============================================ "Achieve Your Dreams" - Volume 18, July 2006 ============================================ Greetings! Welcome to "Achieve Your Dreams", a bi-monthly newsletter for people with a dream - - whether it's accelerating a career, changing careers, building a business, securing a new job, achieving that long-desired goal, or discovering a new life vision and direction. Each newsletter will offer 1-2 noteworthy articles, a section on "Office Happenings" and "Helpful Resources", and some favorite quotes and sayings to motivate and inspire you. In this issue: 1. "8 Tips for Taking the Mystery Out of 'Managing Up'" 2. Office Happenings ("Work at What You Love" Workshop) 3. Helpful Resources (What's Next After Monster.com?) 4. Favorite Quotes Feel free to forward this to those you believe would find it useful. Feedback is encouraged and appreciated. If there is a specific topic you'd like covered, please send the suggestion to me via the e-mail address below. Enjoy ... ================================================== 8 Tips for Taking the Mystery Out of 'Managing Up' ================================================== Managing Up... the mere mention of the phrase sends chills up the spines of most employees. Visions of "kissing up", being a "yes- man" (or woman!), and "selling out" come to mind. But learning to "manage up" is one of the key components to success in any career. Most people think of "managing up" as managing the relationship one has with their boss, which is crucial. But it also includes being aware of how you are being perceived by others - your boss, their boss, your peers, and even your boss's peers - and then managing those perceptions accordingly. For example, if you believe you're a hard worker, but your boss and co-workers observe you leaving early or coming in late, they may not agree with your assessment. You're behaving in a way that's leaving them with a different perception. Unfortunately, success isn't just what you think and believe about yourself, it's how others "see" you. So to manage others' perceptions, you'll want to identify the kinds of behaviors you're projecting in the workplace and alter them accordingly to receive more favorable perceptions and be seen as a more valuable employee. Here are some other pointers to help you "manage up" - 1) Understand Your Boss's Needs and Work Style Take time to understand your boss's needs, strengths, weaknesses and work style. Use this information to gauge, develop and strengthen your relationship with him/her. For example, knowing how your boss likes to be kept informed (voice versus writing) and how often, and whether he/she likes to hear the details or just the bottom line will be critical to your success. Similarly, if your boss likes having meetings where everyone contributes, make sure you're not a wallflower. 2) Be Clear About Your Goals and How You Will Be Measured Make sure you are 100% clear on what your goals are, what you are being held accountable for achieving and by when, and exactly how you will be measured. Whatever your role in the organization, it's imperative you understand what success for your position "looks like" to your company and perform accordingly. Not doing this could leave you surprised by a less than favorable performance evaluation. 3) Understand Your Company's Culture to Best Carry Out the "How" of Your Duties Besides knowing "what" you are responsible for, make sure you understand how important the "how" you perform your work is. For example, if you work in a culture where people collaborate before a decision is made, and you're off unilaterally making decisions without getting anyone's input, then you're working against the corporate culture. This could sabotage your success. Make sure you understand your company's "rules" and act accordingly. 4) Don't Just Bring Your Boss Problems Some employees have a tendency to only touch base with their boss when they're having problems. If you're one to consistently bring a problem to your boss's attention in the hope he/she will fix it for you, you may be perceived as one who doesn't take enough initiative. Instead, when bringing a problem to your boss, develop some recommendations for solutions first, and you'll be seen as a pro-active problem solver. 5) Touch Base Often and Get Feedback Develop effective ways to regularly touch base with your boss so you can assess whether his/her perception(s) of you are in synch with how you want to be perceived. Make sure what you're working on is still in line with the goals you had previously agreed on, and that the "how" you're doing your work is in line with his/her expectations and the company's culture. 6) Keep Your Boss Informed About Your Successes Your boss won't know how great you are unless you tell him/her. That means when you receive an e-mail from a customer with accolades citing a job well done, forward that to your boss. If you've closed a sale that's a huge win for the company, tell your boss. Make sure your boss knows about the GOOD stuff you've done! 7) Manage Up and Down Successful executives effectively manage both subordinates and superiors. Those who only manage up will be seen as not caring about their team, which can result in sub par employee productivity and loss of respect. Managing in both directions is critical to your career success. 8) Manage and Develop Yourself Know your own strengths, weaknesses, needs, and personal style. If you want to move up the corporate ladder, it's essential you take every opportunity to develop yourself. If you need more skills, check out relevant seminars or attend night school. If you need a mentor, consider hiring a coach. Whatever you do to develop yourself will benefit you in the long run and will show how dedicated you are to achieving success within the company. ================= Office Happenings ================= This August I will be attending a weekend-long workshop, "Work at What You Love: The Life Changing Workshop for People Who Want to Quit Their Jobs and Get a Life." The workshop will be facilitated by Barbara Winter, author of, "Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love" and Valerie Young, founder of the Changingcourse.com website. The workshop will guide participants in finding creative avenues for making a living without a J-O-B and then developing a roadmap to help get them there. It will feature a number of guest speakers who have left the corporate world to start fulfilling and successful businesses - many of them home-based. I'm eager to hear their stories so I can share their journeys and successes with you! Stay tuned for more... In June I was invited to be a Career and Resume Advisor at the "Salute Our Heroes Veterans Job Fair and Career Expo" held at Fenway Park and sponsored by Boston Works and The New York Times. It was a wonderfully inspiring experience to meet and help support the many veterans and those currently in our armed forces who are seeking challenging and rewarding civilian careers. I'd like to extend a warm hello to James, Scott, Stephen, Nicolaus and David - drop me a line when you get a chance and let me know how you're doing. ================= Helpful Resources ================= What's Next After Monster.com? Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com, will soon be launching his newest venture, Eons, a website that will "celebrate life that begins at 50, inspiring a generation of boomers and seniors to do more, see more, learn more, be more." Eons will officially launch on July 31, 2006 at http://www.eons.com/. For some early info about the website, take a look at this article on Boston.com: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/04/01/mo nstercom_founder_in_elder_venture/ Need a Reminder? Do you have trouble remembering birthdays, anniversaries, important meetings, or upcoming deadlines? If so, do I have a website for you! "Memo to Me" allows you to set up a reminder for virtually ANY item. And best of all, it's f-r-e-e! Reminders can be sent to your computer, mobile phone or pager. Check it out at http://www.memotome.com/ =============== Favorite Quotes =============== "There are risks and cost to a program of action. But they are far less than the long range risks and cost of comfortable inaction." -- John F. Kennedy "Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite." -- Robert Half "It's never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" -- from the best selling book, "Who Moved My Cheese?" Enjoy the summer everyone! In support of you, Jeanne ** If you would like someone added to this newsletter distribu- tion list, please forward their name and e-mail address to me. They will be added promptly. ** If you would like to be removed from this list, please reply to me via this e-mail address. I will remove your name promptly.