Agenda item for 8/30/2013

Connection, Collaboration, Co-creation.

Success is a community effort. No one achieves it by themselves. Your family, teachers, bosses, friends, and hundreds of others - both deliberately and unintentionally - helped get you where you are today. It's going to require just as much a team to get you to where you want to go next.

And YOU are that team's leader.

This week we're going to talk about nurturing more productive relationships; acquiring mentors, coaches, collaborators, and co-conspirators; and all that goes into that. Notice I didn't mention the role of slave or servant. People don't help those that don't respect them. Our goal is to create relationships that work for others just as much as they work for us. (If not more so.)


After our brief check-in we'll move on to make the most of the meeting -
To organize your check-in please use this form: (link here)


This week's topic question: What career change relationships do I need and how do I create them?

Something interesting: "It's not easy being mean"

 
An interesting editorial from Design Observer about Steve Jobs. Steve demanded excellence in himself and in the people who worked for him. He believed that everything matters. My belief is the same. You are the sum of everything you do and how you do it as well as everything you say and how you say it. I believe that sometimes you have to challenge people when they are selling themselves short. Ironically respecting people more than they respect themselves doesn't always earn you much respect in return. DF

Link: Steve Jobs: A demanding man (Brief Article)

Something interesting: Some light reading

For those of you taking the summer off I thought I'd offer a little light entertainment that will also encourage you to think a little differently.


Your talent will only get you so far, you still have to do the work. Charm and a great resume will most assuredly open doors for those that possess them. But those doors won't open if you don't know how or aren't willing to knock on them.

The ten thousand hour rule complexity (new yorker article)


While directed towards entrepreneurs I think everyone can learn something from this article. Taking risks in your career is inevitable. As we've discussed in the group even NOT taking risks is risky. (The environment you're in is constantly changing so your choices are adapt, move, or die.) Learn the value of an identity separate from work and learning to accept your own vulnerability.

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship (inc magazine article)


And speaking of vulnerability. This is the video that sparked my creation of the Pride, Shame, Hope, Fear human analog to the well known SWOT analysis. Check it out and expand your ability to see yourself as you really are. Understand your shame. That is what makes you uncomfortable, what puts you on the defensive. And through understanding your humanity you'll understand your worthiness.

Brené Brown on Vulnerability (TED Talk)

Agenda Item for 7/12/2013

Topic: It's your life what are you gonna do with it

"What Color Is Your Parachute" by Richard Bolles. (amazon link) is the most widely cited job search book you're probably ever going to read. If you've read it you understand that if you're working today luck played a very important and unappreciated role in you finding your position.

But what is is luck? And how do you get yourself some?

Luck is that happy spot where preparation meets opportunity. Everyone's current state of luck is different. So our first step is to map out what you have and where it's located. You may be very good at some elements of preparation and not so good at creating opportunity. Or visa versa.

This week's topic: From potential to purpose a model for becoming you. (Handouts only available to those that come to the meeting)

NEW: Refer to "DF Form 1" (link here) to help you organize your thoughts for checkin. (I use this form for one-on-one coaching)

PLEASE READ: On the 12th we DON'T have the meeting room reserved so if we can't find a table big enough to meet at we may end up heading up the street to Kakao (http://www.kakaoseattle.com/) or if the group prefers, go next door to "the Wurst Place" or "Blue Moon Burger" and gathering over a beer. (Text Duane if you get there and don't see us)

Something Interesting: Time to change the road you're on

Post meeting insights: How to approach interviews

Four ideas to help you have better interviews.

1. Come prepared.
Before any meeting do the advance work of understanding yourself and what you offer this particular opportunity. This is of course in addition to understanding everything you can about them and their wants and needs. If luck is where preparation meets opportunity, the better you prepare the better your odds of getting lucky.

2. Be Present.
The past and the future only matter as they relate to the present. The opportunity at hand, the problems at hand, the people in front of you (and their wants and needs) are the only things that matter. Listen and be.

3. Accept self.
Your Mom probably told you this: It's better to be rejected as who you are then be accepted as who you aren't.  The "perfect" candidate/job match doesn't exist. Each of us offers tradeoffs to an employer. (Every value proposition is a mix of what you will and won't do and how it compares to the next best alternative.) Those that reject you are just helping you understand your offer or evidence better. Learn from it, thank them, and move on.

4. Detach from outcome.
Finding the right alignment between your personality, skills, and experience and a particular organizations culture, position, and problems takes more than a massive about of effort. It takes time. Let go of any particular interview outcome and keep your attention focused on improving your process or your offer.

Something Interesting: 21 Suggestions for Success