Ken Rand

Six Ways to Bolster Your Career During Economic Upheaval

Your career deeply impacts your overall life satisfaction. It’s not something to take for granted. The price you pay for settling for less than you are capable of is high. You might be able to put your aspirations on the back burner for a while, but your hopes and dreams will nag at you. Deep down you wonder if life can offer something more. Don’t wait until you hate your job and your life. Put your career on track today. Here are my five best suggestions to build a future you can be truly proud of: Step One: Be Obsessed with Yourself YOU are the one thing in your career that remains stable and consistent through the course of your life. The economy cycles and labor markets shift. Hot job trends come and go, potentially pulling you in the wrong direction. In the midst of all the external craziness, your internal needs, wants and competencies are the consistent roadmap to your future. Imagine you carry a “talent suitcase” around with you all the time. Stored in the main section are your values, enjoyable skills, interests and your natural born temperament. In the side pockets are your accumulated knowledge, work experience and aptitudes. No one has a suitcase exactly like yours. As you grow through life, you store more and more in your talent suitcase. Sadly, you could shove this treasure trove to the back of your closet and ignore it. This usually results in career depression and disappointment. Alternatively, you can be obsessed with what makes you tick keeping your capabilities front and center. Step Two: Operate From Your Values Your values are your beliefs, your morals, and your internal compass. When your career supports your values, you are fulfilled. If they are violated or left unnurtured, you become dissatisfied. Given the power held in your values, it only makes sense to identify them, define their meaning and make them a visible feature of your life every day. A career-self assessment will offer an opportunity for you to identify and prioritize your values. Write your top 5 or 10 values on a piece of paper and draft a brief definition for each one. Next, determine where you will post your values so you see them every day. Maybe you have them on the refrigerator door or stuck inside the visor in your car. When you encounter them on a regular basis you will find ways to enhance their role in your daily life. Your values are your superpower, feeding your soul. Step Three: Utilize Your Enjoyable Skills Think about a job you’ve done that you did not enjoy. At the end of the day you are exhausted. Your physical and mental health suffer. You come home drained and land in a lump on your couch. The solution here is simple. Start with knowing what your enjoyable skills are. This circles back again to the career assessment . Identify the skills you enjoy and prioritize them. Then reflect on how many are central to your career (or the potential career you dream about). Skills are awesome because you can add them into your current occupation or integrate them to your life. There is no limit to what you can learn. You can improve your proficiency in a skill you enjoy, increasing your career-related energy and fulfillment. Step Four: Take an Accountable Perspective Blaming and making excuses is career poison. No matter how justifiable your complaints are, in the end, you suffer the consequences of your negative perspective. Worse, others begin to see you as a moral buster. Who wants to be around someone who is powerless and pessimistic? Notice what the basic storyline of your career is. Do you see yourself as an influential force with the central responsibility for your future or have you cast yourself as a victim of your circumstances? The answer to this question opens the door to sustained career satisfaction. Taking an accountable perspective requires fortitude. The bad things that can happen in the course of your career can be devastating. But, again, you victimize yourself over and over again by holding on to the disappointments. Be a leader in your own life and take your power back. When you do, you will quickly notice a resurgence of creativity and resourcefulness. Step Five: Use Your Courage A great career is built on bravery. Perhaps you don’t go after what you really want because you don’t want to fail or you lack self-confidence. This begs the question; how do you find the grit to persist towards a career that utilizes your full potential? The answer goes back to step number four, accountability. When you take full responsibility for your career successes or failures, you get stronger. Little by little you heal the trauma that holds you back. You start focusing on what is possible. In essence, you build up your courage. There is no limit to the amount of courage your can contain. You just need to start today. Set aside some time for self-reflection. The struggle that comes with being in a career crossroad can be tough. So, be gentle and patient with yourself as you elevate your career.

Are you one of the millions of people working in a home office, kitchen, or basement? According to an April 2020 Forbes article, “an MIT survey of 25,000 American workers found that 34% of those who’d been employed four weeks earlier said they’re currently working from home. Combined with the roughly 15% who said they’d been working from home pre-COVID-19, that means nearly half the U.S. workforce might now be remote workers.” Much has been written about variable productivity, pros and cons regarding life-balance and the delicate juggling act for parents with children at home. A less discussed matter are the career-boosting opportunities this work-from-home revolution offers. Let’s consider a few here: Step-Up Your Professionalism: Have you ditched your professional clothing? Are you displayed in your Zoom box looking like you just got out of bed? This could be forgiven in March when everything was wonky. But, as we enter August, employers are becoming less lenient. They are noticing who shows up with their A-game and who does not. As the CEO of your career, it makes sense to audit both your appearance and your productivity. You can put yourself on a path to future success by showing self-discipline and dedication in a time with others might slack off. Leverage Activity Goals: Many employers have established “if you have some extra time” lists. Especially if you are in a consulting or counseling role, you might finish with a session with fifteen minutes to spare. You can set yourself apart by getting extra calls done, using every minute efficiently. If your name keeps showing up as the one who gets more accomplished you are opening doors for advancement. Be a Leader : No matter what your job title is, you can choose to be a leader in your role. Help your employer establish a new work culture in a stay-at-home reality. Don’t sit back and expect top management to come up with all the good ideas. Suggest the creation of a healthy work-culture committee. Generate ideas to increase morale, enhance team-work and innovation. Update Your LinkedIn Profile : In the past, much networking happened over a cup of coffee or lunch. That’s gone and does not appear to be coming back any time soon. Your LinkedIn Profile is going to represent you more often than ever before. Upgrade your banner, strengthen your achievement statements, get a better profile picture, solicit some current references and make sure you are telling a cohesive story. Consider Making a Career Change: Has this pandemic, and related economic upheaval, caused you to re-evaluate your career? You are not alone. There is a tsunami of career changes brewing. Many found that the security they counted on in their industry or field was flimsy. The future looks uncertain so why not do something new? Pivot into something you’ve dreamed of doing. Or take this time to design a new future, one that you can be truly proud of . In the midst of chaos, there are always opportunities. This list above is only the beginning. This is an amazing time for growth and innovation, but only if you strategically take advantage of it.

Entering college in 2020 is guaranteed to be an adventure. Don’t allow overwhelm or excitement to side-track you. Take full advantage of all the services on campus and set yourself apart. You can create a secure future. By the way, if you are not going to college, will you share this with someone who is? Thank you! Here are the steps: Before School Starts Familiarize yourself with the services on campus. Find out about health services, career planning assistance, student government and advising services. If you have a particular challenge, like a learning disability or fear of tests, look for supportive resources. The little bit of time you spend researching will pay off big time. Don’t Let Remote Learning Limit You Going to school during a pandemic is historical. You need to blaze a trail. If you are an on-campus student make sure you are healthy and safe. If you are a remote learner or a hybrid, don’t miss out on anything! Ask for appointments online and get engaged. Make an Appointment with an Advisor Don’t try to figure everything out by yourself. Work with an academic advisor to determine what courses to take, how to deal with impacted classes and how to remove barriers to your goals. Guaranteed you will learn something valuable if you ask good questions and follow the advice of a great advisor. BTW, quick note. If the advisor is not helpful, do not give up. Ask for an appointment with someone else. You can’t let creepy people dictate your future success. Fully Utilize the Career Center: If you are like 92% of incoming Freshman, you plan to get a job after college. This does not occur magically. You have to develop a plan and prepare yourself. Here are some items to put on your checklist: Find the Career Center (or whatever they call it) and learn about the services offered. Meet with a career counselor in your first semester and build a relationship. Plan to visit your career counselor yearly. Grow with support. It does not matter if you have a solid direction or if you are still searching. Either way, the Career Center will help you. Take every workshop they offer. Learn how to interview, write a resume and network effectively. Embrace First Year Programs and College Success Coaching You will learn how to manage your time, deal with social distractions and achieve your goals. These are skills that will pay off for the rest of your life. Understand Your Talent Package The number one way to excel in your career is to know yourself extremely well. The easiest way to do this is to read Elevate Your Career: Live a Life You’re Truly Proud Of . Time and again people tell me they wish they had read it when they were getting started, so grab a copy and learn success strategies that will elevate your future. Take the Elevations for Students Assessment When you buy Elevate Your Career: Live a Life You’re Truly Proud Of , you get a coupon for a free career assessment. Elevations for Students (accessible by phone or tablet) helps you prioritize your values, identify the skills you enjoy using, profiles your temperament and offers current and emerging career options that match your interests. You will receive also self-confidence boosting report that describes your innate talents and capabilities. Do An Internship The benefits of working and exploring your options while in school are substantial. You will: Learn about your strengths and weaknesses Get feedback from professionals Mature both personally and professionally Build your resume to compete more effectively when you graduate Polish your interpersonal skills Build your confidence Refine your goals based on real-life experience Establish a network of peers and mentors If you want to graduate with an array of juicy job offers, take action on the items above. Grow, have fun, learn and secure your future.

Recently two strangers who reached out to me via LinkedIn to have a networking call. I accepted their invitations because I find value in these types of meetings. If they saw something in my LinkedIn Profile , we might do business or provide mutual support. Here are some tips based on these calls: Use an Online Scheduling Too l Both made it easy for me to calendar the call by providing a scheduling tool. One used Calendly . The other used AcuityScheduling . Both were great. Quickly I had the meetings booked and received reminders in advance. Initiate the Call Yourself One had me call them, the other called me. I prefer receiving the phone call. It’s your party, be the host. Don’t run up my long-distance bill when you are trying to pitch me. Do Your Homework Neither one of the callers took the time to learn about me in advance. They were both inquisitive, but their questions were broad and uninformed. I would have been much more impressed if they absorbed the information available on my websites and social accounts before our call. Listen This was the key difference between the two calls. One was busy sizing me up while I was answering her questions. I knew this because she asked me the same question several times. She quickly got to speaking about her expertise and failed to draw out my story. I checked out mentally. Find a Way to Be Mutually Supportive Both networkers did this well. One offered to support my social media posts and she has delivered on this offer. The other introduced me to a service website that might become a part of my strategy going forward. In return, I made sure I gave them resources suitable to their business endeavors. In the past I might not have taken the time to meet with these folks. The shut-down has opened my schedule and I’m taking full advantage of this opportunity to connect with others. I’ll end with my own offer. If you want to tell me about your product or service, set up the call. There are no mistakes. If we connect, there will be value in it, especially if you follow the tips I just offered. #phone #businessideas #businessconsulting #efficiency #businessrelationships #smartmove #marketing #creativemarketing #businessstrategy #salesfunnel #marketingstrategist #pitch #communicator #knowyourworth #social #network #connect #opportunities #helenhoryza

Careers are often boiled down to overly simplistic perspectives. Either you have a job, or you don’t. As you are reading this, your situation is probably more complicated. Maybe you: Have a job, but you are working from home, changing the fabric of your career and your home life. Have lost some or all of your work but are confident you will be able to return as the economy re-opens. Are completely out of a job with no prospects of returning to what you used to do. Are working harder than you’ve worked in your life because you are an essential worker. Are working in an area that grew because of the pandemic (flour producers, delivery services, and puzzle makers to name a few). You are prosperous and struggling to keep up with demand. Are a small business owner, gig worker or consultant managing limited cash reserves, trying to gage how long it will take for your line of work to safely recover. Are enjoying a much-needed vacation and are using this time to reinvent yourself. The list goes on. How do you develop a strategic plan to put yourself in the best possible position? The first step is an understanding of the type of pivot you are making. There are three levels of emergence : The Total Pivot The Creative Pivot The Prosperous Pivot The Total Pivot You are starting a career in a completely new field. Some of your skills will transfer, but you will have new duties, new products or services and a new identity. You might invest in re-training. This could be a college degree or a certificate program. Either way, you open new doors and start your next chapter. If you are seeking a traditional full-time job, a total pivot can require you to start at the entry-level. The silver lining here is the speed at which you can learn and advance, using your maturity and work ethic as a spring board. Sometimes a step aside or a step back is the smartest way for you to regain stability. Another total pivot is self-employment. If you’ve longed to have the flexibility and autonomy that comes with business ownership, this might be perfect for you. Take a look at my blog article on hot stay-at-home jobs to get good ideas. The Creative Pivot This pivot is a re-invention. It requires a keen analysis of your current field, function and competition. Here you survey your options and see where the opportunities are. Use foresight to anticipate where future growth is likely to occur. I can use myself as an example. Up until March 15th 2020 I made my living as an academically trained career development expert with a focus on organizational development. All of my work required face-to-face contact and it evaporated overnight. It’s not the first time I’ve had to reinvent myself so I knew the steps to take (found in my book Elevate Your Career: Live a Life You’re Truly Proud Of). After much self-reflection, I was able to focus on the part of my career that I enjoyed the most, training other people how to be great career coaches. So, now I plan to open the Career Coach Entrepreneur Academy in Fall 2020. I’m incredibly excited and glad that the universe pulled me out of my groove and gave me a chance to make a change. Prosperous Career Pivot The last general category of career emergence requires keen business skills, competitive analysis and forecasting. It is called a Prosperous Pivot. In this circumstance you’ve hit the jackpot! You have a product or service in great demand because of the pandemic. The question facing you is this, how long with this last? Your pivot is challenging because you are busy. It would be easy to think you don’t have time to worry about the future. Big mistake. Step back and consider your strategy. Determine when demand is likely to fall off and put a plan in place. Be ready. You might consider hiring the best executive coach money can buy. This way you leverage outside expertise when you need it the most. My last word of advice is to keep a positive, accountable attitude. This will allow you to be resourceful and see the best path forward. You are not alone if anxiety is impacting your ability to think clearly. Ask for help, lean on the people you trust and take advantage of all the resources that can help you make a successful career pivot.

A recent survey of 400 companies with 100,000 employees cited an average loss per company of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees. Add our current pandemic work-from-home circumstances and that number is likely rising. If you aspire to success in your business or as a leader in an organization, communication mastery is essential. Excellent communication is an art, not a science. One strategy may work beautifully with one person and bomb with another. Having said that, there are some practices that will consistently improve your communication prowess. Step One: Communicate to the Needs of Others It is well documented we operate from automatic and unconscious preferences in our communication. If you are a logical person, you tackle tough subjects with ease. If you appreciate order in your life, you respond well to structured communication that does not waste your time. The list of preferences goes on and on. If you do not know what your natural born preference are, you will impose your needs on others. The price you pay is disconnects, disputes and lost productivity. The fastest and most powerful way to uncover your own preferences and learn to communicate to the needs of others is to become a student of temperament. My recently published book Elevate Your Career: Live a Life You’re Truly Proud Of offers detailed temperament descriptions, case studies and a temperament reference appendix. Step Two: Listen Knowing You Will Learn Something Listening is an act of generosity. It helps you gain credibility, loyalty and trust. No doubt, the payoff is immense. Never the less, poor listening is rampant. People interrupt, minds wander and assumptions block new information. Building listening skills requires constant effort. It’s much like going to the gym. It is a muscle you must work on constantly. Sadly, you may not have an accurate view of your listening abilities, especially if you have power over the people you communicate with. Take time to ask the people you work with a couple of simple questions: How would you describe my listening skills? What could I do to improve? How would better listening on my part improve your career/productivity? This will take a bit of courage on your part. The payoff will be significant. Step Three: Pay Attention to Your Tone “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it!” When emotions run high, your tone changes, usually to convey impatience or anger. This become magnified if you are delivering a suggestion or criticism. In communication lingo, we call this paralanguage. It is your tone, volume and pacing (how quickly or slowly you deliver your message). Somewhat like listening, self-awareness and practice are the keys to improving your paralanguage. Start by noticing people’s facial expression when you are communicating. Do they look sad, angry or disconnected? Chances are, your tone could be improved. Step Four: Manage Your Body Language In face-to-face communication, body language is the dominant force. A whooping 55% of your impact in communication has nothing to do with your words or your paralanguage. Its your stance, eye contact, smile and gestures. You are a walking message board, sharing information without saying a word. Improving your body language is fairly easy. Learn how to make comfortable eye contact, smile frequently and stand with confidence. Remove physical barriers to communication, like a big desk between you and your guests. Even on a Zoom call, your body language is broadcasting. Monitor your facial expressions, stop looking down at your phone and position your monitor so your audience is not looking up your nose (you know what I mean!). Step Five: Work to Keep the Listener’s Attention There is a huge gap between the speed of your speech and the brain processing speed of your listener. The average person speaks 115-120 words per minute. The average brain processes 600 to 800 words per minute. Every trick or tool you can find to keep the attention of the people you speak to is precious. Here are a few of my favorite attention grabbers: Do your homework. Know what is important to your audience. Build bridges. Find common ground. Use visual aids and ask for feedback. Provide advance information and follow-up with valuable resources. Speak with confidence and energy. Trash the PowerPoint slides, except for great visuals that tell your story. Start on time and end on time. You keep the attention of your audience by demonstrating respect. They will pay attention if you are delivering substantial value. Step Six: Remember People’s Names Ugg, I can hear you groaning now. You are terrible at remembering people’s names. Guess what, we all are. It’s not a natural talent, it’s a chosen skill. About 5 years ago I attended a presentation by Michael Allosso, professional actor, speaker and communication expert. He convinced me to become adept at remembering people’s names. My husband and I took on the challenge and here’s what happened: Waiters at restaurants (remember doing that?) have given us unparalleled service. We have been upgraded at hotels. We have relationships with the staff at Home Depot and our grocery store. The list goes on. The best advice I can give you to remember names is to make an association. The receptionist at my hair dresser is Lana (I associate her with the patch of lawn outside the front door). You have to pause and think about the association. If you have time, jot down some notes about the person. Over time, you’ll get better and better, never perfect, and that’s OK. Communication mastery will enhance every aspect of your life. Pick one of the above steps and get started. Even a small improvement in your communication methods will offer compounded benefits in both your personal and professional life.

You are not alone if you have lost something significant in the last ten weeks. Many excellent articles have been written about the grief, widely felt at this time. Today I’d like to elaborate on this topic and focus specifically on your career. I am going to share the introductory paragraphs from Chapter Five of my book Elevate Your Career: Live a Life You’re Truly Proud Of . In this section I talk about loss, but I also describe the excitement that comes with a new beginning. I hope this passage will offer context and clarity for you in this time of change. Here is the Elevate Career Cycle referenced several times in the excerpt:

If you are on unemployment and/or worried your career will not survive in a post-pandemic labor market, you are likely embarking on a job hunt. You might not be feeling great about this turn of events, resenting the loss of income and stability. So how do you take control over your life and your livelihood? The following mind shifts will empower you and accelerate your job search success. Mind Shift Number 1: Resentful vs Committed The natural human response to hardship and loss is resentment. Sadly, bitterness and negativity will kill your motivation. Your efforts to become employed will be stalled. I am compelled to offer an alternative mind set. I’d like you to become committed. This mind set is gritty, determined and competitive. You do not allow the event that took your job away dictate your perspective. You can be resourceful, finding options for your future. Mind Shift Number 2: Fear of Rejection vs Generating Opportunities “I hate job search.” I’ve heard this time and again. It’s not surprising because job hunting invites rejection. No one like being turned down. You don’t want to experience failure so you give up. Well, I can’t stand by and let that happen so let’s consider another option. Imagine you and I go to a casino (one that is magically safe to enter). We approach a slot machine and I promise to give you unlimited coins. You are pretty happy, right? You figure you will win eventually, so you start pulling the lever enthusiastically. You don’t resent the number of times you need to try, because you are focused on the eventual win. I’d like you to approach your job search with the same rationale. Job rejections are your badges of honor. The more you generate, the most likely you are getting close to securing rewarding employment. Mind Shift Number 3: Numbers Game vs Strategy If you have replaced resentment with commitment and are (mostly) immune to rejection, you are a foe to be reckoned with in the job market. You have eliminated much of your competition. Nice work, now let’s go one step further. The last mind-shift is moves you from applying for as many jobs as possible to applying for jobs that you have researched as a great fit for you. Spraying the Internet with generic resumes will produce little or no results. So, it’s time for you to establish a strategy. To help you do that, grab a copy of my free e-book: The 10 Biggest Mistakes Job Seekers Make. With the right mind set and great resources, you can take control of your career transition. Knowing the traps that accompany job search and shifting your perspective will give you the positive attitude you need and deserve.