It seems to me, that the world has turned upside down! 

What used to be "always true” is now almost never true. 

What used to be predictable and consistent is now erratic and inconsistent. 

Does it feel to you as though we are living in "the worst of times” and keep hoping for the "best of times" to show up any minute?  If yes, read on!

How many times a day do you hear "Well, the good news is that we are all in this together!"

Why is that good news? 
 
• Misery loves company?
• There is strength in numbers?
• It means we didn't cook it up all alone?
• It spreads the fear around?
• We can all move in together when the dreaded moment comes and our reserves are all gone? 

I don't know about you, but life and work have not been the same for me and for my company for well over 11 months now.  Each time I think I have the "new world" figured out, another wave can be seen on the horizon....ending a temporary illusion of calm seas.

The good news for me is that I have a unique perspective from my work; I have two client bases.  One client base is senior executives and the other client base is their executive and administrative support staff.  This dual client focus allows me to see the world from two very different points of view.  So, how are they both doing right now?  Who is succeeding and what are their common  secrets to success?  Would you like to know them?

OK...Here are my observations:

The Five Common Secrets to Successful Working in a World Turned Upside Down

1. Do not spend time thinking about what is  ahead unless you are in a strategy meeting and there is group support available.

2. Do not look to the past unless there is something you need to retrieve that is relevant to this present moment

3. Find a method that works for you and focus your mind every day on only the present.

4.  Lead everything you do during the day with a question, not an answer.

5. Embrace the unknown and stay open to possibility never before considered.

Why do I believe that these five secrets work so well?

1. Thinking about the future generates "what ifs" and fear which shuts down creativity

2. Thinking about the past also shuts down creativity; the past is the past and is no longer relevant except for some lessons learned

3. Focusing on the present moment accesses  powerful sources of creativity and  prevents mind clutter.  Thoughts of past and future are like dark clouds covering the sun; the clouds  block the light just as thoughts of the past and future block creativity.

4. Leading your thinking with a question opens the mind to not staying stuck in old ways of believing  and thinking.  The answers we had a year ago are, many times, not relevant today

5. March on with confidence and believe that  that there is a new path ahead!  We are all marching together  into unknown worlds and  just because there is no map, doesn't mean there isn't a path.  We  are being called to be  explorers, pioneers and mapmakers. 

Creativity is the big key that people who are successful right now at this moment in these times, are using as their path into the unknown.  Yes, we are all in this together, and no, there is no map, but each of us has untapped and deep wells of creativity to guide us through these times if we take the time to access them!

2500 years ago, an Ancient Greek Philosopher believed that everything is constantly changing as it flows through time.  He is known to have said: "A person cannot descend to the same river twice" 

I'd love to hear your "secrets" for success in the new work world!

 

Would you like to learn how to access more creativity in your job and in your life?

Creativity is a critical ingredient for success in the changing workplace!

Come visit a Sausalito Houseboat and learn the secrets to increase your creativity from a great local artist and good friend of mine!

Threshold Workshops are in their 11th year helping people become more creative. The workshops develop abstract thinking and explore the relationship between authenticity and creativity.

Participants in a Threshold Workshop
• Use a variety of art materials to paint & collage
• Write poetry & prose through guided exercises
• Learn to make abstract thinking a conscious process
• Learn tools to reclaim the conceptual mind
• Break free of left-brained linearity
• Expand their relationships to creativity
• Discover their blocks to creativity and let them go
• Build confidence & enthusiasm in their artistry
• And have a lot of fun doing it

More about the workshops 
• Held at a Sausalito studio: 13 Issaquah Dock, Gate 6 Rd
• 5 hours on one Saturday and... All materials provided
• No artistic skills required

Additionally, business groups can sign up, find solutions to real-time problems, facilitate better communications, and improve group effectiveness

Jim Woessner, Threshold Facilitator, is a former engineer and corporate executive who became a fulltime artist, poet, and teacher. He has an MFA from Bennington College; and his paintings have appeared in numerous Bay Area shows and galleries, including the Sausalito Art Festival. He is also founder of the Artists of Issaquah, a Bay Area community association of waterfront artists whose mission is to help people discover themselves as artists.

Check out Jim's art website at JDW Artworks.
CALL JIM WOESSNER AT 415-342-2399 or email Jim.

Talent Shortage? Is it Possible?   Although hard to believe right now, with so many strong EA/PA candidates on the market, I predict an Executive Assistant talent shortage over the next five years.   We have only a few professional schools dedicated to training the new generation of Executive Assistants.   The number of high level Executive Assistants has dwindled over the past ten years due to the increase in career options for women.  Women have traditionally filled the highest percentage of Executive Support positions.   Salaries have dropped this year, but I predict that: Salaries will go up higher than they were in 2008...over the next two years!    Why?   Supply and Demand! The more candidates available for a job, the lower the salary. Geographic location dictates salary also because of supply and demand.  In the bay area, highest? Silicon Valley and South Bay, then..San Francisco, East Bay and Marin.    Is there growth potential  into another field, or is it a career EA/PA position.  If career EA/PA..because of the shortage, the salary will be higher. What type of EA/PA job is in most demand right now?   The fastest growing segment of business in the US today is small business. The "Command Central" executive support role where the EA/PA wears five hats will be a job we will see more and more of over the next year.  Brush up your cross functional skills so that you can wear many hats and offer as many skills as possible!     RESUME WRITING TIPS: 2009 Small and medium sized businesses are a strong segment of the current economy and are hiring Small business employers are searching for candidates who can function as "command central" and utilize a wide variety of skills, talents and abilities Small business employers are searching for people with flexibility and a willingness to do "whatever it takes" to support the success of the company Small business employers are concerned that candidates who have worked in executive support for large companies are not flexible and not willing to do the "washing and ironing" of daily small business life Resumes are seldom read and are instead often just quickly reviewed. This glance generally means reading information at the top-third of the resume Resumes should highlight strongest and most  "in demand" skills, talents and abilities in the first one third of the resume People often make decisions and judgments in the first 20 seconds of reading a resume as they "glance" at the top third of the resume If you are applying for a job which mirrors the job title titles of past jobs, such titles should be highlighted  and bolded If you are applying for a job that does not mirror your past job titles, do not use titles in bold and do not highlight them.incorporate them into the descriptions of your past jobs Utilize as many transferrable adverbs that pertain as support the right for you to be applying for the job for which you are applying for.  Such adverbs should reflect skills needed for success  in that job. Create an objective that is generic and reflects cross functional experience and skills "Seeking position in Executive Administration utilizing my skills, abilities and experience" Next Section: "Related Skills and Abilities. Highlight and bullet the skills and abilities which reflect cross functional talent and abilities Next Section: "Related Experience”. Highlight experience that most relates to the Objective and to the position for which you are applying Next Section "Other Experience” Summarize experience, if any, that does not which doesn't directly relate to the "Related Experience” section Next Section: "Education" Final Section: "Honors, Awards, etc"

Would you like to learn how to access more creativity in your job and in your life?   Creativity is a critical ingredient for success in the changing workplace!  Come visit a Sausalito Houseboat and learn the secrets to increase your creativity from a great local artist and good friend of mine! Threshold Workshops are in their 11th year helping people become more creative.  The workshops develop abstract thinking and explore the relationship between authenticity and creativity.   Participants in a Threshold Workshop Use a variety of art materials to paint & collage Write poetry & prose through guided exercises Learn to make abstract thinking a conscious process Learn tools to reclaim the conceptual mind Break free of left-brained linearity Expand their relationships to creativity Discover their blocks to creativity and let them go Build confidence & enthusiasm in their artistry And have a lot of fun doing it More about the workshops Held at a Sausalito studio:     13 Issaquah Dock, Gate 6 Rd 5 hours on one Saturday and... All materials provided No artistic skills required Additionally, business groups can sign up, find solutions to real-time problems, facilitate better communications, and improve group effectiveness<

Question:

How is responding to an ad on line like buying a lottery ticket?

Answer!

You have just as good chance of winning if you buy it/post it as if you don’t!

I got a call this morning from an employed Executive Assistant who had read my blog comment that our company had received hundreds of resumes after posting an ad online.

“Is it true??” she asked with a horrified tone of voice. “I can’t imagine that many people responding to one ad!”

“No”, I said, “There were actually well over 700 resumes that have since come in from that one posting as we placed it on several sites!”

Anyone who is in the business of recruiting knows that placing any kind of ad on line is a little like putting you in direct line of a working fire hose. There is about a five minute lag before the hundreds of resumes begin to arrive. We read the first hundred or two, but then…it’s just too many... For those of us that genuinely care about people, it is painful to not be able to respond personally to each inquiry. 
 
Anyone who has responded to ads online knows that since about January of 09, it is rare to get a response from an online application... (My friend Terry Pearce, http://www.terrypearce.com placed an ad on Craig’s List and personally responded to every one! Kudos to Terry!) 
 
Good News! There are great companies who are hiring! 
 
Would you like to know the Steps to finding a job in a great company?

Read on!

There are things to know and steps to take.

What is to know?

1. There are great companies who are hiring people
2. Much of what many people used to do to find jobs, no longer works.
3. Accept the fact that recruiters are not likely to “find” you a job
4. There are steps you can take that, even in this tight market, will lead you to a great company and eventually, a great job!
5. Place the quality of the company as more of a priority than the type of job or the salary. It's more productive to not look for the "perfect" salary, "perfect" location, "perfect" job and "perfect" company ...all in one.

What is to do?

1. If possible, take on the project of hunting for work as a proactive, full-time job
   • If you can’t spend full-time on it, be proactive in the time you have 
   • Creativity, innovation, out of the box thinking rule!
2. Give up watching any news that discusses high unemployment statistics
3. Make a list of all of the companies for which you would love to work
   a. Create a Google Search Engine for all the company names and stay abreast of activity at each of the companies.
4. Be clear about what skills, experience and focus you would ideally utilize in your next job
5. Carefully Identify your personal and professional network (use social networking here. Linked In and Face book are some of the more powerful networking tools!)
   • Reach out to each person in your network with a personal phone call first, telling them what kind of company appeals to you and what is your experience and skill set that you most want to use in your next job. Ask if you can forward a list of your target companies to see if they have any contacts in those companies. Ask if you may forward your resume and a cover email so that they can forward to anyone in their network who may be relevant
   • Make the effort to leave each phone call with two additional names to add to your network.
   • Follow up with an email that is easy to forward with a bulleted list of your target companies, your objective and related experience and skills, and resume attached as a Word Doc. Include lots of white space. Less is more.
6. Before you respond to an on line ad, ask your network if anyone knows anyone at the company. If they do, ask for an introduction
7. Subscribe on business journals so you can be advised as to what companies are hiring.
8. Don’t wait to see job listings before you approach companies for work; every company has openings before it lists them.
9. Search for the "right" company first, and the "right" job second and the "right" salary third. If you get it all, congratulations!
10. Stay proactive, innovative, creative and positive as much as possible every single day!

 

Nothing is more important in today's world than to have the right employees or the right job! There is a huge amount of time..and money wasted in business and in life because companies hire the wrong person, or people take the wrong job! The heartache of being out of work in today's economy is big. Reports state that it costs anywhere from 1-2 times annual salary to a company when an employee leaves or is terminated. That has always been a lot of money, but today, doesn't it seem like even