Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Disruption 101 How to Ignite Change in Your Company

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Disruption 101 How to Ignite Change in Your Company As a general rule, human beings fear change and will often fight to maintain the status quo. If there are individuals within your organization who are either not interested or downright hostile toward a focus on disruptive scenarios, there are several steps you can take to bring them into the fold. Open a dialogue Before you attempt to persuade colleagues to jump right into a specific initiative, provide a safe space to discuss disruption in general. Organizational change consultant David Hofstetter suggested posing questions such as: Where and how could disruption impact your business? How will your skills and those of your employees be impacted? Are you embracing change, shying away from it, or ignoring it? What are your competitors doing that you are not? What the newest trends in your industry? Attend forward-thinking industry events The sessions and conversations you and your colleagues will have at conferences centered on innovation will take your thinking to another level. Encourage your colleagues and employees to see for themselves what disruption means and what it can do for growth and profit. Appropriate events may vary by industry, but some good ones are Tech Crunch Disrupt, World Business Forum, and Fortune Growth Summit. Hire an outsider Sometimes, an internal person can repeat the same message dozens of times, but no one really hears it until it comes from the mouth of an external consultant who is perceived as an expert. When it comes to embracing disruption, you might make greater headway by bringing on a single or team of advisers who can offer an objective picture of your organization’s status compared to the larger market, and can provide direction and next steps. Conduct periodic market disruptor analyses Often, disruptive innovations(interview with Guy Kawasaki) are considered far away, irrelevant, and optional. There is no better way to make a case to in-denial executives than to regularly monitor and explain how disruptive competitors are threatening your business TODAY. “As the barriers to entry in businesses get lower and easier, competitors and new ways of doing things will appear fast and more often,” said Hofstetter. Change your tone to one of urgency As I mentioned before, human beings prefer to support existing ways of doing things. For this reason, companies tend to be conservative, reactive, and focused on immediate business fires rather than the ones that threaten to burn from miles away. Use the data from your market disruptor analyses to connect the dots for your leaders â€" why is disruptive change something that requires attention this instant? Speaking in terms of lost profit or customers is more likely to resonate with some leaders than “we should really try this new thing.” Fight the temptation to be insular While being laser focused on your own daily operations is more comfortable, putting on blinders is dangerous in a business world that changes rapidly. Therefore, you should make sure that your company has a pipeline to receive guidance from a variety of sources. For instance, an advisory council that taps people in different roles in different fields will provide a fresh perspective that is impossible to get otherwise. When it comes to understanding where your market is going, often you can take cues from other industries that are a year or two ahead of yours. For more where this came from, check out the QuickBase Fast Track blog.

Ms. Career Girl Presents The Dont Go Over in October Spending Detox Challenge

Ms. Career Girl Presents The “Don’t Go Over in October” Spending Detox Challenge By, Nicole Crimaldi Thanks to my admitted love of all things fabulous, Ive decided its time to get out of my comfort zone with money. Last month, I took the time to get a little more intimate with my mint.com account and noticed that my spending was out-of-control, especially in certain non-necessity categories Therefore, Im challenging myself and all of you readers to the Dont Go Over in October challenge. Rules: 1. Participants are forbidden from spending any money on shopping for the month of October. The definition of shopping includes but is not limited to: new clothes, shoes, books, accessories, spa treatments, hair/nails, house wares, games, makeup, last minute travel, and anything else you probably cant afford. You ARE allowed to buy gifts and necessities. And, to clarify, manicures and highlights are not a necessity in this particular challenge. (Damn, I know.) 2. Participants must create entertainment and food budgets on mint.com and not exceed them. 3. You cannot spend more than you can pay off. Sounds simple, but most young adults today are spending way more than they earn each month. 4. Participants must share their shopping detox experience at least once a week in blog posts highlighting things like: temptations, stories, moods, realizations and ways theyve lived without. Purpose: 1. To develop new money habits. 2. To prove that the sky wont fall if you dont get a pedicure and buy new shoes this month. 3. To learn that you can still have a great night out without sipping on several $10 martinis 4. To save a little money for once in your life. 5. To depend more on your fabulous personality and inner self-confidence than on what new things you are wearing. 6. To eliminate impulse and emotional buys- two of womens biggest spending traps. How to Get Involved If you could use a financial cleanse and would like to share your experience, email me at [emailprotected] Participants are welcome to remain anonymous in blog posts. Highlights •Blogger Whitney Middleton of www.fauxshionable.com will audit my closet to put together some new fall looks from my existing wardrobe without leaving the house or spending a dime. Maybe shell even do this for you if youre nice. •You will probably become hooked on mint.com by the end of this challenge if you arent already thanks to mints easy automation, email alerts, and budget reminders. •You will learn that being a blonde shopaholic with ADHD (i.e. new purchases easily distract you, staying on a budget is almost impossible, and keeping track of payments is a job) will not stop you from saving more, spending less, looking fabulous and reaching your financial goals. •Guest posts and tips from top personal finance bloggers and authors. •And- Im working on a grand prize for the person who doesnt relapse on their spending! Get your spending over with in September and get ready for the challenge!

The funeral industry can teach you how to specialize in your career

The funeral industry can teach you how to specialize in your career I write a lot about the importance of specializing in your career. The bottom line is that if you are great at what you do, you will get better hours, better pay, and more flexibility in how you run your life. But no one is great at everything. Specializing means figuring out what you dont do. If you are a programmer, you cant be great at hardware and software. If you are in marketing, you wont be great at marketing to kids and business-to-business marketing. You need to know your niche if you want to be great. But I receive tons of mail from people arguing that if you specialize, you run the risk of being great in an area that no one hires for anymore. This is true. Especially now, when the workplace is changing so quickly. The solution to this problem is that everyone, no matter what their career, must be not only a specialist, but a trend spotter as well. For a good look at how people become trend spotters in order to stay relevant in their field, check out the new book, Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death, by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. The book is filled with characters like Lou Stellato, a sort of a futurist of funeral directors, who declares, Funeral service as we know it is over. Cullens book explains the issues of the shifting funeral industry, and incidentally, the process that individuals take to shift their careers so as not to get left behind. This is a great lesson in specializing because the funeral information is hilarious (for example Costco breaking the casket monopoly) and shocking (people turning their loved ones into diamonds yes, theres a new process). The biggest problem for funeral directors is that by 2025 most funerals will not involve caskets. This means no big profit from the panic of a last minute, overpriced casket. No profit from renting a room for a viewing. In fact, there is the possibility that most funerals could bypass the funeral home altogether. But something happened after 9/11. People needed to hold funerals without having any part of the body to bury. And, since many of the dead were very young and well-connected in the community, the funerals included literally thousands of people. So funeral directors became event planners. And then, the smart funeral directors noticed that if they honed their event planning skills then they would be useful even as the industry shifts away from casket-centered funerals. Your industry is like this one. Whatever industry youre in is shifting because all aspects of culture and business are shifting. These funeral directors are not happy about having to change, but they face the need head on and they figure out, in the funeral world, how they can be specialists in a way that will keep them relevant to their customers. Remember Me shows that there are many ways to adapt to change, and you only need to find one that works. For example, not everyone is abandoning the casket world. Some are adapting it Goliath Casket Co. is making caskets to fit the obese (at least one overweight body was squeezed into a standard-sized casket with a shoehorn.) And Batesville offers low-cost wood veneer alternatives (positively revolutionary for the price-gouging industry). And to address the fact that more people are choosing cremation, some funeral directors are focusing on audio add-ons, a one casket company partnered with Nambe the renowned purveyor of wedding registry silver to create coffee-table quality containers for cremains. To become a specialist in your field takes a little vision and a little luck. Usually ones specialty comes by dint of the opportunities that present themselves. The way I got to be a career writer is a process of finding a specialty. I started writing fiction, but I was not that great at it. I realized the only thing I was getting paid good money for was business writing. And within that field, I found that the way I really stood out was in my approach to writing about careers. Trend spotting takes diligent information gathering with an open mind, but theres big payoff in having a relevant, specialized career. I always aim for a dynamic, innovative career like one of those trend-spotting funeral directors, and you should, too.

How Todays Job Seeker is Like a SEAL Recruit - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Todays Job Seeker is Like a SEAL Recruit - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Most people today certainly know who the U.S. Navy SEALs are . . . one of the most elite warrior groups in the U.S. Armed Forces. You don’t become a SEAL simply by raising your hand at morning roll-call and volunteering to join. You have to earn the title SEAL, by successfully completing an unforgiving, extremely grueling and highly demanding training course. That’s at least part of the reason why the “wash-out” rate among SEAL recruits is the highest of any of the elite fighting groups, about 80 percent! At the risk of gross hyperboleâ€"and with due respect and apologies to all the other elite fighting groups in the U.S. Military services!â€"it’s the U.S. Navy SEALs, and the challenges and crucibles involved in becoming one, that serves as perhaps the best, most appropriate analogy for today’s job seekers. In order to even be considered for becoming a SEAL you must first prove that you are an exceptional sailor in the U.S. Navy. Then, you must complete the extremely challenging training course in order to actually become a SEAL. And, during SEAL training, instructors continually do everything possible to eliminate as many recruits as they can, as quickly as they can. Why? Because they are looking only for those recruits who will be able to “cut it” when the going gets rough! In other words, the SEALs are looking only for “the best of the best.” Notwithstanding the fact that you, as a job seeker, are of course far less likely to be put in harm’s way in the workplace than would be the case for a U.S. Navy SEAL, there are actually many implied parallels between what it takes to get hired for one of today’s open positions and what it takes to become a SEAL. To even be considered for hiring in today’s extremely competitive job market, you must first be perceived, i.e., “branded,” as being among the exceptional (read: elite) candidates vying for any given position. Then, you must prove your “mettle” by being able to successfully negotiate (and survive!) all the “obstacles” that hiring managers and other screeners are going to be throwing in your path during the various stages of your candidacy, e.g. , the telephone interview, the face-to-face interview, etc. Then, and only then, will you have a genuine chance of being named the candidate of choice by a hiring company. Brutal? Unfair? You bet, but that’s still the way it is in today’s job market and it’s unrealistic to expect it to appreciably change anytime soon! Those who are still expecting the job market to revert to “the good old days” of just a few years ago are likely to be disappointed, very disappointed, I’m afraid. Only the best of the best considered in todays job market Now certainly, all the news isn’t bad. Despite what you hear and read in the media, virtually each and every day, companies still are hiring! Critical positions are being filled,  everyday. Significant to note, however, is the fact that only candidates who can be branded “the “best of the best” are likely to be considered for one of these open positions. So, the question then becomes . . . How do you brand yourself as being among this elite group, “the best of the best,” and therefore be in a position to capitalize on one of today’s job opportunities? First, as a job candidate, you must brand yourself as a true, elite “warrior,” someone who has the training, experience (and endurance) to get the job done and done right! You have to be someone who truly considers himself/herself as indeed being among the elite group of candidatesâ€"and then have the evidence to prove that you deserve to be among that group. As we’ve already seen, even to be considered for becoming a SEAL, you have to have exhibited previous exemplary performance as a “common” sailor in the U.S. Navy. Likewise, to become a viable candidate for virtually any position within a major corporation today, you also will have to have exhibited previous exemplary performance. How can you demonstrate that? As is the case with all job candidates, of course, your entry into the job market is your résumé, and it is in your résumé that you must clearlyâ€"and quickly!â€"demonstrate your previous exemplary performance. I had a professional ask me recently, “How do you have an interesting and outstanding resume?” My response: “Well, first you have to have done interesting and outstanding things!” I wasn’t trying to be flippant, just to be honest with the professional. Each and every business day I receive résumés from candidates who have in fact done some very interesting and outstanding things in their careers. Yet they continue to brand  themselves as being simply ordinary, run-of-the-mill people! Let me use just one recent example to illustrate my point here. This is how one recent candidate outlined his previous exemplary performance in his résumé: OEM and Major Accounts Acquired new business with several large national corporations, including Company A, Company B and Company C Appointed to position of Project Manager, HealthCare Continued streak of $1 million+ sales years Sold team 8 leading loyalty contract The overwhelming majority of the time (99.9%), in our recruiting firm, we would simply hit the “delete” key on a résumé like this. Among other deficiencies, it is weak, lame and doesn’t even make much sense. (What, for example, does “Sold team 8 leading loyalty contracts” even mean?!) The only reason we called him is because he happens to work for a company that would be of interest to our client company. When   I called this candidate I was (like the SEAL instructors) ready to do everything I could to get him to “ring the bell three times,” which is how SEAL recruits signal that they are ready to quit training. I wanted him to admit that, in truth, he simply wasn’t the right candidate for the position I was trying to fill for our client company. I wanted to demonstrate to him that he wasn’t really among the elite candidates. However, when I pressed and challenged him, he surprised me by pressing back with examples of exceptional accomplishments and achievements that I knew would make the client company want to pursue his candidacy. As a result of our telephone conversation, here is how we revised his résumé, in order to clearlyâ€"and quickly!â€"illustrate his accomplishments and achievements: Landed a multi-year, multi-location, MRO contract worth over $2,000,000 for XYZ University at the Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses. Developed and closed a $2.3 million sole source multi-year agreement with ABC company for their Detroit, Taylor and Kansas City locations. This candidate is now going to be presented to our client company. Still, it’s important to remember that, if he hadn’t had the great fortune to currently be working for a company in which our client company had an interest, he certainly wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even be considered! That is, even though he proved to be worthy of being considered among the elite candidates, on his own, he hadn’t been able to effectively make his case! Don’t you make that mistake! If you are in fact among the elite candidates in today’s job market, then be prepared to have to prove it. And, unfortunately, if you can’t prove it, then you probably should get ready to “ring the bell three times!” Author: Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and RD professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

4 Companies that are Using Virtual Reality for Employee Training - CareerMetis.com

4 Companies that are Using Virtual Reality for Employee Training We are only just beginning to understand the impact virtual reality will have on our lives.While VR technology has been growing in popularity since at least the 1960s, it’s only recently that it’s been slated for widespread use. With advancements in mobile app development, virtual reality is more accessible to us than ever. This technology lets you interact with a vast range of environments, objects, and even people, no matter where you are.evalThat’s why organizations across many different industries have begun leveraging mobile app development servicesto develop both mobile and wearable hardware to train new and old employees.Virtual reality training programs are often ideal because they don’t require employees to travel to seminars. Companies can instead hold sophisticated training sessions right in the office. This goes a long way to help save companies money, as they no longer have to pay for multiple travel and lodging fees.Additionally, VR is a great way to increase em ployee engagement. For a long time, virtual reality was thought of as a technology that would only be useful for video games.However, the high level of engagement and obvious gamification potential allows for work to feel like fun, especially for younger hires. As they use VR software to engage with the brand, employees are likely to experience a boost in dedication and involvement with your company.Here’s a look at some of the other ways this technology is already making an impact.1) STRIVRWhat do professional sports teams have in common with commercial corporations?Besides having a team-oriented mindset, both industries are taking advantage of the benefits VR training has to offer.evalOne company, STRIVR, has built up its name by being among the very best at providing a virtual experience to improve user performance. Originally developed to help athletes train for all situations, the techniques they incorporated were easily translated into a more corporate setting.Companies that are serious about giving their employees the ultimate training experience have partnered with businesses that provide an immersive VR experience.While these training processes all have the same end goal in mind KFC plans to address this issue with The Hard Way, a VR program that trains new workersin essential kitchen processes without having to waste real, valuable cooking time. The program uses Oculus Rift headsets to show employees how to properly prepare the chains famous chicken. Not only does this give employees a hands-on experience that doesn’t have real-world consequences for mistakes, but it also allows the training process to happen in under half the timeit would in person. Their training procedures have been heavily animated, making it look more like a video game than an actual KFC kitchen.While the company hasn’t put the product to widespread use as of yet, its very existence proves that KFC understands how useful this technology will prove to be in the near future. KFC has said that it intends to use the Hard Way as a supplemental training program, as well as a way to engage and reward its employees.3) UPSWhen an employee operates a vehicle, thorough preparation is essential not only to their safety but also to the safety of other drivers.Understanding this, UPS has recently implemented a VR simulationacross several training centers. The program allows new hires to navigate routes, avoid hazards, and encounter various traffic conditions, all without actually getting behind the wheel. This solution could potentially do more than simply boost safety; it may also help UPS conserve time and resources.Besides that, it can also help turn what would otherwise be a hands-off, auditory learning experience into a tactile one. This helps build muscle memory and allows the first time drivers are exposed to potentially dangerous or difficult situations that take place in the safety of the training center, with their trainers available to help navigate thr ough sticky spots.As most new hires tend to be younger, the video game-esque aspects of the training capture their attention and help them be enthusiastic about learning proper safety procedures.4) WalmartWorking as a sales associate in a big store like Walmart involves dealing with many different types of people and situations. To offer the best possible customer service, associates must be ready for any and all possibilities.Walmart is boosting employee preparednesswith VR. As a STRIVR partner, hires go through a completely different onboarding process than they would have 10 years ago. New employees will experience virtual scenarios they may encounter in the real world, making choices they believe to be most appropriate.evalThis is an interesting example, in that the tasks sales associates perform on a regular basis are not always step-by-step procedures, like making KFC’s chicken or driving a UPS truck from one destination to another. It shows that VR has already reached the p oint where it can effectively simulate very unique, sophisticated experiences.The VR training has mostly been focused on employees who work at Walmart Super Centers: for two weeks before beginning a new role, hires are trained for new experiences like holiday shoppers or how to safely and efficiently clean a mess.The VR program also walked employees through proper customer service techniques and how to carry out operational services, such as arranging stock on shelves.By allowing employees to get used to and experience the worst-case scenario before they’re thrust into a new work environment, they’ll be better able to adapt to situations that arise at work. Walmart even found that employees who had interacted with the VR training program were better able to absorb the new information provided to them.That means we’re likely going to see more and more businesses across various industries adopting VR training programs soon. As the benefits of technology develop further, business leaders will continue to think up new ways to take advantage of it.evalCompanies will enjoy stronger employee performance, while customers will enjoy better (and safer!) service. Shorter training periods will save businesses money, while at the same time giving their employees a taste of what their day-to-day tasks will be like.There is no such thing as being over-prepared, and VR training is allowing companies to ensure that their teams are always ready to expect the unexpected.

Are You an Olympic Athlete

Are You an Olympic Athlete What does an Olympic athlete have in common with a job seeker? Drive, dedication, passion. And lets not forget the ability and desire to compete. I love watching the Olympics. No where else can you see such a strong a demonstration of commitment and this commitment and passion generally drives me to tears. These athletes have been preparing their entire lives to compete. They have made sacrifices in the name of their passion and gift. They take risks and know that failure will come with risk-taking. Yet, there they are. Only 3 of them will be honorably recognized. Was it worth it for them? It was their dream. At the core of their motivation is their passion for what they are doing. Have you identified your passion? Are you pursuing your next career with the same outlook as the Olympic athlete? They are training every day. Are you practicing every day? They are experimenting with new techniques and moves and methods to improve their performance. Are you investing in yourself and your professional development? They have a coach and team-mates who push them and hold them accountable. Do you? As you watch the Olympics, draw your own analogies and see which ones you can incorporate in managing your career.

Tips on Writing a Fast Resume

Tips on Writing a Fast ResumeIf you have just graduated from college and wish to start your career, the last thing you want to do is spend hours working on a resume that will bring you nowhere. Don't let that be you.There are a lot of resumes out there and you need to take your time and look for a few different ways to start. While you can search online and get some tips, this is usually not a good way to go about it. When you are looking for a way to get a resume done fast, you should always know what you are getting yourself into and learn how to do it yourself if you are unsure of how to go about it.A great way to start your own career right now would be to look for free or low cost resources that can help you get your resume finished fast. Whether you want to hire someone or get a resume written by you, there are plenty of places where you can get some great advice and tips on writing a fast resume. These are usually ones that will allow you to do it for free and are very valuabl e.The other great resource that you can use to write a fast resume is to start your own blog. When you start your own blog, you can post articles and keep your readers up to date with what is going on in your life. You can also use this as a way to make a little extra money and not have to spend all your time writing.Many people have a blog and they use it to help them find the right jobs or any type of career web sites that can help them with their career. It is an easy way to get your resume done fast and without breaking the bank.Writing a quick resume can help you get some of the information needed to get you a job. If you get a job with an employer that you really like, it will mean the world to you because it shows that you have done your research on the company and you know that you can perform the job well.You may want to take a few minutes to put together a resume for yourself. Most employers today are looking for fresh ideas and fresh resumes. By making a resume, you can s ee how well you can write and put together one that will get you the job you want.By creating a resume you can see what kind of things you can do and see how you stack up against other candidates. You may be surprised by how well you do in certain areas and how much better you do than the other people who are applying for the same job. The faster you can get your resume finished, the better off you will be.