Pursue U

Denver Woman Magazine

 

Denver Woman Magazine interviewed me for their February issue on careers.  Here's the link to the article:  http://www.denverwoman.com/0209/career.html

Pay Expectations - Give Them a Raise!

The June 9, 2008 issue of Business Week had an article "Where College Kids Want to Work".  The statistic that I found most interesting was related to compensation. 

Female students said they expect to make an average of $47,555 yearly in their first job, some $6,500 less than what their male counterparts expect for themselves. 

It is true that we still have a pay gap between men and women and it is estimated the gap will not close until the year 2032.  But it has to start with us, girls.  And if our expectations are lower than those of the guys, we're not helping our cause.

So raise your expectations - along with your salary!!

Freedom = Success

I found this interesting blog post - Mavericks at Work.
It presents this concept:

Old version of success: work hard (for a very long time), achieve success, earn freedom (to retire and do all the things you missed out on while you were working)

New version of success: find work that affords you freedom = success

As I reflected on it, I was reminded that we don't have control over the policies of our corporations.  We'd probably all like to  work for a company like Best Buy who has a workkplace flexibility program as described in the blog post, but it's unlikely we will. And since I believe in focusing on what we can control, I suggest we look inside ourselves on this topic rather than waiting around for corporations to change. 

One of my new favorite authors, David Whyte, covers the same topic in his book,  Crossing the Unknown Sea - Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity.
He says, "human beings have the amazing ability to turn a sudden fit of freedom or spaciousness into its exact opposite."  And he recommends we ask ourselves these questions:
How much freedom or movement do I have in my work?
How much of my original person is there?
When I was a child, what was a picture of good work?  Was it centered on freedom and excitement and continued possibility?  Do I have that now? 

Who represents freedom in the world? 
Who manages/ or managed to live just outside the rules - not beholden to the forces that held others in place? 
Who has a breath of spontaneity in their lives?
Who isn't a slave to all the truths repeated so easily by others?
How can I learn from these people?

I've done these exercises recently and found them to be very enlightening.  My dad was a strict father, but when it came to his work, he represented freedom and was definitely not a slave to others' truths.  I'm lucky to be an entrepreneur and have lots of freedom.  And even so, I have to remind myself of the original person that's me.  Daily, I resist the influence of others because the pull is so strong to think like everyone else.  And it's certainly not in my nature to bend the rules or think outside the box.  Innovation is an area of growth for me.    But what I do know for sure is that freedom is success.  And I feel successful.

Change is a Constant

Check out these statistics:

The Department of Labor estimates that today's students will have ten to fourteen jobs before they turn forty.

Former Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, states that the top ten jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn't even exist in 2004.

More than 3,000 new books are published daily.

A weeks worth of information in The New York Times is estimated to contain more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

The amount of new technology information dubles every two years.  For students starting college today, this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by the third year.

Sources:
www.jobsrevolution.com
Daniels School of Business

So that tells me, everyone better be ready for change!     I'd say we also better be ready to:
-  learn constantly (rather than memorizing facts that could be outdated tomorrow)
-  be  resilient and not take things too personally
-  use decision making and project management processes that get us to answers when the answers aren't obvious.

How to Be a Successful 21st Century Employee

On May 31st, I helped conduct a conversation between business leaders and educators.  The topic of discussion was 21st century employees.  What are the skills and abilities people need to be successful as employees and citizens?   Karl Fisch blogged all about it on his blog - The Fisch Bowl.  Click on the link to read about how the idea got started, who attended from the world of education, and how I got involved (that is funny!)

The business leaders I invited to join us were:

Pete Dignan – President of ProtoTest.

Carla Donelson – Former Vice President & General Counsel of Verio.

Karyn German – VP of Product Development and Support at NewsGator. (Karyn couldn’t make it, but submitted written responses.)

De McQueen – Colorado Business Bank.

Chris Onan  - Managing Director with Appian Ventures.

Nancy Sauer – President of D2Xchange.

Chris Scherpenseel – Former President and GM, FRx Software Corporation.

Vicki Scharnhorst - Chief Operating Officer of MWH Federal Services.

 Here are some of the discussion highlights copied from Karl's blog and his notes:

Work Early, Aim High and Try Again

I have several "personal readers" - friends of mine who read even more than I do and keep an eye out for good stuff for my blog.  This week, two of them sent me a Wall Street Journal article entitled "Raising Women to Be Leaders".  It's a story of four sisters - the Sullivan Sisters - who were raised to be leaders. 

Denise Sullivan Morrison, 52 years old, is president of Campbell USA at Campbell Soup Co., having advanced through a variety of high-octane jobs at Nestlé SA, Nabisco, Kraft Foods Inc. and other food giants.

Maggie Sullivan Wilderotter, 51, is chairman and CEO of Citizens Communications Co., a $2 billion telecommunications company. 

Colleen Bastkowski, 45, is a regional vice president of sales at Expedia. 

Andrea Doelling, 42, was senior vice president of sales at AT&T Wireless and is now a champion horse jumper.

The story is inspiring for three reasons, in my opinion. 
1 - Aim high and try again.  Their parents encouraged them to choose activities they liked and to figure out on their own how to excel at them.  "Aim high, they said, and if you don't get what you want, analyze what went wrong and try again."   It would concern me if the parents forced them to over-achieve and involved themselves in things just for the sake of involvement.

2 - Work early and make your own opportunities.  The women talk about how at the early ages of nine and seven, they were organizing carnivals to raise money for charity.  Whether it's babysitting or mowing lawns or internships, working and handling money -  early  -  is great experience.  Sometimes you have to create your own opportunities - like organizing a carnival or car wash.  It's all valid experience . 

3 - Create a  network of support within your family and friends.  The Sullivan Sisters have been bouncing business ideas off each other ever since they were little girls. "We call ourselves the Network because we each have different skills that we draw on," says Colleen.  "Denise is the strategist, Maggie the networker, Andrea the communicator and I'm the competitive one," she adds.   Sometimes we think we have to reach way outside our own circles to network. In fact, a great network is at our finger tips - our own family and friends. I had lunch with Ben Casnocha yesterday, and we had a good discussion on this very topic.  If you are still in school, you have a bigger network available to you than you ever will.   Use it!

My "personal readers" sent this to me with notes that said, "this sounds like you" and "blog about this for sure". The Sullivan Sisters do sound like me, except instead of sisters I have brothers.  I'm 43,  and you know my story.   K.C. is  42, a litigator and Managing Partner at one of the oldest and best law firms in Denver.  Charlie is 40, also an attorney and Regional Marketing Director at AIG Sun America.

We talk weekly, leverage each other's strengths, ask for advice, and celebrate what we have in each other.  We are also grateful for our parents - their encouragement to work early, aim high and try again, and for sharing their rich network of contacts with us.

From personal experience, I can say these things work.  Try them if you haven't already!

More on Managing Yourself

Maybe having little or no feedback and affirmation from your boss is a good thing. 

I've been reading Alfie Kohn - a guy who argues with Skinner and other behavioral psychologists on how to motivate people.  He says that rewards and excessive feedback actually stifle you on the job.   They discourage risk taking because you get so focused on the reward and praise (he calls them "goodies") that you do just enough to get the goody.  They squelch interest and intrinsic motivation - the enjoyment of what you're doing for its own sake.  They rupture relationships - the praiser and goody dispenser has all the power.  And they give you the feeling of being controlled - "if you do this, you'll get a treat". 

He doesn't advocate for low pay or no interaction with your boss.  But he does say that people who manage themselves and really get in to "flow" when they're working are much higher performers and happier than those who work just to get the "A" or goody.   

Manage Yourself

I'm working with two different Pursue U members who are frustrated that they don't get much feedback from their boss.  At the end of each day, they're left wondering if they're doing a good job, confused about their priorities, and if they're meeting the needs of the company.

In school, very specific assignments are given and usually include the criteria for an "A".  You submit your work, the teacher grades it, and you get feedback.  But in the "real world" bosses are busy, managers have many people to manage, and you might feel left out in the cold.

I'm a big believer that managers can do more than they might be doing now to mentor, train and guide employees.  But you can't control your boss.   So what is in your control?  You!

Try these things to begin to manage yourself and get the feedback you need:
1 - Review your job description and its objectives.

2 - Set annual, quarterly and monthly goals for yourself that are in line with those objectives.

3 - Each day, spend 10 minutes reviewing what you've accomplished and what needs to be done next.  When you've completed something, check it off your list and feel that sense of completion.

4 - When you do meet with your boss for a review or something of the sort, show her/him what you've been doing to manage yourself.  I will guarantee, s/he will be impressed.

Wondering if this really works?  One Pursue U member has done all of these things.  She even created a Power Point presentation of her personal strategy and goals based on her job.  Not only is her boss impressed, but she's focused, getting tons done, and feels like she's created a situation where she's in charge of getting feedback.

Jerks

There's been lots of talk in the blog sphere and press this week about assholes and jerks. 

Here's a link to Sanders Says and his post on moods at work - how a bad mood in a leader can really mess up the company.  He quotes Daniel Goleman - the Emotional Intelligence guru - whose research  links the mood state of a company or team to future earnings. His conclusion was that companies that enjoy a positive mood state are more likely to succeed because of employee engagement and the resulting customer satisfaction.   And since we all have moods, we can all affect the state of the company and its earnings.    He also links to the article in yesterday's New York Times about being surrounded by jerks and what you can do about them.

Ben Casnocha writes yesterday on assholes.
He follows it up today with his review on Goleman's book  -  Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ 

The bottom line in my view:  the only person you can control is you, but you can influence a bunch of other people and circumstances.  So Emotional Intelligence (EQ) -  specifically conflict management, empathy and influence -  are keys to success in this world of jerks.  What's your EQ?  Click on the link to find out what EQ is all about and how you can determine yours.

 

Career Isn't Everything

I've been working with one Pursue U member since September, 2006.  When we met last week she said that doing the self-discovery work and pursuits has made career balance out.  She's in her second job after college, and career had become "huge" and "defining".  Her life was out of balance - all about work.  Now she has tapped in to her other interests that were buried beneath her need to advance in a job.  Her life feels more real.