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Here Comes Careertopia!

Jan 25, 2013 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

We’ve noticed something.

And we simply can’t ignore it anymore.

Over the past few months, we’ve been paying special attention to reader feedback, blog comments, our social media conversations, and news stories about employee job dissatisfaction.

These sources have revealed that you are likely looking for something. In some cases, desperately hunting it.

And just what is it you’re looking for?

Careertopia.

Yes, we made that word up.

But it’s okay to make up a word….as long as you also make up its definition, right?

So here’s how we define Careertopia:

When your projects, clients and coworkers generally energize you, instead of constantly draining you, you’ve found your Careertopia.
When you have a sense of accomplishment at work and feel fulfilled most every day, you’ve found your Careertopia.
When you wake up on Monday mornings, enthused about your week ahead (and it’s not because of your cute new coworker) you’ve found your Careertopia.

Careertopia is what you experience when your strengths, motivations, and values align with your job, your team, and your work environment.

Obviously, it’s a great place to be.

And we want to help you get there.

So – as of January 29th – we’re undergoing a transformation.

Our blog will move over to MyCareertopia.com, and will begin featuring articles along these lines:

We’ll be sharing the concepts, advice and tools that will help you get more fulfillment from your career, without having to sacrifice who you are.

So if you’ve spent some time in your current job, but can’t help wondering, “Is it possible to build a career that pays the bills AND makes me happy?”

The answer is yes. Most assuredly. And we will show you how to do it.

If you’re not already subscribed, just click the image below to sign up for our weekly updates.

In addition, you could win a Kindle Fire HD. Sweet! We’ll be randomly selecting a winner from our new subscribers next week. Stay tuned!

Are We There Yet?

If you’ve already found your Careertopia….woo-hoo! Congrats!

That makes you more fortunate than about half the folks you know.

And you know what they’d really like to hear about?

How to find their Careertopia.

You don’t want to deny them the career happiness and fulfillment you’re experiencing, do you?

You’d better share this with them. They’ll thank you for it!

Rock That Job Interview Like Wonder Woman

Jan 17, 2013 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

Did you know that standing like Wonder Woman – feet apart, hands on hips, gaze slightly upward – before your job interview can increase your chance of success?

Or that kicking back in a feet up, hands-behind-your-head position helps you exude more confidence and express yourself more authentically a few minutes later?

But the secret is, well, doing it in secret.

The posing is prep you do for a power boost before your big moment. You don’t want to do it with an audience.

In her TED talk last spring, Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy shared fascinating work on “power posing” and how your body position influences your brain.

[Cuddy's TED talk, "Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are" is embedded below this post.]

A social psychologist, Cuddy found herself observing what she calls the “power nonverbals” of MBA students in her classroom at Harvard.

She saw behaviors ranging from stereotypical alpha-style actions like spreading out and taking up space, to the non-power postures of other students who Cuddy says were “virtually collapsing on themselves”.

Her observations drove a number of questions, leading to her research.

We already know that our non-verbals govern how others think and feel about us.

But Cuddy set out to learn if those same non-verbals could govern how we think and feel about ourselves.

Could standing in a powerful-looking position for two minutes be impactful enough to make a person feel more powerful? Enough to cause them to behave more powerfully a short while later?

Turns out, it can.

In her lab research – which included job interview scenarios – Cuddy found that power posing increased a person’s presence in stressful, evaluative situations.

Subjects who had privately performed high-power poses for two minutes prior to a challenging job interview scenario were evaluated more highly than the subjects who practiced low-power poses.

Cuddy reports that the increased feeling of power that develops from using high-power poses makes us appear more passionate, enthusiastic, confident, captivating, and more comfortable being our authentic selves.

She states, “Our bodies change our minds, and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes.”

So before you go into another stressful, evaluative situation – like a job interview – try striking one of the high-power poses she shares in the video.

Just be sure to leave your lasso of truth at home.

Image courtesy of Julian Fong.

11 Surefire Ways to Become Happier at Work

Nov 27, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

Today we’re featured on Shake Off The Grind. If you’d like to read the entire post, click the link to visit their site. Thanks!

If you’re not heading into work with a spring in your step, it might be time to stop wishing for things to change and begin creating some happiness instead.

A leader in the scientific study of well-being, author Sonja Lyubomirsky advocates the phrase “creation of happiness” to the more popular “pursuit” of it. Her research suggests that happy individuals are more creative, helpful, charitable, and self-confident.

One key to creating more happiness is outlined in The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. In the book, Achor overviews fascinating research, concluding that “What we spend our time and mental energy focusing on can indeed become our reality.”

Aristotle defined happiness as “eudaimonia” which translates to “human flourishing.” Don’t you like the sound of that?

If you’re interested in becoming happier at work – or maybe even flourishing? – here’s how to do it:

Image courtesy of epSos.d.

3 Simple Habits to Happier Living

Nov 15, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

We’re pleased to be featured on MySuperChargedLife.com today. If you enjoy the intro below, just click through to read the rest.

The pursuit of happiness.

We’re all familiar with that phrase. But in the growing field of positive psychology, experts like Sonja Lyubomirsky are recommending we instead focus on the “creation” or “construction” of happiness, since research shows that experiencing happiness is entirely up to us.

There are a number of ways to define happiness, but I like Aristotle’s version the best. He described happiness as “eudaimonia” which translates to “human flourishing.”

So with the hope of flourishing, I began looking for new ways I could create more happiness in my life.

And developed three new habits in the process.

Image courtesy of Derrick Collins.

4 Surprising Lessons Learned From A Millennial Boss

Nov 14, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

We’re pleased to be featured on MillennialCEO today. If you enjoy the intro below, just click through to read the rest.

It was the perfect job. A flexible position with an interesting company, and an exciting new learning opportunity.

One problem: my boss-to-be was a Millennial.

I’d been out of the work force for a few years, enjoying full-time motherhood. So the idea of reporting to someone who was (nearly) young enough to be my son was a small concern.

But the “Millennial” thing? Scary.

Image courtesy of thiloleibelt.

5 Tips To Repair The Damage From a Misunderstanding

Nov 7, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

We’re pleased to be featured on Tiny Buddha today. If you enjoy the intro below, just click through to read the rest.

There will always be misunderstandings in life. That’s a given.

The question is, how much damage will they do? How will misunderstandings affect our fulfillment? Our overall happiness?

And I’m not talking about the “Three’s Company” style of misunderstandings, which result from mistaken identity or eavesdropping. Those eventually get resolved with a cheesy group-hug, until the next episode, anyway.

No, I’m referring to the more insidious kind of misunderstandings.

The Minimalist’s Guide to Career Happiness

Oct 26, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

We’re honored to be featured on GoodLifeZEN today! Here’s a taste….just click below to read the full article.

Think about the worst job you’ve ever had.

I’m talking about brain dead, boring, tedious, work. You’ve had at least one of those, yes?

Sometimes we accept a job like that, knowing that it doesn’t suit us perfectly. But we’re not in a position to be particularly choosy. We have to pay the bills, right?

But other times, the job looked great on the surface. Only after accepting the offer did you discover that it didn’t suit you at all.

Why is that?

Image courtesy of Camdiluv.

How Your Job Dissatisfaction Could Earn You a Kindle Fire HD

Oct 16, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog No Comments

We’ve noticed something.

And we simply can’t ignore it anymore.

Over the past few months, we’ve been paying special attention to reader feedback, blog comments, our social media conversations, and news stories about employee job dissatisfaction.

These sources have revealed that you are likely looking for something. In some cases, desperately hunting it.

And just what is it you’re looking for?

Careertopia.

Maybe you’ve heard of it?

If not, here’s the scoop:

When your projects, clients and coworkers generally energize you, instead of constantly draining you, you’ve found your Careertopia.
When you have a sense of accomplishment at work and feel fulfilled most every day, you’ve found your Careertopia.
When you wake up on Monday mornings, enthused about your week ahead (and it’s not because of your cute new coworker) you’ve found your Careertopia.

Careertopia is what you experience when your strengths, motivations, and values align with your job, your team, and your work environment.

Obviously, it’s a great place to be.

And we want to help you get there.

So we’re transforming our blog a bit.

We’ll soon be featuring articles along these lines:

We’ll be sharing the concepts, advice and tools that will help you get more fulfillment from your career, without having to sacrifice who you are.

So if you’ve spent some time in your current job, but can’t help wondering, “Is it possible to build a career that pays the bills AND makes me happy?”

The answer is yes. Most assuredly. And we will show you how to do it.

Just click on the image below to sign up for our launch announcement later this month.

In addition, you could win a Kindle Fire HD. Sweet! Click the picture below.

If you’ve already found your Careertopia….woo-hoo! Congrats!

That makes you more fortunate than about half the folks you know.

And you know what they’d really like to hear about?

How to find their Careertopia.

You don’t want to deny them the career happiness and fulfillment you’re experiencing, do you?

You’d better share this with them. They’ll thank you for it!

Prediction: Introverts Will Soon Be in High Demand

Aug 22, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog, Communication, Personal Growth, Understanding Yourself 11 Comments

So, you described that guy as an “introvert.”

That’s kind of like a wallflower, right?

Nope.

Well, that’s pretty much what Dictionary.com says. See?

But experts like Susan Cain, Lisa Petrilli, and Marti Olsen Laney offer a new definition for introvert. A better one, if you ask me. But maybe that’s because these experts recently lifted a burden I’d been carrying around for many years.

They describe introverts as people who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying, and who generally prefer working on their own over brainstorming in teams.

And based on what these experts are saying, we can write off the selfish-sounding second definition listed above, too. Consider that introverts aren’t concerned primarily with their own thoughts and feelings, although they may appear that way.

Yes, introverts focus on thoughts and feelings, but it’s not necessarily limited to their own.

As with extroverts, some introverts are task-oriented, others are people-oriented. And people-oriented introverts consider others’ thoughts and feelings, just like people-oriented extroverts do. Maybe even more. [There's a study mentioned later in this post with supporting data].

The Power of Introverts…at Work

According to Cain, we don’t need giant personalities to lead teams or build great companies. We need people who, instead of building their egos, want to create something to share with the world. And just because you’re an introvert, that doesn’t mean you don’t have what it takes.

Regardless of what that little voice inside your head might be saying. (Just tell him to shut up for a minute.)

In fact, according to the famous study by management theorist and author Jim Collins (Good to Great, 2001 – affiliate link), many of the best-performing companies of the late 20th century – Kimberly-Clark, Coca-Cola, Intel, and Merck – had unassuming leaders who were repeatedly described by their teams in these terms: quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated.

Now we’re talking.

Cain, an introvert herself, publicly shares the impact of living in a culture where being social and outgoing are often prized above all else. In her book, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” [affiliate link], Cain reports that it can be difficult, and sometimes feel shameful, to be an introvert in our society.

No argument here.

As she argues in this passionate TED talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world. She recommends they be encouraged and celebrated.

And it’s not just Cain who is promoting this idea of introvert appreciation.

Last Spring, Harvard Business Review posted the article, How Introverts Can Become Better Innovators. The author, Francesca Gino, and her team of researchers held a lab experiment in which they encouraged participants to adopt either a more introverted or extroverted behavior.

They found that introverts listened carefully to the creative ideas suggested by others, helping others feel valued and motivated to do their work. By contrast, extroverts appeared to feel threatened by the innovative ideas proposed by others, appearing to be less receptive to those ideas.

The article concludes with this exceptional advice for introverts (and I’m not just saying that because it’s the same message we share here and here and here. It really is good advice):

1. Reflect on your creative moments & seek out an environment that triggers them.
2. Recognize the pros and cons of your own personality.
3. Try to adapt your personality to the context.

Free At Last!

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that by bringing these concepts to the mainstream, these experts have lifted a burden that has affected me for many years. A burden that was built upon feelings that something was inherently wrong with me, because I did not fit into (what Cain calls) the Extrovert Ideal in our Culture of Personality.

In fact, last January my DISC assessment placed me on the introverted side of the DISC wheel. And I was extremely resistant to the concept.

I actually told the career coach, “Me? I’m not introverted! I walk in the room and address the group. When everyone at the meeting is clearly uncomfortable, I lighten the moment and poke fun at myself. I’m no introvert!”

My coach smiled. We patiently reviewed the assessment and eventually I became less resistant to the label.

But I was still bothered by the fact that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I worked to adapt and appear like I “should” in order to fit in (enthusiastic, magnetic, dominant, fascinating, etc.), that I couldn’t escape it. I’m an introvert.

So I when I discovered Cain and her fellow introvert fans – along with their alternate view of what it means to be introverted – I couldn’t believe my eyes. Or my heart. I was so thankful that someone understood these feelings. And that they could also identify with how these feelings had affected me throughout my career.

This research and these publications have impacted me in a significant way. They’ve given me permission to be myself – most of the time. (As the scientists above recommend, sometimes you must adapt to get the results you’re seeking).

For example: when pressed for a decision by an extroverted teammate – or even my boss – I now comfortably say, “I’d like to consider that. Can I get back with you this afternoon?”

I can actually ask for what I need in order to perform at my best! Without experiencing ANY feelings of guilt or inadequacy when I do it.

It’s an amazing feeling. One that has significantly improved my happiness at work. And at home.

One Valuable Gift

Watching Cain impersonate her childhood summer camp counselor totally hit home for me. I, too, had avoided such childhood cheers as ”R-O-W-D-I-E! That’s the way we spell rowdy! Rowdy! Let’s get rowdy!” As a kid, I loathed all such activities.

So later that day, I had my 10-year old daughter watch Cain’s TED talk with me.

When my daughter said, “She’s kind of like me, Mom. That’s so cool!” I got a bit teary.

In fewer than 20 minutes Cain gave my daughter a gift. A gift with that has the potential to empower her to achieve things that I’ve only just begun to dream about for myself.

Thank you, Susan. From both of us.

Image courtesy of Tristan Ferne.

5 Big Blunders To Avoid On Your First Day At a New Job

Aug 14, 2012 Michelle Agner Blog, Professional Development 1 Comment

It’s your first day at a new job, and there’s no shortage of advice on what you should do to make a good first impression.

But in reality, making a substantial positive impression on your first day is somewhat unlikely, no matter what you do.

However, there are mistakes you can make which can cause a significant negative impression right off the bat.

As a result, you’re better served focusing on avoiding those crucial mistakes rather than making an extra effort to impress and dazzle your co-workers and bosses as soon as you step through the door.

Here are five serious mistakes that you need to avoid if you are looking to make the most out of your first day at a new job.

1. Showing Up Late

This is definitely one of the worst things that you can do, because it makes you look like you don’t care about rules and company practices. As a general rule, you know not to show up late to work, but the first day is especially important. In fact, showing up 15 or so minutes early on your first day is recommended, because it makes you appear not only timely and responsible, but also eager to begin working at your new place of employment.

2. Dressing Inappropriately

During the recruiting process, you’ve likely been to the office already. So you’ve seen environment and the people who work in it, which gives you a feel for the company dress code before anyone attempts to spell it out for you. Follow their lead on the first day at a new job.

Some folks are under the wrongful impression that when it comes to dress code, your employers will cut you some slack if you are still assimilating into the company.

But that is not always the case.

Play it safe, and assume you’ll be analyzed and judged as soon as you enter the office. Presume that one of the first things that will get noticed is your attire. Be aware of the company dress code and follow it rigorously on the first day.

3. Not Asking Questions

You might feel a bit embarrassed asking questions on the first day at a new job.

But keeping your mouth shut and trying to handle things on your own instead of asking for help you will not gain you any points. In fact, it might make you seem unfriendly and insecure.

Everyone expects the new guy to ask questions, so don’t disappoint them. If you’re tasked to deliver an item elsewhere in the building, don’t risk wandering around the building aimlessly for half an hour in search of the place. Ask.

4. Bragging

Some people feel the need to brag about themselves on day one in order to prove their worth.

Generally, this tactic will neither win you friends, nor influence people (sorry, Mr. Carnegie).

For now, the fact that you were hired is proof enough that you can get the job done. If someone asks you about your past professional accomplishments or education, feel free to let them know, but don’t be the first to mention them. Especially on the first day at a new job.

There is a good chance that most people in the office will already know about your accomplishments and why you were hired – remaining humble will only make them respect you more.

5. Skipping Out on Orientation

Despite its good intentions, the general consensus is that orientation (for many companies) is dreary. Regardless of whether your orientation is optional or not, you should not skip it.

And consider taking it seriously. While there is no need to go overboard with participation and excitement, refrain from outright goofing off no matter how silly you think the exercises are. Stay awake no matter how boring the slide shows are.

You never know who is attending these orientations. The new VP may have insisted she go through the process like any other new hire. And perhaps she’s sitting right next to you, like any other newbie.

No one expects you to wow the office and make jaws drop on your first day at a new job.

But being able to avoid these crucial mistakes will put you in a better position to make a strong impression within the first few weeks at your new job.

Have you ever made one of these blunders on the first day at a new job? Or one similarly bad?

David Lazar is a regular blogger at PDF tips blog. With a background in journalism, he specializes in writing blogs on a variety of topics, including freelancing, careers, finances, technology and new media.

Image courtesy of Kimberly Jones.

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