Archive for December, 2010
The Grinch has Gratitude!!
December 31st, 2010 by Beth Kennedy
This time of the year can be so stressful! It can be the most wonderful time of the year, but I find myself with more lists than I know what to do with and a feeling of overwhelm. A great strategy I learned from my Dad many years ago to get through this busy time of year is to focus on gratitude.
Living in gratitude is more than just thinking positively. When a person concentrates on being grateful, it gives them something to actually look for and pay attention to. One of the best ways to reduce stress is to make the choice to focus on what you are grateful for. Research indicates that being grateful make us better people, both professionally and personally.
Some people are really disciplined and keep a gratitude journal where they capture on a daily or weekly basis a few things they are thankful for. I tend to have gratitude thoughts every morning and then before I go to bed.
My latest gratitude thoughts have been:
My eight year old daughter asking me if Santa would mind if she only put 3 things on her Christmas list and ask him to surprise her with the rest!
Seeing my twelve year old daughter play her trombone in her first holiday jazz band concert.
My business gratitude thought was finding out that on my latest conflict webinar, my colleague Ed Evarts and I had over 850 people sign up and over 500 people attend. A special thanks to my clients and colleagues for your interest and support!
My wellness gratitude goes to my boot camp trainer who manages to motivate me at 5:30 am twice a week!
Living in gratitude is a source of inspiration for yourself and others. If you have not recently watched Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, it may be time to. Even though we all know the ending is filled with gratitude there is something so magical to see how thankful the Whovillians are even when the crotchety Grinch tries to rob them of their Christmas!
Wishing you and your family a very healthy and happy holiday season!! A special thanks to all the referrals that have kept my business moving forward!
Happy New Year!
Beth
Are You Engaged In Social Networking?
December 8th, 2010 by Beth Kennedy
Another key area emphasized at the Career Director’s 2010 International Conference, I attended in San Diego was social media. It is important to leverage social media whether you are happily employed or job hunting. It is critical for professional branding and ongoing career management. LinkedIn continues to be the key social networking site that all individuals need to be paying attention to. LinkedIn has a global reach, with over 75 million members in over 200 countries with diverse industry mix.
Two of my coaching colleagues Diane Compton and Ellen Sautter presented some key points from their new book: Find a Job Through Social Networking. They shared some key steps for effective job search and career management. These include:
- Develop a complete profile: Do you have your picture on your profile? Do you have a summary that highlights your brand? Have you joined some groups and associations? These are just a few suggestions to assist you in having a complete profile.
- Grow your network – invite: Find and select former colleagues and classmates that you trust and invite them to join your network. Take the time and invite contacts one by one so you can personalize the invite message.
- Give and get recommendations: We all know the magic formula for success… passed behavior equals future success. Do not be shy in asking customers and Managers for recommendations. Having a good resume is not enough. Endorsements that show impact are a key asset to career management.
- Search for companies: Are you aware that LinkedIn has a new feature that you can follow companies and learn about recent hiring and new openings? Check out this feature under the Company heading.
- Network activity update: The update section is a great area to share networking activities that you may be attending. It shows that you are staying up to date with your industry. This will also motivate you to make some networking and professional development goals so you can post some new updates.
My clients keep asking, “How much social networking do I really need to do.” Do I have to be focused on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and have a blog? There is no right answer for this question. It always comes back to LinkedIn being the most professional business social networking site. A lot depends on your time and interests. Many people decide to keep Facebook as a more friend based networking site and others find twitter interesting but do not have the time to engage with it. Having a blog is also something that takes a regular commitment and can be a great asset if you have the motivation and interest.
As I mentioned last month, the greatest career insurance you can have is to continue to connect with others. Social networking is a great tool but it is important to make sure you are making time to actually meet face to face with people as that is so important in developing strong relationships.