The Daily Boss

A Road Less Traveled

- m — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Three stories of a road less traveled.

Tony Fernandes. The former accountant and Vice President of Warner Music left his job, mortgaged his home, and sank his savings into his lifelong dream of starting a no-frills airline. Difficult enough for someone with no airline experience. Add to the risk that the deal was finalized soon after September 11, 2001. Despite the odds, Air Asia became one of the world’s most successful budget airlines.

Michael W. Kauffman. When I met him, Mike was a camera operator on CNN’s Larry King Live in Washington, DC but his passion was Civil War history. A few years later I ran into him again, not in person, but on Amazon.com. The New York Times named Mike’s book one of the top twenty books of 2005. The book, American Brutus, is the story of John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln conspiracies. Mike turned his hobby – his passion – into a new career. Today, Michael W. Kauffman is recognized as a Civil War expert and in 1995 was called to testify before Congress during the Booth exhumation hearings. A quantum leap from camera operator to author to historian.

Dr. Brian Harold May. Dr. May is the author of A Village Lost and Found, on the work of English stereophotography innovator TR Williams. The book includes stereoscopic images from the 1850′s. The book also includes glasses - invented by Dr. May - needed to view the 3D images. Four years ago Dr. May earned his Ph.D. in Astrophysics for his work on radial dust in space.

Dr. May’s story isn’t unusual until you discover that he started out as a musician. Physicist and author Brian May is lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock group, Queen.

Passion is the mother of reinvention.

- m

Quitting In Place

- m — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:10:14 +0000

People seem to be holding on to their jobs even though they hate them.

I call this phenomenon Quitting In Place.

Quitting In Place occurs when people are so dissatisfied with their job that they just phone it in. They do only enough to keep their jobs. Worse, they use their current job to subsidize their passion instead of working to advance the company.

Mark C. Crowley, writing in FastCompany’s Co.Lead, states…

However, there still may be time for managers to re-recruit their employees before they leave. This won’t be easy and it will most definitely require a significant change in leadership practices. Here are three things leaders should learn quickly and never forget:

1. What makes people happiest in their jobs is all profoundly personal. “Do I work for an organization whose mission and methods I respect?” “Does my boss authentically advocate for me?” “Is the work I do meaningful?”

2. People only thrive when they feel recognized and appreciated. Our brains are great at building strategies, managing capital, and analyzing data. But it’s the heart that connects us as human beings,

3. Your employees will stay if you tell them directly you need them, care about them, and sincerely plan to support them. Any time someone quits a job for a reason other than money, they’re leaving in hope that things will be better somewhere else.

In short…

It’s not business.

It’s personal.

- m

You can read Mark C Crowley’s entire post in FastCompany’s Co.Lead here.

The Day I Died Was The Best Day

- m — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:03:51 +0000

Here’s the link:
Just Jack – The Day I Died on MUZU.TV.

You Didn’t Get The Job.

- m — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:03:00 +0000

You didn’t get the job.

You’re disappointed and you want to know why you weren’t selected.

Perhaps you did everything right. Perhaps it was something like this:

You’re confident. They’re threatened.
You have innovative ideas. They follow procedures.
You are creative. They like the status quo.
You’re curious. They want someone who fits in.
You’re a leader. They want followers.

You dodged a bullet. Congratulations.

Move on.

- m

The Savvy Job Search

- m — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:00:00 +0000

The traditional way of searching for a job is on life support.

According to Careerbuilder, 60% of those submitting a resume never hear back from the prospective employer. It’s no secret that referrals and recommendations from trusted associates trump resumes every time.

How do you find a job when you compete with thousands of others posting their resumes?

There are some things you can do to make yourself attractive to recruiters and hiring managers.

Post your product. Do you have something great to offer? Prove it. Build a website. Start a podcast. Put your work online.
Protect your online reputation. Would you hire someone who acts like a fool on Facebook? Neither would a hiring manager.
Tell people that you’re looking and be specific about what you’re looking for.
Be seen. Be known. According to the Wall Street Journal, 85% of recruiters use Linkedin to find candidates.

Be unconventional. Take a lesson from Alec Brownstein and see how he used Google to land his dream job.

Use every existing resource – and create more – to break out of the pack if you want to land a gig.- m

Social Media For The Leadership Impaired

- m — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:02:41 +0000

On Being Creative

- m — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:02:50 +0000

Being creative isn’t the end.

Being creative is the means.

- m

Try Something New For 30 Days

- m — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 09:27:08 +0000

Here’s the link
Try something new for 30 days

Marissa and Sheryl Are Wrong

- m — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:01:13 +0000

I admire Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg.

They are remarkable business leaders.

But they shouldn’t give advice. (No one making a seven figure salary should give career advice).

Women don’t need to ‘lean in’…

or work harder…

or sacrifice more.

We seem to accept the fact that for women to be celebrated as successful leaders, they must first rise to the pinnacle of their professions.

Not so with men.

For men, eighty percent of success is showing up.

Men are allowed the occasional bad day…

Men are allowed to be in a bad mood…

Men are allowed to be mediocre.

Women will be equal when they are allowed to be ordinary.

Just like men.

- m

If You’re Not Different, You’re Boring

- m — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:44:50 +0000

If you’re not interesting…

If you can’t describe the value you bring…

Why would anyone hire you?

If you’re having trouble, here’s a good place to start…

Throw Out Your Resume.

- m