OWNing your career!

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

These days, thinking of your career solely in terms of duties, tasks and even promotions is outdated, firmly inside the box and not really beneficial to providing the most bang for your proverbial buck.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