The One Word That Can Catapult Your Career

Do your colleagues have a choice word for you? If not, here's why you want them to…

I was at a conference and a friend who runs a startup introduced me to one of his friends, who was looking for a new opportunity. “I’d like you to meet Joe,” he said. “He’s great.”

I’m sure Joe is talented. I’m sure Joe is skilled. I’m sure Joe is, in fact, great.

But I only remember Joe because of something that happened a few minutes later. Another friend introduced me to one of his product managers. “This is Michelle,” he said. “She’s relentless.”

In the dictionary, “great” means remarkable in degree or effectiveness. “Great” is a wonderful word, especially when used to describe someone… but like “awesome” and “outstanding,” “great” is used so often to describe people that it has lost much of its meaning. When just about everyone is great… no one is great. Great is no longer impactful or memorable.

When described as “great, however remarkable in degree or effectiveness he may be, Joe seems like – however unfairly – just one of many. He doesn't standout.

But “relentless” – who can forget relentless? Hear the word and you instantly think of someone so determined, so persevering, so persistent and tenacious that nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand in her way.

A “great” product manager you might forget. A “relentless” product manager you remember for a long, long time.

Authentic Positioning Matters – Especially for Individuals

Many companies, as Al Ries describes in his classic marketing book Positioning, try to own a single word or phrase in the minds of customers. For Mercedes it’s “luxury.” For Volvo it's “safety”. At my company HubSpot it’s “inbound”.

The goal of positioning is to create an immediate and direct connection in the minds of consumers; that’s what branding is all about.

Individuals need to think about positioning, too. Where Tony Hsieh is concerned, that word is “culture.” Where Eric Ries is concerned it’s “lean.”

So imagine you ask a colleague or a boss or a customer for to pick one word that describes you and they aren’t allowed to use words like awesome, fantastic, great, terrific, etc. They have to pick a specific, non-generic word. What word would they choose?

The word they choose – for better or worse and, where you’re concerned, intentional or unintentional – is your positioning in the minds of the people you work with. That’s how they see you. That’s how they think of you.

That is how they remember you.

What is Your Most Important Word?

The cool thing is, you get to choose how people view you. As long as your actions constantly and consistently match your positioning, as long as you are intentional in thought and action, you can determine the immediate and direct connection people make when they see, hear, or think about you.
What one word best describes you? Better yet, what one word do you want to describe you?

Here are a few possibilities – in the right circumstances these are all wonderful qualities:

· Insightful
· Shrewd
· Ferocious (hopefully in a good way)
· Unflinching
· Indomitable
· Irreverent
· Scrupulous
· Relatable
· Determined

So, back to the original question: What is the one word that can transform your career? As you've probably guessed — it's different for everyone. But, if you can find yours, it can have a profound impact on your person brand, and hence your career.

A short, powerful exercise…

Make a list of the adjectives you want people to repeat after they meet you, talk to you, see or read about you... what do you want other people to think of when they think of you?

Make your list. Then boil it down to the one word you want to encapsulate you – and, in effect, your personal brand. (If you don’t, other people will definitely decide it for you.)

Decide how you want to be defined.

Now, share your one word in the comments below. If you can't quite get it down to just one word, that's OK (I'm an easy going guy) — pick 2 or 3 words. But, leave them in the comments. We're not going to hold you to it, but the simple act of writing them down and sharing them is super-helpful. And, it will help others come up with their words.

I'll kick things with the words I'd like people to associate with me: bold & creative.

Read, think, GO!

Article written by Dharmesh Shah and originally posted on his Linkedin.com blog here



Evaluating Your Own Emotional Intelligence

‘What you need now is emotional intelligence,’ was what China’s new president told a graduating class last month at their top tech school.

Now Bloomberg’s Businessweek tells us that Yale’s school of management has added a test of emotional intelligence to its admissions requirements.

And how’s your emotional intelligence?

Just as for IQ, there are several theoretical models of emotional intelligence, each supported by its own set of research findings. The one I’ve proposed — which has fared well in predicting actual business performance — looks at a spectrum of EI-based leadership competencies that each helps a leader be more effective.

Here are some questions that will help you reflect on your own mix of strengths and limits in EI. This is not a “test” of EI, but a “taste” to get you thinking about your own competencies:

1) Are you usually aware of your feelings and why you feel that way?

2) Are you aware of your limitations, as well as your personal strengths, as a leader?

3) Can you manage your distressing emotions well – e.g., recover quickly when you get upset or stressed?

4) Can you adapt smoothly to changing realities?

5) Do you keep your focus on your main goals, and know the steps it takes to get there?

6) Can you usually sense the feelings of the people you interact with and understand their way of seeing things?

7) Do you have a knack for persuasion and using your influence effectively?

8) Can you guide a negotiation to a satisfactory agreement, and help settle conflicts?

9) Do you work well on a team, or prefer to work on your own?

And the good news: emotional intelligence competencies can be upgraded.

Coaches/trainers: What questions would you ask? Leave them in the comment field, or tweet them to @DanielGolemanEI.
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Emotional Intelligence author, Daniel Goleman lectures frequently to business audiences, professional groups and on college campuses. A psychologist who for many years reported on the brain and behavioral sciences for The New York Times, Dr. Goleman previously was a visiting faculty member at Harvard.
Dr. Goleman’s most recent books are The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights and Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence – Selected Writings. (More Than Sound). Goleman’s latest project, Leadership: A Master Class, is his first-ever comprehensive video series that examines the best practices of top-performing executives.

(Original Article can be located here)

You didn't get the job. Chances are, you'll never know why.

You didn't get the job. Chances are, you'll never know why. 

You aced the interview, your résumé sings, but in the end, you didn't get the job. Chances are, you'll never know why.

It is a painful conundrum of the job search process: Rejected candidates want to understand why they didn't get hired, but employers, fearing discrimination complaints, keep silent. And those who do speak up offer little more than platitudes.

Without specifics, candidates are left to repeat the same mistakes, while hiring managers complain they're swamped with applicants who miss the mark.

Peter and Maria Hoey

 

"You don't know how to adjust going forward," says technology professional Lisa Roberson. When she wasn't selected for a job in her field a few years ago, she emailed one of the people who had interviewed her to find out why.

The response: Someone "more suited" to the job had been hired. "Well, I could have guessed that," said Ms. Roberson, who works in health-care IT.

Such exchanges frustrate job seekers, especially those who have been searching for long periods and desperately want some insight into how they are viewed by hiring managers.

Providge Consulting, a Delaware-based consulting firm, has a policy to keep candidates apprised at every step of its hiring process and scores candidates on a range of criteria to keep its decisions as objective as possible.

But when the reasons for a rejection can't be boiled down to more clear-cut measures like experience or education, HR managers "attempt to minimize those conversations," said Tara Teaford, director of operations. That may mean offering a vague response, adding that the company will reach out if appropriate positions arise in the future.

"Most of it is trying to protect ourselves from potential litigation," says Ms. Teaford. "Once you cross the line between objective and subjective, it gets very, very challenging."

And many of the firms that want to provide feedback have their hands tied by company lawyers.

Employers were put on notice in late 2012 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission identified discrimination in hiring practices as one of its priorities for the next three years, partly out of a recognition that few job seekers have the resources to hire a lawyer and press their claims through civil courts, according to Amy Fratkin, an employment lawyer. That means individual complaints will be more likely to result in lawsuits brought by the EEOC if the agency establishes a pattern of discrimination by the employer.

Linda Jackson, a partner with employment law firm Littler Mendelson, says she advises her clients against offering specific feedback to job candidates. For instance, telling someone he has too much experience for a particular job might be interpreted as age discrimination, she said. "Is it the basis for a claim? It might or it might not be," she says.

Then there is the discomfort of relaying hard-to-hear information. Some hiring managers are so uncomfortable at the prospect of these conversations that they refuse to bring their business cards to interviews, says Amelia Merrill of Risk Management Solutions Inc., a risk-modeling firm in Silicon Valley.
Despite how awkward it can be, Ms. Merrill expects her recruiters to call finalists to let them know they weren't hired, giving those applicants a chance to ask for more information. She wants even rejected candidates to leave thinking they want to work there.

On rare occasions, she added, a rejected candidate will argue with the recruiter or insist he was the right pick for the job.

Of course, lots of candidates don't seek feedback: HR managers put the number of those who request it at around 10%. But of those who do, barely any get it. Only 4.4% of more than 2,000 job candidates surveyed in 2012 by the Talent Board, an organization dedicated to improving companies' recruiting practices, said they received specific feedback from hiring managers and recruiters.

But it raises the question, will the gap ever be bridged?

"If you want an efficient labor market, you have to have people understand where their talents are best used," says Elli Sharef, co-founder of HireArt, a website that matches job seekers and employers through video interviews and assessment tests.

After hearing from hundreds of frustrated job seekers, Ms. Sharef recently decided to try offering feedback, despite some trepidation from her lawyer.

In May, HireArt emailed 127 job seekers who had submitted video interviews for jobs in educational technology and offered the chance for a 15-minute personalized critique from Ms. Sharef herself. The 21 available slots were filled in less than 10 minutes.

Most appreciated the assistance, but overall, reactions to the feedback varied. One person complained that 15 minutes wasn't enough time for the session. Others admitted they hadn't given much thought to what they could contribute to the prospective employer, which was the most common criticism.

HireArt has since decided to offer a limited number of weekly feedback sessions. But as the company weighs scaling up the service to more users, it is also wrestling with questions about how people absorb and use constructive criticism. It can be difficult to hear "negative information about yourself, especially when you're already in a vulnerable position," says Ms. Sharef.

Companies' job-application software could provide another source of feedback, albeit automated, suggests John Sullivan, a management professor at San Francisco State University.

These applicant-tracking systems, which are used by almost every large employer, score candidates based on rough measures like the number of keyword matches between a job description and a résumé. Employers could theoretically send candidates their scores, says Mr. Sullivan.

"If you scored 90 out of 100, you might apply again later. But if you scored a 20, you know you applied for the wrong job," he said. So far, none of the companies for which he has recommended this, have adopted it.

They fear it will generate additional questions from applicants or reveal too much about the keyword-matching process, he says.

Article originally posted on The Wall Street Journial Website here. Article written my Lauren Weber.

A version of this article appeared June 5, 2013, on page B6 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Didn't Get the Job? You'll Never Know Why.



Don't Waste Your Life... Test Your Career Goals

Don't Waste Your Life... Test Your Career Goals

(Article written by Bruce Kasanoff originally for Linkedin.com - can be found here)

If I told you that the first person to discover a pink manatee would become an instant millionaire, you probably wouldn't drop everything and start searching. You are smart enough not to believe in pink manatees, and you realize there are much more sensible ways for you to succeed.

In other words, you did a quick reality check and avoided running off on a ridiculous quest for success.
Are you being as logical with your own career? There's one way to find out.

Test your goals.

The way to separate possible goals from impossible ones is to test them, in a modest way, and see what happens.

If you want to be a standup comedian, write a routine and test it in front of your friends. If that works, perform at an open mic night. If you want to write songs, write songs... then see if you can get people to stay in the room when you sing them.

If you want to go to grad school, take a graduate level course and see how well you like it.
You may be an extraordinarily gifted designer, but if you have no business sense whatsoever you will likely fail without a business partner. If this description fits you, your first test should be to see if you can convince a smart business person to collaborate with you.

If you think you can handle a much bigger job, privately test your ability to handle the job's biggest challenges. For example, write a strategic plan - masking any confidential details - and show it to a few people (outside the company) whose opinion you trust.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, build a prototype and see if anyone wants to buy it. Even better, get feedback from potential customers, then use that feedback to refine your product. When customers actually buy your product, then - and only then - will you know you are on the right track.

Slow down!

It can be easy to move too fast. You may hate your current job, or be incredibly excited by the potential of your dream. You could be tempted to quit your job before designing a product or selling it to anyone. You might want to raise money before talking to potential customers. Maybe you want to act first, and think later.
In other words, you'd like to skip the boring stuff like thinking, planning, and testing.

If you pursue your dreams without testing them, you risk wasting years of your life. Don't chase pink manatees; always test the waters before jumping in.

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More from Bruce Kasanoff: Bruce has three free ebooks available for download at Kasanoff.com. He is the author with Michael Hinshaw of Smart Customers, Stupid Companies; you can read the Introduction and first chapter for free.

 

To see more of Bruce's articles on LinkedIn, click the "follow" button below, or follow@NowPossible on Twitter.

Image credit: Manatee sketch by Tamara Fuchinsky.



The Eight Splendid Truths of Happiness

The Eight Splendid Truths of Happiness

(Article written by Gretchen Rubin / Original article can be found here)

In my study of happiness, I’ve labored to identify its fundamental principles. Because I get a tremendous kick out of the numbered lists that pop up throughout Buddhism (the Triple Refuge, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths, the eight auspicious symbols), I decided to dub these fundamental principles as my Eight Splendid Truths.

Each one of these truths sounds fairly obvious and straightforward, but each was the product of tremendous thought. Take the Second Splendid Truth—it’s hard to exaggerate the clarity I gained when I finally managed to put it into words. Here they are:

First Splendid Truth
To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.

Second Splendid Truth
One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy;
One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.

Third Splendid Truth
The days are long, but the years are short. (Click here to see my one-minute movie; of everything I’ve written about happiness, I think this video resonates most with people.)

Fourth Splendid Truth
You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy.
(Many argue the opposite case. John Stuart Mill, for example, wrote, “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.” I disagree.)

Fifth Splendid Truth
I can build a happy life only on the foundation of my own nature.

Sixth Splendid Truth
The only person I can change is myself.

Seventh Splendid Truth
Happy people make people happy, but
I can’t make someone be happy, and
No one else can make me happy.

Eighth Splendid Truth
Now is now. (For more on this truth, read the last chapter of Happier at Home. I love writing endings, and if I may say so, endings are my forte, and this is the best ending I've ever written.)
What did I miss? What Splendid Truth is missing from that list?

Now I’m trying to come up with my personal eight auspicious symbols for happiness. Let’s see—bluebird, ruby slippers, dice, blood, bird house, treasure box, roses…hmmm. I will have to keep thinking about that.

• Are you reading Happier at Home or The Happiness Project in a book group? Email me if you'd like the one-page discussion guide. Or if you're reading it in a spirituality book club, a Bible study group, or the like, email me for the spirituality one-page discussion guide. And if you'd like to join my book club (each month, I pick one book about happiness, one work of children's literature, one eccentric pick), sign up here.

(Photo: groundswell, Flickr)



What's in a Name? Letters. Each Additional One Costing You $3,700 Annually!

On a First-name Basis with Success? Your Mom Chose Your Name Wisely.

(Click the above link to view the original article written by Daniel Cronyn is the director of consumer marketing)

Happy Mother’s Day! (Sorta). In celebration of all the hard-working mothers out there, we recently conducted a study to see if the names they choose for their children could have possibly dictated their future success in the workplace. First, we analyzed data around first names from TheLadders’ nearly 6 million members against variables such as industry, salary level, and location. We wanted to prove the null hypothesis that what your mother names you makes a difference.

Second, we populated a few lists, hoping they would generate some additional questions. We started by aggregating and sorting names that were at the top of each list:

Top five C-level names, by gender, in ratio to their overall frequency:

Top five highest-paid names:

Both lists are normalized for frequency (not just absolute counts) giving a ratio of [C-level first names]/[all first names]. Here are a few quick takeaways:

• Christine was the only name that showed up on both the top five C-level and highest paid lists
• The top 10, highest-paid, C-level executive names earn, on average, 10% more than other names
• The top 25 most-popular names make about $7,000 more, on average, than the rest of the list
• Females make, on average, 22% less than their male counterparts in all comparisons

One point we noticed was that shorter names seemed to be higher ranked across all categories and metrics, so we investigated further. It turns out we were right, and there is a correlation between the number of letters in your name and the average salary:

Doing a simple linear regression, it looks like every additional letter added to your name accounts for a $3,600 drop in annual salary. One exception is names with seven letters, like Stephen, but closer inspection showed that seven-letter names lend themselves to males over females, so it’s higher paid males over-indexing and inflating the seven-letter bucket.

This surprising trend of shorter names led us to look at nicknames, and test whether Williams truly make less money than Bills. We looked at every abbreviation and nickname we could identify; here is a summary of results in the “Nickname versus Proper Name” head-to-head death match (gold stars for the winners):

All the shorter names earn more. Our test included 24 pairings, and in only one case (Lawrence vs. Larry) did the longer name win. Still not convinced? The definitive proof for this theory can be seen in Sara vs. Sarah, Michele vs. Michelle, or Philip vs. Phillip –  one letter less positively correlates with increased salary.

In conclusion, it DOES make a difference what your mother named you. So, to all prospective mothers, our advice is to keep Baby’s name short and sweet – your child will thank you when they’re raking in the money one day.

Want to Boost Your Self-Esteem? Throw Away Someone Else’s Trash. Just Because.

Want to Boost Your Self-Esteem? Throw Away Someone Else’s Trash. Just Because.

(Article written by Gretchen Rubin, www.happiness-project.com, article originally posted on Linkedin.com and can be found here)

Self-esteem is a topic that has generated a fair amount of controversy over the last few decades, but one thing seems clear: you don’t get healthy self-esteem from constantly telling yourself how great you are, or even from other people telling you how great you are.

You do boost your self-esteem when you keep a difficult resolution, meet a challenge, solve a problem, learn a skill, or cross something unpleasant off your to-do list. And one of the best ways to feel better about yourself is to help someone else. Do good, feel good.

I had a friend who went through a period of tremendous rejection: she was fired from her job, she was rejected from a graduate program, and her boyfriend broke up with her. Everything worked out fine, and I asked her how she got through such a tough time. She said, “I was practically addicted to doing good deeds. It was the only way I could make myself feel like I wasn’t a total loser.”

I recently performed a very small good deed that gave me a boost: I threw away someone else’s trash. I’ve always been careful to throw away my own litter, but it never occurred to me to do anything about random litter lying around.

The other day, though, I was in the subway, where an empty Snapple bottle was rolling around to the great annoyance of everyone in the car. The bottle rolled back and forth, and I thought, “Someone should pick that up.” Then I thought—“Someone like me! Why shouldn’t I be the one to pick it up?” So I did. I was astonished by the surge of good feeling I got, quite disproportionate to such a minor action.

Since then, I’ve looked for chances to throw away other people’s trash. Newspapers strewn across seats in the airport, coffee cups abandoned on counters, that kind of thing. (Want more ideas? Look at these tips.)

“Do good, feel good” is a happiness truism that really is true. Act like a considerate citizen of the world, and you’ll also boost your self-esteem. How about you? Have you felt a boost in your feelings of self-worth after doing something worthwhile?

If you want to read more about this, check out Happier at Home, chapter 9. (Can't resist adding: New York Times bestseller.)

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(Photo: justin_taylor33, Flickr)