OWNing your career!

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The case for Diversity, what it is and why it matters!

Diversity is a term that for some, can hit like a slap in the face. Why do we need it? Why are we talking about this, again? I had a co-worker exclaim after she was voluntold she would be a part of the Diversity committee that the population we were trying to serve didn’t need this and this was a way to label them. I disagreed but she was looking through a narrow lenses. Let’s try to broaden and better define what and follow up with why. If you ask people to define diversity, as I have, in multiple environments from the world of work to the education space it boils down to: 1. Race 2. Gender This is such a small and skewed way of looking at a topic that has the capacity to transform how we interact, view others and do business. Defining diversity, said Eric Peterson of SHRM, is “any way any group of people can differ significantly from another group of people – appearance, sexual orientation, veteran status, your level in the organiza

Market Yourself like a start-up!

These days, thinking of your career solely in terms of duties, tasks and even promotions is outdated, firmly inside the box and not really beneficial to providing the most bang for your proverbial buck. Think of how Amazon operates. They market their products; they ship products, hire people. They don’t have the time to consider one task, complete said task before operating in another area and neither do you! Go with what works and adapt your philosophy for your job search. 1 st - YOU are the company and here are a couple of ways to Plan your career : · Marketing YOU : Focused and specific numbers driven content extolling your achievements should be the rule not the exception and rid yourself of empty statements such as “Exceptional communication skills, written and verbal.” Think about where you can best market yourself to maximize your exposure, to offer advice and trumpet YOU, show don’t tell them how great you are. · Think long and short-term strate

Mass Application Dash, MAD!

Mass Application Dash, MAD: I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs and had no replies! What’s the problem? In my professional diagnosis, there are a couple of directions we could go here. If you’re at all familiar with business process mapping, can’t stand it myself, it might look like this (minus the visuals): A. You – apply – no response (repeat cycle). What you want it to look like is: B. You – apply – interview request – job offer. How do you get from point A to point B? Start by analyzing what you’re doing and looking for opportunities for success. So, the problem is you have applied for hundreds of jobs. Stop there and ask yourself, has applying for hundreds of jobs helped me? Just because you don’t have a job or an interview doesn’t mean the answer is no. Big picture, perhaps now you realize that merely flooding the system with your resume is not sufficient and the goal should be to take a more measured, strategic approach. Meaning, focus your

Managing for the first time

Managing for the first time By Daryl M Williams Beaded sweat on my forehead drips on the small of my back, sleep wracked by erratic motion and an inability to relax, doubt plagued thoughts imagining catastrophe and ruin. Not the beginning of a poem, if it were it wouldn’t be one of my better examples, but this is a slight exaggeration of how I felt the days and nights leading up to my first step into the managerial arena. Why was I so despondent when this is something I wanted, badly? I’ve always considered being in management the opportunity for ordinary people to have an EXTRAORDINARY responsibility. Now, I didn’t join the police or become a firefighter, I didn’t become a Ranger, Delta Force or the team lead on Seal Team Six but I realized I potentially had the opportunity to decide the following: 1. Who was interviewed 2. Who was hired – Are your kids eating today? 3. Who was fired – Will the rent/mortgage be paid? 4. Make work passable i

I’m a Career Changer and it wasn’t easy! By Daryl M Williams I work with people, some are career advancers, others are career launchers, but my goal today is to talk about the career changer. I am qualified in that I went through this process not that long ago. Won’t bore you with the specifics, but it required me to take some steps. Step 1: What’s my brand? I’ve never really liked the term brand as it relates to us humans much like some of my students recoiled whenever I said ‘Sell yourself!’ I still needed to discover what my BRAND would be. I recognized I likely wasn’t going to be as familiar as the Target bulls-eye , Nike or Apple but that was and is OK with me. I decided that what I enjoyed doing was what I intended to do moving forward and that was helping and teaching others and specifically on career related topics . That discovered, I needed to figure out ways to communicate my worth and experience. Step 2: Developing my identity I worked on developing my i

Advice to a younger me

Advice to a younger me By Daryl M Williams Full disclosure…. …I haven’t always been a model employee. Sometimes the truth hurts but writing that doesn’t hurt me although I know I have potentially prevented myself from achieving in some areas and opportunities in other areas. How is not important and you don’t have to tell me how you may have sabotaged yourself but knowing is half the battle. Right? So, what would a mature Daryl tell a younger Daryl? Lots of things, like Peeps really don’t taste good, avoid certain types of beverages and try and align your jobs with your career. Please see below for some relevant specifics: Learn at every opportunity: Whether from a direct report, peer, customer or leader make sure to take the opportunity to learn. I think I’ve done this for the most part but it is worth mentioning and I certainly could do it better. Don’t take things so personal: Now I come across nice enough, in fact a former co-worker once told me “Ever