I’ve been reading on attitude and how it affects ones career lately.  There are loads of materials on this subject, particularly on the subject of how women’s attitude often differs from men’s.  That difference in attitude can make a world of difference in career success.  You’ll be seeing more posts on that in the near future.

But quickly, I’d like to share with you an article a colleague sent me a few days ago.  It’s titled “She’s Gotta Have ‘It’”.  It’s an old article from Business Week.  The article largely deals with executive presence.  It’s not that particularly interesting nor did it offer too many solid go-to tips.  However, there was one line that I thought was very enlightening that I really wanted to share with you all:

The best news about confidence is that it’s easier to develop than competence – the part of the job senior women usually have licked.

So, how to develop confidence?  As I finish my reading, I’m sure I’ll have more on this topic.  However, really simply, one need to start with giving it your best.  At the end of the day, it’s a matter of attitude.  You can walk around questioning if your best is good enough, or be confidence in knowing that you’ve given it all.  After all, if your best isn’t good enough, that’s really a competence issue.  There needs to be further development, or sometimes it’s just not the right job.  Regardless, your attitude affects how others perceives your effort.  If you wonder if your effort is good enough, surely others will too.  So, why start that line of question?  So, until you’re told differently, you have to assume that you have that job, and continue to have that job, because you are good enough for that job.  So, be confident knowing that. 

I really enjoyed the Women Unlimited web panel that I attended last week.  It was a panel of top executives from different industries talking about what it takes to be a leader.  One question particularly piqued my interest: What do you all look for in emerging leaders? Here is the list of qualities the panelists listed:

• Critical Thinking
• Curiosity
• Global mindset
• Team player
• Thoughtful yet decisive
• Not afraid of constructive conflict (not afraid to push back)
• Not afraid of change

I think this is a great list, and something I can certainly keep in mind to develop.  After all, I’m no top executive yet .  Some qualities on this list seemed apparent.  Others surprised me a little.  For example, being a team player is something they emphasized since grade school.  Having a global mindset makes sense as the world gets flatter with technology.  Critical thinking and change management are also skills that many leadership courses discuss.  I’m excited to learn that curiosity is valued, because I certainly value it.  I like the point about being decisive.  I think we’ve all worked for leaders that are not and how that wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience… Constructive conflict is an idea that I’m familiar with, but the first time I’ve heard it referenced specifically, and given a name, and made it “real”.  A leader cannot be afraid of conflict.  A leader cannot be afraid of saying no.  A leader cannot be afraid to engage.  Constructive conflict, a nice term that I learned.

Would you add anything to this list?

Photo credit: Tatt Yeo

Last week, I attended a webcast by Women Unlimited.  It was a panel discussion on leadership.  With contributions from top executives, both male and female, across industries, the group discussed the rule of the games.  I thought I’d share these rules here:

1. Know the rules
2. Assess your impact
3. Don’t do it alone
4. Manage work, lead people
5. Look like a leader
6. Think excellence, not perfection
7. Play well with others
8. Take risks, make decisions
9. Seed for the future
10. Enjoy the game

I think these rules are very powerful.  As I move through my career, I can’t help but to acknowledge that there is such a thing as office politics.  Now, the game of office politics is often viewed negatively.  However, I think it’s all in how you play the game.  You can certainly play it honorably.  I’ve observed it in real life.

The rules above help us navigate this game.  First you must know how the organization is ran.  Once you figured that out, you can decided how you are going to play the game.  There is also the decision that this isn’t a game you want to play (at which point, you may want to consider changing organization / job).   Rule 1 and 2 speak to this.

Next, build a team.  We all need help.  We all need each other.  We all need teams, even for overachievers!  Sometimes, leaders like to do everything on their own.  But ultimately, the higher one go, the more we need to rely on others.  I may know marketing, but I don’t know supply chain, for example.  I may know marketing, but I don’t know everything about marketing, and I need peers as sounding boards.  I need teams.  We all do.  After all, no man is an island.  Rule 3 and 7 speak to this.

Before, we manage others, we first need to manage ourselves.  Lead by example.  The higher one go, the more one need to look beyond the functions and the specifics, but to look at the bigger picture.  Rule 4, 5, 6, and 8 speak to this.

Finally,  leaders are always looking at the future and having fun in what they do.  After all, why else would we do it?  Rule 9 and 10.

More on these rules can be found in Women Are Changing the Corporate Landscape published by leaders of Women Unlimited.

Photo credit: Peter Hayes

Let’s talk about being a brand manager…

A brand manager usually is a people manager of one or more junior marketers.  In addition, a brand manager is a leader of the project team.  A project team may include scientist who’d developing your product formula, a supply chain person who’s figuring out how to ship the products to the customers, a procurement person who’s figuring out where to buy everything that goes into the product, a sales team leader who’s trying to make sure the product sells, etc.  Generally, the project team comprise of a mix of cross-functional partners who have no direct reporting relationship to you.  In all honesty, this is where leadership skills becomes particularly important.  You can’t threaten disciplinary actions to someone who doesn’t actually report to you.

Now, I must admit I’m still learning about being a good leader, but here are some lessons that I think I have learned so far.  Some from my own lessons as I lead teams.  Some from my managers.  Some from people I’d never want to report to.

1)  Not everything is an opportunity. Some managers like to call everything an opportunity.  There is a hurdle, but it’s an opportunity for you to overcome the hurdle.  If you succeed, you’d really shine.  However, depending on the size of the hurdle, it may not be an opportunity to succeed but an opportunity to fail.  Not too surprisingly, the underlings know the difference.

2)  Know when to accept No. Some of the worst managers never accept no as an answer.  Instead, they set unrealistic goals with unrealistic timelines.  Then, they frame such situations as “opportunities”.  See point #1.  Coming into team meetings with a baseball bat, yelling and screaming to everyone that we just need to make this work, wouldn’t actually make things magically work.  Accept reality.

3)  Let your people shine. Some managers think that to continue to climb the ladder, they need to shine.  However, as a manager, you need your people to shine.  Through their light, you shine as well.  So, go ahead, let your people shine.  Give credit where credit is due.  In doing so, you don’t only appear to be a good leader, you are also gaining allies.  It’s really a win-win.

4)  Champion your people. It’s been said that you don’t leave jobs, you leave managers.  One stays at a job because they think that their manager is their champion.  They think that they have a future in the organization.  Find out what it is that your people want from the project, from the team, from the organization, and try to make that happen for them.  Otherwise, you’ll soon find a desk full of resignation letters.

5)  Communicate. People hate surprises.  So, it’s best to keep an open line of communication at all time.  A project may be at a turning point, and you don’t know exactly which way it’s going yet.  But, let the team know that some changes may be coming, and when you expect to know definitively which way it’s going.  Manage expectations.

Now, are these lessons new?  Are these lessons particularly unique to today’s business environment?  No.  The basics don’t change.  In bad economic times, it’s even more important for managers to remember that they are only as good as their team.  And it’s the team that make or break a manager.  We are all under a lot of stress to make the numbers, but we can’t do it without our people.  It’s more important than ever to remember these important lessons now.

What lessons will you add to this list?

I started the Job Search 101 series because I hoped that the lessons I have learned along the way can help someone in this job market. Besides, job hunt is simply marketing yourself to hiring managers. So, basic marketing principles apply to the job search process.

Today, I’d like to focus on one of the most important job search tools: resume.

First of all, what is a resume? It is a direct mail marketing piece that asks for the interview. Note, the resume is not supposed to land you the job, it’s supposed to land you the interview. In this, it’s comparable to a 30 second tv commercial for a complex product. It’s not a commercial for a simple bag of M&Ms. You don’t want to compare yourself to a simple bag of candy. You are the best money can buy. You are full of experience, just like a complex pharmaceutical product that is full of lab-tested benefits. In such cases, the 30 second commercial would only give you a taste of the product. But you won’t find all the details about this product in this 30 second commercial. This product is worth more than 30 seconds. You may be referred to a website. You may be referred to a brochure. You may be referred to a magazine ad. You may even be referred to talk to your doctor. However, a commercial for a complex product is not meant to make the sale. It’s meant pique your interest. The same with a resume. A resume is supposed to pique the hiring manager’s interest, and invites you for a real conversation about you. Think about that commercial again. It’ll highlight perhaps the big clinical results. But it probably won’t go into the details of the clinical test. Your resume should highlight the big achievements, but not every detail about your every project. That’s what the interview is for. For some industries, there is the portfolio. There are also references. These are comparable to the product brochure or the commercial’s suggestion to talk to your doctor. So, the trick is to pick just enough and the right details to make you interesting to the hiring manager.

In which case, why would you ever start with the resume? I’ve seen so many people ask for feedback about their resumes. But, they don’t even know where they’re sending their resumes to. How can you develop a marketing piece without knowing your target audience? You cannot.

So, don’t start with the resume. Start with a job description. Make your resume match that job description. Well, better yet, your resume should make that job description come to life. If the job description says “responsible for building client base”, your resume should say “built client base by 20%”. Now, don’t lie. But, if you’re applying for the right jobs, you shouldn’t have too much problems finding past achievements that would speak directly to the job description.

Photo credit: Desi

Related article on CuriousMarketeer:

• Job Search 101: Working a Career Fair

Related articles online

• New Year, New Resume (wisebread.com)
• 6 New Year’s Resolutions for Job Seekers (money.usnews.com)

As things at work have gotten more crazy, things over here have definitely suffered.  I have many blog ideas floating in my head.  So, the moment I find a moment to write…

However, in the mean time, I’d like to introduce to you two very neat blogs by a couple colleagues of mine.

1. American Swagger: Bold Presentations for the Brave (americanswagger.us) – We all know that presentation skills is perhaps one of the most critical skills to have to advance one’s career. This blog highlights some real good tips toward building better presentations. Now, not all tips would work for all situations. If your PowerPoint decks are usually shown to internal audience who’s expect just financial statements on the page, this blog is probably not for you. You need to understand your audience. However, if you’re in sale, and you need your presentation to make an impact, I think this blog would be great. Even if you’re presenting internally, judge your company culture. They may be ready for these bold presentation techniques.
2. Corporate Radical. Tough Situations. Unconventional Solutions (corporateradical.com) – This blog highlights a variety of challenges that we all face every day. It has some really interesting tips about how to deal with them all. For example, the latest post was about how it takes work to make work happy. Obvious principle, when someone points it out.

There you have it. Two blogs that I found recently that I thought everyone should check out. Of course, if you haven’t already, check out my personal favorite: Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist (tomfishburne.com)

Photo credit: Thom

Within every mistake, there is a lesson. This week, I learned a good lesson at work.

I’ve been listening to Lis Wiehl’s Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life. It’s a good book covering the tactics lawyers use to build their case. Such tactics have real life applications outside of the courtroom. For example, by correctly choosing your juror, and building a solid case, you could win an everyday argument like getting credit for returning a product. For example, talking to a part-time store associate who didn’t want to be working at the store in the first place probably is going to be a waste of time. S/he is not going to care. A store manager, who’s focused on profit and store traffic, may be more inclined to listen to you in hope to keep your loyalty.

Another lesson I learned was that lawyers ask a lot of questions in the courtroom. However, good lawyers never ask a question that they don’t already know the answer to! This is powerful!

This week, I walked into the big boss’s office, asking for her approval on a piece of creative. I’ve done so so many times before, and generally such reviews go okay. This time was a little different. For reasons still unknown to me today (I was just having an off-day), I walked into her office completely unprepared. I did my homework. I checked the boxes and crossed the to-do list. I knew that my creative was solid on delivering on what the team wanted. However, I also knew that it was a much focused piece that intentionally left something off. I should have known that this could have been a point of discussion. I should have had my “evidence” ready. I should have had my “counter arguments” ready. I had them, but somehow, at that moment that matters, I just didn’t perform! I didn’t frame my argument. I didn’t present my evidence. I froze. And the review went very differently than what I had initially imagined.

This taught me that no matter how many times you’ve done something in the past. No matter how many times you’ve won the game (to borrow an Olympic inspired analogy). You have to be 100% prepared and ready to perform your best every single time! Every meeting is a trial. You’ve won if you achieved your objective. You’ve lost if you did not. In order to win, you need to present your argument with evidence. Every meeting is a trial; no exceptions.

When I asked my boss what she thought about the piece, I should have known the answer. Again, never ask a question that you don’t know the answer to. I should have known that she would contest the points that were intentionally left off the piece. In order to secure a winning judgment from my boss that day, I needed to address why certain points were intentionally left off. I needed to establish that the points we chose to include on the piece were the most impactful one for delivering on our needs. I should have framed my argument carefully, slowly leading her to the conclusion I wanted. If I had acted like a lawyer, I would have presented a logical argument that would have left her no choice but to must award me the decision I sought. A winning verdict for that piece of creative.

Every meeting is a trial. Every meeting has juror(s). Every one of us has a lawyer inside that could help us win our everyday cases!

Photo credit: Joe Gratz

A national career fair is coming up at the end of the week. So, I thought I’d post my tips on how to work a job fair. Of course, I take it for granted that you know you need the basics like a good resume, a good suit, a good elevator speech, etc.

1. For the ladies, wear flats. Purchase a pair of dressy flats. Otherwise, your feet will be hurting before the fair is half done, and it would get increasingly difficult for you to put your smiley face on. The rule of being comfortable while staying professional extend to the gentlemen as well. To this end, consider bringing an extra suit or invest in a washable suit. Once, I had a spill during the conference, and I was lucky that my suit was washable. If you choose the extra suit route, the back-up suit obviously would not need to be as nice / expensive.
2. Bring a lot of resumes. In fact, bring a jump drive with your resume, writing sample, portfolio, etc. on it. Just in case you need it, you could always go to your hotel’s business center or a Kinko’s.
3. Do your research well ahead of the time. Many job fairs set up a website with job posting. Figure out which employers would be there. Know your targets. Apply ahead if you can. Try to set up interviews for the fair well ahead of the time, if you can. For one fair, I had 8 interviews lined up prior to even going to the fair. Everything that I got while actually at the conference was gravy.
4. Plan to arrive the night before, and go to the fair site. Often, there is an early check-in set up, and you could get your registration package the night before. The lines for early check-in are usually far shorter! This would allow you to have more time in the morning during the actual fair. Even if you missed the early check-in time, make an effort to stop by the convention center. One, you want to get familiar with the site. You wouldn’t want to lose any time on the real day of the fair. Two, even if you didn’t get your official package, there may be event maps lying around. Pick one up. That is perhaps the single most important piece of material besides your security badge. You want to study that map the night before. You want to figure out a war path. You want to figure out what is the most efficient way to hit up all the employers you wanted to visit.
5. Visit your #1 target company second. This is perhaps my most important tip. Don’t bother wasting time on an employer in which you have absolutely no interests. However, there are those that are on the end of your list. Pick one of those as your first visit. Often time, similar jobs have similar job fair interactions. So, by staying within your list, you would just get more practice on how to interact with these companies. You would get used to the questions they’d ask. You would get better at making a good first impression. So, don’t waste time with companies not on your list. But, why pick one of the ones on the end to start? Because inevitably you would be nervous. Truthfully, this is your guinea pig visit. Work off your nerves. Get a good real-life practice. If you happen to nail this, great. If not, you would just move on to those higher on your list. Why visit your #1 company second? You would be still awake, full of adrenaline early in the day. You would be at the best of your game early on, so use that toward your top companies. In addition, each company reserves some at-the-fair interview spots for candidates they meet during the fair. However, these spots go fast. If you want to get on one of these spots still, you need to make sure you visit them early on.
6. Along with the above point, don’t bother visiting with companies with which you already have interviews scheduled till later. Prioritize the companies you still need to get on their interview schedule first.
7. Go to the networking events hosted by your target companies. Network, network, network!

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Photo credit: career fair, originally uploaded by yngrich.

Related articles online

• Career and Internship Fair: What You Need To Know (smudailymustang.com)

Scene (In conference room C at approximately 9am):
In-house Creative Designer: What?!?! That wasn’t approved?
Me: No…
In-house Creative Designer: But, we’ve been moving forward with this already…
Me: Um… why?
In-house Creative Designer: Because I was told to! You should have told us that this design wasn’t approved!
My inner monologue: Um… I told your boss… and I would think that your boss would have told you…
Me: Well… I’m sorry about the confusion. But the design isn’t approved. I’ll keep you updated after we talk with the big boss later today… I’m hoping to get approval this afternoon…
In-house Creative Designer: Uh. Fine. Just keep me updated.
Me: Will do!

Everyday I learn something. On some days, it’s about marketing. On other days, it’s just about life. Today, I discovered a recurring theme in my meetings… people vent to me on matters over which I have absolutely no control.

I decided that this is when I should just don’t care. Why? Because caring takes energy, and I have limited amount of energy at the end of the day. In these cases, I have no or very little control over the matter the person was venting about. Therefore, a quick cost and benefit analysis would tell me that I could not exert enough energy to actually make a material change. Therefore, in these cases, I should just don’t care. I just need to let these comments roll right off of me, and focus my energy on something that would actually make a bigger change!

Photo credit: Dilbert tag, originally uploaded by Ol.v!er [H2vPk].

I’m starting a series of posts on job hunting. Why? Well, for my particular career path, marketing for a big CPG, recruiting season is right around the corner. If I could offer anything that I’ve learned along the way to help my readers get into the field, I’d be happy to offer it.

To launch this series, I thought I’d recognize a marketing legend: Seth Godin.

Anyone reading this blog probably has read enough posts about how important it is in the job search process to become more knowledgeable about the industry. Well, you reading this blog is already a good start Allow me to share with you another one of the easiest ways to become more knowledgeable if you’re trying to get into marketing.

Go to your library, borrow a book by Seth Godin. He publishes a book each year, so there are plenty to choose from. I personally recommend Purple Cow or Tribes. These are two of his books that are the most frequently referenced right now. Purple Cow is a book on innovation, and it may be Godin’s most popular book. Purple Cow has literally become a proper noun in the industry. (If you’ve been following my Primal Branding series, think about how Seth Godin has created his own sacred words.) Tribes is his latest book on leadership.

Why is reading Seth Godin one of the easiest ways to get knowledgeable about marketing?

Because first and foremost, Seth Godin is a recognized marketing guru. He is even an action figure! Who in marketing has action figures? (Unicorn shown above sold separately.) The fact of the matter is that basically anyone in the industry would have heard of him. If you’re going to pick a book to read, may as well pick one that you could causally drop into conversation with another marketer…

Secondly, they are short! I know how much time you need to dedicate into the job search process. For some of you, you’re trying to do this on top of being a student full-time. There are other books out there that I’d recommend for generally reading pleasure (such as Patrick Hanlon’s Primal Branding), but they are too long and involved to be considered as “one of the easiest ways” to become more knowledgeable about the industry.

Lastly, Godin posts on his blog everyday. You can subscribe to it. Then, the next time you talk to a recruiter, you could open with “Hi, so what did you think about Seth Godin’s post today?”

Photo Credit: Seth Godin Rides A Unicorn, originally uploaded by zoomar. Technorati: pmqw25z8sy

Related articles online

• Seth Godin Talks Tribes (enquiringmimes.com)
• Tips for Job Hunting During a Recession Part I (halliecrawford.typepad.com)
• The Best And Worst Cities To Look For A Job (techcrunch.com)