However, if you can stay focused, determined, upbeat and flexible these times offer opportunities for not only continuing but also advancing your career. Here is the straight scoop as I see it. While the number of jobs may be on the decline there is still work to be done. Doing more with less is a mantra I hear resonating with employers I speak to around the country.

So here are a few tips to help you get and stay employed:

• Be a “force multiplier”. Both in interviews or with your existing employer show that you will make a difference by giving 110% and being willing to wear more than one hat. Become that “go to” person in your department.
  
• Upgrade you skills immediately. Look for new opportunities in your existing role. Develop a “new and improved” skill set. Take some courses, volunteer for a new project.
• Sell your skills first and then your experience. Remember, your experience is your past; your skills are what you bring to the workplace now and in the future. Demonstrate your flexibility to tackle whatever needs to be done.
• Interview with your ears. Eighty-five percent of all job seekers talk too much in the interview. Listen closely to what the employer needs then respond as someone who can satisfy those needs. An open-ended question such as “Could you please tell me more about that?” will elicit additional information from an interviewer as well as clearly demonstrate your interest in learning more about the position.
• What your boss tells you directly about your performance is important. However, what he or she doesn’t say may be even more important. Watch for the more informal signals such as what meetings you are invited to, what emails you are copied on, or even off handed comments that come your way at a meeting. Stay focused on this informal feedback and the signals it sends to you about where you stand in our boss’s eyes.
• In an interview, ask questions that set you up to make the sale. A question such as “What results do you ant me to produce immediately?” sends a strong message that you will hit the ground running if they hire you.
• Brand and promote yourself. Your personal brand is the image you want others to have of you. Put this in writing. For example, if you want to be seen as the “consummate team player” be sure to write down the specific behaviors you will do everyday to create that brand image.
• For older job seekers, you don’t have to fake youth to get a good job, but you usually do need to present yourself as in touch with relevant current trends, in sync with current technology, generally energetic and vigorous. Look for opportunities to present age as an asset by translating “age” into “experience”, “maturity”, and “sound judgment”.

Marc Dorio is a results oriented Organizational Effectiveness and Training professional and the author of books such as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Interview .

In our new book The M-Factor we help leaders understand how best to recruit, retain, manage, and motivate this next great generation.  We believe that the events and conditions that happen during the formative years of a generation shape who they will become as employees. Here are three of our favorite facts that we think employers should know:

79 percent of college freshman were accepted by their No. 1 college.

Many Millennials are used to getting what they want. College freshmen born around 1991 grew up in a time when things were plentiful, and most aren’t willing to settle for less than the best. Even in a down economy, we find that Millennials are still being choosy about which entry-level job is right for them. And if they can’t find it, rather than settle for less, many are opting for alternatives like travel or grad school.

Smart employers are realizing that, while the economy may be buying them time, Millennials are not going to fundamentally change in the long run. If you want to attract and keep the best and the brightest, you still need to show Millennials why you should be their number one choice.

48 percent of college freshman graduated from high school with an A- or better grade point average.

Millennials are a generation of over-achievers. Whether in the classroom or on the playing field, they like to succeed. We often hear from managers of Millennials that the first time they gave their new hire a bit of criticism, the tears started rolling. For many Millennials, their initial review at work is the first time they have been told that they aren’t perfect. But before you call them babies, let’s remember how they’ve been raised. In an age of grade inflation and parents who raised them during the self-esteem movement, Millennials aren’t used to hearing that they aren’t “all that.”

Of course employers will need to coach them and even criticize at times. However, we suggest that you use self-evaluations first, so that Millennials have a chance to think about how they have been doing. This also will give managers a heads up about where their opinions don’t match their employees’. Of course, for a generation who thrives on success, don’t forget to tell Millennials when they are doing A work.

53 percent have borrowed to attend college.

It’s not a surprise to most people that Millennials are destined to be the generation in the deepest debt as they enter the workplace. Before Millennials have bought a house or had kids, many are already facing huge debt. The culture of borrowing in which the Millennials were raised has definitely shaped their personal and professional lives. Most Millennials are not afraid of living beyond their means, and many do not even have hope that they will ever be completely debt free. Millennials didn’t let debt stop them from choosing the right college.

Therefore, when they enter the workplace, they will also put other factors before money. Many are willing to pay be paid less if it means having the right job. Remember to focus on benefits other than salary, such as meaningful work and opportunities to give back.

Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman are nationally recognized public speakers, generational experts, and coauthors of THE M-FACTOR: The Definitive Guide to the Millennial Generation in the Workplace. They are the founders and principals of BridgeWorks (www.generations.com), a consulting firm that specializes in educating organizations about the four distinct generations at work and identifying ways to bridge the gaps.

Times are changing, and the way companies measure their success is too. Now in addition to watching financial outcomes, companies are assessing their impact on their physical surroundings and their community as well. When companies pay attention to the people they touch, the environment they impact, and the profits they make, leaders make more sustainable decisions overall. In fact, this way of doing business is causing companies to rethink how they produce their products and provide their services. In the process, the entire company system is becoming stronger.

Although the term triple bottom line may refer to specific reporting requirements, often it is used as shorthand for ventures that are socially responsible, green, and profitable.

Finding Triple Bottom Line Companies

With your desire to work for a sustainable, triple-bottom-line company — one that pays attention not just to profit but also to social and environmental impact — and that matches your career goals, you need a strategy to uncover companies in your area that fit the bill.

However, there aren’t many green/sustainable/triple bottom line company lists out there yet. To find these organizations, you must do your own legwork. To put yourself in the right frame of mind for this project, retire your job seeker persona for now and step into your detective alter ego. During this phase, you must be driven to uncover clues and follow them up to find what you’re looking for.

As you begin this process, create a spreadsheet and enter each potential company name as you find it. Include as much information as you can about each company’s Web site address, location, and type of business.

Let’s consider how to research each company to evaluate whether it’s a good fit for you and your needs.

Surveying media coverage

Media sources are valuable tools as you collect company names for your list. Consider the following sources:

*  Major media sources: If you’re looking for names of cutting-edge companies, look to lists of hot green companies put out by magazines and blogs. Newsweek and Fast Company are two media outlets that come to mind. Use these lists to spot trends, find company names, and take a fascinating look into the future.

* Local media: To find companies in your area, check local media sources to see if they’ve profiled any interesting green businesses or compiled a list of green companies in your area.

*  Niche media: Web sites that cater to a particular demographic group or geographic region may also provide valuable lists of green careers.

*  Press releases: Companies that have just launched, received funding, released a new product, or been included on a top green companies list are bound to distribute press releases to celebrate their achievement. In your favorite search engine, use terms such as “target industry” + “press release” to find relevant press releases.

Following the money

Financial news is also a source of information about green or sustainable companies.

*  Green investor information: Companies that help individual investors make good financial decisions often provide information about the companies that qualify for their green lists. Some financial entities show you stock quotes, whereas others tell you which companies are included in their funds. The Global 100 provides investors with a list of the 100 most sustainable corporations worldwide.

*  Venture capital updates: Where venture capitalists are investing gives you a broad sense of which industries are growing, staying stable, and contracting. If you dig into the blogs that report on companies that are getting new funding or additional rounds of funding, you can then track the company’s progress as they move their product to market.

*  Stimulus fund distributions: Until 2012, various governmental agencies will be awarding grants and distributing money to local governments, state governments, agency projects, and companies. Here is a place to track money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Finding the right lists and directories

Slowly but surely blogs and media sources are publishing lists of the top companies in various fields. When you find a list that matches your targeted industry, celebrate — you’ve just struck a vein of gold! To locate such a list for your industry, try a search using “target industry” + “company list.”

If you haven’t found a targeted list, you may be able to find the kinds of companies you’re looking for on a number of other lists:

*  Green energy/power lists: Several organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on companies that are purchasing the most green energy. This is actually a fairly good objective measure of a company’s green mission. Businessweek recently published a list of companies that have reduced their carbon footprint significantly.

*  Green business organizations: Another intriguing way to discover green or socially responsible companies is to identify associations where green businesses are members. Often these organizations, such as the Social Venture Network, include a list of their members on their Web sites.

*  Green business directories: Although some directories are like typical phone directories, where green businesses can purchase a listing, there are other green directories in which companies are screened to ensure that they meet the directory’s standards for sustainability. The Green Pages Directory is a good example.

*  Job boards: Although most people use job boards to find job openings, you can also use green job boards to research green/sustainable companies in a particular profession, industry, or geographic area. Most of the larger green/sustainable job boards include an advanced search function that allows you to filter results according to your criteria. If your profession or field has a job board of its own, check that one out too.

*  Sponsors: Another productive source of business names is to look at who is sponsoring your industry’s conference or your local community’s Earth Day celebration. Any company paying to sponsor an event is either brand new and trying to gain exposure or doing well enough to be able to afford the sponsorship fees.

Excerpt adapted from Green Careers For Dummies® by Carol McClelland, PhD, provided with permission by John Wiley & Sons. Available wherever books are sold.

The benefits of being a courageous risk taker are many. If you make a mistake, you’ll become wiser. If you succeed, you’ll learn something about your capabilities and potential. Either way, being a risk taker at your job will position you as a leader and an innovator. The key is to learn how to be a smart risk taker. Here are six ways to do it.

Trust your instincts.

Don’t wait for complete certainty on an issue before making a decision; it often arrives too late if it arrives at all. Once you get a good idea, don’t incubate it–act on it and work to make it happen.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

If you’re in a job or doing a project for which you lack experience, have the courage to tough it out and ask for help. If you operate on fear instead–the fear that asking for help will diminish you in the eyes of your boss or coworkers–you’re setting yourself up for a disaster.

Unleash positive energy.

Fear, stress, and uncertainty can be friends, not enemies, as long as you use them as motivators rather than as energy or action blockers. Get used to tolerating these uncomfortable feelings. Remind yourself that progress won’t happen without taking a step forward, into the unknown.

Anticipate and act.

Not making a decision is actually making a negative decision. Think like an athlete, and learn to position yourself where the action is likely to take place.

Learn from failure.

The most important lessons we learn in life are those that result from failure. People are very forgiving as long as you’ve tried to do your best and acted with integrity.

Be realistic.

While wild dreams and outrageous ideas may look good on paper, the working world doesn’t play on paper–it plays on the field of life. When you’re ready to take a risk at work, check it for “reasonableness.” Being viewed as a maverick is good; being seen as reckless or off-the-wall isn’t.

Beth Banks Cohn PhD is a leading expert in change management and leadership development. Roz Usheroff is an internationally recognized communication expert and personal branding executive coach. They are coauthors of the new book, Taking the Leap: Managing Your Career in Turbulent Times…and Beyond (BookSurge Publishing, 2009).

If you are seriously dissatisfied, it’s going to affect your attitude. And that may show up in your performance. It could also put you at risk of losing out to others who are more satisfied with what they do.

But are you really in the wrong job or business? Or is it just a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence? Are you dissatisfied or unfulfilled for little or no reason? How can you tell?

Here are some steps to help you figure out if you’re in the right job and some recommendations on what to do about it.

Think of yourself as a business. Would you back yourself? Would you invest in You, Inc? If the answer is no, you’re in the wrong job. To invest in a business, or in this case, in yourself, you need to be comfortable on three main fronts: that market demand for your services is buoyant, that competition is not too tough, and that you are reasonably well placed to succeed.

Consider market demand for You, Inc. You need to be sure that demand for you is not about to fall off a cliff. If you worked as a travel agent before the dot-com era, long-term demand for your services would not have looked promising, given the looming threat from e-booking and e-ticketing. Is there something happening in your industry that could affect future demand for your services?

What’s the competition? You need reassurance that there are not too many people competing for jobs the same or similar to yours. For example, if you work in the printing industry, you may find that jobs like yours are being outsourced to Asia. Some manufacturing companies have moved their entire operations overseas. Who’s lined up to replace you?

Check how you measure up. How well placed are you in your marketplace? How well do you meet the capabilities needed to succeed in your job? Do you have the right skills, knowledge, and experience? Are you efficient enough? Is your attitude right? Is your heart in what you do? If not, you’re in danger of becoming unbackable.

Become more backable. If you find you are in the right job, how can you become more backable? You need a strategy. Which of your strengths can you build on? Which of your weaknesses can you improve in? What study, training, or related work experience can you undertake to reinforce that strength, or negate that weakness?

Consider moving on. If you find you’re unbackable in your current job, it may be time to move on, to a job where you would be backable—preferably in a field that brings out the Hwyl in you, the Celtic concept of passion, fervor, and spirit that can lift you to extremes of success. But how to find such a job, and how would you know whether you would be backable there?

List and screen jobs that ignite your passion. Make a long list of all those jobs and businesses done by friends, family, colleagues, people in newspapers or on TV, fictional people in books, movies, etc. that you find exciting, and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 by the amount of hwyl you would feel if you were doing them. Take the top dozen and screen them for gut-feel backability. How promising are the market conditions, and how well placed would you be in such a job? If none look promising, move on to the next dozen, always moving in descending order of hwyl.

Do a reality check. Take the two or three most promising jobs that emerge from your screen and subject them to the same rigor of analysis that you did on your current job earlier on (market demand, competition, your position). Of course, you won’t know as much about these target jobs as you do your current job, so you will have to do some research. Talk to practitioners, talk to their customers. How could you slot in? What entry strategy should you deploy?

Take Raquel, a Los Angeles bus driver. She was in a job where demand outstripped supply, with vacancies cropping up regularly. She was an excellent driver and had 18 years of experience. Raquel should have been highly backable—well placed in a buoyant job market. There was only one problem: Her heart wasn’t in the job. On the contrary, she was becoming ever more stressed by both the LA traffic and the rude drivers—and passengers. Raquel found she was becoming irritable and oversensitive. She was in danger of becoming unbackable.

So she went through the process as set out above. It revealed that gardening was her passion, even though she had never considered it as a possible source of income. Raquel went to evening classes for two years before quitting her driving job and setting up her own garden design and maintenance business. She hasn’t looked back since.

That could be you, too! One of the problems with feeling discontent in a job is we don’t know what to do or where to start. Raquel’s example shows that these basic steps will get you moving on the right track to finding the right job, or feeling good about your chances of success in your current job.

Vaughan Evans is a renowned economist, business strategist, sought-after speaker, and the author of Backing U! A Business-Oriented Guide to Backing Your Passion and Achieving Career Success (Business and Careers Press, 2009, www.backingu.com).

For students who have studied abroad, this is good news, especially considering the contracting U.S. job market. However, many students with who have lived abroad don’t understand how to package this experience in a way that’s appealing to prospective global employers.

And what do companies value most in the study abroad experience? Based on my conversations with many large, multi-national companies, the general attraction stems from the inherent curiosity in these global-minded citizens. For some industries or companies, the benefit ends there as they need global thinkers not employees willing to go overseas.

For those global companies for which an international experience is a true hiring differentiator, however, the payoff can be huge. The vast majority of professionals I interviewed on this topic agreed that if two applicants have essentially the same resume credentials, they would choose the one who studied abroad or possessed other international experience. The following attributes were cited:

• Enhanced cross-cultural awareness critical to diverse, global teams
• Ability to bring global thinking skills to bear on problems across the board
• Multiple language skills, especially for non-American students who go abroad to English-speaking campuses
• Predisposition to and experience with global mobility

But would-be employees shouldn’t expect these companies just to tick the box of international experience and move on. Generally, this overseas experience opens up a whole line of questioning during the interview process – questions that, depending on the answers, will impact the interview. For example, companies want to know what the student did, learned and how he or she can bring that international experience to bear on the job. Was the experience a rigorous one with a full academic load on campus – or was it primarily just for fun with a light course load? Were classes in the local language; was an internship part of the term? Variations provide insight to a prospective employer.

Where a student studies increasingly matters to prospective employers. Branching out beyond the typical Western European countries into China, Brazil, Russia or India signals an enhanced awareness of growing global economies – and a direct link to the places most companies are expanding and growing within. These non-traditional destinations often offer more challenging situations intensifying the learning curve. Moreover, opportunities for employment in the U.S., UK or South Africa working for a Brazilian, Indian or Chinese company are on the rise.

Students can use not only study abroad experience, but also second or third language fluency, internships abroad and international business classes and personal interest can make a difference. I have found, however, that many such students don’t know how to package these skills, how to apply them to current global business trends, or know where to start if they simply want to take a chance and move to another country to look for a job.

Both students and their career counselors, therefore, must make a concerted effort to learn how to adequately enter today’s increasingly global job market – or bring in the experts. In the workshops I conduct on campuses, I provide practical advice that students can follow right away.  Here are a few tips to consider:

1. Make sure that an international career is right for you. Understand the skills needed, learn about the challenges of working cross-culturally, and use the appropriate tools to search for international jobs.

2. Develop a strategy after you have done extensive research by gathering intelligence, networking with as many people as you know and who know someone, and targeting relevant markets, industries and companies.

3. Package your experience as appropriate for each market, industry and company.  Learn how to incorporate international experience and interests into resumes, cover letters and interview preparation, making your points relevant to the organization. Study or brush up on foreign language skills.

4. Consider working for the U.S. Government, if you’re American, which estimates it will higher more than 200,000 graduating students in the next two years in areas such as FAA, border patrol and CIA.

5. Manage your expectations. Companies may not send you abroad as a transfer with a big package. They might offer you a position as a local hire with wages commensurate with the local economy and living conditions. Whether you choose to accept or decline, do your research and determine the pros and cons.

6. Consider moving to another country without securing a job. Only consider doing so after you’ve done extensive research on the economy, job market, taxes, work visas and more. Make sure you have at least six months of living expenses in case you do not get a job immediately.  Network like crazy before and after you land.  Appreciate the risks you are taking, the potential rewards and manage expectations accordingly.

Today’s leading organizations value international experience and, after a few years in another country, you could return to the U.S. with enhanced and differentiated business skills to catapult you further and faster.

Stacie Nevadomski Berdan is a consultant who specializes in international careers and co-author of the award-winning Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman’s Guide to Fast-Track Career Success.

In my new book, Second Sight, I show how to keep an eye out for intuitive experiences in everyday life, and what they can teach us. Drawing from my own experiences as an intuitive along with new scientific studies on the value of intuition in decision making, I include strategies anyone can use to develop their intuitive intelligence. In the book, you will learn how I came to be a pioneer in intuitive medicine, using my intuitive gift as a potent healing tool and incorporating it into my medical practice.

From Second Sight, here are five types of intuitive experiences you may encounter, and what they can teach you:

Body signals. Your body has many ways of getting your attention. It could be goosebumps when something feels right or strikes you as true. Or it might be your hair standing up on the back of your neck when you sense danger.

How to use it. Most commonly referred to as a “gut reaction,” your body’s response to the world around you is often instant–quicker, in fact, than your conscious thought. Next time you sense your body is trying to alert you to something, check in with it. Are your shoulders tense? Is there a knot in your stomach? Or do you feel energized and excited? When you learn to read your body signals, a whole new type of information will be available to you.

Déjà vu. This is when you feel as though you’ve had this exact conversation before, or you’ve been to this place before and know what’s around the corner and up ahead, even though that’s impossible.

How to use it: Instead of thinking it’s strange and then moving on, don’t let the experience go unremarked. Discuss it with a friend. Write it down. Bringing a déjà vu experience into the open energizes it, acknowledges its significance, and enables you to find out what it’s trying to tell you or where it’s trying to lead you.

Synchronicity. This is the experience of perfect timing, such as when you’re thinking about a word right when you hear it on the radio, or a person you just met offers you the perfect job.

How to use it: Stay aware and look for synchronicity everywhere. Such moments let you know that you’re in the flow–in the right place, at the right time. See if you can uncover its hidden significance.

Seeing beyond. This is when you’re tuned in to an event that’s happening right now, but in a different place. For example, you think of a long-lost friend, and then she sends you an email in that instant Or you get a feeling to turn left on the way to work and avoid an accident.

How to use it: Your entire body–not just your brain–acts as an intuitive receiver, so the more conscious you become of your whole body, perhaps through a discipline like yoga, the more likely you are to tap into realities outside of your immediate setting. They will come to you in snapshot-life flashes–a taste, smell, sound, or a feeling in your body. Jot down your impressions. The better you get at tuning in, the clearer the messages will become.

Intuitive empathy. This is when you “pick up a vibe” from another person. For no apparent reason, you suddenly sense a person’s deep loneliness, or you feel hostility coming from a person who is smiling at you.

How to use it: Being sensitive to other people’s nature is a valuable skill–but it comes with perils. If you feel drained after talking to someone at a party, for example, pay attention so you can protect yourself from him or her next time. Learning to “read” other people’s feelings will improve your personal and professional relationships, as long as you don’t “take on” others’ moods and emotions.

Judith Orloff MD is author of the new book Second Sight (Three Rivers Press, 2010). She is a UCLA Psychiatrist and New York Times bestselling author of Emotional Freedom. Her recent TV special, “Emotional Freedom Now!” aired on PBS stations nationally. To develop your Second Sight and for inspiration, visit www.drjudithorloff.com.

A pre-pave is a statement or command that you think, say, or write that describes what you want. Your command becomes your intention. The moment you pre-pave a command, the Universe begins to “line up the energy” to make it happen for you. Here are a few pre-paves that will make you a great worker:

I arrive early for work and mentally prepare for the day.

Just by arriving a little early to mentally prepare, your whole day changes, because the energy and thought you put into your vibration is different. It makes you feel good inside, and it creates an environment that helps you to enjoy your job. When you enjoy what you do, you will want to arrive in time to prepare to have an awesome day.

I am valued for what I do.

If you want to be valued in your job, give value to your boss and the company. It’s that simple. When you focus on giving value rather than talking about how you are under-paid or under-appreciated, you attract the acknowledgement, the position and the raise.

I work with enthusiasm today.

Enthusiasm generates willpower. If you want to increase your sales and work more efficiently with fewer errors, choose to work with enthusiasm. It truly generates willpower to accomplish more, better, faster.

I am passionate about what I do.

People often come to me for coaching on how to find a job they are passionate about. I say to them, “Be passionate about what you do now!” This is the surest way to find a job you are passionate about. You must resonate passion. Whether you are a top-paid executive or a valet, be passionate about it. When you are passionate about what you do, people notice, and so does the Universe.

I focus on solutions today.

Focus on solutions and the Universe will focus on getting you the resources you need. Your work environment will be far more pleasurable and you can anticipate miraculous results with this positive frame of mind.

I focus on serving others.

Success in life is truly about service to others and the workplace is the perfect place to practice it. Focus today on serving others. Not for what you get in return, but just for the joy of making others happy. Who knows, maybe you’ll start a new trend in the office!

These are just a few pre-paves that will make you a great worker. Use them, putting your focus on the “now” and consciously choosing how you want to live, not just with your work, but with everything that’s important in your life — health, finances, family, food, etc. When you pre-pave, your thoughts become your intentions and your intentions create your reality. And the great thing is — you can choose your thoughts! Remember, when you make yourself a great worker, your greatness will be contagious, making others around you great as well.

Elisabeth Fayt is an international speaker, owner of RnR Wellness, and bestselling author of the new book Paving it Forward. One of the featured speakers in the movie The Opus, Elisabeth is both a prominent abundance expert and a successful businesswoman. Find out more about Elisabeth at www.ElisabethFayt.com or email her at info@ElisabethFayt.com.

How do you approach your employer? What do you say, and how do you say it? The ground rules for asking for a raise are basically the same as those for negotiating any deal. Here are some tried-and-true tips:

• Never begin by asking your employer to say yes and agree. In fact, start by inviting him to say no. Tell him that you are comfortable with a no answer and you want him to be comfortable to say no.
• Identify the real problems you see standing in your way. For example, has the company just laid off employees? Is there new management in the wings? Before you go into the meeting, have a clear idea of what might keep your boss from giving you a raise. State each problem clearly and ask your boss how these problems might be solved.
• Do your critical research. How do companies decide what to pay? They hire consulting firms and look at pay surveys or they compare notes within the industry. Research what people in your position are paid by using the web and other resources to dig out the normal pay range. The more information you have, the better you will be prepared.
  
• Control your emotions. Before and during your meeting, turn your mind into a blank slate. Have no expectations or fears. Above all, overcome all neediness, the number-one deal-killer. If you start to feel any kind of emotions during the negotiation, drop a pen or take a drink of water briefly until you regain emotional neutrality.
• Let your employer feel “more okay” than you. This is the “Columbo Effect.” Do not dress to impress, name drop, or get on a grandstand. Let him be completely at ease with you, and perhaps even feel a bit superior.
• Take notes; let him do the talking. Talk as little as possible. Write down everything he says. Ask a lot of questions so you can find out your employer’s position, issues, concerns, needs, and objectives.
• Clarify all questions. A great tool to do this is to reverse, answer a question with a question, and give your opponent strokes. Begin your questions with an interrogative—who, what, when, where, how, or why—because these invite exposition. And don’t forget to compliment him on his good idea, excellent question, or interesting insight.
• Never think about closing the deal. Do not think about, hope for, or plan for getting the raise. Focus instead on what you can control: your behavior and activity during the negotiation.
• Have a valid M&P. A valid mission and purpose is one set in your employers’ world, business, needs, requirements, hopes, fears, and plans. An example in this case might be: I want to get my boss to see that I am a uniquely valuable asset to the company, that I am highly effective and productive, and that keeping me happy in my job will benefit my coworkers and the company in important ways. Because every decision you make along the way has to fulfill your M&P, it will handle any contingency that comes up during the negotiation, and will not fail to lead to a good outcome for your side.
• Develop your employer’s vision.There is a clear reason and only one reason your employer will pay you what you request: Doing so will benefit him and the company. Once you are in the negotiation you must help them develop a vision of you that allows them to see what you can do for them. How do you do that? You spend all of your time in their world understanding the challenges they anticipate, the problems they see, and the solutions they require.
• Present yourself as the solution. So now you have your employer’s vision, what do you do? How do you present yourself and your abilities? The most important thing you can do is to pay close attention to the challenges and responsibilities he points out to you and be sure to present to those challenges different examples of experiences of your handling them in your career. The key is to tie your abilities and your experiences to the solution of his vision. Don’t be afraid to give specific examples of challenges you faced and the solutions you provided. Special assignments that fit the employer’s vision should be explained and discussed. The more examples you can provide, the better.
• Never threaten. Never appear to threaten or posture with another offer or a take-it-or-leave-it stance. Continue to negotiate with no need. Use that calm slow voice. State problems clearly and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want to solve those problems. The more effective you appear at discussing the problem as you see it, the better. Just ask in a want mode, not the need mode.
• Do not try to be friends. Your employer does not have to be your friend. You are not seeking friendship; you are seeking an agreement. What you want is respect and a fair agreement that accomplishes your mission and purpose.

Staying calm, being well informed, showing genuine curiosity and interest in the company’s challenges and salient issues, and not being needy are all qualities that any employee wants to see. You are a motivated, talented employee who has the company’s best interests in mind. If you can deliver these messages in the meeting, any employer would want to hold on to you and reward you with a raise.

Jim Camp is an internationally sought negotiation coach and trainer, and author of NO: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home (Crown), the revised and updated version of his critically acclaimed business book, Start with No. As president and founder of The Camp Group, he has coached individuals, companies, and governments worldwide through hundreds of negotiations worth billions.

Top company management usually comes from the ranks of those who sell the core business product-service, not from those on the firing line who deliver it.   That’s why in media, programming and news people rarely become management.  Since advertising sales is the primary product of media, the sales people become the managers.  In education, good teachers stay in the classroom.  In the energy industry, engineers dominate. Engineers steadfastly believe that they’re in the energy exploration and production business.  The companies themselves are in the energy marketing business.    Restaurants are in the business of marketing atmosphere and service.  Yet, they put food preparers (representing 20% of the pie) in charge.  Decisions are always food driven, explaining in part the high failure rate of restaurants.  Other reasons include poor planning, substandard customer service, low capitalization and inappropriate marketing.

A major problem with companies stems from the fact that management and company leadership come from one small piece of the organizational pie.  Filling all management slots with financial people, for example, serves to limit the organizational strategy and focus.  They all hire like-minded people and frame every business decision from their micro perspective.

The ideal executive has strong leadership skills first.  He or she develops organizational vision and sets strategies.  Leaders should reflect a diversity of focus, guaranteeing that a balance is achieved. The best management team looks at the macro, rather than just the niche micro.

None of us was born with sophisticated, finely tuned senses and highly enlightened viewpoints for life.  We muddle through, try our best and get hit in the gut several times.  Thus, we learn, amass knowledge and turn most experiences into strategies.  Such a perspective is what makes seasoned executives valuable in the business marketplace.

Life has a way of forcing the human condition to change.  Events which may inspire this to happen could include a recognition that the old methods are not working, financial failures or the monetary incentive to rapidly create or change plans of action.  At most crossroads, there is no choice but to change the modus operandi.  This may include the loss of substantial numbers of opportunities, customers, employees and market share or a “wake up call” of any type.

The most effective leaders accept that change is 90% positive and find reasons and rationale to embrace change.  Leadership skills are learned and synthesized daily.  Knowledge is usually amassed through unexpected sources.

The business leader as community leader
In eras following downturns and scandals, it is incumbent upon good companies to go the extra distance to be ethical and set good examples.  Demonstrating visible caring for communities by company executives is the ultimate form of Customer Focused Management.

No matter the size of the organization, goodwill must be banked.  Every company must make deposits for those inevitable times in which withdrawals will be made.

To say that business and its communities do not affect each other, is short-sighted…and will make business the loser every time.  Business marries the community that it settles with.  The community has to be given a reason to care for the business.  Business owes its well-being and livelihood to its communities.

Business leaders have an obligation to serve on community boards and be very visible in the communities in which they do business.  If done right, community stewardship builds executives into better leaders, as well as receiving deserved credit for the company.  Civic service is the ultimate way to steer heir apparents toward the leadership track.

Communities are clusters of individuals, each with its own agenda.  In order to be minimally successful, each company must know the components of its home community intimately.  Each company has a business stake for doing its part.  Community relations in reality is a function of self-interest, rather than just being a good citizen.

Companies should support off-duty involvement of employees in pro bono capacities but not take unfair credit.  Volunteers are essential to community relations.  Companies must show tangible evidence of supporting the community by assigning key executives to high-profile community assignments.  Create a formal volunteer guild, and allow employees the latitude and creativity to contribute to the common good.  Celebrate and reward their efforts.

Publicity and promotions should support effective community relations and not be the substitute or smokescreen for the process.  Recognition is as desirable for the community as for the business.  Good news shows progress and encourages others to participate.

The well-rounded community relations program embodies all elements: accessibility of company officials to citizens, participation by the company in business and civic activities, public service promotions, special events, plant communications materials and open houses, grassroots constituency building and good citizenry.

No entity can operate without affecting or being affected by its communities.  Business must behave like a guest in its communities, never failing to give potlatch or return courtesies.  Community acceptance for one project does not mean than the job of community relations has been completed. It is not “insurance” that can be bought overnight.  It is tied to the bottom line and must be treated accordingly, with the resources and expertise to do it effectively.  It is a bond of trust that, if violated, will haunt the business.  If steadily built, the trust can be exponentially parlayed into successful long-term business relationships.

Hank Moore has advised 5,000+ client organizations worldwide, two U.S. Presidents and spoken at five Economic Summits.  The Business Tree™ is his trademarked approach to growing, strengthening and evolving business, while mastering change.