Career Advice, Entrepreneurship, Giving Help, Philosophy, Romance

Permalink: The 4 R’s

THE 4 R’s

Relentlessly Resourceful, Revolution, and Romance

by Brooke Allen

My good friend, Ray Schmitz, called me up last Wednesday and said he was ready to talk to people publicly about his business that was going to revolutionize real estate brokerage.

I was expecting him to ask me to invest but instead he told me the most romantic story I’ve ever heard. Read this and tell me if you don’t agree.

At lunch yesterday I started by saying, “Ray, I need to tell you that I won’t invest in your business. My savings come from being frugal and good at what I do, and I don’t know how to be a venture capitalist. Paul Graham wrote a wonderful essay on how to lose time and money in which he says people like me risk losing big chunks of savings, not by becoming spendthrifts, but by becoming investors. I hope you understand.”

Ray said, “I know; I read Paul’s stuff.”

“Good,” I said. “Then you’ll appreciate that I have every confidence you will succeed because not only do you have a good idea, as Paul says in another essay, you are relentlessly resourceful.”

Ray said, “Funny you should say that. Let me tell you a story…”

This is what Ray said to me: Read more…

Collaborating, Networking, Work, Working for Free

Permalink: Startup Weekend

STARTUP WEEKEND: 54 HOURS TO CREATE A COMPANY

by: Adrienne Rodney

It has been said many times that it is better to create your own job than to find one. If you are unsure how to begin, there is a worldwide community that can help you.

In 2011 we attended Startup Weekend three times. Held in just about every metropolitan city in the US and across the globe, Startup Weekend is for entrepreneurs, programmers, designers and other creative types to take an idea and turn it into a business in two-and-a-half days.

Startup Weekend is important because it teaches novices and professionals how to think, act and work like entrepreneurs. Many of the startups turn into actual businesses, with the teams working together far beyond that original weekend.

With free legal advice, free mentors and of course, free food, Startup Weekend gives you a chance to put your passion into practice. So if you think you have a good idea, don’t keep it a secret. Participate in a Startup Weekend and watch your ideas flourish.

***

After everyone’s positive response to our Jobsville story, Brooke took the idea all the way to Mountain View, CA for the Mega Startup Weekend, where Brooke and his team worked on making Jobsville a reality.

We recently interviewed Frank Denbow, lead organizer for Startup Weekend NYC and a major force behind Mega Startup Weekend. Check out Startup Weekend in action and hear what he has to say about the events by watching the video above.

 

Lessons Learned, Social Capital, Values

Permalink: Job Descriptions

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Should caring be part of every job description?

by: Brooke Allen

About a decade ago someone in accounting, or personnel, or wherever, asked me for job titles.

I said, “We don’t have job titles in our group.”

She went away.

Soon she was back saying that a new policy required that we have job titles, and that I had to give them some.

I said, “I can’t think of any.”

She said, “Make something up.”

I said, “OK, we’re all Senior Executive Vice Presidents.”

She went away.

She was back the following day saying, “Those titles won’t do. Nobody in your group is a vice president, senior, executive, or otherwise. Besides, we need functional titles.”

“As opposed to bullshit ones?” I asked.

She didn’t laugh but waited around until I came up with some stuff… Group Head (me), Analyst, Programmer, Trader … make that Senior Trader (never mind that we don’t have any junior ones)… I don’t remember and don’t care, although I can now find out if need be by asking everyone in my group for their new business cards.

Since our first day in the mid-1990′s, we have had a daily checklist, similar to what pilots find in airplane cockpits and janitors find on bathroom walls: do this by 8:15, start that computer before this one, run that program, file this report by 5:00, etc. The checklist gets updated as needed and has gone from perhaps 15 items to over 50 in 16 years.

A while ago our organization was restructured to come under a German parent, which meant that Read more…

Ethics, Giving Help, Interviews, Life Skills, Motivation, Psychology, Social Capital, Values

Permalink: Zimbardo

CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING A HERO?

Learning to be a hero is more important than you might think.

Article by Brooke Allen, Interview by Adrienne Rodney and Brooke Allen.

Last summer we interviewed Dr. Phillip Zimbardo about his Heroic Imagination Project.

Before we met Dr. Phillip Zimbardo it wasn’t clear what a hero is or how frequently we all are presented with opportunities to be one. Zimbardo defines heroes as people who put themselves at risk for the benefit of others. Altruism is “heroism lite” – helping others without expectation of gain. When most people say someone is a “hero” they really mean “role model.” Sports figures, celebrities, or business leaders may or may not be good role models, but few are well known for heroism.

Phil Zimbardo is perhaps the greatest living psychologist. He has been the president of the American Psychological Association, hosted the 26 episode PBS series titled Discovering Psychology, and authored many books, including a favorite, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. But Phil is most famous for the Stanford Prison Study conducted 40 years ago.

Please, take a few minutes to watch our interview and then answer a few questions.

____

Can you imagine being a hero, or even wanting to be one? 

Before you answer, can you imagine the following conversations?

Conversation #1: Saleswoman, “May I tell you about our product?”

Prospect, “Possibly. But first, would you ever lie to a customer?”

Saleswoman, “Let’s just say that I will never let my children starve.”

Prospect, “Are you married? Does your husband have a job?”

Saleswoman, “Yes and Yes.”

Prospect, “Sometimes it feels like there are more unemployed unwed mothers feeding their children than there are honest salespeople.”

Saleswoman, “Whatever. Now, may I tell you about my product?”

Prospect, “No.”

Conversation #2: Hiring manager, “I have lots of unemployed friends. Would you mind if I introduced one of them to fill the vacancy you’ll leave behind?”

Job Candidate, “I would not recommend anyone do my job because my job requires I do unethical things.”

Hiring manager, “Then I can’t hire you because Read more…

Book Review, Life Skills, Social Capital

Permalink: It’s Not Just Who You Know

IT’S NOT JUST WHO YOU KNOW

Book Reviews by David Anderson and Eric LaRue

Tommy Spaulding has built a successful career by being a leader and teaching others to be leaders. In his book, It’s Not Just Who You Know, Spaulding acknowledges that his success is greatly due to living the credo of Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People. However, It’s Not Just Who You Know does more than expand or update Carnegie’s classic. Spaulding has re-imagined Carnegie’s ideas and infused them with his own spirit. This is a book about love.

Spaulding starts off with his own story of being a good kid who had trouble succeeding in school because of what would eventually be diagnosed as dyslexia. Yet he was the youngest Eagle Scout in his town, the captain of his high school football team and the president of his senior class.

Young Tommy was also fortunate to have chosen his parents well. Tommy Spaulding, Sr. told him three profound things: First, living with goodness in your heart counts more than good grades. Second, you have an obligation to make a contribution to this country because Democracy isn’t free. Third, the people who are making top grades in your school are going to work for you someday.

Relationships move Upward

Spaulding talks about the different levels of relationships. These start on the first floor where the conversation never gets past news, sports and weather. The top floor is the fifth, or Penthouse, where you don’t just get a Christmas card – you get invited to Christmas dinner.

This book also shows you how to get to the Penthouse and what to do once you arrive. Spaulding advises against being a chirping bird – someone who is also asking for something out of a relationship. He goes further and Read more…

Career Advice, Fun, Games, Interviews, Job Hunting, Motivation, Networking, Work

Permalink: JobsVille

JOBSVILLE

HOW AMERICA CAN LEVEL-UP SKILLS AND LAND GOOD JOBS.

Article and Video Interview by Brooke Allen

I’ve often wondered what can be done to make it fun to learn new skills and hunt for a job. Surely if FarmVille can make farming fun, and Call of Duty can make war fun, isn’t it possible for the people who produce those games to apply what they know to making the process of finding and qualifying for a job just a little bit more effective and enjoyable?

As it turns out, the answer is: ABSOLUTELY.

Recently I discussed this very question with Gabe Zichermann, an expert in “gamification,” author of Game Based Marketing, and creator of the Gamification Blog.

Gabe explained that the job search is usually a long process that has many moving parts including the concept of career mastery. He says this is the kind of thing that is well suited to modern Read more…

Career Advice, Lessons Learned, Life Skills, Motivation, Work

Permalink: Joe DiMaggio

FIRST JOBS: HANDING THE BAT TO JOE DIMAGGIO

by Steve Amoia for No Shortage of Work

Playing baseball was Joe DiMaggio’s first real job as an adult. He had worked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco with his father, and sold newspapers as a boy. Neither job held much appeal to him.

Few first jobs in life could have the impact of this one. To be a first generation Italian-American teenager with a job at the ballpark. To watch the first American sports icon, Joe DiMaggio, in a way that few could imagine.

An American Cultural Icon

If you ever played baseball, the mystical Joe DiMaggio was as familiar as the crack of the bat, or the thud of the ball hitting the back of the catcher’s mitt. Just like cold beer, hot dogs, and the seventh inning stretch, Joe DiMaggio was an integral part of American baseball tradition and lore.

Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California, on Nov. 25, 1920, and died March 08, 1999 in Hollywood, Florida. He was the eighth of nine children born to Giuseppe and Rosalia, who were immigrants from the Sicilian island of Isola della Femmina (Women’s Island). His father was a fisherman; however, young Joe did not like Read more…

Career Advice, Lessons Learned, Motivation

Permalink: Great Depression Lessons

LESSONS FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION

How my grandparents thrived during the 1930′s.

by: Brooke Allen

The Great Depression was very good to my Grandparents, and it wasn’t a matter of luck so much as the approach they took to their circumstances. What they did, you can do.

In the mid 1920′s they met on a date in New York City and decided to marry within a week. Granddad Tom was assigned to Havana to start a bureau for the United Press International; he and Anne married in Key West on the way to Cuba.

When he returned near the end of the decade he was handed a 40% pay cut, even though the cost of living was higher in New York City than in Cuba.

If that wasn’t bad enough, in October of 1929, the Stock Market crashed and the economy began a long slide into what became the Great Depression. Granddad survived multiple rounds of layoffs by accepting further pay cuts.

Grandmother Anne realized that they couldn’t afford their current rent, so she found a bank that would rent to them the mansion of a bankrupt stockbroker for less money. To help care for the children, she found a lovely couple at the unemployment office. The wife was a nurse and her husband was a handyman. They exchanged room and board for childcare and yard work.

Then Anne took a job as a receptionist with a developer who was building houses on the farm next to their rented home in White Plains. Soon she was managing four salesmen. She received 25 percent of the salesmen’s commission on every home sold.

Grandmother convinced the developer to build at cost a home for them in exchange for using it as a show model. She became a stellar saleswoman in her own right. Before long, her commissions had completely covered the construction costs, and the home was theirs outright.

Granddad wrote to a friend that the Great Depression had been unbelievably good to them. Before the Crash they had had high hopes, but owning a house ‘free and clear’ in just a few years was inconceivable. Where could they have found a trained nurse and groundskeeper simply by letting them live in a spare bedroom and join them for meals? Freed of the burden of paying bills, the young couple soon saved enough money working odd-jobs to buy a gas station and start their own business. Because most of his coworkers had either been laid off (or quit rather than take a pay cut), Granddad had no competition as senior positions became available. His career took off.

Here are some of the lessons I have learned from my Grandparents:

Grab the bull by the horns. They never tried to deny the facts of a bad situation.

Get lucky by planning for the worst. Because they never expected things to get better, they worked very hard in the present to survive the worst-case future scenario. Invariably things worked out better than expected so their less industrious friends considered them very lucky.

Find the opportunity, not the excuse. I never once heard my grandparents explain why they were unable to do something. Instead, it seemed they were always asking, “What just got better?” In this story, the things that got better included: Read more…

Education, Lessons Learned, Life Skills

Permalink: Teaching Pearls

TEACHING PEARLS

by: Joan Ramirez

So many people talk about what is wrong with teaching today. I am going to tell you what is right. Last year, I completed my student teaching in a wonderful elementary school in New York City with several exceptional special education students in the third grade. One in particular has a stuttering problem and felt uncomfortable every time he had to talk in front of the class. In addition, he has test phobia in math. He tried several times to take a subtraction/addition test and quit after he was only half way through. On the fourth try, I told him that his dream of becoming a policeman will never come true if he can’t do math operations. He thought about it and finished the day. On the fifth try, he started the test, got frustrated, and was ready to quit–partly because he was so upset about his stuttering during response time earlier in the day. I told him to breathe deeply, think positive, and focus. He kept going. When he handed in his paper, he turned to me and said, “I tried harder this time, Mrs. Ramirez. I didn’t quit.”

That made my day. I helped a child to learn. A precious gift.

On another day, I worked with a boy who wears an FM device and is very self-conscious because of same. In addition, he is small in size for his age and self-conscious in gym. When I worked with him on math problems, he told me that he likes to learn but wants to be like everyone else. I told him that each of us has special gifts to offer, and we are all special in our own way. Little by little, I drew him out of his shell. Before long, we were partners on a math team and competed against two other kids. After a while, he picked someone his own age to be his teammate. However, I told him that I would always be there if he needed me. Again, it was great to see a child flourish in learning through positive support.

My third encounter was a recent assignment in a school in New Jersey with a middle grade young girl who told me of her desire to be a songwriter. With limited English, she composed a song that spoke of her feelings on life in middle grade. She also told me that she has composed many other songs. I told her to keep on writing. Before the end of the day, she sang a little of the song to me. As I was about to take the children to their parents, she handed me a card. When I arrived home, I read the message: “Dear Mrs. Ramirez, Thank you for listening to me. You are a patient and great teacher. Someday I hope to sing you my finished work.”  I gave her my email and encouraged her to keep on going.

These are but a few of the wonderful encounters that I have had as a teacher with creative minds yearning to achieve.

In the fall, I hope to have my own class to nurture and encourage and share the successes that I’ve had in my professional life. To teach, as the saying goes, truly does touch and change, for the better, another life.

Interviews, Networking, Psychology

Permalink: Dunbar

DO YOU HAVE TOO MANY FRIENDS?

Story by: Adrienne Rodney, Interview by: Brooke Allen

Robin Dunbar, British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist at Oxford, says you can have at most 150 sensible, reciprocated relationships. This is known as the Dunbar Number, and it is discussed in his book, How Many Friends Does One Person Need?: Dunbar’s Number and Other Evolutionary Quirks.

Our most important relationships are with our intimate friends and family – the people we love, rely on and support when times are tough. But most of the people we know make up the outer layers of our social network – our coworkers, neighbors and friends of friends, and these outer layer relationships are more vital than we think. “They’re the people who help you out when things are down by finding you jobs or letting you know there’s a job going where they work,” Dunbar says. “That’s a source of information for you.”

Yet our social well-being depends on the strength of our most intimate relationships. “Those who have a bigger social network have, on average, less intimacy with each of the members,” Dunbar says. “If your inner core relationships are going to be important to you…you do best by focusing your attention on those closest to you.”

Dunbar spoke with Brooke Allen about his research on relationships and the roles they play in our lives. You can learn more about Dunbar’s number and the layers of relationships by Read more…

Career Advice, Life Skills, Work

Permalink: Financial Journalist

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A FINANCIAL JOURNALIST

by: Adrienne Rodney

Journalism is everywhere. Blogs, Twitter, Podcasts – all give voice to a new generation of reporting. But is every journalist a reporter?

What about finance? Is there a difference between a financial journalist and a general reporter? What do financial reporters need?

KNOWLEDGE

“I don’t believe anyone can be a journalist today unless they speak the language of finance,” says Toni Reinhold, editor with Thomson Reuters for more than two decades and the president of the Newswomen’s Club of New York.

Reinhold believes that since every major news story has some underpinnings in finance,  every journalist should Read more…

Career Advice, Design, Fun, Games, Life Skills, Motivation

Permalink: Life Design

GAME DESIGN AS LIFE DESIGN

by: Brooke Allen

Jesse Schell has taught game design for ten years at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, founded by Dr. Randy Pausch and Dr. Donald Marinelli. He is a former chairman of the International Game Developer’s Association, and was the lead designer of Disney’s Toontown Online. He is the CEO of Schell Games, the largest game studio in Pennsylvania.

Jesse wrote The Art of Game Design and in it he says “Game design is the act of deciding what a game should be.” The book presents 100 “lenses” which are collections of questions to ask yourself during the design process.

As I read the book, I was reminded of something my artist/businessman father told me, “Everything is about everything.” Even though I am not a game designer, everything in the book seems to apply to some aspect of my life.

Here are a few examples:

From: The Secret of the Gifted (page 6)

You might have noticed that skilled game designers seem to have a special gift for the work. It comes easily and naturally to them, and though you love games, you wonder if you are gifted enough to succeed as a designer. Well, there is a little secret about gifts. There are two kinds. First there is the innate gift of a given skill. This is the minor gift. If you have the gift, a skill such as game design, mathematics, or playing the piano comes naturally to you. You can do it easily, almost without thinking. But you don’t necessarily enjoy doing it. There are millions of people with minor gifts of all kinds, who, though skilled, never do anything great with their gifted skill, and this is because they lack the major gift.

The major gift is Read more…

Book Review, Motivation

The Power of Pull

The Power of Pull

Review by: John Lester with Sara McDermott

In the past 100 years, the world has been changing at a rapid rate. Now, more than at any other time in history, both information and human connection can be delivered at an alarming speed; truly, the world is entering a new dimension of discovery and consumption. The Power of Pull discusses this phenomenon and how it affects everything and everyone, from an individual, to a company, to a nation.

The title comes from authors John Hagel, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison’s definition of ‘pull’ as “The ability to draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges.” A powerful concept. They discuss how advances in technology aren’t only changing access to information, but also how the amount of easily-available information is changing the whole competitive landscape of business. Major consumer products and institutions, from cassettes to the U.S. Post Office, are now approaching oblivion as a result of not adapting to the times. This ties into another key concept presented in the book, ‘push,’ which deals with the dissolution of the current business structure.

The authors go on to break the ‘pull’ concept down into three levels: access, attract, and achieve. They then analyze, level by level, the methods used by individuals and companies who have been able to harness the power of pull and achieve great results.

Perhaps most importantly, the book makes the reader think about why they should change their current formula for success. Very convincing is their argument that, as the world constantly evolves, so must the individual evolve with it in order to stay on top. Anyone who has mastered the power of pull through new technology is already ahead of their competitors. Also, the book points out that generating competition and more opportunities to create value among employees will lead to a more dynamic and profitable business.

This book is very accessible to a general audience, despite the scholarly subject matter. While the book has a few slow sections, they are brief. All in all, it offered a fascinating portrait of the current world, and acted as a guide for maneuvering through a time of unpredictable change.

Book Review, Lessons Learned, Motivation

Permalink: Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs

THE INNOVATION SECRETS OF STEVE JOBS

A book review by Steve Amoia

Carmine Gallo is a respected business journalist by training. He created a company, Gallo Communications, that provides presentation, media training and communication skills advice for some of the world’s most recognized brands. His first book about the iconic CEO of Apple Computer, entitled The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, was a best seller. Gallo’s newest offering, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success, no doubt will achieve similar success. This compelling book is a deep look into a man that figuratively and literally changed millions of lives.

Compelling Introduction Set the Tone

Many of Jobs’ innovation secrets were used by the author in this book. Gallo opened with a provocative quote attributed to Thomas Friedman of the New York Times: “We need to create more Jobs.” It was a play on words about the Apple CEO, but one that clearly exemplified one of his key tenets: Master the Message. Speaking of messages, one by Gallo immediately grabs your attention:

“Michelangelo looked at a marble block and saw David. Steve Jobs Read more…

Career Advice, Job Hunting, Work

Permalink: Wall Street Values

THE SKILLS VALUED ON WALL STREET TODAY

by: Kristen Contrera
Unemployment rates are at an all time high in the financial sector and hiring managers have their pick of the litter. So it seems logical to ask, in this day and age while the financial industry is undergoing so many changes, what skills are most valued on Wall Street?

To answer this question, let us break down the financial sector into its two key components: trading and sales trading. General trading takes hard skills and know-how, while sales-trading takes personality and an adept ability to communicate.

People skills are a necessity for this second discipline. Though many aspects of the industry have become computerized and automated, good old-fashioned people skills will always be in demand. They are not programmable and therefore are highly valued in this industry that depends as much on sales as it does on intelligent trading. Marketing trainer Dr. Elliot B. Jaffa explains, “It’s walking their talk with the client, following through, and client obsession: treating each client Read more…

Lessons Learned, Motivation, Philosophy

Permalink: Humor in the Workplace

HUMOR IN THE WORKPLACE

by David Iscoe


It’s pretty much a truism that good workers take their jobs seriously. Employers want people who are invested in the work and care about what they’re doing. If you don’t care about what you’re doing, it’s hard to be at your most productive.

What is less well known, but almost as important, is the need to have a sense of humor about your work. It can help improve relations within the company and with customers, and make employees happier and less stressful – in other words, directly making people more productive workers.

I talked to three professionals in three different industries – health care, air travel, and promotions – about how they combined humor and hard work to be productive, and happy, employees.

JANICE BEITZ

“The best analogy for working in an operating room,” said Dr. Janice Beitz of LaSalle University, “is working on a nuclear submarine.” In both professions, work takes place in a serious environment where any mistake could be deadly. But in order to deal with that stress, employees need a healthy sense of humor.

“Humor makes you resilient,” Beitz said. “You cannot function in health care for any length of time and Read more…

Book Review, Education

Permalink: DIY U

WANT AN EDUCATION? DO IT YOURSELF

A book review by Adrienne Rodney

In 2005 I borrowed $60,000 to take 12 classes in an 18 month master’s degree program in Journalism at Boston University.

Now my boss is paying for me to take writing classes taught by professional writers at Gotham Writer’s Workshop for $395 a class – that is 92% less than the $5000 cost of a BU course.

For more than a decade I will be paying off debt for a master’s degree that has proven to be neither a requirement for, nor guarantee of, getting a job. In my current job my boss is paying for writing courses that will improve the articles I write for No Shortage of Work – a direct link between my education and employment.

Now I find that there are free writing courses, not just cheaper ones, In her book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education, Anya Kamenetz discusses the ways we can educate ourselves without going into debt. More people are choosing alternatives to four year universities, such as online and for-profit schools, while others are taking advantage of the free courses universities offer on their Web sites.

The Open Courseware Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers video, audio and lecture materials from their 1,900 courses. MIT pays up to $15,000 in development costs to put each course online for free, and they’re not all science related. I can take courses in creative writing, anthropology, and Chinese. Other schools such as Tufts and UC Berkeley offer courses which can be found at the Open Courseware Consortium.

Teachstreet.com is an online community for people who love to learn a variety of subjects and Unclasses.org connects students with teachers on anything from graphic design to rock climbing. DIY U lists these and hundreds of other resources for free universities, work colleges, and study aids which we’ve put up on our Resource Links.

Kamenetz’s goal is not to discourage people from attending college, but to encourage parents and prospective students to research their options and understand what they are paying for. While a degree is necessary for a career in medicine, you don’t need any degree to be a journalist.

Anya Kamenetz wrote another book, Generation Debt, detailing the negative effects the rising costs of education are having on the younger generations. I asked what we can do to stay out of debt, and she offered some advice for those looking to go to school but aren’t sure how to pay for it.

Unfortunately it {debt} is all too common. There are lots of great sources of information out there on the costs of higher education and Read more…

Book Review, Motivation, Psychology

Permalink: The Happiness Advantage

THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE

Adrienne Rodney Interviews Shawn Achor, Author of The Happiness Advantage

Here are a few fallacies many of us believe: If only I had a job, then I’d be happy. Once I have all the material things I’ve been after, I won’t have time to be depressed. The grass is always greener. Shawn Achor, Harvard University psychologist, lecturer and author, says we’ve got it all wrong. Happiness fuels success, not the other way around.

In his book, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work (2010, Crown Business), Achor presents the seven ways individuals can achieve the positivity and optimism that set the tone for a successful personal and professional life.

Achor’s research suggests we change the way our brains work in order to improve our productivity and performance. Each of his seven principles describes the ways in which we can turn from being “glass half empty” realists in a troubled world to people who focus our energy on the good things in life.

One principle is The Tetris Effect, a pattern of thought in which our brain gets stuck that affects all aspects in life. Instead of falling prey to negative patterns, we can retrain our brains to spot positive patterns and specifically seek out the things for which we are grateful.

This relates to The 20-Second Rule, a principle that instills lasting changes that help replace bad habits with good ones without having to rely on willpower. Achor says by putting a 20 second gap between you and negative habits, such as hiding the television remote or making your computer home page work related, you are more likely to stay on track. This path of least resistance goes both ways.  Put your running shoes next to your bed, and you are more likely to exercise after you wake.

The theme of The Happiness Advantage is living a positive home and work life. If we stay focused on what matters most, we will have no choice but to see the positives in everything. This book is a helpful manual to everyone, whether or not you see the glass as half-full.

*****

I spoke with Achor about the other principles and how the Happiness Advantage can be applied to our readers here at No Shortage of Work, especially for those who are currently unemployed or looking for something new.

“This message is even more important with someone who doesn’t have a job. In the midst of a challenge, when you’re unemployed or underemployed, you have two options. You can stay negative and frustrated, which science shows turns off your brain, or you could try to remain positive, which causes your brain to turn on, allowing you to see more possibilities, allowing you to avoid depression, and allowing your brain to be intelligent and creative. So what I often tell people is happiness in good times is a luxury item. In challenging times, positivity becomes a necessity.”

He also states that the strongest positive force we have in our lives is Read more…

Book Review, Career Advice, Networking

Permalink: Master the Art of Selling

HOW TO MASTER THE ART OF SELLING

Book review by Frank McGrath

At one time or another, everyone has gone to a networking function, returned with a stack of business cards, and said “well, now what?”  That literal and figurative inert pile of cards is evidence of an evening of pleasant conversations – and not action. Talking to folks is an act of prospecting, a key part of networking. But the other key component is closing – a shared commitment to progress. Successful closing is the difference between networking and going to a cocktail party.

Closing is ultimately a sales function- getting people to do something: introduce you, vouch for you, interview you. Fortunately, sales is one of the oldest human activities. It is important, so smart people have thought about it. Sales success is easily quantifiable, so approaches can be evaluated.

Anecdotally, there are few careers that have risen in public esteem since the ‘70s than the salesman. The hamartia of Willy Loman and the jokey stories of the “traveling salesman” are worn.  A lot of that is due to Tom Hopkins and a book he wrote in 1980 called “How To Master The Art of Selling”. Hopkins was a key catalyst to “professionalize” selling – the movement away from pressure and aggression to consultative, non-adversarial approaches. The power of this book is perhaps demonstrated by the fact that it is still in print. There are tons of copies on e-Bay, 403 copies via Amazon’s secondary sellers and many in the NYC library system (with a waitlist here in Brooklyn). How many other books from thirty years ago can say that?

Parts of the book are dated and hokey. But there is still real knowledge in the chapters on closing like a professional, advancing your agenda. With millions of copies, it is also designed for beginners. Closing is a lot like skiing; you can learn enough to be competent at the very first lesson.

Frankly, it is also an informative, smack yourself on the forehead, fun read: so that is how my living room furniture, engagement ring, swimming pool, etc. got here! I got closed by that guy at Macy’s! Is it ethical to close a toddler about bedtimes? Don’t go through life without knowing about the “assumptive close,” a “say no” question or “a bridge”.

Ten years ago, I was tentative about asking for an intercession, help or business. But fear usually stems from ignorance – what do I do here? Hopkins outlines a couple dozen safe, polite, professional ways to ask for what you want – just pick a few that seem comfortable.

Some are probably dubious. I will point out that billions are spent training sales forces, and millions make a living at closing, differentiating themselves in the process. Either there is some intelligence to it or there are a lot folks who are dupes. No one disagrees that there is a robust science to communication. This is merely one of its real useful disciplines. So take a chance and read thirty minutes of Tom Hopkins at the library.

People at networking events long to be closed. They want to help. Be polite and don’t be grasping, but do them the favor of not only knowing what you want but also engaging your targets in a manner that helps them help you.

Career Advice, Job Hunting, Networking

Four Things For Job Search

FOUR THINGS YOU MUST DO IN YOUR JOB SEARCH

by: Kitti Brady

Recently I was asked to share some thoughts on what I’ve learned about job hunting so far, so I put pen to paper and came up with a list of the four most important tools any job-hunter should have in their kit.

Okay, maybe this is all stuff you already know.  Maybe you’ve already read articles that told you this stuff because Lord knows there have been hundreds.  However, it bares repeating, because every day there is someone new just starting their job hunt – someone who recently was laid off, or who just graduated from school and hasn’t had any training on the idea of how to go from student to employee beyond ‘okay, time to get a job.’  Not to mention, just because you’ve been job hunting for a while doesn’t mean you can’t refresh your knowledge of what you’ve been told before.

(1) Business Cards:

One of the most important, and yet simplest, things you can do for your job search is have a business card for yourself.  It’s a fast and easy way to get your name and contact information into someone’s hand no matter where you are – a networking event, a bar, a friend’s house, or on the bus or subway.  You never know when or where you’re going to encounter someone, and you want to be able to give them a way to remember you and contact you in a matter of seconds – no digging for a pen and notebook. Read more…