Limping towards 2014?

I haven't blogged since September. I feel really bad about that. Writing and blogging is a creative outlet for me and it seems I've lost sight of that.

Yep. That's a warehouse. Pretty huh?

You see, I'm tired. Who isn't you say? It seems like every year I limp towards Christmas and New Year waiting for work to be over for another year. You too?

It's been a massive, massive year. Work has been great and exhausting. I have probably developed personally more this year in my career than any other. I have had the opportunity to work on lots of things I have never done before and learnt massively as a result. I have worked with some fantastic people who have helped me grow, develop and challenge the way I do things and I'm very grateful for that. I haven't had that in my career for a very long time.

That's all positive. But it has come at a cost. Lots of travel and time away from home. I became a platinum frequent flyer recently with Qantas and I'm not sure it's an event I should be excited about. Some of the things I have worked on during the year have been stressful and completely the opposite reason to why I work in HR. But I guess you get that.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were spent travelling and recovering from traveling and I'm pooped. Completely and utterly pooped. Usually I'm good at recognising I'm tired and do some things to help. Exercise is a good thing. Some weeks I manage to ride my bike to work one or two times and I usually try to walk a few times in the evenings. The week before Christmas? Rode my bike to work once, one way. That's 10kms. Training for the Tour de France, not. I also managed one walk and spent the whole time thinking about how tired I was. Ugh.

Sleep is also a good thing when you are tired. Being completely jet lagged for at least 2 weeks of December has meant I have been at the mercy of my completely mucked around body clock. By the time I finished work for the Christmas/New Year holiday I had decided to pursue afternoon naps every day.

My temptation is to have a big whinge. Having a whinge is a great Aussie past time and can be cathartic but there is a point where whinging just starts to make you feel worse. So I'm not. I'm going to tell you all the great things 2013 brought in terms of my career;

1. I had the opportunity to get better at some things I'm not very good at. How cool is that? If someone had asked me 18 months ago what were the 2 things I'm not very good at in terms of Human Resources I would have named the things that I have consistently worked on over this time. Was a great opportunity to round out my skills.
2. I got to work with two people in particular who have regularly coached me, challenged me and generally help me be better at what I do. I have found people like this to be very rare. In my very first HR job I had a great manager who played this role and I still think back to his advice now. Since then and now I don't feel like I have much of that. Much of my career development has been because I have worked autonomously and had to work out stuff for myself or because I worked with some very challenging and difficult people. This was great career development but it's nice to have some people who are looking out for your best interests.
3. I got to travel. So while I'm tired and need some time out, the travel I have done during the year has allowed me to meet and work with a greater cross section of people and challenged me to be the best when I'm tired and travel weary.
   
4. I got to use some skills that I'm really good at. This year more than any other I have done lots of writing at work. Employee communications, announcements and was able to create a blog for our Leadership Development Program. Do what you love and love what you do. I also feel like I have been able to bring together lots of skills from across my career.
5. I got to experience some things that made me better at work. Attending the Problogger conference on the Gold Coast was fantastic. So many inspirational and purposeful people all doing what they want to do and so willing to share their knowledge and experience. I'm sure this overflowed into my everyday work.
6. I attended the OneDay NewWays conference. For the second year running Amanda Webb and her team at OneDegree HR put on this great day. Not only were the speakers inspirational and interesting, I was able to use my photography skills to provide a record of the day for OneDegree HR. My favourite speakers included Dr Jason Fox, Tanya Diesel and Yamini Naidu. I encourage you to attend next year.
7. I attended the International HR Directors Forum Leadership conference, over 2 days in Bowral. I met some fantastic colleagues and learnt things that I was able to apply immediately. Return on investment realised!

How was 2013 for your career? What were you able to achieve?

Hate Networking?

There seems to be a thought that networking is important for your career. I guess. I'm really not sure about this. I know lots of people who seem to do well in their career and progress and I wouldn't say they are great networkers.

When I first moved to Sydney I attended lots of so called "networking" events. Breakfasts, after work drinks and a few lunches organised by companies that were interested in selling stuff to people like me. I went with a nervous but positive attitude open to meeting new people who could potentially help me with things I needed help with. The result was that each business card that I handed out often resulted with a sales call to match. People trying to sell me things I didn't need. Ugh.

I don't do specific "networking" events anymore. There has to be more to attending and event than meeting a group of people, exchanging business cards and not much else. I am extremely selective in choosing what external events I attend. I have written about this previously.

The problem of these events is that the discussions start at a superficial level and sometimes don't extend beyond this. There is not enough time and often we don't know how to really get to know people in a short period of time. I can't help but think that speed dating is a bad idea for the same reasons.

For example, most "networking" events are somehow work related. Because of this the discussions start at where you work or what do you do. What you do can be different to who you are. I work in HR but this doesn't define completely who I am. It's not my purpose though my work is a way I can be congruent with my purpose.

This weekend I have been at the Problogger conference on the Gold Coast. There are lots of opportunities to "network" and lots of people who are willing to talk and share. The first question is either where are your from? (bloggers are here from Australia and overseas) or what you blog about? The great thing about bloggers (including me) is that they blog about topics they are passionate about. It's really easy to connect and build relationships when you can immediately talk to people about what they love. This is true networking.

I challenge you that when you next find yourself in a room full of strangers avoid asking someone what they do or where they work, but instead ask questions that uncover their passion and purpose.

Lisa xx

5 ways to future proof your career

I have been doing some interviews this week for a senior role and I have been reminded how important it is for many of us to have stability in our lives. In our home life and our work life. Many candidates when asked the question “What are you looking for in the next step of your career?” often answer with comments like:

 "I want my next role to be a long one"

"I’m looking for somewhere that I can really establish myself"

"I want some stability"

"I’m looking for a large organisation that is doing well that I can stay with for the long term"

 The overwhelming theme is long term stability and this is not unexpected, but perhaps somewhat unrealistic. Organisations that today are strong and successful, in time may not be. Blackberry anyone?

There are organisations in existence today they were not even thought of 5 or 10 years ago and in the years since the global financial crisis traditional Organisations have removed all “redundancy”  in order to remain competitive and profitable, or just to survive. This has meant doing more with less. Usually more work with less people. Other organisations have sprung up which challenge and disrupt the notion of traditional business models. Think online, think social media and social enterprises. We are also seeing the demise of traditional "blue collar" work such as manufacturing where only the support of government intervention is keeping jobs alive. Holden anyone?

Companies compete and operate across the world and leaders in organisations manage teams and business remotely. There is increased complexity and ambiguity and humans are not great at dealing with this kind of stuff. Not so long ago we lived simply, off the land.

 It’s no wonder that we are looking for some stability!! It’s also no wonder that it’s hard to find.

 So on the basis that stability and certainty are hard to come by here are 5 ways to future proof your career (and life)

1.    Plan to lose your job
OK. Not the most positive of plans but it's likely it could happen at some point. What would you do? How would you pay your bills? Redundancy benefits are not what they used to be and if you don't have much service with your current company you won't get much of a payout.  

Having a financial plan is a good idea. This might incorporate how you use any redundancy entitlements, salary continuance insurance, how you would pay your bills and what you would do if you ended up being out of work for more than a couple of months.

You don't have to do it on your own. Check out Curious, Interested who do financial coaching for independence. Just what we all need.

2.    Work on hard to develop skills 
These are things like dealing with ambiguity, courage skills, conversation skills, dealing with and implementing change. Soft skills that are really, really hard. We all struggle with these but we can get better at them. I have been working on my managerial courage and conversation skills for a few years now and I know I'm getting better. And I'm better at my job for it.

3.    Work on generalist skills
People who can turn their hand to a variety of situations and disciplines are very valuable.  My friend Molly is a person who has great generalist skills. She is a leader and a good people manager. She works hard and is smart. Any organisation would want her because she can turn her hand to most things. 

The challenge for Molly is really defining what she wants in a role and where she wants to take her career but having great generalist skills really does future proof your career.

4.    Work on specialist skills
OK. I know. I'm contradicting myself. On one hand I'm saying be a generalist. On the other, a specialist. WHAT?!! 

So here's the thing. There are always specialists needed. Some organisations will always have them because of the type of business they are in. Others will bring them in at different points to help with a project or specific customer need. If you are an expert in your field chances are you will be able to gain employment. It may not be permanent employment all the time but you may get to work for a variety of companies.

5.    Have other interests: exercise, hobbies….
I guess this falls into not having all your eggs in one basket. If your whole life is your job, and you lose your job, have your lost yourself? Not a great place to be. It's healthy to have a variety of interests. 

I have some friends who work as a Assistant Principal and Audit Manager. Outside work they are the most amazing cooks! Hatted restaurant quality cooks. My husband Arran is obsessed with Mountain Biking when he is not working for a major bank on their software implementation.  I blog, take photos and spend money at Sass&Bide. I girl has to have nice clothes! Exercise is also important in managing your mental health and keeping your mood in check.

Overall you need to take charge. Managing your career is also about doing some risk management and working out what to do when things go wrong. 

I'd love to hear about your experience managing your career when things didn't go as planned......

Lisa

My top 3 tips for dealing with...well.. a crap Manager!

I could play around the edges by asking if your Manager is ineffective, or frustrating or promoted beyond their capability but if you have ever had a crap Manager you know that this word describes the situation best. The dread of going to work on Monday. Looking forward to your Manager going on holidays. Desperately wishing it was the weekend. Hoping your Manager won't speak with you on any given day.....wishing they would be hit by a bus get promoted into another business unit.... stuff like that.

A crap manager is not the person who talks to you about your performance when you should be doing better. Or the person who gives you honest feedback because they genuinely want you to improve. This is an AWESOME manager and leader. This is the kind of person you should want to work with and for.

This is my second post inspired by...well...a friend saying to me, could you write a post about "insert current problem here". My last one was on Career Sponsors. This problem seemed like a good post idea and one that I'm pretty sure everyone can relate to. I have worked for a handful of really great managers and a couple of truly awful ones. There is a group in the middle who are trying and learning and usually we have to be kind to and forgive some things. Unfortunately it's the awful ones that potentially teach us the most. Usually how not to do things. Sigh.

The problem with having a crap manager is that this person has the biggest effect on our day to day happiness. We spend a lot of time at work. I would at least like some of that time to be pleasant.

Lost in the woods? Don't know what to do?

1. Tip Number One - Quit
In my experience this is the most appealing option but not the most practical. Most of us have bills and mortgages and can't just give up our income without some planning or another job. As well as that, if we quit our jobs each time we ended up with a Manager we didn't like, well we might be quitting a lot of jobs!

Part of developing our career in organisations is being able to "manage-up" and learn to navigate through situations with difficult and challenging people. Quitting is sometimes the easy way out and sometimes it's the hard decision, when you have tried everything else.

I quit one job because of my Manager. I stuck it out for 12 months and in the end the stress was too much. Over the 12 month period I tried lots of things to make the situation better. I worked harder and longer, which only seemed to make things worse. I tried different styles of questioning to try and understand what this person wanted, which worked to a limited extent. In the end I didn't fit the culture and it was just too hard. I had put on weight and Arran was fed up with me in this job. I decided to have one final attempt to explain how I was feeling to my Manager and see if that would change anything. I decided that if the conversation didn't go well I was going to quit on the spot. Which is what I did. It was a huge relief and I should have quit 9 months earlier. Live and learn.


2. Tip Number Two - Have a strategy
Before I worked in Human Resources, I worked in retail. I had this Manager who as a person was kind, generous and liked me. As a Manager she was insecure, difficult, divisive and rude to customers. I felt like I was trapped in that job so I had to have a way of dealing with my daily frustration. It was pretty simple. Whenever I needed to go to the toilet I would walk the long way, my theory being the extra exercise would help my head and I would always walk past the pet shop to look at the puppies and kittens. That was a great stress release. I went to the toilet a lot. She probably thought I had some kind of bladder issue!

In more complex organisations you probably need more sophisticated strategies than looking at puppies and kittens!

• Exercise every day. This is one of the best stress releases around and it is as good for your body and your head.
• Work out if it's worth staying in the current situation. The 12 months I spent in the example above gave me some great experience and I know I learnt some things that mean I'm better at my job today, but would I put myself through a similar experience again with a difficult manager? No. Way. I very carefully choose the people I work for now.
• Make a deal with yourself. We can do this when there are good reasons to stay apart from the crap manager situation, but only for a relatively short time. This doesn't change your manager but it gives you an end goal to focus on. Is there something you are working on that will help you in your career? Do you need to complete a project to demonstrate your commitment and gain vital experience? Agree with yourself to stay for a specified time; 3 months...6 months...12 months max and then have a plan to get out from under this manager.
• Have an interest outside of work. One organisation I worked for was quite stressful. My Managers were not "crap" but I needed an outlet. I used to go to dance classes at the Sydney Dance Company. They were for about 2.5 hours and during the class you would learn a fairly long routine. I had to completely forget about work and use my brain and body in a different way to learn and perform the routine. It was very helpful.

3. Tip Number Three - Get some support
It can feel pretty lonely when you are dealing with a crap manager. This is the person who is supposed to be supporting you and helping with your career development, so you might need some support.

There are lots of people around who have experienced the same kind of issues that you are in. Seek them out and take them for coffee or lunch. Tell them about your experience, ask about theirs. Sharing a problem is a great start and is cathartic to a point. These kind of discussions are more useful if you do a little whinging and a lot of problem solving. Be open and ask lots of questions:

• What strategies have they used to deal with similar issues? What has worked for them? 
• What have they seen work for other people?
• What do they suggest for your situation? 
• Is there anything that could go wrong?What are the risks?

If you have a career sponsor or mentor this person would be a great place to start and there are often other people in organisations who will be happy to speak with you.

Ultimately the best course of action is to speak directly to your manager. A mentor or perhaps someone in HR could help you frame the conversation. Otherwise you may consider speaking with your Manager's Manager who might be able to influence the situation. If that doesn't work, do what I did and see tip 1!

Luckily crap Managers are not too common. Would love to hear how you dealt with a crap Manager in your career....

Lisa

Breadth and depth in your career....

When I reflect on my career I feel like I have been very lucky. Luck that I have worked very hard for, but still lucky and grateful. You see, I have been offered varied roles across my career. Some have provided breadth or width in experience across an organisation. Others have had depth in a specialist or narrow field. When I look back I don't think the roles I sought out were a conscious strategy on my part, but it has meant that each role I have taken on has given me a new opportunity to learn and grow and move forward. I'm going to give you some examples of my career in Human Resources (HR) but I suspect the "breadth and depth" idea works across many functional and business areas.

1. Generalist Role: Breadth in a small to mid size National business (110 employees)
My first role in HR was for a National niche insurer. It was a great role because I was able to get involved across a huge range of tasks. I learnt how to put employee inductions together, how to write Board reports, how to influence Senior Male Managers (when I was young, female and inexperienced), how to recognise employee performance and lots more. I got to touch lots of different areas across that business. It was a perfect first professional job.

2. Generalist Role: Breadth in a very large Global business (28,000 employees)
Having had a little experience in a smallish business, I wanted to see how a large company "does" HR and work within a larger team. I landed a generalist role in a very large business. The skills I learnt in my previous role were immediately applicable and I also learnt a lot. My manager was located overseas so it was my first experience working across different time zones and learning to manage "up". I worked with many different cultures and got to travel all over the world. I learnt to be aware of and negotiate organisational politics and deal with conflict and team dynamics.

3. Specialist Role: Depth in an Australian Listed Company (2,000 employees)
The opportunity to concentrate in one particular area of HR gave me a chance to learn specific skills in a discipline that is more strategic. I focused on management and leadership development and employee engagement and gained invaluable skills in working with challenging personalities in quite a "blokey" industry. Most importantly I learnt that cultural fit is SO important in being able to do a good job and feel successful. I learnt lots of good skills and lots about myself in this role, including knowing what I don't want in my career.

4. Specialist Role: Depth in an Australian Listed Company (4,000 employees) Contract Role
A similar role to the previous company but a very different organisational culture. I got to work on some very specific projects, met and worked with some fantastic people and generally just had a great time. Doing a contract role was a great idea. It gave me a "taste" of working for an iconic company and improved my confidence for my next role.

5. Generalist Role: Breadth in the Australian Subsidiary of a US Listed Company (220 employees)
This role was my first role as part of a leadership team, instead of just being part of the HR function. I had the opportunity to contribute beyond HR issues and had a "seat at the table" with the other business areas; finance, marketing, sales, operations and customer service. I learnt to influence and coach my peers, have input over decisions that affect a complete business and support and improve a great organisational culture.

6. Generalist Role: Breadth in the Asia Pacific Region of a US Listed Company (550 employees)
Again a role as part of a leadership team but with the opportunity to expand my change management and business integration skills across a broader business with significant challenges and a larger team.

Overall, what have I learnt?

Size matters (keep it clean people!)
Unless you are in a fairly senior role, large organisations with lots of employees often means you will gain experience in a specific area or business unit - depth. Working in a smaller organisation may give you more opportunity to try your hand across a wide variety of areas and potentially gain valuable experiences that may not exist in larger organisations - breadth.

I have found that moving between larger and small organisations very helpful in building great work experiences throughout my career.

Brands look great on your resume
I have worked for 3 little known companies and 3 very well known companies. They were all good experiences. The little known companies I worked for provided fantastic career development, as did the well known companies. Having the well known company name and experience on my resume meant that I'm more likely to get an interview for the next job. I don't think the experience I gained at these companies was any more valuable, but as a candidate I am more marketable. Worth thinking about.

Be clear about what you want
Changing roles and companies is hard work. Usually it takes effort to find a new role in the market so make it worthwhile. Be clear about what you want to learn in your next role. Be clear about the kind of organisational culture you want to work in. Be clear about what kind of person or people you want to work directly with. This could be your manager or internal customer, for example. Interviews are a two way street.

Build variety
I'm not the best example of this but I suggest working in organisations with different business models. I have mainly worked in "Public" or "Listed" companies, with some experience in privately held organisations.  Some experience in "not-for-profits" and government organisations would round out my career. Variety could also be in the type of employment arrangement. I have mainly worked in permanent full-time roles but have also done some contract and temporary work. These were valuable in gaining specific experience in a short time.

 Do you have breadth and depth in your career? Do you want breadth and depth in your career? Would love to hear about it!

Lisa

Knowing what you don't want

It struck me recently that sometimes it's as important to know what you don't want to do in your career, as it is to know what you do want. Maybe that's obvious. Maybe not.

I had cause to think about this in more detail during a recent photography workshop weekend. A couple of year's ago Arran bought me a new Digital SLR camera and an introductory course, so I would learn how to use it properly. It was a great idea. When you have a decent camera you won't get the best out of it by leaving it on the auto setting.

SPW Intro to DSLR Photography

The workshop was with Sydney Photographic Workshops and it was great. I haven't put my camera back on the auto setting since the first night of the course. Since then I have made a conscious effort to improve both my technical photography skills such as knowing which settings I should have my camera on to the best results in each setting, and also improving my "eye". I have done some additional one day workshops with Sydney Photographic Workshops including People Photography and Travel and Documentary.

SPW People Photography Workshop

Of course the best way to learn is not to continually do workshops. You need to find ways to use your camera more often and practice. I have done this by participating in Instagram challenges like Photo A Day run by blogger Fat Mum Slim, the 7 Vignettes challenge run by Jen Bishop at Interiors Addict (mainly using my iPhone), asking if I can photograph events and generally just trying to remember to take my camera with me a bit more often.

7 Vignettes challenge

Why am I doing all this? I'm not looking to change careers and become a photographer, but I want to be able to take better shots to include in my blogs, use photos and videos in employee communication as part of my HR role and have better family shots. Plus it's a creative outlet.

When the special invite arrived in my inbox asking if I wanted to go away on a 3 day photography workshop with lots of different shoots it sounded really fun and a chance to improve my skills a little more. Sydney Photographic Workshops always provide a great experience so I booked in straight away. That was months ago. When the workshop weekend actually came around it was at the back of 3 weeks of constant travel with work. I was exhausted. I wanted to stay home.

It ended up being a great weekend and I'm sure that I improved my skills but the weekend reinforced to me that I didn't want to do photography full time. By the third day I was at photography saturation point. Living and breathing photography for 3 days straight was too much.  It reminded me of how important "work experience" is when selecting or changing your career.

When I was in grade 10 I got to do work experience at a recording studio. I had been thinking of studying music technology at the time. I had a great week and had lots of fun, but I couldn't imagine doing that job every week. It was a valuable experience.

Tell me about your career. What you have learned that you don't want to do?

Do you have a career sponsor?

Source: under30careers.com via Resumes by Marissa on Pinterest

I have a friend, let's call her Molly, who I regard as one of my "amazing" women friends. She has two little boys, one with a challenging condition and maintains a senior business role and a beautiful house. She asked me to do a post on what to do when your career sponsor leaves your business.

My first thought was, I wish I had a career sponsor! A person who takes a strong interest in my career and my career development and who is looking out for me next role, and what I need to improve in to get there. A person who provides me with targeted development opportunities and mentors and supports me as I'm learning. In Molly's case it's her current CEO, who has just resigned. Bugger.

My second thought was, I have no idea!! That was a few weeks ago and I've had a little time on planes to contemplate her question.

So here are my thoughts:

Maintain Relationships with your "A" Team
In Organisations we are all part of different teams. There is the team you work with on a daily basis. This is the group that often report to the same manager. Then there is the team you manage. Sometimes there may be another team, either a functional team or perhaps a project team you work with for a period which is disbanded at the completion. As you become more senior in organisations and part of a Leadership team, your most important team is your peers. This is your "A" Team. The group you are part of with the same leader, usually the CEO or Managing Director. Depending on your organisation you may need to work with and influence people are are the head of functions or business areas such as Sales, Marketing, Finance, IT, Human Resources, Safety, Operations and so on. You get the picture. Many managers make the mistake at this level of thinking that the team they manage is the most important. It's not.

If you can build good relationships with your peer group and influence them effectively you will have a great group of supporters and be effective in your role. I also find this group to be a great source of inspiration and learning. Most people have risen to this level because they have worked hard, are smart, and talented. I have learnt so much about running a business and managing people from working with people at this level.

This group (the same as you) won't always be in these roles. They may move into different and more senior roles within their current or a new organisation who will be great contacts and a potential source of career sponsorship.
  
Keep in Touch
If I was Molly I would consider how I'm going to keep in touch with the departing CEO. He sounds like a great leader, and a developer of more leaders. There aren't heaps of those around. Molly is a great "connector" so I know she won't find this too hard.

There are no shortage of ways to stay connected both online and face-to-face, and I like to use both. Some people are critical of social media (which is the main online way to connect with others) saying it's not personal and isolating. I disagree. We all lead busy lives and social media provides a way of connecting with and keeping up to date with the lives of colleagues and friends. It's the reason that "smart" phones have been so successful! Humans are social creatures and like to "connect" all the time, through these devices. On a recent trip to Singapore I turned the data roaming off on my iPhone to prevent the exorbitant charges. Talk about painful! No email. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Instagram.....No connection!! It was torture.

I have also met lots of new people online and attend social media meet ups with Social Media Women. It's great fun.

The best way to keep in touch with work collegues online is probably LinkedIn, a professional platform to not only connect with collegues but you can join various groups that meet your career interests and network with people in similar roles across the world. You can ask for advice and read about latest thinking in your area of expertise.

Twitter is also quite a good way to keep connected. It's short and sharp and tends to be slightly less personal than Facebook. I only become "Friends" with work collegues if we have more than a work relationship. I like my lines blurred between work and home however I don't think all my work colleagues would appreciate the photos I post of my kids or the flowers I regularly steal from around my suburb. Actually not all my friends would appreciate this either.....

Of course social media is only part of the equation. It helps you know where people are at but face-to-face conversations are best. Hands down. A coffee every couple of months or drinks at the end of the work day, work a treat. For a better connection go for lunch.

Have More Than One
So who says you just need one? I think the more the merrier when it comes down to your career. If you are good at building relationships you may be able to cultivate a couple. Depending on your goals and interests, consider a person who is an expert in your career area and a person who is a great people manager. Or consider one person who has known you your whole career and understands your strengths and frustrations and another person who doesn't know your history but who you connect with easily and is a good advocate. You will need to make a conscious effort here and really think about who you know and what you need. Not that easy but anything worthwhile isn't.

Inspire me

Source: Uploaded by user via Katerina on Pinterest

Develop me

Harvard Business Review is always a great source of trustworthy and well researched information. The Real Benefit of Finding a Sponsor talks about how important it is for women to have sponsors if they want to reach the "C-suite".

Just for me

Source: Uploaded by user via Cpl Galway on Pinterest