When It Comes To Ongoing HR Development, It’s Really Up To You

“Can I see a show of hands of people that watch CNBC or any other business channel? Can I also see a show of hands of those that read the business section of your newspaper?”

Both those questions were asked over the past two weeks at different HR conferences [the HR Leaders Africa Summit held in Lagos, Nigeria, and the Lebanon HR Summit]. I decided to ask those questions and I was shocked by the number of responses. Maybe two or three hands went up, and there were at least 50 people in the room in both cases.

And you want a seat where?

My response was, “and you want to be strategic business partners?” My next question was, “what are the major discussions within your industry?” Again, the response was blank stares.

Paying Your Dues: Are You Willing to Do What It Takes to Get There?

To be successful, you have to pay your dues!!

That is a favorite phrase to all the people I know that complain to me about their journey. That journey could be attaining success in any endeavor. One thing that I have noticed is that you listen to any successful person, one thread always comes through: this is what I had to do to get there.

Whether it is long hours, weekends or insurmountable odds, they persevered.

They hung in there. They did the jobs that they despised. They did the jobs that were thankless and no one else wanted. They for the most part did without and endured all in search for that desired destination.

My daughter has been pulling lots of long hours lately and leaving just as early in the morning to get in. This is her second job out of college and she works in the advertising business. She has moved up the food chain and is now directing and leading projects.

We rode together into work the other day, and as soon as she got on the bus, she keeled over and went to sleep for the 50-minute ride.

You have to pay your dues

The Sweet Spot: Helping Others Find the Inflection Point in Their Career

I have always been a people watcher.

I watch the way people react while in conversation. I watch emotions. I watch the dynamics of groups and how people respond.

Since I commute to work, I always watch the interaction of people on public transportation. You see the ones who know everyone and everything; you notice the ones who are consumed in thought. You talk with some that always have the “deer in the headlights” look.

More importantly you notice the ones that are eager and can’t wait to get to work.

Stressing Out Over Performance Reviews? Here’s a Way to Fix That

Sometimes when I am thinking about writing a blog post, my thought process can be all over the place. Often times, my thoughts run to what either someone said or something I recently read.

Over the past few weeks, I reached out to a friend to ask her to intercede with another friend (and executive) who was looking to make a career transition into her domain. She readily agreed and I connected them. (On a side note, I believe we all should reach out to folks that are suffering from what I call careeer-itis. There, but for the grace of God, go I, as my mother always taught me).

My mission was accomplished, or at least I thought it was, until the day of their proposed conversation. Then I received a call from my friend that this executive never called or e-mailed. That sounded strange, so I sent her a quick note and never heard back. After a few days, I called her and left a message.

When she got back to me she apologized and suggested they talk this week. I immediately forwarded the e-mail over to my friend. As would happen, the day of the meeting she never called.

The CEO and You are both the Same!

You have recently been appointed the CEO.  Once the excitement wears down, what do you do?

Have you ever given any thought to that scenario?  Maybe not, because a lot of us are not striving for that top role and just maybe it is not in our DNA to project that high.  Then again, maybe you are currently unemployed and that thought is the farthest from your mind.  However if that is the case, you definitely need to keep reading.  If you are employed, think about that dream role within your current company or another company for that matter.   Now hopefully you are getting somewhat of a vision as to where this is going.  This CEO scenario is valuable whether you are employed or not.
 

Everyone one of us is a CEO,  we are the CEO of ME INC.  You are in charge of your marketing, PR, finance etc. You devise the strategy that will project your career and life.  Maybe you have not thought of it that way, but now is the time to start envisioning that scenario

Networking: The Old Fashion Way

One of the advantages of living or working in New York is the availability or exposure to so many events. I thought about this on last week as I attended the launch party for Caribbean One magazine. What made this special is that I took my daughter, Lauren as my guest. Over the years I have always taken my son Sean, but she just graduated from college on last month and is now back home so she will be my permanent guest for a while.

Over the years, specifically since high school, I have always stressed to importance of meeting people, getting connected and the importance of being known in whatever industry you choose. They have for the most part followed this model and are constantly working on getting their careers in shape.

We met earlier in the day, had a glass of wine and she brought me up to date on her job search, 4 upcoming interviews that she got on her own. We discussed her research on the companies. We reviewed industry knowledge, we discussed their current marketing strategy and we reviewed her "2 minute pitch". She brought me up to date of the bio's (LinkedIn) that she had read on each person that she would be interviewing.

With that done we headed to the event. As we rode over in the cab, I gave her background on the event and who the key players were and the key points of her pitch to people she would be meeting. My role has always been to get them acquainted with the tools of career management at an early age. The first step is on this path is networking