2010 ROAD AHEAD

The fuel door on my car is busted. We had a little mishap at the gas station the other day and the fuel door latch was thankfully the only minor casualty. It won’t take much to replace it however the interruption to the crush of work and holiday schedule is annoying. It sounds odd perhaps but I think it was my car’s way of telling me to slow down the usual pace before moving forward. Compatible to the inevitable year-end reflection and resolution-making, the following is my glimpse in the rear view mirror and course corrections for the road ahead:


o Encouragement. This has been the all-purpose road sign of the year! Vague ideas, frustrations, cocktail conversation, and constructive feedback all incited action in 2009. Starting the blog, my recent published article (“Be the CEO of You”), and a significant de-cluttering of the clothes closet were a few new things that made it into the line-up. Support and encouragement from others indicate that people are listening, observing, and willing to engage. We all need propping up when the going gets rough, but encouraging someone when they have momentum or enthusiasm is just as important. It can come from anywhere and you have to be open to receive it. Many consider encouragement the personal green light giving you permission to go-go-go. I view mine as a yield sign, allowing me to assess the surroundings appropriately before moving ahead.

o Patience and Persistence. This combination is my fuel. I need more and will use more to go farther. One without the other is like sand in the gas tank! I have learned to be more persistent about achieving my goals, and to be patient so that results will come with the right level of persistence. Onward.

o “Social” is my word of the year. Yeah yeah, “social networking” is the latest buzz phrase. “Tweet” is not a verb in my vernacular, although I make good use of online networking tools. It provides an avenue to stay connected with clients, customers, colleagues, friends old and new, family members (who are among my very best friends), and assorted professional contacts developed over the years, all who have and are becoming more than just a roadside attraction. Online activities prompted more in-person interaction which is both professionally and personally rewarding. My chosen career as a legal search executive requires constant interpersonal interaction which is one reason I like it so much! Lawyers, business executives, recruiting and HR professionals, it’s a fascinating mix! Best scenery for this driver is one that changes all the time. Social is always part of my course.

o Community. Regardless of your political views, election and inauguration days were momentous occasions in our nation’s history. Voting speaks. So does other political activism like writing to elected officials or engaging in political forums and political action committees. The future is too important to abdicate by inaction. Contributing to community helps people help themselves, which has never been more important in a time when others are struggling. You are likely reading this because you have access to the internet, which puts you among a privileged group of people. Good, that means you have something to spare.  Time, money, goods, or services – write a check, cook dinner at a shelter for families in transition, help out once a month at a legal aid clinic…. it isn’t rocket science. Contributing improves life for others. We all live in each other’s ripple. Speak up! Get with it! Get on the bus Gus and take the damn wheel!

o Wildlife encounters. From bears in the backyard to seals on the city beach, animals are sure to cross our path. Animal interaction reminds us we all share the planet. Be mindful that we share a precious resource and we will all have somewhere to go for many years ahead.

o Humor. My motor won’t engage without this essential. Drama is meant for the theater. As my cousin Kai was fond of saying, “get over it.” Sometimes you have to stop and see the levity. Be willing to snicker at your own foibles. A little good-natured giggle on occasion keeps your blood pressure down and the fun factor high.

The 2009 road was riddled with the potholes of a lousy economy, and careers and retirement plans for many detoured by recession. The signposts of fabulous family, friends, and colleagues all kept my roadblocks manageable. For that fact alone, I could not be more grateful. My packing list for the next journey includes those lessons learned, a bright-eyed wonder of what lies ahead, and the confidence to maneuver around the roadblocks. As soon as that fuel door is fixed, it’s a quick trip through the car wash and back on the road to 2010. I’m just hoping for fewer mishaps!

MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN

Popularized by "mad men" marketing wonks in days gone by, "must be present to win" is the tag line you've seen and heard a thousand times in contest rules. Face it, no one is going to hand you the keys to the pretty sports car in the window based on you scribbling your name on the equivalent of a cocktail napkin - you have to be there when the drawing is conducted with legitimate identification at the ready. With the evolution of online media, being "present" has taken on new meaning. With the a few screen flicks and a little typing anyone can be present on the glorious worldwide web. Cool! Uh, really though? I mean, you can have the prettiest web page or most well-written article but if no one sees it you are the equivalent of one hand clapping. And who wants to be that?! Not so helpful for your career....yes Virginia, you need to be present to be noticed!

Bill Gates Sr. writes about this in his current book "Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime." A quick read written by a gracious and intelligent man, the concept is beautiful in it's simplicity. Early in my recruiting career when internet technology was in it's nascent stage the tools I had as a recruiter to attract a diverse pool of talent were fewer than today. But I often thought it odd to be asked how my employer could attract, for example, more securities lawyers, when those we had in that role did not network among their colleagues who worked elsewhere. It seemed so basic to me. Looking across the desk my question back would always be "who do you talk to, and where do you go where you meet others like you?" The answer stems from the same basic premise: you must be present. Whether it is your career or your kids or your personal life, if you don't show up then you do not have any kind of presence and will lose out to whoever is there and whatever is going on in your absence. Call it what you will, the result is the equivalent of one hand clapping, everyone else moving forward while you stand still, acceptance in silence. Ouch.

Being present can take several forms. My list starts here:

• Listen. Completely, thoroughly, attentively, listen. Multi-tasking while you are on the phone? I bet you are not getting, or giving, that conversation the full attention it deserves. While you tell yourself you are being efficient with your time, you may be easily missing out on important content of the call. Worse yet, whatever else you are doing at the same time isn't getting your full attention either! No need to wonder why laws are cropping up legislating that people just hang up and drive. Focus your attention on hearing every word and observing every expression in a conversation, and engage in it, fully.
• Be in diverse communities. Does your organization have people who actively participate in activities where women and people of color are present? Good, because that is far more effective than the tag line on the bottom of your career page that says you welcome people from diverse backgrounds. Mean and do what you tell others is important to you and your company.
• Interact in person. Oh I love the internet and email, you can reach so many people and quickly. Remember the days before email and VOIP when we were only on the phone during "normal" business hours and live conversation dominated? Trust me, I am happily an email power user these days, but in my line of business particularly there is still no substitute for the in-person interaction. Corporate cultures are not created telecommuting, and you will miss the total experience if you are not there to interact with others.
• Observe and process. Act on the information and knowledge at your disposal. I don't mean to beat up on mobile phone technology, but did you see the online article about the teenager who fell into an open sewer because she was texting while walking down the street? Unpleasant to be sure and dangerous, to say nothing of the liability. Use your senses to observe what is going on in the world around you. Whether it is sidewalk construction in your path or world events, there is so much information available to us that we have no excuse for not paying attention. Scrutinize and absorb what you see and hear. Think about it critically, and act on it. So many people do not do this that you will be ahead of the game by this simple step alone.
• Network. Interested in art? Go to art galleries or a guided gallery tour and I bet you will meet like-minded people. Curious about another industry or market segment? Your local business journal probably sponsors free breakfast-hour talks given by local business leaders. Updating your CLE credits at a seminar? Strike up a conversation with the human sitting next to you or make it a point to exchange business cards with one other person in attendance. Voila, you just expanded your professional network. Easy.
  Be attentive to yourself. How you present yourself sends a message just as important as the words you use. Use spell check when you write. You don't have to spend a lot of money on clothes or grooming products, but be mindful of what your image says about you. Ask someone if you need help finding things that fit or look good. Think of it as part of being all you can be.
  

I will leave you with an example. I will never forget a candidate I interviewed once who I was recruiting for a lobbyist position. Being a Washington D.C. insider does not happen overnight, and requires a great deal of finesse and skill to penetrate and become a member of networks not easily joined by outsiders. It can be a bit of what comes first the chicken or the egg kind of proposition. I wanted to know how he did it, so I asked him what methods he used to subtly gather information and meet people. I won't give away all his secrets, but the one that perked my ears was his choice of cash machine. He made it a point to always use the one near the Senate building so he could increase his odds of bumping into a key staffer or member of Congress. The point was to go where he could increase his odds of being seen by people he wanted to see. He isn't a household name, but he is very successful. I can tell you that some years later when we had dinner together in D.C., our dining booth had more traffic than Grand Central Station. It seemed like EVERYBODY knew this guy. Impressive.

Like everything else in life, it is about striking a balance. Stop for minute and consider how much more you can get out of your career and your life by being present in every sense. Now close your email and get back to work!

False Intimacy

So you think you know me, but you don't know me......so goes the lyrics to the familiar love ballad. Well, familiar if you are my age and listened to your parents' music or have heard the beautiful remake by Diana Krall. It is a song about the mix of realism with imagination in a relationship, and the resulting melancholy of unrequited love. (My interpretation at least.) The phenomenon of perception created by one's observations without a real means to test their true meaning. Actions by one person are ascribed a meaning by the listener/observer without regard to the feelings of the actor. It leads to misperception...."you don't know me." Is the true the same in the context of modern day social networking? Does the plethora of communication through technology create a false intimacy between actor and observer?

Social networking has spread like wildfire in recent years. The evolution from mobile phone, instant messaging, the PDA, texting, Facebook, and now Twitter, has changed how people communicate as well as the content of the message. Do we assume that the words "I love you" spoken in person carries the same as "luv ya" in a tweet? The pace of daily life moves so fast that it seems we really haven't taken time to consider the power of truncated messages used in the modern day, to say nothing of the relative lack of privacy of those messages. Take the Facebook status update as an example. Users type in a brief status message that is posted to their "wall" (more or less a personal homepage), out there on display for their connected friends and people in their network to see. The prompt on Facebook poses a question to the user "What's on your mind?" Type in a sentence or two, click on the 'share' button, and voila, you have just communicated your innermost thoughts to 200 of your closest friends. Those friends can respond to the note, post their own note, post a link to an article or video with a comment, post photos, and on and on.

What is all this creating? Facebook calls them "stories." But what do we truly know from these stories? The user may be doing everything from revealing their innermost feelings about something they just experienced ("Getting a hug from my kids is the best part of being a dad"), or testing fodder as an aspiring fiction writer ("it was a dark and stormy night.") Here's the rub - how are we to know the difference? The readers of those updates may ascribe an entirely different meaning than what the person posting ever intended in either case, real or imagined. This can all dangerously lead to a sense of false intimacy: the feeling that we deeply know someone based on a series of 140 character blurts in cyberspace. I just wonder if this too easily creates a false impression.

Don't get me wrong. I am a big fan of technology and applaud the innovators who find new ways for it to bring new dimension to our daily experiences. I also believe in the principles of free speech. Easy to see how I could be an internet junkie, eh? As an executive recruiter I look people up on the internet everyday. I look for common things like published articles and professional bios posted on web sites, and stumble on incidental things like wedding announcements. My clients pay me to know the candidates I present to them well enough to have vetted basic appropriate background information, and I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't spend the time to obtain information first hand from candidates as well as through independent verification and exploration of someone's background. I could cripple my credibility if I were to present a lawyer candidate to a client without checking for their State Bar admission status and later learn the person had been disciplined or disbarred. But do I disclose their latest party weekend indiscretion posted in a tweet? Of course not, that crosses the line between social banter and professional behavior. It may be the mindset of my client however to check the social networking sites, or make an assumption about what they see on a Facebook post.

Recently an unemployed lawyer networked their way to my inbox, and in the message was a link to what I reasonably believed was a legitimate website. (Hear that scream of the IT tech in the background?) It was indeed a blog, chock full of info about this well-credentialed and earnest lawyer, one of many perfectly capable people in the unenviable position of being between opportunities in a lousy economy. It started out with the usual info - education pedigree details and work history, a chronology of professional employment, all appropriate. As I scrolled through the info there was a discussion of this person's journey through finding new employment, complete with a scorched earth opinion of corporate interview practices. Wow, any prospective employer would read this and be repelled by the cynicism and disdain expressed in this perspective on hiring. What to do with this info, do I consider it as part of my evaluation of a prospective candidate for a client? Is it the understandable temporary frustration of an otherwise credentialed professional? The reader wants us to know them, but are we getting to know this person's background, their opinion, or is it just another creative use of social networking. In this case it was relatively easy to pick up the phone, call the person, and find out for myself through good old fashioned person to person contact. That is not always practical of course but it drives home the point that misperceptions are easily created.

You can tell that I am skeptical about the appropriateness of social networking chatter encroaching into professional territory. The underlying premise however is that we all make assumptions based on what we see out there. I worry we draw assumptions so quickly that we fail to discern true feelings from mindless banter. Let's not forget the power of what we all put out there, and the increasing power of unintended consequences. Oh yeah, and maybe it's not a bad idea to pick up the phone once in awhile. Because otherwise....."you think you know me, but you don't know me."