Career Strategy Roadmap

It’s a Clean Slate! A New Day! A New Season! A New Year!

Pegotty Cooper — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:14:21 +0000

A new organization, client, colleague, boss – an opportunity to redefine yourself, to become the leader – the colleague – the friend – the parent you imagine yourself to be!

We all have a list of things we wish we had done in the past year. We have a list of things we want to do this next year. It is a new beginning and you get to say how the next year is going to unfold for you!

You might start by looking at those two lists and to ask yourself a few key questions that will get the items on those lists in focus:

Is this item really going to serve me in the long term?
And is this bringing me happiness or satisfaction in the near term?

Rather than creating a long list, create a few questions that you can ask yourself everyday or every week:

Am I paying attention to the “Big Rocks”, the areas that lead me to my dreams or my BIG GOALS?
Am I developing myself to perform to my fullest capacity?
Am I visible/connected to people that can support me in fulfilling my life’s purpose or my career purpose?
Am I dealing with the things that need attention or am I tolerating things that drain energy from me?

How you answer these will determine how quickly you move forward, creating the work or life that you imagine! And then take the action which will take even the tiniest step so that you can be living in the affirmative for each of these questions.

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What I wish you for the new year is MOJO!

Pegotty Cooper — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:10:51 +0000

Marshall Goldsmith, author of the book MOJO: How to Get It, How To Keep It and How to Get It Back If You Lose It defines Mojo as “that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside.”

A few key words here: NOW, not yesterday, not tomorrow. Do I have a positive spirit toward what I am doing NOW. It starts on the inside and radiates to the outside. Are you showing on the outside what is going on in the inside? Are the two in alignment? Are you being authentic in what you are showing to those around you? You have a clean slate! Write on that slate with Mojo!

For more insight into your own Mojo, check out Marshall’s bookMojo. Click on the cover above to purchase it through Amazon and you will contribute a few pennies to my retirement fund!

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The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace – Book Review

Pegotty Cooper — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:43:44 +0000

The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace , a book by Chapman and White, is a gift for anyone who struggles with how to express appreciation to others, especially in the workplace where sometimes you just don’t have a clue about how to give the person something that will be meaningful to them. In what the authors call the “Motivation by Appreciation” model, they describe the five languages as: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Tangible Gifts, and Physical Touch. And they even offer an assessment so that you can see what the preferred language is for people around you.

Actually, you can probably make a pretty good guess just by watching them and how they express themselves to others. Do they say a few kind words or give acknowledgement to those around them; or do they stop by the desk or cubicle and spend a few minutes with the person? Do they notice when someone seems overwhelmed or irritable and offers to help them on their project? Or maybe they buy a Starbucks gift card or just give the person a high-five for a job well done. Whatever they do for others you can assume is what they would prefer as a way of having appreciation express to them.

There is a wealth of resources on the website: www.appreciationatwork.com which you can download and use on Monday morning with your colleagues, your manager, your employees and members, volunteers, board members – the list is endless!! As we launch into the holidays here the questions of giving is always a gamble, you can’t go wrong with a good dose of appreciation expressed in the language of the recipient.

Get The Book and Pass It Around!
The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace can be ordered here for everyone on your management team or on the Board! Click here
to order for Christmas from Amazon. P.S. Every book comes with a free code for a 5 Languages Assessment.

Holiday Gift Idea – 3 Keys to Success Strategy Session
If you want to express appreciation to someone in your life, maybe a good kick-off to the New Year would be a Gift Certificate for a 3 Keys to Success Strategy Session – exploring what you can do to ensure your career success in 2012. Click here to get a Gift Wrapped Certificate sent to someone you know that could use a few inspiration success strategies.

The Gift to Give Yourself!
And you can give yourself the gift of the CEO Scorecard – a quarterly review of the 4 questions of importance for you. Whether you are the CEO of your organization or the CEO of your life – this an invaluable tool to keep you on track this coming year. Click here for more information.

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“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

Pegotty Cooper — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:40:08 +0000

As our holiday celebrations approach, I reflect on how lucky I am to celebrate 9 years of having a practice which allows me to serve people in a way that fills me up, re-energizes me, and has me in awe of my clients! And like the quote above says, feeling gratitude and not expressing it IS selfishly wrapping a present and not giving it.

I am also surrounded by professionals in a variety of businesses that inspire me to get outside of myself and to dream about what we can do together to make the world more humane and just. People with courage to change business and family models, to question the way we do things and to dream dreams that have the power to transform lives and lifestyles!

And so I say thank you to you for being who you are, for sharing your gifts with the world, unwrapped and available to everyone. And for being selfless in your acknowledgement of others, unselfish in rewarding people for what they do in small and big ways, and for opening yourself graciously to feedback and to becoming self-aware.

And thank you for sharing with me the desire to make a difference in my community; to make the world a better place; and to never forget those that have gone before us and paved the way for us to expand our minds and work beyond our wildest dreams.

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Do I Really Have To Customize My Resume?

Pegotty Cooper — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:29:35 +0000

Come on guys! If you want to get sorted to the short stack of YES resumes – you bet you want to customize your resume to the job being offered! Not only that but you want to make it easy for the reader to grasp who you are and be inspired by your interest, commitment and passion.

Don’t just take my word for it – here is the feedback you will never hear directly from a hiring executive:

“I had nearly 200 applicants for the job. If the resume is too cumbersome to read, and the cover letter really doesn’t show any enthusiasm for THIS job…if it sounds like it could have been for any association management job and h/she didn’t tailor it to the needs that we have as posted in the job description, I won’t bother to consider that person!

When combing through so many resumes, I can only include those people who were inspirational to me – who come across as both uniquely qualified AND passionate about this particular opportunity.”

If you take the “why bother” attitude with the resume, the hiring executive can only assume you will show the same laissez faire attitude with the rest of the job. Or in your willingness to go the extra mile for a member, or for an elected leader – or even for your own growth and development!

Check out the link on the front page of the blog which takes you to the recording of my webinar Good to Great Resumes which was sponsored by ASAE.

And please, talk to me about some tips for making it a painless process and just part of your homework for the interview you are sure to get when you put the real you into your resume!

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5 Ways to SCORE with your Boss

Pegotty Cooper — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:30:09 +0000

Managing up is the key to advancing your career, whether your up is to the board or to the CEO or to your manager. Whoever is “up” has the same fears and concerns that every human being has. Here are 5 ways for you to have them see you as an indispensible part of the association!

Solutions: Come to the table with solutions. When you dump a problem in the boss’ lap, or when you make excuses about why you can’t give them what they are asking for without providing another option, they wonder why you are there! Or worse, you feed their fear that they have to do it all!

Communication: Get to the bottom line. Give them the executive summary. If they have to spend their time condensing the information you are providing to them or sorting through the details to get to the meat of your message or idea, it is likely that your communication will go no further than their ears or their desk. They need your help in distilling the message to something that communicates clearly and concisely.

Organization Perspective: Take the perspective of what is best for the organization. Your focus on your personal agenda alone if the organization is faltering or instead of what will builds and strengthen the organization does not make you a valuable member of the team. If you can’t support the goals of the organization, you lose your credibility and the confidence of your boss!

Responsibility: See the solution through to the end even if the end is outside of your immediate domain. You are responsible not only for dong the right things but also for getting the right results. Your boss is responsible for all of it and is counting on you to understand the effectiveness of what you are doing as part of the ears on the ground.

Even Keel: The ability to be clear and calm no matter what the circumstances or to keep up the spirit of those around you is critical to maintaining a healthy environment in the group. If your boss has to come in to do damage control, your value slides downhill quickly.

Your boss relies on the support of others to be successful – they are counting on you to stand shoulder to shoulder with them to share the load because they cannot do it alone. When they fear that you need to be carried, you add to the problem and not to the solution. Scoring with your boss has a lot to do with instilling in them the confidence that they can consistently count on you to SCORE for the association!

For more good insights about how to manage up to manage your career, click on the link under the calendar on the right side of this blog and make a 30 minute appointment for a Career Strategy Review with Pegotty Cooper.

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Stellar Resume But They Blew the Interview!

Pegotty Cooper — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:33:46 +0000

An association executive recently shared with me her experience in interviewing candidates for the number 2 spot in her association. She received several excellent resumes accompanied by glowing recommendations from former employers or colleagues. Desperate to find someone to assume a strong number 2 role who could partner with her in taking the association to the next level, she lined up several interviews with what she assumed would be top candidates for the position based on their terrific resumes.

But what the executive experienced in the interview did not align with the stellar resumes.

How they blew the interview -

Negative about former employer: When asked about why they left the last job, the person got very negative about their former employer. Negativity dominated the conversation and sucked the air out of the interview.

Boring Appearance: The female applicant showed up in a gray boring suit with very little make-up, no jewelry and no style to their hair. Boring! The look implied no life or energy and this initial impression put a damper on their whole presence. What would her board members say about her choice of number 2 when they met her?

Name dropping: Another applicant looked great, very alive and energized and started dropping names all over the place. Great contact, the executive thought, but soon the name dropping turned into the implication that they were really too good for this job because they traveled in better circles! Maybe this was just covering needing to prove that they were good enough by the company they kept!

Too much drama: The applicant shared too much personal information and family drama, perhaps intended to point to challenges she had overcome but it seemed scattered and confusing. Who could keep track of this cast of characters- and who wanted to?

Too rigid: I only do this and not that. Okay, you may not have great expertise in all areas but if you are number 2, you need to be flexible and develop a working knowledge of all parts of the organization so you can keep all the moving parts meshing together.

Didn’t act or speak the role: Another applicant went off on tangents, wasn’t focused, spoke in a scattered way and didn’t strike her as the person she could trust to gain the respect of the staff and the board members. And she was surprised at some of the statements that came out of her mouth. What might she say to the board and committee members or suppliers she would be working with? When in doubt, end the interview with a polite “Thank you. I will be in touch!”

All the executive wanted was someone to show up for the interview and say this is why I should have this job… This is the value that I bring to the organization… Is that too much to expect?

What was the biggest interview mistake you have experienced?

Don’t miss “The Art of Interviewing: Creating Your Own Star Quality” being offered through ASAE Career Services on Thursday, July 14, 2011, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST. SIGN UP HERE for this free teleseminar.

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Creating Star Quality in your Interview

Pegotty Cooper — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:07:05 +0000

Imagine the person that would be a real “star” in the position you are applying for. How do you imagine they would be dressed? How would they enter the room? Introduce him or her self? How would they be managing the conversation? What would they want to get from the 60 minute interview? What information is critical so that they can move forward and get the job done? How would they end the meeting? What would be the next step?

What shift do you have to make in how you view yourself to be create that presence? What homework about the organization, the industry, and the interviewers do you have to do? What questions do you want to ask people that are in the know about this organization?

You know the answers. Just ask yourself the right questions to create your own “star quality”.

What questions have you asked yourself that have helped you win an Oscar in the interview?

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What is getting your juices flowing?

Pegotty Cooper — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:16:04 +0000

I had an eye opening experience yesterday when I asked a question that I always ask my clients as a way of getting to know them: “What is getting your juices flowing these days?”

I expect to hear about the stimulating projects or creative endeavors they are working on; or the fun things they are doing either at work or outside of work OR even that their juices aren’t flowing at all!

The answer I got was “Let me pull out my folder of all of my complaints”… about everything ranging from the phone company to major global threats. The thing they all had on common was that they were really annoying and disruptive to this person.

We often hear the term “getting your juices flowing” connected with creativity, sports, big projects, or inspirational endeavors. It implies getting the adrenaline flowing so that you are stimulated, in action, excited, and driven by purpose! And I ASSUME that everyone looks at this question though my lens. I promote my business using the phrase “helping you to get your juices flowing again”. Now I wonder how many times I have made assumptions about the filters that people use and leave a conversation unaware that a key word or phrase was interpreted dramatically different from what was intended.

If I am in a leadership role, or in an interview situation, or in a challenging coversation, I would be wise to monitor the words and phrases I use that could be grossly misconstrued. If the person interviewing me hears me talk about all the workplace challenges that really get my juices flowing, they may assume they are dealing with an exceptionally critical or negative person.

I coach a few people whose first language is not English and it also occurred to me that they could interpret that colloquial phrase in a literal manner – who wants to hear about your body juices anyway?

As we get more and more diverse in the workplace and in our communities, we have to hone our ability to pick up on when we have sent signals that were interpreted differently than intended, discover how the other interpreted what you said if it isn’t obvious, accept responsibility for the confusion, and restate your original communication so that what you say is what they hear. These are communication basics that we take for granted and may have slipped from our conscious mind!

Unwinding communication assumptions are one of the things that really gets my juices flowing! Thank you, Maggie, for the opportunity to do that!

And for you, dear reader, what is it that really gets your juices flowing?

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4 Strategies for Mastering the Whitewater

Pegotty Cooper — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:19:54 +0000

Like it or not, there is no new normal that looks anywhere near what the old normal looked like – a nice period of stability between periods of change. Change is the order of the day – not just periodic incremental change, but big disruptive change – permanent whitewater as Gregory Shea describes in his book Your Job Survival Guide: A Manual for Thriving in Change. Naturally this calls on us to develop a different approach to what our real job is – thriving in change no matter where you are on our career path. Shea uses the metaphor of kayaking and viewing this turbulent change as the challenge of the whitewater river. Each moment of each day you could be asking yourself “what choice can I make in this moment to master the skills I need to keep going in the right direction?”

Shift your context. This change isn’t just something to survive or ride out until the next period of stability comes along. We are in a state of perpetual change. The river is never going to stop! Shift your mindset, develop new skills, and change your expectations!
Get off the river and take the time to communicate with colleagues or family. Take time to make connections outside of the turbulence. Take time up front to make connections and understand how others operate so you support each other in the whitewater!
Get good at the Eskimo roll. All kayakers capsize. You have to practice the skill of getting back up quickly. Do you find the same things keep turning you upside down over and over again? How do you take feedback from others? How do stop doing the things that don’t keep you upright? Are you afraid to say “I need help”?
Nestle into an eddy and take a deep breathe. You have to pace yourself. You can’t wait for the river to slow down. Engage in doing something that I feeds your sense of purpose; find some time, no matter how brief, to do something which is helps you to generate the energy you need every day to handle the turbulence and the capsizing. Find a way to celebrate each rapid that you got through!

To purchase Gregory Shea’s book, Your Job Survival Guide: A Manual for Thriving in Change, click on the picture.

And if you want to have a brief strategy session with me to identify ways to develop the new skills needed for the long run down the whitewater river, click on the calendar over there to the right to set up a 30 minute appointment.

And share with me here what skills you use for thriving in the permanent whitewater!

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