or continue to work. I was giving everything I had to work and to others. I was failing miserably in caring for myself. I decided to take the time I needed and heal. If you asked me then, I probably would told you it was a crazy and outrageous decision. Others thought it was a brave and courageous decision. Today, I consider it to be a rare but extraordinary gift I gave myself.
A couple of things I learned on this journey. Death is certain - but so is life! In essence, I was reclaiming my life. I now surround myself with only those that I love, enjoy and connect with. I engage and seek out work that I am passionate about. I am solidly anchored, confident, and grounded.
Taking the time I needed to heal was a blessing in disguise. Hindsight provides you with the clarity to move forward. It is not always clear in the moment, but it becomes so as time passes. Time is precious so make the moments count. Life is too short to not enjoy every moment.
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Many of us go through life identifying themselves by their work. Yes, to some degree it does define how you live and what you are able to enjoy. How do you answer the question, “What do you do?” Many answer with, ”I work here and do this and have done this for x numbers of years.” I challenge this by telling you that you are not defined by your work, you are defined by who and what you love. What you love is in part your work – your professional self – but that is not all that it is. As you grow and establish a life for yourself your thinking changes and you begin to think this way too. The more people I talk to and share this with, the more people affirm this for themselves too.
When askes what is it that I do, I answer, “I am a consummate professional with over 16 years experience in Human Resources, I love developing and coaching others, tackling problems, engaging with others on creative, rewarding and complex projects. I love to write, volunteer and stay close with family and friends. And in my spare time I read everything I can, swim and enjoy watching sports.”
Professional healing. Yes, I have healed in ways that have even surpassed my greatest expectations. But more importantly I have re-discovered myself again and let me tell you, I am awesome!
A part of you dies when you stop collecting life experiences. If your bucket is not continuously overflowing, you are not living enough.
Photo credit iStockphoto
Fear Can Help You Grow
How do you grow?
You don’t let fear get in the way of your doing what you need to do.
I have just worked through one of the hardest projects I have ever tackled in my life. I learned so much and the stakes were VERY high. Yes, there were times that the tasks were daunting. Yes, there were times when it was scary, but it is what I needed to do, to succeed and to get through to the other side. There were times when I shut the door, whipped out the iPhone and played a few games of Sudoku just to pull my heart rate down. I was determined to do the very best I could and to make all the right decisions.
I think too often people let the fear of their own unknown capabilities stop them from doing what is needed, or it prevents them from doing quality work on a project or a task. They don’t know if they can accomplish something and they let the fear sit on that negative perspective of the challenge. Another way to look at something that you have never done before, is that now you get to learn something new. Now you get to grow.
It had been awhile since I had done something in business that really had a fear element in it for me. I remember my first trip to Europe was on a business trip that I did all by myself. It scared me. All the firsts I had on that trip drove my adrenalin. I have never been afraid of travel to anywhere or into any situation since then. I gained confidence. I remember the first international and the first $100,000+ deals I negotiated. They both made me nervous but they have lead me to relish, not fear, every customer conversation, the big deals and meeting anyone with any title from any walk of life.
I don’t really like the expression ‘facing your fears’ because that gives your fear a shape and presence that makes it even bigger. I think we need an expression more along the lines of “climb above your fear.” This keeps the awareness that we need to respect the trepidation, while using the endorphins to lift us up higher.
So the lesson I have now firmly cemented into my heart is that it is OK to have a fear of something if you use that fear to heighten your awareness and improve your performance. When you come out the other side of a project that intimidated you, you will have increased confidence and a new perspective.
It’s called experience and it is earned.
Photo credit iStockphoto
Four Technology Phases of My Worklife
- First Nonprofit Job. Faxing is fairly new and beepers are big. The phone is our most frequently used tool. We handwrite documents and the secretary types them on a word processor. We have actually been known to cut and paste. Not CTRL+C and CTRL+V, but cutting with scissors and pasting with tape. Yep, that’s how old I am!
- Second Nonprofit Job. Our department has one shared computer, a Mac. Everyone does their own admin work. The CFO gets the sole Internet connection and it’s dial-up. Job applications are on paper or faxed. We conduct most of our business conversations by phone.
- Government Job. Everyone has their own PC. Internet research, intranet, e-mail, electronic timesheets and Outlook become a part of daily life. We don’t use our desk phones as much. Most people have cellphones; they’re the size of bricks but we love them.
- Current Job. Our accounting software and HRIS are originally installed on our servers but over time move to the web. Job applications evolve from paper to email to Internet. We have a Facebook page, we tweet, we hire a half-time communications person. We e-mail to arrange phone calls. Much of my own networking is done through social media and we look to the web for a wide range of solutions to everyday challenges. Our cell phones are getting smarter all the time and we try to figure out how to get them to do more of our work.
Looking back, it is truly amazing to me to reflect on how work tools and technology have changed since I started earning a paycheck.
I know we have readers who started working before me but I imagine there are more who entered the workforce long after. In fact, many of our younger readers probably began working after I started my current job!
Millennials, can you imagine using typewriters and beepers, pen and paper? Can you imagine trying to work without a computer or access to the Internet? I bet you can’t. You might try, but I don’t think you can do it.
Just like I can’t begin to imagine what technological changes the next 25 years will bring.
photo by: feck_aRt_post
