Category Archives: Professional Career Development

Summer Sizzles with Business Lessons Learned from TV’s Scandal

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Hello – all you Olivia Pope and Scandal fans out there. I know Scandal is on summer hiatus. But what better time for us to review some “business Lessons Learned” from Scandal and more specifically from Olivia Pope?

This summer, we will be hosting a Lessons Learned Summer Series based on the characters of one of the best rated TV series “Scandal”. If you are interested in joining this video series – please register to receive telecast dates and times.

Today’s episode is a quick overview of “How Olivia Pope Got to be Olivia Pope”. We’ll walk through the business strategies that you can also use to build your empire, while avoiding some of the pitfalls.


If you found these tips helpful, then signup for the summer series. REGISTER HERE

How to select the proper path at your crossroads

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

This question came from a busy professional and small business owner:

I am at the crossroads in my career. I am 20 to 25 years to retirement; and I still have lots to contribute. But I am interested in lots of different career paths and I find that I am splitting into two separate and distinct directions. How do I figure out which is the right direction for me?

Often times, the two separate and distinct directions are not really that different. Often times, if you take a Bigger Picture view (take a higher-level perspective) of those “separate interests” – they actually share a common purpose or goal.

Example: What should I do?

  • I am interested in Quality Assurance – and like making sure everyone is meeting the standards, in order to deliver quality products and services.
  • My work experience is in developing network security systems. Should I just find a lateral move?
  • I am also interested in stepping out on my own as a contractor

 What’s the HUB or Center Focus that bring these things together?

My name is John Doe, I am an authority in network security systems. I help security conscious companies stay ahead of intrusion detection methodologies and never-ending security attacks, so that they can avoid down-time and delays due to unauthorized data breaches; assure client sensitive data safety and surpass both their delivery schedules and competitor’s market releases.

At the end of the day – I give my clients peace of mind.

 

If the above was your HUB – your Purpose or High-Level “What I do” statement, you have extended your opportunities and career path exponentially. See the below example of the activities and roles that stem from that single HUB-Focus.

HUBExample

 

Bottom Line: More often than not – two separate paths is an indicator that you are focused on the details and not on the higher-level purpose. Stepping back and taking the time to discover the Bigger Picture view or High-Level perspective, brings the paths together.

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

 

 

So you just got a promotion and think you can relax

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So you just got a promotion!  That’s awesome and it’s well deserved. You’ve done awesome work at a exceptional performance level – to get you here.  Congratulations.
Now – here is what’s going to happen next.I know this because I was upper management in a High Tech Industry.

The management circle often uses this opportunity (that “she just received a promotion”) to automatically give the talented employee an Average or Below Expectation Performance Evaluation – for the next review cycle.  Their rationalization is that “She is in a new role with more responsibility – Of course it’s going to take her time to learn the ropes on this new position.  She can’t expect to be exceeding expectation at this level the first time out. She can’t expect to be delivering at the same level as the folks that have been executing at this level for longer.”

Realize – the management team normally has a quota of how many Excellent, Above Expectation, Average and Below Expectation rating to give their various teams.  They rate, rank and sort everyone (across all departments) of the same band, and level.  Then they count off how many Excellent, Above Expectation, Average and Below Expectation ratings from this pooled list to meet their quotas.
Realize that you are not being judged on your work alone – but you are being judged against all the other employees (across all departments) that are at your new, promoted level; against people that have been executing at this level longer that you have; against people that know and have been working with the upper management level longer than you.

Realize that with this new level, you have a different level of business networking responsibilities.  You have a different set of people you have to impress and cultivate. You have a set of different people that you are going to be compared against that already have this head-start in knowing and working with the right people.  They already have the inside track to “professional loyalty”.  Because upper management already know these people and have been working with them at this specific level – they tend to give them a higher ranking that someone that’s new to the band.
Because you are somewhat below on the ranking list – when they draw their quota lines for Average and Below Average grades – you normally fit in that range.
This gives upper management an easy opportunity to use one of their tough Below Expectations or Average ratings – without feeling “bad” about it.  “After all – how can she expect a good review at this new level? She’s using the first year to get her feet wet and learning the ropes.”
I know this because I was upper management in a High Tech Industry.

Now is the time to show them that “This may be true of other people just being promoted – but IT AIN’T SO for ME”.

It’s great that you received this promotion – but this is not the time to relax on your past accomplishments. You should understand the politics behind getting a promotion. And – at the mid-year mark” – you still have time to turn this rationale around.

If you are interested in assuring that this does not happen to you – ask me about  some Summer Career Booster tips specifically for your unique situation.

It’s easy to setup an appointment directly into my calendar with THIS LINK

Optimize career for learning or responsibility?

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Today’s comment came from a busy professional.

I currently work at a small web design agency with a team of 5. I’m the sole marketer where I do all digital marketing for clients.

This includes SEO/PPC, some social media, and everything else growth marketing related. I love the autonomy, the people I work with, and ‘owning’ the entire digital marketing role and department.

My only complaint: clients are really small (e.g., electricians, attorneys) and I’m itching for something more challenging and complex.

However, I am learning a lot. Work-life balance is amazing at the agency, allowing me to take on MOOCs and side projects where I’m learning to code.

Recently, a large public company offered me a PPC Analyst role where I’ll manage a 10MM ppc campaign. Glassdoor reviews mention poor work-life balance. My brief pros & cons analysis of take the job offer:

PROS
+ higher salary
+ more prestige and responsibility
+ learning, yes, but very focused on SEM in one particular vertical

CONS
+ 50-60+ work weeks
+ less time for MOOCs, self-study and side projects
+ possibility of low job satisfaction (culture, politics)

=== My question ===

ultimatumWhat would you do? Do I continue working at the agency where I’m comfortable and can have the autonomy to master what excites me.

Or take the job offer with more responsibility and pay but at the expense of narrowing my career focus and skill-sets too much.

 

Like many professional in your situation, you seem to think there is only two options for you: Stay where you are or go to this possible low-satisfaction job.

There are rarely only two options to any situations. So – why can’t you continue to search for a great job that fits all your requirements? Why can’t you be the one to define and propose more complex and challenging projects? Why can’t you take a more active role in bringing in more high-profile clients? Why can’t you present at various conferences and client trade show to better expose yourself as an expert or authority in your field of interest? Why can’t you step-up your marketing of the Product YOU – so that you create additional opportunities for yourself?

Also – are you sure this new job is a 50-60+ week job with low-job satisfaction? Or are you just making assumptions?

You are ultimately responsible for your own time and project schedule. If your salary is based on a 40 hour week – then your salary is based on a 40 hour week. If you decide that you want to limit your general work week to 40 hours a week (giving you some space for MOOCs, self-study and side projects) – just outline your project schedules more realistically. Take more ownership of your personal business commitments and schedules. As long as you provide realistic expectations on your deliveries – you can still schedule space and time for everything that is important to you. Although there will be times when you need to work the extra hours; if you are consistently working overtime and the weekend – then you lack the appropriate project management and time management skills.

If you feel that if you don’t put in 50-60 hours a week to receive advancement – then you are choosing that over the other things. Figure out what you really want; decide what are the imperatives and non-negotiables – and design your life accordingly

**Note: If you consistently work overtime and weekends to conduct regular workplace business, then you have no buffer time to accommodate project emergencies. If your project is constantly hitting emergencies, then your risk analysis and project management skills need to improve. If you would like more information or training in this area, please reach out to me.

Regardless of what your ultimate decision (staying in your current position or taking the higher-paying job) – you have the power to design your own career exactly the way you want.

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a monthly presentation on “how to say YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

 

 

How can you choose the most appropriate job title when wearing many ‘hats’ in your company?

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional.

How can you choose the most appropriate job title when wearing many ‘hats’ in your company?

As a very new small business, anyone I bring on to my team is going to be responsible for more than one area of expertise. How can I name or define their positions when they are going to be doing much more than one thing?

Regardless of the title – you should have a full job description and even a Personal Business Commitment (PC) Plan for each of your employees (SMART Goals for the coming year). Their PBC’s should be based off your PBC’s and shows specifically how their role and responsibilities will help you achieve your PBC’s or SMART Business Goals for the coming year. Then during your quarterly performance reviews, you can easily measure their performance against their yearly goals – and give the appropriate tweaks and encouragement. Explicitly spelling out their roles and responsibilities is slightly different that giving their position a title. If you need help creating PBC’s, lets chat.

 

When giving titles, I recommend select a title that best supports or helps achieve their business goals. Consider the end-user of their business cards.   For example – if you have a employee that is a developer, but he also goes on the road with the Sales Staff to setup the demos and man the trade-show booths; I would give him the title of Subject Matter Expert or Technical Sales Engineer. Something – when given to the customer assures the customer that he is knowledgeable about the client’s use of the product as well as encouraging the client to call them about making the sale.

What if your project manager also does the accounting and bookkeeping for your small business? This person also answers the phones and fills in as the receptionist.   Although this person wears many hats, the title on their business card should be Project Manager, because affluent clients receiving that business card are more apt to carry on business dealings and conversations with the Project Manager over a book keeper or receptionist.

If you only have one sales person on your team and they also man the tech support line, their title on their business card should be Sales Manager – because an affluent client feels more important talking to the Sales Manager – than either sales person or a technical support person. They feel that the Sales Manager can actually get something done in the company.

Think about your business goals – and which title (from their many hats) is going to support bringing in the money.

Also – there is nothing wrong with creating multiple business cards with the different job titles. Then you give out the appropriate card at the right occasion. I don’t recommend doing 1 business cards with all the titles like: Project Manager/Developer/Tester. You want to present clarity, confidence and expertise to your potential client. Showing them that you are a jack of all and master of none will defeat the purpose.

Don’t work through lunch — WORK YOUR LUNCH

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into the business you love to run.
Today’s comment came from a busy professional when discussing prioritizing a performance review process for his company.

What is the importance of taking a break for lunch during the day? What are the benefits of taking a break in the middle of the day? Why shouldn’t you eat at your desk? How can people prioritize their lunch time to get the benefits out of it — and how can they convince their managers it’s important?

I will be blunt. People that eat lunch at their desk are lazy. I know we use the excuse that we have too much work to do and we don’t have time, yadda, yadda, yadda. But the truth is that we’re being lazy. It’s easier to just eat at the desk, than do make that lunch break work for you.

As with any work break – lunch should be an actual break to rejuvenate and reduce work day stress.  Stress is the accumulation of frustration and anxiety.  The key to eliminating stress during the day is to take periodic breaks throughout the day to diffuse the frustration before it gets to the stress level.

A break merely means to do something different that you were doing 1 minute ago. It doesn’t necessarily mean to “do nothing”. It means do something different. And that “something different” can still be in performance of your career and your business.

Another reason to get away from your desk at lunch is to use that time to business network with others.  Use that lunch time to meet the right people that can propel your career further.   Eating at your desk or even with the same people All The Time – actually keeps you in the same place (at this same desk and position). Instead, use the lunch hour to network with the people that can get you to that skip-level promotion.

 

Don’t work through lunch – INSTEAD WORK YOUR LUNCH.

 

Some things to make your lunch work for you are:

 

  • Change your environment at lunch. Have lunch with different people. Have lunch in a different location so that you can meet new people – the right people for your career.
  • Use the lunch to innovate and create with mentors, advisors and heroes. Initiate lunch time brainstorming session on revenue-generating proposals.
  • Use the lunch hour for self-improvement such as attending a ToastMasters.org chapter to shore up your presentation and speaking skills.
  • Invite experts and speakers to your Brown Bag Lunch series on the next generation technology or process improvement techniques that increase revenue and reduces expenses
  • Regularly invite your manager, your sibling department managers, leaders on the next generation projects, and other important stakeholders. The more people that know who you are and what you bring to the table – the better is will be for you.

 

These are just a few things that will get your lunch working for you. Continue to use your imagination to make your lunch work for you. Now you can see that eating at your desk is a lazy-man’s lunch.

 

p.s. How can you convince your managers it’s important? Just continue to be transparent in what you are doing at lunch and invite them to your lunch presentations, brainstorming meetings, mentoring meetings, etc. When they understand what you aspire to accomplish with your lunch time, you will be seen as a leader in his/her organization.

For more information on these techniques, contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
Take that first step and setup an appointment: https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a monthly presentation on “how to say YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

Does Lack of Involvement Cause Employees to Behave Unethically?‏

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I give people peace of mind.
Today’s question came from a busy professional interested in freeing some time and space to advance in his career.

There is a new research from the Univ. of Georgia that shows “what happens when employees feel excluded at work”:
http://phys.org/news/2014-09-cheater-employees-excluded.html

While this article attempts to explain why some workers do unethical things in the workplace, it does not actually highlight the actual internal source.   What is your opinion?

In general – it’s easier for employees to rationalize unethical behavior when they feel resentment, unrecognized and under-valued.   Although the employee is the only one that can “cause themselves to behave unethically”, there are various circumstances that individuals use to rationalize their own behavior.

1) If they feel they are being overworked.
2) If they feel others in the organization is getting inappropriate bonus, rewards, promotions.
3) If they feel they are not getting the recognition they feel they deserve.

The feeling of “resentment” comes from the “victim” mentality.  Or the feeling that someone else is creating these difficult situations around you. But regardless of the external stimulus – you are totally responsible for your own behavior.

There are both ethical and unethical responses to the exact same situations.  The company does not “cause” the employee to behave in any certain way.  It’s the individual that will and can gravitate in either direction.  Since all employees are different, it’s not the company’s responsibility to create environments that increases their chances that all their employee’s will act ethically.  The training and development needs to come from within the individual and not external.

My recommendation is not to change the external workplace to “create ethical behavior”.

Since employees today average 4.6 years at any given job, my recommendation is to coach employees on how to positively respond to any situation and environment that they encounter.  That is really the way to succeed in any work environment.  With the proper professional development, training and coaching, individuals can be made aware of more ethical responses to the current workplace environment. This training will start a chain reaction such that when the executives, managers, and employees start implementing this training; when they are openly executing at a higher level and when they are transparent with their goals and procedures. – the entire work environment culture experiences an ethical transformation.

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a monthly presentation on “how to say YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

How to handle uncomfortable networking events

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I give people peace of mind.
Today’s question came from a busy professional interested in freeing some time and space to advance in his career.


We all understand the importance and value of business networking. How do we handle networking events in a proper and professional manner?

One of the best ways to break the ice at a networking event is to pretend or put on the persona of a host. Focus your attention on “your guests”. Put the spotlight onto them. Allow them to shine and talk about themselves. Most people are there to talk about themselves, anyway – why to against the flow?

  1. Ask them questions about “What brought them here tonight?” “What are they hoping to gain or what are their goals for this meeting?”
  2. If they share that they are looking for referrals on XYZ or people that they can work with on ABC – connect them to someone that you just met at the same meeting that shares those goals.
  3. Don’t stay too long with any one person. Like a host, make sure you mingle. You can say “I know you want to meet more people, and I want to respect your time. I would love to stay in contact, why don’t we exchange contact information and make plans to call each other on Thursday.   How does that sound?”

If you really want to stay in contact, take out your calendar and then move on.

But what if you are shy or is an introvert? Are there any other special tips for us?

Normally what makes shy people uncomfortable is having the spotlight shined on ourselves. So – much like the above advice, shine the spotlight on other people. Instead of worrying about what other people think about you – focus on learning more about the other person. People love to talk about themselves and it takes the pressure off you to carry the entire conversation.

Also, look around to see if anyone is sitting alone or hiding in the corner (make sure it’s not you doing the hiding as well). Then go up and visit them. They may be feeling uncomfortable, so be a good host and go up and introduce them to some other folks.

For additional articles and videos on tips for introverts, check out these artifacts:

 

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a monthly presentation on “how to say YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

How can I keep activity/participation high around slower demand seasons like the holidays?

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into the business you love to run.
Today’s comment came from a busy professional.

The success of my mobile app relies heavily on the activity of users being high and consistent. We have seen a drop in participation which I believe is correlated to it being Thanksgiving weekend. I am predicting the same drop in activity around Christmas and New Year. What are some marketing techniques I can undergo to build up activity and keep my audience interested?

 

Without knowing what your “mobile app” does – it’s hard to give a specific answer. But one way is to provide apps for those specific holiday or natural slumps. For instance, if your target market are parents with small kids – providing a mobile app that tracks Santa’s activity level between Nov – Jan, incorporates the season’s activities.

If you mow lawns, offering leaf-blowing and snow shuffling for the fall and winter months (when the lawn is not growing) are some additional services designed for the natural “mowing-lawn” slumps.

If you own a greet card company, offering CARE packages (Congratulations, Appreciation, Recognition and Encouragement) packages for the slumps between busy holidays card-giving seasons is a way to up-turn the down-turn of business.

Once again – without understanding your target audience, it’s hard to answer this question. Let’s chat so that I can better understand your unique situation. Then I will be able to better recommend your next steps.  It’s really easy to setup an appointment directly into my calendar with this link: https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Are there career risks a person should never take?

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I give people peace of mind.
Today’s question came from a busy professional interested in freeing some time and space to advance in his career.

Are there any career risks that a person should never take?  These career risks may be on the job, during a job search, while networking, or some other aspect.

Everyone is different, so it’s difficult to say what absolute career risks different people should never take.  Career risks are relative to each person’s tolerance to financial security, family obligations, and debt/credit issues.
But there is the adage of “The bigger the risk, the higher the reward”.

The general rule of thumb is – if you are proactive with your risk-management activities, then no career move is off the table.  Take the time to do a risk analysis (determine the probability and impact of the risk) on your career decision. If the probability of it actually “falling apart” is low and the impact is insignificant, then simply go for it.
If the Probability of it “actually falling apart” is HIGH AND the Impact of the situation is significant/major – make sure you have a contingency plan in place.  If you have an appropriate contingency plan in place, it’s still a feasible path.

For example – What if you are considering giving your manager an ultimatum to give you a raise or you will walk?  What is the career risk of this action?

1) Since you have been the top sales person, was responsible for single-highhandedly responsible for 60% of the company’s profits, MVP for the last 3 year and is currently making lower than 10% of your sales – the probability of you getting fired is low AND the impact of moving on is low because you can easily find another job based on your past performance and client connections.  In this scenario – go for it.
2) But what if you are already being paid more than you bring in and are in debt (which is why you need to ask for a raise)?  At the same time, you have been getting Average and Below-Average performance ratings in the last 3 years. Well then the probability of you not getting the raise is HIGH and the impact of you losing your job (via this ultimatum)  is significant (because you are currently in debt and have not savings).  So – should you avoid asking for the raise? Is this a career risk that you can’t afford to take?  Not necessarily.

My recommendation is to find another way to accomplish your goal.  The real goal is to increase your income. Propose a change in position in the company that is salary based (versus sales commission).  It may be a better match to your talents, allowing you to get higher performance ratings and a higher, consistent income/salary.

So – take that time to do a risk assessment on your significant decisions, regardless of the situation (professional, personal and private).

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a monthly presentation on “how to say YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes