Do you believe in YOU?

The world is full of people who will tell you all the things that you cannot do but what do you tell yourself?

There will always be people who laugh at you when you tell them your hopes and dreams but do you listen to them?

Even the people closest to you will advise you that the goals you’re pursuing and the actions you’re taking are unrealistic or impossible but do you let that stop you?

I work a lot of hours (mostly by choice because I love my job and want to do more), I chair the Learning & Education Committee for ASHHRA and I write a blog.

I recently accepted a board position and an MBA program. I’m told constantly that I should reconsider some of the commitments I have made before I even give them a try. I’m told constantly that I will never see my friends and family again for the next three years. I’m told constantly that I cannot possibly accomplish all of this and that I will fail. I’m told constantly that I’m in over my head and I’m too young and inexperienced to realize it. I’m told constantly that I’m going to regret my decisions.

People will say these things, sometimes out of genuine concern for you, but does that mean you should believe it and make it your reality?

This has been the story of my entire life. Most of my accomplishments thus far have been faced with these exact words, these exact obstacles – being the first college graduate in my family, getting six promotions in six years and starting my blog. My parents couldn’t help me pay for school so I was told that I would never be able to do it on my own and that I had no clue what I was getting into. Every time I was promoted, I was told that I did not have enough experience and that I was too young to succeed. When I started my blog, I was told that no one would read it and that it was a waste of time.

I’m grateful for all the amazing people in my life who are looking out for me and you should too but if you take care of yourself and do the things in life that make you happy, that is what matters. If you believe completely in yourself even when it seems that others don’t believe in you, you will succeed beyond expectations. If you allow yourself to fail, you will grow to levels you may not even realize you are capable of. Many future successes are a product of previously failed attempts. Failure is just a stepping stone to success.

Don’t let anyone stop you – not people, not words, not failures, not fear.

I wish you all the success in the world and when it feels like you’re up against the world working to accomplish something great, just know that I’m in your corner! Live the life that makes you happy, not the one that satisfies the doubts of others.

What’s your story?

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We Create Our Comfort Zones

I’m over the excuses for why people don’t get things done or take chances on themselves. At a minimum, on a weekly basis, I’ve been finding myself engrossed in conversations about productivity, change and/or success. They seem to always include excuses as to why people “can’t” do something. I’m in an industry of constant change and quite a bit of chaos so lately, the common excuse is “I’m not comfortable.” This is one of my favorites. It’s right up there with “I don’t have time.”

It’s one of my favorite excuses because it’s ironic to me. People talk about comfort zones like they’re magical things that just exist without effort. They assume that everything else that is not already in their comfort zone will remain in their “uncomfortable zone” forever without the possibility of movement.

Here’s a reality check and some good news: everything in our “uncomfortable zone” can become part of our “comfort zone.” A comfort zone is a completely fabricated concept. We made it up! Everything in our comfort zone was moved there because we got used to things that we were uncomfortable with at first.

So, it’s funny to me when I hear this as an excuse for not trying something new or not living out dreams. I pretty much get this excuse at least from one person every time I propose a new change or project, “Lotus, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this.” My answer usually? “Awesome! Neither am I! Let’s get comfortable with it!”

Recently, I invited a coworker to join a Twitter chat since she wanted to find a convenient way to learn from other organizations without having to attend conferences across the country. She told me that she isn’t part of the generation that is comfortable with social media and that I’m better at it because I grew up with it. She was shocked when I told her that I went off Facebook until recently, that I didn’t really use LinkedIn until 2011 and that I didn’t even get a Twitter account until 2013. I told her my story about how terrified I was to start writing and going social. It definitely was not in my comfort zone. In fact, I still don’t think it is in my comfort zone, but I do it anyway. She got herself a Twitter account and met a couple awesome people in the industry already!

Comfort zones don’t just happen to us. We create our own comfort zones. There’s so much that I’m intentionally working on adding to my comfort zone. What are you trying to add to your comfort zone? When are you going to purposely take a chance on YOU?

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Want to succeed? Ask questions!

Ask questions! That is my one piece of advice to all new employees. Heck, start asking questions before you get the job. The traditional interview process is no longer relevant. It’s not a one-way Q&A session anymore. The Q&A goes both ways now. Ask your new employer questions that are meaningful to your decision process. This will help both you and your potential employer make a better decision about whether or not you would do well in the job, in the organization and on the team.

Once you start a job, it is just as important to continue asking questions. No one knows everything even if they tell you they do! I’ve heard all the excuses and assumptions:

  • I’m scared I’ll sound stupid.
  • I’m afraid they think I should know the answer to that already.
  • I don’t know who to ask.
  • I don’t want to bother them.
  • They’re so busy. They don’t have time to answer my questions.
  • I probably don’t really need to know that right now. I’ll ask if I ever have to know.
  • If I needed to know that, they would tell me so I don’t need to ask.
  • I’m sure someone else will ask my question.
  • I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.

Well, guess what? These are all actually very valid concerns and feelings. But, guess what else? They don’t need to stop you from asking questions and growing yourself and your career.

  • So, someone thinks you sound stupid. Who cares? You still gain something out of getting the answer. Who’s problem is it that they think you sound stupid? It’s not your problem.
  • Maybe you should know the answer but if you don’t, keeping quiet isn’t going to get you the answer.
  • If you don’t know who to ask, ask everyone until you find out who the right person is to ask.
  • If people are bothered by you asking a question, that is their burden to carry, not yours.
  • Everyone is busy, including you, I’m sure. You’ll be more productive if you ask and so will they because they know you’re getting your work done.
  • Growth is about learning as much as you can so even if you don’t need to know it, ask questions about things you want to know.
  • Never assume that someone is going to look out for you. You need to ask questions proactively rather than waiting for people to give you all the information you need to do your job.
  • Again, you’re going down a very uncertain path if you’re waiting for someone else to ask the question you have. What if they do it when you’re not there and now you don’t have the answer?
  • Maybe you will figure it out eventually but wouldn’t it be nice to get the answer and figure it out now?

I instill this in my team and in all the employees I work with every single day. The ones who ask a lot of questions have become the go-to people in the organization. They always seem to have the answers because they always ask the questions.

So, let me ask you a question: are you going to start asking questions?

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Satisfaction is overrated

Don’t get me wrong; satisfaction is great. It’s comfortable. It’s rewarding. It’s bliss, really. Satisfaction is the ultimate goal in many cases. If I’m satisfied with my meal at a restaurant, I’ll become a loyal customer and go there all the time. If I have the best doctor in the world, I’ve hit satisfaction and there’s no reason to keep looking for a new doctor.

But, what about work, if that’s what we want to call it? I don’t just mean the job we do everyday. I’m talking about our work environment, our leadership and the culture at our organizations. I challenge the notion of simply getting to satisfaction in this realm. In this case, I believe that satisfaction is way overrated.

In the past six years, I’ve changed jobs six times and departments twice. I reached satisfaction in all of my previous five roles, achieving a state of total comfort. There wasn’t much left for me to learn and almost nothing that was challenging me in my career. So, I moved on. It would have been easy for me to stay in the same role and department forever. I might have been perfectly happy but I knew that the only way to grow was to take a risk and make that next move into the scary unknown.

I wouldn’t be where I am today if I settled for satisfaction. There are plenty of reasons to be satisfied but not if someone is trying to grow their career. I hear people complain about their jobs and their situations all day, every day. Yet, I never see most of them do anything about it because even though they have complaints, they’re comfortable and satisfied to an extent. It can be terrifying to push ourselves out of our comfort zones but it is necessary in order to grow ourselves.

Some may have noticed that I didn’t say I changed organizations in the past six years. That is not necessary in order to step out of my comfort zone. I’ve been extremely fortunate that I’ve had the opportunities to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone within my current organization. I’m still not satisfied or comfortable and that’s the best feeling in the world. It means I’m being challenged both personally and professionally.

To really find our passion and really make an impact in the world, we have to keep striving for better. It’s not just about a job role change. It’s about everything we do – every project we’re on, every committee we participate in and every change we’re trying to make in our organizations or maybe, in the world.

Don’t settle for satisfaction. It could possibly mean settling for less.

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Take ownership and stop blaming your predecessors

One of the greatest problems I see in organizations is a lack of ownership. The most popular excuse I hear for this problem is, “[My predecessor] should have done this but didn’t and now it is too big of a mess to cleanup.”

Guess what? It’s your job! Most of the time, I find that the predecessor did not mess anything up but the successor just doesn’t understand how things worked before and why things were done the way they were done, which is a totally separate issue. It’s a complete cop out to blame someone who cannot even defend themselves.

If you don’t like the way things are, don’t just sit there and blame someone else for your problems. Take ownership of your role! But, how in the world are you supposed to do that? Start with five “knows.”

Know that not everything that was done before is bad. Have an open mind and don’t shut everything out and try to change it all just because you wouldn’t have done it that way. This is a horrible epidemic in leadership. Every new leader comes in and changes everything. It’s rarely ever a positive thing. You think you’re making things better but all you’re doing is making your staff suffer. Before you start changing everything, do a diligent evaluation of what is working well and what is not before making a single change.

Know that it’s okay to change and how to do it right. Not everything you inherit will be gold. Once you do a thorough evaluation, begin the change process for things that need improvement. Don’t just sit there and whine about how your predecessor screwed it all up for you and how it’s impossible to change. Do something about it! Make sure to include your stakeholders though, particularly your employees and your customers. A new leader who storms in and just starts tearing things apart is not going to get much support.

Know that you’re not alone so build some relationships. New employees have what I like to call the “freshman syndrome.” They act like they’re in high school again and become paranoid that the more veteran employees are automatically going to pick on them. Well, get over yourselves! If you’re a new leader, I can assure you that your employees are just as weary about you as you are about them so why not make them feel better? You are the leader, after all. Make them feel welcomed and comfortable. Get to know them. Ask them questions, seek their feedback and involve them in changes.

Know that trust is earned – not just trust with you but trust in you. You’re not going to immediately trust everyone you encounter so don’t expect them to trust you right away. Show your team that you’re worthy of leading them. Embrace those who question you and challenge you; don’t punish them for it.

Know that you can make a difference. So, you don’t understand how or why things were done before and it just seems completely backwards to you. Then, fix it. Don’t be afraid to take some risks and turn things around for the better. If you do it right, you and your team can be extremely successful. Don’t blame anyone for the problems you think you inherited. Take ownership of it and you can make a real and lasting impact.

Here’s a bonus piece of advice – people who take ownership don’t flaunt it. They don’t need to talk about it – about their predecessors not doing a good job, about them turning things around or about how hard it is to be them.

Ownership is very noticeable. There’s no hiding it. Take ownership and stop blaming your predecessors!

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Dare to be quirky at work!

I was asked to speak at a memorial recently for a coworker of mine who passed away. As I thought about what I appreciated most about her, I realized it was her quirks. I remember every day at 2:00pm, without fail, she would let out a big, loud yawn that half the office could hear. It was as if she was our human alarm clock. There is such a void for us at that time now. She also had a collection of doggie beanie babies above her desk to showcase her love for animals. She wasn’t afraid to be herself and let us all into her life even though we were at work.

So many people are afraid to be themselves at work. They’re rigid and quiet and constantly trying to be whatever their boss or their organization wants them to be. Yes, organizations need to do a better job of creating a safe environment for employees to be themselves.

Be yourself, right from the start when you apply for a job. Yes, you want to be appropriate with your resume but you don’t have to follow all the traditional guidelines. The most popular question I get from jobseekers is whether or not they can have more than one page to their resume. They are so concerned with that. It really doesn’t matter in the end. If there really are recruiters out there who will throw your resume to the side (or in the trash) if it exceeds one page, well, they’re the one with the problem, not you.  They’re probably missing out on many great candidates, including yourself. So, just be you.

Do it again in your interview. If you get that opportunity, ask questions to your recruiter or hiring manager that you really care about. Then, tell them about you. When answering interview questions, don’t think about what the other person wants to hear; just answer honestly and if there’s a funny story that shows your character, share it! I’ll give you an example. One time, I was in an interview and I was asked what my proudest accomplishment was at my previous job. I half-joked that it was convincing 100% of my team to try sushi. The recruiter and I got into a conversation about how she’s the only one in her family that likes sushi. Trust me, that’s not why I got the job but it gave people an idea of what it is really like being around me – my sense of humor, what I like to eat and my inclusion of and influence on others. It also allowed them to relate to me better and ask me better questions.

I’m always looking for quirks and unique characteristics when I interview people. I once did a group interview for a candidate. He answered every question bluntly. When asked what his biggest motivator at work is, he said money. My peers were offended and brushed him off as a potential hire right away. I loved his answer! It was honest. I am so over cliche answers during an interview. I get so bored hearing the same thing over and over again. I’m looking for someone with something new, something exciting, something to prove, something to fight for. I don’t care how many awards someone won or how many projects they completed. I want to hire someone real, someone who will think for themselves and produce new, even wild ideas! I want to hire someone who isn’t afraid to be quirky, different or silly at work. I don’t want to hire someone who hides behind a fake persona of what they think I’m looking for.

I encourage you to go on and be YOU at work. Show your personality, your character. Dare to be quirky!

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Right isn’t always easy

Doing the right thing often means doing the difficult thing. If it was a piece of cake, we would all be doing it. As our work became faster paced and our to-do lists became never-ending, did we forget about ethics in the workplace? Did those values we post around our walls just become blurry pieces of decoration?

We continue to see a lack of ethics training for both front-line staff and leadership. Many of these programs were cut from organizations’ budgets during a recession and have not made an appearance since. We need to invest our resources back into these programs if we want our employees to do the right things.

It goes beyond just ethics training though. It also means having difficult conversations, embracing accountability and developing a culture where people feel comfortable doing the right things.

When we build culture and programs around ethics, morals and values, there are many things to take into consideration. The most common mistake is that organizations focus only on the technical concepts like what’s illegal – sexual harassment training, anti-theft policies and information security protocols.

Helping people to do the right thing requires supporting them to speak up when something is wrong, conduct difficult conversations with others who may not be compliant, and incorporate values into team cultures. Once there is a culture of accountability and ownership, employees will be living out the values of the organization.

Getting companies to do the right thing isn’t always easy. It takes time, energy and genuine buy-in at all levels. But it’s worth it.

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Break the rules, set some standards

I was at the Empower conference presented by CareerBuilder this week and had the amazing pleasure of hearing Coach Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, speak about the importance of obtaining great talent. Now, let’s get one thing out of the way – as some of you may know, I’m a very proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison so there’s no doubt I was rooting for the Badgers to take the men’s basketball championship this year. And, that’s exactly what it looked like was going to happen until Duke made a jaw-dropping comeback.

I’ve always been a Coach K fan even though I’m a Badger at heart but I became an even bigger fan after hearing him speak.

Ownership: You don’t work for something; you are something. – Coach K

He talked to us about how he recruited the best players to Duke, reminding us that hiring for character is just as important as hiring for talent or skill. One of the most important lessons I took away from Coach K’s presentation is that strong teams don’t have rules; they have standards that they agree to. Some of the standards that Coach K has set with his teams include:

  • No excuses.
  • Always be on time.
  • Always be honest and tell each other the truth.

This got me thinking about my own team and field of work and what type of standards I would set with my teams. So, I talked to them. Leading a training team, here are some standards I feel are important:

  • No excuses; always be on time; always be honest and tell each other the truth. Why wouldn’t I steal those from Coach K?
  • We don’t always have to be the best but we should always try to be our best. We strive to be better every day.
  • Never stop thinking. If we stop thinking, we stop creating, innovating and improving.
  • Share our ideas and our knowledge. No one likes an information hog.
  • Be proactive about learning. Don’t wait for someone to teach us something but rather, seek opportunities to learn.
  • Hold each other accountable. Don’t be afraid to call each other out. It makes us better.

Developing standards for a team allows everyone to be on the same page, work towards a common goal and be accountable to each other. What standards would you add to this list for your team?

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Are you really ON LinkedIn?

I was talking to someone recently who was looking for some career and job-seeking advice. He asked me to review his paper resume and I asked if he’s on LinkedIn. He said yes with a big confident smile on his face. There was no hesitation in his answer.

After looking up his LinkedIn profile, I said to him, “You’re not on LinkedIn. You have a LinkedIn profile.” Needless to say, we changed this.

I see people make this mistake all too often. Job-seekers think that just because they have a LinkedIn account and copied their resume over to their profile that they’re going to start getting jobs, opportunities, resources, clients, etc. There’s a huge difference between having a LinkedIn account/profile and being ON LinkedIn.

Being ON LinkedIn requires interaction and creativity. Recruiters on LinkedIn are not your traditional recruiters. They are looking for much more than a resume to review your education and experience. They’re looking for examples of your work; they’re looking for your unique thoughts; they’re looking for endorsements and recommendations.

So, let’s tackle some of the things that take you from having a LinkedIn Profile to being ON LinkedIn. The assumption here is that you already have a profile setup with your work experience, education and hopefully, a lot more.

Being active on LinkedIn is the key to successful online networking and knowledge sharing. Here are some things to start doing so you become more active and visible.

LinkedIn Posts
There are two kinds of postings that you can take advantage of on LinkedIn. On your newsfeed, you can type right into the “Start a post…” box and your message will be seen on your connections’ news feeds. Pushing out updates regularly gives you visibility. Be careful not to over post, though. If you can’t think of anything to post, think about your passions. Post interesting articles that you find, inspiring quotes or even updates on cool projects you’re working on.

LinkedIn also has another posting option. You can write articles that can be visible by your connections, everyone in your network and anyone who follows you on LinkedIn. These posts are usually a little longer in length and should reflect some of your deeper thoughts. I treat mine like blog posts where I share my thoughts on different topics that I think my audience might be interested in. Your reach is much larger when you write articles on LinkedIn. Whether you’re trying to find a job, gain new clients or grow your network for knowledge, resource and idea sharing, visibility can impact your success. Posting gives you that visibility.

LinkedIn Groups
Joining and actively participating in groups is a great way to network and share knowledge and resources. Ask questions in groups about relevant topics that get people thinking. You can share articles here too, including ones that you wrote and posted yourself. Try to strike up conversations though with your posts rather than just posting them.

Don’t forget to comment on other people’s posts too and answer questions that they pose in the groups. Participating in groups is like attending a networking event. Eventually, you’ll connect with people who enjoy discussing, posting about and debating similar topics.

LinkedIn Jobs
If you’re looking for a job, you can do it right from LinkedIn. Some employers post their jobs on LinkedIn but require you to go to their website to apply. Others allow you to apply straight from LinkedIn.

If you apply for jobs on LinkedIn and the employer can see all of your activity (posts, comments, etc.) relevant to the job, your chances of spiking their interest might just increase.

LinkedIn Companies and Education
Follow companies you apply for jobs at or that you would like to work at one day. Keep up with what they’re doing – big projects they have going on, what they’re making the news for, awards they’re winning and other relevant announcements. Knowing these things will greatly benefit you in an interview to show that you’ve been keeping up with the company.

LinkedIn’s Education features also allow you to connect with students, alumni and professors at colleges and universities. This is a great way to network and connect with people who have something in common with you.

LinkedIn Connections
Connections are more than just a static network or popularity contest. LinkedIn Connections are about relationships. LinkedIn has a great feature where you can see your last conversation with a connection. Make sure to reach out to your connections every once in a while especially if they are not people you see or talk to regularly.

Maintaining relationships is more important than simply connecting on LinkedIn. Put a reminder on your calendar every few months to reach out to people on LinkedIn.

It’s a commitment to really be ON LinkedIn but it’s one worth making. What are your best practices on LinkedIn?

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It’s performance review time: Tips for the dreaded self-evaluation

It’s performance review time – my favorite time of year…just kidding! It’s not really a fun time for anyone. Employees usually dread it. Managers hate the paperwork. Human Resources goes bananas because they have to sort through all of the reviews and their phones are constantly ringing with questions and concerns.

Plus, there’s been quite a lot of controversy about performance reviews. Thought leaders have been debating the value of performance reviews and whether or not we should even have them. While this debate continues, most organizations are still doing performance reviews.

As a Human Resources professional, I’ve coached a lot of managers on how to best deal with performance management and reviews. However, the people who usually don’t get much direction from Human Resources are the employees who are actually being evaluated.

There’s this thing called the self-evaluation that people often dread completing for their managers as part of the performance review process. Usually, they get submitted with nothing on them except a signature. Sometimes, there’s a joke written on it to see if anyone’s actually looking at it. Other times, people basically write what their job is rather than how they added value to a project or how they went above and beyond.

Here are some great tips that I’ve learned from being evaluated and from evaluating others (and reviewing their self-evaluations):

  • Make it a year-long task to save time in the end. Starting on the first day of your performance year, commit to completing your self-evaluation. As you accomplish things, receive positive feedback or meet goals, make a note of it on your self-evaluation (or your own document if you don’t have the actual form yet). You’ll save a lot of time in the end if you don’t wait until the year is over to try and remember or find things to put on your evaluation form.
  • Stop putting things on your self-evaluation that are simply your job duties. It always amazes me when I see this on self-evaluations: “I’m always on time to work.” Well, it is part of your job to arrive on time! Your manager and Human Resources both know what your job is already. You don’t have to tell them again.
  • Go ahead and brag. It’s okay to talk yourself up if you’ve accomplished a lot. Structure your thoughts though. What did you accomplish? What was the impact of what you accomplished on your team or the organization? In other words, what value did it provide to the overall goal or mission?
  • After you brag about yourself, talk about some of the areas you would like to improve in. If you don’t tell your manager this, they won’t help you get better.
  • Document the status of your goals. Did you have goals for the year? Did you meet them? Perhaps, you even exceeded them. Either way, document this. If you did not meet a goal, explain the reason, the obstacles and the plan to complete it within a specific timeframe.
  • Be real. Be honest about what you put on your self-evaluation and write it with a genuine tone/voice. Don’t try to make bad things sound good or good things sound better. Also, don’t diminish the value of something great because you’re modest.
  • During your review, talk to your manager about what you put in your self-evaluation. Have a conversation about what you’re proud of and what you would like the two of you to work on next year.

These tips will help you complete your self-evaluation and hopefully, find value in it so that it’s not just paperwork that you have to complete every year. These tips should help the performance review process become more meaningful and less dreaded for both you and your manager. As I always tell people I mentor, “The first step to improving ourselves is to engage in constant self-reflection. Make it a habit, part of your everyday.”

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