What is a Platform?
This weekend I attended a book festival that offered a session on platform building for authors. The panelists launched into a discussion of the importance of platform to sell books, but it wasn’t until an audience member asked for the definition of platform that they actually attempted to explain what it was. The definitions varied …
Choose Your Distractions, not The Other Way Around
In our daily lives one of the soft skills that needs to be learned is how to effectively deal with distractions.
Everyone has distractions:
Projects need to be completed Emails need to be answered Phone calls need to be returnedWhen you allow distractions to take over your day it’s kind of obvious that your …
10 Ways for Women to Lean In
In April 2013, I wrote a blog called Why Now Is a Great Time to Lean In. It was a month after Sheryl Sandberg’s game-changing book Lean In came out and now it is almost a year later. If you haven’t heard about it, quite a lot has happened in a mere 12 months.
I …
Present Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn for Job Searches
When it comes to presenting your personal brand to employers you might miss the opportunity to create a stellar LinkedIn profile. It’s not enough to just add your relevant information – it is critical to write an online profile that stands out in addition to showcasing your accomplishments and skills.
So what is the best …
How To Convince Others That You’re An Innovator
Innovation has been a buzz word for a while now – and it’s one of those hurdles you must surmount if you’re looking for a job. Employers want creative employees. Investors want to put their money behind creative people.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers overwhelmingly look for problem solving skills …
Seven Reasons Recruiters Are Hurting Your Career
My first two posts in this series were Seven Reasons Your Resume Is Hurting Your Career and Seven Reasons Your Employer Is Hurting Your Career. This time, let’s examine ways recruiters may be hurting your career and things you can do to avoid such situations.
Often I meet job seekers who say they are “looking …
Influence of the Introduction
For the past four years I have had the privilege of working with a bunch of financial services firms in the northeast in a collaborative training and development program. In creating and delivering content, I would always make sure that just about each day we had a special guest speaker come in to talk to …
Build Relationships to Earn Sales
Would you rather purchase from a serious, black-and-white-type salesperson, or one who is easy to talk with and who might also become a good friend?
While that might sound like a dumb question, too many business and salespeople are afraid to go out of narrowly defined boundaries. They ignore references to personal events such as …
How to be Happier at Work
Studies show that 70% of Americans are not happy at their current jobs. Companies are giving more and more perks such as casual Fridays, flexible work days or free lunches to make their employees happier so that they can be more productive. However, even these perks may not be good enough for everyone to like …
Reframing What’s Wrong to Make It Right
President Obama is currently on the stump advocating two things. First, he wants a raise in the minimum wage. Second, he wants women to receive equal pay for equal work. These have been decades long intractable issues. I believe that language has played a big part in their failure to gain traction. Perhaps reframing these …