Greg McMullen

As a coach, I’m starting to find myself in some tough spots. Last week we had a few guys that were having a rough time even making it through pushing off of a wall without stopping immediately. This combined with the fact that we have a 6-lane pool with over 30 swimmers meant that we unfortunately had to make some cuts.

Now for a business example. We (at @UniqueHomeSol) recently setup a marketing group to head up our online, TV and print campaigns. After about a week I was approached and told that if I didn’t “provide direction to the group” I would be done. Fortunately I was able to warm up to the idea of pushing ideas out into the room and developed the capacity to accept praise and criticism.

It seems like everyday we find ourselves in situations were we have to make cuts and sacrifices for the greater good of our company and teams. My question to you is how long does it take? Does everyone get the same chance, or do certain people get special treatment because of a relationship that they have with the owner or coach?

Ultimately, when is it appropriate to tell someone that feel like ‘they’ are no longer an asset to your team? I’m thoroughly interested in your thoughts so please share them.

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This morning I decided to utilize some tools to figure out how I was doing from a Social Media perspective only to realize that I had (seemingly) lost 96 followers. Now I know that people on social media want to “read good shit”, which is why I was trying to “share good shit.” However, today just proved that I was failing at a few different aspects of what social media is.

Instead of actually sharing something that people see as worthwhile I was (again, seemingly) boring the hell out of people, wasn’t engaging, nor was I engaging in very many conversations.

Now I want you all that may read this know that I want to improve in social media and want to work with you, learn from you and help add better posts to the Twitter, Facebook and blogging world. So with that here is my call out for help.

Recently, over lunch, Greg asked if I would guest post about separating work and Life. As I considered what I would like to share, I realized how many different approaches were available on this subject. Do I talk of social media and how difficult it is to separate work from social media 24/7? How about strategies to balance your life? How to make work fun or eliminate stress? I could talk about balancing work, family, spiritual, and personal time. Should I explore employee and employer responsibilities?

I once took a position working fewer hours and making less income. I did this to put my life in balance. But there was a larger consideration. Although I believed in the ethics, mission, and vision of the organization, I was no longer passionate about my responsibilities within the organization. It was a disservice to the company and myself to stay. It was not my happy place. Should we expect work to make us happy? Can we make work a happy place?

During the industrial revolution when it was not uncommon to work sun up to sun down, 6-7 days a week, in poor, unsafe, and unhealthy working conditions, it was thought by many thinkers of the day that “free” time would make people happier. This is not always the case.

In our society it is a commonly held belief that money makes us happy. Yes, I know we give lip service to the ideal that money can’t bring happiness, but lets look at actions not words. Would you consider a significant cut in pay to be happy? Could you afford to?

So what does make us happy? Passion. Believing in what we are doing, in and out of work. Being part of a team. Having others we can talk to and count on. Knowing “this” (whatever this is) is important. How is this accomplished?

Make your passion your work….

What do you love? How can you be paid to do what you love? Who is paid to do what you love? Brad Stevens, the Butler basketball coach, left a lucrative position with Eli Lilly’s to be coordinator of basketball operations; I believe this was an unpaid position. You may have to start small, part time, on the side, or for less money.

…or be passionate about your work

• Do your best at whatever you do, earn that wonderful feeling of accomplishment
• Act with passion, spread positive energy
• Bring or support innovation, creativity, and originally to projects
• Refresh – take breaks, gear back up
• Learn something new – take a class, study on line or go to a seminar.
• Engage others – be an advocate
• Understand the vision, mission, and direction of the organization
• Speak your mind, politely, but with passion and truth.

This post is probably not what Greg had in mind. It really is not about how to separate work from life. It is how to be happier by making work a fulfilling, happy part of your life, not just a paycheck. Are you happy at work, why or why not?

First Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I know that when I started looking for jobs in college I looked for just about any place that was offering a job. The worst part about it was looking for something within my Degree (BSBA in Business Management). Obviously trying to find a “management” job was out of the question unless it would be lower-level.

Target your Ideal Job

The best advice that I can even begin to give to Juniors and Seniors looking for a permanent job is to target the type of job that you want not just what you pre-qualify yourself for. Just because you got a History degree doesn’t mean you have to become a historian, you can also work wherever you want.

Use your School’s Reputation

One thing that the school is going to push is using the name. I went to Xavier University and they said it has great pull all over the country. Even better, I was in the Williams College of Business which had pull with P&G. Guess what…I’m not at P&G. However, there are ties with all sorts of alumni because people hire people. Networking is the best way to find a job. You can do it through many means, your school, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

You need to make sure you are yourself, and professional.

Send our your Resume

Develop and design your résumé to fit your personality. Don’t have it be so rigid or use the built-in Mac/Microsoft templates. Customize it to an extent, while still having a professional feel to it. Personalized touches could differentiate you from your competition, however, it could also turn off certain people if they typically see a particular format. Make sure you exercise caution!

Also plan on using resume paper instead of plain printer paper. Again, subtle touches could differentiate  you from someone else.

The Interview

This is the toughest part of the job hunt since many things going on. In a phone interview the best thing to do is sit down with your résumé, paper and pen and relax. There’s no need for nerves. Make sure that you are ready to answer and ASK questions.

Do well here and you’re on your way to a face to face interview.

Dress for the Job you Want; Not the one you have

Every business has a dress code policy. Make sure that you are familiar with that before you pick out your attire for the interview! However, there are a few simple rules to follow:

• If you want to become a lawyer, put on your best suit. A polo and slacks should suffice for a coaching interview. There’s no need to over dress when going in for that interview, but make sure that you portray the positive person you are. You need to show a sense of realism and confidence, and knowing who you are and what you want to do definitely helps!
• Groom! Brush your teeth, comb or cut your hair, and make sure your hair looks appropriate (heading to an interview like you just got out of bed is not something you want to do).
• Differentiate yourself from the crowd! You don’t want to wear the same Black Suit, White Shirt, Red Tie that everyone wears. Feel free to venture out (I interviewed with a Purple Shirt and Tie once; that Bank was not amused, others loved it)
• Don’t be afraid to talk highly of yourself. You have to let the person get to know you, good and bad! However, if saying something about a bad thing that happened make sure to say what you took away from the experience. (Ex: I started developing this website and it didn’t take off like I thought. However, I learned that proper strategic planning and advertising pays off.)
• Finally, be yourself! People hire people you don’t need to throw out every marketing buzzword but make sure you are giving an accurate description of who you are and what you know!

If you see anything that I missed or you want to add something please feel free to add it via a comment below.

What’s so important about Social Media?

Whether you are just starting out or are a social media ninja there’s one thing that’s always going to be important in the art of Social Media Marketing. YOU!

Without You, there aren’t going to be any interactions. Posting “Here’s our deal, buy from us” isn’t engaging your customers. YOU need to start having a conversation with someone, YOU need to reply to messages that interest you and YOU need to share what will interest your friends or followers.

The idea of Microblogging has been redeveloped. When Twitter was released I thought it was just like blogging (which I was wrong, I have to admit it) “Tell me what you’re doing; Where you went; How you did ___”. Boy was I mistaken.

Social media revolves around conversations, whether that’s creating new ones or simply watching for something to reply to all you need to be is yourself.