Career Management Coaching

Who Do You Want To Be Known As

Career Management Coaching

Category Archives: Perceptions

Culture Diversity Awareness Perspective

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Be forceful with yourself, learn to integrate the negative, harnessing its force to cross the boundaries that would confine you.  John O’Donohue

Earlier today I published the following post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/weekend-cultural-perspective-jo-ann-m-radja for your weekend reading. . . thPZBEH363 Easter Tree Egg BING 032416

“Most of us read daily – reports, emails, online newspapers, LinkedIn posts, etc. A Spring surprise occurs when you click on a post and a brief read becomes memorable because it provides a new perspective.  The document I read is a brief read and is a take-away from a Nonviolent Leadership for Social Justice Retreat, written by Shameless Heart Coach, Marina Smerling.

Very simply, we are reminded to look into ourselves first.  Pay attention to what emotions are bubbling up in you when a trigger of words are spoken.  You begin the conversation because you know yourself very well.  And yet, an unconscious bias is trying to take hold in you while you want to control your reaction to the trigger of words.  A practice of not helping someone who didn’t ask for help may be the key to handle a trigger of words.  The issue is not the trigger itself, it is how are you handling yourself in the situation.  What are YOU paying attention to within yourself.

A perspective of how to handle yourself is to reach out as an ally.  As an ally you take away the “rank and privilege” connotation.  “I am your ally” is welcoming and creates a space that answers the question, “Why are your here?”

The photo above depicts a cultural practice of an Easter Tree.  What? you might say. Why would someone want to do that?  Perhaps it is another opportunity to understand the diversity in our community that believes the Easter Eggs represent new beginnings.  New beginnings is a universal concept that each of the member Coaches of the LinkedIn Group: Coaches for Equality and Diversity (CED) represent to foster understanding of these issues and its dynamics to the world at large.

 So what new beginnings during this Spring Season are you contemplating, as you Choose Who You Want to be Known As?   Whatever holiday you practice during the 2016 Spring Season, have a Happy Holiday!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja

Martha Lasley, Co-Founder of Leadership That Works, posted in the CED Group Marina Smerling’s document; written permission to share it with you was  given by Coach Smerling via Coach Lasley: http://www.leadershipthatworks.com/documentFiles/665.pdf

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What’s Your 2016 Spring Surprise?

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spring-1256806_640Spirit is an invisible force made visible in all life.  Maya Angelou

It happens often, you change for one reason or another. People you knew a number of years back are unable to accept the change. Apparently you surprised someone because of your development growth. What kept you together in a circle no longer applies It could be as simple as you no longer enjoy eating a certain food, or you lived in the same neighborhood and moved away, or you received a promotion that the other person wanted. Your Spring Surprise happens and you want to move forward.

Alternatively, you may be on the cusp of a change – in the process of transition. Your challenge is to assist someone to accept the transition in your career. Using the emotional intelligence matrix of. . .

observing,

describing,

accepting,

not taking it personally, and

not judging the other person. . . is one strategy to consider. Choosing Who Do You Want to be Known As during the transition process is your personal responsibility that you do not take likely. 

This weekend as the Spring Equinox greets us, very best wishes for YOUR Spring Surprise. . .

So, I

Persevered.

Resilience paid off.

It’s the first day of Spring and

Not too late to

Give back to those who were kind to me.

Doubts tried to creep into my mind for a while this past winter.

And were swept away.

Yearnings will come true as you focus on

what’s important to you. ©Jo Ann M. Radja*

 

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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* This anagram was first published by me on March 20, 2015 via LinkedIn.com/Pulse

 

 

Why We Often Stand Firm. . .

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Today is my Anniversary of writing on WordPress and I thank all of you for continuing to visit my blog.50bff48f11f940ecee9eae5f5e8b9138ListentoUnderstandnotReplyGeniusQuotes.netOver the past two weeks, I have travelled outside of Illinois for business and to another Illinois County.  These trips afforded me an opportunity to Listen to Understand.  The first instance was arriving at the airport, some two hours later because of bad weather.  The  Van Driver believed he would not receive a tip because he dropped me off less than two hours before flight time.  Of course, this safe driver and was not responsible for inclement weather.

The second example of Listen to Understand occurred the next day when I caught a cab to reach the business meeting.  (I chose not to walk because it had begun to rain and I was meeting people I had not met before.)  This young driver typed the destination into his GPS  and the GPS directed him onto a wrong highway.  He circled back and became confused; we began our trip all over again as it became clear he more easily found a business by the building name, rather than the address.  Both drivers were paid and each had “bent down heads” because they were listening for a reply to a possible negative encounter.  Personally, I was grateful I arrived safely at each destination.

The third instance occurred when I arrived back in Illinois after midnight .  The driver who  was scheduled to meet me, was unable to exit  the car park because of a password reset mix-up; the window attendant gave him a pass.  He told me his story as he explained that I almost didn’t back to where I lived in Chicago in the middle of the night.  While all three of these instances portray how we often stand firm when we speak, managing yourself leads to less conflict.

As You Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, consider how you manage a potential conflict when someone else stands firm. Enjoy your week!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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“Taming the Judgment”

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snowy-white-owlBING120213This post was originally published on October 24, 2014 by the social media platform LinkedIn at:  http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141024202444-32215190-weekend-thoughts-taming-the-judgment?trk=mp-edit-rr-posts

“Weekend Thoughts — Taming the Judgment

A few months ago, I finished reading a book by Margaret J. Wheatley: Turning to one another. Simple Conversations to restore hope in the future (2009). Ms. Wheatley follows the principle of Occam’s Razor – the simplest answer appears to be the right answer. What’s the simplest task we all share – communicating. “It’s not the differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do.” If we think about the last time we may have rolled our eyes or became quiet while listening to someone, what judgment did we have that caused the rolling of the eyes or the quietness. How did that emotion (underlying judgment) stop a positive conversation from beginning or continuing?

Let’s face it. We sometimes are not at our best in handling a situation. I may be biased because I like Chicago Pizza more than New York or California Pizza. Yet, I can appreciate and learn the uniqueness of each presentation of Pizza and the different ingredients. Once we recognize the bias for what it is, it helps to tame the judgment directing our actions, to allow anopen conversation to understand another’s perspective. Mr. Wheatley’s Turning to One Another is an enlightening process of understanding ourselves more than we might initially realize.

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As, when a recent conversation didn’t go as well as you may have wanted, consider what you wanted to have happen. Was there an underlying judgment you may have had about the subject matter, or how the other person spoke or presented his viewpoint? An unconscious judgment can be tamed, once we identify it. The issue becomes, do you want to? How will it help you as you manage your career? ”

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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What’s rolling into your Year of 2016?

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The following anagram was published today via LinkedIn Pulse at http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-rolling-from-2015-your-year-2016-jo-ann-m-radja:

H opes we had occasionally came true.

A nd we still pursued and pressed forward.

P erseverance may pay off as

P erhaps 2016 may be the

Y ear we vision it will be.

Y et, it still remains our choice to

E mbrace the negative

A nd

R eframe our hopes, targets and expectations into the year 2016!©Jo Ann M Radja

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As have the best year ever in 2016!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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Tolerance. . .

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quote-compassion-and-tolerance-are-not-a-sign-of-weakness-but-a-sign-of-strength-dalai-lama-222462120815

Biases, like diseases, have many causes; yet we throw the same cure at everything.  Dr. David Rock

 

People seem to act on beliefs that do not seem wholesome. When a sale may be imminent and your intuition has been urging you to go the other way, take a moment and choose to be compliant.   Speak up is the new mantra so we don’t find ourselves saying,  “I wish I hadn’t done that.” I  wish I had known what I know now.”   “What was I thinking.”

Our first reaction is often, judgment, after learning unsettling facts. It’s very hard to sit back and wait for the truth to be known. We feel an emotion so strong that our anchored initial judgment will not allow us to hear, let alone listen, to facts that answer our questions. The anchored initial judgment will not allow the pain to be diffused easily. Humanity hurts and our level of patience and understanding seems to have reached a level close to exhaustion because the unsettling reality is so painful. When the Challenger Space Shuttle blew-up before our eyes on television, people said enough, take it off the media. http://www.history.com/topics/challenger-disaster. The deaths we have witnessed recently across the United States in the past few weeks is enabling many people to also say, enough. President Obama offers a number of strategies to keep us safe at our workplaces: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/06/address-nation-president. Tolerance is a basic American value, both at the workplace and our community.

We are living and working in a new era.  Our responsibility lies within us to follow the advice of our Leaders to maintain the common good for all of us.  Peace. 

 

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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Pepper Spice, Nuts, Fruit and other Bounty

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PinterestonBING112315a8c92ffe625b77a88ca1d83ef3f344d2Our workplace demonstrates how diversity enhances our well-being. We like to hear: “We’re glad you’re here.” “Thanks for bringing up that point, it adds to our conversation.” “I didn’t know that’s what it means in your culture.”

Our commonality looks for the difference we bring to the Table. It enables us to understand another viewpoint and how the viewpoint impacts the discussion.

With pride, we may bring to the Thanksgiving Table, pepper spice, nuts, fruit and our local Bounty – just a few of the diversity items we add to the mix of celebrating Thanksgiving. Because it is a centuries old tradition of giving thanks for a good harvest, our ancestors taught us to recognize how adversity shows us to step back and give thanks for what we did right during the year – whether during our career or personally.

New beginnings definitely took place during our career this year and we survived events we never contemplated. As You Choose Who You Want to be Known As this Thanksgiving, have a safe and enjoyable Holiday!

Shown below are a few websites that may bring a smile of knowing new facts about Thanksgiving —

8 Terrific Turkey Facts: http://www.livescience.com/17057-turkey-facts-thanksgiving.html

11 Surprising Thanksgiving Facts: http://www.livescience.com/41506-surprising-thanksgiving-facts.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=most-popular

Historical Facts about Thanksgiving you may not have known: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/multimedia-reference-library/read-articles-and-writings/thanksgiving-history

Enjoy! “Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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Monday Musing – 16 days into November 2015

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no_barriersBINGsearchforcontinuityimaes111615 Continuity in everything is unpleasant.  Cold is agreeable, that we may get warm.  Pascal

 

New words that describe continuity, words we might want to use and one word with 12 meanings are the subject matters of the following three recently posted articles on different aspects of continuity in today’s workplace.

 

http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/38-convincing-words-and-phrases-to-adopt-immediately-.html

 

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/12-reasons-to-hire-employees-who-make-mistakes.html

Have a great week in your careers!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive & Career Management Coach

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When YOU least expect it…

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barn-owlfromBING101915What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.  This rule, equally arduous in actual and intelligent life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

It continues to give me pause of the biases people have, based either on age or appearance.  Each generation often greets another generation with surprise, rather than acceptance of what knowledge/skills they have.  I experienced this phenomenon again yesterday when a person couldn’t believe that I passed an exam, because her unconscious bias placed the biggest look of surprise on her face I haven’t seen in a long time.

Positive outcomes during the day often balance the negativity we may experience.  It is a work in process to learn how not to take certain actions personally or become judgmental of what may be said.  The daily balancing of our soft skills is the platform for managing ourselves and others in our career path.

Surprising ourselves with what is curious could be a mantra that leads us to self-development.  As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, when you least expect to — have fun practicing the element of surprise of a curious situation.

Enjoy your day!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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Impossible fun . . . with curiosity

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th6NJHG7XZMickeyMouseclipartBING092515It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.   Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.  Walt Disney

Earlier today I published a post on LinkedIn Pulse with the Title of The Three R’s.  http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/three-rs-jo-ann-m-radja.  Here is a modified version of that post.

A man in a creative job had been working on a new project. He submits it to the client and a discussion ensues. Even though the project was deemed unacceptable for the marketplace, he believed the discussion was fair. It was such a shock and a setback to subsequently learn his staff was hired away from him (except one man) by the company who deemed his work was out-of-fashion. This story occurred sometime during the 1920’s.  Whether it is a myth or a restatement of history, unfortunately, this story rings true for many people.
The terms of reinvent, re-engineered, retooled or right-sized were not spoken in this creative man’s era; his story has universality for us today, some 90 years later.  What Walt Disney did with his one employee was to collaborate and re-work his original drawings. Mickey Mouse was then born and introduced to the community. Many of the action terms we use today – customer driven, vision and focus, brain-storming new ideas and visualizing real-world activities for the new character – took place in the development and implementation of the Mickey Mouse character.

How quickly do you rebound from a serious let-down? What did you tell yourself to regroup and continue on? Did you re-frame the situation or just recognized perhaps the timing was all wrong? Stating these questions another way: What feedback did you receive that continued the spark in you to recognize, relate and resolve your actions to the next step? How frequently do you rely on YOUR three R’s As You Choose Who You Want to be Known As?

During the month of October, I hope your three R’s work to your best advantage as you recognize, relate and resolve.

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“Jo Ann” M. Radja Executive and Career Management Coach

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