Career Management Coaching

Who Do You Want To Be Known As

Career Management Coaching

Tag Archives: Ethical Values

Monday Anagrams – What’s your Awareness. . .

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 Although we lost an hour Early yesterday morning, we made it through the day this Monday.  Throughout our career path, we lose time, appointments, colleagues and friends and an occasional discussion.    It happens that we grow, develop and become more aware of who we are and how we interact with others.    Since I traveled to New York City on business, twice this month, I wanted to share with you a few anagrams I wrote, as follows:

 E arnestly the Speakers engaged

T he audience to

H ear how their journeys gave them strength to change.

I t never fails to reach the

C onsciousness of each person’s awareness.

S electively, we chose our next steps.  ©Jo Ann M. Radja

 

E arly on it became clear

T hat a Speaker told the truth.

H e said, “What was for many of us, was not in our future.”

I t was necessary to Pivot in order to 

C hange our chosen path.  Be guided by your integrity

S o the judgment of others won’t keep you from your Purpose..  ©Jo Ann M. Radja

 

 E verything outside of the vehicle was very still.  After

T he quick glance out his window, the driver

H eard no voices or sounds on the street or parkway.  He

I nstantly and 

C asually drove slower at 1:30am.

S o we continued to be safe for the next 10 blocks.  ©Jo Ann M. Radja

 

 E ver so softly people moved

T hrough the 9/11 Museum this Sunday morning.

H ow it affected people was

I nterrupted by watching

C arefully placed videos.  We were reminded to

S ee though our pain in order to appreciate the joy of the value of life.  ©Jo Ann M. Radja

Have a great week as you Choose Who You Want to be Known As.

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

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures  http://creativecommons.org/by-nc-sa

 

What’s Your BEST Daily Change?

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It was cold and dreary this morning and yet, a few hours later, it is brisk outside and full of sunshine.  Was this a change in opposites or just a 180 degree change of outlook – (from which we had no input)?

Change  is in the air this Friday in October. The Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in a Pennant race. Halloween is around the corner. Night football is played on television, and many businesses are gearing up for the last quarter of the year and we find ourselves “right in the middle of it all.”

If  we want to focus on one item in our career development before our life becomes more hectic than it already is – what would that be?  In other words, What’s your Best daily change?  Here are some thoughts on this subject:

Choose a path to stretch yourself, or:

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safeboundaries-enhanced-buzz-22855-1366095705-3-viatumbler-102116

change-pixabayfreeimage-from-john-hain-102116stream-1106336_960_720However you define your Best daily change, I hope it becomes intertwined with how You Choose how you want to be Known As.  Have a great Day and Weekend!

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

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures

http://creativecommons.org/by-nc-sa

Following Up is Not Always Easy. . .

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Pain often leads a conversation

Over six months ago, our city was mourning the loss of a young man who was shot while walking down a street.  After a video of the shooting was released, citizens vehemently blamed people they believed were personally responsible for the death.   Anger and bewilderment followed in our neighborhoods and across social media.  The personal anguish of citizens was felt, recognized and acknowledged resulting in municipal and federal investigations  beginning the work to respond to the demands understanding the Why of what happened. The citizen focus over the past few months appeared to be quiet and perhaps blurred.  When people are in mourning, learning how to deal with the pain is not an easy road to go down.  Pain leads the conversation.

I am writing this blog post because of two separate instances that happened this week.  The first occurred shortly after I arrived back in the City from a business trip.  I spoke to a man and asked a follow-up question of why downtown streets were closed due to police protection.  He was surprised I knew about what happened since I was away, and then responded that a construction crew accidentally hit an energy mainline.  Responding to his surprise, I said, “I’m signed up with the city to receive weather and other alerts.”   His perception: “That’s because you are So and So.”  The conversation remained friendly and the man understood from me that all citizens were able to receive the same alerts.

The second instance was my learning that the US Justice Department would hold a meeting where citizens would have an opportunity to raise their concerns about interaction with the police department – an outgrowth of the investigation that began six months ago.  I listened to this news shortly before 6:00am.  The next day the Illinois Progress website announced only 30 people attended the first Justice Department forum.  http://www.illinoisprogress.org.

Following up on issues that are important to you is not easy when you are in pain and mourning.  If I had not listened to the news early in the morning, I would not have known about the US Justice forum that evening.  The business of municipal and federal agencies is for the common good – so for those who would  like to attend a future forum, here is the listing, again from Illinois Progress:  http://progressillinois.com/news/content/2016/06/15/us-justice-department-hold-public-forums-chicago-police-department-probe.

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, consider reaching out to someone who would benefit and want to know about these future forums.  Thank you and have a great week!

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

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures

http://creativecommons.org/by-nc-sa

Do YOU have an Elephant in the Room?

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When the light around you lessens / And your thoughts darken /. . . Search yourself and see / That it is your own thinking / that darkens your world.   John O’Donohue

Earlier this afternoon, the following post was published under the title, “What’s YOUR Elephant in the Room?” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-your-elephant-room-jo-ann-m-radja    Here’s a copy for your reading:

“I just finished reading another LinkedIn Post about the paradox of innovation; namely, termination due to computer innovation. It took courage for an innovation expert who advises companies about innovation to share his personal story of how and why it came to be that his company fired staff. Yet, that ELEPHANT in the room idiom, had to be handled in a manner considering the employee’s best interest.

When we think about the idiom phrase of handling “the ELEPHANT in the room,” it usually refers to a subject matter that no one wants to discuss. Our brain perceives the conflict greater than it may be, represented by a large insurmountable figure.

Business Leaders accept the fact that the challenge of an ELEPHANT in the room must be dealt with. It is a conflict. Sometimes all that needs to be done is to have a conversation and the ELEPHANT is no longer in the room. Neuroscience, however, has offered a remarkable perspective, using an analogy of a Rider and an Elephant. The perspective is given by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Neuroscientist, Mr. Emile Bruneau.

Bruneau explains the analogy as an example of how the brain handles conflict by stating – all the Rider can do is to train the Elephant because the Elephant is more powerful that the Rider. The Rider cannot control or fully understand the Elephant. While this story is recited in a Post by the United States Institute of Peace in an effort to teach people how to deal with conflict. I believe it speaks volumes for the business actions we are involved with. A tool is introduced to deal with conflict, “universal empathy.” http://www.usip.org/olivebranch/2016/05/05/dalai-lama-offers-hope-youth-leaders-and-vice-versa?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=event&utm_campaign=events_weekly

We know we cannot control another individual. Since we do not understand the perspective of the individual, represented by the Elephant idiom, we need to ask open-ended questions so that a two-sided conversation takes place. The How of this neuroscience perspective is to approach an Elephant in the room, with universal empathy. Questions such as, “How would you describe. . .” “What did you think would happen if . . .? “What did you expect would happen. . .”

What’s remarkable is that neuroscience now helps to explain the issue of how the ELEPHANT in the room, comes to be – in the first place. The ELEPHANT is an idiom character representing conflict, triggered by an unconscious bias. The tool — new phrase of “universal empathy” becomes a positive application to use with the conflict idiom.

The term “universal empathy” may become mainstream because it is an inclusive term. We want and do take the first step in handling a conflict. As we begin to practice the use of universal empathy – when we access our own Pause button – perhaps we can alleviate the ELEPHANT idiom character showing up. It’s another way of handling ourselves and Choosing Who We Want to be Known As in our chosen career. Have a great week!

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

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures

http://creativecommons.org/by-nc-sa

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

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa

 

Tolerance. . .

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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

http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa

“‘Illusion of Trust’ as an Ethical Value”

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When I was growing up, I often heard the phrase, “What does your gut tell you?”  or, “I’ve got a sick feeling in my stomach about this.” The phrase of listening to your gut has come into vogue again because neuroscience has recognized the gut communicates to the brain faster than your heart.  Why is this important to know as we just finished the Halloween and Election events?  Perhaps it is because trust is still an illusion.  We want it, we rely on it and when it is not present in our lives, it causes disharmony that we learn to live with or just accept it because “that’s the way it is.”

While we trust our guts to assist us as we get ready for the early Winter weather in the month of November, we can learn to trust our guts in other situations.  As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, what positive value do you want people to know about you?  Have a great week.

Yesterday I published a Post on the social media platform of LinkedIn and I am sharing it with you below. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141105210316-32215190–illusion-of-trust-as-an-ethical-value?trk=prof-post)

“Illusion of Trust” as an Ethical Value  Nov 5 2014

The first way is: If you’re familiar with the 80/20 rule – speaking only 20% of the time in a relationship indicates it is dysfunctional. In other words, you give your own power of self-worth to another person.

The second way is: “Attraction creates the illusion of trust.” Fiffer recommends you listen to your gut when your judgment is being put aside for the other. When it comes down to it – why are you not paying attention to the feeling of, “something is not right here.”

Finally the third way appears to be derived from a social science or neuroscience perspective. Fiffer explains that when you are ruled by fear, you don’t act rationally and are unable to accept rational explanations. This appears to be so because the fear reaction, once triggered, will not stop until it is soothed.

As you manage your career, how often do you trust your gut in contract to your personal experience with an issue? How often has your gut enabled the right decision for you (or at least the best possible)? Do you keep an open mind first and then trust your gut, or the reverse? Interesting questions to consider during this first week in November.

I’m grateful I followed the linked and learned about The Good Men Project and hope to read Thomas G. Fiffer again. As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As, consider how often you trust and rely on your gut instincts to make informed decisions. Enjoy your month of November in your career.

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

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

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