Managing your career: Keeping your mind fit

Many people exercise to keep their body fit. Nothing worse than climbing a flight of stairs and feeling like your lungs are going to burst from your chest.

Others exercise to look good or "feel the burn".

Some people exercise to compete, either in a team or as an individual.

I exercise to keep my mind fit and my brain sane. Well, as much as that's possible!

I have always been relatively active, despite how my body looks. I can't say that I have ever liked playing sports but I did gymnastics and dance growing up and played in the high school hockey team. As an adult I have done various things to keep some sort of fitness going; walking, swimming, dance classes, a bit of bike riding, gym memberships and personal training. But it wasn't until I moved to Sydney and had a job within walking distance of my home, that I started to understand that perhaps exercise might have something to do with keeping my brain working well and my emotions in check.

One of my first jobs in Sydney, while a great step in my career, was very challenging. It was an autonomous role with not much useful support on the ground. Even though it was a big company, it was a lonely place to work that I found stressful at that point in my career. I look back on this role and the people I worked with fondly. I gained global experience, got to travel the world and gained some fantastic friends (one who I was lucky enough to attend her wedding last weekend!), but I also remember what a difficult place it was to work, not just for me but for many of my work collegues.

After a hard day dealing with the issues and emotions of others, sometimes the only way to get this stuff out of my head was the 30 minute walk home. The walk to work was also good in planning my day and getting my head into the right frame of mind. At the time I knew this exercise made me feel good but I don't think I fully appreciated how good this was for my head.

A few years later I started going to a personal trainier at a small physio led gym. I loved it! Well I should say I loved what it did for my head. Of course I saw physical benefits but I enjoyed training with another person. The social aspect really appealed to me. And I pretty much always kept the appointment because I was going to meet someone. I trained there for around 4 years, including while I was pregnant up until 36 weeks before I had my first son Aiden and returned there to train again, once I returned to work. That's committment.

After returning from maternity leave something had changed. Firstly my favourite trainer didn't work there anymore (which is one of the problem's with "personal" training) and secondly they had lost sight of why I wanted to exercise. When I decided to leave there I don't think I could accurately articulate why I wasn't enjoying paying them money to sweat anymore. I knew it was important for me to maintain a level of aerobic fitness and strength, but I had lost my passion for going there.

I have now learned that the more senior the role, the more complexity and ambiguity and the longer hours I have needed to deal with, the more important regular exercise is in manging stress and emotions. I know that if I exercise most days I:

• do a better job at work
• am more tolerant
• can focus better and for longer
• have loads more energy, even when I work long hours
• feel more positive and optimistic
• am more creative
• can achieve more at home and at work

In hindsight I know that the mistake my personal trainer was making was taking a "risk management" approach to my exercise...what is my blood pressure? what is my glucose level? when was my last checkup...and so on. Of course this stuff is important, but I wasn't going to the personal trainer to manage this for me. I have enough information and education to do this for myself. Primarily I wanted to have a "social" experience and have fun, while keeping my brain fit. When I wasn't getting this I decided to take my dollar elsewhere.
So why am I writing about this today? Well one of the blogs I often read is Sarah Wilson's. Today she wrote a post called another (surprising) reason to exercise. I completely agree with her words and they were a great reminder and inspiration for me today. I have been travelling quite a bit over the past weeks and had a long but satisfying day at work, sitting on my bottom. I made myself go for a short walk before dinner tonight, even though I felt like my eyes were about to fall out of my head from tiredness. Exercise has become vital in making sure my career is on track.

It's also World Mental Health Day and exercise has an important role to play in assisting improve a variety of mental health disorders. I keep my mental health in check by walking and going to pilates and yoga.


What do you do to keep mentally and physically fit?

My Top 7 Interview Tips

Source: uv.edu.eg via 윤재중 on Pinterest

To progress your career most of us have to go through job interviews. Pretty much. Few of us are lucky enough to be offered a new job without attending an interview. Even if you are applying for a role internally most companies have a process where you need to interview for the role. The problem with this is that most of us attend job interviews so infrequently, we don't get a chance to get good at them. And often being good at a job interview, has nothing to do with being good at the job. Tricky. I have just been through a job interview process that consisted of 3 different interviews, which I think is fairly standard now-days. My first interview was via Skype, or video conference. The second interview was face-to-face, and the third via phone. They are different types of interviews and you need to consider different things for each. So here are my top 7 tips for any type of interview:

1. Be. On. Time
Yes this is a pretty simple one but lots of people turn up late for job interviews. Being on time for your interview is really the first test. If you can turn up on time for the interview, perhaps you can also be on time if you get the job? For some jobs this is more important than others but its still a good measure of how important you think the interview is. There are times when you can't help but be late. In this circumstance you should ring your contact, aplogise and give an indication of when you will arrive. It's polite. It's not hard.

2. Be focused. 
In the first place, only apply for jobs that interest you in companies and industries you like. Internet job boards such as Seek make it very easy to apply for any job you see, but I encourage you to be picky. For example, I"m not sure I would be a great fit for a Financial Services company. I might be, but I tend to like businesses and industries that are more practical and that do or make things that are tangible. That's just me. Nothing wrong with Financial Services companies. My husband Arran loves working in Financial Services. Whatever floats your boat.

The times I have interviewed at companies who operated in industries that didn't really interest me, was a complete waste of time for all concerned. If I was really honest with myself I didn't really like the company or the role and I didn't enjoy the interview. I felt like I was on the wrong planet and I don't think the interviewers thought I would be a good fit either. On these occasions they didn't even give me the courtesy of letting me know I had been unsuccessful. I knew anyway.

3. Be you.

I'm really rolling out the hard stuff now! I know this sounds simple but sometimes it's hard to accept that you need to be true to you and your purpose, specially when you really just need a job! I know what that's like, but there is nothing more miserable than doing something you hate. It's good to remember that a job interview is not (or should not) be a one way process. A good interview will be a conversation between you and the company representatives. It's an opportunity to find out if the company and the role is going to be a good fit for you and your purpose. For the company, it's an opportunity to learn about you, how you will contribute to the business and how you will fit the culture. You are going to spend a lot of your time with these people if you get the job, so be yourself and ask questions that are important to you.

Of course you should hold a little back. One of my favourite interview experiences was with a candidate who threw the most amazing "tanty", because we were having difficulty getting the video conference technology working for his interview with a Manager in India. Anyone who has travelled or worked in India would know that things working there consistently is unusual. While trying desperately to get things working he threw his "tanty" saying that he couldn't be expected to interview under such conditions. Unfortunately the technology working intermittently was a realistic experience of working on the project, for which he was interviewing. He gave a little too much of himself. I couldn't get him out of the building quickly enough.

4. Be prepared.

Most companies are looking for a mix of experience, skills and knowledge as well as cultural fit. Some will weigh in heavily on experience while others will look for cultural fit first. So before you head off to the interview have a think about what they might be looking for. If you are invited for an interview there is obviously some stuff in your resume that is a match, but at interview you will need to articulate your experience in more detail. If the role is a customer service type role you might need to talk about when you have given excellent customer service and use a real example. Or you might need to talk about how you have dealt with conflict or an unhappy customer. 

You should also have done some research about the company. Google is your friend. Use it and have a bit of an idea of why you might like to work there.

5. Be thoughtful

When answering interview questions you can be much more successful with answers that you have given some thought to, and can demonstrate some self awareness. Companies are not looking for perfection. They are looking for honesty, awareness and actions that are consistent with your personal and career goals. Most people will ask you your strengths and development areas. You can really derail an interview here.  I have seen a colleague fail to successfully gain an internal role because she couldn't articulate her development areas. These were development areas that she had been given feedback on in performance reviews for the prior 3 years and had a development plan in place to address them. They were also very evident to the Managers who interviewed her. A little thought before the interview and she should have been able to answer this confidently and have a better chance of securing the role.

An external candidate I once interviewed told me the same development need for every role on his resume.This showed to me he was either stupid, had no self awareness or had learnt nothing during his career. Do you think he got the job?  

6. Be well presented

This is not just about what you are wearing, although that is important. First impressions count, and even though an interview should be about learning about you and what you can offer, if you arrive and you are not dressed to suit the company or the role, you are going to get off to a bad start. This counts for face-to-face interviews and interviews via Skype. I spent some time thinking about what would look good on a computer screen on the other side of the world for my recent Skype interview. I did my hair and make-up and my top half was dressed as if it was a face-to-face interview (only my head and shoulders were going to be seen on the computer screen). I was at home during the interview so the bottom half I had on jeans. I found out later that some of the other applicants for the job looked like they were wearing pajamas during their Skype interview. Didn't make a good impression.

You should be yourself but I would caution against wearing anything too distracting. You don't want to be remembered just for the massive diamonte bow in your hair (which matches your brooche and your belt and your ring and your shoes) , or the VERY VERY BADLY FITTED SUIT you are sporting (yes I have had seen both of these examples).

Being well presented is not just about what what you look like.  It's also about what you say. Completely bad mouthing your previous employers makes you look very bad and is a complete turn off. You know the saying, if you can't say something nice? It applies to job interviews.

It's also not a great idea to attend an interview if you are sick. I went to an interview really early in my career with an awful case of the flu. During the interview I did a massive sneeze and ended up with a handful of ...well...snot. There is no other way to say it. The poor people interviewing me had to scramble to get me a fistful of tissues. I was mortified. I'm guessing they were fairly disgusted. I didn't get the job.

7. Be confident
I haven't met a person who enjoys interviews. Most people find them very nerve wracking and unsettling. My mum was telling me a few weeks ago that she hates them. And then added that she got the job at every interview she has attended. Hmmm...they can't be that bad can they? 

I'll let you in on a secret. Unless the people interviewing you, run interviews all the time (like recruiters and HR people), the interviewees are often very nervous themselves. So just settle in and try to relax. If you prepare and try to be yourself you will perform well. 

Inspire me

Job interviews are just one style of interview, and as I was writing this blog I thought about interviews you often see on TV with celebrities or public figures. Many of these types of interviews are not that interesting and poorly thought out, on the part of the interviewer. Many are just opportunities to promote something, a movie or a new line of product, and are tightly controlled by Publicists. But there are a couple of excellent interviewers around. My two favourite are Andrew Denton on Enough Rope and James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio.

They have completely different styles but still get the best out of their "subjects". They both start with meticulous preparation and research. Andrew has a gentle, genuine and curious approach that puts people at ease, so they are willing to share more of their story. James Lipton is the opposite. He has a direct and staccato like questioning style but sticks to the actor's history and experience. No gossip and no dirt. 

 You can take some inspiration from both these masters. Be prepared and curious, and focused.
 

Develop me

Want to learn more? One of Australia's online job boards Career one, has some great resources here.

Just for me

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? So addictive. It's a visual pinboard. Check out this great graphic on job interviews:

Source: visual.ly via Giovanni on Pinterest

When have you had a really good interview? Or do you have a horror story?

Take a break

Last week, while at a work dinner I got talking to one of the Managers at my new job. I was telling him about the holiday I was going on and he was lamenting the fact that he never gets to use his annual leave, and could he have it paid out, instead of using it?* This is a question I am often asked, and I really don't understand it. I love going on holidays. Are there people who don't? I generally like work too, but the thought of no routine, lazing about, going somewhere new or immersing myself in a different culture is too much of a pull for me. I tend to use all my annual leave each year and am always having to save up my leave for the next holiday.

Part of my role in companies I have worked for is to help the business manage their annual leave accrual, which has become very large, and employees need to be encouraged or forced to go on leave, usually once an employee has more than 20 days leave in their bank. This seems a shame to me. The Union movement in Australia fought long and hard for employees to have good benefits, leave being one of them. Employees accuring such large amounts of leave, in my opinion, comes about in a couple of ways:
1. The business has no 'redundancy' in their structure, for example; companies can't afford to let people take leave because they have no way of replacing the work they do when they are gone, and/or
2. There seems to be a culture in Australia of working, working, working with no break. Exhausting.

When I was talking with this manager last week I said that even if I could pay out his leave, I fundamentally disagree with doing so. My belief is that people need a break, whether your work is physical or mental, taking some leave lets the body and mind rejuvenate. You know how you often have your best ideas when you're in the shower, or driving in the car? It's because you mind has switched off and is able to freely think. Holidays do something similar and with a few weeks off imagine what you can achieve when you return to work?

I'm very lucky of course. I'm writing this post from my balcony overlooking the palm lined beach at Fiji. Not everyone gets to do this, but even just spending some time at home has great benefits. Letting your mind and body rest lets different thought patterns emerge, even if you can't get away. If I have holidays over the Christmas/New Year period or during January (I call this time "Summer in the City") then I spend time at home and do outings around Sydney.

Are you longing for a break but can't see the end in sight? Here are a few ideas to get you through until you can have a proper holiday.

Inspire me

Sometimes it is really hard to get a chunk of time off, so I've found this day of inspiration for you. And a day of inspiration is better then nothing! Pulled together by my lovely friend Amanda Webb at One Degree HR this workshop is running in Sydney on 5 September. You can find all the info here . See you there!

Develop me

Starting in May each year, my Husband Arran participates in the Global Corporate Challenge. It's basically a health and well-being oriented team activity that his workplace participates in. Well our whole family ends up participating because for 16 weeks he wears a pedometer and wants us to walk everywhere. Lucky I like walking too. I think it's a great initiative because it produces excellent benefits for the people who participate. Have a look at this link. It's not a holiday but it has lots of scientifically proven benefits. Does your workplace participate?

Just for me

Packing your back-pack and heading for the hills is not the only way to rejuvenate your mind and body. During my busy week I aim to attend a couple of Pilates classes and one Yoga class at Quro Health Studio. The parts I like best are the meditative parts, where you focus on breathing. In and out. Simple and effective. Meditation has so many benefits and can be as good as a holiday and something you can practice every day. Don't know much about meditation? Have a read here about the benefits that can be achieved in as little as 10 minutes a day.
 
*Most employment legislation in Australia prevents the paying out on leave, unless under termination of employment.

Is your career glass half-full?

 
I have some time on my hands. My role was made redundant recently. Bummer hey? But there are always positive sides to any situation. For example, I get to go to Pilates and Yoga during the day! It's nice I tell ya! I go to Quro Health Studios, which are walking distance from my house. The Yoga class last Wednesday was awesome! I can't say I have been to a bad class there, but this one was different. The instructor had prepared the room. It was warm. The lights were turned way down and candles were lit all around the perimeter. Great start. Then the instructor, who I had only known as the Receptionist until this point, conducted the most beautiful, zen and challenging class I have been to. When I complimented her at the end, she said she was leaving soon, to move back to Canada. Bugger.

This person is so lovely and so positive. She seems to get so much joy out of what she does, which is serving people and helping them to have healthier minds and bodies. She obviously loves her job and choice of career. I would say she understands her purpose.

Have you worked with anyone like this? I worked with "Joe" for around 3 years in one of my jobs. He is flat-out the nicest person I have worked for, and with. When I first met Joe I couldn't believe he was that nice. I was always looking for times when he wasn't this nice person (and I don't think that says great things about me). You know, I never saw it. He operated in a tough and political environment and managed to develop the trust and companionship of each of the Senior Executives. He is genuine, nice and optimistic. Even when I was at my most frustrated, he always took the time to listen and help.

Thinking about these two people got me thinking about positive psychology and the "happiness" movement. Have you heard these terms before? They sound a little "pop", a little naff maybe. But is it really? Don't we all want to be happy, and do things that make us happy? That's what understanding your "why" or your purpose is all about.
 
After one of my Pilates classes last week, I decided to go through each of the 6 or so very large bags of books, folders and papers I had packed up from my work office and do a clean-out. Cleaning out clutter is supposed to make you feel happy. It did feel good to throw away a whole lot of stuff I was keeping "in-case" I ever needed to refer back to it. I never do. Plus I don't really have anywhere to keep it all! During the clean out I found a booklet from a seminar I attended a few years ago, run by Dr Martin Seligman.  He is a Psychologist and the founder of Positive Psychology.  He is focused on building mental strength and wellness rather than just removing mental illness.

What I really like about Dr Seligman is that his theories are based on strong empirical evidence from rigorous research. He has done a lot of work around understanding and developing your signature strengths, which has excellent application when trying to work out how to be happiest in your career and life. Signature Strengths are things that are inherently part of each of us. By identifying,  developing and using these strengths, we can improve our performance and happiness. If you would like to learn a little more, this article has a good summary of Positive Psychology and Signature Strengths.

You can use Dr Seligman's Signature Strengths questionnaire to identify your inherent strengths, then ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your current job allow you to use your signature strengths? If yes, how could you use them more? If no, are there opportunities you can identify to start to use your signature strengths?
• Thinking back to this post on identifying your purpose....does understanding your signature strengths match with what you think your purpose might be? If you are still working out your purpose, does understanding your signature strengths help you move closer to your purpose?

Inspire me  

Want to learn a little more from Martin Seligman on positive psychology? Here is the man himself during a TED talk

Develop me

What did you just love doing as a kid? Do these activities relate to your signature strengths? I bet they do somehow. How can you start doing these again? What do you think my husband Arran loved doing when he was young? Check out his passion here

Just for me

Have you heard about The Happiness Project? Learn about Gretchen Rubin's year, where she test drove all sorts of ways to improve her happiness. You might like to get started on your own happiness project!

Working out your purpose: 3 ways

My last post was all about understanding your "why" or your purpose. Once you can define this and really know  and understand yourself, your career and life choices become much easier.

This is not an easy process and it takes time and reflection. It can be frustrating if you know you are not enjoying where you are at, but don't know how to move forward. I once worked with a lovely colleague, who has now become my friend, even though she lives on the other side of the world. She would often say to me "If only I knew what I wanted to do, then I could work towards that". She is in her fifties and still working it out!I I think its pretty normal to not know your purpose. I received lots of comments about my last post from people who needed help working out their purpose. It seemed to make sense that I should pull together some ways to do this.

You might be fine with the first suggestion below. If you need a little more time and effort to work it out, try the third one.

1. My first suggestion is a good one if you have a fair amount of self awareness already. I have been a participant on leadership programs where I have used this technique. It works well if you take it seriously and take some time out. Find a quiet place and sit with a pen and paper. Writing is a great way to bring clarity to your thoughts. Answer the following questions:

• How would you describe yourself?
• When do you feel most alive?
• What interests you most about yourself?
• What types of situations do you feel most at ease in?
• What types of situations do you feel most uncomfortable?
• What situations stress you?
• What is your definition of success?
• What do you love doing in your spare time?
• What do you do in your current job that you would continue to do, even if you weren't being paid?

You might like to come back to these questions over a few days, or a week. Once you have been able to answer all these questions, review your answers. Can you summarise them? Hopefully this summary will help you understand what you like and don't like, and what your purpose might be.

2. At the Simon Sinek workshop I attended one of the audience asked Simon "How do I work out my why?" and he answered with the following:

Ask this question from some of your good friends, who you respect: "Why do you like being my friend?" Your friends will sqirm and try not to answer. Keep at it. They will say things like "I don't know...um..you are nice....we hang out together....you are funny.....(it's a bit like asking your partner why they love you!) Keep at it! Keep asking. Eventually they will start saying things like "I like myself more when I'm with you" or "You inspire me". This is the good stuff! Ask some more questions like "Tell me more about that" or "How do I inspire you?"

Simon has some great online tools which you can fine here.

3. Sometimes you find great books at the airport. I was recently in Changhi airport in Singapore, waiting for my flight home to Sydney and came across this book Business Model You: A One-Page Method for Reinventing Your Career. It's a comprehensive way to work out who you are and what your career purpose is and it helps you put actions in place to make change. It's well written and thoughtfully set out with great graphics. It includes real life examples of how people have used the Personal Business Model, which is my favourite part of the book. If you are really struggling to work out your purpose you could work through this book over a number of weeks or even months and I think you would have your purpose clearly defined, as well as being inspired by the people featured in the book. There is also a great website that supports the book.
     
       

Inspire me

David Kelley discovered his purpose while sick with a potentially fatal illness. I'm not suggesting you get sick to find your purpose but it often seems this is a catalyst for many people to work out very quickly what matters and what makes them happy. In a TED talk David reveals here that everyone has creativity and that you just need to build confidence to use it.

Develop me

Do you know your purpose? Well what are you waiting for!? Larry Smith knows all the excuses as to why you will fail to have a great career.

Just for me

Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning is a Harvard Business Review blog post about staying focused in a world of distractions and the two lists are easy to implement.

Do you understand your why?

Some weeks come and go without much remarkable happening. We go to work, we do our jobs and come Friday, we look forward to the weekend. Other weeks stand out because we are given a gift that was unexpected, surprising, and that changes our view of the world. I had one of those weeks this week. In the past month I have returned to my job, from being on maternity leave. My job is relatively new, both to me and the company, and I have two new managers of sorts and two new team members, one in the US and one in the UK. I'm still finding my way. What are my responsibilities? What person needs me to communicate what? Which people do I need to build strong relationships with? Who do I need to influence? What do I need to remember? I'm sure many of you can relate. 

Despite this, my week has been one of connections: meeting new people, having new experiences, consolidating my views and passions,  learning some new things, being inspired and as a consequence challenging where I am at, where my career is heading and our priorities as a family. While lots happened this week there, were two main events that stood out.


On Tuesday I attended the Simon Sinek workshop in Sydney run by Business Chicks. I joined Business Chicks fairly recently as they run interesting events and networking opportunities. When I first moved to Sydney, over 10 years ago, I attended as many free networking opportunities as I could to try and meet new people and build my contacts in what seemed an overwhelmingly big city. Not a good strategy. The only thing I achieved was eating bad food and being a captive audience for marketing opportunities conducted at 7.30am. After a couple of years of this I decided no more free breakfast networking events. As with many things in life, you get what you pay for!


A couple of other awesome 'business chicks' I know also had joined so I thought I would give it a go too. So far I have been to two events and I can say they are well organised, professional and awesome. The food has been great and I haven't been 'marketed' to. I even got out of bed to see Danni Minogue over breakfast (my first Business Chicks event). Anyway, back to Simon.


I had seen Simon's video on TED and knew he was going to talk about leadership. It was a inspiring workshop and I'm glad I went. He had some great things to say that relate to personal and career development, as well a leadership and business. He comes across as authentic and passionate and is a great storyteller. The key takeaway for me was that organisations need to understand why they exist, and it's not to just make money (most of the time that's a given). What is their purpose and why do they exist? A goal to make an unrealistic amount of money by a particular date is not something that employees or customers can connect to.


The same can be said for individuals and leaders. What is our purpose? What do we exist to do? This is really important when you are thinking about your career. The best most inspiration leaders I know are very clear about the "why" they do what they do, not what. A discussion with one of my favourite Managing Directors this week revealed that while she obviously wants the business she leads to do well, grow and be profitable, her purpose and passion is looking after the people who work in her organisation and providing a great place to do that. When you meet her she is very authentic about this. It is evident in the way she communicates, the way she leads her business, and the way she lives her life. As a consequence people want to work for her. A true leader has followers.


Yesterday I was invited to a networking event with the HR Leadership Forum.  This is the second time I have attended as a guest and they, like Business Chicks, provide interesting speakers and solid networking opportunities. They also hold their events in really nice places at lunch time. Yesterday was a function centre on Sydney Harbour and on a sunny, sparkly Autumn Sydney day like it was yesterday you couldn't help feeling positive about the world.

The first speaker was Dennis Shanahan, political editor of The Australian. He talked about the current state of Australian politics and the recently released labour government budget. Dennis obviously lives and breathes politics and his intimate understanding of all things related was inspirational. Passion is a very attractive trait. Unfortunately I just can't get excited about politics so I was hanging out for Peter Murray (Director of Operations) and  Peta Jurd (Group General Manager) from Veolia. Veolia had been featured in the Australian series of Undercover Boss and were to speak about their experiences being involved in the production. Don't you love a "behind-the-scenes" story?


When you are sitting enjoying a lovely lunch with a nice glass of wine, with a nice view of the harbour you don't expect to have your perceptions changed about waste management companies, have a laugh, empathise, be inspired and then be in tears. All in the space of an hour. However it bought home to me again (and again and again) that organisations have great responsibilities in looking after the people who work there. Veolia benefited greatly from being part of Undercover Boss. They received lots of media attention, got amazing feedback from members of the public and their Senior Managers gained a lot more insight into their operations.  The stars though, were the featured employees who demonstrated that when organisations are clear about their "why", employees will be attracted to work for them, be passionate about what they do for that company, and will go waaay outside their position description to help the organisation. It was clear that Veolia takes recycling and their environmental responsibility seriously and their employees are passionate about "why" Veolia exists. 


The trick in our life and in our career is to work out our purpose and be true to that. As Simon Sinek says "When we have a clear destination the route is flexible."

Inspire me

"When you work really hard but don't know where you're going it's called stress. When there's a destination it's called passion." Simon Sinek

Develop me

Not sure how to work out your "why"?  Check our Simon Sinek's website for tools and courses.

Just for me

If you want to learn more about Veolia and Undercover boss you can watch the episode here

I-develop-me

Hello!

Welcome to my blog, I-develop-me. For a while now I have wanted to share what I have learned over the years from my experiences working in Human Resources and Organisational Development for small, medium and large organisations. Some of this experience has been great, some not-so-great, but you know, I have learned a lot! I have worked with some amazing and inspiring people and some who perhaps should only be allowed to work in a locked room. Alone. And I’m being kind. I bet you have worked with someone like this!

The focus of this blog will be helping you to develop yourself in whatever you want to achieve. I’ll be providing tips and tricks and resources to help you along the way. Some will be focused on your career, some on general personal development. The main thing I have learnt is that while organisations often have talent management processes, career development initiatives and learning and development programs and opportunities unless you know what you want to do and where you want to go in your career, it’s not much help. Or maybe you are not part of a workplace that has these kind of resources? Maybe you have your own business? Or maybe you are pursuing interests and goals outside of your day-to-day bill paying job? Maybe you are considering a career change or a tree-change?  Well perhaps there will be something for you here.

My basic premise on career development, or perhaps that should be life development, is that if you are waiting for someone else i.e. your manager, your company or your family or partner to take charge of your destiny then you are in big trouble! The only way to be successful is to be clear about:

• who you are,
• what you enjoy,
• what makes you happy in life, and  
• where you want to be in the future…

That’s why the blog is called I-develop-me. Only you can take responsibility for your career and your life. I’ll be covering topics to help you work some of this stuff, like; self-awareness, education and qualifications, self coaching, leadership, culture, emotions in the workplace, mentors, life balance, feedback, getting happy, finding your passion…..Is there a topic you want me to cover? Do you have a burning issue? Drop me a line!

I will be kicking off with Education and Qualifications in my next post. How important are they?

In the mean time check out this great video called Try something new for 30 days. My husband bought me a digital SLR camera for my birthday last year and I’m currently participating in the photoaday challenge by @fatmumslim to help me improve my ‘eye’. I’m using instagram and posting to twitter and facebook. Is there something new you want to try? Maybe this video will inspire you?

Lisa

Tertiary Education. Yes? No?

Well of course the answer to that question is yes. Mostly. Sometimes. Depends....

 
It's always good to be learning, but what I'm talking about today is formal qualifications. You know, the ones that take years of your life to complete and many thousands of dollars; a degree or Masters or MBA, for example.

I thought this was a topic worth exploring because over the years I have interviewed hundreds of people for jobs and worked with lots of Managers. Reviewing a candidate's resume and their stated qualifications is always interesting, as is helping Managers with their career aspirations and development. Tertiary education usually factors in at some point.


One of my favourite CEO's, who I worked for early in my career, lets call him Wayne, was adamant that every employee we hire should have an undergraduate degree. He didn't care what the degree was in, as long as they had completed one.  "You want our Receptionist to have a degree? Our Customer Service employees? Really?" I thought he was mad. Of course he wasn't. I was just naive and still learning. His reasoning was sound and not about academic snobbery, as you might think.

1. He wanted people in his organisation who had potential beyond the role we were recruiting for. Working in a niche industry, he understood that it is easier to develop internal people for future opportunities than to find people on the open market. And it was much easier to recruit people then! People who were well educated may stand a better chance of developing themselves and the business in the future.

2. He wanted people who could demonstrate their commitment to something, such as a 3 year degree, and see it through to the end. What organisation wouldn't want employees who had the tenacity and determination to see something through to its completion? Hellooo?

3. He felt that going through the process of completing tertiary study helped people to think about an issue or problem holistically and from a systems perspective while having the skills to gather information widely.  Great skills to have in business and in life, don't you think?


As I have gained business experience, I can add to Wayne's list:

4. Studying at a Tertiary level improves your reading, comprehension, and writing skills. Most tertiary study requires lengthy assignments and essays. The more study you do, the better you get at reading large swathes of content, making sense of it and expressing yourself in a written form. There are many, many careers where this is incredibly important. 

5. Further education helps you understand that "the more you learn, the less you know". Yes I am blonde, but this one makes sense. Education opens your eyes to so much stuff you wouldn't learn just by going to work each day. And it's different learning. Of course it tends to be more theoretical but this is based (usually) on solid research, which can only enhance your work if you are able to apply it in a practical way. Every time I learn something new I'm reminded of how much I don't know and this increases my curiosity to learn more. Organisations love curious employees who want to make a difference.

So here is my take on whether you should complete tertiary study or not:

• If you want to. Yep, lets keep it simple people.
• If the profession you want to work in demands it. Derr. Obviously if you want to be an Accountant or Doctor or Teacher you are not going to get too far without the requisite bit of paper. 
• If you will be competing against others in your chosen career who will have qualifications. Many times I have advertised a role and received a large number of applicants. If I specified in the ad you need to have tertiary qualifications and you don't, this is the first and easiest cull. You won't get a look in. Harsh but that's life. (and as an aside, do not put your photo in a resume. It just gives recruiters and HR departments something to laugh at). There are many careers you can be successful in just through hard work and gaining experience over many years, however if you are competing on the open market for a new opportunity your resume may end up on the floor if you don't have some qualifications to match.
• Qualifications alone are not enough. If you finished your high school education and then went straight on to university and finished a degree, then went straight on to post graduate study, such as a Masters and didn't get any relevant work experience to go with your education, you have what I call "empty" qualifications. Qualifications are great but if you haven't had the opportunity to apply what you have learnt in the big bad world, they are pretty meaningless. Of course I'm making generalisations but you get the picture. A resume with lots of great qualifications and no work experience can be similar to having lots of work experience and no qualifications (depending on your chosen career of course).

My advice is to get some balance in your work and education (as in life). Do a little study and then get some work experience. Maybe you have a solid career and need some formal study to recognise and build on all the great work you have done so far? Maybe you are looking for a career change so study something that matches your future aspirations.

Or if you are happy where you are and the thought of cracking the books and writing assignments into the wee hours of the night is not for you, fine. But understand how this will impact your career.

Inspire me

"That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way." 

 Doris Lessing

Develop me

Michael Fox one of the Co-founders of Shoes of Prey, mmmmm....shoes...writes a blog about his experiences in a start-up business and has written two posts here and here about whether studying an MBA is relevant to being an entrepreneur and whether he should complete it.

Just for me

Those of us who have studied and those of you contemplating getting some Tertiary qualifications know you need to have goals, whether career or personal....This video by Daniel Goldstein talks about commitment devices and self discipline (you need lots of commitment to study at a Tertiary level!). He uses "behavioural time machines" to help people see their future. In this video he uses retirement as an example, however the concept translates to your career.

The battle between your present and future self

What does your future self look like? How would some further education change or enhance your future self? I'd love to hear!