An Easier Way to Land Your Next Job

Landing your next great opportunity doesn't need to involve an endless array of resume revisions, phone screens and interviews.

There is an easier quicker way using less official channels and Marci Alboher was on Making a Living with Maggie this week to share her insights on this back door approach. According to Marci, a regular New York Times Contributor and Author of Working the New Economy blog, some of the best job opportunities are landed through contacts made at social events where people share a common interest whether that be kayaking or poker. Because the activity isn't work related, it gives people a chance to get to know each other's interpersonal style which is key part of working well together.

Marci also stressed how important it is to become visible to your network for what you do best. To do that she suggested proactively looking for ways to help the people in your network using your expertise. For instance if you're a graphic designer and learn about a friend's new business venture, offer to help with some of the organization's marketing materials. It's an easy way to demonstrate your abilities to someone who could be in a position to hire you at some point. One word of caution, it "takes a longer courtship" as Marci puts it, to land a job in through unofficial channels. But considering that Marci landed a New York Times column through a monthly poker group of other journalists, it sounds like time well spent.

For a replay of Making a Living with Maggie, tune in this Sunday at 6am EST. Use this FREE trial of SIRIUS Radio!

You'll also hear a very inspiring day in the life interview with Laura Howard. A former entertainment executive, Laura decided to combine her passion for food with her work and is now a very successful ice cream entrepreneur and founder of Laloo's Goat Milk Ice Cream.

Here's to you Making a Great Living!

Leadership 101 - Are you ready to be in charge?

Power and authority have a bad connotation. Because of that many people shy away from taking charge at work. But what about servant leadership - being in charge as a way to be of tremendous service to people. It's not a concept I created but one I'm educating my clients and radio listeners about.

Just last week, I had leadership experts Gail Steinel and Mike Policano on "Making a Living with Maggie" talking about their book, Excuse Me, Aren't YOU in Charge? These two are not just theorists. Gail in fact was a pioneer for women leadership in the consulting industry, recognized twice by Consulting Magazine as a Top 25 Consultant. I experienced Gail's leadership firsthand - when she was head of Arthur Andersen's Business Consulting Practice where I was an employee.

Here's what I learned from Gail about being a great leader:
--Be accessible. - Gail is the type of leader who remembered your name and would stop and talk to you in the hallway. She was never too busy to make time for her employees.
--Support your people's ideas and passions. - In their book, Gail mentions one particular leadership experience that stuck with me - where she supported an employee who wanted to build a new recruiting strategy. Gail encouraged the employee to get involved and the young woman ended up winning an employee-of-the-year award.
--Be honest. - I saw Gail lead during Andersen's best times and it's demise with the Enron debacle. She was always upfront with honest answers and I always felt I could trust her. For leaders today this is perhaps the biggest lesson - be someone your people can really trust and your best employees will always stick with you.

Find out more about leadership 101 on Gail and Mike's blog! And share your greatest leadership moments here - what's the best quality you've seen in a leader? Do you consider yourself to be a servant leader?

And tune into Making a Living with Maggie this Wed, 4pm EST. I'll share ways to be at your best and ready for an accidental interview! Not sure what I mean, tune in with this free 7-day SIRIUS trial!

Working with People in Their Dream Jobs

When you work with passionate people, you get better results! People who are in their ideal careers are more motivated, more innovative and more fun than people just in a job for a paycheck.

If you need further convincing, check out my latest post on MarthaStewart.com on the Radio Blog! You'll get the see the amazing work of two of my career coaching clients - Designer Trisha Ginter and Photographer Ann Wilkinson and my travel writer husband Craig (also pursuing his ideal career.)

Every customer, every recruiter, every employer wants to hire people who are in their ideal careers. It's the best way to create lasting job security and Trisha, Ann and Craig are all great examples. Hope you enjoy reading it and Happy 4th of July!

What do you think? Do you agree that if you follow your passion, success will follow you? Post your comments and experiences working with talented people!

Leaving a Legacy Thru Your Career - Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Michael Jackson

Just turn on the TV or the computer and you will see countless stories, articles and comments on the passings this week of Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Michael Jackson.

I've heard several people ask, "Why do we get so impacted by people we didn't really know?" To me, it's because we take it personally. Seeing their passing makes us once again realize that someday we too will pass. This is tough to swallow especially for people who aren't living life the way they want.

I often see this as a career coach. People seek out my services at key moments in their lives - like a milestone birthday. They are frustrated because their life and career is not as far along or as fulfilling as they thought it would be. The good news is that these people reach out to me because they are ready to take action with their careers - choosing to no longer be passive recipients of what happens but defining and going after what they truly want.

If there's a shared legacy that Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Michael Jackson leave - it's that they were tireless in creating the careers they wanted. No one sought them out to offer them lives of fame and riches. In fact, if you read the biographies of these individuals you will see that it was their hard work and dedication that made them the icons we miss today.

If you're feeling impact from the passing of these talented people, perhaps it's because it's time for you to fully express your own talents. Think about it and I'll leave you with a sentiment. It's from one of my favorite dream the impossible dream stories, Man of La Mancha so that you too can take action to further define your own legacy, "It's not why did he [or she] die, but why did he [or she] live."

What is your impossible dream? Are you living it? Share your comments here - studies have show that by writing down what you want and putting it out there, you increase your chances of success by 10 times. Now let's hear it!

A Fun Side to Unemployment?

My previous post about travel being good for your career sparked me to do additional research on the topic. Interestingly I came across a related phenomenon -"Funemployment." According to a recent article on SFWeekly.com, some of the jobless in San Francisco are actually viewing unemployment as an opportunity to volunteer, travel, freelance and consider career shifts. (Notably these are folks who have savings and/or severance who did not get caught up in the real estate crisis.)

Alexis Mansinne, profiled in the article, had been an event planner for Dwell magazine until she was laid-off. Though shocked by her pink slip, Ms. Mansinne decided to take a refreshing perspective on her situation (helped by the 50 weeks of unemployment benefits she was about to receive) and see it as a chance to take a more "socially redeeming career path". She started a blog (Funemployment.blogspot.com) to share her thoughts on how to take advantage of being unemployed and has since decided to go back to school to become a school guidance counselor.

The article also mentions another interesting blog, Unemploymentality.com and one of it's founders, Tania Khadder who's quoted as saying, "Being unemployed, took my attention, which was spread over a lot of different things, and gave it focus. In a way, it derailed my financial plan. But it accelerated my professional plan." Ms. Khadder's plan is to attend graduate school focused on public policy.

I realize that no one wishes to be unemployed and that many are struggling to pay for even basic expenses even with unemployment checks. For those however who do have the means to invest in themselves and their futures careerwise, many are having fun exploring their interests, talents and passions. Share your thoughts on the upside to unemployment - positive perspectives welcome!

Travel to Boost Your Career

Is it a good or bad idea to take a trip after you've been laid-off? Some people think it's a great mental health break while others think it's a foolish waste of resources. Weigh in and share your comments below. Read on for both sides of the argument and to see where I stand:

Bad Idea: Sit Tight and Save Up VS. Great Idea: Take Time Out to Travel

Share your comments on whether traveling is a smart move after a layoff and why you think that way. And tune into my career talk radio show this month for my interview with journalist Melanie Nayer on the benefits of a travel sabbatical in between jobs!

Career Advice for Business Owners (from NY Times Best Selling Author Christine Comaford)

Earlier this year, I interviewed Christine Comaford, author of Rules for Renegades on my radio show about building a mighty venture. Christine has consulted to the White House, 700 of the Fortune 1000, and over 100 small businesses. She has neither a high school diploma nor college degree but she has built and sold five of her own businesses and served as a board director or in-the-trenches advisor to 36 startups.

Here are her key tips on one business building killer: Lack of Reliable Revenue.

Not having reliable revenue systems spells death to more businesses than I could count in a lifetime. To begin with, it totally drains you of much-needed energy and kills your creativity day after day. When it comes to growing your business, CASH IS KING, and the best way to generate cash for your business FAST is by generating profitable SALES. To increase your sales, you need to learn to disqualify sales leads.

Here’s the 1-2-3 for creating healthier leads.

1. Set your objective for prospecting. Shifting your objective from getting the appointment to determining whether the prospect qualifies for an appointment is key. Next, eliminate your fear of rejection; it’s easier to do this when you aren’t begging for sales meetings. Instead of begging for meetings, identify your target prospects using specifics, such as price point, budgets, decision-making ability and schedules. Only make appointments with prospects who need, want, and can afford what you are selling and are willing to buy from you now.

2. Start separating real leads from unlikely ones. This type of prospecting is essentially a practice of sorting and identifying by talking to as many people as you can in the shortest amount of time. This involves learning how to disqualify a low probability prospect and maintain control of the interaction. Remember, whoever asks the questions is in control. Here are a few key reminders to keep in mind when you make calls: A) I work with high probability prospects only. I disqualify everyone else. B) “No” is just as good as “yes.” C) When in doubt, I disqualify.

3. Stay focused. Fear is what keeps most of us chasing sales leads that we know aren’t high probability. Here are three ways to stay on track and further cement this learning into your sales process. A) You are training prospects when you disqualify them. B) Deal with discomfort by acknowledging it and pushing through it anyway. C) Remind yourself often that this is the disqualification game.

Remember, you have no power to make a high probability prospect. You do have the power to disqualify – and THAT is the key to creating a healthier list of prospects, clients, and ultimately the future of your successful and well-financed business.

Thanks Christine! For more on this subject, Visit the "Resources" section of her Mighty Ventures Web site for free financing, sales, marketing, and operational documents, templates, and white papers and see Christine's Results Now Webinar.

Have a business you need to build revenue for? Share your challenges here and success stories too. Being your own boss is a dream for many, let's make it a reality! Looking forward to your comments.