Category Archives: Career Tips & Strategies

What 5 Qualities to Embrace as a Leader

How is leadership developed? Does it come about just naturally or is it a learned set of skills? Or maybe a combination? I love to work with emerging leaders as well as those who have served as leaders over time.

And this is what I have learned . . . great leaders have a wonderful capacity to visualize what “can be” rather than just focus on what “has been”. Great leaders have a gift of being able to inspire and engage others to commit themselves to meaningful work that makes a difference in people’s lives. Great leaders are committed to listening deeply to what is important to others, giving them a voice and a seat at the table to contribute their ideas, talents and strengths.

Have you ever worked with a great leader? We don’t often get that chance but when we do we don’t forget what that experience was like. It meant a lot at the time because we felt recognized, appreciated and honored for the unique value we could bring to the company, project or organization. We simply worked our heart and souls out for those great leaders.

These are five of those best qualities for you to integrate into your own leadership growth.

  1. Visualize the Bigger Mission & Purpose
  2. Inspire & Engage Others
  3. Listen & Communicate Effectively
  4. Recognize and Leverage Strengths
  5. Demonstrate an Authentic Commitment to Team/Consensus
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Finding Meaning Is Key to Engagement

careerconnections-at a crossroadsIt’s not surprising. . when we find meaning and purpose in our daily work we are significantly more engaged. Think about it. When are you the happiest? Feel the most excited, passionate, and energetic and focused? It’s when you see the deeper reason and benefit to your efforts.

And as leaders committed to inspiring and guiding others, we know that we can create that authentic meaning at work and when we do so, we tap into the key to full engagement.

As Tom Rath describes in Are You Fully Charged?, creating meaning in our work evolves over time rather than just falling in our lap. It’s the culmination of small actions that result in people becoming more energetic, optimistic, creative and flexible. It is a commitment to a deeper purpose that brings out the best of what each of us has to offer. But how do we as leaders do that?

Here are three questions that I ask and encourage my coaching clients to consider each day. You may also find them helpful and could modify them to work in your own unique work setting.

  1. Ask yourself each morning: “What will I do today that will make a positive difference in someone else’s life?” Set that intention, follow-through and then observe what happens for you. It’s almost always a sense of increased well-being.
  2. Ask yourself: “How does my daily work provide positive benefit to others, or doesn’t? Is there a way I could change it up to be more impactful? What would that greater positive ripple effect look like?” Have the courage to make those small changes.
  3. Ask yourself: “From what perspective or lenses do I see my world each day? Is it from an abundance or scarcity perspective?” This has an enormous effect in your own sense of well-being as well as your ability to be fully engaged in meaningful work.

Let me know how these three questions and resulting actions work for you. I’ll be doing the same – and even picking up the pace as we speak!

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Am I Drifting in My Career? 3 Ways to Know

Time moves very quickly in our busy professional and personal lives. And it’s easy to allow things to just happen because they seemed like a good idea at the time. But before we slip into the second half of this year, let’s step back and do a “career health checkup”.

Remembering that we each have unique needs, here are my 3 favorite ways to help us honestly assess if we are simply in “career drift” or actively creating the career and life we want at this time.

First, let’s start with engagement and that intuitive voice in your head that often asks questions (and challenges) you as you drive home from a typical work day. Questions like: “Where has the day gone?” or “Did I really get anything worthwhile done?” With an answer like: “It was just a day like any other day” followed by a deep sigh. Your intuition is telling you something you already know but may be reluctant to admit. . . . You really are not fully (or even semi) psychologically engaged in your work at this time.

Second, where is the genuine joy in your work? It’s a simple question. . . . “Do you enjoy your work most days?” Or do you find yourself dreaming about how things could be different? There may have been a passion you deeply enjoyed in the past and now you don’t even allow yourself to dream about it because “it’s simply not possible anymore”. Where is the joy?

Third, are you enthusiastic about your work? Or do you find yourself a bit sensitive and even defensive when others ask you about your current work? That’s a red flag that you are in career drift. And if you hear yourself justifying your choices with lots of “shoulds”, “its better in the long run” or all the reasons why it’s not as “bad as it could be,” then you are drifting for sure.

I hope these simple questions get you thinking as these delicious days of summer approach. If you need anything, always feel free to contact me!

And in the spirit of not letting life drift by . . . my twin sister and I are headed to Lima, Peru, for three weeks (6/4 – 6/25) to work with Global Volunteers, an international organization serving developing communities. We will be working in a very poor village up in the hills of Lima. This is our second international assignment and although this one will be quite challenging physically, it will no doubt be emotionally very rewarding as well. I’ll have lots of stories to share with you in July!

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Emotional Intelligence: Use It or Lose Your Career!

You may think I’m exaggerating but it’s true. The #1 reason professionals stumble in their career advancement is because of their lack of social and emotional intelligence. They may have all the knowledge, skills and even years of experience but they have earned a reputation for not being able to get along with their colleagues, direct reports or even their bosses.  In short, their own self-awareness; empathy for others and ability to manage their own emotions is limited or nonexistent.

These folks (are we talking about you?) are just known for being difficult – they don’t listen, are confrontational, unpredictable and even arrogant in their beliefs. They may be in a supervisory or middle management position because they have been with the company for so long but now their career is on thin ice and they wonder why.  But others know why . . .

So what exactly is “social and emotional intelligence”?  Here is a excellent working defination from the Institute for Social & Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), Denver, Colorado.

  • “Social and emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own emotions and those of others, in the moment, and to use that information to manage ourselves and manage our relationships”.

I’ve been giving workshops on emotional intelligence (EQ) for years – it’s truly my favorite topic because it impacts every aspect of our working and personal lives.  I’m delighted now to be in an intensive coach certification course (October – November) through ISEI with my Australian coaching colleagues to learn even more.  I’ve already started to pull new ideas and tools into my training courses and with my individual coaching clients.

So let’s remember that 80 – 85% of our career success at the upper levels depends on our ability to connect, communicate and collaborate with others. Our own personal work experiences confirm that research.  We have all known industry leaders who have those qualities – they inspire, motivate and engage their teams and employees resulting in people working harder with energy, creativity and greater flexibility.  The result? Less employee turnover; higher productivity and greater profits for the company.

This is emotional intelligence competencies in action. Let’s be known as one of those leaders!

 

 

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Using the MBTI to Make Life Easier

There are at least a hundred personality assessments on the market today – all with the promise that if we know ourselves better we will be happier and more successful in both our personal and professional lives.  We can take Emergenetics; the DiSC; the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); Skill Scan; StrengthsFinder 2.0; Career Liftoff; Knowdell’s Motivated Skill Sort; the traditional 360° Assessment; Personal Branding surveys; Emotional Intelligence self-assessments and the list goes on and on.

But are they worth it?  Can they help us learn something about ourselves that we didn’t already know?  And how can we use the information to make our life a bit easier each and every day?

My answer is yes!  A bit of self-knowledge wisely applied can go a long way.  But first make sure to ask and answer these two questions for yourself ahead of time:

  1. What do I want to learn about myself?
  2. How will I apply that learning to my life today?

The answers to these two questions may be more difficult than you think.  That is why it is important to take the assessments under the guidance of a certified administrator that can clearly delineate the differences in the assessments, what you can expect to gain and then help you clarify how the resulting knowledge can benefit your goals at this time in your life.

But what about all the on-line assessments?  Yes, they have certainly gotten better in the last few years with many providing you with a robust report with more detail than maybe you even wanted.  A word of caution – be careful of the freebies.  You may be left with more questions, be more confused and more vulnerable for them to sell you a bigger package.  Look before you leap!

I am biased though and believe that nothing takes the place of talking with a real live professional that knows and cares about your own goals.  I want to know that they really know what they are talking about.  Over the years I’ve obtained certification in several of the well-known assessments.  I weave them into the beginning of the leadership or career transition coaching that I’m doing and people love them.  Maybe it’s the mystery of figuring out “Who am I really?’ or maybe it’s just trying to figure out what makes their husbands tick?

My favorite is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  It’s the best-of-the-best because once we know and really understand our own innate “preferences” life really does become much easier.  And the icing on the cake, is now we know what motivates and energizes other people both in our families and in our work settings.  We also become a little less critical and a lot more appreciative of the “gifts” we all bring to the table every day.

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