Unleashing and Channeling Your Power To Succeed

Archive for the ‘Quick Tips’ Category

Question:
I have been thinking about getting a mentor to give me guidance on various professional issues. What should I be looking for?

Answer:
Good for you. I applaud you for taking charge of your career and being proactive. A mentoring relationship can be rewarding and provide a lot of benefits to the protégé, and the mentor, for that matter. It can also be a lot of hard work.

To ensure that you get out of the mentoring relationship what you want, I suggest that you first determine what you want out of the relationship and set specific goals and expectations. Make sure you discuss your expectations with your potential mentor to see if it is a good fit or not.

Talk with several individuals before making a decision. It’s okay to shop around and interview folks. This is about YOU. You want to be sure you are working with someone whom you can trust and with whom you are comfortable. Your mentor doesn’t need to necessarily be someone older and wiser–a mentor can also be someone who is your peer or a few steps ahead of you in your career.

Another suggestion for developing a successful mentoring relationship is to be sure that your clearly state your expectations. You want to be sure they are clear about what they can offer you in addition to establishing time and other parameters.

Trust and respect for each other are also critical elements in establishing a successful mentoring relationship. Therefore, it is important for you and your mentor to share your values and beliefs early. It is important for both of you to reveal just enough about yourselves to increase intimacy, without being too forward. Discuss this with your mentor and be sure that you are both in agreement.

Let your mentor know how you would like to communicate, both giving and receiving information. Find out how they like to give information and feedback. Then, determine if that is the best way for you. Also, determine the frequency of your conversations.

In the hectic world that we live in today, finding time for this type of relationship can be difficult. Be sure that both of you are willing to make the time commitment on a regular basis. Make regular appointments to meet; be prompt and committed. I personally think the more frequently you can meet, especially early on, the better and stronger your relationship will become.

And finally, commit to each other that you will discuss the relationship periodically. Revisit it on a regular basis to be sure that both of your needs are still being met. If they are, then continue to move ahead. If not, discuss other options and perhaps other mentor possibilities. It is guaranteed that the mentor doesn’t want to work with a protégé if the protégé doesn’t want to work with them.

Good luck and let me know when YOU become a mentor for someone.

Published by Marshall Brown, “The Career Coach Is In” for the Washington Post.
http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/career-coach/

“Career Success Toolkit” Teleseries:
The Ultimate Unfair Competitive Advantage to Open Doors & Get the Job You WANT!
Coming September 22, 2010 to a telephone near you:
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/toolkit/index.html

Today, I want to share a few thoughts on “showing gratitudes” and how this might impact you, regardless if you are in job/career change or not.

Many of us focus on what we want to have and not on saying “thanks” for what we have already. And for many people, especially those who have been laid off, it’s difficult to focus on their accomplishments, the successes they have had and what they can be thankful for.

Each summer, I spend a few weeks off to reflect on how I want my business to grow over the next year, some possibilities for my life and to envision what I would like to experience over the coming months. This year, however, I decided to focus more on what and whom I have experienced over the past year.

Here are a few things I am grateful for:

1. I have the ability to breathe, walk, hear, see and touch on my own.
2. I have been blessed with a loving family and supportive friends.
3. I have clients that I enjoy working with.
4. I love partnering with my clients for their successes.
5. I have a career and business that I am passionate about.

I would encourage you to think about what you are grateful for. It might change your perspective on what you already have. By no means am I saying NOT to focus on the possibilities. I am all about possibilities. I am suggesting that we focus on things for which we are grateful and all the possibilities that we have in life. Just as I have suggested putting your vision and purpose out into the universe, don’t forget about putting out also what the universe has already given you.
Please share some of the things you are grateful for with me.

Marshall

Original post from “The Career Coach Is In” from The Washington Post.
http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/career-coach/

Read other articles here:
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/articles.html

From the rising of the moon on Halloween eve until the setting of the sun on Super Bowl Sunday, the holidays create more opportunities for anxiety to get a foothold than a tile roof makes for Santa’s reindeer. Here are ten ideas to help you keep your own steady footing during the upcoming season.

1. Take good care of your self. Eat healthfully, get plenty of rest, exercise.

2. Make lists and set aside specific times to accomplish certain tasks. Prioritize. Consider scratching a few items off your list.

3. Ask for help. It’s more fun to do things together — from decorating the house to wrapping presents.

4. Make a budget and stick to it. No matter what. If you use your credit cards during the holidays then spend the rest of the year paying them off, try not charging anything this year.

5. Shop by catalogue. Give gift certificates.

6. Look for ways to share day care arrangements if the kids are out of school. Maybe this is the year the older ones get a job, or perform volunteer work.

7. Remember to play. Have fun. Share special time with the children or other family members.

8. Make houseguests as self-sufficient as possible. Let them help. Don’t give up your own bed unless you must.

9. If family gatherings cause tension and anxiety, consider alternatives that can lessen the effects. Plan well in advance; avoid last minute surprises.

10. Take a walk; breathe in the fresh air. Find a place where you can be quiet and restful. Go there often.

With Thanksgiving around the corner and the beginning of the holiday season, there is so much to be thankful for. Yes, we’re thankful for our health, our safety, our loved ones. But what else? What do we take for granted? What moves us? What would fill our hearts daily if we would just notice it? 

Especially during tough times, we tend to forget about some of the “little things” in life. Here are a few things to be grateful for, from my perspective (and thoughts from clients).

1. The senses. Sight, sound, touch, smell and taste—daily miracles each of them. 

2. The plant world. From the productivity of a late-summer tomato plant to the delicate unfurling of a fern, nature’s exuberance and tenderness is something to behold.

3. Opportunity. Our steady companion, opportunity is always ready to take us down a path yet unknown. (Hint: We have to say “Yes!”) 

4. Beauty. What do your eyes feast on? What splendor makes your soul rejoice? It is all around us every day. How often do you stop to drink it in? 

5. The ability to learn. There is no age limit on learning—period. When we stop learning, we really stop living. 

6. Young children. They model for us innocence, faith, resilience, playfulness and unconditional love.

7. Music. What inspires you, lifts your mood? Rock & roll, African drumming, violin concertos, gospel?

8. The ability to give. Every act of love benefits the giver as much as the receiver. 

9. Color.  Sunsets, Gauguin paintings, green peppers, blue eyes. Imagine a world without color…. 

10. Change. It’s unavoidable; the only constant. Change can be unsettling or challenging. But the mystery of it and what lies beyond it can keep us young at heart.

* Don’t Panic – be proactive

* Set Goals – learn and grow during this time

* Network – now, more than ever, is the time to network online

* Get Organized – work at creating a job search strategy

* Be The Best You Can Be!

Great change comes from economic turbulence. This is the time to embrace change and succeed!