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janhoistad@drjanhoistad.com

Three Ways to Advance Your Career

    High performing professionals seek a variety of resources to accelerate their growth and advancement in the workplace. Oftentimes these resources also benefit the personal life, mental health and other aspects of a professional’s life and career. This is important as people rise in responsibility as it gets lonelier at the top. While developing your career and business path, the phrase “It takes a village…” is applicable here. In my work, I think of it as surrounding yourself with a team—and I encourage all my clients to identify their “chosen team” at every step throughout their life and career or business development. These resources are sometimes provided by your organization or company. And some you need to contract them on your own. Sometimes they are short-term or episodic relationships, and some can be very long term relationships spanning over many years. It’s possible to have all three at the same time if the feedback or learning is not in conflict, and if time allows. Since there is a lot of overlap between three main resources, 1) mentoring, 2) training and 3) coaching, let’s break out the core differences you should consider when working with these resources. 1) Mentoring Mentoring can be a short or long-term relationship. A typical mentor is typically someone further along in your field. An example of short-term mentorship is often in the on-boarding process within a company. A new professional or someone new to a role may be partnered with someone who can “show them [...]

How to Take Your Business to the Next Level

  Forging a bond while working in a highly demanding, toxic environment, Carmen and Inez brought their work friendship and capabilities together to develop their own company 3 years ago. This start-up literally “exploded” into being. Offering the exact same legal services, family, friends and professional colleagues beat a path to their door to work for this woman owned, minority owned new venture. Work poured in and the coffers filled. Why? Because they made a cultural “promise,” based on their authentic values to interact with employees and customers alike from a place of collaboration, mutual communication and responsiveness. Totally unlike their previous toxic environment. And... they delivered. It’s been a thrilling 3 year ride! (Hear outtakes: Massive applause and cheers, awards ceremonies and testimonials, cha-ching and more cha-ching.) New owners like Carmen and Inez come to their business with well-honed professional expertise for which they have been acknowledged as they climbed their career ladders. Strong personalities, they are used to the limelight from their hard won achievements. But…. like all start-ups, these 3 years have also been exhausting. (Hear outtakes: Moans, groans and sighs, subtle sounds of irritation and disgruntlement. All behind closed doors.) No matter how much pre-planning—for any new owners—running The Business-of-the-Business is a whole new set of skills. New owners are juggling demands of employees and customers, crash-coursing their way into new skills from tech to HR, confronting roles and responsibilities, policies and procedures, often colliding headlong into communication and style differences between themselves (difficulties they never [...]

5 Ways to Improve Feedback So You Energize and Retain Your Valuable Business Team Members

A Growth Mindset approach to feedback will grow your team. Focus employees on how their contributions meet desired outcomes. It brings purpose to their work and energizes everyone to share creativity, be more efficient. Change occurs more quickly with clearly stated expectations and mentoring from you as a leader.   The media often presents a contradictory picture of young people, focusing on their almost constant need for praise and feedback. While the desire for a little praise and feedback is true of all generations and some personalities, too much praise—without problem-solving encouragement—has been found to be detrimental for individual growth from early childhood on. It can affect personal and professional growth. A few years back, the concern about over-praising and feedback was focused on Millennials. In my experience coaching professionals at all stages, it is more common among that generation. For those who are older, I notice a maturing of this need as they are guided to develop their talents. However there are others who rely on their out-going personal style and exhibit a people-pleasing drive. Everyone in the work world has experienced this aspect of the millennial charm. They’re the first to describe themselves as energetic can-doers — fast, smart, eager, and exuding self-confidence. They’re often great in an interview and show up to take on many tasks. Plus, they’re usually fun to be around. For this group and any generation, Professor of Psychology and researcher at Stanford, Dr. Carol Dweck, explores how doling out praise and [...]

Stop Being “Nice.” A Guide for Straight-Talk Guidance that Grows Your People

At the gym the other day, stretching before a workout class, two men were sparring nearby. Mid-30’s, and mid-40’s, with humor but focused. Glove-less jabs and shoe-less rapid-fire kicks flew, interspersed with the ding-ding-ding of a timer set to note the end of each short round. Between each round, straight-talk, rapid-fire feedback was given, received and incorporated into the next practice round. These two were totally focused on increasing skills and achieving better performance. One man more advanced giving feedback to grow the other’s competence at something they both care about. Sports leaders are hired for their ability to grow individuals and a team. They are quickly fired when the skills do not improve, when the team does not go on to succeed. Measurements of growth and success are clear. Everyone is there to improve skills. For team success. They are there to get better. It made me think of the difference between the sports-world and the business-world. We expect and seek out straight-talk coaching in the world of sports. We hire trainers to kick butt - to lose weight, get stronger, avoid injury or achieve whatever our physical goals. We hire them for straight-talk, tough-love. So we get better. The Stakes Are High There’s far less consistency in giving, receiving and incorporating straight-talk input clearly aimed at growing the skills necessary to achieve individual and company success. Many people in positions of authority (here I include leaders, managers, even parents of emerging adults) avoid opportunities to grow their people. [...]

A Coaching Approach to Strengthen Your Business Partnership

In the beating heart of every entrepreneur, business owner, and business partner, is a desire to move with ease and speed, to be one step ahead of the curve, to have a partner and team working smoothly in the flow, laser-focused on achieving mutual goals and agreed upon outcomes, driven to succeed. The article dives into the core benefits of a Big Picture Partner Approach to business coaching and how it can help you become strong and more successful together. A business is a fertile ground for partnering with one or more people, often with complimentary skills, energy and enthusiasm, sometimes investing money, bringing connections, or a book of business. Like many relationships, business partnerships are sometimes humorously referred to as a working marriage. Both are “working relationships.” Humor highlights the complexity such close relationships bring. And like the long-term commitment of a personal relationship, the spirit that brings people together in business also requires interpersonal skill and attention to make the business and the relationship successful over the long haul. Yet while business partners enter into their legal and working relationship with positive expectations, even enthusiasm, statistics show that anywhere between 50% to 70% of business partnerships ultimately fail. How do you inoculate yourself against such a demise? This article introduces an approach to navigating an important business relationship that should be a great asset to you and your business. It offers insight into the mindset, skills, and tools to work as Big Picture Partners™. This style of [...]

How to Keep the Personal out of Professional Communication

Let’s be honest, communication could be portrayed by many as one of the most important factors of relationships — both business and personal. I’m here to tell you that even though communication has been around for thousands of years, it has yet to find perfection. Let me narrow down the field of vision a bit, specifically, communication in the workplace. I’m a Millennial. I value communication. One form of communication that is very important to me and is a huge part of my value system is the idea of feedback. I’ve always received feedback: teachers, parents, coaches, friends, other family members, strangers on the street, social media acquaintances, and so on. I thrive on feedback. I want to know how I’m doing all the time. It’s how I attribute success. "When I hear I’m doing a good job from others, I truly believe it myself."   Communication mishaps happen all the time, especially in the workplace. Even if you have the best boss and coworkers in the world, there’s bound to be some communication confusion at one point in time. Here are some things to keep in mind for effective communication: Ask questions. One magical thing about human beings is that each person has their own mind and their own thoughts. It’s okay to ask for clarification. One common mishap occurs when there’s confusion with the messages. Not everyone is a skilled communicator. It’s important to clearly understand the message being conveyed. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for failure from [...]

What to do Instead of Being Impulsive in a Career Slump

Maybe you're feeling your particular company or corporate environment isn’t a life-giving, vibrant or creative match for you?  Or you're at a crossroad and need to design a whole life, not just a work-life. You're career-focused and your work IS your life but right now, but it’s not a reflection of “you.” So you're feeling unchallenged or bored. And it may be that it’s just time and something has to change. You don't want to wake up 3 or 5 or 10 years from now feeling regretful that life has passed you by. All of these are reasons to pay attention and begin to create time, space and action steps to figure out your next life and work iteration. It’s not a great time to be impulsive. If you’re not going to be impulsive, the question becomes: Where Do I Start? Start With A Mindset We know that you want to dive right in and get answers to the ultimate question you are asking—Where am I going to be in 3 months or 6 months or a year from now? What is THE fastest way I can make the changes I desire because I want to be THERE now? You may be tempted to be reactive at such a time. Another way to look at it is that it's a Choice Point, an opportunity to reimagine your future, to consider how decisions in one area of your life affect all other areas. It's complex. So at any given choice point [...]

7 Tips When You Resent Being in the Lead with a Colleague, Employee, or Mate

  Ridding yourself of resentment of being in the lead means taking responsibility for your role in the ongoing dynamic,  then taking action to make positive change.  Try these 7 tips and let me know how it goes! Are you in a relationship where you secretly wish or overtly want another person to take the lead sometimes?  Do you find yourself thinking “I always have to…” or “He never does…” or “She never brings up…”? Whether at work or at home, some people have a tendency to let resentment about taking the lead build up.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  You can take that step to rid yourself of resenting being in the lead by encouraging others to participate and by asking for what you want…..after all, your colleagues, boss, employee, or partner can’t read your mind!  Here are some tips on taking the lead on banishing resentment and sharing the load: Specify What You Want Evaluate where you want the other person to take the lead?  On the job maybe you find yourself heading up every meeting when there are others who share responsibility?  Or perhaps at home you continually wish that your partner would decide where to go on “date night” and not always leave it up to you?  Make your list so you clarify what it is you want.  Be concrete in your request. You are asking for specific behavioral change. Clarify Territory Take a look at your list and make certain that you [...]

Finding Your Purpose at Work

DJHP /Careers Negative employees are everywhere. Odds are good, everyone has been that person at one point in his or her career. I was once that employee, and the reason for my negativity corresponded with my purpose. I had no real purpose for being in that position. I wanted more out of my job and wanted different things than that employer could provide me. Whether you’re in a bad situation or not, finding your purpose is important. And until recently, I’d been floating around, trying to align myself with the career path I was currently in. I realized that I was trying to be someone I could not. No matter how hard I tried, something wasn’t working. Everyone has a purpose. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what that is. It takes thought, time, and a lot of energy. It’s important to understand why you’re here and what’s your reason for your work. Once I realized this for myself, I started targeting my career to fit my purpose. Working with purpose allows me to be the person I truly want to be. It allows me to act accordingly. Everything has become clearer. It may have taken me 29 years to figure out, but I’m now working for my goals and my values. Reflect on what you want (or your values). It’s important to understand your values. These are a part of you. "Everyone has values, but this is the process of making them reality.  Learning how to communicate these to others is golden." Look at [...]

Is Your Company Ready for the 2020 Workforce?

DJHP /Leaders Yes, it's just 2016. But is your company ready and planning for what's rapidly coming? How many of us can honestly say our work is fun? Interesting, sure. Challenging, sometimes. Frustrating? More often than we’d like to admit. But fun, well, that can be a rarity — or it used to be, at least. More and more companies are looking for innovative ways to make “fun” part of the corporate culture, and it has a little something to do with what’s being called the 2020 workforce. By 2020, an estimated 86 million millennialswill be part of the workforce. That’s 40 percent of the total working population. And of this workforce, 88 percent want their employers to provide the means for work-life integration. Not to be confused with work-life balance, of course. With work-life integration, employees blend the personal and professional to succeed in both realms. They check business emails at home while hitting up Instagram or Pinterest at work. It’s almost as if the division between the two worlds no longer exists. To ensure your company attracts (and retains) the best and brightest of the 2020 workforce, I’d recommend making some distinct changes straightaway, including: Lead with your values. Roughly 64 percent of millennials are in the business of good will. Start looking at your corporate values and emphasize community stewardship if you want to attract the attention of young hires. Once your core values are in place, identify initiatives that align with them and develop outreach programs [...]

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