7 Public Speaking Tip for Introverts

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management book TimePeace: Making peace with time and The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations– and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. Steve Wynkoop and I talk a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG TV.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit DVD or Online Program goes into further details on the who, what, where, when, and why of these topics.

As we rise up the corporate ladder, public speaking (whether in the form of presentations, proposals or seminars) becomes a large part of our advancement. It helps us build our reputation, credentials and professionalism. As our career develops, our professionalism and talent needs to become more public; therefore, public speaking will become a part of the job.
Even though public speaking is important to any career advancement, many are uncomfortable in front on an audience.

Here are some quick tips:

1) Consider ToastMasters to improve your public speaking. It’s an unitimidating environment filled with people with the same goals.
2) Talk about things you are passionate and know about. Everyone is excited to talk about their passions and experiences.
3) Practice, practice, practice. Take every opportunity to stretch yourself. At every interaction, make it a goal to tell one story to a stranger or group (just one story).

4) Think positive. Visualize the speech several times before you actually make it. Screenplay it exactly has you want it to go. While you are speaking, pretend that you are someone else. Channel one of your role models and give the speech as he/she would do it.
5) Everyone understands how difficult it is to speak in front of groups. They appreciate what it takes to get up there and want you to succeed. Acknowledge that everyone in the audience is on your side.
6) Another thing that helps is to use your speech to speak well of someone else. Sometimes it is easier to speak of someone elses’ endeavors and accomplishments because you are placing the spotlight on them (instead of on yourself).

7) Use a familiar prop. Sometimes a prop helps with nerves because some of your attention is focused away from the audience and onto the prop. Creating “how to” speeches or presentation is an easy way for introverts to ease into public speaking. Make sure you know “how to” do that item.

3 steps to managing people you don’t like

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

The most effective way to managing people you don’t like is to focus on their positive attributes and not on their annoying habits. Everyone has idiosyncrosies. Everyone brings different things to the party. That is what makes the work force both rich and challenging.

By focusing on the positive attributes and talents that the individual brings to the team, you can not only more easily manage around the uncomfortable areas; but turn those negatives into positives. For instance, if you feel that he/she is too much of a braggart and wanting the spotlight – assign him marketing and promotional activities in which his salesmanship is an advantage to your team. Send him to networking and marketing events. Have those attributes work in your favor.
Also – often the thing you don’t like about someone is a mirror into something you don’t like about yourself. So doing some sole-searching on why you don’t get along with someone might help as well. Seek to improve yourself in those same areas.
Lastly, understand that you can not change how other people respond to you, but you can chang how you respond to others. If the person is constantly late with his/her work (regardless of how little or how easy the task), never assign them a task in the critical path; never put them in the position of becoming the bottleneck of the project.

In my IT Professional Development Toolkit, I go into the: who, what, where, when and how to accomplish all of the above. I also have a transferrable skill worksheet. For more information about the toolkit, please contact https://www.udemy.com/it-professional-development-toolkit/

Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

What can an unemployed job seeker do to keep their skills sharp?

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

What can an unemployed job seeker do to keep their skills sharp and relevant while they are searching for a new job?

There are several ways to keep your skills sharp:

1) Volunteer your services to non-profits and small businesses. You need to make sure you are offering your services in the area of your job skills/expertise. Example: You are a web-designer. Offer to redo a small business website with the understanding that you can place your logo and designed-by contact information on the pages.

2) Continue your education. Use those training and certification classes as networking opportunities as well as keeping your skills sharp. Most likely the people in that class are being sent there by their company to gain this new skill and may be looking for additional resources. Add these people to your LinkedIn.com network and ask them for their recommendations, endorsements and possibly add them to your reference lists.

3) Develop/create your own utility or product that uses the skill you want to advertise and promote. This could be a tool that you offer free on the internet – OR – a presentation video on YouTube – OR – a training video on YouTube, facebook, linkedIn, etc.

The goal is to come up with ideas that both keep your skills sharp and helps get you that job. Each of these solutions have an affect on your resume and cover letters. You gain additional work experience, recommendations, and references for your resume and cover letters. You can also refer potential employers to your internet product or YouTube training videos.

How to Repair a Damaged Relationship with Your Boss

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the books TimePeace: Making peace with time – and the Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations. I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, career management, time management, and work-life balance strategies.

Today we are going to talk about How to Repair a Damaged Relationship with Your Boss

Everyone wants to work well with their co-workers and boss. But sometimes it’s difficult because of personalities or the way people like to work.

Here are some different strategies to consider:

1) How can you tell if the relationship with your boss is repairable? The best way to see if the relationship can be repaired is to better
understand how you work and how your boss works. Taking a personality test like Opposite Strengths System <http://www.oppositestrengths.com>,or * Myers Briggs* personality test. <http://similarminds.com/jung.html> provides an objective and 360 degree assessment.

By understanding the different way people work and how to better relate to those personalities – you are well on your way to repairing the relationship. Since you cannot change how other people react and respond to you – you will need to be willing to make the change. If you are not willing to put in the effort, then the relationship will not change.

2) What if the relationship cannot be repaired but you don’t want to quit?
The best way to change positions within the company is to start business networking with others in the department or area that you want to move into. Start marketing your expertise in their area by volunteering your services, sending helpful articles that point to solutions or new techniques, present Brown Bag Lunch talks on topics of interest, ask to be mentored/coach by others in the other departments, take others to lunch to find out about other opportunities in their area, and schedule an appointment with your HR representative for additional ideas.

Okay – after some soul-searching; you have decided to repair the relationship. What now?

Here are some quick steps:

1) Acknowledge your part in the broken relationship. Make improvements in your performance, stay positive; don’t place him/her in difficult situations; bring solutions to problems; be open to feedback; don’t take things personally, do what you say you would do and keep him/her in the loop when you can not accomplish it and always stay calm and professional (that means no drama)

2) Understand your boss’ point of view: Go the extra mile; anticipate his/her needs; protect his/her time; and understand his/her communication preferences,

3) Focus on your shared/common goals and interests. Includes some personal interchange. Get to know them a little and give your boss the benefit of the doubt. Another good reference book is Don Ruiz book “The Four Agreements.”. This is a great personal and professional relationship manual.

4) Tommy Thomas, PhD and leader in the Opposite Strength System suggests the following: To improve your relationship with your manager, the main point to remember is to have an attitude of equality. The mistake most people make in their relationships with people they report to is that they confuse the authoritative position that the manager has in the organization with the value the manager has as a person.

So be sure to blend respect for the manager’s position and authority with conveying an attitude of equality.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above. The IT Professional Development Toolkit is covers a comprehensive set of development tools and techniques in less than 10 minutes per practice. It contains audios, videos, articles, webinars, presentations and practice exercises designed to be less than 5-8 minutes in length. It can be used as a reference platform or a 12 week course program.

The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program.

For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com

For more information about Opposite Strengths System and relationships, check out Tommy’s Relationship Guide. This is a report that will give you detailed; specific coaching on how to approach your manager based on who you are and who your manager is and do so with an attitude of equality. Go to http://www.oppositestrengths.com to learn more.

Finding Time for Professional Growth

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Everyone is busy. But if you don’t make the time to manage your career, your career will manage you. Today’s topic is how to find time for professional development.

Most people find comfort in the idea that they:

Don’t have time for professional or career development
Too busy with daily work to focus on future paths
Company doesn’t provide the time or funds for career development
Not interested in staying at this company
Company doesn’t have any growth opportunity for me

Whether these statements are true or not, they are irrelevant.

Your career and professional development is not your company or manager’s responsibility.
Your work ‘happiness’ is not your company or manager’s responsibility.
The company is not responsible for helping you keep your job.
You are in total control of your own career, your own time management strategies, your own personal and professional development.

Both personal and professional development can be accomplished with 10 minutes a day. Audio tapes, short articles, online programs, discussion groups, pod-casts, as well as various mobile devices make it possible for you to study:

On the way to work
At your desk during a 10 minute break
Over lunch either with friends or alone
During your workout
Through a walking meditation
A 15 minutes distraction from television or video games
Standing in any type of line

Everyone has 10 minutes a day for things that are important to themselves.

Also, identify things you can blend into what you are already doing. Some examples:

At meetings, search for possible mentors, learning and even promotion opportunities
Invite mentors, coaches and possible new employers to lunch or outside event
Take notes and gather data during your normal tasks with the goal of writing and submit a white paper to a conference. While at the conference, you can participate in an abundance of other learning sessions.
Take notes at conferences so that you can easily turn them into reference materials. Share them with your team and sibling departments through lunch-bag presentations or webinars.

If you incorporate these things as you go along (with the goal of continuous learning and developing), it doesn’t really add any time to your day.

Once you clarify your professional development goals, opportunities will automatically appear. This isn’t because they magically appear out of nowhere. It’s because your vision is now clear enough to see what was always there.

But – how is the best way to recognize opportunities

Quick Tips

Event that repeats …there an opportunity there.
- Boss asks the same questions over and over again
- Clients make the same mistakes or asks the same questions
- A mistake is made – there’s a problem to solve – which means an opportunity
- Whenever you are frustrated or overwhelmed – there’s an opportunity
- Whenever you are disappointed … there is an opportunity

When you know what to look for – there are opportunities everywhere. This may bring an immediate feeling of overwhelm-ment and stagnant of indecision. Jot your opportunities down as they occur (the IT Professional Development Toolkit calls this the Parking Lot Method). Jotting them down will avoid being overwhelmed. Realize that this is merely a smorgasbord; you simply have to pick and choose.

Conclusion: Use your scheduled 10 minutes a day to fill your pipeline of knowledge.

Use your scheduled 10 minutes a day to shift and sort the opportunities that start appearing. Think about how which event can help you the most; which event you are most ready for; which event you can implement right now.

But all these things start with the desire and commitment to start. Pause for 10 minutes a day and devote that to your professional, personal and career development.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit is covers a comprehensive set of development tools and techniques in less than 10 minutes per practice. It contains audios, videos, articles, webinars, presentations and practice exercises designed to be less than 5-8 minutes in length. It can be used as a reference platform or a 12 week course program.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above. The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program.

For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com

Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

How to deal with competition in the workplace

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Today we are going to talk about How to deal with competition in the workplace.

Examples:

Coworker was made lead to a high profile project while I was on surgery lead. When I came back I was placed on a lower profile project.
There’s only one open lead position in the organization and I am competing against 2 other people for the job.
My department budget only allows one person to attend this particular conference. There are 5 people in my group that are vying for the trip.
My department gives a MVP award every year. I want to win the award, but there are 5 other people in my group.

More often than not – the feeling of competition comes from the idea of scarcity. When you believe there are only one spot on the high-profile project, one job available, and one seat on the conference table – then of course there is a feeling of competition. The face is that there will be other high-profile projects around the corner (that’s not the only one that is ever going to present itself). There will be other open positions in other departments and groups (this isn’t the last job available ever). There are other ways to get to a conference (having your department send you isn’t the only option). The MVP isn’t the only award given, your department isn’t the only one that gives out awards, and this isn’t the only year that they give it out.

To eliminate the feeling of competition – create your own opportunities.

1) Network and investigate other leads and job opportunities in other sister departments

2) Increase your value to other departments, managers, executives and clients

3) Meet with mentors and experts to get guidance on how to shore up you skill set and talent gaps to get the next high-profile project.

4) Make yourself visible to high-profile clients to eventually become their pick as a liaison.

5) Submit abstracts and papers to various conferences. When you are a speaker at the conference, your admittance is paid for by the conference. Your department budget isn’t affected.

6) Offer to assist the marketing or sales departments to create additional opportunities for yourself.

7) Publicize and clarify your goals to allow others to keep an eye and ear out for you.

The Personal Business Commitment plan, the Individual Development Plan and the Individual Network Strategy workbook (all found in the IT Development Toolkit), helps you outline the steps to accomplish the above.

Bottom line – There’s rarely only one way to succeed. Get yourself out of the competition mode by realizing that you don’t only have 1 bite of the 1 apple. Focus on your ultimate goal.

For example – If your goal is to get to the conference, then the goal is to get to the conference. It’s not to get your department to pay for your conference expenses.

Your goal is to be considered a valuable employee and eventually lead on a high-profile project. It’s not to be the lead on this particular high-profile project.

Once you focus on your real goal, additional alternative routes appear. Others will continue to focus on the more obvious routes. But if you focus on the path less traveled, you will eliminate much competition.

The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program.

For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com

Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

How to keep a new employee

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Today we are going to talk about how to keep new employees at a company?

Why do new employees leave?
How can a company on-board them immediately?
How to create an environment that makes new employees want to invest in their future with the company?

Most new employees leave because of just a few reasons:

They are frustrated with the work that they are assigned;
They are offered a better job;
They are the wrong fit for this company/job.

To avoid some of these issues, do your homework:

1) Due-diligence in the interview process. Understand their motives and career goals. As best as you can, make sure their career goals, personalities and work ethic meets and matches your needs.

This reduces incidents of ”they are the wrong fit for the job”

2) Have copies of your company policies, orientation materials and task procedures (that they will be responsible for) for them. Make sure your training and procedures are well documented with steps, the reason for doing it this way, and your success criteria (how they know it’s completed correctly).

This reduces the incidents of “they are frustrated with the tasks they are assigned”

Furthermore, give the new employee the responsibility of improving and maintaining the orientation and procedure materials that they are directly associated with. This gives the new employee some additional creativity and leadership outlet. Who better to improve your reference materials than the person it is supposed to be assisting. It also keeps your documents accurate and relevant in your ever-changing environment.

3) Provide career support. Partner the new employee with a buddy and a mentor.

The buddy is assigned to assist the employee with daily questions on procedures, introductions, and employee insights. Having one person assigned as a buddy to the new employee avoids the new employee interrupting your entire department with mundane and tedious questions – while providing your new employee the support and information that they need to succeed.

The mentor (which is a different, higher-level person) helps them stay future career focused. The manager should assist the new employee in selecting a proper mentor for the new hire. The mentor should be aligned with the new hires career goals. This gives the new hire a window into the different promotional opportunities within the company.

Setup regular one-on-one meetings with the manager: The meetings can be as frequent as once a week but no less than once every two weeks. The meetings can be as short as 15 minutes but schedule at least 30 minutes in the calendar. (Details on agenda topics and frequencies are outlined in the IT Professional Development Toolkit). This gives them a known and regular time to meet with their manager. This support encourages transparency and open communication. The manager should encourage questions and status, because new employees are notorious for keeping problems and issues to themselves. New employees have a need to ‘prove themselves’ in a new position. Therefore, they often shy away from giving accurate status or progress information if they fear it will show them in a negative light. They are under the false assumption that they were hired because of what they ‘know’ and not ‘how they perform’ (which are two different animals).

This reduces the incidents of “they are frustrated with the tasks they are assigned”. Also – by building a good working relationship with their managers, mentors and co-workers, they will see this as “the better job” – reducing the “they are offered a better job” scenario.

The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program.

For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com

Jack of all trades or an Expert in a few – which is better.

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Today’s question is : What’s more valuable to job force…..jack of all trade or expert in a few? Which is better to stay employed and get promoted.

Once again, it will greatly depend upon your career goals. Let’s look at some career goals as an illustration.

Want to be valued and considered a MVP in my department at my next performance review
Want to be valued and considered a MVP in my division within 3 years
Want to eventually become a Director or VP in development and research within 8 years
Want to own my own consulting business within 10 years.

In all of the above, it’s beneficial to be an expert in your dominant field or role, and very good in adjacent areas and roles. The degree in which you are proficient in each area depends on your current career path.

If your goal is to be considered a valuable contributor to your department, you need to be ready to step into other people’s positions on an as-needed basis. The argument of “that’s not my job” is fine is but it also limits your value to your department. You still want to be an expert in your assigned tasks, but being able to manage other adjacent tasks, functions and areas of your department increases your value. You will not be able to be an expert in all areas, but if you can be an adequate temporary solution in some adjacent roles (jack of some skills AND an expert in one or two) to help the team to conquer the current huddle, your value increases.

As you sale up the career mountain, business networking and collaboration becomes more important.

If you want to be the GoTo Person in your division, you need to be well-connected and knowledgeable across departments. You don’t need to know everything about everything; merely seem that way. This means you know how to gather the data or borrow the expertise from someone else. By creating a entourage and support circle of co-workers, mentors, and other experts, you can provide the needed service to both sides of the equation. You will have become an opportunity agent for both the requester and the supplier.

The higher the stakes, the wider the net of experience.

For instance, if you are interested in receiving an Average Performance Rating, then you only need to do excellent work in your assigned duties (expert in one or two areas). But the higher the stakes and the higher you rise, the wider your experience net needs to be. As you rise on your career ladder, you will be depending more on your business relationships, market trending and forecasting experience, business cycles and even human nature. You will find that the higher the rung, the further away from the technical details you will be traveling. You will be traveling more toward forecasting, predicting and designing long-term strategies.

You will still be knowledgeable in your primary technical skill, but that will no longer by your dominant attribute or value.

Conclusion: If you have your Individual Development Plan (outlined in the IT Professional Development Toolkit program), it will be easy for you to determine which areas to focus on as an expert; which to gain secondary experience and knowledge; and which gaps to fill in with your network of experts, mentors and collaborators.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above. The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program. For more information, click on the below version.

For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com

Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

Six tips to breeze through a phone interview

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

1) Smile and carry yourself as though you are having this interview in person

2) Dress professionally as though you are having this interview in person

3) Look at a picture of your best friend and act as though you are talking to them. The ease and confidence will come through the phone.

4) Carry on a “give and take conversation” versus a Q&A interview.

For instance, if they ask you how you conduct XYZ – after you have briefly and concisely answered the questions, ask them “what type of tools or procedures do you follow?” or “What do you find to be a pain point in your procedures?” This allows you to learn just as much about them as they do about you. It also gives you additional opportunities to show skills that directly aligns with their procedures. For example: After you have bounced the question back to the, you find out that they use ProductX to keep track of their steps. While you didn’t use ProductX in your last job, you used it in a previous job. And now you have an opportunity to mention your experience with ProductX. If you had not bounced back the question at that time – you would not have been able to supply that additional experience that adds value to your background.

5) Take notes. When you are on the phone, your mind is tempted to wonder directly to an answer, before you even heard the entire question. Quickly jot down a note if something is triggered while they are speaking. Then return to listening to them. You can return to that note afterwards.

6) Avoid the brain-dump. Because you can not see the interviewer, it’s tempting to catch diarrhea of the mouth.

It’s easy to assume that you understand the question and feel that you have to give a full biography of everything that you know about that subject. And as you are speaking, you think of more and more things to share. This comes off more as rambling than informative. Before you fly-off, pause and paraphrase what you think they are asking – to make sure you are answering the question (and in the level of detail) that they are interested. If the question is vague, ask for clarification in stead of rambling off in several directions.

Example: Interviewer: “How did you accomplish that?” – You could go into minute detail of how you coded something. But if you answer: “That project had many different levels. Would you like to know the high-level general process? the team, client and executive interactions? or more about the specific coding challenges?” This shows the interviewer that you are aware of the different levels involved – and want to answer the question that they are interested in.

When you are interviewing in person, you can read body language to see if you are interested in your answer. But when you are on the phone – you can’t tell if they are shifting in their seats, pacing or rolling their eyes. So keep your answers concise and brief. Pause and ask them if they need would like more detail. Pause and ask them if this is what they were interested in. Pause and ask them if you have fully answered their questions.

For a detail conversational-interview practice flowchart, please email me at LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

What should you say and not say during an exit interview?

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Laura Lee Rose

Although there are many reasons for leaving a job, it’s a good rule of thumb to leave it on good terms (even if the work environment was difficult).

Some things to consider:
1) When asked “Why are you leaving”, avoid saying anything negative about the position or people that you are leaving. Focus on the fact that this current position has prepared you for this new opportunity. Appreciate all the learning experiences and skill set that this current position afforded you. Without this current position, you would not have been able to advance to the next level.

2) Leave with an attitude of service. Offer 1 week of limited phone or email consult. Even though your last two weeks at the current job should be training and handing-off to your replacement; many organizations don’t actually rehire until after you have gone and they may have some questions after you leave. Offering some availability, illustrates your desire for the department to succeed after you leave. It’s is not likely that they will call. But it’s a nice offer to make.

3) When asked “Is there anything we should change, to better retain good employees like yourself?” be prepared with procedural improvements that support the business mission and goals. Avoid emotional and personal comments on managers and co-workers. Focus on steps that will increase the company’s revenue, customer satisfaction, and efficiency.

4) Avoid losing contact. Keep in touch with all your significant co-workers, managers, mentors and clients from this job. Business network with these people after you leave. Things change. Their positions will change; their needs will change; your position will change and your needs will change. Opportunities will rise because of these business networks.

5) Leave with a strong handshake and smile. Exit a job just as you would leave a job interview. Promise to keep in touch and wish them well.

The Professional Development Toolkit DVD and e-course goes into the who, what, where, when and why of all of the above.

For a limited time only – the first 20 people to register for the course will get in free. Just enter the coupon code “Open Enrollment” at

https://www.udemy.com/it-professional-development-toolkit/