Here is what attorney Gina Morley had to say about the seminar:
"Excellent session. Organized, Thanks for the opportunity to have benefited from your Mastery and to share some stardust of my own."
Meet The New CEO's - Become The CEO Of You Personal Branding Seminar
Tip Of The Day June 16th, 2009
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Maryann Williamson - from her book "A return to love, reflections on the principles of a course in miracles".
Tip Of The Day June 15th, 2009
"There are four ways, and only four ways in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it". - Dale Carnegie
Becoming The CEO of YOU Inc: What Will It Take?
In this current job environment the ability to manage ones career is fast becoming a skill that no professional can afford to be without. Sadly while communicating with other professionals I have quickly come to discover that while many people believe that they are self-managing their career, they have let go of the reins.
They have no goals and have made no plans (at least none documented on paper) and instead of being The CEO of their careers they function as subordinates waiting around for instructions and direction from someone else.
Listen people, I need you to get it in your head and get it fast– You alone are responsible for your happiness and career success- YOU! Not your boss, spouse, colleagues, friends or your parents. If you are not happy at work, if you feel trapped or stuck in a career that is devoid of meaning and fulfillment other people can’t “fix” this for you. You and You alone must make a decision to change something - You must become the CEO of You!
But what will it take? To become the CEO of You and effectively manage your career requires that you become familiar with:
Yourself! But who are You? Set aside time for introspection and answer the following questions. What are your likes, dislikes, vision, goals, passions, values? What are you good at? How strong is your brand? Are you following your inner desire to pursue a career that you really want? Who are your clients (internal and external) and what are their needs and how equipped are you to meet these needs?
The “Rule of Three”, which basically states that most people can do three things well but not four. When you factor your personal life into the career management equation, the impact of the Rule of Three is even greater. Can you move up the corporate ladder, improve your managerial skills, technical proficiency and achieve work life balance? I think not. You may choose to work harder, but in the long run will you be effective? I believe that no matter how long the run is you eventually run out of energy, out of time, and out of luck/ credibility with our friends and family simply because you can’t keep up. The lesson from The Rule of Three is that You will not be able to seize every opportunity, join every professional/civic association, lead every team or even work on every new project, go back to school, spend quality time with your family and strengthen your spiritual life. You will have to make a choice whether through action or inaction; but if you take an active role in the decision-making at least you increase the chances that the choices made will be a choices that You want. Chart your coarse!
Conduct a Personal Assessment of Your Self-Management skills: Consider this list of skills that I believe are important to self-management. (Feel free to expand this list). How developed are you in these areas? What are your strengths/weaknesses? Which skills would you like/need to build upon or develop in the future?
o Ability to make decisions
o Assertiveness
o Critical thinking
o Cooperativeness
o Diplomacy
o Ability to gather and access information
o Ability to embrace new ideas
o Poise, Professional Presence
o Resourcefulness
o Ability to handle stress
o Attention to detail / High standard of excellence
o Ability to lead and follow in teams
o Commitment to Personal development and life long learning
o Creativity
o Empathy
o Patience
o Reliability
o Self Control
o Integrity
o Ability to adopt to change
Becoming the CEO of You and effectively managing your career, requires that you develop the skills and abilities necessary to function not only in your present position but any future position that you aspire to. Consider The Peter Principal and the Question of The Master Fit - The Peter Principal concludes that people are basically promoted past their level of competence. An overview taken from Wikipedia.org explains it this way. “In an organizational structure, the Peter Principle's practical application allows assessment of the potential of an employee for a promotion based on performance in the current job; i.e., members of a hierarchical organization eventually are promoted to their highest level of competence, after which further promotion raises them to incompetence. That level is the employee's "level of incompetence", where the employee has no chance of further promotion, thus reaching his or her career's ceiling in an organization. The employee's incompetence is not necessarily exposed as a result of the higher-ranking position being more difficult — simply, that job is different from the job in which the employee previously excelled, and thus requires different work skills, which the employee usually does not possess. For example, a factory worker's excellence in his job can earn him promotion to manager, at which point the skills that earned him his promotion no longer apply to his job.”
So what does this have to do with career management? The answer is simple, Life long learning and the question of Fit are crucial to career management. Do not allow your ego, a title, economic pressures or pressure from management and others to cause you to accept a job that “takes you of coarse” and does not line up with your goals and vision for your career or does not line up with your skills and talents. I urge you to consider your current position and the specific roles/opportunities that you wish to pursue in the future. Take the time to identify the required skills necessary to perform in these roles (before you accept a promotion) realizing that any skills-gaps or lack of experience must be developed through cross training, professional seminars, leadership roles in professional and civic organizations etc.
Develop An Action Plan – Now that you have your vision, goals, future positions/opportunities and skills gaps identified, the final task is to develop your goals and identify an action plan. Remember to be effective your goals should be S.M.A.R.T.:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time specific
Becoming The CEO of You and embarking on the journey to career self-management is serious business. Do not attempt if you require high maintenance, babysitting or do not wish to take personal responsibility for your career development. This will only cause “You Inc.” to file for Chapter 11 or go out of business – a painful process indeed!
They Are Being Paid, So Why Don’t Employees Do Their Jobs?
Scenario 1: Your team’s performance is average, ordinary, lackluster; they seem to do just enough to get by. They have to be constantly watched even when performing basic task. You’re tired and need a break, but you’re afraid to take a vacation and leave them on their own, who knows what you will meet when you return.
Scenario 2: You’ve worked hard to make your business a success and finally all of that hard work is beginning to payoff. So you hire additional staff to take some of the weight of your shoulder and move the business forward. But even with additional help you are still working just as long and just as hard. This “dream team” is not reducing your workload and providing you with the relief/help you’d hope for.
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar, because whenever I talk to business owners and managers I hear the same chorus over and over again, “They are being paid, so why don’t employees do their jobs? Why won’t they do what they are supposed to do?
This is a great question, but can you handle the answer?
Would it shock you to learn that a survey conducted by The Gallup Organization discovered that approximately 60% of employees come to work and do the bare minimum, just enough so as not to get fired. Gallup also learned that only 20% of employees actually come to work with the intent to make a difference? Horrifying isn’t it?
But why don’t employees perform better, why don’t they do what they are supposed to do? One of the first reasons that typically come to mind is that the employee is just lazy and lack motivation, or that they may not be a good fit for the job. You consider termination or transferring the employee to another department when the reality is the employee is simply NOT-ENGAGED!
According to The Gallup Management Journal there are three types of employees:
1. ENGAGED - employees who work with a passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.
2. NOT-ENGAGED - employees who have essentially “check out”. They are sleepwalking through their workday, putting time – but no energy or passion into their work.
3. ACTIVELY DISENGAGED - employees who aren’t just unhappy at work; they are busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.
It is also interesting to note that employees who are NOT-ENGAGED or ACTIVELY DISENGAGED are not only less productive and disruptive, but are also inclined to show less loyalty to the organization, provide inferior customer service and may “act out “their negative attitudes.
What causes this disengagement? There are a myriad of reasons, (loss of trust and confidence in management, personal problems, no advancement opportunities, there is no reward for doing a great job, policies and procedures, etc.) but more often than not, the road always seem to lead back to ineffective management; You know what they say - people don’t leave organizations, they leave bad managers!
Feedback from employees on why they have “checked out” and were not doing what they should be doing also include:
• I was never told why I should do it – Yes employees need a why! Gone are the days of “you don’t need to know why, just do as you’re told”, “because I said so” etc. Smart managers know that people will only do what you tell them to do as long as you are around, but if you want them to commit to that behaviour even in your absence, you must give them a very powerful / important reason (to them ) to do so. A great example of this can be seen on the television program “Intervention” where drug addicts will not take steps to overcome their additions to improve their health and quality of life, but will so do for the benefit of their children. Take the time to explain why employees should do their jobs. Outline the benefits to the organization for doing their jobs, as well as the detriments to the organization if they don’t do what they are suppose to do. Take the time to explain how these tasks affect other departments, customers and the mission of the organization. Also outline the WIIFM (What’s in it for me) personal benefits / drawbacks that the employee will receive / not receive for poor performance. eg. Financial reward, strong personal brand, increased knowledge, promotion. The flip side (obviously) lack of all of the fore-mentioned.
• 60% of employees say they feel ignored or taken for granted – “Everyday employees make the choice to either engage or not engage their talents in serving customers and the organization. Yet many managers still regard employees as interchangeable units of cost. The challenge is to inform and motivate, and many in management are not up to it”. Stephen Manallack – author You Can Communicate
Reasons employees feel devalued or unrecognized include: not being treated with respect by management, not having a voice within the organization, lack of feedback from managers, no recognition for a job well done, having to work in unacceptable physical work environments, not receiving the necessary resources to perform the job and inequality in the pay for same/similar work. The need to feel valued is a basic human desire that cannot be overlooked if you wish to improve performance. So is feedback. As I watched the basketball game on Sunday night I became a stronger advocate for coaching and feedback. A powerful lesson reinforced was that if you want your employees to be at their best that you will have to give them feedback more than once a year! Can you imagine what would happen if coach Phil Jackson showed up to the game and said “Guys just go out there and play. I’ll watch from the sidelines and at the end of the game or worst at the end of the playoffs I’ll evaluate your performance!” How many ways can you spell disaster!
• There is no negative consequence for poor performing – As a manager:
o Do you know of employees who do not follow procedures or rules and has not been doing so for years?
o Have you ever been forced to accept (into your department) a rejected, difficult, uncooperative employee from another department?
o Do you have employees who refuse to perform certain parts of their job, simply because they do not like it?
o When you try to discipline an employee for non- performance are you forced to back off by upper management, a Member of Parliament or the union?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions then you are an enabler and should be charge with “aiding and abetting poor performance within your organization”. Just as there are rules that govern criminal behaviour in society, there must be rules that govern an organization. When the rules of society are broken there is a price to pay – perpetrators go to jail! In an organization willful perpetrators must also be punished – privileges must be denied, demotions with salary cut should be enforced and when all else fails willful poor performers should be terminated. Remember you can’t complain about the things you tolerate - Do something!
Lesson In Etiquette, Style & Personal Branding For Young Ladies At S.T.R.A.W.'s Conference
Young Ladies practicing their networking skills at conference!
S.T.R.A.W Host 5th Annual Girls Leadership Conference.
Held every year in March, this event is attended by junior and senior high school females (as well as college-aged young women) throughout New Providence and the Family Islands. This year the conference was held on Friday 13 March 2009 at Superclubs Breezes Resort. The conference began at 9:00am and ended at 5:00pm.
"Heralded as the premier conference for teen girls and young women, it is the brainchild of S.T.R.A.W. Inc. Center for Young Women (Terry Cunningham's youth development organization).
Personal Branding Seminar Fast Approaching
Become the CEO of You Inc. Personal Branding Seminar is fact approaching. Deadline for registration is Tuesday May 5th, 2009 and space is limited. To reserve your place, register online at:
When completing the form please include your telephone area code with your phone contact without any spaces or dashes (-) in between. Example: 2423255992
If you're ready to stand out and take your career or business to the next level, attending this seminar is a must! I look forward to seeing you on Thursday May 7 2009, 8:30 a.m. sharp!
Is Your Spouse a Liability?
Last year a friend of mine was forced to attend a Company event with her husband; what a nightmare! She whined and complained all night about “not having anything in common with these people” and wanting to leave, and she refused to mingle with the other partner’s wives. In the end she and her husband got into a nasty argument that was witnessed by the Managing Director and half of the staff. What an embarrassment not to mention poor reflection on her husband. Needless to say my friend got her wish; she was excluded from all future company events.
Take my advise, If you wish to be a rising star in your organization or see the corner office in your future think twice before you invite your spouse or significant other to accompany you to any business events; he or she could be more of a liability than you realize. I heard a story just the other day of a boyfriend who got drunk at a client dinner and “cursed out” his girlfriend’s boss because “ya’ll have her doing all the work, and ya’ll wouldn’t even pay her a decent salary!” What was he thinking? Not only was the client embarrassed, but his girlfriend lost the account.
I’ll say it again “loose lips sink ships” and needless to say a poor refection on your guest is a poor reflection on you.
Warning: Bad Employees Can Be Cancerous!
Bad employees are like cancer. They enter organization and if left unchecked they grow and spread and can eventually kill the organization. But if the cancer is caught in its early stages the cells can be eradicated and the organization can go on to live a healthy productive life.
Are you a bad employee? To Thine Own Self Be True! Obviously the more you answer yes the greater the likelihood that you are a bad employee.
Continue reading "Warning: Bad Employees Can Be Cancerous! " »
Badbossology: Are You A Bad Boss?
You know what they say, good people don’t leave bad organizations, they leave bad bosses. So if you notice that employees are unhappy, morale and productivity are low, absenteeism is high (someone is absent almost everyday) and employee retention is a lunchroom joke maybe it’s time to evaluate your supervisors/managers. ‘Badbossology’ could very well be a part of your corporate culture!
Now I am pretty confident that no supervisor/manager is going to admit (at least not publicly) that he/she is a bad boss, but just ask employees and you will have enough horror stories to write a book.
Are you a bad boss? To Thine Own Self Be True! Obviously the more you answer yes the greater the likelihood that you are a bad boss.
About
- Learn more about Total Image Management & Communications Co.
Stacia Williams is a Corporate Image Management, International Protocol, and Personal Branding Consultant who helps executives and organizations to always be at their best. Polished to perfection is her promise. Based in the Bahamas, Stacia sets the standard in the Caribbean for Personal Brand and Image Management.
