Personal is personal… don’t be confused

In this day and age of the Blackberry, iPhone or name your flavor of smart phone, there is absolutely no reason to tell your boss about every non-work related item that you might need to take care of during work hours. And when are work hours anyway??

Many jobs are more structured but most corporate professionals “own their own” calendars and work whatever hours need to be scheduled to get the job done. With instant access to email, corporate IM on smart phones and more, being out of touch is a choice not a technical limitation.

So why do we still feel compelled to fill our boss and co-workers in when we have to go to the dentist or go to a quick parent teacher conference or run our grandmother to her doctor appointment?  Stuff happens… we deal with it. While you are driving from point to point, you are probably on a conference call. When you arrive, you flip open your Blackberry and check for any urgent emails. While in the waiting room (waiting…) you log into IM and make yourself accessible for any quick questions.

As your boss, as long as I can get a hold of you in a reasonable amount of time, I don’t need the details and where you are. If I get too many details, over time those details start to “pile up” and even if your work has NEVER been impacted, doubts start to creep in. I start to wonder that if you are a teeny bit late on a deliverable that perhaps you’ve been out shopping for bonbons.

Oh, and don’t fill me in on your medical history during happy hour… I DON’T WANT TO KNOW!

Best, Maven

P.S. Maven Tip: If the personal stuff is out of whack, I’ll eventually notice…even if you don’t tell me. Keep it reasonable and ruthlessly manage your priorities and schedule.

Earn leadership stripes off the job

I wrote a blog last April ‘09 called “Need a job? Use volunteering to gain leadership experience” that highlighted the opportunity keep your resume fresh even if you lost your job. I want to emphasize that taking volunteer assignments is not only a great way to prevent gaps in your resume but it is also an excellent way to network and we all know that more than 56% of all jobs are landed due to a referral.

Maven Quick Tip: Volunteer assignments can also be excellent for gaining leadership experience quicker and more easily that may be available in your every day job.  No one is going to turn down free labor so volunteer for a position that is greater than your every day job scope.  Give back to your community AND build your resume at the same time. It’s a WIN/WIN!

Beyond Fear to Power

I ran across this quote again the other day when I was flipping back through the book "The Power of Focus" by by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt. Power of Focus is a book that goes with me pretty much everywhere, by the way.

To me, this quote is about looking inside and embracing one's true self. It is about moving beyond having our self-worth being based on things that are external. It is about shedding those things that hold us back. Enjoy.

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 most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love:
Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

Buy this book
A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3 (Pg. 190-191)

Maven foray into mobile blogging

I have managed to sneak over to Starbucks for my addiction, a Venti Green Tea Latte. While waiting for my drink, I decided to test the post by email option!

Unfortuantely for my blog, Starbucks is very efficient.

But the maven likes the idea of quick posts and perhaps this will increase the frequency of musings.

Have a fantastic day!
-Maven

How important is having a job you love?

Some time ago, someone asked me to write a blog post about "How important is having a job you love?" I dutifully posted the topic to "draft" and moved on without a second thought (at the time). Recently, however, the stress of the economic situation vs. career needs and growth opportunities seem to be plaguing many. In fact many, who have been putting up with less than fulfilling jobs (likely because they figured that they could always find another one if they ever got really fed up) seem to be feeling trapped and panicky. There aren't a lot of options at the moment making their current situation seem endless.

We've all heard the famous Confucius quote, "Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life. " So, how important is having a job you love?

Most of us corporate-types like to think that the work we do and the job we have has some sort of greater purpose or meaning. We work on our 30-second elevator pitches, we agonize over the title that gets printed on our business cards, we refresh and refine our personal brands, our colleagues become our friends, our workplace our social network. We spend most of our waking hours doing work related to our job (perhaps sneaking in a few daydreams of running a surf board rental shop on the beach, now and again). My high-school chemistry teacher used to say "Life isn't fun or fair, it's rewarding and fulfilling." So we seek reward and fulfillment... understanding that we should probably make yoga a priority (supposed to be good for fighting stress).

Many times we have a job because of what it enables in the rest of our lives (like paying the bills or piano lessons for the kids), not because it, in and of itself, satisfies or fulfills. For most, the reality of "a job you love" is simply a myth. So many people are without jobs at all and the possibility of not being able to meet the most basic needs looms large. No loving your job, especially right now, may feel strange, but it is what it is... if you don't love it, the current climate isn't going to change how you feel. How do you have a "life you love" when you have a job you don't love? Should you just be satisfied with the status quo simply out of gratitude for the job you have?

Maven advice for those who don't love their jobs:

• Commit to the job you have and do it well. I call this moving into the house you have... and I do mean "move in," unpack, the whole 9 yards. As far as any and everyone is concerned, you are in the job to stay. Bosses, colleagues and employees can sense dissatisfaction even if it's never put into words. No sense "deep-sixing" yourself unintentionally.
• Make a conscious list of how the current job is benefiting your overall life. Even the "worst" job I ever had taught be valuable lessons was grateful to have learned (although I wish I had learned in a much less painful fashion!).
  
• Leverage the positives and think strategically. Look for on the job training opportunities that hone your overall skills long-term, build a stronger network, get a mentor (someone outside of your job area), train and mentor others, volunteer to work some percentage in a different area (as long as your core responsibilities are rock solid) that exposes you to new experiences and new colleagues.
• Keep your network healthy. You never know when the next opportunity may arise. And perhaps this time you won't be so hesitant to go after it.
  
• Remember, your job does not define who you are as a person. Search for fulfillment in other places. Focus on family, helping and staying connected with friends, hobbies, volunteering and giving back to your community; these are all ways to enrich our lives.

As a corporate maven (with a strong entreprenuerial streak), I cheat. And yes, cheating is allowed. I get all the benefits of a vibrant and fast paced corporate job, I try to give back to my community and I turn my (and my daughter's) hobbies into little side businesses to satisfy my "surf shop" needs. Why? I am clearly lucky enough to have a job I enjoy, but the job isn't "all" of what I enjoy in my life in general. My overall life is bigger than my job.

So, what's the maven "love your job" bottom line? It's more important to love your life than it is to love your job.

Should I sign off with a "Namaste"?

Best,
Maven

Highs and Lows: A Maven Day In The Office

As I embark on a new phase of my career, I am filled with excitement and am anxious to prove my worth. However, days like today always balance triumphs with reality checks. Three days of hard work pays off in the morning. Riding high into the afternoon, what jumps out from behind a tree but something that fell between the cracks.

What to do? Maven tip? Try the 3 A's
ADMIT you let it fall between the cracks.
APOLOGIZE.
Take immediate ACTION to minimize any issues your miss may have caused.

I've capped off the evening by reading Dr. Suess' "If I Ran The Zoo" to my daughter. That makes me laugh.

Evening musings,
Maven

Don’t confuse effort with results: Turning the “To Do” list into “Done”

As you may have figured out by now, I like to keep myself very busy. I had an interesting conversation with Fiona the other day about my "Task List" and how I manage it (Achiever being on my top 5 StrengthsFinder2.0 list). The conversation MIGHT have actually started with an inquiry as to where my next blog entry fell on said task list, but I digress. That said, it's an interesting topic and perhaps a few other people might want to wade in with their own thoughts and suggestions.

I am a self-described e-geek. I love technology of all sorts. Naturally, I have my Outlook task list which happily syncs with my smart phone (I'll leave reviews of task list software for another day). But sometimes, like before the flight attendant Okays use of electronic devices, I go back to paper. When I really have a lot of things in my head, the act of physically writing them seems to have the effect of helping me focus my thoughts vs. mentally trying to keep all the balls sorted in my head (sort of like Dumbledore and the Pensieve from Harry Potter). Well, you say, so now you have a task list on your computer and one on paper. How do you keep it all straight? Honestly, I don't keep it all straight all the time. I don't even bother consolidating the paper list to my online list in many cases. But I do look at it periodically throughout the week and make sure that I cross off the completed items. I also make sure I don't have duplicates (the computer wins on duplicate entry).

I personally make a distinction between appointments and tasks. For example, a task might be "schedule a doctor appointment." Once it's scheduled, it gets crossed off my list and moved to an appointment on my calendar. I wouldn't update or add a task to say, "go to doctor appointment" and leave it on the list. And yes, this does mean that managing your task list is a component of how you manage your time. I have to say, however, that I am constantly amazed how many things are actually "done" when I go back to recheck my task list. The act of capturing and organizing my task list almost guarantees that I'll take care of at least some of the items without a second thought.

Simple prioritization can really help make sure that the most important items get done. I have cited a reference from the Wikipedia page on Time management below but it doesn't so much matter whether you use A, B, C or 1, 2, 3; it DOES matter that you pick a prioritization method that works for you and that you use it.

Consider these Maven tips:

• A task should be prioritized, have a deliverable, a tangible result. Ideally, it should have a due date as well.
  
• Don't put entire projects on your task list. Projects are generally things that you know you are working on. They have their own timelines and tasks. (Besides, they'll be on your task list a long time. You don't really need that kind of subconscious pressure.) Do put individual project tasks on your list, especially if it helps you prioritize them against other items.
  
• The length of your task list does NOT equal your value. What matters is getting results, it does not matter that you have "spent a lot of time working." Maven Mantra: "Do not confuse effort with results."
  
• Live by the 4 D's
  
  • Do it. Do make time on your calendar to complete tasks. If it can be done now (now = the time you allotted to do tasks), do it.
    
  • Defer it. If it's not something that can be gotten to right away, schedule an appointment with your task list (name it if it "Spot" or something if it helps you justify the appointment) when it is more reasonable to get to it. (Your prioritization method will help you with this as well.)
    
  • Delegate. You don't have to do everything. Once you accept a task, your responsibility is only to make sure it gets done, not to do it yourself.
    
  • Delete it. Give yourself permission to purge items that are really not vital. For example, create list somewhere else for things you'd like to remember. I once had a category in my task list of books to read. Not really vital, more of a "don't forget you thought this might be interesting" item. I love to read so you can imagine that having these items on my task list was a distraction. And some things are just not going to get done. You have Maven approval to delete those as well. No sense taking the mental bashing.

End of musings for today,
Maven

Related posts: Running on Fumes (Wednesday, July 9, 2008 interesting, she muses… that was almost exactly a year ago)

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REFERENCE: Time management, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Time_management&oldid=301264299 (last visited July 9, 2009).