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Who Do You Want To Be Known As

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Valentines Day 2015

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Here’s a Valentine’s Day Business Anagram from     From Chicago to you, Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you enjoy the anagram below:

Very often

After something happens, we wish we

Listened more carefully.

Events, such as

Now – Valentine’s Day – provide

The opportunity to make amends.

It’s your turn to speak.

Nothing can take away what was said.

Early is better than later —

So happy you took the chance.

Do what is in the best interests of your Team.

Accept you are a Servant Leader ‘cause

You are very good at it.

Authored by Jo Ann M. Radja, Career Management Coach 02/13/14

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Saint Nick – December 6th

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Happy Saint Nicholas Day!  From the Third Century up to today, this day is celebrated throughout the world.  A wonderful explanation of St. Nick is provided under the heading beginning with Albania at this Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nicholas_Day

St. Nick’s kindness was extended to children, sailors and voyagers, during his lifetime.  Everyone of us is enveloped by that sense of kindness.  Be kind to someone during this holiday season to feel the goodness it brings back to you.

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

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We Winced…

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I’ve hear it say that “People have a short memory.”  Democrats would hope that is true as well as the Chicago Bears.  The Democrats felt it last week when the election results turned sour for many.  Watching the Chicago Bears yesterday, you felt it as well.  We winced, we can’t seem to watch it, any more than that moment, a minute or the next few hours.

We have great empathy for well-known groups of people who are having a really bad time of it when they stop competing as a group.  We may take it for granted that unquantifiable circumstances led to a poor showing of their performance.  We wince with pain during our lives and following a public blow to our ego. Yet, failure breeds a new determination to try again.  Like a Phoenix – life anew rises above the ashes.

If we were in the shoes of a public faux pax – we would be grateful for a mindful perspective.  It would –  to be observant, to be descriptive, to act, to be non-judgmental and to take it on the chin.  Yes,  we winced in defeat but it’s not over yet. Guy Kawasaki’s wisdom may come into play – “A good idea is 10% implementation and hard work and 90% luck.”

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, consider how you dealt with a career move that you wished didn’t happen. How did you  turn it around?       Have a great week!

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

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“‘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”

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When Culture Works Against a Customer

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There is a very humorous story of an employee who not only misplaced his cell phone once, but twice within the same day. True to form, he was able to continue his business trip.*  His story relates how he had the courage to recognize  – because of his own actions – his buttons were pushed and what he was capable of – it may be called:

Unresolved anger, rushing without focus, lack of self-management or a learning experience to depend on someone who is much younger than you are.

Yesterday on my way home, I stopped at the grocery store and found myself in a somewhat similar situation – a reversal of the above-story. The small electronic scanner, at the check-out counter failed.   After scanning my card, the screen did not link to the next page.   The moment I pressed the screen, it reverted to the welcome screen.  After at least five attempts, the Check-out Clerk announced, “She doesn’t know what she’s doing, call a Supervisor.”  She refused to hear how I explained the screen was malfunctioning.

The Supervisor arrived, attempted a fix, but the electronic scanner continued to fail. The Supervisor worked earnestly, while the Check-out Clerk mumbled for all to hear,  “She still doesn’t know what she’s doing.”   Finally, I asked if there was an ATM machine in the store.  I was told there was and had no trouble getting cash to pay for my groceries – which is what I attempted to do at the exit counter.  When I arrived back at the exit counter, both the Supervisor and the Bagger had their heads down in apology, while the Check-out Clerk, did not.  She only displayed an indignant face.

One definition of Culture in a workplace is, “It’s how we do things around here.”    I will probably visit this store again because there were other employees who had a friendly service attitude. Outbursts do occur, for a variety of reasons.   It’s How You Choose Who You Want to be Known As in the situation that matters to those around you and what you learned about yourself.   Have a great week in your career!

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

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* http://fortune.com/tag/stanley-bing .   “A Tale of Terror in which my true status in the universe is revealed to me.” September 22, 2014 print edition of Fortune Magazine.

Time, Timed and Timely

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The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

Albert Einstein

It’s the first day of the Autumn Season and I hope you feel the energy of this day, i.e., a new beginning. Here in the Midwest, a few trees and low shrubbery are beginning to show their Fall colors of gold, orange and red. So I wonder, do you have time for yourself, have your timed out of a deadline or are you timely in submitting your project update. Whatever today’s timetable/calendar holds for you to accomplish, I’d like to share a news article with you.

Early this morning, I read an article about Albert Einstein and his prediction, known as the “Time Dilation.” (While there are a few definitions of the word Dilation, it is often referred to as the swelling of your iris, during an eye-exam.) The article is entitled, “Einstein’s ‘Time Dilation’ Prediction Verified.” Scientists have conclusively verified, “That time moves slower for a moving clock than a stationary one.” In other words, motion speed slows down our aging process if we travel in a speed rocket.

Since many of us will not have the opportunity to travel via a speed rocket, we are able to consider how often we recognize, when we are busy, time flies by.  If we become stationary, we have a different sense of how we manage our time. Rushing to finish a task at work doesn’t necessarily mean it will be done well. Yet we may actually feel time moving much more quickly because we are in motion. Perhaps Einstein’s Theory also helps us understand why we feel it takes less time to come home from an event than it took to reach the event.

I must govern the clock, not be governed

by it.  Golda Meir

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known as this week, I hope you manage your time, are timely and won’t be timed out of a deadline. Have a great week!

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

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Note: “Einstein’s ‘Time Dilation’ Prediction Verified at http://www.scientific american.com/article/einsteins-time-dilation-prediction-verified/   This article was published on 09/22/14.

2030#NOW

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This brief blog was posted this afternoon on the social medial platform LinkedIn.  Please join the conversation.

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Social Responsibility, giving back to society and sharing your experience with others are all examples of Servant Leadership. We do what we can with our own resources of time, energy, effort, kindness, creativity and goodness to change our own world.

I recently moved to Chicago and can attest seeing examples of servant leadership on the Chicago Transit system given to others who either have or are perceived to have a disability. Bus Drivers and passengers alike demonstrate these examples of servant leadership. It’s a cultural way of life – treating folks like folks.

This week, the Social Media platform of LinkedIn has undertaken a global social
conversation of how you either change or improve the world at 2030#NOW. Please join
the conversation and share how your own resources of time, energy, effort, kindness,
creativity and goodness change your world.

Thank you.

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

Blog: careermanagementcoaching.me Twitter: @Coach_Jo_Ann

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Right now, at this moment, and no place else

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During your career, I’m sure you have realized it’s not easy to answer the question, “What do you want, right now, at this moment?”  Perhaps it’s because we don’t often get what we want or we don’t give ourselves permission to get what we want.  The reasons for this are so numerous; they would easily fill an unabridged dictionary.  So how would you answer the question, “Right now, at this moment, and no place else, what do you want?”

Perhaps there are actions available to you right now.  Are they reasonable, at this moment?  If the WANT is within your reach, what impact does not attaining your WANT have in your life right now?

A well-respected Neuroscientist, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, offers tips on “How to Reset Your Brain” as follows:

 

Change is Pain.     Behaviorism doesn’t work.

Humanism is over rated.  FOCUS is power.

Expectation shapes reality.

Start by leaving problems in the past.

Focus on identifying and creating new behaviors.

Self-insight creates change, not advices.

 

Dr. Schwartz explains that the reasons why goals weren’t met may be valid, i.e. the goals didn’t support or generate change.  So give yourself time to think.  When you do so, you generate new circuits of thought.  And with continued practice, new behaviors of change help you to achieve your WANTS.

Dr. Schwartz also tells us to remind ourselves to think regularly.  As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this Summer weekend in July, consider whether this is an avenue that brings value to you.  Enjoy.

 

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

Notes:  AMEX OPEN FORUM, Strategy and Business Section, “The Neuroscience of Change, or How to Reset Your Brains.” Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. December 8, 2011.

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Belief, Believed, Believing…

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A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.  Henrik Ibsen

 

Recently, I heard a statement made by former President Bill Clinton that made me stop what I was doing because I chose to believe what he said.  (http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-june-29-2014-n143826).  I was reminded how often we believe what we hear because it may make sense to us, yet it doesn’t meet the reality of facts.  What leads us to believe something is true or not?   Belief, Believed, Believing  may come into play with our answer.

We say, I can’t believe it” — when we hear good news about someone we know and we say, “I can’t believe it” when we hear very sad news about a tragedy.  On the other hand, we choose to believe our impressions of someone we just met, because we have a belief our judgment is correct.  Our birth and business cultures strongly influence us as to our Beliefs, what we Believed and are Believing.  Our experiences and schooling surely play out in our Beliefs as well.  As we are approaching the remembrance of the founding of our country in a few days, why do we believe so strongly in America and its values?

What we regard as true is a belief.  Frequently in our careers, we may be asked to describe what we do for a living and how we would describe what we do in a few words. We want our answers believed.

As we Choose Who We Want to be Known As – We Believe in ourselves and what we do.  Have a great Holiday Week!

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

Notes: http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-june-29-2014-n143826.

The description of the word “belief”, Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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One Up, One Down and What’s You?

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Dancing is just part of the discovery, discovery, discovery. Martha Graham

 

During your career, have you danced in the dance of   “One Up, One Down and What’s You?”  It’s been happening frequently in the Midwest this Spring.  The dance begins when you meet someone and you start a conversation.  The What’s You dance occurs when the sincerity of both people leads the dance and each person dances away from an engaging business conversation.
The One Up dance starts shortly after the conversation begins and one person keeps circling around the other, demonstrating a perceived betterment, for whatever reason.  This dance usually ends as each party has opposite views and a sense of connectedness was lacking in the dance.
The One Down dance takes more time.  Patience, Humility, Curiosity or Discovery of self,  or the other,  is flowing through the conversational dance.  Both people feel they have left the dance with a takeaway to be used or considered in the future.
While I just described three dances, I know you can name many others.  What type of career dance have you participated in this Spring?  What did you discover about yourself and has it helped you in your career?  What should have happened that didn’t?  What first step are you able to take, to move closer to the conversation dance that you want? 
Summer officially begins during the latter part of this week.  I hope this Summer Season in your career brings you closer to the dance where YOU Choose Who You Want to be Known As.  Have a great week!
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach & Change Agent
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