Helene Lerner's Blog, page 208

Do You Have a 'Can Do' Attitude?

If you focus your actions with an "I can do this" attitude, you'll accomplish more and better things. Find this and more motivation in our tweets, compiled here in video form. Keep looking for them everyday on Twitter.

Animation: Marie Hankinson

Cowgirl Up: Whichever It Is, Own It

While I'm not psychic, I'll say that one of two articles sums up your career thoughts. One, a blog on Harvard Business Review: "Why You Won't Quit Your Job" and the other, from Forbes, "Why You Will Quit Your Job This Year."  Both are worth the read and beg the question:  "Well, which am I?"

Both articles, in their different ways, note the necessities for owning your career: Confidence & Courage; Realistic Perspectives and Options; and Support.  Considering these, how do you stack up? Are you ready when the time is right for you? Have you taken both of these actions below to be ready?

       Yes    No    1. I have a professional development plan and I follow it; it's the best                                long-term investment I can make in myself.

What's your development plan for the next 12 months? What additional information do you need and what new skills will increase your value to your employer…current or next? What certification or licensure indicates that you're on the leading edge of your profession? And, while long term plans may change, what's your potential career path for the next three years? In addition to learning directions, what projects or work will you take on to move toward your next career step? It may supplement your professional learning plan or it may be the project that helps you explore a new or parallel path.
Investing in yourself means paying for the learning you need to bolster your career direction. You might expect your employer to pay and that may happen. If it doesn't, what investment account are you growing to ensure you stay current in your profession? Start this month—this leap year—with $50 or $100 a month put aside for your development. Talk with a financial advisor to identify annual payout goals that you can work toward as you move along the career path best for you.

       Yes    No    2. I have mentors and strong relationships in place that offer support,                                         objectivity and accountability.

Mentors and sponsors offer more than support…they offer perspectives that you won't get without them. They offer experience, different world views and perspectives and likely learning that may keep you from making similar mistakes! If they are inside your current organization, they can give political counsel; and if they're outside, they can provide objectivity as well.
Objectivity comes from someone who has your professional interests at heart; someone who will ask the tough questions and give the direct feedback that grows your confidence in yourself and the courage to step into your power. Strong, effective coaches hold you accountable for moving forward: for making commitments that grow and stretch your thinking and being, and for coaching you to get out of your own way! This is most often a coach who is trained in the changing world of work as well as the subtleties of querying and feedback. The right coach invests as much in you as you invest in you!

    If you'd like an article on how to find your perfect coach, drop me an email and I'll get it to you!

Adding these actions to the four covered in my previous two posts gives you a platform from which to establish a tailored yet flexible career plan backed up with preparation and momentum. So if you haven't already, take the bull by the horns and get moving!

Janine Moon

Go Ahead…Date Yourself on Valentines Day!

This time of year, whether you have a significant other in your life or you don't, it's always important to love yourself. DO NOT dwell on the negatives but DO get in touch with and appreciate yourself. Here are some ways to do that:

Don't Judge Yourself

Whatever feelings and thoughts you have during this time, they're ok. Don't berate or judge yourself for being lonely or sad. Allow yourself these emotions really try to get to the root of where they come from.

Do Treat Yourself
Be with yourself in the moment. Treat yourself to something special — something you've had your eye on or an experience you've been wanting to try. Don't worry if you don't have someone to do it with. Doing it by yourself will increase your self-intimacy and self-love.

Do Accept the Kindness of Others
When we are open to honoring ourselves, we experience more of our power. Try taking in the kind gestures of others — the people who acknowledge you every day — and see how you feel about yourself in turn. Is your attention more on the one person who is grumpy and takes their mood out on you? Or is it on the person who thanks you for holding the door open for them? By appreciating these small gestures, you can appreciate yourself more.

Do Find Your Passion
By knowing and reflecting on yourself, you can find your passion. As you search and grow, you'll be more connected and appreciative of yourself instead of wishing you were with someone. You deserve to live fully and creatively! 

Adapted from Helene's new book, In Her Power, now in stores and on Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com and Powell's.

Celebs Walk the Runway for Heart Health

We were at Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection 2012 Fashion Show, where celebrities like Rebecca Romijn, Gloria Estefan and Chaka Khan walked the runway in support of women's heart health. Take a look.

Video Editor: Victoria Ng

Embrace All of You

Walking into my power means bringing all of me in the door; my good parts, my bad parts and those parts I don't want to claim. Because when I bring all of me in the door, I am grounded. I can use my gifts and I can dance with my demons, which means I can make a difference in the world.

—Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, associate professor, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University (left)

This quote is featured at the top of the third chapter of Helene's book, In Her Power. That part of the book is about owning all of yourself, not only your strengths, but also your weaknesses. The book is now in bookstores, and you can also buy it on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com and Powell's.

Jenna Goudreau from Forbes Woman interviewed Helene about the nine ways women self-sabotage. Check out the story here.

Cowgirl Up: Leap in the Smart Direction

     If you're looking to make the leap to a better position, the grass isn't always greener somewhere else! Just because you don't find a job posting to suit you, or your boss isn't giving you the feedback you want, you have options right where you are! If you haven't done your homework on your organization, then how do you know there's something better out there? The fact is…you don't know, and you're telling yourself a story about that somewhere else. It's time you cowgirl up and consider your options based on fact…starting in your current organization.

     Take a look at these action items…and 'fess up:

        Yes         No            I am well-versed in my organization's industry, market, competitors and the strategies it has identified to be successful.

                      • If you don't know the "business" of the business you're in, then you don't know how the business makes money, or develops enterprises or what strategies work best in your market. If you don't know these things, you know little about what makes the company tick…you've secluded yourself in your own little world or silo. And career and growth opportunities go to those who are interested in helping build the business.  If you haven't done your due diligence, then it certainly seems that you don't care about building a partnership—you care only about you and taking home your paycheck. 

                      • Where do you find this information? Start with industry publications and associations, competitor web sites, financial and government sites and daily online news sources that focus on your industry. Make connections in other areas of your organization, especially with sales and R&D folks. Find out what's happening in their worlds—which competitors are the strongest and what new products or services customers want.

                      • Get the financials for your company and learn how to read them. Determine which revenue streams are exceeding goals and which are not; determine how expenses align with enterprises or not. Look at your company from a partner's perspective: is your money working well for you, giving you good or great returns? Find a mentor who can teach you how to form sound business conclusions.

        Yes          No           I know my value to my organization and regularly talk with my manager about how I deliver value plus what I'm doing to increase it.

                       • Your value is what you contribute to the organization, the results you bring that no one else can. It's your worth as a resource, and the greater your value the greater your contribution. The greater your contribution, the greater your reward. You must learn to calculate your value.

                       • Don't confuse your value with your activities: your work provides or contributes to results. The value of the results can be measured or estimated, and your part in the results can be, too. Your value can be assessed based on quantity, quality, time, costs avoided, or other means. If you completed a project one week earlier than scheduled, what are the costs avoided by that early completion? Do your customers say that they return because of you? What is that additional business worth?  When you trained a co-worker and she avoided spending two days out of the office, what dollars were not spent to get her up to speed? All of these examples have dollar value that can be calculated and provide some estimate of your specific value to the company.

                       • When you calculate your value, you must "speak" it…let your manager know what you are providing that makes for a great business partnership. This might be in weekly review meetings, or you might stop in her office to pass along a compliment and the dollars you saved, or in monthly value reports. No one will ask you…you must become comfortable letting others know.

                       So, before you leap out…cowgirl up: begin with yourself…do the work…complete these two action items and increase your value to your present employer. You may be surprised at the response from your manager and mentor(s)…and you may discover areas to which you can provide great value. Your initiative and business savvy may help you create a much shorter leap than you thought possible!

                       Make sure you stop back…more action items to come. In the meantime, why not leave a comment? Would love to hear from you!

Janine

Janine Moon

Master Certified Career Coach

Career Ownership

'Where You Are is Not Who You Are'

Watch a clip from one of our shows, "Make it Happen: Mentors, Dreams, Success," where Ursula Burns, now CEO and Chairman of Xerox, discusses growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and her mother's positive influence on her.

Cowgirl Up: Look Before You Leap

      Do you know the phrase "Cowgirl Up"? It's like "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it" or "Suck it up and move on!" It means to step up your game, take the bull by the horns, tackle something head-on, and stop whining about it. It's about taking initiative and making your own way, rather than waiting or expecting someone else to do it for you.

      If you're among the more than half of employees (December 2011 survey) who are dissatisfied with the lack of career growth opportunities and you find no fit with internal job postings, what can you do but leave to find greener grass, right? Well, no, actually…there are many things you can do right where you are. In short, you can actively take responsibility for your own career growth and direction without the extreme of leaving your current job. Both you and the organization will be better for it. If you think you're entitled to someone else saddling up your career ride, you're wrong…so cowgirl up!

        Measure yourself on each of these action items (I'll be providing others throughout February's blog posts) and if you can't answer a loud and resounding "Yes!" to each, then you have plenty of career work to do right where you are.

        Yes         No       1. I know my values, motivators, skills and best work environments.

If you do know these things, do you consciously use them in your work? If you don't, how can you better bring them to bear? When we align with who we are (authentically), then both our satisfaction and contribution are greater.
If you don't know these things, then wherever you work likely won't work well. Your career direction will always be in someone else's hands because you don't have the reins if you don't know the territory. It's your values and motivators and other unique characteristics that give you clarity on direction; once you're conscious of them, you can define outcomes that satisfy your career and professional goals.

        Yes         No        2.  I recognize my talents and know how to leverage them at work.

Talents are our innate capabilities that make us really, really good at certain things. Using them allows us to shine, and our work provides huge value to both us and our employer. With our talents in play, the work we do is more satisfying, we have a strong commitment to the best possible results and we enjoy what we do…it's like play. For employers, strengths-based work means highly connected workers who go the extra distance to ensure success.
If you haven't taken the Strengthsfinder assessment  or the VIA Character Strengths assessment, do it! You'll get a specific set of those behaviors and characteristics that make you your best. With strengths in mind, you can identify when and where you use them most often as well as the business areas where you could provide value. 
Recognizing and leveraging your talents gives you clues to the kinds of work and projects that will be satisfying and challenging. Most organizations have multiple enterprises and looking into win-win opportunities before making a leap to another company is a smart career move. 

       So…cowgirl up! Don't just turn and run thinking anywhere else is bound to be better. Begin with yourself. Do the work. You'll find that your frustrations diminish, your confidence increases and career satisfaction is yours for the discovery. 

And stop back…we'll discuss additional action items in future blogs. In the meantime, why not leave a comment? Would love to hear from you!

Do You Want to Step into Your Power?

[image error]I am so excited, my new book In Her Power: Reclaiming Your Authentic Self will be in bookstores next Tuesday. It took me two years to write and I received a lot of support along with the way from some dynamic women.  It is about the nine facets of a woman's power and the most common self-sabotaging behaviors — what I call veils — that hold us back from each.

Some of the facets of power are: recognizing your unique destiny; accepting the discomfort of change, acting with confidence, expressing yourself genuinely, cultivating intimacy, and building a Power Web. I had to confront some things about myself that I would rather have left unsaid. I found myself revealing more than I usually do in business circles because I realized that in writing down my own story I could really help others.

The book is filled with exercises and reflections to take you deeper and look at what blocks you from fully accessing your power. It is my hope that women, after reading this book, will step into their power my fully.  There is no time to waste — the world is in a crazy place, and more women leaders are needed.

Working to Prevent One Million Heart Attacks

Today is National Wear Red Day, so wear red in support of women's heart health. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in America. Which is why organizations like WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease are so important.

WomenHeart has partnered with the Million Hearts Initiative, the first national public health initiative aimed at preventing one million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.

Led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevents and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serivces, Million Hearts aims to improve prevention of heart disease and stroke by focusing on the "ABCS": Aspirin therapy, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol control and Smoking cessation.

"If we successfully focus on and improve the statistics in these four areas, women will benefit, because women have particular needs in these areas," affirms Lisa Tate, CEO of WomenHeart (left). "That's why we're behind the Million Hearts Initiative."

Right now, there's more women can do. The statistics are a bit shocking. According to a report by the CDC, less than half of people at risk of cardiovascular disease are taking aspirin, less than half of people with hypertention have adequately controlled blood pressure, less than half of people with high cholesterol have adequately controlled hyperlipidemia (fats in the blood), and only 23 percent of people who want to quit smoking get some kind of help.

"The goal of this campaign is to actually change those numbers," Lisa asserts.

So WomenHeart will be spreading the word through its website, network of over 35,000 members, and volunteers. "One of the unique things WomenHeart does is train patients, volunteers we call WomenHeart Champions, to go out and speak to other women," says Lisa. These Champions will deliver the Million Hearts message.

"Women should urge their friends and family members to make an appointment with a doctor, find out if they're at risk," Lisa urges. "There are so many things you can do to prevent heart disease if you know you're at risk… Make sure you're getting the right blood work done. Too often people wait to get those things checked out until they're middle aged or older and they may have been at risk for a long time."

By Sarah Tobol, Editor

Check out our Lifesyle feature this month: Be Smart About Heart Health!