NO Is Not a Four Letter Word
by Suzanne There is a crucial, mid-career shift all hardworking professionals must make to get ahead. It’s not taught in school, it’s not taught in university, and it’s usually not taught in our families. The shift is this: saying NO. What Got You Here… The problem is that it’s not an intuitive shift to make…
How to Confidently Ace the 4 Most Awkward Interview Questions
Imagine you’re being interviewed for a job you really want. You’re ready – you’ve done the research, you know the company and you’ve read up on the hiring manager…and then the thing you’re dreading happens…
Let’s change the way we think about “Phoning it in”
Remember when phoning it in was a bad thing? I got to thinking about the phrase, and where it came from, and what it meant. I’m pretty sure it meant that if someone was “phoning” into a meeting, they weren’t as present and interested and engaged as someone who was actually “AT” the…
Bystanders Have the Power to Create Change: THIS is How to Be an Ally at Work
A lot of people are talking about how Amy Cooper is a jerk. I had to check myself the other day on this very point. Why? Because I simply stopped with that one thought. Amy Cooper is a jerk. OK, that’s not entirely true, I went one step further. Amy Cooper is a…
This is What’s Keeping You Stuck at Work… and How to Change it
I see you, hardworking, ambitious professional. I see you banging your head against your desk because you’re working your tail off, and no one seems to notice. Your boss barely realizes what you do, your colleagues are unreliable, and that promotion you’re angling for seems like it’s light-years away. So you grit your…
Confidence Sells
From my 7+ years experience as a recruiter and through 1,000’s of executive interviews, it’s abundantly clear to me that there are 2 things that make a person stand out versus their competition. Confidence and Passion These are the two things that seal the deal. They’re the difference between getting the interview, and…
Are You in Touch with Your Ikigai?
All this talk about Professional Branding is great, but it’s kind of useless if you don’t know what you want to do, right? In the search for perfection or getting it right, we often get stuck where we are, for fear of getting it wrong. We sit around analyzing. We worry about making…
Your Inner Awesome
In my previous post, I talked about the importance of NOT placing value on work that is genuinely hard, possibly unpleasant and totally not fun. I want you to find meaningful work that you enjoy doing, the kind of job that you’ll actually look forward to going to. Because of that, today’s post…
Stop Aiming for the Job You Hate
There’s a good chance you’re actually positioning yourself for work you don’t want to do. I bet you didn’t even realize you’re doing it. Remember the basics of a Professional Brand? Read more about it here. When you look at the professional brand diagram, it’s clear you need to help people (managers, hiring…
What is a Professional Brand?
You have one, whether you like it or not. And if you’re reading this post, chances are your default professional brand is getting in your way. It’s a pretty common problem that starts with one little mistake, which I talk more about here. So what is a professional brand anyway? Your professional…
