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HEADLINES ADDED: November 10, 2009
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: October 15, 2009
National Careers in Construction Week October 12-16
National Careers in Construction Week will take place this week. Last year several governors proclaimed Careers in Construction Week in their state and the week received recognition from the White House. Besides the possibility of being recognized by the White House, this week your construction business should make the effort to promote the industry and the rewarding career opportunities it provides. It will also be a good opportunity to further relay the message of the need for a multi-year highway investment bill. You can find materails to assist your... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 16, 2009
The future of construction equipment
The term “industrial design” is something I never thought much about until the summer of 2009. That’s when I attended the graduation ceremonies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicagoand listened to a fewhighly influential commencement speakers including Renzo Piano — the Italian architect who designed the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. The speaker who captured my interest the most, however, was industrial designer Charles A. Harrison II. Mr. Harrison designed lawn mowers, sewing machines and garbage cans during his career at Sears, Roebuck... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: July 02, 2009
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: April 20, 2009
'Construction Challenge' Attracts Junior-High, High-School Teens To Industry's Many Jobs
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: February 04, 2009
Labour association establishes memorial scholarship
A scholarship for students in construction is being created by the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) in honour of one of its union representatives, who died suddenly and unexpectedly last September.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 24, 2008
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: October 23, 2008
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: August 27, 2008
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: July 14, 2008
Massachusetts Construction Career Days
More than 1,800 Bay State high school students attended the 6th Annual Massachusetts Construction Career Days (MassCCD) in May to learn about job opportunities in the industry, including construction, engineering and environmental fields with both union and open-shop companies. New England Laborers Training hosted the event in Hopkinton, MA, that was created to educate high school students abou...... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: July 04, 2008
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: May 17, 2008
HBF calls for abolition of Home Information Packs
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has called for the abolition of Home Information Packs to save jobs in the housebuildng industry.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: May 02, 2008
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 30, 2008
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: February 25, 2008
It is a 50 Year Career
All professionals are in a long swim as they pursue their career while providing for themselves and others. As we can work longer with better health, it is a longer swim than our father's (my mother was not allowed to work outside the house). So, whatever we choose we will be at it for a while. Even if our "ship comes in", we still have to do something in a serious way, otherwise the person we will become is not worth much. Choose carefully. We have concluded that construction... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: February 22, 2008
Expanding apprenticeships, developing world-class skills
Today sees the start of the first Apprenticeship Week, now set to become an annual event following the recommendations of the Apprenticeship Review ‘Expanding apprenticeships, developing world-class skills’ published at the end of last month. We have a special report for Buildingtalk from Eric Turner of Proskills who reviews the new production apprenticeship programme [...]... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: February 20, 2008
15 Things You Never Want To Say At Work
I was reading a newsletter from CareerBuilder today, and it had a piece in it that inspired me: the “10 Worst Things to Say at Work.” I thought it was a good piece, and definitely food for thought, but I thought they left some things out. So I’ve augmented their list to give you 15 Things You Never Want To Say At Work. 1. “That’s not my job.” If somebody comes to you with an issue, there’s probably a reason. It might be your responsibility to deal with it or your... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: January 28, 2008
Volunteerism: Find the Right Balance for Your Career
Volunteerism is the root of the industry. The success of a trade association depends on people who devote their time without pay, but you have to find the right balance. ... Read More
Plumbers Can Now Add Green Accreditation to Resumes
A little earlier this month, it was officially announced that the highly acclaimed GreenPlumber program is debuting in America. After generating huge amounts of interest in the program and successfully reducing water consumption in Australia, GreenPlumber is opening its doors to American plumbers through training and accreditation programs run by the PHCC (Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors of California) Education Foundation. Statistics indicate that water usage has increased at twice the rate of the population, and a significant number of states anticipate freshwater shortages in the next 10 years. “GreenPlumbers... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: January 20, 2008
Workaholics
A workaholic lives on fear. It's fear that drives him to show up all the time. The best defense, apparently, is a good attendance record. A new class of jobs (and workers) is creating a different sort of worker, though. This is the person who works out of passion and curiosity, not fear.... Read More
Padding That Resume in 2008: NAHB Certified Green Professional
In response to the rapidly growing green building trend, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will unveil its new Certified Green Professional designation during Green Day at the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando, Fl. (Remember, ConstructionJobsBlog will have real-time updates and news posted all day, every day during the IBS — check out CJB on the 14th for live coverage of Green Day!) NAHB President Brian Catalde said, “We know green is the future of building. With the Certified Green Professional designation, we’re helping our qualified members demonstrate... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: January 14, 2008
Why Do I Need to Know About Globalization? I Work for a Small U.S. Firm
One might respond that megaprojects or globalization are of no interest because he or she is a domestic practicing engineer in a small firm – say fewer than 35 employees. However, look around you – many of the emerging technologies and innovative ideas are generated by engineers from all around the world. Being small and local does not make you immune from being a responsible engineer maintaining competency and knowledge of the most effective and efficient ways to solve a problem. Value can be gained from learning what others... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: January 09, 2008
10 Ways for a Project Manager to Get Fired
lass="pull_ad">Don't you just love Industry Week? Whether you work in manufacturing or you do projects for manufacturers you gotta pay attention to IW stories. In the December 2007 issue there was a sidebar on careers. IW quoted from John M. McKee's book, Career Wisdom: 101 Proven Strategies to Ensure Workplace Success. McKee offered these 10 ways to get yourself fired: n't have a clear life plan. Don't keep your skill set current. Never deliver results. Confuse efficiency with effectiveness. (...)Continue reading 10 Ways for a Project Manager to Get... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: January 07, 2008
How to Lose a Job in 10 Minutes
Want to remain unemployed? Check out these 15 tips for throwing away that prospective job! (1) While discussing your ‘green’ building experience, mention that your efforts often increase the cost of projects (2) Show up late, and if questioned about your tardiness, hastily explain that you waited until the last minute to get directions to the interview (3) Leave an e-mail with directions to a new job interview open on your computer at your current job (4) When asked what interests you about the company, reply, “I don’t know, I hadn’t heard about... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: January 02, 2008
ConstructionCrossing
Occasionally this blog will feature useful websites, other than ForConstructionPros.com, that may be of use to you and your business. Today’s featured website is ConstructionCrossing.com. It is a construction job board strictly focusing on construction professionals. The staff of this website researches, monitors and posts job openings from thousands of employer websites, job boards and trade-organization websites for construction jobs. Employers are also able to post their jobs for free. So this could be a good avenue to find an employee to fill a void in your crew. There... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 26, 2007
Hitting the Wall at Work?
The Fast Interview: Timothy Butler on how to break the impasse and re-charge your career.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 20, 2007
Not All Jobs Are Created Equal
... Read More
Reading for Education
You have heard me preach about the value of reading. Brian Tracy sent out a note recently that included the following: Earl Nightingale said many years ago that one hour per day of study in your chosen field was all it takes. One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do. If you read... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 19, 2007
The Holidays: A Great Time For Jobseeking!
Most people believe the myth that the holidays are a bad time to be looking for a job. Tradition posits the time between Thanksgiving and New Years as a ‘no job seeking zone,’ a time when HR departments are not seriously considering candidates, and very few people end up getting jobs. This is just simply not the case. In fact, the holiday season is one of the best times to renew your job search efforts. For starters, many people believe the traditional view and take a break from jobseeking. ... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 18, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Architect
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 16, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Estimator
... Read More
Key Words Can Move Your Resume to the Top
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about 2 easy ways to make your resume more effective. A focus of the article was on keywords, and the increasing importance they are playing with electronic resume databases. I recently noticed a great article on key words from Dice.com. This article goes further into how to identify the correct keywords. For example: “Most likely the same person who posted the job online is the one reviewing resumes for the position,” says Deborah Walker, a certified career coach and president of Alpha Advantage... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 11, 2007
How to Find Your Passion And Make It a New Career
Many older professionals and executives want to combine a sense of purpose with earning an income. Perri Capell offers advice on exploring your interests.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 09, 2007
Common Networking Blunders That Can Sabotage a Job Hunt
Everyone knows you must network to find work following a job loss. Too often, however, unemployed people make missteps ...... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 06, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Expediter
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: December 04, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Business Development Manager
... Read More
To Get Ahead in Your Field, Consider Stepping Backward
We interviewed successful executives who have made contrarian career moves. A few common themes emerged in their stories.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 26, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Project Manager
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 21, 2007
References of Our Annual Boot Camp
Matt, I wanted to write to express my appreciation for the Business Management Boot Camp seminar you put on through the Southeastern Pennsylvania Associated Builders and Contractors from 4-23-07 through 4-27-07 My personal experience in our industry has been one of coming up through the ranks of a carpentry company, from Apprentice, to Carpenter, to Superintendent and now into management. This is not an uncommon path for many managers in the construction business; however the shift in paradigms from the field to a management position was a struggle for... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 20, 2007
Fast-Track Strategies For Rising to the Top
Employees at the bottom of the corporate totem pole can jump-start their careers by setting goals, showing up ready to learn and demonstrating maturity.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 16, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Project Engineer
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 14, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Scheduler
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 12, 2007
Hot Jobs with potential - Construction Superintendent
... Read More
Build Your Brand in Bits and Bites: Building Your Personal Brand Online
Arruda and Dixson warn: "You are being googled." Internet research is now a no-brainer in the hiring process, whether you are applying for a job or pitching your bid. So, how can you impress recruiters and clients when they perform this kind of reference check? The authors offer steps to making you digitally distinctive.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 08, 2007
The Essential Skills
To ascend to (and remain in) the CFO's office, you need much more than financial acumen.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: November 01, 2007
Mind Your OWN Business
You should be in business for yourself. We all should. I don't mean quit your job and form a new company. I mean right now - at the job you are in - you should be in business for yourself.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: October 23, 2007
Work/Life Balance: Finding Time to Succeed at Both
Balancing your personal and professional lives is possible; all it takes is a few hard choices!... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: October 16, 2007
Careers: Personal Branding Steps
How do you create a brand for yourself and your business online if you’re in a non-techy field like real estate?... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 28, 2007
Tip 90 – Talk to Your Boss About Your Next Job
Guess what? If you’ve built a strong relationship with your boss, you should be talking to him or her about your next job. It’s stupid to pretend you will be at your current job forever when everybody’s thinking about their next move... To get complete, future tips of the week by e-mail, click here to subscribe. Also, feel free to join the conversation around this tip by posting a comment below.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 24, 2007
Brazen Careerist: Five Ways To Make Yourself A Workplace Superstar
--> /td> lspan="2">Brazen Careerist: Five Ways To Make Yourself A Workplace Superstar Career superstars get all the benefits, including the biggest: Control over their lives. Columnist Penelope Trunk, the Brazen Careerist, shows you how to make yourself a superstar. more Update your feed preferences powered by SimpleFeed... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 21, 2007
Mistakes Were Made. Now Recover.
Rebounding from a career crisis.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 20, 2007
Do You Believe That You Can Increase Your IQ?
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 19, 2007
Why Management is Not a Profession
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: May 14, 2007
Does Their Corporate Culture Pass Your Sniff Test?
How much do you know about the corporate culture of a prospective employer? Until you work there, you're in the dark, right? By reputation, a manufacturing company might be known as a meat grinder or a large law firm as a cold and unfriendly place. Yet how much of this reputation is true and how much of it is sour grapes? It's imperative to discover the true nature of corporate culture before you accept a job offer. If the company likes go-getters, but you're a slow-starter, look elsewhere. If... Read More
Recruiter follow up should be a two-way street
Career experts have written countless articles encouraging, and often requiring, job seekers to send thank you notes or emails within 24-48 hours of an interview. Yet there’s no industry standard or similar expectation for hiring companies. Recruiter follow up should really be a two-way street. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it can positively or negatively impact the hiring company’s brand with potential candidates. Each and every day, human resources departments at companies everywhere are inundated with hundreds and thousands of applications from... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: April 24, 2007
Read The Room
My friend, Amy, told me of a recent experience. She had been working in a fairly high-responsibility position for about 5 years at the same company when she started to get strange vibes. It was difficult to put her finger on it because everything was going so well: The company was doing great, its stock price at record highs, everyone was making good money, getting promoted and generally being treated well. The workforce seemed motivated and happy, as did management. Still, something was not right. So, rather than ignore... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: April 15, 2007
Clearing Mental Clutter
OK it’s spring and it’s time to do some spring cleaning. I’m not talking about the ‘stuff’ that’s accumulated over winter, though cleaning that out gives a boost to your mental energy as well. I’m talking about clearing out all the thought processes, ways of being, 'programs' you've accumulated over the years that are buggy and no longer serve you. My colleague used to say “Time to update your personal operating system”. Many laugh at that concept but in truth we have to do that on a regular basis.... Read More
Work-Life Balance, a Sticky Situation
It’s the role of those of us in the blogosphere to make a connection where perhaps others would not see a connection at all. Such is the case today, April 6. For this was the day, back in 1938, that Teflon was invented. Roy J. Plunkett, while an employee at DuPont, invented polytetraflouroethylene resin, and by the time of his death in 1994, it was coating seventy-five percent of the pots and pans in America. The use of Teflon as a metaphor is fairly ubiquitous. We even called Ronald... Read More
America's Dirty Little Secret
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: April 13, 2007
NATE Announces Finalists for Technician Competition
To square off during Comfortech 2007... Read More
Open Thread: What Chores Do You Outsource?
It can make good financial sense to outsource nonpaying work like cleaning your house, maintaining your lawn, and driving your children to after-school activities.... Read More
Agents to the All-Stars
It's not uncommon to draw parallels between the worlds of professional sports and business. Business leaders, like athletes, work with coaches. Statistics can make or break an organization. And now... athletes are making their way into the world of entertainment....... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: April 08, 2007
HEADLINES ADDED: April 03, 2007
Architects Belatedly Move Toward the Light
Design is all about change—using new technologies, materials and ways of thinking to solve problems and create value for clients. Ironically, while architects are experts at inflicting change on others, they traditionally are reluctant to embrace fundamental changes in how they conduct their own practices.... Read More
Professional Presentation Pointers: Part One
I cannot think of a better way to increase your status in your job, business or industry than becoming a skilled speaker. Standing (or sometimes sitting) in front of a group and presenting is a frightening prospect for people ranging from corporate beginners to CEOs. There is good reason for this. Most people do not get much, if any, training during their many years of school and few companies provide it to employees as part of their professional development programs. The ones that do don't provide enough. This means... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 30, 2007
The Winning Thought Process #2
I just finished reading Losing My Virginity - by Richard Branson again. It is a very good book and makes you realize more than anything that if you simply have the right mindset you can achieve anything. Richard Branson lived on the edge of constant failure for more than 20 years while building the Virgin Group which was basically started on a payphone and some free shop space in a not-so-great area of town for the first Virgin music store. Someone noticed me reading it the other day and... Read More
Use the First 30 Minutes of Your Day to Succeed All Day
One of the ways that top-performing salespeople separate themselves from others is by effectively using the first 30 minutes of the day.... Read More
Licenses, Degrees and Certifications -- What Do They Really Mean?
I can't even begin to identify the number of licensees, degree designations, and certifications that are out there in the industry.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 29, 2007
Report: Retiring Baby Boomers Expected to Hurt U.S. Companies
Many are not prepared for the loss of experienced workers that will occur over the next decade.... Read More
The New Rules of Networking
You realize you don’t know the first thing about networking after you talk with Networker Extraordinare, Laura Levitan. Laura is the sort of person who has 16,000…yes you heard it right…16,000 contacts in her Microsoft Outlook and keeps in regular...... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 27, 2007
The Secret to Reinventing Yourself
How do you leverage the things you’ve done in the past for what you want to do in the future? A friend and world class entrepreneur, Michael Drapkin, raised that question to me recently when we were talking about reinventing yourself. Drapkin, over his 30-plus-year career, has been a classical musician, programmer, program manager, academic, technology consultant, CEO and business strategist. You know the sort: A polymath that’s good at so many things. More than that, though, Michael knows the secret to career change and self-reinvention. It’s that reinventing... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 26, 2007
Fixing Things to Move Forward
We tend to be so busy trying to figure things out, look at trends, strategize etc. that we don’t tend to fix problems. What if, instead of analyzing things to death we fixed them? What if we didn’t look at trends and the why’s and how other companies handle similar situations and worked with someone to fix things and now? What a concept! Why make things more complex than they have to be, at least in most day to day situations. We live in a world that has to... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 24, 2007
Licenses, Degrees and Certifications -- What Do They Really Mean?
I can't even begin to identify the number of licensees, degree designations, and certifications that are out there in the industry.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 19, 2007
Are our tools making us dumber?
It's lunchtime at the cafe and you give the cashier a $20 bill for an $8 purchase. She gives you $32.78 in change. You mention the mistake. She says, "But that's what the cash register says I owe you." She can't cope with the cognitive dissonance between reality and What The Machine Said. Later that day you get a frantic call from a co-worker--a recent addition to the programming team. "I keep getting this error message that it can't find the classes I'm using!" You ask, "By 'it' do... Read More
What happens when I Google you?
... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 18, 2007
Is Your Boss an Asshole?
... Read More
Jobless claims fall 27,000 (Reuters)
Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing for first-time jobless benefits fell sharply last week, government data showed on Thursday, but the decline was smaller than expected, and economists say layoffs remained elevated because of winter storms.... Read More
Generational Differences in Communication
Ruth Sherman, a leading commuications consultant and author of "Get Them To See It Your Way, Right Away: How To Persuade Anyone of Anything," discusses how to communicate with millennials.... Read More
The Charisma Myth
Now that some of the 2008 presidential candidates are out of the gate, it's been fun to see who is being labeled with that mysterious quality, charisma. Of course, we can't seem to hear Barack Obama's name mentioned without it being accompanied by some form of the word. The others aren't as lucky. Even John Edwards, who's pretty good on the platform, doesn't seem to fit the description. Neither does John McCain, Hillary Clinton or Rudolf Giuliani. So what is it about people like Obama that makes us gush?... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 17, 2007
Youth Online Magazine Focuses on Transportation Careers
Michele Regenold and I have a lot in common. We're both English majors who never would have dreamed that we'd be writing about the various aspects of the transportation industry.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: February 24, 2007
Women to Watch in Engineering & Construction: Where Are You?
Last month the Wall Street Journal issued its "50 Women to Watch" for 2006. While the insert portrayed an interesting group of women "at the top" that have broken through that ever feared "glass ceiling", there remained a striking void in engineering and construction. Despite the fact that the construction industry probably accounts for most of the dollars spent in the world today, no construction women were highlighted as being "women to watch."... Read More
Education: Do We Teach What's Needed?
Last week I was interviewing a young engineer who will be involved in our international consulting services. For international work I have to rely on engineers who can understand cultural issues, diversity and globalization. They must be leaders and convey that to others.... Read More
Foremen Who Don't Know How to Manage
I’ll get to the point. Many contractor foremen don’t know squat about how to manage or work with people.... Read More
Real Life Isn't Like School, But That Can be a Good Thing
Nearly two years ago, with his master's degree in hand and an exciting job lined up at a major engineering firm, there wasn’t anything in structural engineering Brent Vollenweider didn't think he could handle.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: February 23, 2007
20 Common Mistakes of Eager Leaders
Did you read the BusinessWeek sidebar article where Marshall Goldsmith, superstar executive coach and prolific author, shares common mistakes made by eager leaders? I did and I found them to all be thought-provoking. I also found the complete list inside the BusinessWeek website. These 20 mishaps are culled from Goldsmith’s newest book, WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE. Good stuff. Enjoy … 20 Common Mistakes of Eager Leaders. Winning Too Much. The need to win at all costs and in all situations—when it matters, when it doesn’t,... Read More
Career Tip #5: Take Initiative Outside Your Triangle
If there’s one piece of advice I’d give anyone in any job who wants to be considered a ‘rockstar’ it is to take initiative. Be entrepreneurial. See opportunities to improve before you’re told to improve them. Look for new opportunities. Think outside your responsibilities. Mistakes are easily forgiven when you have an employee that is going to be ‘making plays’. Think about the expectations of your role and responsibilities as a triangle. Now, if you put a circle inside the triangle, representing what you accomplish, then there are some... Read More
Career Tip #11: Always Can Do
I learned the ‘can do’ lesson early in my startup experience. In 1996 the President of our .com startup suggested I find and email 500,000 people. The word SPAM wasn’t even invented, so there was no depository of email addresses or list brokers. After a week of searching the “Information Superhighway”, I found sources for hundreds, not thousands. I was stumped, and went back to him with the question, “How did you come up with that number? Did you have a strategy or idea on how to get email... Read More
How to Take Career Risks -- 7 Principles
A reader commented and agreed that taking risks (Career Tip #12) would be great, but wondered how he could take bigger risks. I think he’s asking how to manage the career risk / reward ratio in a rigid organization. Notwithstanding apathy, I think people avoid risks due to lack of confidence and/or lack of comfort and knowledge in the organization which has to accept their initiative. So how do you accelerate both of these? As I thought back to how I developed the confidence to propose bigger changes, I... Read More
Decker's 15 Career Tips
This concludes my series of career tips, which was prompted by a few friends reaching out to me for advice. I'm sure I could think of more, but these are the first 15 that came to mind...and 15 is a good place to stop. Here's the list with links: Find and Follow Your Passion and Strengths Create Soundbytes for Your Personal Brand It's WHO You GET TO Know Choose Who Your Work For Take Initiative Outside Your Triangle Inform Others Connect to a Visible Brand Learn, Challenge, Fun Feed... Read More
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Favorite Book 2007
The Toyota Way is my favorite book for 2007. It had so many good ideas that I could not keep up and ended up reading it again and even buying the Field Book to go along with it.
Download Elegant Solutions from Change This which provides some highlights of the Toyota Production System. Too many ideas that are applicable to contractors to even count!
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