You are just fabulous! Time to tell everyone. The beginning of a New Year is a great time, at least symbolically, to take important steps in our lives. Too often, it is a missed opportunity. We don't go to the gym after the first month, we stop eating a healthy breakfast, we slip back into negative thinking...whatever that hard habit is to break, we give up on it fast.
I am here to tell you that the one “resolution” you do have control of and that you can keep, is taking stock of what you have done in your career and volunteer life, and sharing it.
Think for just a minute about the last year. In this economy, chances are that you took on additional duties at work. Whether that came with a raise or a title isn't important in terms of what you have to sell in your future. Did you complete some web training, get any certification, attend some face-to-face conferences, accept any positions in professional organizations or do any volunteer work? Time to tell the world.
Think of this exercise not in terms of dusting off the resume so you can look for another job; you may be perfectly happy where you are. Think of it in terms of collecting your thoughts as your prepare for your own annual evaluation. Sharing these accomplishments is also a way for you to “give back” as you network. As professionals network on line, they're often looking for a counterpart who has “been there and done that.” Sharing ideas in professional on line discussion groups is rewarding. Often, your expertise could land you a speaker's slot at a conference, with expenses paid!
Moving forward in 2012, document your improvements as you make them, so you're instantly ready to think on your feet if the opportunity to pitch a promotion comes up.
I am declaring Saturday, January 7, 2012 to be “Profile Update Day.” Join me in taking a few minutes to update your professional profiles. Share your Positive Image with all!
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Thursday, January 5, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Dear boohooing boss: leave the tears out of termination
A fired TV news anchor leaked the embarrassing details of his termination to a nationally-read industry blog today: he had to fire himself because, he said, his boohooing boss couldn't get the words out. We weren't there so we don't know if the story is true or embellished. But we do know it's the wrong thing for a terminating manager to do.
It's hard to turn people out on the streets. It doesn't matter whether their actions warranted termination or whether it's an economic decision. It doesn't get any easier. I spent 15 years in a management position and had to pull the trigger many times. And yes, I can tell you some of my decisions were mistakes. Many of those employees deserved better. And they deserved a better boss.
Hard for the boss, yes. But having been on both sides of the desk, I can tell you for a fact it is harder for the employee.
When he leaves your office, escorted past his co-workers by the HR Director, you answer your next incoming call. You go to lunch as usual while he drives home trying to avoid an accident. You sit down to dinner with your family that night while he calls a family meeting to tell his children Daddy no longer has a job. Your alarm goes off early the next morning so you can go to work. He won't need an alarm for months. No, he will be up all night feeling worthless, worrying about his networking and resume writing and living through the hell of being rejected for 99% of the jobs he will apply for.
Yes. He is the 99%. You are the 1%. It’s the job you signed up for.
I was terminated by a boohooing boss once. In the seconds that it happened, I felt so badly for this person, I invited them to leave the office and finished up myself with HR. By the time I got home, though, I was pretty pissed. Before the horror of being fired hit me, what hit me first was the realization that my boss took one of the most difficult moments in my life and made it all about himself. The tears were about how HE felt about looking in the mirror, about what it be like for HIM to tell his family he'd fired someone whose work ethic he had previously bragged about. Wait a minute dude, this is my moment.
Look, we know most bosses have hearts, and passion, and feelings. Otherwise they would not be able to attract and retain so many good employees. They would not be able to lead during difficult times. But breaking down during a termination is not good leadership.
At that moment, the most important person in the conversation – the only person who should matter in the conversation – is the employee.
It's hard to turn people out on the streets. It doesn't matter whether their actions warranted termination or whether it's an economic decision. It doesn't get any easier. I spent 15 years in a management position and had to pull the trigger many times. And yes, I can tell you some of my decisions were mistakes. Many of those employees deserved better. And they deserved a better boss.
Hard for the boss, yes. But having been on both sides of the desk, I can tell you for a fact it is harder for the employee.
When he leaves your office, escorted past his co-workers by the HR Director, you answer your next incoming call. You go to lunch as usual while he drives home trying to avoid an accident. You sit down to dinner with your family that night while he calls a family meeting to tell his children Daddy no longer has a job. Your alarm goes off early the next morning so you can go to work. He won't need an alarm for months. No, he will be up all night feeling worthless, worrying about his networking and resume writing and living through the hell of being rejected for 99% of the jobs he will apply for.
Yes. He is the 99%. You are the 1%. It’s the job you signed up for.
I was terminated by a boohooing boss once. In the seconds that it happened, I felt so badly for this person, I invited them to leave the office and finished up myself with HR. By the time I got home, though, I was pretty pissed. Before the horror of being fired hit me, what hit me first was the realization that my boss took one of the most difficult moments in my life and made it all about himself. The tears were about how HE felt about looking in the mirror, about what it be like for HIM to tell his family he'd fired someone whose work ethic he had previously bragged about. Wait a minute dude, this is my moment.
Look, we know most bosses have hearts, and passion, and feelings. Otherwise they would not be able to attract and retain so many good employees. They would not be able to lead during difficult times. But breaking down during a termination is not good leadership.
At that moment, the most important person in the conversation – the only person who should matter in the conversation – is the employee.
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