Mountain. Molehill.

Mountain. Molehill. We all have problems. I recently learned about a guy who needed a few hundred dollars for something more than legitimate. I thought about offering to chip in for $100, but instead I did nothing.   I felt bad about it all week, and the next time I was with my friends who also knew about this, I said you know, this guy just needs a few hundred dollars.   I cant do the whole thing, but I can put in $100. It feels so good to be at a point where I can do this for someone else.   I recognize that a few hundred dollars for this gentleman is a mountain something that he simply cant conquer. For many, even in this economy, $100, or a few hundred dollars, is nothing more than a molehill. What can you do for someone else today?   Heres a non-monetary idea: Reach out to someone you know who you havent talked to in a while, just to say hi, and that you wanted to see how they were doing.   This is pretty significant for someone who is lonely. Heres another non-monetary idea as a job seeker I thought I had nothing to offer job seekers.   But I really had the thing they wanted and needed most: Introduce one of your contacts to someone.   I didnt have money, but I was networking into a lot of great people doing an introduction between two people can be one of the greatest things you have to offer.   And you can do it today. Want more ideas?   Three months ago I wrote How To Help a Job Seeker.   Still one of my favorite posts. Mountain. Molehill. We all have problems. I recently learned about a guy who needed a few hundred dollars for something more than legitimate. I thought about offering to chip in for $100, but instead I did nothing.   I felt bad about it all week, and the next time I was with my friends who also knew about this, I said you know, this guy just needs a few hundred dollars.   I cant do the whole thing, but I can put in $100. It feels so good to be at a point where I can do this for someone else.   I recognize that a few hundred dollars for this gentleman is a mountain something that he simply cant conquer. For many, even in this economy, $100, or a few hundred dollars, is nothing more than a molehill. What can you do for someone else today?   Heres a non-monetary idea: Reach out to someone you know who you havent talked to in a while, just to say hi, and that you wanted to see how they were doing.   This is pretty significant for someone who is lonely. Heres another non-monetary idea as a job seeker I thought I had nothing to offer job seekers.   But I really had the thing they wanted and needed most: Introduce one of your contacts to someone.   I didnt have money, but I was networking into a lot of great people doing an introduction between two people can be one of the greatest things you have to offer.   And you can do it today. Want more ideas?   Three months ago I wrote How To Help a Job Seeker.   Still one of my favorite posts. Mountain. Molehill. We all have problems. I recently learned about a guy who needed a few hundred dollars for something more than legitimate. I thought about offering to chip in for $100, but instead I did nothing.   I felt bad about it all week, and the next time I was with my friends who also knew about this, I said you know, this guy just needs a few hundred dollars.   I cant do the whole thing, but I can put in $100. It feels so good to be at a point where I can do this for someone else.   I recognize that a few hundred dollars for this gentleman is a mountain something that he simply cant conquer. For many, even in this economy, $100, or a few hundred dollars, is nothing more than a molehill. What can you do for someone else today?   Heres a non-monetary idea: Reach out to someone you know who you havent talked to in a while, just to say hi, and that you wanted to see how they were doing.   This is pretty significant for someone who is lonely. Heres another non-monetary idea as a job seeker I thought I had nothing to offer job seekers.   But I really had the thing they wanted and needed most: Introduce one of your contacts to someone.   I didnt have money, but I was networking into a lot of great people doing an introduction between two people can be one of the greatest things you have to offer.   And you can do it today. Want more ideas?   Three months ago I wrote How To Help a Job Seeker.   Still one of my favorite posts.

Want to Launch Your Career Try These Strategies Marla Gottschalk

Want to Launch Your Career Try These Strategies Marla Gottschalk Photo by William on Unsplash With all that is written about how organizations are evolving to engage todays employees, I cant help but think about the opportunities that we have as contributors to transform those very same organizations. Our own actions shape our careers, and the fact remains that workplaces are built upon a two-way partnership â€" where both employers and employees contribute to eventual success. I would venture to say, that the dynamic between the two becomes more vital with each passing day. Yes, the door swings both ways. To consider this, we should examine the unspoken organizational contract that we make with our employers. What should we (as employees) do to maximize our contribution? Ive talked to supervising managers (from sales to consulting) to get a handle on the attributes they often see in their high potential contributors. Heres a list based upon that feedback: Strive to be industry savvy. If your are not keeping up with the current   hot buttons in your industry, you are probably letting yourself and your employer down. The internet offers endless possibilities to tackle industry specific topics. (You can have a brief chat with an in-house expert as well.) Get up to speed as quickly as you can. Bolster your level of business acumen. Not sure how your role affects the bottom line? What your boss really does? Do you understand exactly how your organization makes and loses money? Devote an hour a week to develop this business muscle. Take a broader view of your work. When completing an assigned project, try not to simply just check off tasks on your to do list.   Always focus on the end-user â€" whether it is an outside client or someone within the organization. How can you craft your work so it becomes more valuable to them? Work with a sense of urgency. High potential employees see the necessity to build a clear road map and stay on task. As one Senior Vice President described, They get up in the morning, have a plan, and want to accomplish their goals. Ask about company initiatives. Be as concerned about your organization as you would like them to be about you. Inquire about current challenges and initiatives. Offer help where appropriate â€" youll be the better for it. Know your fellow team members. Are you assigned to a team? Being a team member is an art form â€" and an important part of work life today. So, do your research. Youll be more invested in your team if you know the backgrounds of your fellow team members. If you have a tendency to turn off opposing opinions, you may look at things quite differently, when you know a little more about the source. Dont play the career comparison game. Career progress is an individual process. It may be frustrating when a fellow employee climbs the career ladder more quickly than you â€" but there may be a perfectly good reason. Dont abandon ship. Trust in your value, and have confidence that you will also excel. Dr. Marla Gottschalk is a Workplace Psychologist, speaker and coach You can also find her on Twitter and Linkedin.

Keeping Confidences - Your Secret Weapon for Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Keeping Confidences - Your Secret Weapon for Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Have you ever heard something that you just couldn’t keep to yourself? Assuming you are older than 5… I hope you were able to resist the urge. Sure, there are times when we are bursting at the seams to tell someone something  we just heard.  What if the person that told you said… please keep this confidential and just between us? Do you have the fortitude to hold back and keep a confidence? If you don’t I suspect you  will not  be hearing a lot of confidential information… at least not more than once. I posted the following on Facebook the other day. I received some great replies. You can see them here. Keeping Confidences I learned this from my parents, but it was reinforced during my time at Microsoft. I am regularly surprised by people that cannot keep them. Every day we all hear information that we do NOT pass on and and we do NOT share with others. Why? Because the person that shared the information  asked us not to. For most people that’s all that is needed. Machiavellian Corollary  â€" There are some people you know will share whatever you tell them. No matter how “confidential” you claim the information to be. In business and life Having the ability to keep confidences is something that is not just for business. It’s for life. Much like we learned in Kindergarten and from the playground  there are rules that still apply as we get older. Whether you are new to your career or have many years in your chosen profession. Your ability to keep confidences is measure of your ability to be trusted and perhaps more important it is one of the most critical components to your overall success. People that can keep confidences have longer careers. In your business dealings you will be privy to information that should not be shared. Sometimes people will tell you this and provide this guidance. Other times you will need to use your common sense. Common Sense is important. Use it wisely. A Tip: If in doubt… Don’t Share It Out! Deal Breakers  â€" When the confidential information being shared is Ethically, Morally or Socially Wrong you have a responsibility to break a confidence. When this line is crossed… you will know and you should act. Cone of silence Most everyone who has ever spoken to me about business or personal matters has heard me say… I assume everything we are talking about is Under the Cone of Silence. If you have ever seen the old TV show “Get Smart” you might have seen where this saying comes from. (pic) I say this because I mean it. And I mean it as much for me as I do for the person I’m speaking with. I say it because I want the person to know that they can trust me not to share what I’ve heard and that I expect them to follow the same rule. I also always add “unless and until I hear otherwise from you”  â€" I add this because if the person DOES want me to share something or some part of the conversation I’m letting them know they have to tell me what I can share. Simple rule of thumb Assume Everything you hear is confidential UNLESS you are specifically instructed otherwise. You career and your reputation depend on it. It’s simple. Master the ability to Keep Confidences.  It is  your Secret Weapon for Success. Author: Jeff  is a veteran in the Enterprise Content Management industry. Over the past 20 years he has worked with customers and partners to design, develop and deploy solutions around the world. Jeff is currently the Director of Strategic Alliances at Winshuttle. He has worked for Microsoft, FileNet (IBM), K2, Captaris, Open Text, Kofax and Kodak. He speaks and blogs about ECM and the Intersection between Social, Mobile and Cloud Computing.