Why Friends at Work are Important #WorkBFF

Why Friends at Work are Important #WorkBFF Everyone knows that its not what you know, but who you know. When working in a professional environment, its important that you create strong relationships wherever you go. Relationships at work, make us feel more productive and motivated as well as connect us. This infographic by LinkedIn gives some more stats and insights into how important friendships at work really are. Takeaways: 51% of people stay in contact with their past work colleagues. With professionals, 18% said that friendships at work made them more competitive. For millennials, 50% said that having friendships at work made them feel motivated. However, make sure you foster good relationships with your current colleagues as well as your past ones. RELATED: How to Be Popular at Work

The Eight Irrestible Principles of Fun

The Eight Irrestible Principles of Fun Take 5 minutes to watch the awesome video below, made by boxofcrayons.biz (@boxofcrayons). I promise it will rejuvenate your mind and your attitude. In Review, The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun: 1. Get Focused: stop hiding who you really are. 2. Get Focused: start being intensely selfish. 3. Be Creative: stop following the rules. 4. Be Creative: start scaring yourself. 5. Use Your Wisdom: stop taking it all so damn seriously. 6. Use Your Wisdom: start getting rid of the crap (habits, memories, attitudes, people). 7. Take Action: stop being busy. 8. Take Action: start something. Dont wait any longer for permission to do what you want to do. Keep this post handy on your desktop or in an inspiration folder. Theres no doubt you will want to come back to this post when you are feeling stuck and review these simple yet powerful concepts. This post is dedicated to NSE, a person who has always lived by these rules and is the definition of fun and success wrapped up into one.

5 Proven Steps To Achieve Your Goals - Classy Career Girl

5 Proven Steps To Achieve Your Goals 2017 is upon us. I want to talk about something that changed everything for me when it comes to annual planning. How I used to plan for a new year was on January 1st I would sit down and start to create my resolutions for the year. It would be overwhelming and I would not normally reach any of them because it was so long and I always changed my mind on a monthly basis anyways. Annual goals just really didn’t work for me. When I discovered creating more of a 90-day plan, that’s when everything changed. I had less stress trying to complete goals for 90 days. Previously, I didn’t know how to break down my annual goals into milestones and actions. The best thing that happened for me with my 90-day plan was when my husband  joined our team in 2014 and we decided we needed a whole new website rebrand AND that we needed to create a whole new course called The Dream Career Launchpad. This was a huge undertaking and it was very overwhelming at the time. I decided to use a 90-day plan like you can download here. We got done everything way faster than 90 days! We got our entire website rebrand and course done in just one month because we had it all planned out  and focused on the most important things we needed to do to make it happen. Its all about the focus and priorities and I am determined to help you make it happen! So lets dive into the five things you need to do to make your goals and dreams happen in 2017 (or whenever you are reading this). 5 Proven Steps To Achieve Your Goals Note: If you havent downloaded your Create your future 90-day planner yet, you need to do that. You can get access to it at www.classycareergirl.com/freeplan. Its a 40-page planner you can print out yourself if you want to or just use certain pages that you like as well. Its also digital so you can complete it online as well. Today I am going to walk you through that whole first section you should do before the new year starts. 1. Looking Back I usually do this in November before the year actually starts but you an do it whenever you want. Look back at the last 90 days or year and getting clear on what did work. If you run a business, look at your sales and income and look at when you were happiest. When were you in a groove and loving what you did in your career? Do some brainstorming and journaling. What are you grateful for that happened in your career and business? What were some of your biggest time wasters? Were you watching some shows that did not do anything for you? When you were at your best, what were you doing? Now we know when planning the next 90 days, you add in what you really enjoy. 2. Vision Journal Dive into what you want your life to look like? If you could create anything in your future, what is your vision and what do you want to look like? I also want you to journal the words and phrases that represent your vision when you have completed your goal. When you complete your goal, what does life look like when you have that goal accomplished? Why do you want to reach this goal? We can set goals all day long. This was a big thing missing for me in the past. I had no idea WHY I wanted my goals. 3. Annual Plan This is about figuring out your three main goals for the year. Only three things you want to have done. Then we create focuses for each quarter. When it comes time to create your 90-day plan, youll already know your focus for those 90 days so you dont have to start from scratch creating your 90-day plan. At the bottom is the next year focus so you dont get overwhelmed with what you want to do long term. You dont need to focus on all your goals at once. You just need to focus in on one or maybe two per quarter. 4. Quarterly Plan Each quarter, youll have a focus.  Youll come out with three big goals that you want to achieve in those next 90 days and youll want to write out why you want to accomplish those goals too. What you are going to get done and why you want to achieve those things? 5. 90-Day Plan This is where you are going to break down your three goals and determine what tasks you need to complete in 30/60/90 day increments to complete your goals. Weve made these five steps extremely easy for you to do with our free 90-day planner. Make sure you grab your copy and get planning for your best year ever. Download it for free at www.classycareergirl.com/freeplan Weve made these five steps extremely easy for you with our free 90-day planner. Make sure you grab your copy and get planning for your best year ever! www.classycareergirl.com/freeplan

How To Handle Negative Feedback - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How To Handle Negative Feedback - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career It can often be difficult to handle negative feedback without damaging your personal brand. Even if the comments are being offered as constructive criticism, it can be hard for us to see it that way. While criticism can be tough to deal with, it’s important to remind yourself how to handle it without losing your cool or feeling personally insulted. Negative feedback is a part of life, and can often be a reminder to more clearly focus on or improve different aspects of your work. 4 ways to dealing with negative feedback Often, we may received negative comments on our blogs or Facebook posts, and it can be difficult to learn how to respond while keeping our positive personal brand intact. The issue isn’t about avoiding negative feedback, so much as knowing how to take it in and move forward with the knowledge. Below are four tips for how to best handle negative criticism and maintain your personal brand: 1. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. It can be instinctual to want to deny or tune out negative criticism. Often we get riled up and are unable to see the criticism from an unbiased perspective. Remember to take a step back, inhale deeply, and think through the comments with an open mind. Remain calm and composed, and don’t let your emotions trigger a quick, irrational, or rude response. It can often help to step away from the situation to gather your thoughts, whether that means logging out of Facebook or taking a minute to yourself in the office. 2.  Work to fully understand the issue. Take a step back and look objectively at the situation. Actively listen to the criticism and assess exactly what this person is concerned about and why. Imagine yourself in their shoes, and be empathetic to their concerns and willing to assess your mistakes. 3. Reply appropriately. Once you’ve assessed whether or not the concerns are valid, reply kindly and with understanding. Even if you don’t completely agree, remember to work toward a mutually beneficial solution, or be willing to change your tactics to improve. Negative feedback isn’t often completely unwarranted, so remember to keep an open mind. 4.  Learn and move forward. Sometimes you learn the most from the times you’re receiving criticism. Strive to take the lessons with you and improve your performance in the future in whichever way is most comfortable for you. Remember: negative feedback isn’t always about defending yourself or becoming upset. Often, these are opportunities for us to improve upon our work and our personal brand. What are some ways you’ve responded to negative feedback while keeping your personal brand intact? Share your thoughts in a comment below! Author: Heather R. Huhman is a career expert, experienced hiring managers, and founder president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. She is also the author of Lies, Damned Lies Internships (2011), #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for numerous outlets.

How to Update Your Resume Format For Your New Job

How to Update Your Resume Format For Your New JobYour old resume format is probably not right for your new job. You will probably have to take a different approach to ensure that you get the job. This means you will need to take a fresh look at your resume.Let's start with your old resume. It was probably a standard cover letter, but for your new job you will have to make sure you write more than one cover letter. You might be asked to send an electronic version of your resume. If so, you will have to make sure your resume format can handle this. Also, it would be smart to have separate versions of your resume and cover letter for electronic and paper applications.You should also consider including attachments on your old resume. But do this only after you have addressed the basic requirements for that particular position. As you apply for other positions, you may need to add attachments for them. Just make sure you use the right template to allow this.Another consideration is your e mployment history. Do you have any previous employment experience in the field? Do you have a job history that is appropriate for the new position?Finally, you need to decide whether you want to add anything on your resume. Is there something specific you want to add? Maybe you want to add keywords that will help the human resources department when they are reviewing your resume.If you are doing data entry, you will want to make sure you do not put any personal information on your resume. You should do a little research and choose the word processor carefully. Some people prefer that you go through their entire application once and only put the personal information you want included.Check your past employers to see if they recommend a particular company. If they do, then they will probably be there in your resume. You might also choose to include any references that might be relevant to the position you are applying for.So, make sure you read your old resume, learn about your new re sume format, and think about what you want to do in your new job. The one thing you do not want to do is to start over again from scratch.

The 6 Core Reasons Women Arent Advancing to Leadership Roles - Kathy Caprino

The 6 Core Reasons Women Arent Advancing to Leadership Roles Courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net As a trainer and leadership developer of women, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of HR and senior executive leaders the past 10 years, about women, growth, and paving the way for women’s ascension to leadership in corporate America. Yet what remains so disappointing and in fact, shocking, is that despite the irrefutable business case for the need to balance corporate leadership ranks with more women, we’re making very little headway â€" very little progress in the way of effective corporate change is occurring.   Yes there are winners of Catalyst and other awards â€" and great, progressive organizations doing their part â€" but in the whole of corporate America, we’re not seeing the substantive change that’s necessary. Further, recent studies show that senior women are hit three times harder than their male counterparts in these tough economic times. I believe there are 6 core reasons why women aren’t advancing to the leadership ranks to the degree we need them to in corporate America.   One of the most important factors is that organizations are not digging deep enough to uncover exactly why their organization isn’t fostering women leaders successfully.   Leaders and HR directors attempt to address the issue every day, and they commit diversity dollars, initiatives, training programs and networking events to moving the needle, but rarely have the hard data, research and findings from men and women in the organization as to why women are leaving before they reach leadership levels, why they are plateauing or not being promoting effectively into leadership. Thus, their programs and initiatives don’t make a lasting difference. Before I share what I believe are the 6 reasons why women aren’t leading in sufficient numbers, I’d like to ask HR staff and senior leaders this question: Do you know (based on sound research and data and frank and open conversations at your company) EXACTLY why women are not sitting at your leadership tables in your organization? Do you have a handle on the specific part of the pipeline where you lose women, and why?  If not, what step can you take this month to investigate as thoroughly as possible the barriers to women’s leadership success at your company? (For resources and innovative ideas on how to move the needle, check out Bentley University’s Center for Women Business cutting-edge programs and events). If you don’t know the answers to these questions, the very first thing you must do is begin a research and data gathering initiative â€" conduct a thorough, candid, and probing exploration of what isn’t happening that needs to be, and determine the barriers to women’s growth that are specific to your organization, culture, and enterprise. To get you started in your thinking, below are the top 6 reasons I’ve found for why women aren’t leading as we need them to in corporate business, based on my 10 years of work in the field, my year-long research study, my book Breakdown, Breakthrough, my Career Success training programs and my leadership consulting. The top six reasons why women aren’t leading in sufficient numbers are: 1)   The differences between men and women are not fully understood or valued. It’s an indisputable fact â€" women and men are different in many core ways, grounded in their neurobiology and their cultural training.   (Read Dr. Louann Brizendine’s books The Female Brain and The Male Brain for more info).   So much of men and women’s behavior is programmed, hard-wired in our brains, and also culturally influenced.   I’ve found, however, that in corporate America (which remains male-dominated at the leadership levels), the differences in women’s style, approach, communication, decision making, leadership values, focus and “energy,” are not at all understood or valued.   Many organizations still make women “wrong” (consciously or subconsciously) for their priorities and styles that clash with the dominant culture.   Further, the emphasis many women leaders place on connection, empathy, emotional cue-taking, consensus-building, risk-taking, mutuality, and questioning are often misconstrued as a “less-than” leadership style.   More multicultura l and diversity training must occur for women and men to wholly embrace their differences, and understand that it is diversity and difference that makes us stronger and more competitive. 2)   Whole-self authenticity is a must-have for many women, yet impossible still in many corporate environments. During a class I taught at New York University last summer on managing inclusion and cultural diversity, my students and I discussed the idea of bringing our whole hearts and spirits to our work and our careers â€" the idea that authenticity and transparency, and being who we really are â€" and being recognized and appreciated for that is a vitally important criteria for our career success. A fascinating finding emerged â€" literally every woman in the class was in complete accord â€" that authenticity and being able to bring our whole selves to our work is essential to our fulfillment and success. (Check out Brené Brown’s great work on authenticity and vulnerability for more on that.) But the males in the class vehemently disagreed.   They shared their feelings that full transparency at work, and “exposing” all parts of themselves (personal and otherwise) was not at all desirable. They confirmed this with numerous male friends and colleagues, who all agreed that it’s not safe or accepted (or wanted) to be fully transparent and bring their whole selves to the workplace.   I’ve seen this as a commonly held difference between men and women in the workplace, again impacted by cultural training and neurobiology.   (Again, I am fully aware that many men do indeed bring their full, authentic selves to work.) But what’s vital to remember is that, for thousands of women, if they can’t be real, true, transparent, honest and authentic at work â€" and can’t be recognized, valued and appreciated for what they bring to the table they won’t want to follow the leadership at the helm or do what it takes to succeed in their organizations or roles. If the political environment is so crushing, and the competitive terrain so negative that work feels like “theatre” and women have to pretend to be something they are not (which it did for me for numbers of years in my corporate life), then it’s not sustainable, and not worth it. Thousands of women are fleeing corporate America and starting their own businesses to escape what isn’t working for them, and also to create new models of business success and leadership that fit their style, preference, values and priorities. 3)   Life, family and work priorities clash fiercely. Women are still performing the majority of domestic and child care responsibility in the home, even when there are two spouses working full-time.   As such, and as long as women are bearing the children in our species, women will not view child rearing and child care in the same way as men do, and will prioritize the responsibilities around it differently.   The best article I’ve read recently on this dilemma â€" as a woman, the challenges around how to be the caregiver you want to be while being the contributive professional you long to be â€" is Anne-Marie Slaughter’s piece in The Atlantic, Why Women Still Can’t Have It All. For me, every word resonated.   Slaughter covered every key dimension represented of the challenges women face today in their quest to become business and political leaders while also balancing what they want to be as parents and care-givers, and what has to change in our work policies to allow these dual priorities to be met. If you’re outdated and clo sed-minded and believe that work-life balance or integration is a pipedream only for fools, then you’re contributing to the problem. 4)   Extreme work demands can drum women out. The extreme demands of many 24/7 work corporate environments today represent an impasse to many women who wish to prioritize life outside of work more highly.   I’ve written before and believe this wholeheartedly â€" women are not less ambitious than men.   It is the COST of ambition â€" and the struggle women face in pursuing their professional ambitions â€" that is at the heart of why we have so few women leaders today, and why women are achieving less and not reaching as high as men in corporate America.   As Betsy Myers, senior adviser to President Clinton on women’s issues shared with me recently, women tend to view their work as only one piece of the pie that represents their total life experience.   If they’re forced to focus 24/7 on work for a majority of their professional lives, most women will choose not to pay that price. 5)   Marginalizing of women is more common than we want to admit. As much as we don’t want to admit it, women are still being diminished, sidelined, suppressed, and thought less of because of being women and because they are different from the leadership norm (here’s an example).   Further, women are pushed aside regularly when they make their family priorities known or demand time off after having a child (and don’t kid yourself this is a form discrimination to be sidelined for prioritizing time off for child bearing). We can deny this all we want, but it is happening all across corporate America women are still considered “less than” in terms of leadership capability in many organizations.   This will change in 50 or 100 years, and is changing radically now in the entrepreneurial world (where I’m very excited to be supporting women’s leadership growth), but not fast enough in corporate America. If your organization still has insufficient representation of women at senior levels, do what is necessary to bring about true change. Conduct primary research at your workplace to uncover what is not working for women in the organization, and follow it up by implementing new policies, procedures, and effective training, education, and programs for men and women.   Measure the efficacy of these programs and initiatives, and communicate effectively and authoritatively the mandate that diversity and inclusion must become a way of life at your organization. Finally, support your successful and empowering female leaders today as true role models who “walk the talk” and can give other women a powerful visual model for success. 6)     Personal accountability needs to be expanded. I’ve read scores of comments by women (top writers on leadership, for instance) that if we talk about how women are holding themselves back from leadership, we’re again blaming women for how they blew it, instead of understanding that it’s a faulty model they’re trying to overcome. I disagree with this line of thinking. Yes, the model needs revision most certainly, but this is a complex problem with many contributing factors.   Within this construct, individuals have the power to take accountability, step up to what has to be done, and have the courage to make change, both on the individual level, and the organizational level.   Women are today (and can become) great leaders and inspire other women to follow in their footsteps. I see it every day. It is not all about the environment or men not doing their part.   There are plenty of strong male advocates and supporters of women, and great male leaders who know how to pave the way for the high growth and engagement of both women and men (for an inspiring example, check out  PricewaterhouseCooper’s Chairman and Senior Partner Robert Moritz’s keynote speech at Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business Forum).    For true change to occur, we need the support of men, and to walk in partnership with our best male leaders.   But to bring about real and lasting change, women must also learn to understand better the terrain they’re operating in the ecosystem they’re engaged in and power up their skills and accountability  in order to navigate it successfully.   (No, I’m not saying “Be more like a man.”) I’m suggesting that women understand what’s needed to succeed, and embrace their authentic personal brand, build their confidence and self-worth, enhan ce their communication, leadership and decision-making skills, forge vital partnerships, and step up to their fullest potential to claim the leadership authority they want. In the end, creating a pathway for more women in corporate leadership will require change on all levels individual, organizational and global.   But we must start with you and me, today.   What one step can YOU take â€" either as a female committed to achieving more leadership authority, or as a female or male leader with the power and influence to bring about true change in your organization.   What will YOU do? I’d love your thoughts. Does your organization know why women are not serving in leadership as your business needs them to? And do you know what to do to bring yourself forward and lead as you long to?

Probing Questions You Need To Ask Before Hiring

Probing Questions You Need To Ask Before Hiring Hiring a new member of staff is a costly decision and not one to be taken lightly. For most businesses, wages are the top expense, so you want to know that when you do take somebody on, that they’re the right person for the job. So what questions should you ask before hiring? Question 1: Does The Candidate Fit Your Culture? A candidate might have all the relevant experience and qualifications. But if they don’t fit the company culture, they can create problems. Employees used to an open culture may struggle in closed ones, and vice versa, creating confusion and dissatisfaction among other team members. They may also have different values to your company, preventing them from really fitting in and getting on well with management. If you can, probe the values of candidates to check whether they align with your own. It’s okay to turn an applicant down, even if they appear to have everything you want on paper. Question 2: Do They Have A Checkered History? Some employees have a checkered history which can make them unfit for certain types of work. However, they’re unlikely to be upfront about certain things about their past. If you have suspicions about their character, then it might be worth asking a private investigator to perform some checks. You can often get hold of lots of background information, including any criminal record or activity on social media. Question 3: Do They Seem Enthusiastic? You know that you do your best work when you’re excited about the task you’re performing. When you find something boring, it’s tempting to do the least work possible. Ideally, candidates should be enthusiastic about the work you offer. Ask them for evidence that they’re keen on certain aspects of the job, such as what they might do outside of working hours. People who are genuinely passionate about the content of their work often have a related hobby or side project. Question 4: What’s Their Attitude Like? Harvard researchers have created a list of attributes they believe constitutes a person with a great attitude towards life. The list includes traits such as high openness to new experiences, low negativity, and cognitive energy to apply oneself to tasks. You want these same people working in your organisation because their positivity will rub off on the people around them, creating a better working environment. Again, don’t be tempted to hire somebody just because they tick experience and qualifications boxes. Find out whether their attitude will be beneficial for your organisation or not. Question 5: What Are They Worried About? Candidates will often have worries about a particular job, just as consumers may have concerns about buying a specific product. The role of good employers is to assuage these concerns so that they don’t miss out on an opportunity to employ a high-quality person. Take the time to go through the employment contract with candidates, asking them for their input along the way. Potential employees may have questions about holiday time, company policy regarding parental leave, and pay.