Moving Forward Solutions

When I’m President

Jennifer — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:46:39 +0000

Happy President’s Day! Thanks to all the great leaders who have led the United States over the years. It’s an enormous task and quite amazing when thinking of everything that happens in a president’s term: Foreign affairs… education… borders. Laws and veto power… commerce… defense. The list goes on… and on.

Whenever I have a pet peeve about something, I always say “When I run the world, I’m going to…”

Here are a few things I’d change if I was Madam President:

1. Everyone wears a name tag. Sure, this might sound a little ridiculous at first… But think about how much easier life would be if we all wore name tags.

2. Get rid of resumes and job descriptions. Neither tells the full story and both are used as a crutch in the interviewing process.

3. Allow everyone to trade jobs. It would be awesome if the accountant who is bored with numbers and wanted to teach History could trade with the IT project manager who always wanted to be an accountant, and the History teacher could take on project management and so forth.

Sure, I’m totally ill prepared to handle international relations and figure out ways to reduce tax burdens so I won’t be the President of the United States anytime soon. But, it’s certainly fun to think about what I would change if I had the power to do so.

What would you do if you were President of the United States?

Show some love in the workplace

Jennifer — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:08:06 +0000

No! I’m not talking about workplace affairs! Shame on you… By love in the workplace, I mean enjoying your work and the people there.

Do you love your work? How do you show love to your peers and managers? How do you express enjoyment of spending a majority of your day with them?

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, here are a few recommendations for showing some love in the workplace:

Instead of red roses… Create a pleasant work environment. Sure, a bouquet of roses are a nice splash of color to liven up the desk for a few days, but when was the last time the walls were freshened up? A new color, or art work goes really far to workplace enjoyment.

Instead of a box of chocolates… Randomly bring in treats that the team will enjoy. Don’t go for the cheap cookies, rather splurge on a gorgeous fruit platter. Or, maybe pay the taco truck to swing by the office. Who doesn’t like carne asada tacos on a random Wednesday?

Instead of a fancy diamond necklace… Look for ways to uniquely recognize an employee’s hard work. Perhaps they went way above the call of duty and saved a huge client. Wouldn’t that be worth a day off and $500 cash to do whatever they wanted to do?

Whatever you do to show some love in the workplace, money well spent is money spent on specifically what your team mates and managers want. Rarely does a gift card express appreciation enough. Seriously, would you hand your boyfriend a $10 Target gift card for Valentine’s Day?

Exactly. So, don’t hand your employees a lame gift. Show them the love!

Utah DECA needs judges

Jennifer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:16:24 +0000

Service in the community is a great way to build careers. Especially if you’re out of work, service is a great way to give back and grow personally and professionally.

DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) is looking for 150 volunteers to help with and event where volunteers will judge student presentations. I participated as a judge last year and had a great time! If you’re available – working full time or not – I highly recommend that you get involved. Below is more DECA information:

Utah DECA is actively searching for over 150 industry professionals to serve as competitive event judges at the 2012 DECA State Career Development Conference March 1st & 2nd at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah. If you have experience in the fields of accounting, finance, marketing, management, retail, hospitality, tourism, or entrepreneurship you are invited to register as a competitive event judge. By volunteering your time and expertise, you will be helping nearly 1,000 Utah high school students that will become the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. No prior experience with DECA is necessary.

Please click on the " target="_blank">link to view the judge registration form.

If you have questions, please contact Julie or Vince directly:

Julie Brooks Judge Coordinator utahdecajudges@gmail.com 801-440-2306

Vince Merrell Utah DECA State Advisor utahdecajudges@gmail.com www.utahdeca.org

Conference information overload

Jennifer — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:20:36 +0000

Attending conferences and conventions are great ways to connect with other people in your field. But, have you ever attended a conference and come away with your head spinning? Gathered all that info and NOW what?

Recently, I attend the National Speakers Association Winter Conference in Texas and I learned a lot of great information. Not wanting to let that information pass me by, here are my tips for putting it to good use:

1. Set aside time to DO something. You might not be able to do something right when you’re back, but schedule a date with yourself within 72 hours of returning. Information is fresh and you’ll remember who the people are as well as be able to decipher your notes.

2. Find an accountability partner from the event. I find that when I have someone to hold me accountable to apply the information learned, the whole experience turns out much better.

3. Be realistic about applying information learned. Coming back, it’s unrealistic to expect that you can apply everything right away. Look for a few early wins with small things you can check off your to-do list. This will energize you to keep going.

4. Pick 1-2 things you’ll implement in first 30 days. Then pick another 1-2 things to implement in 60 days. Make sure that your accountability partner holds you accountable – and you hold them accountable too!

5. Schedule a date with yourself in 6 months after the event to check in and review the notes. You’ll see something you didn’t pick up the first time. Make sure to pick a day/time that is reasonable based on your day.

6. Business cards galore! I usually come back with a stack of business cards. The easiest way to manage all these new contacts is to put them in smaller stacks. Label each card with the date and where you met the person. I add which break out session I met the person.

7. Share what you’ve learned. If you’re working full time, look for an opportunity to share your biggest take-away with your team, your boss, a client, vendor, etc. Teaching them about what you learned – and this can be a simple 5 minute update – is a great way to pay it forward and lock the information in your mind too.

Whatever happens, just make sure to DO something with the information you’ve learned. If you do something, you’ll feel better about your career. And the boss will feel better about the time and money investment of sending you to the event.

Wed 2/8 – Career Management: Personal Branding

Jennifer — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:57:00 +0000

Come join me as I teach the American Marketing Association career management class about personal branding. It’s Your career to manage! Marketing professionals know that branding is critical for a company. Personal branding is just as critical for your career! We will discuss how to discover and use your personal brand. This is the first step in effectively managing your career.br/br Fee: Class is free for AMA members, $10 for non-membersbr/br Link to register: http://events.utahama.org/110/ br/br We’ll review the first step in career management which is to know your personal brand. Do the homework before coming to class… trust me, you’ll get much more out of the personal branding class if you do this homework. br/br strongHomework for Personal Branding Class/strong br/br 1.strongTake the StrengthsFinder 2.0 Self Assessment./strong To do this you will have to purchase a NEW copy of the StrengthsFinder 2.0. You can get a copy at Amazon for about $15. In the back there is a code that allows you to take the self assessment one time.br/br 2.strongReview You Are a Brand by Catherine Kaputa./strong “You Are a Brand! delivers 10 key personal brand strategies that aren’t taught in business school-or anywhere else. Like a personal branding coach right by your side, Catherine Kaputa reveals the inside secrets of Madison Avenue product branding and applies these tried-and-true principles and techniques to a dynamic new strategic branding process for individuals.” You can purchase this for about $15 at Amazon.br/br 3.strongDo the Following Exercises:/strongbr/br •Send an Email to 30 people. These can be current/past co-workers, managers, vendors, or customers, friends and family. Ask them to tell you in one sentence, or one work, how would they describe you. This is a telling exercise because you’ll find many people have similar things to say about you – at least you hope they will respond similarly. Gather that information and look for common terms that people ascribe to you. Bring all your results to class. br/br •Review All The Recommendations You’ve Received. Gather this information from your LinkedIn recommendations, old employee evaluations, performance reports, etc. What do people have to say about working with you? Is there a common message about what they have to say? Gather this information and bring it to class. br/br If you have questions, drop me a message at: jen@movingforwardsolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you at the next AMA Career Management class!

Tues 2/7 – Job Seeking Q&A

Jennifer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:04:52 +0000

I’ll be answering questions about job seeking to the American Fork LDS Employment Resources – Professional Networking Group. This is open to the general public. Attend to network with other job seekers and ask me questions about your job search. Bring a friend! Date/Time: Tuesday, February 7, 2012. 7-9pm Location: LDS Professional Networking Group. 437 Continue Reading

Tues 1/31 – Tips for Successful Networking

Jennifer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:04:14 +0000

Come join me as I speak about successful networking tips to a new women’s networking group in the Dallas area. This is open to men and women, but I think that there’ll mostly be women in attendance. Space is limited as the training room at Bain is restricted to 30 attendees. Make sure to register.

Group: North Texas Women – a division of BYU Management Society in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Time: 7pm-9pm

Register to attend event: http://byumsdfwarmistead1312012.eventbrite.com/

Audience: Women of all different circumstances and situations – working out of the home, stay-at-home moms, recent college grads, non profit, for profit, medical, accounting, sales/marketing, administrative.

Graciously receive help

Jennifer — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:52:13 +0000

I don’t need any help. I know what I’m doing. Leave me alone. I can do this on my own. Back off.

Can’t think of all the times that I told myself I don’t need help.

I must be lucky though, because when I really do need the help, it happens… and sometimes in the most unexpected ways. So, when I saw this fortune, I giggled a little. Help has been delivered to me in so many different ways. Unexpected ways. Thankfully, the help has come.

To all of you who have helped me along my path, THANK YOU. Thank you for being sensitive enough to my needs and doing the things I needed you to do… to say the things I needed to hear… to be the example I needed. I’m lucky to have you in my life.

How have you been helped along your way?

What do you see that others don’t?

Jennifer — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:08:41 +0000

Totally grooving on this new Chinese fortune I got at lunch.

How often are you at work and see something that isn’t working right? Perhaps it’s a broken process? A team that has no synergy, but management expects huge results? Wasted time with duplicate procedures?

Whatever you’re seeing, don’t ignore it. There’s a reason why you’re seeing those problems.

The question is: What you going to do with what you’re noticing? Are you going to ignore the prompting to do something… Maybe complain about the problem to other co-workers… Rationalize in your mind that you’re too busy to do anything… And surely if the boss wanted to reduce workload for everyone, he would’ve already seen this problem and done something about it.

I challenge you to pay attention to these hunches you’re getting at work. Do something with that insight… improve your work life, as well as that of your team mates. Don’t wait for the boss to notice because likely he won’t see it anyhow.

Go make treasure out of something that others don’t see as unusual. You’ll feel great, work will be better and maybe you’ll even get a bonus – now that’s the kind of treasure we all like!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Career lessons from A Knight’s Tale movie

Jennifer — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:16:36 +0000

In honor of the 4th anniversary of Heath Ledger’s death, I wanted to point out some great career lessons taken from A Knight’s Tale. For many reasons, A Knight’s Tale is my favorite movie that Heath starred in. I loved his charm, wit, determination, and cute smile. Plus, what woman doesn’t like a handsome guy jousting for his career! Ahhh… the Medieval time of chivalry, royal courts, and a turkey leg for dinner… Sorry, back to the career lessons.

Heath Ledger plays the role of William, a jouster’s aide who finds himself unemployed when his boss dies. William realizes that with the help of the other two aides and 13 silver pieces, that their lives could change for the better… as William puts it: “a man can change his stars.”

The key career lessons from A Knight’s Tale, include:

When an opportunity presents itself, take it!

Even if you don’t have all the skills, have faith in yourself to learn and try.

It’s much easier to accomplish goals when you have a couple loyal supporters.

Get cleaned up, a hair cut, buy the right clothes and dress for the position you want.

Sometimes you need a little PR and re-branding to better position yourself in the marketplace.

Keep going! Sure, doing something new may be hard, but keep at it and eventually you’ll develop your own style.

If you experience success, be careful about your ego.

Along the way, gather additional supporters who can help you grow even more.

Watch A Knight’s Tale again and see for yourself the inspiring message about taking control of your career destiny that Heath delivered with his role as Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland. RIP Heath… Thank you for bringing enjoyment to us movie-goers.

What will you fight for in your career?