Category: Career Planning

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5 Things That Need to Stop at Work…Right Now

Annoying-coworkers

I’ve worked in various industries for some great companies. While their mission statements and strategic goals might have been different, they have have one thing in common…employees that display horrible work behavior. Here’s the top 5 behaviors that really just need to stop. Not now, but right now.

1. Unproductive Gossiping – Yes, there’s such a thing as productive gossip. Talking about a new project or initiative and how it will improve workflow process or boost employee morale is productive gossip. Gossiping about the latest office romance? Unproductive, unnecessary and makes you look bitter. Also, making stuff up just to sound like you are “in the know” makes you appear desperate for attention. You have better things to do.

2. Taking Credit for Work You Didn’t Do – I can’t believe people still do this and think that they can get a way with it. If you are working with a team to complete a project, make sure you publicly thank the ENTIRE team even if you think you did all of the work. Trust me, you’ll be respected and people will want you on their team in the future. The cute BCC on feature on emails is used more often than you think. Don’t let work karma bite you in the butt.
3. Arriving to Meetings Late – Just stop it. Seriously. It’s disrespectful to the meeting organizer and the other attendees. I do my best to arrive to meetings early. I don’t like to keep people waiting because it’s rude. My supervisor has a standing rule that if you are late, you have to either sing, dance or tell a joke. Don’t be the source of entertainment or laughter. Learn how to manage your 168 and get to meetings on time.
4. Coming to Meetings Unprepared – In my opinion, this is worse than arriving late. If you are facilitating a meeting, make sure you have an agenda. No one wants to sit through a meeting while you try to wing it. If you are responsible for an item on the agenda, make sure you have everything you need to contribute to the meeting. Want to be a superstar? Distribute materials ahead of time so that the attendees can come to the meeting feeling prepared and ready to contribute to the conversation.
5. Being a Naysayer…ALL THE TIME – Negative Nelly. Debbie Downer. Nervous Norbit. Buzzkill Bobby. Whatever your name is, please know that you are sucking the life out of your co-workers. Your constant negative comments about every idea suggested by a co-worker doesn’t make you the “devil’s advocate”. It makes you look like the most insecure person in the office. Get some ideas of your own instead of wasting time finding something wrong with someone else’s idea. Instead of saying, “No, that won’t work” try saying “That sounds interesting. Can you tell me more?”
I would love to hear what bad work habits/behaviors you like to see added to the list.
With love,
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Did you know registration for Work Your Package Women’s Conference 2016 is open? Did you know you can reserve your seat for only $99? Register today at www.workyourpackage2016.eventbrite.com 
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Leadership Is Not A Title

One of the lessons I learned when I started working in corporate America was the moment you have to tell someone your title, it becomes irrelevant. The minute you preference a statement or a question with your title in an attempt to intimidate someone you believe is “lower” than you, you lose all credibility. During my 20+ years of professional experience, I’ve encountered many executives that felt the need to “remind” someone of their title. I still remain unimpressed by titles. I’m more concerned if you are ethical and fair in your dealings with your staff, counterparts and customers. I watch how you interact with the cleaning staff in the evening and if you say thank you to the IT guys who have, for the fifth time this week, saved you from easing all of your data.

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True leaders don’t go around telling others that they are leaders. True leaders are the people who inspire you to do better, be better and achieve more. True leaders lead by providing a positive example for others to follow. I read a post from Michael Hyatt awhile ago and he gave these twelve ways to know if you are a leader:

  1. You long to make a difference.
  2. You’re discontent and dissatisfied with the status quo.
  3. You’re not waiting on a bigger staff or more resources to accomplish your vision.
  4. Your dreams are so big they seem impossible.
  5. You acknowledge what is but inevitably ask, “What could be?”
  6. You realize that you don’t have to be in charge to have significant influence.
  7. You refuse to blame others for your circumstances and take responsibility for finding solutions.
  8. You foster unity by bringing people together and encouraging dialogue.
  9. You are quick to say, “I messed up. Here’s what I am going to do to fix the problem I created.”
  10. You value relationships more than tasks.
  11. You walk your talk—not perfectly but sincerely and intentionally.
  12. You are a learner. You read, listen to podcasts, attend conferences, and ask other leaders lots of questions.

Are you a leader?

With love,

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WYP2015 Speaker Spotlight Series – Tamara Stallings (Part 2)

Tamara Stallings

Here’s Part 2 from Tamara Stallings, Leadership Coach for Gen X’ers and Millennial’s – aka The Young & Fabulous. Tamara Stallings is a Leadership Coach, Millennial Expert, Career Strategist and the brains behind go B Great. A highly successful career strategist who has dedicated twenty years of strategizing, creating best in class leadership initiatives and serving as a Senior Human Resources practitioner with some of the best and brightest leaders, global organizations and individuals around the world.

Looking out 3 to 5 years, beyond the obvious trends, what do you think will be the next big change in your industry?
I hope that people will demand and strive for career happiness.  When I hear people say that they’ve been with an employer for a long time yet in the same breath complain about the work, the boss, the environment, or the lack of opportunities, I cringe. Life is so precious and spending one day in a job or career that does not offer joy is so 1990’s.  It is past time to put career happiness back on the map.  How else will you B Great if you’re not in the space that allows that greatest to shine? Employers want to hire niche experts not generalist.  Many companies are doing more with less, given that, organizations are looking for candidates with a specialty, for example Project Management or Change Management.  If you fit in the generalist category, it may be time to assess your skills, figure out what you do well and focus on being the best at it.

What are three things you’ve told yourself that kept you going during your darkest hour?

When I was a little girl, I learned a song in church and it is based on Isaiah 40:31.  The chorus of that song (and the scripture) says “They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on the wings like an eagle. They shall run and not get weary, they shall walk and not faint, teach me Lord, teach me Lord how to wait.  This passage reminded me that things would not always be this way and that I need to hold on joyfully.  Soon, I would be soaring as an eagle. That got me excited!

“Five Years from today” is a motto that I live my life by and, it is how I make MAJOR decisions.  In my darkest hour, I asked myself, “Will I regret this decision that I’m about to make five years from today?”  Asking myself this question allowed me to make the decision that I had to make confidently.

I told myself, “Sometimes you just gotta go all out and put two sugars in your coffee.”  Corny I know, but I internally embraced this motto when I wasn’t sure about something, started to let fear get in the way or started to overthink an idea, or a product.  If there were no blaring “don’t do it” signals, I put aside fear and went with it. I believe that if more of us start to live like we only have one life to live, we’d be more fulfilled.

What are three life memories you recall most frequently and why?
Recently, I started consulting at a company at the same time as a new hire.  We worked together for two months and a few days before Christmas, he became sick and died.  He was fairly young.  Shocked was an understatement, especially during the holidays.  His untimely death is a reminder to me that EVERYDAY, I must live the life that I was created to live and not sit idly.

Deciding to move to DC after a two day visit.  I had never been to DC before, but I knew (with every fiber of my being ) as I sat at Howard University’s Homecoming football game, that making the decision to go home to LA, pack my bags and return to DC to become a student at Howard University was exactly what I was supposed to do.  It was one of the most freeing, yet terrifying decisions that I have ever made.

After interviewing with six different companies while unemployed once, I was offered jobs by all six employers.  I had to know why they decided to hire me. They all said that I had exceptional interviewing skills and that I sold the value that I would bring effortlessly.  It was at that point, the light bulb came on and I begin to teach others how to interview to get the job and navigate the world of world successfully.

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WYP2015 Speaker Spotlight Series – Tamara Stallings (Part 1)

Tamara Stallings
Tamara Stallings, Leadership Coach for Gen X’ers and Millennial’s – aka The Young & Fabulous. Tamara Stallings is a Leadership Coach, Millennial Expert, Career Strategist and the brains behind go B Great. A highly successful career strategist who has dedicated twenty years of strategizing, creating best in class leadership initiatives and serving as a Senior Human Resources practitioner with some of the best and brightest leaders, global organizations and individuals around the world.
What are the three biggest benefits you offer to your target audience and why?

Solid career planning– Career planning can get complicated for many reasons.  My role as a coach is to simplify things and partner with you to get clear on your life’s calling and focus on forward momentum.  I create a comfortable space for exploration, help unblock what’s holding you back from making progress, offer suggestions of adjustments, and support you in your growth.  Our sessions are designed to lead with your agenda and help you stay accountable to your goals.  When we both show up to focus on your career advancement, it turns into some pretty powerful stuff.

1:1, Group Coaching and Mentorship Mastermind Seminars -Designed to package the professional for the future—There is an art and science to REAL career happiness.  Planning for a six figure salary, fulfillment beyond money and working in such a way that is far beyond a nine to five is what we all should be striving for.  Monthly I host small group conversations with industry professionals, who are eager to connect with the B Greater community.

Personal Brand Development– Branding is what people say about when you’re not in the room.  If you’re not sure what people are saying about you, I can assure you, they are not saying nice things.  A strong personal brand is a powerful strategy that can do wonders for your career.  I was offered a job after interviewing with the recruiter over the phone.  This was a global government contracting organization.  An employee submitted my resume to the company using the “internal” job posting process.  This particular company’s philosophy was, if an internal employee vouched for the candidate by submitting their resume, then they must be great.  Resumes submitted through an employee automatically was granted an interview.  I literally had a phone interview on Friday night at 7pm and by Monday morning I had a job offer letter in my inbox.

What are the top 3 questions asked by your [customers, readers, followers]?

  1. Why/How do I use a career expert? I tell job seekers and clients who desire to change their career, there is only so much knowledge of how to polish your resume, cover letters that get the attention of a hiring manager and savvy networking at your disposal.  Having an experienced career coach who focuses on your true desires will ensure that you land in the best matched job that you will enjoy and thrive in.
  2. I am unhappy and unfulfilled in my current career, how do I get out? The first step to getting anywhere is deciding you’re not willing to stay where you are. The rest is about strategy, timing and a well-designed plan.
  3. Are you affordable? Why yes, I am. What I know for sure is that if you want to be successful in your career, you can’t afford not to hire a trained and experienced career expert. The return on investment that you get from working with me results my clients in job promotions, salary increases, networking opportunities and career fulfillment.

If you had a list of ‘best-kept secrets’ [websites, books, coaches] you’d recommend, which would you include and why?

Wow, they’re so many out there. A few of my favorite books are:

Knowing Your Value:  Women, Money and Getting What Your Worth by Mika Brzezinski. I love this book for its truth and lessons that we all can learn about how women can achieve their desired recognition and financial worth.

The Dip by Seth Godin—it’s a little book that teaches you when to quit and when to stick with it. I learned so much from reading this book and I learned how to happily quit the things that I needed to quit. Life changing I tell ya!

And, my forth coming book titled, They Had the Nerve to Lay You Off: Lessons I learned from Getting Laid Off.  My book offers tips, inspiration and survival techniques for the unemployed, underemployed or soon to be downsized.

I also love Inc Magazine and Fast Company. You can learn so much about global business issues, technology, creativity and leadership principles. You can’t help but to be successful staying in the know.  These magazines will help you to do so.

What tips can you recommend that you’d only share with a close friend (and everyone reading this blog)?

I believe that you can be whatever you want to be if you’re driven and hungry enough to go after it, have the right mentors, motivators and work hard. I attended Howard University at the age of 30, after spending time in the military. I knew that higher education would change the trajectory of my career and it did.  I went from making $27,000 to six figures in 6 years.  No it was not easy but it was worth every tear that I shed and every late night spent at the library.

Life and work has a way of getting your attention. You had better pay attention because that thing will keep knocking and knocking and knocking until you have no choice but to pay attention. Your intuition is the best thing that you have going for you. Trust it.

To be continued next week….
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Post-Event Withdrawal

I spent the last couple of months planning a division annual meeting for IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals). As one of the co-chairs for the annual meeting, it was my responsibility to attend meetings to coordinate the activities and tasks for thirteen different committee chairs and representatives. The meetings started with a frequency of once a month. Those meetings were relatively easy to deal with. An update here, a question there. No big deal. But then the meetings switched to every two weeks and the information that my co-chair and I should have received wasn’t forthcoming from the appropriate parties (How’s that for a politically correct statement?). When we started meeting every week, I became a very cranky version of myself. I questioned my sanity and intelligence for taking on the responsibility in the first place. I mean really, who was I trying to impress? I’ll tell you who. Myself. But was it nice to hear from the attendees that we did a great job? Absolutely. When a room full of seasoned, experienced, Alpha female administrative professionals give you a compliment, it is nothing to sneeze at. Administrative professionals are some of the hardest people to please. I love them dearly, but if there is something wrong, if there’s a typo, if a waiter took too long to bring the soup they will let you know about it…immediately. It’s not that we look for mistakes, we are just quick to find them and 99.9% of the time we can offer a solution to fix it.

Planning a meeting of this size for an elite group of 120 women was a challenge and an honor. Having such a huge responsibility tested me in ways I thought only my husband and children could. I had to use technical as well as soft skills to be the best co-chair possible. Even though the planning got rough at some points and feathers of pride got ruffled, I would do it all over again. When I went back to work today, I could not believe that all the planning was over. I missed my cue sheets and conference timelines. I missed the banquet event orders and the room layouts. I missed providing solutions to problems. I didn’t look at any of the meeting materials today instead I stacked them in a corner on my desk.  I tried to think about the many tasks to be completed at work. And then I received an email from the Registration Committee Chair….a list of all the attendees. I fought the urge to send out the survey right then and there. But I’ll give you two guesses what I’ll be doing first thing in the morning and the first guess doesn’t count…