Form Your Own Dream Team for Success in 2011

As we get close to the end of the year, many of us start thinking about what we can do to improve our personal or business productivity for the New Year. Maybe you are looking for a new job, ways to be better in your current job, or new team members to add to your organization? Or, maybe you are like me, a business owner and you reassess your overall goals.

Whatever your current circumstances, I am a strong advocate for developing your own personal dream team – the team that will bring you the greatest success. I have my own “success” team and I thought I'd share some suggestions for how to do the same.

I believe that an advisor is necessary as part of your team. This person might be a business mentor, a business/executive coach, or perhaps an image consultant or social media advisor. Your business mentor is the person to go to with specific questions about business and staying on track toward your goals. This should be someone you can communicate with several times a week if necessary. They are an individual you run strategies or questions by before you put them in place. They should be someone outside your current organization and without any personal agenda except, of course, your best interests.

Business/executive coaches typically act as a “keep me on track” person. They are tough and don’t let you off the hook once you commit to tasks and goals. They bring fresh perspective helping to see the forest because sometimes we are knee deep in the trees. The good ones are tough and sometimes we need others to give us tough love and tell you the things that others won’t say. A once or twice a month 30 to 60 minute call with a good coach is not that expensive and is an investment that will pay for itself many times over.

Another key team member to consider would be an image consultant, personal branding expert and social media guru. Image consultants can assist with a variety of very important career puzzle pieces. For example, they can help develop a professional image for you without making you look like a corporate clone; this can mean the difference between a low to mid-level career and an executive one.

Personal branding consultants can help to identify your strengths and assist in using those to your long term career advantage by teaching you how to market what you have to offer. It's those who standout that get noticed and advance. Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter...it's a lot of work. We have all heard the stories of someone misusing social media and how it can bring a promising career to a swift end. However, without the use of social media and having a networking presence, your career will likely never get off the ground.

In deciding who is best to add to your dream team, some questions to consider:
• Who do I regularly seek advice from? What kind of advice: career or business? Do you take away insights that you use frequently?
• Who serves as a tried and true sounding board for new or crazy ideas you may have?
• Who would endorse you without reservation to a new client or employer?
• Who do you turn to discuss extremely confidential information, business or career?

This is not an all or nothing proposition...you might decide to begin your dream team with a coach first, adding other team members as you go. The key is getting started right away. You don’t need many people on your dream team and having one may just give you that edge you need in either looking for that new job or building your business.

Please share your ideas for your dream team members with me.

Wishing you much success in 2011!
David Lammert

5 Steps to Help Your Job Hunt during the Holiday Season

With the holidays just around the corner, now is the time to ramp up your job-search -- not shut it down.

While the holidays do cause business to slow, the truth is, employers are still interviewing and still hiring -- and deep into planning for next year. In other words, now is not the time to take your foot off the pedal. Between now and the New Year try implementing the following steps to help insure that you’re 2011 will be the best it can be career wise.

The first key step involves a change to your mindset -- both about job-hunting and about the holidays. You'll need to believe that you can have job-search success during the holidays, even fighting off the holiday blues when you have to. Make an action plan for the twenty or so business days between Thanksgiving and New Year's -- with a goal of accomplishing at least one job-search activity each day.

The second step is about reviewing your job-search materials and strategies. If you have not been successful obtaining interviews or attaining job offers, before ramping up your holiday job-hunting, consider getting an expert to review your methods. Often there are simple fixes to resumes and interviewing techniques that can quickly lead to success.

The third step focuses on taking advantage of the holidays for pushing your networking activities into a higher gear. With work slowing and people in a more festive mood, now is the time for job-seekers to request meetings, reconnect with people, attend holiday gatherings, and request informational interviews. Networking is always the best tool for uncovering job leads, and the holidays are the perfect opportunity to schedule meetings and make phone calls to those in your network.

The fourth step involves monitoring key employer career centers and niche and professional job boards. Even in December, new job opportunities will be posted by employers, so spend some of your time monitoring and applying for these positions.

An optional step, if you have the time and energy, is to volunteer. Charities and other organizations are often stressed to the limits trying to help people cope with the holidays. Besides the emotional and spiritual lift you'll receive from giving back, volunteering is an excellent way to meet new people to add to your network.

Seize the moment and have a happy holiday season.
David Lammert