Career (Page 3)

In: Career, Time Management

One of the first lessons taught to MBA students is ‘The Time Value of Money’ but the question is more personal when you consider the impact of money on your life. How much money is enough? How much time do I need to work? It is a divisive question that comes down to how you value two valuable resources – time and money. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy beer and that is a close second.. Unknown The flippant quote that money can’t buy happiness but can buy beer (or insert any other consumable here) is actually making the point quite aptly. It implies that chasing the money for its own sake can lead you to prioritising and losing sight of the importance of your own time even when you have the means to buy something you will enjoy. Back to the Time Value of Money its beenContinue Reading

In: Career, Career Development, Resilience

Preparing for disappointment, it’s not something you want to think about at the beginning but for some it can become overwhelming, so how do you strike the right balance? It is something that we all face, preparing, waiting, hoping and finally bracing ourselves for the chance we will not get what ever the big opportunity we were hoping for. From school grades to job interviews we all face disappointment and waiting for results can be agonising. The frustration of not knowing can mess with your sleep and your concentration, so how do you manage during the time of uncertainty, rather than drop into a rabbit hole of potential negativity? Amy Gallo spoke with some other experts to advise some coping mechanisms, and here is what they propose: Ask yourself if worrying helps According to Art Markman (a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and author ofContinue Reading

celebrate

In: Career, Career Development

A common mistake people make in their career is believing that investing time and energy into making more money will make them greater happiness. On the whole people with more free time are happier, healthier and more productive than colleagues who put all the effort and priorities into making money. “I was justifying my choices by telling myself what a lot of us tell ourselves: that we’re working hard now so we will have more time to be happy later” Ashley Whillans This was backed by by research in a study by Whillans and Macchia who studied more than 220,000 people living in 79 countries to explore the differences in happiness of those who prioritise time (leisure) vs money (work). The findings proved that one you move beyond individual welfare, the value that nations place on leisure versus work fundamentally shapes individuals happiness. In an earlier article Jessica Stillman fromContinue Reading

In: Career, Resilience

Recovering from failure, at some point in our careers, we all fail. It is how we recover from that failure that differentiates us. Failure is hard, it is ego shattering and very painful. But as Robert Kanaat writes; “failure, as much as it hurts, is a necessary evil. Failure, and the resultant pain it causes, helps to shape and mold us, tailoring a platform for future success. It doesn’t feel like something that’s beneficial at all when we’re going through it, but that failure is, in fact, a prerequisite for success.”  The first step to dealing with any failure is to fix it yourself – don’t leave the clean up to anyone else, help the team recover and find solutions to move forward. Secondly apologise quickly, own the issue by taking responsibility and having a clear plan for resolution. Thirdly move on by focusing and managing your emotions. Virginia Villari writesContinue Reading

In: Career, Career Development

Anyone with leadership aspirations will consider the question ‘Am I Talent’ as they progress in their career. And while it is not purely a question for leaders the nature of the question is directly related to subjective nature of how others consider and measure your performance. As a subject matter expert, with specialist skills, experience and credentials it is quite clear the basis of how you are recruited or retained in a role. In sales roles, results speak for themselves and the salesperson who does not hit targets knows exactly why they are underperforming. So for leaders and aspiring leaders how do you know if you have what it takes? How do you know – ‘am I talent?’ or if I am High Potential… High Potential Firstly a caveat – you can be extremely talented and not on your organisations top talent list (sometimes referred to as High Potential orContinue Reading

In: Career

The art of asking inquiring, challenging, powerful questions is one of the most fundamental differentiators of leadership. They challenge our basic assumptions and create awareness of patterns and connections. Powerful questions explore intentions, values, convictions, hopes, ambitions and possibilities. The quality of the questions you ask not only demonstrates an openness and curiosity for learning, a thirst for knowledge and an interest in the subject. It can also unpack the underlying drivers of situation build rapport, expose vulnerabilities or risks and identify creative opportunities. As we get older we tend to limit our view of the world we know, we blinker the areas of skill, experience, knowledge and subject matter expertise and tend to ignore, block or avoid areas we know little about. The more curious and inquiring approach that children use to learn is the same characteristic seen with genius minds able to consider much bigger questions. So whatContinue Reading

In: Career, Gender, Working From Home

When organisations make large cost cutting initiatives traditionally the number of women being reduced is significantly higher than the number of men. The Australian Bureau of Statistics identified that women in Victoria lost jobs at four times the rate of men in July. If this proportion of job loss continues to skew against women we will face a gender disaster. We’ve got job losses at nearly five times the rate of men, and those women are not going to be able to return to work easily. Tanja Kovac, GenVic McKinsey have calculated that women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable than men’s jobs. Women make up 39% of global employment but equate to 54% of overall job losses. One of the main reasons is that the virus has placed a significant increase in the burden of unpaid care which is largely carried out by women. The global impact of this biasContinue Reading

In: Career, Values

Employer Values – When you look for the right job match you often consider the culture fit, but what about the value fit? An emerging term for recruitment organisations is Employee Value Proposition which captures more fully that total fit between what you stand for and what the organisation represents. Culture determines how work gets done, but values sets how a companies makes decisions, establishes priorities and represents deeper ethical qualities. “Ensuring that a company shares your values from the outset is a threefold process: First, you need to identify your own core values; next, ask the right questions during the interview process; and finally, conduct your own assessment to see if your values match those of the organization.” Kristi Hedges Divergent values may be minor and irritating such as an organisation that accepts meetings starting late if you value punctuality. Or the divergence could be more serious where yourContinue Reading

In: Career, Resilience

How to manage anxiety – The pandemic, recession and uncertainty has increased the level of stress and anxiety most people are feeling. Anxiety is fed watered and sustained by the presence of fear, it is such a negative and primal emotion. Designed to keep us safe it can overwhelm our thoughts and emotions. “Anxiety is created when you move into the unknown because your fear response is on high alert. Has your fear produced anxiety because there’s a genuine risk? Or has the fear produced anxiety and panic because you’ve moved into your discomfort zone?“ 1. Stop it at the beginning Fear can trigger physical responses like a racing pulse, high blood pressure or a cold sweat, or it can trigger an emotional response like aggression. Many people are more comfortable with anger over anxiety so they choose it as a way to alleviate the pressure. The problem is behaviourContinue Reading

In: Career, Professional Networks

Professional Networks can make the difference of an individuals potential to be successful. How connected you are helps define your ability to leverage collective knowledge and collective problem solving. It introduces you to new ideas, new places, new opportunities. After establishing the importance of professional networking, what actually is it? “It is a deliberate activity to build, reinforce and maintain relationships of trust with other people to further your goals” (Anders Ostland). Ibarra & Hunter (HBR, 2007) wrote that there are three forms of networking: Operational, Personal and Strategic. Operational – helps manage internal company responsibilities. Personal – builds individual personal and professional development. Strategic – plays a vital role in identifying opportunities for growth and engaging stakeholders Building strong relationships across your professional networks establishes an advocacy, in the words of Jon Burgess founder of Kwan “ADVOCACY is an authentic and purposeful way to live your life and do business…Continue Reading