Education

The bottom line as a leader is that you need to make time to get up from your desk, leave your hubris in your office, do a walkabout and talk to your people.

Early in my career, I was an advisor to cabinet officers in two White House administrations. I then worked for several members of the U.S. Senate. Although this was my only experience in government work, it gave me a good taste for career management. After all, in those posts, I was a political appointee with virtually zero job security beyond my own competence. On any given day I could have been fired for wearing the wrong tie to work.

There may be many things holding you back from potentially landing that dream job, one of which is getting discovered online, which is a critical component of any job search. Another important facet of any job search is tailoring your resume to incorporate more SEO (search engine optimization) terms to help your name show up more frequently in search results. But what about personal branding? This is also an important piece of a job search that can’t be overlooked. Here are some reasons why you need both personal SEO and personal branding when searching for your next job.

Mindless body language habits can sabotage you in any interview, even if it’s over the phone. Let your body be your ally. With intention (and a little practice wouldn’t hurt, either), you can use body language to your advantage even when no one is looking.

I’m going to limit this month’s Frequently Asked Questions article to address a one really big issue Information Governance Professionals come up against everywhere - organizations are installing software faster and, many times, unbeknownst to anyone in the Information Governance group. This is not a criticism of the Information Technology department. They have a job to do solving critical business issues for the organization and keeping up with the maintenance of everything they already have in place.

Every business needs a captain, a person that sets the stage for all actions and all relationships that take place within the work environment. If you, as a leader, do not set the stage by defining and aligning practices to clear performance standards and values expectations, people will be left to “figure it out on their own.” This leads to widely varying practices – not aligned, proven practices. That lack of clarity and alignment erodes consistent performance, service, and results.

I smiled as I watched the dad with his two-your old son scurry to the hotel escalator. The dad held his son’s hand firmly and flew him a few inches off the ground to land squarely on the moving step. The boy giggled and wiggled as if he was on an amusement park ride. On the ride down, the little boy leaned forward in anticipation as if ready for take-off. I cringed with worry envisioning sharp escalator teeth against soft, baby skin. But his dad calmly said—“No, not yet. Wait for it.”

No one looks at more resumes than human resources specialists, so crafting or revamping their own resumes must be a breeze for these savvy professionals. Then again, it’s easy to feel pressured when instead of evaluating someone else’s background and potential you are trying to showcase your own.

Part of the problem with not being able to listen between the lines arises from our perception of what the person is saying or what they want. People tend to make assumptions based on their own experiences, current emotions, and state of mind. Unfortunately, these assumptions often tend to be incorrect. Recognizing the inaccuracy of our assumptions and challenging them by asking questions will greatly clarify what we are hearing and help to avoid misunderstandings.

Since joining a dog-fostering organization about a year ago, we’ve fostered and helped bring many dogs to a successful new start with a loving family. The dogs have all moved on to a wide variety of new settings, too. Some immediately become the presence in the home that adds a wonderful new companionship and sense of security.