Last year we decided to downsize from a five bedroom house that we had lived in for over a dozen years into a three bedroom ranch. By any calculations of square footage, our new house was about 60-65% smaller. A great deal of “things” could not make the trip. Here are some lessons I learned.

1. All the spare parts I stored in cans in the basement repaired items that were at least 20-30 years old and are not owned by me any more.
2. I don’t need two table saws in the basement; I may not even need one.
3. All the family pictures that have been on the walls through 3-4 houses are full of a lot of dead people. Time to thin them out and update.
4. There is no need for a fertilizer spreader and a big Honda lawn mower in a place that is mainly ground cover and shade.
5. It is time that the kids store their possessions at their own place, not ours.
6. Prized furniture and “wall art” are not as valuable to other people as they were to us, especially when they are sold at a garage sale or on Craigslist.
7. Garage sales draw strange people, waste time and make very little money.
8. And the most important lesson learned: possessions are heavy and require security and maintenance. They are not what they are made out to be.
9. Note to self: remember point eight going into this new year.

This is how long it’s been since I’ve written. I sent this article to Tony from Peter Bregman at the Harvard Business Review on Aug. 3. It’s a great little piece about doing the work that’s important to you, and cites some stats from several studies showing how much time people spend working.

It also mentions the two top regrets people say they have about their lives when they’re lying on their deathbeds. Do you know what they are?

1. I wish I had the courage to live true to myself.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

I suppose the old cliché’s are accurate. Be true to yourself. You work to live; you don’t live to work. After reading the article, I sent it to Tony and told him I would write on it soon. Two months later, I’m finally getting to it.

Why? Simple. I got caught up in the day-to-day. It’s ironic, because it appears I missed the entire point of the article, which is to concentrate on the work that’s important to you. Like Bregman says in his closing, “This writing is important to me.” Blog writing, too, is important to me. It’s my chance to take a 30,000-foot view of my career and the direction it’s heading in. Without the writing, my days blur together, and it all becomes a constant race to cross items off my to-do list.

One of my greatest fears is to wake up in my middle age, with my lifestyle dependent on my income, and realize I hate the work I’m doing. Most of the lawyers I know, at some point, claim this has happened to them. I think the point Bregman was trying to make in his article was to take temperature of the work you do so that this doesn’t happen to you. Of course, hard work always pays off, but we have to be really sure we’re working had doing something we care about.

My yearly review is coming up very soon. It marks my first official year working as a marketer, a big milestone for me. Though I’ve been working in the corporate world since I was 14, this is my first year working in the field I’ve chosen to dedicate my professional life to.

The days leading up to a yearly review can be stressful for some. I think this is mostly our own insecurities getting the best of us. In my experience, they go better than expected and are very positive.

I’ll listen real hard to what is said, ask for better delineation on any parts I don’t understand, and get a datum point on how I am judged in the work place. This will give me the outside metrics on how I am measured (and rewarded?). The temptation is to use my readings to tell them what I need, but it may be premature. From what I can see, management is much more interested in what a new hire can do for them, than in what they can do for the new hire.

After the evaluation, I can sit down and construct a T-chart; I have all the information I need to fill out one side. Now all I have to do is look in the mirror and find out the other side.

1. Is the recovery sustainable: can I afford to invest in any full time staff?
2. We need some new blood around here because everyone looks old and haggard from being short staffed. Will a transfusion help?
3. Has the paradigm shifted to where I need no junior people? Will all thought be internal and all expecting virtual?
4. If I go virtual do I lose my culture and what makes us unique?
5. How do I motivate my people to do great work that is skewed toward one-off project work?
6. How do I retain my good people who are getting better offers from my competitors?
7. Can I afford to train any of my employees and where do they get the time to be trained since it isn’t billable?
8. How do I hire for digital and where does it really fit in the agency?
9. Procurement is killing us, do they want us to do great work or do I hire chimps that can work for peanuts?
10. Things are changing so fast, who do I hire to help me maintain strategic and tactical vision?

I just watched a very funny poignant movie: “You, Me, and Dupree.” In the movie, Owen Wilson plays the role of someone who is never able to synch up with the world as it now exists. He is smart (probably a Mensa), charming, honest, true to his beliefs, and able to relate to everybody. He also has two other qualities. The first is a child-like ability to see the world as new and wonderful everyday. The second is a rock-solid faith that everyone has a unique place in the universe where they will blossom and succeed. It takes the entire movie for him to find his own place in the solar system.

I am reminded of my journey through life and my need to reinvent myself. I was handicapped by not having Owen Wilson’s character’s beliefs in his unique Karma. Mine has been much more of a slogging process. I would probably describe it as groping in the darkness and trying to find doors to open that have a little light coming out from underneath them. I was never successful at opening any positive door proactively until I started to learn who I was and what I wanted (I think I could have built a small vacation house with all the therapy I went through in the interim). And that does not count all the books that I read at the same time.

Thus far I have been through three successful re-makes for myself. One took me from brand management/advertising into the search business; one took me from a marriage of 27 years to one that is 12 years and counting; and one is taking me slowly out of search into the world of professional photography … both selling prints and teaching Photoshop.

In the last month I have sat down with six people in their 30’s to 50’s that were unemployed, lost and frustrated. They felt that the world and job market had passed them by. In a brutal way they were all practicing the insanity of replicating past unsuccessful actions and expecting new better different results. Every one of them was an expert on how to get a job. They could rattle off their contacts on LinkedIn, enumerate their friends on Facebook, and give me an approximation of the number of tweets devoted to their search. Most were on at least the twentieth iteration of their resume.

Every one of them hit the wall about 20 minutes into my interview when I asked them what was the timely unique package they bring to a new employer. Oh, they gave their two minute canned speech about what they offered. But, when I asked them the simple question “what makes you different from the guy next to you?” the light went out of their eyes and their face slackened. Their elevator speech sounded like a badly-delivered 90 second commercial and the voice-over sounded like a bored talking head.

The best way to get a sale is to get to know the product. And the product is you (or me). If you know the product benefits, you will know who to try to sell it to. This is the best way to convince a reluctant buyer that a product will really help them. You make them have to buy it. To hold the buyer’s attention, be full of knowledge, enthusiasm and conviction. And the best way to get to that point is to find out your unique “Mary-ness,” “Joe-ness” or “Larry-ness.” Watch the movie, it really works.

Every morning when I get into the office, about 85-100 emails are sitting there eagerly awaiting my attention. About half are resume solicitations either directly or through LinkedIn. I only read and respond to 10% of them.

What about the other 90%? They go right into the discard pile with no more than a quick 5 second scan. You are probably sitting there going, “This guy is a heartless bastard.” The fact of the matter is that I am not heartless, just realistic. All of the 90% have something in common. They either are part of a mass mailing where my name (and address) does not appear in the heading or the cover letter starts out “I am sure one of your clients could use my skills.”

Somehow people don’t get it. I am in the branding and communications search business. If the prospective candidate can’t show their chops, why would I want them in my database? It takes very little work to find our name, address, specialty and who are our clients. It will be much more rewarding for an individual’s psyche if they take a little time to research the person they are soliciting, there is a good chance they will get an intelligent response to their email. Just remember “GOSB.” Garbage out; silence back.

I had breakfast today with a good friend. Whenever we get together, my brain simmers for a good time after. Our conversation today covered the oil spill, commercial real estate, the attraction of the Catholic Church, the immigrants in Arizona, the Medici’s, Thorstein Veblen and the restructuring of global business. I’ll talk about the last subject and not bore you with the rest.

Starting in late 2008, businesses stopped spending money. The phrase “Cash is King” resounded everywhere. As the corporate sales charts went into free fall, the only actionable strategy left for business was to cut cost. Reduction in staff was the name of the game. People were not necessarily cut selectively: whole departments were vaporized. As an HR director told me, when she walked down the halls, she could hear people humming the theme from “Jaws” or mimicking the bugle notes in “Taps.” Many corporations cut until they started to look like small companies where if you were not client-facing and producing income, you were no longer an employee.

Today many corporations are starting to repopulate. The first hires are the people who make the widgets or services that are already pre-sold. The next group is in the area of logistics; they have to get the just-made widgets to the customer. Hypothetically, the next group to be brought in is the customer service people to deal with the “farming” of current customers to get more orders. Notice a trend here: rehires are all tied to revenue generation.

Many of the people I have spoken with in the last 24 months are very linear thinkers. If they left a company as a VP of marketing or as a SVP of an agency they expect the same job back with the same specs…..and maybe for a little less money. What they don’t understand is the game of musical chairs has changed: not only are there are less chairs, but the chairs are shaped differently.

Before writing your next cover letter for your resume or prepping for an interview, go up to 80,000 feet and look at where your specific or function industry is going today. Figure out how you solve these new needs. Our president ‘s election mantra was change. Boy, how things have changed! What have you learned through this recession that makes you better than you were before. How has this recession become a post graduate course that makes you superior to your peers. If you can do this, you have increased your odds exponentially to get hired. You provide a value add for a company that is desperately seeking help going into this strange new world. There is a definite bias in the business community against old……old thinking, that is.

LinkedIn has become the fourth most important asset for your merchandisability. It nestles in right behind your actual performance, your brand and reputation, and your resume. In general I find that most people gravitate to one of two ways to handle this online asset. They either see it as another wall on which to tack their resume, or they see it as a limitless billboard that is a Facebook sidebar.

Here is my take on LinkedIn. At the barest minimum it must show your business background, what people think of you (references) and a little about your life outside of work. This is a great place to put links to what you are passionate about; articles written about you, pieces that show your best thinking, your creative book and any write-ups about your activities in the community.

Who looks at your persona on LinkedIn? I do, because I am a recruiter who is trying to find good people and find out more about them. It may also be people in your company; maybe even trying to get a competitive advantage over you. It might be a potential employer using this site to get a better sense of whether you fit into their culture. It might be a member of your family looking you up for curiosity sake. Think of all these differing audiences when you post material. Does it position you succinctly for business? Tell people something positive that they didn’t know about you? Is it information current?

Here’s my LinkedIn profile. Let’s connect!

As I took a walk outside today, on what was a beautiful Chicago weekend, I couldn’t help but to feel the somber note the day’s rains had accorded this Memorial Day.

Often, Tony and I write about the harsh effects today’s economy have had on the psyche of the American worker. Today is a good day to remember, as much as we’d like to see our GDP, investment spending, and employment figures rise, there were times when this country lost a great deal more than the worries that trouble us today.

I thought about entitling this post, “Happy Memorial Day,” but realized, as Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn did in this 2007 Memorial Day article, that would be inappropriate. I believe the President can convey what I want to say to you far better than me, but I hope you have a blessed Memorial Day.

– Roland

Think of the great movie trilogies of our time. I’m talking Star Wars, The Matrix, and of course, the Lord of the Rings. Every one of those movies had a main character who was doing something so profound, the writers couldn’t fit it into one movie. They couldn’t even fit it into two. The journey took three films, and their stories required a large cast of characters to keep the plot going.

Of these characters, every protagonist has what screenwriters call a window character. The window character is dubbed so because he or she helps the protagonist “see” themselves in a new light. These windows act as a guide to the story’s hero, seeing them through, in one way or another, the completion of the quest. Neo had the Oracle. Frodo had Gandalf. And, of course, Luke had Yoda.

I bring this up because I came across a great article from the Wall Street Journal the other day called “When Mentoring Goes Bad.” It gives a thorough, objective look at the imposed mentoring programs you’ll likely find at larger organizations, from both the perspective of the mentor and protégé. I’ve had success with any mentoring program I’ve been a part of and look fondly on my career guides. In fact, my younger sister babysat for my mentor from Blue Cross and Blue Shield a few times. I even came to help once and changed her baby’s diaper. First diaper I ever changed.

In the mentoring programs I’ve been a part of, my mentors were the people that recruited me to the position, thus the partnership made sense. I’ve never been in a situation where an HR person acts as a matchmaker. I think the Journal article was addressing this type of scenario, and I can only imagine how frustrating it must be if the mentor relationship was not a positive one.

But regardless of that, everyone should have a mentor in my opinion. You’d be crazy not too. Here are just a few reasons why:

• No one, no one, makes it through this world without a little help from someone else.
• One day, you’re going to need to ask for help. It’s inevitable. Most people learned the unfortunate reality of this last summer (see my most recent post.)
• The quote “The wisest man knows he knows nothing at all” comes to mind.
• Nothing can replace experience. Your mentor has years of it, and they’re willing to share it with you. Take advantage of this golden opportunity.

If any of our readers have other reasons one might need a mentor, I invite you to share.

For advice on finding mentors, I recommend this post recapping a teleseminar featuring the authors Tim Ferriss, Guy Kawasaki, and Keith Ferrazzi. All 3 have written excellent books on lifestyle and career advice which I highly recommend.

I’ll close with this. One of my all-time favorite quotes, by the author Mary McCarthy, was scribbled onto the front page of my high school journal. It read, “We are the hero of our own story.”

I truly believe that. And just like any hero in any great film, we all need that window character. We need that mentor guiding us through to the completion of our journey.

A couple weeks ago week I had the opportunity to attend a student networking session at my alum Columbia College Chicago. Just a year removed from school, I remember what it was like being on the other side of the table selling myself to a rep from a big firm, nervously thumbing through my portfolio. As I listened to a few students tell me about the futures they envisioned for themselves, one thought went through my head: You guys have it easy.

Maybe I’ve been watching too many negative movies, but I feel like it was a war out there last summer. The air was full of fear and pessimism, firms were cutting staff, people were being let go, and graduating seniors were taking any internship they could get their hands on. All that seems to be changing now. Consumer confidence and spending are going back up, and CFO’s are finally easing their grips on payroll. All signs point to go.

Tony wrote in a recent post he has an aversion to negative people. So do I, but I wonder if it’s good to dwell on the lessons learned from the soon to be past recession. Or, is it best just to stow it away like a bad memory?

I for one prefer to forget about it. It happened. It stunk. Let’s just move on.

Tony’s Take:

Roland sent this to me before he posted it. I read it and smiled at his positivistic optimism and pragmatism; and then remembered that old quote of Santayana: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. I then laughed at myself, the graybeard thinking graybeardy type things. I then got a big grin and thought how lucky Roland and I are to have the opportunity to learn from one another. – Tony