You are a 19 year old kid. You are in the Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam. It is November 14, 1965 and you are dying. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 – 1, and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in. You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you’re not getting out.... Continue reading

The holidays are a whisker away. With the holidays, come parties and parties are – wait for it………….great places to connect, if you know how to work a room. Watching some people work a room is like watching a drunk chase a balloon next to a cliff. One false step and they’re gone. The easiest way I know to connect with people is to make it all about the other person. Questions are the... Continue reading

There has been a bunch of stuff written about executive coaching, what it is; what it isn’t; whose it for, etc. Here’s my two cents…..Coaching is not therapy. Therapy focuses on the past. Coaching is not mentoring because mentoring is functional based, directive advising that usually follows an industry expertise. It is not life coaching because life coaching is psychological based, individual... Continue reading

Your skills are what you do well. Your talent is how well you utilize your skills. And your value proposition is how you sell your talent. How well you sell your talent is what sets you apart in today’s market. Determining this takes some time to think through, plan and communicate. Some ideas include: • Review previous performance reviews • Talk with your references • Review previous assessments... Continue reading

I remember 10 years ago like it was yesterday. I had just completed a presentation and was talking with one of the attendees when a customer told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I remember going home and watching TV until I fell asleep the next morning. I remember those who we lost and those who risk everything to try to save them. Our pain has been rekindled this week. I’m not sure... Continue reading

If you are beginning an involuntary career transition or thinking about making a career change, here are a few questions to consider as you begin. Good questions are better than easy answers. • What do I do next? • What do I need to know? • Who knows what I need to know? • What do I need to do to be better than anyone else? • What value do I bring to the market and how do I promote it? •... Continue reading

When asked for our value proposition, most of us give a long winded answer that sounds like it was copied and pasted right out of a Job Search 101. Every time I hear one of these by the third sentence I am thinking about funny things to do on an elevator. A career value proposition is a must have. A short value proposition is a must remember. “I want to be No. 2 to a dreamer.” I heard this six... Continue reading

There are some things that just don’t fit. A car with ‘California or Bust” on the back window heading east, a mini-van competing at a monster truck rally, a tuba in a string quarter, a screen door on a submarine. Fit is “the” intangible and is one of the main reasons why people are hired and….fired! Some organizations try to remove the intangible and test for fit and some just go with their... Continue reading

Last year I was invited to facilitate a senior executive transition group comprised of 63 CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CIOs and CMOs with an average weekly meeting attendance of 25. At a recent meeting, the question was asked, “What are you doing new, different or creative that is generating activity in your search?” Tracy Heiner, a Vice President of Sales candidate (a good one) offered what I thought was... Continue reading

I was driving back to my office last week from a meeting at Colonial Country Club. The place of the meeting is important for two reasons: 1) I like telling people I had a meeting at Colonial Country Club and 2) Colonial is in south Ft Worth and I live in northwest Dallas. So, here I am, plodding along through midday traffic when a minivan whizzes by me at 80 mph. Ordinarily this wouldn’t have affected... Continue reading