Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I hope you have a great day full of family, friends, football, and food.  It’s been a great year and we have a lot to be thankful for.

That is my Dad and my awesome nephew Cayden.  Dad’s shirt says “This is what a cool dad looks like”.  I would have to agree.  If you have ever met him you would agree too.  Given it’s Thanksgiving, and also that it was my father’s birthday in November I thought, hey, I should do a lessons from Dad post.  Boom. Done.  This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for these awesome lessons from my dad.

1. Sleep when you are dead.

My Dad owns this phrase.  A lot of my friends immediately say this when my Dad comes up in conversation.  He would say it whenever he wanted us to go on some crazy trip last minute.  My favorite was in the Summer of 1999.  I was on my summer break from the US Air Force Academy and hanging out in the backyard with friends.  Dad came out and said “I am leaving for Woodstock in 15 minutes, who is coming with me?”  About ten college kids standing around and only two takers.  We drove to Rome, NY and had a great time at Woodstock 99 – Rusted Root, Jewel, Our Lady Peace, Chili Peppers.  Loads of great bands and good times on less than an hour notice.  Lessons here are endless – Be spontaneous.  Life your life.  Have fun.  Don’t wait until tomorrow to do something you could do today.

2. Show Up; 2a. Do what you said you would do

Half of the battle is showing up.  Commit to attending an event and thinking about blowing it off?  Don’t.  Have a little too much fun and thinking about calling in sick?  Don’t.  My dad taught me that it was important to be reliable.  If you say you are going to do something – Do it.  This is obviously important in both your personal and your professional life.  If you consistently show up and do what you commit to… if you are reliable… you put yourself in the position to be a go-to friend, or the go-to resource in the workplace, and that is gold.  So show up.  And Do what you said you would do.  Every time.

3. Behind every great project manager is at least one exceptional technical resource who they have not pissed off yet.

My Dad is a problem solver.  He’s a technologist at heart that fixes tough technical problems.  I am a project manager slash business development type.  I know enough to know when there is a problem, but I usually have to convince someone else to fix it (hey, that is harder than it sounds!).  Dad ribs me quite a bit on this point -  “I want to DO the work”.  “I fix things.  You just plan things.”  While  knowing your role, learning the art of escalation, and managing scope are all important, I learned perhaps the number one rule of thumb for any successful PM from my father before I was even a PM: Behind every great project manager (or business sponsor for that matter), is at least one exceptional technology resource who they have not pissed off yet.  Take it to the bank.  You lose your tech team, you’re done.

This list could be way longer, like be nice to your mom (and make sure everyone else is too).  I also know by now that he brought me into this world, and that he can take me out of it, and that even though he taught me everything I know, he didn’t teach me everything he knows.  I’m looking forward to learning the rest of it, because I have a Dad that I like to hang out with. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, I’m Thankful For… Lessons From Dad is a post from: HR Think Tank

I recently came across a Project Management article by Anna Possek on Dice.com.  In her article, she describes project management in a unique way.   Here is Anna’s take on what qualities are required to be a project manager:

The project manager must be:

* a diplomat to deal with conflicts between different stakeholders
* a psychologist to keep morale of the team high
* a merchant in negotiations
* an engineer to verify designs and quality
* a passionate leader to keep everybody focused
* a scapegoat if this will calm down unnecessary blaming

The most important quality for a project manager is verbal and written communication skills…

Have you ever heard that before on HR Think Tank?  Of course… Communication Style Bias. Managing Scope: It’s Really About Trust, Communication, and Delivery. No shortage of communications articles here.

What’s missing though?  Here’s something that should be a part of every project management job description – Great project managers should be able to excel and move forward in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty.  You need to be able to chart a course.  Tolerate ambiguity.  Make decisions.

IT Project Manager: A Fraud, Hero or Scapegoat is a post from: HR Think Tank

I think that communication and relationship management is THE NUMBER 1 driver of project success.  Hands down.  Scan the tags in my blog, and come across posts like Four Types of People: Know Your Audience and Managing Scope: It’s Really About Trust, Communication, and Delivery.  I saw a quote and it reminded me just how important it is not to lose sight of barriers to communication in the workplace.

What you say may not be what the other person hears.  What you hear may not be what the other person means.

Communication.  Trust.  Important concepts in business and project management.  But I can’t emphasize how important it is to consider your audience and to tailor your delivery to prevent communication style bias from harpooning your project’s progress.  This approach, dubbed style flexing, is a common practice with successful sales professionals who are skilled at modifying their approach to communicate on their customer’s communication style level.  Improve in this area, and see instant results.  You can bet on it.

Communication Style Bias is a post from: HR Think Tank

If you know me, you know that I have a book buying addiction.  The other day, I strolled in to Barnes and Noble and saw a career help section set up.  I picked up a small book called The Job Survival Instruction Book, which is a book offering “400+ Tips, Tricks, and Techniques” on how to get, and stay, employed.  I love the tip Karin Ireland gives to readers on page 113:

Here are four types of people, and how to win them over:

1. Directors like to be in charge.  Give them facts quickly and clearly.  Let them know what to expect.

2. Promoters like to gather information and pass it along.  Help them find ways to solve problems and overcome challenges.

3. Analyzers like to question and analyze issues from all sides.  Don’t ask them to be promoters.

4. Supporters like to support others.  Let them know you appreciate their help.

Whether or not you agree with boiling down all people into these four types (or if these are even the ‘right’ types), you should certainly make it a common practice to analyze your audience – be it customers, peers, superiors, or your employees.  To be successful, you need an understanding on how they approach issues and decision making.  Knowing your audience, and tailoring the way you deliver information to help influence the outcome, is one of those ‘difficult to teach’ traits that isn’t on a resume or a job description, but it’s a rockstar trait that separates the great from the rest of the pack.

Think about it – are you assuming your customers want to see what YOU want to show them in your latest software demo?  Do they make decisions the same way, and on the same information as you?  Are you killing a superior with data and information that is impacting their ability to make a timely decision impacting your project?

Do you agree with these four types?  Do you have any experience with seeing a lack of understanding of personality types impact your business?  I would love to hear about it in the comments section!

Four Types of People: Know Your Audience is a post from: HR Think Tank

If you remember one thing today to help keep your job and help you stay on top of your game, remember this:

Excuses don’t matter.  What matters are results.

It’s an epidemic.  They are everywhere.  Don’t be that guy.  Stop making excuses, and just go get results.

Excuses Don’t Matter – What Matters are Results is a post from: HR Think Tank

It was April 2009, and my small consulting firm was drinking frosty beverages and celebrating a major milestone together at a sold-out Springsteen show in Boston.  It was my first show, and I must say that at almost 60 years old, love him or hate him, Bruce Springsteen brings an intensity to the stage that is unrivaled in the music business.  While ripping out the opening chords to “Badlands”, you can’t help but laugh – it’s all a bit cheezy and you would like to think you are cooler than the sea of Bruce fanatics on the floor, but hey, you have your ticket too.  You’re there, and it’s a truly amazing show.  I said it.  It’s awesome.  You have to do it at least once.

Outside of obvious musical talent, Springsteen and the E Street Band have some serious business chops – you just can’t compile a resume like that on sheer talent alone.  They have composed an exceptional team (with low turnover for the industry, mind you), ensured consistent, sustainable customer satisfaction, consistently deliver a high-energy performance (they are known for putting on some of the longest shows in the biz), and have unbelievable brand consistency.

What else can we learn about life and business?  Read on for some keen advice in business, direct from The Boss.  No, not your Boss… THE Boss.

1. “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, but when they said “Sit down”, I stood up…” (Growin’ Up, 1973)

Here’s an “oldie but goodie” from Springsteen about adolescence as a rebellious teenager, written in the first-person and played live over 270 times.  Good career advice too, as Samantha Ogborn recently pointed out on her blog, Oscar Wilde said it best, “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” It’s a good thing to have mentors and professionals who you rely on for career advice.  It’s also a good thing to have a professional community to bounce ideas off of.  It’s not a good idea to get stuck in a group think rut, always striving to be in someone else’s shoes or doing their job.  Figure out what you like, and go get it.  It’s likely going to take some swimming against the current.

2. “I ain’t here on business, baby, I’m only here for fun” (Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), 1973)

Rosalita.  Amazing.  Bruce closed out the show with this tune.  Anyway, Matt Cheuvront just wrote a phenomenal post over at lifewithoutpants.com about the Generation “Now”.  The whole post was great, but my favorite line was: Your world doesn’t, or shouldn’t revolve around your career. Too many people get so wrapped up in where they are going with their career, that they forget to actually live their life.  My advice – work to live, don’t live to work – the best memories will never be made within the confines of your cubicle (oh, you have an office?  congrats, you probably definitely work too much! disclaimer: great times CAN be had with your coworkers, just probably not AT work).  And don’t forget, as Laurie says over at punkrockhr.com, “I would also like to remind everyone that there’s a place for creamy ice cream, cold beer, and salty potato chips when love & work are the cornerstones of humanity”

3. “Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain’t satisfied, till he rules everything…” (Badlands, 1978)

Isn’t that the truth?  How many of you went through college begging for a certain position after graduation from college?  Nearly all of you, ok.  And how many of you were actually content when you locked up that job?  Oh, none of you.  That’s what I thought.  This is one of the reasons I got into consulting in the first place – I figured that consulting could move me around enough to keep things fresh and prevent me from continuing to plot my next three positions like a chess match three months into a new job.  My recommendation – try to direct that energy to being great in the job that you are in, not in the endless search for the job you don’t have yet.  If you spend your career in this cycle of always wanting more, you are destined to be an unhappy worker, and unhappy workers tend to turn into poor performers.  And poor performers, well, they suck.  Bruce doesn’t suck, and neither should you.

What other performers lines that you know are applicable to your career?  Have you seen Bruce?  Let me hear your thoughts in the comments section!

Business Lessons From The Boss is a post from: HR Think Tank

Most of you have probably already seen this video (if your browser doesn’t display the video, get it on YouTube here). It’s message is pretty difficult to refute – the Social Media Revolution is upon us.  I mean, the one stat alone that ‘If Facebook (with over 400 million active users) were a country it would be the world’s 4th 3rd largest between above the United States and with only China and India being larger is incredible.  People are getting involved – they’re on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and increasingly, they blog.  According to Universal McCann, 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002 and 77% of internet users are reading blogs.  Are you blogging?  Are you wondering if you should be?

The blog, the future buzz had a great article on the 70 Usable Stats from the 2009 State Of the Blogosphere with some great stats on what motivates bloggers and the impact to their business.  Here are some of my favorites:

71% say they blog at least in order to speak their minds

72% say they blog to share their expertise

53% are looking to attract new clients from blogging

72% of those who are self-employed and blogging are interested in attracting new clients

71% of respondents who maintain blogs for a business report that they have increased their visibility within their industries through their blogs

58% say that they are better known in their industry because of their blog

All great numbers, and good reasons to blog.  I’m definitely blogging for some of these reasons – I’m passionate about organizational culture discussion and the talent side of the business.  I like the idea of sharing my experiences, and I have been pitching my company’s leadership to start a business blog specifically because of some of these statistics.

But, when I really sat down and thought about why I am blogging, here is what I drew up:

For me, I’m blogging because, well, because I wasn’t.  And I felt like that was leaving an opportunity on the table, because in the consulting business, and in business in general, being a good connector is a good thing.  And effective connectors are good at building actionable communities.  Apparently, I am not the only one who feels that way.  When I typed in “HR blogging and connectedness” into Google, I recognized the 5′th result that got returned: Ben Eubank’s Upstart HR.  One of Steve Boese’s HR Technology class students, Carolina Correa, just recently guest posted on Ben’s site about a similar topic, writing “To blog or not to blog is a debate that only finds answers when discussed in the context of finding value, this is true not just for the HR community but just about any profession seeking the comforts of connectedness.”

Well said Carolina. Because within that connectedness is opportunity.  Opportunity to learn, contribute, build relationships, and build a community.  And that’s why I blog.

Thoughts?

What motivated you to start blogging?  Is blogging helping you or your business?  What are people doing wrong out there on their personal or business blogs.  Share your thoughts in the comments section!

(6/17/2010 – Updated the post with the latest Social Media Revolution video with updates statistics)

The Answer to the Question: Why Blog? is a post from: HR Think Tank

I love the concept of this video – taking the best parts of the 25 hottest pop songs from 2009 and create an audio and video mashup that provides a collective output that no single song can by itself offer the listener.

I’m a proponent of taking a similar approach to your personal development.  If you really want to be a leader in your field of expertise – it takes more than the same skills that everyone else has.  It takes learning the best of other associated fields and jobs, and wrapping those into your repertoire to consistently outperform your competition.

Are you a recruiter? Master the skills you need to find and attract candidates, and also understand your client’s business better than your peers.  Know what the jobs you are hiring for actually do, and not just on paper.  Really understand what it takes.  Project Manager? Learn your system-development-life-cycle methodologies, but don’t ignore marketing tactics, or proficiency in technical areas required to deliver projects.  Public Relations?  Advertising?  Find new ways to exploit technology to deploy more effective communication strategies and to get to your target markets in unique and innovative ways that your peers aren’t even thinking about.

I’m not suggesting to become the proverbial generalist “Jack of all trades and Master of None”.  You ABSOLUTELY should have a core skill that defines what you can offer, but supplementing this core set of skills with some high-impact, strategic knowledge that sets you apart from your competition is a great idea.  Make it a priority in 2010.  I am.

The United State of Pop Personal Development is a post from: HR Think Tank