People Evolutions

I'm Lesha Reese. I help people see their full potential in their current jobs and beyond. Your ally @ work!

[peopleevolutions]

Do You Invest in Yourself Professionally?

When was the last time you invested in yourself professionally? This is one of my favorite topics of conversation with people because I find the answers fascinating. I have asked this question of friends and colleagues over the years, mainly during times of complaint around lack of growth and limited opportunities. It’s one of those questions that stops people in their tracks and gives them pause.

Let me be clear on the question. I am asking, when was the last time you took your own money, your own time (not during work hours) and did something or worked with someone to enhance who you are professionally?

It is common sense amongst all of us to know people are being intentional about the goal or outcome and are willing to do more when they have skin in the game. Investing our own personal time and personal finances is having skin in the game.

We all know that corporations tend to have programs and concepts around development and some people get to participate in them. From time to time those programs are even good! While the program may be good, it’s still not your personal investment. You likely participate during work hours and you definitely aren’t cutting a check for the process. So, technically you have no skin in the game and it can become a check the box activity.

Unfortunately, more often than not, people cannot think of the last time they invested in themselves professionally. There are experienced professionals and leaders who share with me they haven’t invested in themselves professionally since college.

Why is it that your personal investment in your profession and careers tends to stop after college? Does the responsibility of your development and growth shift to the company you work for? I think not. Sure they can add to it, but it isn’t their responsibility. It is yours.

I think about professional athletes. Let’s make this an apples to apples comparison. If we are saying the last time we invested in ourselves professionally was in college, then professional athletes shouldn’t engage their own personal coaches and experts away from the professional field because the last investment they needed to make was through their college athletic career.

This is laughable!

We can go down the list of the truly exceptional professional athletes and it is guaranteed they have engaged people outside of the organization they work for to assist them in staying at the top of their game.

Throughout my career, I have always taken my development into my own hands. Along the way I also got to participate in some company sponsored development activities, but I always considered those nice-to-have. To be completely candid, I rarely spoke of what I was doing on my own development, even to my manager or colleagues because my growth and development was so important and personal to me.

I recommend making your professional growth and development important and personal to you.

Now that you’re thinking about taking control of your own development, here are some ideas from my own experience and the experiences of others.

Seek out mentors. Yes, that is plural. Find people you respect and believe in to spend time with. Learn from their experiences. I love being mentored by people who think very differently from me because I love having my thought process challenged. I also fully believe in seeking a mentor outside of your company. Let’s face it, every single organization has their way of thinking and doing things and after a while the fact there is a real world out there fades away. Rather than regurgitate the same ideas and thought processes, seek insight and understanding from someone outside your immediate world. Believe me, it is a breath of fresh air!

Get a coach. We’ve already addressed that the most exceptional athletes have many coaches and invest in them outside of the organization they play for. We should be doing the same. I have. Having accountability and direct feedback from someone outside your chain of command or company is priceless. Because it is an environment of trust, you are able to let your walls down a little bit more, so the perspective they offer and advice they give is more tangible and actionable. Coaching is different than mentoring. People believe they need to be an executive to hire a coach, this isn’t true. Starting early in your career with outside advice and perspective can help you accelerate your growth and advance your career.

Involve yourself in development activities that are preparing you for a job down the line. People often spend time on activities that will help them now, but why not spend time on activities that will be more relevant for your future? For example, in my last job, I was taking courses and getting certified in things that was in preparation for my own coaching business. My manager and colleagues didn’t know I was doing it because there wasn’t a need for them to know. My development is for my own happiness and I was building the foundation for my next few steps in my career. Do this for yourself.

Look at the people you surround yourself with. There’s that saying that we are the five people we are surrounded by. I believe this. Find a way to authentically connect and surround yourself with people who are where you want to go. If you’re surrounded by miserable people, you’re never going to be able to focus on the positive. If you’re surrounding yourself with people in positions nowhere near where you want to go, then how will their perspective help propel you forward. Also, this doesn’t have to be about someone’s position or title, it can be about way of thinking. Surround yourself with people who are big thinkers and think about things differently because it will rub off and help you think about things differently, too. 

Investing in your professional development is easily a place where you can choose to invest now. In the past, when I was thinking about the significant investment in a coach, one of my mentors said something great to me: “You’re hesitating about this significant investment in yourself and your future, yet you don’t think twice about upgrading your TV, your car, your furniture, any other material item you own or spending money freely on your life? How does that make sense?” It didn’t make sense and it was at that moment I knew investing in myself would do more good in the long run and force me to have skin in my own game.

[peopleevolutions]

Compromising Who You Really Are at Work

I see you. I know the secret you’re keeping, possibly from your coworkers, boss, maybe even your family. The truth is every single day you go to work you are compromising yourself because you are going to a job that is truly just that – a job. Instead of going to a place and a career that gives you joy, fulfillment, and allows you to be who you really are.

There are many circumstances putting people into situations where they make the decision to compromise who they really are at work.

I am intentionally using a sort of provocative statement of “compromising who you really are” because that’s how powerful the decision is we have made. But the truth is, I get it. I know why you did it and I know how much the reality of the decision may hurt every day.

We’ve all heard the ultimate dream is to be able to make a living doing what you love or what you’re passionate about. While that is a tremendous goal, it isn’t possible for everyone. There are times in careers where we choose to compromise our own happiness in doing a job that we may not love, but we’re good or even great at.

Making that compromise with ourselves can be a very lonely experience. There are days where it is easy to focus on the positive reasons you choose not to make a change in your career. There are other days when the weight of your true unhappiness is difficult to ignore.

I am guilty of doing this. I knew the moment I started with a company it wasn’t a good match for me. I never felt at home there and wasn’t in a role or on a team where I could take advantage of my natural strengths. Eventually I got to a place where I loved where I was living and there were so many wonderful things happening outside of work that I woke up every morning making the conscious decision to continue to compromise who I really was by staying in that job, within that team, and for that company.

I was completely engaged in my work, I enjoyed the leader I was working with and had influence in his organization. However, there was a lot of dysfunction and frustration within the group I was in. Occasionally I would get frustrated, too, but more often than not, I made the conscious decision to not get emotionally involved. I was intentional about where I spend my emotional capital and it sure wasn’t going to be spent on dysfunction that likely could never change.

Always emotionally disconnecting from your job takes a toll. That’s where the impact of compromising who we really are comes in. Acting every single day in conflict of our natural strengths and gifts wears a person down.

When we’re in a situation where we have made a decision to compromise who we really are at work and there isn’t a way to make a change, here are some ideas that may help.

Pick a strength and do it on the side. I realize time is a limited resource, but when you’re doing something that gives you joy, time seems like it becomes unlimited!

Remind yourself this is a choice. There are so many times we complain about the content of our job, our boss, our coworkers, where we live and the bad things this company or leadership has “done to you,” when in actuality, everything has been a choice. Venting from time to time is completely normal, just don’t get sucked into being that constant negative person when the chain of events getting you where you are today is a result of the choices you have made.

Enjoy the positives while you can. Maybe you’ve made a choice that has resulted in great financial success even though you are emotionally unfulfilled. Enjoy that financial success. Do things you otherwise wouldn’t be able to do to recognize your own hard work.

Make a plan. No matter how old we are, there is always the opportunity to take a risk and make a complete change for our own happiness. If you can’t figure out what a good plan is, get help.

Some of you may be thinking it is easier said than done and I agree! Sometimes things happen providing the opportunity to jump and take that risk and while it may not be on your timetable or exactly how you saw it coming, take the opportunity to jump. Your true happiness is on the line!

[peopleevolutions]

The Investment Every College Graduate Should Make

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but all that money you or your parents just spent or are now in debt for in order for you to graduate college does not automatically secure your dream job, or heck, any job for that matter. It also doesn’t secure your success inside your dream company once you land that dream job.

What hasn’t changed this year and is possibly getting worse is even more disheartening. In the same search, you learn some companies are shying away from hiring college graduates because they are finding graduates are struggling with basic skills like problem solving, decision making, prioritizing, professional writing, ability to think on their feet, interpersonal skills, and the list, literally, goes on. It gets worse when they continue to share recent college graduates in a new work environment lack motivation, flexibility, punctuality, and struggle with appropriate appearance. Things are not looking good.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a college course on the real world experiences around how to successfully look for a job, how to appropriately network, what professional branding should and should not be, or how to interview when you don’t have actual work experience. There also isn’t a college course on the highly desirable soft skills the companies are reporting college graduates are lacking or information on how to be successful and accelerate your career success in a new company.

In thinking about resources to help college graduates, universities offer career services, but in research and graduates sharing real experiences, it was disappointing to hear these centers are usually staffed with people who haven’t spent time in Corporate America and give out tips, but it’s rarely real world experience to actually help college graduates get ahead.

Some reading this are thinking, “yep, all of this is true and when I graduated college, I had to figure all of this out on my own, so these graduates can, too.” There is no doubt we all learn by trial and error, but I think we all agree it never hurts to accelerate the learning curve by partnering with those with years of experience working and leading in Corporate America.

Accelerate the learning, application, and success of recent or soon-to-be college graduates is exactly what we are doing at People Evolutions through our College to Career Coaching Series. We have taken our successful Career Coaching Series that has helped professionals through transitions in their career and have tailored it for recent or soon-to-be college graduates.

For college graduates and their unique needs, we are applying our cumulative years of experience working in many Fortune 100 organizations and in Human Resources roles where we were constantly coaching and influencing individuals and leaders with their own professional development and growth. Coupling that with years and years of experience as leaders, hiring managers, people managers, and successful individual contributors to provide college graduates real life experience and coaching to help them accelerate their job search and get more immediate success in their dream job at their dream company.

In the College to Career Coaching Series, we’ll walk through the following steps together:

Align your strengths, competencies, and preferences. Most people skip this step and just start applying. When they land in the wrong job, they wonder why. By knowing what you bring to the table, you can find a job that provides financial and personal fulfillment. 

Identify ideal organizations and work environments.  Spending time thinking about the organizations or industries you want to work in helps eliminate stress and narrow your focus to be more efficient.

Determine what you do and what makes you different. Don’t mess around with this. People think they are prepared to answer, but they end up rambling or not giving enough information and miss a great opportunity.

Publish your professional brand. Don’t underestimate first impressions. You will learn what to include in a professional resume, LinkedIn profile, and cover letter. You’ll understand the type of branding that will set you apart and get you the attention you want when seeking a job.

Network to your benefit. People find jobs through other people. Networking is critical, but it can be intimidating. You’ll learn how to approach it effectively and minimize your discomfort.

Interview without experience. Interviewing can be intimidating at any time, but it is even more intimidating when you aren’t bringing much (if any) on-the-job experience to the table. And, it’s your one shot for people to know who you really are and what you can do for them. There is a way to be adequately prepared for an interview regardless of experience level.

Job offer and negotiation. When you get to this point, you may believe it is all about just saying yes and preparing for your first day. You are your best advocate and being prepared for this step in your transition process is critical.

Accelerate your success at work. Companies hiring recent college graduates are reporting a lack of ability to succeed in a professional work environment, which is impacting their willingness to hire college graduates. We will help you understand most office settings, what companies are seeking in new employees, and the areas companies feel college graduates are lacking as new employees.

How to climb the ladder. You’ve landed the job, but now, how do you succeed? The College to Career Coaching Series will help you do just that.

All steps of the College to Career Coaching Series is recommended for graduates who have not yet secured their dream job. There may be graduates who already have the job secured and just need to invest in their knowledge of how to be successful and climb the ladder in their new company.

As a college graduate (or the parent of a college graduate), you have just made a significant financial investment for the future. Through understanding the job search process for recent graduates and what it takes to be successful in your career, we know this significant financial investment doesn’t get you the entire way.

We work with college graduates all over the US, so we are not limited to in-person meetings as our coaching sessions take place over the phone or video conference calls.

Receiving coaching to help close the gap of time it takes between graduation and being successful in your dream job—is something you’ll see is worth the investment.

Lastly, we have the perfect graduation gift opportunity!  In recognition of the highly anticipated college graduation season, we are offering College to Career Coaching packages at 20% off our regular rates! Email [email protected] for details.

[peopleevolutions]

Do You Need Career Coaching?

When people ask what I am doing now and I get to the part about career coaching, it is not uncommon for them to immediately say, “What is career coaching and do I need a career coach?” 

What is Career Coaching?

People need help navigating their career and they want help from someone who has real life experience in corporations. Making a job or career transition is more than just updating your resume, sitting down and applying for any and every job you can find online.  All career transitions are different, but in general career coaching helps individuals:

Align your strengths, competencies, and preferences. By knowing what you bring to the table, you can find a job that provides financial and personal fulfillment. 

Identify ideal organizations and work environments.

Determine what you do and what about your experience makes you different.

Publish your professional brand.

Network to your benefit. People find jobs through other people. Learn how to approach networking effectively while minimizing discomfort.

Interview to showcase your talents. Interviewing doesn’t have to be stressful and can be an opportunity to highlight your greatest accomplishments.

Negotiate your offer. You are your best advocate and being prepared for this step in your transition process is critical.

Accelerate your success on the new job.

Looking for a new job isn’t part of your everyday repertoire and rather than wasting time with outdated tactics you used in a job search many years ago, many have found it worthwhile to engage a career coach for knowledge, focus, and accountability.

Who needs a career coach?

"Everybody needs a coach... every famous athlete, every famous performer, has somebody who's a coach... someone who can help them see themselves as others see them." - Eric Schmidt, former CEO, Google

People working with career coaches are people who take their career seriously and are intentional about the type of work they do and the company they work for.  While ultimate goals may be similar, the place where people are at in their career and the reason they have decided to look for a change vary.  Here are examples of some of my most frequent coaching clients:

They are stuck.  Maybe being passed over for promotions.  Or they were on the fast track, but their career has stalled and they can’t figure out why. 

They understand why they are stuck and they want to get out.  They have no idea how to go about expanding their network or how to use their experience in a different industry or job function.

They are on a great trajectory and they want to make sure they stay on track and the momentum continues.

They are bored with their current job responsibilities, industry, or company.  They can do their current job in their sleep, but wonder if there is another opportunity to excite them. 

The work environment is negative which has made them lose confidence in their abilities.  They know they were once talented and on a positive trajectory, but all of this negativity has made them believe they can’t get a better job. 

They are flat out scared of change.  It’s easier to stay in a job where they may not be challenged or growing than dealing with the thought of interviewing and starting over at a new job. 

They are a recent or soon-to-be college graduate and have no idea how to secure that dream job.   

Some of our country’s bravest return from serving in the military only to find getting a job challenging, so we work together on steps to help make finding a job a bit easier.

Regardless of the reason, changing jobs and companies is common and doing so as efficiently and quickly as possible by working with a career coach is an investment many feel is worth making.  Taking all my years of Human Resources and business experience and being able to help people grow, develop, and get to a happier place is exactly what I love doing!

I have come to understand many people need this kind of help and don’t know it exists.  There are probably people in your own network dying to make a change, but have no idea this type of coaching is out there.  Feel free to share this post to help those in your network know they aren’t alone and there is a place for help.  It’s not even about working with me, it’s about highlighting that this type of service exists to help them get to that next level in their career. 

[peopleevolutions]

Using Transferrable Skills to Make a Career Change

One of the most common concerns or issues I hear fromclients is they are unhappy in their current job and desire to do something completely different, but they don’t have experience in the new area. 

They believe because they don’t have experience, making a transition into the new area is impossible.  Believing a transition is impossible is depressing.  Then they begin feeling trapped.  What a miserable reality.

When my clients have this type of desire to change, the first topic of conversation is transferrable skills.  Every time I say this phrase, I can hear them rolling their eyes over the phone or actually see it happening in person!  Transferrable skills is a concept we would all like to believe in, but the majority of people rarely see this type of transition in action, so they are understandably skeptical. 

The truth is, we have all seen it in action and the majority respond negatively.  Let me give you an example.  An organizational announcement highlights someone moving from let’s say, finance, and moving into let’s say, marketing.  In my years of being in Human Resources, I couldn’t count the times people would voice their disgust in this kind of transition.  They believed this person had to have a personal relationship with the hiring manager because it’s just impossible that this makes sense! 

Now, I’m a realist and are there times someone is placed in a role simply because they know someone?  Sure.  Hopefully that is more of an exception than the rule. 

However, a move like that is highlighting the recognition of transferrable skills and rather than spend time appreciating transferrable skills are recognized in this organization, people instead get caught up in the politics they believe exists. 

Using transferrable skills to move into a role or position you have limited or no experience is possible.  The reality, however, is that you are likely going to run into people who haven’t seen or experienced this type of movement in action, so it will require more work and thought on your part. 

If you have been thinking about a move into a completely different role or function, here are a few easy steps to help:

Get familiar with the new role.  Do research.  Search for job postings for the job you want to move into.  Familiarize yourself with the requirements of the role.  Don’t just search one place, search many places.  Change up the job title and search for a higher level job and a lower level job.  The point is to educate yourself on what is needed in this role or function. 

Inventory your own skills.  Take a critical look at your own capabilities and experiences.  Identify the overlap.  Are there things you have done previously, but haven’t done recently?  If so, great, keep track of that, too.  This is your opportunity to get really clear on what skillset you already have that will be of value in your next role.

Sometimes during this phase of the process it is helpful to take a professional assessment helping confirm your natural strengths.  There are many assessments out there, but my favorite is Emergenetics.  It has by far been the most accurate for me.  Regardless of the assessment you choose, use it as a tool to highlight natural strengths and capabilities which may be of use in the new role. 

Identify a knowledge gap.  It is possible the new role or function requires specific knowledge and a demonstration you have this knowledge.  Once you understand the knowledge gap, what can you do to fill it?  Closing the knowledge gap is a demonstration that you are taking this serious and are willing to do whatever it takes to move into a role that is a better fit for your strengths.  As an example, if you love project management type work and haven’t had a lot of it, it may make sense to get your project management certification.  That is closing the knowledge gap. 

Connecting the dots.  When you are ready to start interviewing for roles in your desired function, you need to be prepared to run into people who are skeptical of transferrable skills.  As highlighted in my earlier example, you are more likely to run into people who are disgusted by a finance to marketing move than people who truly get that it’s possible.  Because of this, you need to paint the picture of understanding what their job requires and what specific skills you have to fill those requirements.  You cannot expect the hiring manager will automatically know what you’re trying to do.  You need to connect the dots for them and help them understand why this transition makes sense. 

I recognize that thinking about job transitions this way doesn’t come naturally for everyone, so get help.  Talk through what you want to do with your mentor, people familiar with your experience, or seek the help of a career coach.

Making a shift in your career that requires this work around transferrable skills is completely doable.  It is going to require work and effort on your part, but it is possible.  If you’re contemplating a move like this and every morning you wake up feeling trapped in your current role, know feeling trapped is your choice.  You could do the work to make a significant change, resulting in being more content and happy. 

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When One Doesn't Believe in Their Own Capabilities

Confidence isn’t always a given.  Even when the facts of someone’s work orpersonal success proves otherwise, it doesn’t mean they are confident or believe in what they do or who they are. Sometimes there are stories or talk tracks on repeat in our heads thatreinforce negative perceptions or flat out lies, but because they are on repeatin our heads, we believe the lies more than we believe the facts. 

There have been times in my life I have struggled with confidence, so I get it.  Early in my career I made a pretty big mistake and suffered the consequences.  Even though it was my own doing, the experience shattered my confidence. 

It took some solid work and success to override that huge mistake in my mind.  I felt like I deserved every moment, and then some, of beating myself up.  Interestingly, however, other people were much quicker to move beyond my mistake and realize good people can make a bad decision. 

I share my personal experience because I now know that during that period of “recovery,” I recognize I was surrounded by people who believed in me, but I refused to believe them or feel about my experience the way they did. 

Over the last year of Career Coaching and in the years I was in Human Resources roles, I have encountered people so deep in their own pit of hell consisting of no confidence, negative stories and talk tracks on repeat in their heads without the ability to see through their own fog to the truth.  At one point in my career, I was hell bent on changing the negative way one person felt about himself.  It. Was. Exhausting.

There are a variety of reasons people end up in this pit of hell about their capabilities.  There are definitely times when it is just part of someone’s makeup to constantly focus on the negative, be the victim in every situation, and refuse to look for anything positive.  Those people are sometimes impossible to help. 

There are other people part of a negative work environment that has impacted their confidence, one may report to a manager who isn’t able to acknowledge goodness in their work and instead focuses on the negative, or there may be someone, like I was, who made a mistake and feel like they will forever have to pay for that mistake.  These scenarios can beat anyone down.

We all likely know someone, or maybe it’s you, that is in a place of lacking belief in one’s capabilities. To be clear, I am not a Licensed Therapist, although I do play one on TV (just kidding!).  I do not pretend to know how to scientifically work through lacking confidence in the truth of your capabilities.  What I would like to offer is some easy to execute tips that helped me and have helped my mentees and clients over the year. 

Is it true?  When you are in a cycle of negative thoughts or beliefs, stop and pressure test them.  Ask yourself if what you’re saying is really true.  Then, pressure test that next thought with the same thing, is it true?  When we’re in the midst of negative thoughts, we likely believe them to be true, but over time we begin to see that the things we tell ourselves aren’t true and we can begin to shift the stories and talk tracks on repeat.

Believe someone else.  Even in our darkest days, there is someone in our life believing in us.  That person is likely someone you respect and value their opinion.  If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in the judgment of that person.  Clearly they see something in you and believe in you and you don’t think they are stupid, so there must be something to it.  The truth is that there are likely many people who believe in us and it is impossible for all of those people to be crazy or stupid, so take comfort in trusting their judgment in what they see in you.

List the positive.  When you’re in those quiet moments with yourself, maybe on the drive home from work, and you’re listing all of the crappy things about that day or how you feel about your capabilities, list two positive things for every one negative thing.  Yep, we’re going cheesy with this one.  When we are in a negative space, the reality is, we rarely focus on the positive.  Force yourself to do this.  Even if it helps temporarily remove the gray cloud of darkness from your day, it’s worth it! 

The bottom line through all of this is that at some point in life, we all experience a crack in our confidence.  No matter how deep the crack or how long you’ve spent in your own pit of hell, we all understand the reality that it happens.  When it happens though, it’s about clawing your way out of it and getting back to the reality of acknowledging the goodness of what you bring to the table every day. 

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Do Leaders Really Help with Career Planning?

I am so disappointed.  The disappointment?  The fact many leaders do not really engage with or help employees with career planning.

That may be a bold statement and I do know some leaders do this well, but in the almost year since I started my business involving Executive Coaching and Career Coaching, I hear more stories of poor experiences than great experiences.  When you add in the sixteen years in Human Resources, stories of friends and acquaintances, the sentiment is consistent. 

At some point in every career, an individual will want to talk about their individual path and with the way these conversations are being handled, leaders have a problem on their hands.  It is impacting employee engagement and trust.  I do not expect an individual’s development or career plan to be owned by the leader, that is the responsibility of the individual, but expecting a leader to help or participate in a conversation is completely reasonable.

For purposes of clarity, I use the term leader as defined by a person with people directly or indirectly reporting to them and situational leaders who are in a position of authority or influence.  

Let me give a few examples when competent, higher performing employees approach their leaders about pursuing another opportunity:

Leader is annoyed and feels betrayed the employee wants to leave the team and instead of helping with career planning, talks them into staying in their current position.

Leader recommends the employee takes a step down within the same team after employee told her they wanted to move into another function.

Leader suggests a potential mentor to get real information from the group the employee is pursuing and tells the employee she will reach out to make the connection.  Never did. 

Leader expresses support and offered to write an email of recommendation if they need the help.

Situational leader immediately warned relocation is likely going to be required and then sent the individual off to talk to someone who wasn’t in a position of authority to know how to get into a team within this function.

I’ve had an experience where I wanted to learn about an internal opportunity and I shared with my direct leader I was hesitant about my skip level leader knowing and holding it against me.  Why was I hesitant?  No matter what her words said, she was snarky and passive aggressive when someone wanted to move into a new role.  My direct leader agreed and we never told the skip level leader.

These things happen more often than we think and there are experiences that are worse!

I am a simple person, so here are simple suggestions for leaders to facilitate career planning discussions with their employees. 

Listen.  I know what you’re thinking, this goes without saying.  Well, clearly it doesn’t because leaders propose suggestions opposite of what an individual wants all the time!  Practice active listening where you repeat back to the person what you heard them say.  Talking about a career plan is intensely personal, so if you don’t listen well, you are sending a message through actions you don’t care. 

Recognize transferrable skills.  The foundational skills most professionals have can be utilized in another role.  We have all seen it, but I think we forget about it and get so focused on the common career paths within a certain organization.  Here is a common reaction:  the organizational announcement comes out and a leader is moving from, let’s say finance, to let’s say marketing and you have a heart attack because it doesn’t make sense how this can be possible!  Transferrable skills, baby!  Doesn’t mean there won’t be a learning curve, but it is possible.  Recognize transferrable skills with your employees, too! 

Identify skill or knowledge gaps.  Think about the skills that will be necessary in the new role and compare against their capabilities.  There may be a skill or knowledge gap, but can that gap be closed by taking some classes, doing an acting assignment in that new group, etc?  Having a leader sit down with you, think about potentially required skills and helping identify the gap, regardless of the outcome, makes one feel heard and valued. 

Get help.  If you have no idea how to go about helping them, tell them you want to think about it for a bit.  Then, get help.  From your leader, from HR, from your mentor, etc.  Most importantly, however, circle back with the employee.  Employees don’t expect you to know everything (I know, shocking) and they will respect you for taking time to think about it and then come back to them. 

Don’t be a jerk.  Your mind may immediately go to the gap this will leave on your team or in your organization and you don’t want the person to leave!  It’s true that there are times when the timing couldn’t be worse, but don’t shut the conversation down by being self-serving and focusing on only your needs as a leader.  There is a way to engage in the conversation and be honest about timing if an opportunity were to come along.

There is no doubt the time of any leader is valuable, but having meaningful career discussions with people in your organization is always time well spent.  It helps build trust, engagement, and can improve your capability as a leader.  An employee will never forget a positive experience when discussing their career with an engaged leader.

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The False NarrativeYou’re Telling Yourself

“The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves.  We live in denial of what we do, even what wethink.”  Richard Bach

When it comes to negative things most people say to themselves, Itell people two things, first, we would never allow another person to say those things to someone else, second, we would stun people if we were to say those things out loud because it is very unlikely people see us in the way we speak to ourselves, about ourselves.  Here’s the harsh reality, when these lies are on constant repeat in our head, we begin to believe them as the truth. 

This is a common belief; the brain cannot distinguish between something happening in real life or if it entered the brain as a thought.

  My Career Coaching clients are people who have decided to make a change in their career and are seeking guidance from me to help them learn how to put their professional best forward and becoming confident, prepared candidates.  These clients, just like the rest of us, have had some killer thoughts in their head which their brain has distinguished as reality.  Because that’s just what the brain does!  Here are common beliefs I hear:

With the instability in the economy, working for this large corporation is more secure than possibly taking on a more challenging, more appreciated role in a smaller company.  Even if I am miserable or not doing what I love, I have to stay.

I am loyal and while I’m not fulfilled or appreciated the way I wish, I know this company would be loyal to me after all of these years. 

At a new company, it is always – last one in, first one out if layoffs happen.  That’s too risky, no matter how unhappy I am here.

I make great money.  I work for a Fortune 100 organization.  Companies aren't hiring anyway.  I really should just be grateful for the opportunity to work for such a company.  Thinking about leaving makes me appear ungrateful.

The lack of recognition and the negativity in this company is as good as it gets, there’s nothing better out there.

My only chance to move up in a company is the place where people know me.  Once I get to XX position, I will have more flexibility to do what I want and am good at. 

Management has made it clear I am not smart or talented and would not be able to positively contribute to another organization, so there’s just no use in even trying.    

I know by the third one you were thinking “okay, enough already, I get it!”  I intentionally continued because these are real examples I hear on a daily basis.  Frankly, I could keep going with many more.

These beliefs are reality for many people.  The thoughts become truth, so they are stuck.  They do not believe they can move forward or move to another company.   

Moving forward is completely possible for anyone.  That’s why I love my job.  Taking each situation and through a step by step approach, we can rebuild confidence and guide through the process of identifying where they want to go and what they want to do and then, they go do it!  Yes, it really is that simple.

There are people not lacking confidence and while they may not have a hole to dig out of, there are still steps they need to take to put their professional best forward and become a confident, prepared candidate.    

No matter where you are starting your job search, here is a snapshot of the steps I take with my clients in our Career Transition Coaching Series helping them to put their professional best forward and becoming confident, prepared candidates.

What you bring to the table.  Identifying your strengths and passions to bring clarity around what you can offer to a new company.  This also pushes you to think about the content of your work and what brings you fulfillment professionally.

Identifying ideal organizations and work environments.  Some people just sit down and start applying for open jobs and hey, sometimes it even works!  Rather than repeating the negative environment or manager, we work through strategies to avoid a repeat.

Who are you?  Simple enough, right?  Not really.  Most people are not even able to articulate what it is they really do to friends and family!  This is the most critical step in any job search process and heck, I even recommend going through this particular process for everyone, looking for a job or not. 

Publishing your brand.  Let’s face it, you haven’t touched your resume in years, if ever.  You use LinkedIn because you heard it was important.  Being able to publish your brand professionally is important.  I provide a professionally written resume, LinkedIn profile, and cover letter.  If you’re not confident about you career or where you’re at, do you really think you should be the one putting that on paper?  Exactly, I’ll do that.

Utilize networking to your benefit.  We’ve all heard it – most jobs are found through our network, so we know the importance.  Let’s be honest though, networking can be uncomfortable.  I help you understand how to network, with whom, and how to make it stress free and maybe even fun!

Show them who you are.  Interviewing is so stressful and can sink even the most qualified candidates.  I help you minimize stress and highlight your true strengths and capabilities.

These are a few of our steps in our Career Transition Coaching Series (yes, there’s more, but gotta keep some stuff in my arsenal!) to help anyone walk through the process of making a change in their career. 

Recently I have been working with a client and she told me she can see how these concepts build upon each other and are a natural progression getting her ready to get her next opportunity.  That is exactly the intent.

The brain cannot distinguish between a thought and a real experience, so turning those false narratives into a positive, accurate narrative and move to your next opportunity is critical and not something you can do alone.  I would be happy to help! 

[1] "Real or Imagined? The Brain Doesn't Know!" New Hope Outreach. N.p., 28 June 2008. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.

[peopleevolutions]

A Frequently Failed Interview Question

Tell me about yourself.  Based on responses to this question during interviews, you would think it is some sort of trick question intended to make people stumble, mumble and fail.  Which, unfortunately, they do more often than they succeed. 

There is no question interviewing is critical to progressing a career and due to the importance, it immediately increases the desire to behave perfectly and answer questions with exactly what the interviewer wants to hear.  I saw this thousands of times over the many years I have spent as a Human Resources professional and hiring manager. 

I assumed the frequency of success in answering this question would greatly improve in my interaction coaching individuals having a desire to make a change in their job.  In professional transition coaching, I have formed a relationship with individuals who are looking for help and guidance in taking steps to change jobs and becoming the best applicant they can be.  Even in the trusting environment we create, most are still unable to answer the question, tell me about yourself. 

Some of the common mistakes I have seen over the years include: not being prepared with an answer even though it is the most commonly asked interview question, feeling the need to share their life story including where they were born and raised (I am not kidding, this has happened more frequently than one would think!), taking the overly confident route with a snarky response of “look at that resume, what more do you need to know,” and the list could go on and on. 

Even after having been on the interviewing side of the table so often, when I am being interviewed myself, I am not perfect and there are days when I am off my game and I make the same mistakes.  To help us increase our odds of successfully answering a frequently failed interview question, here are some ideas to get started:

Be prepared.  We know this question is coming in some way, shape or form, so plan ahead and think about what you want to say.  Write it down and rehearse so that it flows naturally and doesn’t sound memorized.  The more prepared you can be, the less stressed the environment will make you. 

Three things.  I am a simple person and I learned from a successful business leader many years ago, keep things simple with three things.  Think about the top three highlights of recent, relevant experience that will demonstrate the skills, ability, and accomplishments you bring to the table.

Show your personality.  Inject your personality into your answer because after all, connecting with the people interviewing you will always be a benefit.  Taking the opportunity to show some of your personality should not make the answer longer, it can be woven in naturally. 

Be confident.  Even though the environment is usually nerve-racking, using affirming statements like, “I am” or “I have” will help you believe in your own skills and abilities.

Being able to successfully answer this interview question will help you feel more comfortable about the interview process overall because for at least one moment during the conversation, you let the interviewer know exactly what it is they need to know about you that differentiates you from other candidates. 

What are some tips and tricks you have used to successfully answer this question?

[peopleevolutions]

Seriously, Another Professional Assessment?  If it’s Emergenetics, Absolutely!

If you have been part of corporate America for any length of time, it is all but guaranteed you have been asked to take many professional or personality assessments in hopes of increasing your own understanding of yourself and assist those around you to better understand how you work.  Frankly, I don’t see this changing.  However, the need or the reason for taking these assessments has been quietly shifting for some time. 

It has not been uncommon for businesses to provide professional assessments as a “check the box” activity as evidence they are investing in the professional development of their employees.  After all, who could argue that learning more about oneself in some way doesn’t help our own development?  It is also not uncommon that after initially learning the concepts and reviewing results, the information is rarely mentioned again unless it is being used to label someone.  Come on, admit it, you know it happens!

The quiet shift that has been occurring for quite some time is the way in which we understand ourselves and others may be the single most important differentiator as a leader, an employee, or heck, even as a business itself. 

Understanding others allows a company to target customers for their products and services more accurately.  Understanding others facilitates a leader recognizing that you don’t put someone in a job because they need be immersed in a particular area that’s not a natural strength, but instead recognize their natural strengths and put them in a job where they will excel and yield greater results for the business.  Understanding others helps a manager be better equipped to provide feedback and coach someone who is in almost every way different than who that manager is, which will also lead to higher productivity. 

Understanding ourselves and others is moving from a “check the box” activity to a business critical activity.  These assessments and tools can help identify or reinforce leadership capability expectations, create or build upon company culture and climate, provide a common language for communication and interaction, and the list goes on.

Throughout my sixteen years in Human Resources positions, I have taken all of the commonly used professional assessments.  While going through the results of those assessments, I recall moments of feeling parts were helpful or parts may be actionable, but I mostly felt like the assessments didn’t get the gist of who I really am.  Until I experienced Emergenetics.

A while back I was having a conversation with a person who is like a mentor to me.  I was feeling less fulfilled in my job and I couldn’t figure out why because the aspects were similar to what I had been doing for years.  She asked me if I had ever taken the Emergenetics assessment and shockingly, after being in HR for so long, I hadn’t even heard of it! 

A little about Emergenetics from Emergenetics:

Emergenetics is a multifaceted tool for understanding human behavior and the unique differences in the way people approach work and life.  Emergenetics combines sophisticated left-brain/right-brain analysis with behavioral tendencies, resulting in a clear, defined perspective on personality unlike any other.  With Emergenetics, you get a color-coded, easy-to-understand window into who a person truly is.  And, with over 500,000 people in the database and the backing of The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, you know it’s a proven, accurate system to empower people to harness their optimal methods for thinking and action.

Emergenetics can be used for individuals via coaching, teams via workshops or entire departments or organizations within full seminars or retreats.  Emergenetics impacts businesses by creating clearer, more powerful communication, a diverse perspective on work and how to approach colleagues and clients, higher percentage of business objectives and goals met due to an empowering, strengths-based system, and most importantly an approach to leadership unlike any other – Emergenetics builds the leader’s awareness and boosts interpersonal and communication skills. 

About a week after I took the Emergenetics profile we discussed my results.  I have to honestly say that going over my results was the first moment in my life where I felt like someone (or something!) really, truly understood who I am!  I am not kidding! 

Emergenetics was so simple and easy to understand.  It helped me understand I was feeling less fulfilled in my job because I was surrounded by a new group of people that think and behave very differently than I do.  I learned being surrounded by people who think differently nine hours a day, five days a week can be exhausting.  I didn’t understand them and they didn’t understand me. 

As a different example, I have somehow found myself in the situation where my direct managers would come to me and relied on me for data – either pulling it or analyzing it.  I hate data!  Okay, the truth is, I can do it – pull it and analyze it, but I hate it.  When you’re good at it, however, people don’t believe you when you say you hate it, so they keep coming back. 

Emergenetics outlines the four thinking and three behavioral attributes and that we have natural preferences, but different than my experience with other assessments, Emergenetics is also clear that just because something isn’t a preference, you can still be competent in it.  The difference is it will just require more energy.  This is exactly how I feel about data – I can do it, but it exhausts me! 

My own experience with Emergenetics facilitated exactly where we see businesses and leaders heading – the ability to enhance our understanding of ourselves and others.  Since experiencing Emergenetics and becoming an Emergenetics Associate myself, I have been able to more clearly articulate my strengths at work and identify areas within my profession that highlight these strengths, which in turn creates energy.  More importantly than that, it has helped me understand other people better than I would have ever imagined.  I am now more aware of how other people think and behave and I now have tools and awareness to enhance our communication and interaction which inevitably makes us more productive. 

As you are thinking about a professional development opportunity for yourself, your team or your organization and someone thinks to recommend a professional assessment, remember understanding ourselves and others is going to be a key differentiator in all businesses and it may be the perfect opportunity to move it from a “check the box” activity to a shift in team or company culture. 

[peopleevolutions]

Starting My Own Business

This year is already off to a significantly different start than any other year in my life.  When January 1st rolled around, I found myself in the unfamiliar position of being an entrepreneur owning my own business!  Some who know me and are reading this may have no idea I have navigated on to my own, so I thought the perfect way to kick off my blog in 2015 is to tell the story of how People Evolutions came to be.

Over the last sixteen plus years I have been in various Human Resources roles and I always knew at some point I would become an executive coach fulltime.  Coaching and engaging with professionals and executives throughout my career has always been an area that was a natural fit for me and where I found personal fulfillment.  Over the last 18 or so months I started giving this plan more and more thought and as so often does, things started falling into place. 

In late 2013 a personal acquaintance began casually asking my perspective for some executive coaching clients who were feeling stuck in their careers or had lost confidence due to the environment at work.  I used my experience in seeing so many of these situations firsthand and began rattling off ideas and specific steps they could do to move forward.  After a few of these conversations she shared her belief there is a significant need out there consulting people in these situations and threw out the idea I start a business.  I was apprehensive, but decided to give it a shot as a side venture from my fulltime Human Resources job. 

In February 2014 I started working with clients with a need for someone understanding where they are at in their current position, where they want to go and help coach them to take steps to get there.  From there, things started to snowball.  Referrals kept coming in.  I quickly realized there was an opportunity to make this endeavor more formal and include these services under a broad umbrella that could eventually include my original plan of executive coaching. 

People Evolutions came to life in May 2014.  In forming People Evolutions, I wanted to encompass areas I am passionate about and am confident I can make a difference.  These areas include Professional/Executive Coaching, Professional Development through Emergenetics, and Professional Branding/Career Coaching.  Towards the end of 2014, an opportunity presented itself that facilitated my ability to move People Evolutions from a side venture to my fulltime job.  Although the timing of this change wasn’t in my original plans, there are times in life where things happen and the only right thing to do would be to ride the wave.  So, here I am, riding the wave!  There's no doubt that taking a risk is scary, but as the saying goes: no risk, no reward!

To help familiarize you with People Evolutions, here is a deeper dive into the services provided:

Professional / Executive Coaching: Through Marshall Goldsmith’s Stakeholder Centered Coaching methodology, I engage with executives and high potential individuals and leaders with a strong desire to further improve and become even more successful.  Stakeholder Centered Coaching is different than most coaching models as leadership growth and behavioral change is measured every three to six months through stakeholder observation and feedback. 

Professional Development through Emergenetics: I have never been more excited about a professional development tool than I am about Emergenetics.  As a certified Emergenetics Associate, I help individuals, teams and organizations increase efficiency and improve communication through solutions that center on the Emergenetics profile.  Emergenetics is the building block of strong organizations.  It’s a way of thinking.  A new approach to developing employees and leaders.  On a practical level, Emergenetics represents a clear framework of seven easily recognizable and useful factors that apply to work, communication, and interpersonal relationships to maximize human performance.

Professional Branding / Career Coaching: This encompasses so much and is really the catalyst for People Evolutions coming to life.  There are so many people out there wanting to make a change in their career or job, but feel stuck for a variety of reasons, possibly including: being in an environment where confidence is a thing of the past and are convinced no company would hire them; have been with the same company for a long time and have no idea where to start in looking for a job; haven’t updated their resume in years, if ever, and have no idea how to use professional social media platforms to help with their job search.  I have taken my real life experience being in Human Resources, as a hiring manager, as an interviewer, as a job seeker, as a person being actively recruited by a company or headhunter and have turned that knowledge into a step-by-step individual coaching series to help anyone prepare and begin to look for their next opportunity. 

The most popular service amongst my clients is the Career Transition Coaching Series which includes 12 – 50 minute coaching sessions that cover topics like defining, communicating and publishing your professional brand, identifying your job market, creating your job search strategy, using social media, networking, interviewing, etc.  I also offer professionally written resumes, LinkedIn profiles and cover letters to ensure you are putting your professional best out there.  Because everyone is starting from a different place and has unique needs, I can customize to meet your needs.  The best part about this piece of my business is that it can be done 100% over the phone which allows me to connect and help individuals literally anywhere!

I think we all have moments where we debate taking a risk and doing something completely different than we've done before and it can be scary.  It is scary.  As I am navigating through this process on my own, it has reaffirmed my belief that we will only regret the things we didn't try in life.  So, if you're debating taking your own risk, do it! 

Going forward, my intention with this blog will be to regularly write about leadership, coaching, career transitions, and other exciting topics that come up during my interactions with clients. 

Now that you know what I am up to, please also feel free to connect with me on social media! 

www.PeopleEvolutions.com

LinkedIn.com/in/LeshaReese

Facebook.com/PeopleEvolutions

@PplEvolutions

 While this is an exciting time in my life, I am acutely aware I would not be in this place if it were not for the people I have been blessed to be surrounded by over the last many years.  Thank you for teaching me, coaching me, providing me an example to look up to, calling me out on my crap, and most of all for having confidence in me and my abilities. 

Happy New Year!

Lesha

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Get Your New Job Started on the Right Foot in 2015!

In honor of Small Business Saturday, we are offering an opportunity to get your new job search off to the right start in 2015! This is especially for those looking for a new job, those unhappy in their current job, but don’t know where to start in looking for a new job, those that have lost their confidence and feel like their skills are not transferrable to a new job, we have tools and coaching to help you! Email [email protected] TODAY expressing interest in learning more and receive 15% off our professional branding and career transition services! This includes our 12 week one on one career transition coaching series, professionally written resume, LinkedIn profile, or cover letter. No time like right now to ensure you’re off to a great start in your 2015 job search! Feel free to share this post!

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Job Search Anxiety!

Spent this morning helping a client go from a similar look in this photo to a more calm and confident place as she works on her strategy for changing jobs in 2015. So often people think looking for a job is just about applying online, but it is so much more. Creating and understanding their brand, identifying companies they truly want to work for, how to leverage social media and networking without feeling awkward and most of all, how to answer the most failed question in an interview - tell me about yourself. Looking forward to our next several sessions with her in the coming weeks!