Stop wasting time and just ask for help
Yesterday, work took me from New York to Philly for the day. Armed with a map, detailed instructions I was confident that I would not get lost. Now as much as I hate to admit it, I have no sense of direction, overlay that with Americans’ predilection for directions, that involve head north, then go west, means that I always get lost. Maybe it’s because I am a small town girl from High Wycombe, England, but I got lost when I lived there too!
It took me a while to admit that I was in fact lost in Philly. After a few moments, I had the brainwave, why don’t you ask [...]
Carla A. Harris: Hard Earned and Hard Learned Lessons
Yesterday, I attended Brokering Change: A Wall Street Multicultural Women’s Exchange a great quarterly series hosted by Goldman Sachs.
Carla A. Harris was one of the keynote speakers. Harris is a Managing Director in the Strategic Client Group at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. She is also the recipient of many accolades such as Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America” and Black Enterprise’s “Top 50 African Americans on Wall Street”. I am always inspired when I hear Harris speak, she shared a few of “Carla’s Pearls” during the closing keynote:
Living in your own authentic skin is the key to being powerful.
In the 21st century, a leader must be [...]
What’s the best advice you have received? (Part Two)
Here is the second installment of influential leaders sharing wise words that changed their lives forever in the “Best advice I ever got” at Fortune Magazine. Their practical advice can be applied to advancing your careers and transitions, as well as many other areas of your life:
12. Take advice from smart people – share your ideas with smart people but don’t expect them to act on your ideas. It’s your idea, what are you willing to do to bring it to life?
13. Make an impression – when you transition to a new role or company, you have about 90-100 days to make an impression. To build your brand, create momentum with [...]
What’s the best advice you have ever received?
Fortune magazine asked a host of influential leaders to share wise words that changed their lives forever in the “Best advice I ever got”. Their practical advice can be applied to advancing your careers and transitions, as well as many other areas of your life:
Keep it simple – set a goal, share it with someone, figure out how you are going to achieve it and keep your goal top of mind.
Show, don’t tell – the best candidate for an opening does a great job of showing how they meet a prospective employers requirements, with great examples and results that showcase their abilities.
Do what you love – when you do, work [...]
Action + Persistence = Forward Movement
Change whether planned or unexpected is never easy. We have to deal with the consequences of change, before we can really move forward.
To move forward reflect on past wins, tap into the factors that influenced your success and look for ways to use your factor in your current situation. Dwelling in positive thoughts also helps.
The peaceful warrior, is a movie based on Dan Millman’s autobiographical novel. Millman is a talented gymnast preparing for the Olympics, when life as he knows it changes forever. During his recovery he meets a stranger called Socrates who helps him to reengineer his mindset and ultimately his life. It is an inspiring movie and has [...]
Are You Guilty of Diagnosis Momentum?
“We are all guilty of diagnosis momentum, despite incomplete evidence we heard the word cancer and we all ran down the wrong path.” – Dr. Dubenko, ER
I would agree with Dr. Dubenko, in that they all ran down the wrong path, however they were presented with compelling information, medical records and diagnoses from several doctors, that unanimously suggested cancer. So at first glance the information seemed pretty complete. Diagnosis momentum is the tendency for a doctor when presented with a case to accept and stick with the initial doctor’s diagnosis.
There are many scenarios in the workplace, where one is required to draw a conclusion or make a recommendation based on [...]
Show Them Your Value
A number of people have landed jobs through connections of a friend of friend. An ExecuNet survey revealed 70% of executives landed their job through networking. The more people who know you are looking for a job the better your prospects. Here are five tactics to spread the word about your situation so that your network can actually help you:
Help your network to help you – share what you can specifically do for an organization and the types of organizations that you can contribute to. Your network cannot really help you unless they specifically know what you can do for a company.
Leverage your online network – update your LinkedIn profile, [...]
