Posted by admin on April 5, 2010 under Business Coaching Services, Executive Coaching Services | 
Last week, we discussed the importance of creating a strong personal brand through your career biography. Now that you’ve gathered the necessary information, it’s time to start writing.
The First Paragraph is the Most Important
When crafting your career bio, the first paragraph has to pack a punch and make people want to keep reading. Capture attention with your leadership brand, or lead with a quote from an industry celebrity or subject matter expert. You could even add a quote of your own that encapsulates your brand value and highlights your expertise—it could be something that others tell you you’re always saying—or a direct quote about you from someone you’ve worked with.
Use Strong Storytelling to Show Why You are Valuable
The best career bios use a narrative format, written in third-person, to make your readers understand how you make things happen. Tell stories, use examples of what you have done in the past. This format allows you to more fully convey the impact you’ll have on an organization and helps them envision you in the position they’re trying to fill.
Make it Compelling
The writing should come from your own voice, but follow a consistent theme that reinforces your brand. For instance, if you are know for cleaning up problems, weave that skill throughout your narrative so your readers begin to see you in that role.
Format the Document for Visual Appeal and Ease in Reading
Add more white space by breaking up long, dense paragraphs into two or three smaller ones. This will draw readers’ eyes down the page and compel them to read the entire document. Include high-impact subhearings throughout, which is also an opportunity to build in relevant keywords and draw more attention to specific skills.
Let the Reader Into Your Life Outside the Workplace
Definitely incorporate your community involvement and any volunteer activities into your career bio. The commitment to giving back is an important trait for any leader. Discuss your non-professional passions and hobbies. You may find that your key brand attributes come into play when you pursue these activities, plus having a shared hobby with the readers of your bio can spark additional interest in you. At the end of your bio, talk about your spouse and children, noting briefly what they’re doing.
Taking the time to put together a compelling, interesting career biography in addition to your resume can often put you at the top of the job candidates list. It is time well-spent.
Posted by admin on March 29, 2010 under Executive Coaching Services |
Your personal brand is the impression you leave upon people. As an executive coaching consultant, it is one of my jobs to help you identify what sets you apart from other applicants and what can give you an advantage when you’re being considered for a promotion or new position. The best way to begin your personal branding is to craft a solid career biography.
Your career bio and executive resume work in tandem as the foundation for all of your personal brand marketing communications, both online and offline. Written in narrative form, career bios are all about displaying the candidate’s softer skills as they relate to their specific work experience and skill set in a compelling way that resumes don’t allow.
Remember that your career bio offers value in job search and beyond:
- The “About” page on your blog or website is actually a bio. Remember, most recruiters and hiring managers search online to source and assess top talent. They may see your bio (or “About” page) before they see your resume. It has to stand on its own as a personal marketing document.
- Parts of your bio, along with your resume, should be incorporated into your LinkedIn profile to help generate interest and chemistry.
- Bios are essential introductions for speaking engagements. Make sure to give your bio ahead of time to the person who will be introducing you.
- Encapsulate your full bio into a tidy mini-bio to include when you guest blog, write articles or white papers, or publish anything online or offline. This should only be one or two paragraphs.
- Follow up networking events by sending your bio to people you’ve connected with, which is less formal than your resume.
To get started, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What are three or four defining moments in your career? Think of events or projects that shaped your career path, had the most impact on making you who you are today, and led you to add value to your companies.
2. Which of your personal attributes have been most beneficial to you in your career?
3. What challenges have made you a stronger more valuable employee?
4. What are the two or three most important lessons you learned that others could benefit from?
5. Who have you mentored and how did your guidance impact that person, your team, your department, and your company?
Next week, we’ll discuss how to actually write your career bio once you’ve gathered this information.
Posted by admin on March 13, 2010 under Business Coaching Services |
It’s no surprise that since the job market has been tenuous that contract employment is on the rise, among people who need a job now and those who want to “try on” a new career. But is it the right opportunity for you? When working with a business coaching service, you may be advised to try a temporary position before committing to a whole-scale career change.
Advantages of a Contract Job
- Choices. Temporary employment typically allows you to pick your job, desired salary, and work hours. Also, temp jobs can let you take time off between gigs, although vacation time is typically unpaid.
- Variety. The only limitations are your imagination and your talents.
- Networking. Contract jobs can help you forge many new professional contacts. If you enjoy the institution you temp for, you may even secure permanent employment. Roughly 42% of contract workers receive permanent job offers through temping.
The Downside
- Low job security. Contract jobs are a two-way street. Not only do contract agreements allow workers to leave at any time, they also allow employers to freely release temporary employees. Fact: The average temp job lasts only fifteen weeks.
- Minimal benefits. Many temp agencies do not offer paid vacations, holidays, or healthcare plans. However, more than half of temp agencies offer retirement benefits.
- Limited training. Many employers provide temporary employees with minimal training. If you are serious about turning your temp job into a career, you need to be self-motivated, take on extra tasks, and ask plenty of questions.
The Future of Temporary Employment
Overall employment prospects should still hold strong for temp workers this year, despite the recent economic slump. The need for contract workers in the healthcare industry should be especially large, due to the aging baby boomer population and the high job turnover rate in health facilities across the country. Other fields projected to have great demand for temp workers include transportation, office and administrative support, production, engineering, and management.
Posted by admin on February 28, 2010 under Business Coaching Services |
Planning an escape from your current job? At least once in your career, you will face this conundrum. Of course, you don’t want to burn any bridges when you leave, especially since you may want to return to that employer someday, or you may cross paths with your soon-to-be ex-colleagues in another organization.
What can you do to make sure you leave your job with grace and also leave old coworkers and supervisors remembering you fondly?
Be Ethical
Under no circumstances should you ever leave without notice. Aside from leaving your current employer and clients in the lurch, it can brand you with a very bad reputation.
Think Before You Jump
No matter how angry you become with your current employer, it is unwise to leave without another position lined up.
Be Up-Front
Your boss should always hear it from you first that you’re leaving, rather than hearing it through the office grapevine. Deliver the news in person with a short resignation letter in hand.
Use Tact
Diplomatically state why you are leaving. You should always convey that your leaving has nothing to do with the boss, personally, even if that is not the case. You are better off stating that you are leaving because you are seeking new challenges, more money, a new location, changes in personal or family circumstances, or career advancement.
Don’t Dump and Run
Even though you’re leaving, this is not the time to unload any long-held feelings about coworkers or the boss. Be classy.
Give Generous Warning
Offer as much notice as you can. You may not to need to give much notice, but you’ll look good for offering, plus any company worth working for will wait while you assist your soon-to-be-former employer with the transition. If they are not willing to wait, you may want to re-think why you want to work for them.
Posted by admin on February 15, 2010 under Executive Coaching Services |
If you’re hoping for a promotion or just want to have more control over your job responsibilities, there are things you can do to get positive attention, aside from doing your job well. Here are 8 tips to give you a leg up on the corporate ladder.
Dress for the job you want. If you want to get ahead, dress and groom as if you work at the level you hope to reach next. Always present the image you want for yourself at work.
Get to work early and stay late. Get to work early each day and leave at least a few minutes after quitting time. Let the boss know that you are willing to stay late to meet an important deadline.
Be enthusiastic about everything you do. Go out of your way to find ways to enjoy your job. This will help you focus on the parts of your job you do best and want to develop.
Ask for more responsibility. Always be willing to take on more responsibility. Volunteer to help out in ways you feel will make you more valuable to the organization and ask about ways in which to increase your value.
Ask for training. Take any training that is available from your employer. Even if it is not in your area of responsibility, it may help you gain new skills in other areas.
Keep learning. Decide what you need to learn to get ahead. Stay current on your field by taking evening classes and reading books and magazines on related subjects.
Take on difficult projects. You won’t get much positive attention unless you do more than is expected of you. Don’t promise too much, and keep a low profile as you do the work.
Get Measurable Results. Look for some way to measure the results of your work. Keep records of what you do.
Posted by admin on February 7, 2010 under Business Coaching Services |
When it comes to the workplace, what matters most is respect: respect for the abilities each person brings to the workplace. In every office, we encounter several different personality types and backgrounds, as well as cultural factors. In that regard, the best course to take is to identify what you and your co-workers have in common, in order to build a better team and best serve your clients.
Identifying commonalities sounds easy enough, but it can be harder than we expect. For one thing, human beings naturally notice differences first, and it takes effort to dig beneath them. Here are some strategies that will help us humanize our work relationships.
Focus on the basics. All human beings share four basic needs: physical comfort and survival, security, dignity and social support. Admittedly, different groups of people may meet these needs differently. The trick is to recognize that, despite the different ways in which the need is met, the desire for the support of other human beings lies beneath the surface of every culture.
What’s really important here? Have the courage to talk about the things that are most important to you. All too often, we shy away from someone who is different than ourselves, rather than reaching out to people with what matters to us. Different people may place their emphasis and priorities in different places, but fundamental human needs and interests are the same.
Be positive. It may not happen right away, but there is a benefit to reaching out to someone that goes far beyond just your conversation’s specifics. The very act of attempting to connect to someone different shows respect that can only serve as a foundation for future communication.
Posted by admin on January 27, 2010 under Business Coaching Services |
A frequently asked question in business executive coaching goes something like this: “How can I improve my ability to engage with people, to listen to them and convey that I truly care about them?” The simple answer is: It will benefit you to make sure that you UNDERSTAND them–what their situation is and and what they may be struggling with. It is almost impossible to understand without ASKING QUESTIONS with a purpose. If you go to any professional and she/he begins giving you advice without asking a few pertinent questions, you are not likely to feel that they are genuinely interested in you as a person or the circumstances that you are dealing with.
Dr Norm, Executive Coach
Posted by admin on under Executive Coaching Services |
Throughout corporate America, business executive coaching is now accepted as a powerfully beneficial leadership development tool. As baby boomers retire, many to Florida, new leaders will be needed to fill the gaps and define the leadership model within an organization.
The need for emerging leaders will likely increase and the supply of experienced semi-retired executives will also increase. Customers will be looking for stronger coaching credentials, simpler salary plans, universal contracting procedures, and agreed-upon standards to manage coaching interventions. Coaching firms will start becoming the norm, the expectation, as consumers will want a wider range products under one roof, and someone to be accountable for the coaches’ activities with clients.
This will will make it harder for entry level executive coaches and more clearly differentiate coaches who work at a broader business level and those who do life and career coaching with individual clients. With this being said, social networking amongst coaches will be greater, using their connections from their coach training and past colleagues to collaborate and share leads and opportunities. All of this suggests additional consolidation of the executive coaching field in FL.
Posted by admin on January 12, 2010 under Executive Coaching Services |
Why is Dr Norm is an expert in business executive coaching? He has an education in clinical psychology and his 25 years of dedicated experience with working in organizations gives him the appreciation and understanding of the difficult challenges that face employees and leaders in this competitive corporate world.
Having a firm belief in the power and potential of the indelible human spirit, he believes that today’s leaders need considerable preparation, along with expert training and guidance. Successful athletes need to train and prepare for maximum performance, learn from their mistakes and the “heart” that never gives up, so must the successful leader. Dr. Norm helps people and teams develop and maintain a winning attitude, compelling style and a commitment to improvement that never stops.
Now, are you ready for expert business executive coaching – FL and Nationwide?
Posted by admin on December 20, 2009 under Business Coaching Services |
Greetings!
This is Dr. Norm Lanier extending my warmest welcome to you, valued friends and customers of my past and future business and executive coaching endeavors! Dr. Norm and Associates has been supplying customized Team Building, Training and Leadership Development solutions since 1990, from the beautiful locale of Naples, Florida. Dr. Norm and Associates assists businesses in achieving superior performance in the business world.
The firm’s coaching and consulting solutions help our clients increase and fine tune their leadership abilities and skills. As your key executive management strives for superior leadership skills, the company achieves greater success many times over.
It always benefits the company if the business personnel expand their versatility, convey authenticity, and are more productive functioning among themselves as a team.
It is my enthusiastic wish to be working with you in the future, as you take advantage of my firm’s excellent, wide-ranging skills and unsurpassed level of commitment!
