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In looking for inspiration for today’s blog, I Googled top inspirational quotes and “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. –Chinese Proverb” appeared.

I absolutely LOVE this concept. In helping people, as a friend or career coach, I can attest that we are all guilty of beating ourselves up and saying it’s too late, we are too old or we missed our chance. The reality is that the only boundaries that exist are the ones we create for ourselves! Truth as the Proverb states, that optimally the best time for what ever action may have been 20 years ago, but the reality is- you can’t go back, you are in the present moment and while it may not be what you originally perceived as the optimal “BEST” time, NOW is perfect.

It takes guts to take action, make a change and believe that what you truly want or desire can be yours and that you are worthy of it. We are all here to learn, grow and bring value. It’s all a choice. There’s consequences with the paths we choose. As we get busy with the mundane tasks of life, (what I refer to as running on the hamster wheel), we lose touch with our passions, our essence of what inspires us, what makes our souls feel alive and our lives richer. What I find exciting and interesting is that sometimes, when we are lucky enough to be open, opportunities, passions, relationships, or things long forgotten have a way of coming back into focus in our lives. These events need to be honored as magical and cherished as wonderful gifts. It may be something as simple as picking up a musical instrument that you loved to play in school, watching a movie that inspired you, hearing a song that takes you back to the place and sensations of when you first heard that song or reconnecting to an old friend. I truly believe life is like a garden. There are seasons when you plan your garden and the same concepts are applicable to managing your career. You need to:

1. Prepare the land or soil where you will have your garden. This is similar to preparing yourself in school and life education as the foundation to be successful in your career.

2. Plan where you will garden and what you will plant in your garden. This is similar to figuring out what you want to do and where you want to do it.

3. The right tools such as seeds and gardening tools for your garden, and education, experience and relationships for your career.

4. Deal with environmentals- this could be weeding, dealing with bugs, or animals eating your bounty in your garden or weeding out negative relationships/companies that won’t work for you, environments that don’t suit you, or situations that just don’t work in your career. Whether it’s your garden or your career, you need to check in on it, anticipate problems, give it care and feeding. You can choose not to, but it won’t yield big results if you fail to help it grow.

5. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Just as in gardening, you need to take a break and enjoy the beauty and bounty of what you have created, cared for and grown.

6. Learn from the past and remember you can try again.

Live with gusto! Sieze the day! Snap out of it! While the best time to plant a tree may have been 20 years ago- live in the perfect present of here and now and make a difference- make a change- re-ignite your passions- tend to your garden, live your dreams and “plant your trees”!

If you would like to check out the radio show from this past week:

http://www.1077thebronc.com/?page_id=356

If you would like to enroll for a Career Yenta Boot Camp^TM session or sponsor a friend or loved one or previous employees as outplacement:

http://www.careeryenta.com

Give us a call- join us at boot camp!

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Rock 2013!!!

A dear friend recently shared an article with me to let me know they recognize my “Secret Sauce”. I was of course very grateful and flattered. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130717182801-48426-the-secret-sauce-of-great-recruiters In reading it, I thought of the friend that sent it to me and felt they too had this same “Secret Sauce” applied to their profession! Sometimes we forget or take for granted the things we do right or what makes us unique. Sometimes it can just take a quick email, with a simple link from an old friend to remind you. In further reflection of the article, I realize that the key factors are having genuine passion, a plan for success, pride in your work and focus on whatever task/job you are doing, your direct customer(s) and the world at large.

So how does this help you? Let’s walk through the highlighted characteristics and how they are critical to success in anything you do.

Here’s what the article states as “secret sauce of a great recruiter”

“1. Authentic Compassion. The best recruiters are often labeled as a “people person” but what that really means is that they are incredible listeners and they truly care about the people they interact with. Compassion is even more powerful in the long term as people build a relationship and interact across multiple roles and/or companies.

2. Agile Builders. The best recruiters are data driven and iterate with the same discipline and frequency as the best software developments teams. Understanding a problem (such as sourcing, interview process, closing a candidate), measuring performance and using a sprint process to optimize results on a regular basis are fundamentally agile development skills and requirements for top recruiters.

3. Positive Marketers. Every interaction an external person has with your company is a marketing impression. This includes every email, phone call or news article, and every person they talk to including a recruiter, front desk admin, interviewer or executive. The best recruiters know this and use every impression as an opportunity to have a positive impact. People often forget that 99% of the time you make an impression on an external person you will not ever hire them so the risk of that impression being negative is high. If every interaction is positive, you will impact not only those individuals but a broad network of potential future hires.

4. Communication Artists. In today’s electronic and busy workplace, communication is an often overlooked art. The best recruiters are able to handle three widely varying communication requirements — sourcing new candidates, rejecting existing candidates and internal process alignment — with the same level of empathy, positivity and discipline. Each of these communications is an art in its own right and the best recruiters manage all three such that every interaction leads to positive momentum.”

Here’s why it’s critical path to incorporate this “Secret Sauce” into your career management plan.

1. Authentic Compassion. The key words to me here are “incredible listeners” and “truly care about the people they interact with”. We talk about it on “Your Career is Calling” http://www.1077thebronc.com/?page_id=111 the key to success is networking- building relationships. It takes time, but the foundation can be created in an instant (i.e. an interview). Part of building a powerful relationship is trying to understand where the other person is coming from, learning where you can help and provide value. So whether you are in an interview, working in a cross-functional team, or meeting with your boss…actively participate… life is short… it’s not a dress rehearsal.

2. Agile Builders. The key words to me here are “data driven” and “Understanding a problem (such as sourcing, interview process, closing a candidate), measuring performance and using a sprint process to optimize results”. In Step 1- you actively listened, understand the pain point you need to resolve and now in Step 2 you need the data- the plan – how will you successfully exceed expectations? Like my Dad used to say… to do the job right, you need the right tools as well as …. Knowledge is power. Put yourself in a position of power!

3. Positive Marketers. The key words to me here are “Every interaction an external person has with your company is a marketing impression; and If every interaction is positive, you will impact not only those individuals but a broad network”. You are always on. I forget where I heard this, but I remember either reading or hearing someone tell me “EVERYTHING MATTERS!” Not to stress you out or cause anxiety- you can always recover and learn from a mistake, but do your best, be your consistent, authentic self and stay positive. I’ve written about the power of positive thinking, tweet positive quotes https://twitter.com/G45Consulting and have done an entire radio show on the effects (archives available here: http://comm.rider.edu/thebronc/?page_id=356 ) The Power of Positive Thinking April 7, 2013. We also recently had a guest discussing the effect of the positive workplace: Transforming IT Culture– June 23, 2013- (while he talks about “Information Technology” Culture- the concepts translate to any workplace). STAY POSITIVE.

4. Communication Artists. The key words to me here are “Each communications is an art in its own right and every interaction leads to positive momentum.” Any time you interact, you need to be sensitive to what message you are communicating. We recently did two different radio shows on the mechanics of your message. You can check out archives of the show here: http://comm.rider.edu/thebronc/?page_id=356 Check out the shows from The Importance of Netiquette– June 16, 2013 – and The Art of Communication– June 30, 2013

As my mission is to help others “Work with passion…. Live inspired!” I encourage you to ENGAGE and ENJOY! Like Gene Simmons says… “I don’t wait for the calendar to figure out when I should live life.”

If you are looking to make a change in your career, and are stuck, it’s not working, or just can’t get going, let us help you in your journey. If you don’t do it now, when will you? Dreaming without a plan is like thinking you are going to win the lottery and never buying a ticket. Get your admission ticket to a Career Yenta Boot Camp! Let’s get going.