Finding the Jobs

Can your business really be a success without the right combination of team players?

And can one business leader alone possess all the necessary qualities?

Not really, on either count, according to Paul Maritz, CEO of VMware, a software company.  In an interview for the Sunday’s New York Times business section, Maritz makes the case that few leaders possess more than one or two of the strengths they need to perform at the highest level.

To get the most out your company, Maritz advises that a company’s leadership team members should consist of the  following four types:

The strategist or visionary, “who sets the goals for where the organization needs to go”;

The classic manager, “who takes care of the organization, in terms of making sure that everybody knows what they need to do” and how the work performed will be measured;

The customer champion, “who empathizes and understands how customers will see [the product or service]“;

The enforcer, who says, “We’ve stared at this issue long enough.  We’re going to deal with whatever conflict we have.”

How does your team measure up, based on Maritz’s approach?  Did Maritz miss other essential types that a successful business needs?

(To read the interview, check out nytimes.com/businessday.)

Between the recent bad news on women’s wages (still unequal to men’s wages, in nearly every industry category) and the research from business expert Sharon Hadary in The Wall Street Journal this summer that found that women’s businesses are far smaller than men’s overall, the following news out of  the White House suggests that the Executive Branch is trying to turn things around on that score:

The White House Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference is being held on Monday, October 4th and “will bring together a mix of business owners, leaders from the women’s community, administration officials, academics and lenders to discuss the critical challenges, opportunities and solutions needed to move the women’s business agenda to the next level.”  Participants include Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Bobbi Brown, Founder of the cosmetics company, Bobbi Brown.

The White House will be broadcasting the Conference live at www.whitehouse.gov/live from 12:30 -1:30 p.m., for the opening panel and 3:30 p.m. for the closing remarks.

Are you invited to attend?  If so, please let Money Matters and More readers know what you thought of the event, by commenting below.

Why  should companies insist that employees take naps?

It’s just one of the many questions to be answered by Tony Schwartz, President & CEO of The Energy Project tomorrow on Blogtalkradio.com’s Money Matters & More at 9:30 a.m.

The author of the best-selling book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working and a Harvard Business Review blogger, Schwartz recently wrote about the value of companies encouraging their employees to take naps as a way of increasing their productivity.  In the Money Matters & More interview tomorrow, Schwartz will explain how high-performing companies like Ritz-Carlton and Google understand how better meeting the needs of their employees ultimately improves the bottom line.  Schwartz presents compelling scientific evidence from recent studies on pilots and others about why aspects of the old corporate climate need to change.

To hear the Money Matters & More radio show, click onto Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more at 9:30 a.m. (Eastern) tomorrow, Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

In the meantime, want to get a sense of your own well-being?   Check out The Energy Project’s free “energy audit,” at theenergyproject.com.

Let me know what you learned, by commenting below, or by emailing me at heathertaylormedia@gmail.com with your results.

How can job seekers afford to be choosy in a tough employment market?

Be ruthlessly selective and deliberate in your job hunt, says Washington Post Jobs columnist, workingkind.com blogger and freelance writer, Vickie Elmer.

Elmer talked to me about her Fortune article, Why You Need a Career Curator on a recent Money Matters & More radio interview. (To hear it, click on the media player to the right of this page.)

In her article, Elmer included these two important recommendations drawn from her research:

- With more than 50,000 job-related websites(!), pay close attention only to sites that match your particular career and life goals

- On social media sites, spend time and energy following only those people who have meaningful content to offer, not just superfluous noise

Elmer also recommends “career information consolidators,” sources that can reduce the time spent finding the right sites for your particular needs. Among her choices:

The Riley Guide (rileyguide.com)

Quintessential Careers (quintcareers.com)

Harvard Business Review (blogs.hbr.org)

For more information on Elmer’s research and consolidator recommendations, be sure to check out her article in the July 5, 2010 issue of Fortune. To read her excellent new career and employment blog, check out workingkind.com

(Photo by Graur Razvan Ionut @http://tinyurl.com/2ffeug5)

Recession-proofing our jobs may sound like wishful thinking, but the good news is that it really can be done, and a new Federal government website can help us get started.

How to keep from being adversely affected by changes in the employment market comes down to one thing:  keeping at least one step ahead.

The Department of Labor’s website, MySkillsMyFuture can help us keep one step ahead and help us get started on the path to recession-proofing our jobs.  That’s because it invites us to plug in our experience and skills and get an assessment of what kind of work we’re skilled to do.  It also offers information about where we can find work using those skills and what if any, training we may need.

For example, in my recent Money Matters & More interview with Vickie Elmer, the Washington Post Jobs columnist revealed that the MySkillsMyFuture site identified her strengths as well-suited to careers as a librarian, claims adjuster and adult literacy instructor.   Public relations and market research analysis also figured prominently in her assessment.

Overall, the site offers a win-win, because using the site enables us to begin thinking more broadly about our skills and strengths.  It gives us permission to broaden our view of our capabilities– perhaps to consider our work lives differently.  And ultimately to become much more recession-proof workers.

Want to remain a valued commodity, no matter the state of the economy?   Check out the website at myskillsmyfuture.

Want to find your next job faster?

Be sure to hear award-winning writer and Washington Post jobs columnist Vickie Elmer as she offers smart strategies for job seekers on the Money Matters & More radio show tomorrow, Tuesday, September 21st at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.  To hear the interview, click onto Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

Highlights of the interview include:

– how to get the most out of more than 50,000 job-related websites without being overwhelmed

– how to use a new Department of Labor tool to help match your skills to a rewarding career

– how workingkind.com, a new blog can provide the best and latest information on jobs and careers

Want to know how to find your next job faster?  Tune in to Money Matters & More tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. on Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

(Clip art: newspaper_-_jobs.gif@ clipartheaven.com)

Too much to do and too little time to do it?  Not feeling terribly relaxed or stress-free?  No problem, says best-selling author, management consultant and veteran executive coach David Allen.  And there’s no mystery to achieving  what he calls “the art of stress-free productivity.”

It’s got everything to do with 2 important notions:

1. “capturing all the things that need to get done–now, later, someday, big, little, or in between–into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind;” and

2. “disciplining yourself to make front-end decisions” about all of these things so that you’ll always have a plan for the next actions that you can implement or negotiate at any moment.

Want to learn more?  Check out my recent interview with David Allen, by clicking on the media player on the right hand side of this page.

Have a great week!

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The five mistakes online job hunters make can cause an already tough job market to become even tougher.

But what if you don’t even know that you’re making the mistakes?  A recent column by The Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Garone explores these two important issues:

– why we miss out on jobs we’re qualified to do

– how to approach job hunting online to get the job we seek

Her answers may surprise you.

For example, demonstrating good manners, making a high-quality presentation and the importance of networking in person, along with online efforts, all play an important part.  (For a link to her article: http://on.wsj.com/aD8CAQ)

To hear the complete interview, “Five Mistakes Online Job Hunters Make,” be sure to tune into Blogtalkradio’s Money Matters & More radio show tomorrow, July 29th at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). If you can’t hear it then, check out the podcast, which will be available just after the show ends.

Have any tips that have worked for you in online job hunting?  Email them to heathertaylormedia@gmail.com.

Twitter away for 15 minutes a day and that job you seek may soon be yours.

That’s the message from co-authors Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan and Deb Dib, co-authors of the new book, The Twitter Job Search Guide, Find a Job and Advance Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day.

Earlier this week, co-author Chandlee Bryan joined me to talk about how a committment to Twittering at least 15 minutes a day can speed along the job search/career advancement track.  Here are couple of reasons why:

1. Successful job hunting involves successful networking.  Twitter is a way to grow a large and diverse network in your area of expertise.

2. Alot of the best and brightest minds in job search and career management are on Twitter.  Using Twitter taps into great (and free!) information.

3. Lots of recruiters and staffing managers tweet about fresh, live job openings.  Send a message to these folks and you’ve got a chance to stand out from the crowd of candidates who will be sending resumes to their inboxes.

Want to learn more?  Be sure to tune in to my interview tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

Several years ago, I met a conferee at an association meeting and knew at once that she would be the perfect mentor.  She was intelligent, friendly and generous with her time.  If I wanted a sounding board, feedback or any kind of help in learning how to find another position or advance in my career, this individual seemed ideal.

The match didn’t work out in the end, (she was mentoring two other people already), but after reading The Mentee’s Guide, Making Mentoring Work for You and interviewing one of its co-authors, Dr. Lois J. Zachary, of Leadership Development Services, LLC, one thing is immediately clear.  Finding the right mentor requires some careful self-assessment and advance planning, not simply a gut feeling based on a first impression.  Here are some of their recommendations:

1. Identify your goal — why do you want a mentor?

2. Figure out what qualities you want in a mentor.

3. Determine what qualities in a mentor are “must haves”– What qualities are non-negotiable?

4.  Rank the remainng criteria — what do you want, in order of priority?

5. List possible mentors — Brainstorm a list of possibilities

6. Eliminate prospective mentors that don’t meet your requirements

7.Rate each mentor – Compare how well each of the remaining mentors stack up against one another

8.Make the decision after tallying up your responses

To hear the Money Matters & More interview with Lois J. Zachary, click onto the BlogTalkRadio media player to the right of this posting.  For more information about mentoring, check out the company blog: www.centerformentoringexcellence.com/blog

Have a great week!