10 Tips To Ensure A Successful Career Change

Sometimes, we are stuck in a career that we hate or that no longer fulfills us… Other times, we study years to end up in ingrate careers, in careers that no longer fit us or our basic needs.

Uprooting, starting over, reinventing your career and moving forward is difficult. Starting over from scratch feels like a failure, is intimidating, is discouraging, takes time, requires optimism, an ability to learn, an interest in personal growth, a sense of adventure.

Wondering how to actively change career and find a job that fulfills you?

10 Tips To Ensure A Successful Career Change #career #careeradvice #careerchange #change #journeytoleadership journeytoleadershipblog.com

Being in the wrong job or leading the wrong people demands too much sacrifice and can lead to a serious breakdown or various health issues.

Our lack of interest spills over at work and most importantly at home, especially if we are leaders. We visibly become careless, inconsistent, we underperform and are emotionally unavailable.

Furthermore, a career change is necessary when your personal needs are not met, when you get feeling of boredom, start burning out, lack of satisfaction, work for a bad boss and with toxic coworkers.

Everybody has a breaking point and cannot spend a lifetime adapting to situations that are unnatural to them.

How to avoid making the wrong career choice?

Some people drift through jobs without any idea of what they are doing or without making a decisive career choice. To avoid making a bad career choice:

Actively changing careers

Changing career is daunting yet exciting. It is daunting because we might lose status, leadership position.

However, it can be exciting because the future is promising.

Starting over means learning from your past mistakes, applying the solutions with an open mind and with a different perspective on life.

Quitting your job and pursuing the career you always wanted is a leap of faith.

The future is unknown but promising. To transition smoothly:

1 Check yourself

Leaving your job is not a sign failure but is a huge decision. To make the best decision possible, rearrange your personal life before tending to the professional life.

  • Make peace with yourself and physically declutter your space at home then at work.
  • Assess your personal requirements. Your requirements can be money, recognition, trust, autonomy, performance and achievements.
  • Address your past and your present experiences. Then, Estimate what you consider as a failure and as a success.
  • Measure your stage in life. How far are you in life? The consequences of changing career will be different if you are a recent graduate student or a seasoned senior professional.

2. Maintain some level of decorum

Avoid passive aggressive behavior on your last days at work and develop smart strategies to handle our current job.

For example, try to meet your boss requirements before quitting your job. When you meet the boss’s requirements, his trust in you will be renewed and your energy will be boosted.

3. Seek a solution before you walk out the door

Learn to deal with worst case scenarios on your current job before moving on to the next one.

Chances are that you will meet the same situation somewhere else and potentially end up in the same mess.

4. Don’t limit yourself

Know that what we think we can achieve is unlimited and is not limited.

Changing career requires a different mindset.

Believe that ever force is on your side and attract the things you want in life. Don’t let fear stop you from moving forward.

5. Listen to your gut

Some people will tell you that it is a bad decision to change career.

Listen carefully to what they say and understand that their opinion is not really about you. Above all, listen to that gut feeling.

Your needs are personal and will not be grasped by everyone.
Find ways to overcome these boundaries, keep moving forward and don’t look back.

6. Get to know yourself

To get to know yourself:

  • Accept yourself and your character flaws.
  • Identify your core values. Core values are what guide your behavior and character. Make sure that what you are doing aligns with your values.
  • Find out your passions, what you want and what you like to do, even when you are not getting paid.
  • Identify your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you tap into your full potential and make your career more sustainable, make work more enjoyable and will have you jumping out of bed to get to work.
  • Translate your strengths and weaknesses into coherent skills and avoid devaluing what you can do easily.

7. Have a plan

It is always helpful to hit the pavement with a solid plan and clear goals.
Build a vision, set goals, focus or a purpose. Daily remind yourself of your dreams and goals. Then, determine the needs required for achieving this purpose.
Imagine your ideal life and your ideal position. Write it down and create a vision board to specifically solidify your dreams.

8. Update your resume

If you are looking for a job at another company, remember to update your resume with accurate experience and qualifications, big or small.

It is also detrimental to brush up on your interview skills, network and learn to sell yourself.
Apply to advertised jobs. You can also directly apply to companies without going through ads.

9. Determine your options

List the different careers that you wish you could have.
Identify your skills acquired at work and make sure that they are transferable.
Ask for sit downs to people who are in your career of choice. During that interview, don’t directly ask for a job but avoid making assumptions, ask probing questions and take notes.
Build strong and healthy relationships in your career of choice. You can do this by starting a small group, by assisting others at work and by bringing solutions to their problems.

10. Be open to learn

It is important to take risks, be open to learn and ask probing questions.
Taking classes and trainings will move you toward your career goal and keep you motivated.

Once a leader, always a leader. It is not something you can turn off.

Last Words Of Advice!

There is no superior or inferior job and the grass is not always greener on the other side!

If your career change is unsuccessful, you can always go back to the old one with fresh new eyes.

If you are not finding what you want, start your own business that is directly molded on your strengths and weaknesses.

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

2 Leadership Applications For Connecting Talents To Flexible Jobs

Everybody is now looking for jobs that fit their desired lifestyle and not the way around…

These days, people seek out flexible jobs.

Some people want to work from home and others want to work at the beach.

Some people are able to do a job they love with a lifestyle they aspire to.2 Leadership Applications For Connecting Talents To Flexible Jobs

1. Flexjobs

Flexjobs is a job seeking application that publishes flexible jobs.

With Flexjobs, you can find jobs from up to 50 career categories that fit into your lives better and not the other way around.

You can find flexible jobs from quality employers quickly, easily and safely.

Flexjobs is for freelancing leaders, retired leaders who want to share their expertise, people with a nomadic lifestyle who want to work from anywhere, people who want to work from home and get more quality time with em their families.

2. Power To Fly

Power To Fly is a job seeking and talent seeking application that understands that a diverse team performs better.

Power To Fly is built to empower and connect the underrepresented talents to high profile companies and high visibility jobs.

It is made for people looking to change their career or who are seeking a flexible job.

Journey To Leadership curates the best apps available on the market to satisfy the needs of our readers and leaders.

You’ve got a great app and want to promote it on our website, make sure to check out our prices and to contact us.

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

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#ENTRYLEVELTweet by Heather R. Huhman Taking Your career from classroom to cubicle

140 tweets…

140 inspiring tweets that give out helpful job searching tips to newly college graduates.

#ENTRYLEVELTweet by Heather R. Huhman Taking Your career from classroom to cubicle #books #bookreviews #interview #jobinterview #careeradvice #journeytoleadership journeytoleadershipblog.com

There are tweets for people who wish to identify and highlight their professional strengths.

There are tips for graduates who are applying for different jobs, scheduling job interviews, crafting efficient resumes, cover letter and any other tools necessary to get the job.

These tweets relate also networking and creating relationships with hiring managers.

For example, being present on various social media and using your profile in order to connect directly with the hiring managers is a skill that can be acquired.

Other soft skills such as managing different job offers without burning bridges and navigating office politics and making a lasting good impression on your boss and coworkers are introduced.

Review

#ENTRYLEVELTweet by career expert Heather R. Huhman is a fast and easy read and gathers both practical and motivational tips that, I believe, can be helpful to boost your job search.

#ENTRYLEVELTweet by career expert Heather R. Huhman is intended for newly college graduates with absolutely no idea how to transit from the classroom to the cubicle.

Heather R. Huhman is the founder and president of Come Recommended.

Introduced to the working sphere without guidance, she is adamant about helping recent graduates to launch their career.

I wish that there would be more practical illustrations and detailed tweets on how to navigate office politics.

Let me know below what you think about this book!

Favorite quotes

Tweet 2 Others, namely your parents, will “strongly encourage” you to take the first job you’re offered out of college

Tweet 5 Don’t beat yourself up for not making the right choice at first—most of us don’t!

Tweet 52 If you have large gaps in your résumé due to removing all unrelated positions, include them in Additional Experience. No bullets.

Tweet 112 Read industry publications and blogs. It’s important to keep up with the news and latest trends in your industry.

Tweet 131 If you are not entirely certain you understand what your supervisor wants when he or she has given you an assignment, speak up!

Tweet 132 Become the go-to person for something in the office, whether it’s building PowerPoint presentations or navigating social media.

Tweet 133 Keep your opinions to yourself, and be aware of negative “types” in the office. Don’t partake in gossip!

Ratings: 3/5

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10 Sure Signs You Have Outgrown Your Job

As you grow as a leader, parts of your work life start to seem repetitive.

As a consequence, parts of your day become harder than necessary.

It is time to assess your situation and check if you are ready for something new.

Wondering if you have outgrown your job?

There are a few clues that you can look for before you move on.

10 Sure Signs You Have Outgrown Your Job #work #job #careeradvice #journeytoleadership journeytoleadershipblog.com

1. You take on too much

You have taken on tasks beyond your job title and description.

You are absorbing too much work and you are working outside of your scope.

2. You are too invested

You are emotionally attached to your job which leads to poor work life balance.

3. You are no longer learning

You are running into the same problems with the same people for the same process.

You have been executing the same tasks and the same responsibilities or you have grasped everything that is necessary for you to do your job.

Either way, you are not gaining new knowledge, learning new skills or acquiring new ways to think.

When you’ve learnt all there is to learn from your job, then it’s time to move on.

4. You don’t feel valued

Your ideas fall on deaf ears.

Your ideas are just not suitable for your job or your employers are uneasy with change and will resist your ideas.

You subsequently feel like you’re not being recognized or appreciated.

In that case, your self-worth can take a hit.

It becomes interesting to find a job where your contributions will be valued.

5. You take a lot of breaks

For some reason, you have a lot of time on your hands.

You spend your working hours daydreaming and procrastinating.

You might also spend time gossiping and complaining about the same problems over and over again.

You find it more interesting to surf the net instead of doing your job and you don’t really care about getting caught.

6. Your job is affecting your health

Whether you want it or not, whether you are having fun or not, whether you’re at work or not, it seems like all you can talk about is work.

You may work in a hostile environment or you don’t align with company culture.

Furthermore, you may feel depressed, anxious or angry for no particular reason.

Your immune system has somewhat taken a blow.

These can be signs that your health is at stake and that to deserve a better environment.

7. You dream about quitting

Quitting is all you can think about.

Matter of fact, you walk around with your resignation letter in your bag hoping for a good reason or an opportunity to pull it out.

You somehow know that you have outgrown your job.

Before resigning, do the responsible thing and look for a better job because you deserve it.

8. You cannot move upward

Staying in one role longer than necessary can really affect your health, performance, motivation and satisfaction.

If there are no opportunities for upward mobility, then it’s time to move on.

9. Your job is unchallenging

You may not be excited to wake up in the morning and get to your job because your job description isn’t thrilling to begin with.

It is no longer enough for you.

The truth is you may want the right challenges to help you grow as a leader.

10. You don’t have role models

You may be a leader in your field.

However, you have nobody to look up to or no job to aspire to.

That may be a sign that you not only outgrew your job but your company.

Last Words Of Advice

If you have been feeling this way for a long time, it’s time to check in with yourself.

You must first assess your situation and make sure your feelings aren’t temporary.

Take these signs as an opportunity to do your research, to reevaluate your life and goals.

Don’t forget to listen to your inner voice.


Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

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5 Inpiring Quotes For Leadership Development

Leadership development aims to provide leaders with the hard and soft skills needed to execute their job within their capacity and within their organization.

Usually, leadership development boosts employee morale, engagement, alignment and productivity.

5 Inpiring Quotes For Leadership Development

1. Leaders demonstrate integrity and instill trust

“Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.” – SETH GODIN

2. Leaders learn continuously

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy

3. Leaders maintain strong communication skills

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” – Lee Iacocca

4. Leaders possess good decision-making skills

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt

5. Leaders build healthy relationships

A leader’s attitude is caught by his or her followers more quickly than his or her actions. – John C. Maxwell

Last Words Of Advice

There are several leadership programs out there.

It is important that you find the right one for you to gain the ability to inspire, influence, improve your performance and cope with challenges.


Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

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16 Tips For A Successful Phone Interview

Job interviews over the phone constitute a selection process that most companies use to screen candidates, to prevent candidates from having to travel to their company and to promote their company.

Wondering how to lead a successful job interview over the phone?

In this article, find all the tips you need to prepare yourself.

16 Tips For A Successful Phone Interview journeytoleadershipblog.com

1. Write down everything

Write down all the information and schedule given to you and create alarms to remind you of the interview.

2. Look up the company website

Look up the company website and write down the company’s values, sector, number of workers, locations, annual income amount and most important projects. Knowing the company brings you points.

3. Prepare questions

Prepare some general interviewing questions (“tell me about yourself”, “what are your strengths?”, “what are your flaws?”,… ) and then write them down on paper.

A few minutes before the interview

4. Avoid noise

Make sure you are at home and not in public transports or in a noisy environment.

5. Wake up early

Wake up twenty minutes before the call literally and figuratively. Nobody likes a slurred speech and a hoarse morning voice.

6. Take care of yourself

Take care of your basic human needs 10 minutes before scheduled interview.

7. Prepare pen and papers to take notes.

If this interview is successful, it will lead to another interview at the company and those notes will be useful.

8. Surf the net

On your computer, open the company’s website page and get ready to discreetly surf for answers.

If you cannot find facts about the company, it’s OK.

The interviewer will provide them himself. It’s part of his job to introduce you to them.

9. Use your notes

Last but not least, place your notes with the prepared answers in front you.

The interviewer does not need to know that you are reading your answers.

During the interview

10. Actively listen

Listen carefully to the interviewer and wait for your time of speech.

Being nervous is understandable, but try to control yourself.

11. Keep your voice energized and upbeat

Smiling is also a great way to show your interest and excitement for the opportunity.

12. Maintain your energy

Even though you don’t know the answer for a question right away, stay calm, confident and positive. Politely request a few seconds to collect yourself.

13. Stay professional

Even though the interviewer is friendly, laugh quietly at his or her jokes but stay professional and composed. You are not talking to your best friend.

14. Stay calm

If you are nervous or need focus, feel free to pace around your house or sit at a desk.

After the interview

14. Send a thank you email

You can add questions about the offer to show your interest and motivation.

15. Send an update email

Wait 48 hours before sending an email to get an update on whether you’ve been selected or not.

Last words of advice!

Phone interviews are generally awkward because you are sharing details of your career life with a perfect stranger. In order to avoid all awkwardness, job interviews should be thoroughly prepared.

The interviewer or head hunter will call you a first time to schedule a job interview and will provide you with his or her company’s information.

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

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13 Leadership Tips For Your First Day On The Job

Congratulations. You have just been hired, after an incessant job search and multiple job interviews.

Now, the real work has just started!

Wondering how to build a positive professional image as soon as you arrive on the job and to sustain it throughout your whole career?

13 Leadership Tips for Your First Day on the Job #work #career #careeradvice #job #leadership #success From your first day on the job, your colleagues will definitely be judging you and your capabilities as a leader, as a team member or as a threat to their current position.

Meanwhile your employer will evaluate your abilities to integrate the organization and to quickly adapt, to learn the job skills. You have to be ready to handle the pressure and to measure up to the job.

And unfortunately, I learnt that there aren’t any do-overs when it comes to making a first impression of your professional image.

On the first day on my first job, I showed up on the first day with a negative attitude: I was anxious, unconsciously rejecting the fact that I had to work corporate and work for someone else.

Therefore, in the long haul, I started involuntarily rebuffing the idea of getting along with people, learning new skills and focusing on my job.

As a result, I integrated an unfavorable perception of my environment and I certainly believe that I left a negative impression of myself in the workplace.

This stuck to me for a while until I quit the job and was able to start over elsewhere with a better knowledge of both corporate and leadership. At the same time, to survive, I did what my elders told me: “work hard and keep your head down!”.  But this brought on additional issues.

Why? Because, according to Daniel Goleman, in Working With Emotional Intelligence,  the “rules for work are changing. We’re being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves and each other.[…] These rules have little to do with what we were told was important in school; academic abilities are largely irrelevant to this standard.”.

In order for you to steer clear from the same issues that I have experienced, to develop a leadership image from the start, follow the tips below:

1. Arrive to work early and leave late on your first day

Arriving early to work demonstrate your motivation, your eagerness to learn and gives you more credit as a professional.

In addition, arriving early will allow you to get a general feel of your new colleagues’ arrival time, schedules, morning procedures.

It will also give you a time to which you will be expected to show up at work.

On your first day, at least, make sure to leave the office after a few coworkers have left the office and not before everyone else does.

2. Dress appropriately and to look your best

Undeniably, your coworkers will make snap decisions about you without getting to know or understanding your core values.

Subsequently, they will judge your book by its cover, no matter how you feel or what you say.

Dressing appropriately, without drawing attention to yourself,  gives the perception that you fit in, that you are the right person for the job, and that you care about yourself and others.

At your job interview, you had the time to consider the company culture and to take notes on the proper attire to fit in.

Even on casual Fridays, groom yourself, do your best to look the part, and to dress for  the job you want and not for the one you have.

3. Be confident, positive and prepared for a full-blown interview from your colleagues

After the job interview, take heed of the coworkers interviews.

Most likely, they will ask about your education, your professional experience, your professional competencies for the job, a description of your current position, and the members of your team. Prepare a short presentation of yourself to introduce yourself confidently.

4. Assume also that some of your coworkers won’t bother to get to know you

So, you will have to take initiative and make the first steps.

Extend a firm handshake, smile and proactively introduce yourself by using the short presentation about yourself and to control the message regarding yourself.

Also, prepare a set of probing questions for your coworkers.

5. Observe your coworkers in return, their behavior towards one another, towards their boss

Don’t be fooled, on your first day, most of your coworkers will be on their best behavior around you and will try their best for you to like them.

Withal, you can discreetly notice the clicks and the areas and subjects that bring tension.

6. Pay attention to company culture

Who gives orders, who is the unofficial leader, who arrives early and who arrives late, who takes coffee breaks and how often, who start the lunch process, where lunch takes place and for how long…does everyone work out? Should you go to the after works?

Take a moment to understand the rules, on your own, without referring to any coworker just yet.

7. Remember the names of the people you meet

I am not a name person but you should not ask for names that were already given. Wait a few days and someone will throw a name out there.

8. Cultivate emotional intelligence

Even though your coworkers will be on their best behavior for the first few days, there is ALWAYS someone to come around and test you for fun.

Your reaction to his or her obnoxious behavior will market your capabilities and your personal qualities, for future career success.

9. Communicate effectively, listen more than you speak and observe your body language

Listen actively and with intention of asking probing questions. Ask for people opinions before you give yours.

10. Show interest in your new tasks

The responsibilities that you are given on your first days are boring and minimal: you will most likely be reading job regulations, technical documents and implementing basic tasks.

Nonetheless, ask pertinent questions, take notes, commit to the task at hand and don’t expect your boss or your coworkers to hold your hand.

11. Be open to correction, advice and guidance

Even though you have some experience under your belt, stay humble instead of showing off your knowledge, listen to what your coworkers have to tell you

Thank people for their help and own up to your mistakes. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know. Let me find out and get back to you.”.

12. Accept invitations for coffee, to smoke or to lunch with your coworkers

Mind you, I don’t drink coffee, I don’t smoke and I only take lunch breaks alone during my working hours.

But those breaks are essential to show that you are social and willing to integrate and share their habits.

Use those breaks to your advantage to get to know your coworkers.

13. Don’t indulge in office politics and gossip on your first day or ever

Avoid people who partake in gossip and employ aggressive methods of office politics.

To not be implicated in the rumor mill, don’t expose your personal life. According to Daniel Goleman, pay attention to “what to say, what not to say, and what to call it” throughout your entire career.

Last Words Of Advice!

Building a strong professional image and leader brand, as soon as you step into your new position, is detrimental to career success.

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership! Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

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15 Hateful Coworkers and How to Deal with Them

We all have been exposed during a period of time to annoying, hateful, toxic coworkers that can drive us crazy.

Sometimes, bringing us to ask ourselves whether they’re the problem or we are…

Wondering how to spot these toxic coworkers from afar and how to handle them?

15 Hateful Coworkers and How to Deal with Them #toxiccoworkers #leadership #leadershipdevelopment https://journeytoleadershipblog.com Every workplace has difficult employees and we all have been, to some extent, in different situations with hateful coworkers.

I do believe that we all, partially or fully, demonstrate some level of toxicity towards a third party in the workplace.

Below, are the 15 worst toxic coworkers that I have already met and have had to deal with.

Case Study #1: ​The Delicate

Key Symptoms

The Delicate is a sensitive person with vain imagination that constantly and easily feels under attack, and that takes things deeply and personally. The Delicate thinks that people are looking, gossiping and criticizing him or her!

Treatment

  • Keep the conversation on superficial topics and crack jokes about him or her.
  • Avoid using sarcasm, making dry remarks, directly confronting this person. Instead, try to sugarcoat things and to give indirect constructive criticism.

Case Study #2: The Slacker

Key Symptoms

The Slacker is mostly concerned about personal life and regulating it during working hours.

The Slacker does not take his or her work seriously, spends his or her working life over the internet, cannot make a deadline to save his or her life, is not punctual even absent, unapologetically displays a lack of motivation.

The Slacker is visibly unfulfilled in his or her current position but won’t do anything about it.

Treatment

  • Impose a deadline or better yet let him or her publicly impose a deadline.
  • Pick up the slack with the rest of the team and keep quiet.
  • This individual will sink himself or herself. Otherwise, this individual will eventually have to get up and swim, explain their behavior, their performance and their results to upper management.

Case Study #3: The Rocket Scientist

Key Symptoms

The Rocket Scientist is the individual on the team that is full of knowledge but who is in search for recognition for his superior intellect and who demands an immense respect for his expertise. The Rocket Scientist will feel insulted and will almost become passive aggressive if his or her ideas and point of view are being questioned.

Treatment

  • Stop comparing his expertise to anyone on the team.
  • Avoid diminishing his knowledge and ideas in front of the team or behind closed doors.
  • Avoid criticizing his work and intellect.
  • Instead, tap into his range of knowledge by placing him or her in the role of a counselor but not a decision maker.

Case Study #4: The Gossiper

Key Symptoms

The Gossiper is an individual that enjoys gossip, that emphasizes and embellishes a rumor.

The Gossiper is nosy and loves to keep the rumor mill spinning. This person is even capable of destroying someone’s reputation in the office.

Treatment

  • Listen to the rumor without adding any input. The information may not be malicious but indicative of office politics or of a situation that you can take advantage of.
  • However, learn to separate useful information from the gossip.
  • If this person only brings negative void information, crafted gossip, signal your disinterest by not responding or responding with monosyllables or challenging the facts in the story line, discreetly remove yourself from the circle, avoid participating in the rumor mill.
  • Be careful not to offense this person, for they would drag your name in the mud. If this person is actually gossiping about you, avoid any interaction and adding fuel to fire by striking back with gossip before damaging your reputation.
  • Confront this person in a non threatening and diplomatic way, in a private setting by stating that you are aware of the gossip and everyone is saying that she is a liar and the bearer of the negative information but you know that is not true.

Case Study #5: The Bulldozer

Key Symptoms

The Bulldozer is an individual that believes wrongly in his intelligence.

The Bulldozer doesn’t hesitate to make everybody’s life miserable if things don’t go his way.

The Bulldozer threatens, bullies, intimidates, steps on toes and remains on the verge of harassment in order to get things his way. “It’s my way or the high way!”. The Bulldozer imposes his way of doing things even if it is not the best way of doing them.

They make the worst managers ever but are the most common managers found in corporate.

Treatment

  • Cultivate your emotional intelligence in order not to respond to negativity with negativity.
  • listen to this person point of view from beginning to end without uttering a word, then summarize their position and calmly expose yours.

Case Study #6: The Work-To-Rule

Key Symptoms

The Work-To-Rule discards any part of responsibility in a situation, does not understand tram work and does exactly what is stated in their contracts and no more. In fact, the Work-To-Rule insists on not taking on more responsibilities than his or her job description.

Treatment

  • Stress the importance of team work and the value of this individual contribution at work.

Case Study #7: The Overly Friendly

Key Symptoms

The Overly Friendly is an individual that thinks that his coworkers are his extended family and that doesn’t mind sharing extra personal details of his or her life. These details will make you uncomfortable.

Treatment

Explain that you don’t want to hear the gruesome details of his or her life. If his or her behavior are too intimate, it can be considered as harassment and can be reported to human resources.

Case Study #8: The Naysayer

Key Symptoms

The Naysayer is an individual that irritatingly pinpoints everything negative in a situation and predicts problems before they happen, without proposing an alternative and constructive solution to the situation at hand.

Treatment

Position that person in roles that require to see problems before they occur. No need to argue and show the positive side of an idea. To inhibit this behavior, request an explanation why the situation would not work and a thought-through plan for the solution

Case Study #9: The Blameshifter

Key Symptoms

The Blameshifter is an individual that points the finger at everyone else but themselves and that comes up with very creative excuses to completely remove the blame from themselves.

It is a form of narcissism: the Blameshifter is afraid of confronting themselves.

Treatment

  • Come prepared with evidence.
  • If the blame is pointed at you and you know that it is not your fault, give proof of your innocence without accusing this individual.
  • If this individual comes to you with an object of complaint on someone else, in order to avoid being put in the middle, claim that this is none of your business and suggest that they have a conversation with the alleged culprit.

15 Hateful Coworkers and How to Deal with Them

Case Study #10: The Neophobe

Key Symptoms

The Neophobe is an individual that doesn’t deal well with change.

The Neophobe is capable of refusing it, sabotaging it or even halting it.

Treatment

  • Demonstrate to him or her that change isn’t traumatic and can be positive.
  • Provide proof and facts that the change eminent is positive.
  • Help that person embrace change.

Case Study #11: The Chatterbox

Key Symptoms

The Chatterbox is an individual that drops by your workspace and starts chatting without solicitation about anything and everything.

This individual does not necessarily partake in gossip, but volunteers to share their point of view. This individual tends to makes you unproductive and inefficient.

Treatment

  • Avoid using words of exclamation or affirmation to not encourage this person to keep on talking.
  • Avoid making eye contact when this person is passing through.
  • Politely and respectfully explain that you are on schedule.

Case Study #12: The Martyr

Key Symptoms

The Martyr is a dedicated employee, willing to “die” for their company without being asked to do so, and that searches for recognition and validation. For example, the Martyr does extra hours at work and manipulate the boss when someone else get a promotion.

Treatment

  • Show appreciation for this employee and value their work within the company.

Case Study #13: The Stealer

Key Symptoms

The Stealer constantly steals coworkers ideas, takes credit for them and denies it when confronted.

Treatment

  • Hold back on your ideas and opinions when having a conversation with this individual. Listen more than you speak.
  • Avoid confronting this fool but bite your tongue instead because he or she might not know how to implement your ideas.
  • Don’t report it to upper management before appearing to be salty.

Case Study #14: The Snake

Key Symptoms

The Snake is an overly ambitious — almost sociopathic — coworker that smiles to your face and that stabs you and everyone else in the back. The Snake will claim that your ideas are wonderful but will degrade them when you are not looking.

Treatment

  • Keep your personal information, brilliant ideas to yourself.
  • Listen more than you speak.
  • Stay socially engaged and involved in office politics.

Case Study #15: The Ultra Competitive

Key Symptoms

The Ultra Competitive is an individual that is prepared to step over your dead body to succeed or to get recognition in the workplace.

Treatment

  • Focus on your work or get involve in a project where the Ultra Competitive person is not involved in.
  • Stay socially engaged with your other coworkers and keep networking.
  • Consider the company culture, compare them to your values and figure out whether or not you fit in.

How do I deal with other difficult personalities?

Last Words Of Advice!

Toxic coworkersMost coworkers use extreme tactics to get advancements in the workplace and would do anything to trigger you, to demean you or sabotage your own progress. Some take job positions where they do not belong and that they cannot handle. Others are misusing their strengths and transforming them into flaws that are not accepted in the environment they choose to work in. Others are even responding to an already toxic workplace. Lastly some coworkers are oblivious to their visible flaws and practice them outside of work. In order to deal with other toxic coworkers:

  • cultivate emotional intelligence,
  • listen more than you speak,
  • look for the positive or the humour in negative circumstances.

No matter the reasons, you have to learn how to insulate yourself emotionally and spot a hateful coworker from a distance.

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

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Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor by Bennis, Goleman, O’Toole and Biederman (Part 1)

Creating a culture of candor, by Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman and Patricia Ward Biederman, is the first essay from Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor. It reveals the effects of transparency and lack thereof in organizations…

What is Transparency?

Transparency is defined as “the degree to which information flows freely within an organization, among managers and employees, and outward to stakeholders.”

This essay also describes ways to implement a culture of candor and stresses the fact that the rise of digital technologies made it almost impossible for organizations to keep secrets or remain opaque.

Transparency is a choice to make that brings success, additional clarity and instills trust. However, most companies don’t chose candor and openness: true transparency is hard, as much as true honesty is.

Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor by Bennis, Goleman, O’Toole and Biederman (Part 1) #book #books #bookreviews #transparency #candor #companyculture https://journeytoleadershipblog.com

Leaders find it hard to be transparent:

  • In today’s world, the race to become number 1 brings leaders to overlook any wrongdoings or any existing flaws.
  • Another reason is that leaders need to make an immediate decision and look decisive. Therefore, leaders tend to dismiss information.
  • Knowledge is power and by virtue of human nature, most people, leaders included, enjoy hoarding information to feel powerful and superior.

Followers find it hard to be transparent:

  • Followers do not directly transfer raw internal information to the leader(s). The raw information is limitedly conveyed, colored and sugar-coated.
  • Followers think of leaders as demigods: they admire them and praise them. This attitude prevents followers from criticizing their leaders or speaking the awkward truth to them.

The need for whistleblowers

When there is no transparency, whistleblowers, loyal or not, patriotic or not, reveal the truth at the peril of their life because they believe that the organization’s secrets is too unscrupulous to keep and that the organization’s values no longer align with theirs.

Whistleblowers put their lives at risk, are often shunned, demoted for speaking the truth. With the development of internet, secrecy is almost impossible and whistleblowers are no longer at risk and can reveal secrets anonymously.

Blogs have become an unstoppable force, capable of damaging big and perennial corporations, institutions and individuals, of economically boycotting companies. Thankfully, blogs have protected and enabled whistleblowers.

How to create a culture of candor?

In order to implement a culture if candor, followers, on one hand, must feel free to speak up and to speak openly. On the other hand, leaders must value the truth, welcome unpleasant information and reward such openness.

  • Leaders must combat transparency by demanding feedback from their team and listening to the feedback.
  • Leaders must not to be overconfident about their own leadership capabilities.
  • Leaders must treat the follower’s ideas with importance and take counsel from the follower. Leaders must seek information at all level of chain.
  • Leaders should be allowed to be prudent and to take their time in order to make a decision.
  • Internal information flow must be treated as importantly as the information coming in and out of the organization.
  • Transparency should be mechanized by installing whistleblower software (EthicsPoint and Global Compliance Services for example) to enable employees to report anonymously any wrongdoings and to alert to any problems.
  • Whistleblowers should not be ostracized for speaking up.

The dangers of group-think

Bennis, Goleman and Biederman finally compare organizations secrets to the dark secrets kept by family members. In families as in organizations, the lack of transparency introduces toxic secrets that are unfortunately well kept.

These secrets tightly bond employees, which make it hard for a member to come forth by fear of being expelled, punished, by fear of threatening or destroying an entire organization.

Furthermore, these employees take pride in belonging to such a tight-knit organization, leading to feelings of superiority and to group-thinking.

Group-thinking is defined as the “subsequent congressional investigation made an explicit diagnosis of groupthink—a process in which unfounded assumptions drive a plan of action and contradictory information is suppressed, along with any doubts about the assumptions themselves”. Although group thinking brings in cohesiveness, it allows only one pattern of thinking and generally leads to one unique bad decision.

Review

images-31.jpg.jpegCreating a culture of candor, by Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman and Patricia Ward Biederman is a very interesting and well written essay. It provides us with pertinent examples, gives rise to contemporaneous observations and administers great advice for effectively creating a culture of candor.

While I was reading this essay, the Volkswagen scandal kept coming to mind in 2015 where the performance results of 11 millions cars worldwide where altered to admit a low carbon-dioxide emission levels. In the race to success, Volkswagen has not been candid with the public or to the Environmental Protection Agency.

This essay still highlights many current issues where numerous ethical issues present in modern corporations. It was surprising to see, even with the rise of digital technologies, how many corporations, organizations and institutions remain opaque.

Favorite quote(s)

In idea-driven organizations—and which are not these days?—genuine, collegial Leaders collaboration leads to better morale, a greater likelihood of creativity, and greater candor and transparency.

Ratings 4/5

Author

Warren Bennis

Patricia Ward Biederman

Daniel Goleman

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Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter by Robert Bruce Shaw

Great leadership emanates from an ability to make great decisions which comes from making bad decisions and learning from them. The sooner in your career that those bad decisions are made, the better…

Of course, you make fewer mistakes as you progress in your career and as you experience the outcomes of the mistakes, but you never stop making them. In addition, mistakes are more costly as you move up the ladder in a company and can potentially derail your career.

Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter by Robert Bruce Shaw #book #books #bookreview   #bookreviews #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #selfdevelopment https://journeytoleadershipblog.com

How to characterize leadership blindspots?

First of all, leadership blindspots  are often associated to leadership strengths. They appear whenever the leader is utilizing his or her strengths at work.

Second of all, these blindspots don’t disappear, even if you are fully aware of them.

Thirdly, blind spots are situational, adaptive and can be helpful. And finally, blindspots are able to impact other people and followers.

Advice for understanding and dealing with leadership blindspots?

Furthermore, blindspots come with a price and has to be recognized by the leader in order for him or her to find a balance. To do so, leaders have to weigh two conflicting needs:

  1. their need for acting with confidence, believing strongly in their vision, and having faith in themselves, their abilities.
  2. their need for assessing their limitations in order to avoid overconfidence or excessive optimism.

The complex balance between self-confidence and self-doubt is unnatural, contradictory but necessary, depends on each individual and each situation. If there are too many blindspots, the leader can be overly confident and arrogant. If there are too few, the leader is somewhat realistic about the obstacles to face, is aware of his or her strengths and weaknesses.

Are there different levels of blindness?

There are three levels of blindness that a leader could experience:

  1. Lack of awareness level. This is the “most extreme form of a blindspot”. At this level, leaders are constantly surprised or blindsided by events.
  2. Faulty assessment level. At this level, leaders are in denial: they refuse to acknowledge risks, to analyze known weaknesses, and to understand the causes and consequences of their blindspots.
  3. Failure to act level. At this level, leaders know the risks, threats and weaknesses that lay ahead but fail to act on them for lack of skills and resolve. Those leaders are adept to the rule “when in doubt, do nothing” or rather remain in their comfort zones.

How to identify your leadership blindspots? 

In order to identify your blindspots:

  1. Review your past and present mistakes. Mistakes are indicative of areas of lack of self-awareness and areas of faulty patterns of thinking and behavior. It is advised  to identify the most significant mistakes, their causes, patterns of behavior and thinking associated to these mistakes and the actions to be taken on the behalf of the leader to prevent those mistakes from reoccurring.
  2. Consider honest and useful feedback from your trusted advisors.
  3. Gain additional insight by taking the blindspot assessment survey.

Then, question the relative importance of your blindspots in your career and its impacts on yourself, the organization to  distinguish which blindspot requires your immediate attention.

What are the different types of leadership blindspots?

Robert Bruce Shaw has classified leadership blindspots in 20 categories:

  1. “Overestimating your strategic capabilities”
  2. “Valuing being right over being effective”
  3. “Failing to balance the what with the how”
  4. “Not seeing your impact on others”
  5. “Believing the rules don’t apply to you”
  6. “Thinking the present is the past”
  7. “Failing to focus on the vital few”
  8. “Taking for granted your team model”
  9. “Overrating the talent on your team”
  10. “Avoiding the tough conversations”
  11. “Trusting the wrong individuals”
  12. “Not developing real successors”
  13. “Failing to capture hearts and minds”
  14. “Losing touch with your shop floor”
  15. “Treating information and opinion as fact”
  16. “Misreading the political landscape”
  17. “Putting personal ambition before the company”
  18. “Clinging to the status quo”
  19. “Underestimating your competitors”
  20. “Being overly optimistic”

Which factors trigger blindspots?

Blindspots often go hand in hand with the leader’s strengths and reappear unexpectedly when the leader does what he or she does best.

There are few factors that lead to blindspots areas:

  1. Experience gaps“. The blindspot stems from a lack of experience or from a habit of using past experiences to extrapolate a present situation.
  2. Information overload” describes an inability to pay attention to everything that is happening when engaged in a complex and challenging task.
  3. Emotional bias” corresponds to an emotional involvement in a particular situation or outcome that clouds judgement.
  4. Cognitive dissonance” is a psychology term associated to a state in which leaders hold two conflicting views of their self-image. The “conflict is resolved through rationalizing one’s belief or actions in a manner that sustains one’s positive self-image” which reinforces the blindspot.
  5. “Misaligned incentives” are compensation systems that are “designed to focus attention and effort within an organization, with the result being that people focus more on some areas than on others”.
  6. Hierarchical distortion”. The information transmitted to hierarchy becomes distorted, false, incomplete because:
    • high-ranking leaders are sometimes detached from the lower levels of the organization.
    • subordinates tend to sugarcoat information by deference or by fear of retaliation.
    • high-ranking leaders pay less attention to less powerful people.
  7. Overconfidence“. Leaders overestimates their own capabilities, skills and knowledge.

How to overcome blindspots?

According to Robert Bruce Shaw, it is not possible to completely suppress blindspots but it is important to recognize them and find ways to work with them? To handle blindspot:

  1. Make an assessment of the problem on your own, stay on contact with frontliners, customers, markets and high potential individuals.
  2. Invest in metrics, processes and data that challenge the leader’s beliefs and basic assumptions.
  3. Develop an ability to recognize, prioritize blindspot warning signs.
  4. Consider feedback from trusted advisors.
  5. “Leaders need to test their ideas and discuss emerging threats with a diverse team of individuals who respect each other’s experience and abilities but are also willing to push each other to reach the best outcomes on the truly critical issues”.

In conclusion, leaders are flawed individuals with strengths, weaknesses and blindspots that are to be acknowledged. Blindspots often show up when the leader is using his or her strengths or reverts to their comfort zone, and cannot be completely resolved. It is up to the leader to stay on the lookout for blindspots, to strike up a balance between self-confidence and self-doubt.

Review

indexIn Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter, Robert Bruce Shaw analyses leadership behaviors when it comes to blindspots and weaknesses.

He illustrates every single one of his thoughts on blindspots with great and renown leadership examples and concludes each example with an analysis and lessons to take away.

Furthermore, not only this book contains realistic and applicable examples, each paragraph of this book can be read on standalone. In addition, Robert Bruce Shaw provides us with a tool —the blindspot assessment survey— for us to identify whether or not we possess blindspots and to what degree we have incubated them.

I recommend this book to employees who are failing to lead and to boost their careers. It has come to my knowledge that because of my belief system, I am an adept of the rule “when in doubt, stand still” which has not bothered my career but has increased my serenity.

After taking the blindspot assessment test, I have received a low probability of blindspots as I am self-aware of my strengths and of my weaknesses.

In light of this issue, in Leadership Blindspots, Robert Bruce Shaw investigates the existence of leadership blindspot, an “unrecognized weakness or threat that has the potential to undermine a leader’s success” and that becomes evident in the way your team, organizations and markets are perceived.

Finally, Leadership Blindspots was intriguing to me because there are so many books about leadership strengths and developing them. I equally appreciated the fact that he mentioned the need for transparency (better visibility of mistakes thanks to the media) which put leaders are under a lot of pressure, all while trying to overcome their blindspots.

Favorite quote(s)

People who are smart and self-assured are often very skillful at justifying their thinking and behavior—to the point of being in denial about their weaknesses and the threats they face. Their intelligence can work against them when they convince themselves, and often others, that they are right even when they are wrong.
Successful individuals who sometimes stumble often do so because they have no one who can protect them from themselves.
The best leaders develop a range of compensating mechanisms that fit their personalities and the company cultures in which they work. In many cases these leaders don’t fundamentally change the way they think, but instead develop warning systems that surface important weaknesses and threats.

Ratings 3/5

Author

Robert Bruce Shaw

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