Posts Tagged ‘career coaching’
Leadership Skills – The Art of Communication
Having exceptional communications skills is one of the most valuable assets of a leader. If you cannot communicate your wants and needs in a clear and concise manner, no other leadership skills will compensate for this lack. Fortunately, these skills are easily learned if you have the right coach.
Here are a few tips to help you build your competency in giving and receiving information.
Receiving Information: To be an effective listener, you need to encourage others to speak freely.
1. Use Body Language. Show interest by leaning forward, paying attention, nodding in agreement, taking notes, and so forth.
2. Be engaging. Greet new ideas with interest.
3. Be attentive. Give the individual you are speaking with your undivided attention.
4. Be focused. Maintain good eye contact throughout the conversation.
5. Be familiar. Use the individual’s name.
6. Be approachable. Smile, relax, and be friendly.
One important step that often gets overlooked is the need to verify the information. This step will insure there were no misunderstandings. You simply repeat what you thought you heard and give the other person a chance to clarify anything you may have missed or misunderstood in the conversation.
Giving Information: To be an effective communicator you must encourage active listening to insure you have gotten your message across.
1. Give clear and consise instructions.
2. Use Visuals. Many people are visual learners. The use of charts, graphs and demonstrations will help make your meaning clear.
3. Use your voice. Varying the tone of your voice will not only keep your listener’s attention, it can help you to add emphasis to important pieces of information.
4. Be understood. Do not use terminology or vocabulary that is above your listener’s comprehension. Use terms and language everyone understands.
5. Maintain eye contact. Watch for signs and body language that might indicate your listener doesn’t understand or you are losing their attention.
6. Interact. Ask questions and encourage your listener to ask questions. Never judge the quality of the question asked. Remember your goal is to get your message across and be certain it is fully understood.
If you follow these tips, you will be developing good leadership skills in effective communication. Once you are a good communicator people will naturally turn to you for advice and guidance.
Career Coaching For Women- Planning Now To Be A Leader Tomorrow
Now, more than ever, is the time for women to include strong leadership development in their career planning strategies. Women of the baby boomers era have opened many doors in upper management for the women of today. In the past, very few females were ever considered for board of directors positions within the Fortune 500 companies that make up corporate America. Those statistics are rapidly changing.
According to American Demographics, “Women are becoming visible at the top of corporate ladders, but remain few and far between. Female executives and male CEOs often agree about what helps women get ahead, but not about what holds them back. Senior-level women set priorities to achieve balance in their lives. Companies seeking to make the most of women’s talents should do the same.
Conditions have never been more favorable for women to ascend to leadership in all sectors of the U.S. economy. Women aged 45 to 54, of prime age to attain senior management positions, will account for more than one-third of all net additions to the nation’s work force between 1994 and 2005, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections.
Three factors drive this inexorable trend. First, the massive baby-boom generation will swell this age group during the next decade. Second, labor force participation rates among women aged 45 and older will rise as boomers replace a less well-educated, less career-oriented cohort of women. And third, men’s labor force participation at older ages will continue its long-term gradual decline. These demographic developments virtually ensure that utilizing female talent will continue to gain prominence as an issue for U.S. employers in the years ahead.
A pioneering generation of American women has already begun to attain top positions in the nation’s largest corporations. Although no Fortune 500 company boasts a female CEO today, Catalyst has documented substantial progress of women in big business in recent years. At the apex of corporate decision-making, women now hold about 10 percent of seats on boards of directors of Fortune 500 corporations, according to the 1995 Catalyst Census of Female Directors. Eighty-one percent of these companies had at least one woman on their boards last year, up from 69 percent just two years earlier. What’s more, companies are moving beyond the tokenism of a single female director; 165 of the Fortune 500 now have two or more women on their boards.”
If you are aspiring to advance to the upper echelon of corporate America, you need to map out your course of action early in your career to acquire the necessary skills in communication, leadership and achieving balance in your life. Career and life coaching is no longer solely for the rich and famous. It should be considered your source for ongoing, post-graduate education. Reaching your career goals will be much more easily attained when you have someone with experience guiding you through all of the important choices you must make on your way to the top.
To Do or Not To Do – The Key To Organized Time Management
Time Management Strategies
Keeping a To Do list sounds like such a trivial thing but it is the key to never missing a deadline and managing your time more effectively. If you do not use a list you will undoubtedly miss something or forget an important detail which results in you appearing unprofessional or unreliable. The secret is to use the list properly.
To get started just write down everything you hope to accomplish today. If you get into the habit of jotting down notes of things to do over the course of your day you can use it to plan your To Do list for the next day.
Now categorize the tasks on your To-Do List as follows.
- Need to do: These are the tasks that require immediate attention. Anything urgent or aproaching deadline would go in this category.
- Have to do: These are the routine things that you do on a daily basis that are not high priority but must be accomplished daily.
- Ought to do: This category is for the tasks that are performed only ocassionally. Things like staying in contact with past clients, networking, planning future projects, etc.
- Want to do: Cleaning and reorganizing your office space, and other low priority tasks.
Tip. Break large projects down into manageable time blocks allowing you to complete them in intervals, if possible, over the course of several days.
Anything not accomplished today must be transferred to your To Do list for tomorrow and moved up the list depending on their importance. Do not be too concerned if your “ought to do and Want to do” categories don’t get completed for several months. They are very low priority and must only be done after the important tasks are completed. By keeping a prioritized list of things to do you will never miss a deadline and will not waste time performing low level jobs in place of the ones that really matter.
Check each task off your list as you complete it. This gives you a greater sense of accomplishment and a better feeling that your time was well spent. Without a To Do list your time management can’t be visualized and monitored.
Time Management-How Much More Could You Achieve In A Day With Just One Extra Hour of Time?
Time Management Strategies
Many of us feel like we are run off our feet but still can’t keep up with everything that needs to be done because of poor time management. How many times have you felt like there just aren’t enough hours in the day? If you are feeling overworked and overloaded it makes sense to take a look at just how your time is spent. The best way to do this is to keep a time management journal.
When you start recording the length of time you spend doing unimportant tasks and routines you may find that you have an extra hour in your day that could be spent more productively. Making better use of your time can go a long way towards reducing your stress and increasing your productivity.
By keeping a log of your time you will also learn to recognize when you are functioning at your peak performance. We all have times of the day when our energy levels are at their highest, our mind is focused and we can dig in and get an amazing volume of work accomplished in a short amount of time. Learning to plan your work around your peak times and scheduling your breaks in your down times will make better use of your time.
For the next week, record the time whenever you move from one activity to another.
Jot down not only work time but also time spent chatting with colleagues, making coffee, having lunch, checking email, talking on the phone and breaks.
At the same time, make note of your mood. Are you feeling energetic or lethargic; creative or mentally drained; tired or alert?
A good idea is to also include your eating habits in the log. Your energy bursts or lack of energy may be directly related to the last time you ate and what you consumed.
After a week it is time to analyze the results. You may be surprised to see just how much time is spent on non-work related or low value jobs. Now start crossing off tasks that should be delegating to a lower paid employee.
1. Eliminate non-productive activities such as personal emails, personal phone calls, reserve lunch hour and break-times for socializing with coworkers.
2. Schedule the tasks that require the most focus and presents the most challenge during the times when you have the most energy and alertness.
3.Complete your tasks in blocks of time. Reduce the amount of times you switch tasks. Check and answer emails only twice per day; once in the morning and once in the afternoon instead of checking every time you switch tasks.
By analyzing your time you should be able to find blocks of time that your are currently wasting. Often just having to write down the time makes you more aware and accountable and you may find that while you are keeping the journal you are being more productive. If that is the case then you should continue keeping an activity log.
Layoff “Etiquette”
How to Recession-Proof Your Friendships
(or)
What to Say to Fellow Female Attorneys During Trying Economic Times
While shopping at the mall on Black Friday after Thanksgiving, I noticed a well-known clothing store had 50%-off sale signs plastered all over the walls. I asked a sales associate what items the sale included. She replied, “Everything in the store!” In surprise, I repeated her words, and she acknowledged that was correct. Then she said, “Corporate headquarters notified all the stores they would be closing the doors at the end of the year due to bankruptcy. We’ll all have to find another job by January 1.” With tears in her eyes, she stood there and starting telling me that she didn’t know what she was going to do or where she was going to find her next job.
I really felt for this person and spoke with her a little while longer, encouraging her to move forward and that I felt she truly had a lot to offer her next employer. I also provided her with some advice on how to approach the job market as a female.
During these difficult economic times, it’s sadly no surprise that, if we haven’t already gotten a pink slip, many of us will be faced with sudden layoffs during this recession. This affects all of us – on an individual, national, and global level. But because so many of us are all going through the same thing, it shouldn’t mean we have to suffer in silence.In my work as a career coach, I have encountered this problem much more often than I ever would have imagined, and I’ve gained a great deal of insight regarding how to best approach and speak to someone, particularly a female, who has experienced a job loss:
1. Empathize with the person and acknowledge their situation. Stop what you’re doing if you sense it’s what they need. Like the sales associate I spoke with, many people just want to be heard because they feel afraid. Listen and offer genuine concern.
2. Never tell them you “know how they feel” unless you have had the same experience. If you have gone through a job loss, the person will feel a connection with you, and you will be able to offer more guidance and empathy. Share with them how you overcame the obstacle and reinforced your positive thinking.
3. Ask if there is some way you may be of assistance to them or their family. This doesn’t have to be financial. If the person is family or a friend, it may be as simple as baby-sitting for them while they concentrate on their job search, or any number of things that would help them out in their particular life situation.
4. Offer to be a sounding board when they need to talk. Sincerely make yourself available to listen, as they may want to vent and verbalize their concerns. Create some time in your schedule to meet for coffee, lunch, or even talk on the phone. Remember, there are no “Layoff Anonymous” groups out there; this is a universal problem that requires a very personal, individual answer. Be the “go-to buddy” when they feel overwhelmed.
5. Let them know you will diligently keep an eye open for any available positions of interest that you may hear about, and follow through. You may see something on television, in the newspaper classifieds, during Internet searches, or simple social networking that may a potential job lead.
6. Share positive stories or words of encouragement that may ease their concerns. Again, it’s a sad commentary on our society, but just about everyone knows someone who has been affected by loss of employment. Take this opportunity to share your insights and put a positive spin on their situation to give them hope.
7. Never promise anything you cannot deliver. You may want to assist someone desperately, but it will be a loss to both you and your friend if you come into this unprepared. Only promise those things that you have control over. False hope is the last thing laid-off or otherwise jobless female professionals need. Be clear with yourself about what and how much you are truly willing – and able – to give.
This is a time in history that will either go one way or another: it will either bring us closer together or drive us farther apart. However it ends up depends on all of us – and if we really make an effort to stand up and work through this together, we will emerge stronger and more united than ever. So keep a close eye on your friends and family.
Understanding and Overcoming Obstacles in Your Life
What is your obstacle or limitation? It may be money/debt, education, limited/few opportunities, physical/mental challenges, haunting of your past, etc.
Remember, you will never be able to control other people. No matter what you say or do people will always act how they want. So, it is important for you to react appropriately to the situation. The truth is you can’t always control what happens to you. For example, you can be the safest driver, but another driver may not and a collision occurs.
Are you still holding onto negative thoughts and feelings inside? You have two choices to be positive or be negative. Realize you can do nothing about your past. That is a fact. Stop beating yourself up and make up in your mind to start anew. Do not allow your past to control your future.
Realize everyone has limitations of some type. It may be lack of finances, lack of education or physical/mental challenges. Never let anyone place limits on your life. There are many ways to overcome limitations and become successful. It is important to know what you are cable of and work towards attainable goals.
The hurt you have experienced whether physical or mental can be dealt with directly. You have to be solely responsible to overcome the issue and move beyond it. Make up in your mind that in order to move forward, be content with your life and be the success that you are, you have to fight and conquer the obstacle. Take care of “you” before you try to assist someone else.
You are in control of your actions. So, choose to take the positive approach to any obstacle. Again, it is how you respond that counts.
Ponder on the following:
1. Keep a journal. Set-up goals and develop milestones to move beyond your obstacles.
2. Do not retaliate or blame others. It is counter productive to success and emotional healing.
3. Do not harbor resentment or anger. You are only punishing yourself.
4. Do not let anyone have control over your life. They have no right to do so.
5. Accept that there is an obstacle that needs addressed.
6. When you require assistance, follow through the proper procedures and/or seek advice from an expert whether it is legal, financial, mental or physical.