People Move Organizations

Do you know the difference between delivering information and delivering a message for influence? My guest today, Deb Coviello will break this down for us. Her tips will help you be seen, heard, and invited to the table at your company or organization. To deliver a message that influences, your message needs to include: Data Trend Risk or Opportunity? Impact or Magnitude All in the language that the person understands How to have confidence when delivering a message: Tone of voice – be firm, don't use sing-songy delivery Use affirmative language   Drop In CEO website   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: The difference between delivering information and delivering a message that influences The core components of a message that influences How to start acting at the next level How to have confidence when delivering a message that influences

Today, I want to talk about Agile. It is a term that gets misused and misunderstood a lot. If you are not a software developer, my goal is to help you better understand what this term is and how it is best used at companies. If you are a software developer, please listen to the episode anyway. I know you think you know what Agile is, but I want you to be able to help others understand it as well, and you'll walk away from this episode with a better understanding of where agile DOESN'T work well. And if you are a project manager, same thing applies. You need to be able to explain to people when Agile is appropriate and when it is not.    Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal   What You'll Learn in this Episode: What is the Agile Software Development methodology Why Agile is not right for project management The difference between software development and software implementation  

How willing are you to be coached? Are you open to letting of others help you grow? My guest on this episode is Leslie Shea and she talks with me about why it is important to be coachable. We talk about why it is a really important skill for career advancement, and how we can build this skill: Look for opportunities to grow your confidence Become self aware Cultivate your curiosity Here are some episodes that tie into our conversation: Episode 35: Fixed vs Growth Mindset   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: How to be more coachable Why learning agility is important How you can be more valuable to your employer Skills for building your coachability How to create a growth mindset How to talk to your manager about being coached

I'm passionate and inflexible when it comes to working during my vacation. And you should be too. In this episode, I give you my process for being able to go on vacation without putting my phone number in my out of office message.

Meetings, meetings, meetings. My guest this week for People Move Organizations is an expert at helping people create exceptional meetings. You'll learn a lot this week from Greg Harrod when he shares the 3 fundamentals of effective meetings: Purpose – why are you bringing people together? People – who are the people needed to accomplish the purpose? Preparation – both as the leader of the meeting and to help the participants prepare Here are some episodes that tie into our conversation: Greg's podcast: Connect Mobilize Deliver Episode 10: Time Blocking   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: 3 fundamental tips for running effective meetings Why it is important to know the purpose of the meeting Why it is important to invite the right people to the meeting Why it is important to prepare for the meeting What counts as a meeting How to be an effective participant in a meeting How to decline the meeting

Being vulnerable and authentic at work is sometimes hard to do.  It takes courage. In this conversation with Ryan Seematter, we discuss why he feels that being vulnerable and authentic at work has been a part improving his confidence, passion and energy at work. Ryan's tips for being authentic at work: Start small – with the people closest to you Ask for feedback Reach out to someone you haven't spent time with but would like to know better Don't be afraid of the differences – appreciate them for what they are   Here are some episodes that tie into our conversation: Episode 17: Understanding Myers Briggs Episode 49: Introduction to Enneagram   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: Why being vulnerable at work can improve your confidence Why people are afraid to tell their story at work How to build courage through authenticity How authenticity and networking are connected How to be authentic with your manager

We all get paid to solve problems. This week, my guest on People Move Organizations is giving us some great tips for problem solving at work.  We talk about taking the emotion out of problem solving, listening, and giving someone time to vent before jumping in to solve their problems. Here are some episodes that tie into our conversation: Episode 7: Influencing Others Episode 39: Self Control    Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: How to take emotion out of problem solving Why it is important to listen when you are solving a problem Why you shouldn't try to solve the problem too quickly Why it is important to understand your audience

What do I want to be when I grow up? It is a question we've all asked ourselves. In this episode, I talk with Elaine McClure about how we can achieve our career goals. Elaine has a lot of great, practical tips for things you need to consider when you are thinking about what your next career step might be. If you want more episodes about career growth, check out our career growth curriculum: http://www.pmocoaching.com/careergrowth.html   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: How to take your career to the next level Steps to determine what your next career step might be Why mentors are important in career development Things you should consider other than just money when looking at your career How to figure out what you want to do with your career A common misconception about being a manager

In this episode, I'm talking with Susan Wolfgang about why it is important to have a customer experience mindset regardless of the position your hold at your company. Customer experience is sometimes misunderstood, and Susan gives us a master class on the subject. If you have one take away from this episode, it should be ‘does your customer have a seat at the table?' In the episode, we talk about the important of understanding the full process. You might learn more from Episode 11 where I covered this topic in more detail: Episode 11: System vs Process   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: What is Customer Experience and why it is important Why customer loyalty is important How customers look at your company How you can have a customer mindset in any role Why it is important to think through the entire system before making policy or process changes

In this episode, I'm talking with Luke Mentzer about how each of us can look at our process and improve it in order to reduce the pain points you are feeling in your process. If you have a process that you think could be improved, you'll get some great practical tips from Luke about how you can make improvements starting this week.   Episode 11: System vs Process   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal What You'll Learn in this Episode: How to look at your process holistically when improving your process Why it is important to consider the constraints for the individual pieces of the process How to get buy-in from other stakeholders when you want to change your process

This week we get a lot of great tips about networking and building relationships from Steph Neu. Networking is such an important skill for anyone - regardless of what you do for your career. You are certainly going to have some actionable tips you can put into place this week! Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal  

What are your best tips for presentation skills? This is the question we cover this week with Diana Acuna. Whether you are presenting to 1 person or 100, having some basic presentation skills is going to make you more successful in your career. Diana has a lot of great tips for you. Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal  

It has been a while since I published a new episode of People Move Organizations. In this episode, you'll find out why and learn about where the podcast is going in the future. 

This week, I'm reposting my episode about building your intuition skill. Yes, intuition is a skill that you can improve using the Decision Primed Recognition Framework. In this episode, you'll learn: Intuition is a skill that can be built Why Intuition is important in business The fundamentals of Decision Primed Recognition Framework How to identify areas in your job that can be improved with the framework Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal

Did you know that there are different strategies when building hard skills and soft skills? In this episode of People Move Organizations, I cover the differences so that you can be more productive when building your skills in the future. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/096 In this episode, you'll learn: The difference between hard skills and soft skills The best way to improve hard skills The best way to improve soft skills How to identify a hard skill or a soft skill   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal

This week, I'm talking about how the simple phrase ‘I Don't' can help you define who you are or who you want to be in a way that will help you achieve your priorities. It is pretty easy to use the power of identity to help overcome the need for willpower, so give this episode a listen and I think you'll get something out of it you can use. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/095 In this episode, you'll learn: How to achieve goals by defining your identity How to stop struggling to improve How you can use your identity to overcome the need for willpower   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting

It's Career Day! In these episodes, I'll be interviewing someone about their job with the goal of helping you learn: What the career is all about from an insider's perspective What skills are best suited for the position What experience will help you get into the position Even if it isn't a career you aren't interested in for yourself, it is always helpful to have a better understanding of the roles that people around you may fill.  ​Today's career is Recruiting and I'm interviewing Chad Roudebush, who is an experienced recruiter, having worked for more than 13 years in the industry. Chad brings a great insight into what makes a successful recruiter and helps give an understanding of what a potential career path may look like.

This week is a repost of Episode 31: Productive and Unproductive Multi-tasking.   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting  

It's a very rare thing to find someone who has never been dissatisfied with their job. There are, of course, a range of intensities when it comes to dissatisfaction. On one end, you might have a bad encounter with someone at work and feel dissatisfied with the situation. On the other end, you may have the Sunday Night Blues – dreading the thought of going into the office because you are so dissatisfied with your job. What I want to do today is give you some tips for how to effectively deal with dissatisfaction. No matter how intense your feelings of dissatisfaction are, having some tools you can use will help you get past it faster. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/092 In this episode, you'll learn: How to recognize when you are feeling dissatisfied Why labeling emotions is important The Dissatisfaction Cycle How to move from dissatisfaction to Satisfaction   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting

As you progress in your career, one of the things that is important for you to be successful is to network. What makes this process challenging is that it takes work and, although important, it isn't urgent so it is easy for you to let it go. You don't maintain the relationship because it isn't right in front of you and then when you need it, you are starting off from a less than ideal situation. In this episode, I'll be giving you a very simple way to ensure you are keeping in touch with your network regularly so they'll be there when you need them.   http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/091   In this episode, you'll learn: How urgent is the enemy of important when it comes to networking An easy tip for keeping in contact with your network regularly How to effectively network How to build a habit of networking   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting

This week we are taking a look at what a career in Accounting is all about.  In these episodes, I'll be interviewing someone about their job with the goal of helping you learn what the career is all about from an insider's perspective, what skills are best suited for the position, and what experience will help you get into the position. Even if it isn't a career you aren't interested in for yourself, it is always helpful to have a better understanding of the roles that people around you may fill. Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting Improve your productivity with my Productivity Journal  

This week, I'm replaying Episode 11: System vs Process. Each of us has a set of processes that we follow every day in order to accomplish our job. The longer you are in your job, the more proficient you get at each process. But, you can be the most proficient person at the process, and it could still be a problem. Why? Each process is a part of a bigger system. No matter how efficient each process is, if it doesn't work well within the system that it is a part of, there could still be problems. You are more valuable to your company if you can look at the system as a whole rather than just your process within the system.   Systems are typically: Cross functional (cross departmental) Made up of many processes Spanning many different disciplines The best way for you to improve your understanding of a system is to look at a process that you are a part of and then look backward to determine the processes that impact you and look forward to determine the processes that you impact.

Being productive means accomplishing your most important goals. For most of us, we need daily reminders in order to make progress toward those goals. In this episode, I cover 5 Daily Questions that will help improve your productivity. See the full show notes here In this episode, you'll learn: How 5 Daily Questions can improve your productivity That achieving your goals takes planning By focusing on the next 30 days, you can ensure you are being productive toward your goals   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting

Logical fallacies are errors in thinking that weaken or discredit an argument. We all use them, and they impact our critical thinking skills. In this episode, I talk through the common types of logical fallacies so that you can start to recognize when you are drawing bad conclusions. See the full shownotes here.   In this episode, you'll learn: How Logical Fallacies impact your ability to make good decisions That Logical Fallacies are part of the critical thinking process The 8 types of logical fallacies   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting  

Are you a specialist or a generalist? The world needs both, so I'm not going to argue for one over the other. The thing is, when you specialize in an area, you begin to look at everything in a certain way. You fall into patterns or routines. You know the saying ‘to a hammer, everything looks like a nail?” But, there is a way for you to learn to think about things outside of your particular bias. Today, I'm going to talk about the practice of selecting an Area of Focus to help you improve your ability to solve problems. See the full show notes In this episode, you'll learn: Why your area of specialty could be limiting your ability to solve problems How learning about other areas of business can help you become more creative when solving problems How to use Area of Focus to expand your horizons How I recently solved a problem because of an area of focus   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Invite me to your next team meeting

This week, I'm replaying Episode 18: Building a Reserve. It is a topic I've been talking about for over 10 years, and I really feel that it is core to managing stress in your life.   In this episode, you'll learn: How to keep yourself from going over the edge because of stress How to build a reserve so that you feel less stressed How to identify where you need to build a reserve so that you are less stressed   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher

Regardless of your specific job, the ability to use critical thinking is an indicator of being successful. Today, we are going to take a look at this skill and give you some ways to put it into practice more often. See the full show notes In this episode, you'll learn: What is critical thinking? What are the steps for critical thinking The difference between an assumption and an inference How to collect evidence to support your conclusion How to evaluate evidence you've collected How to become a better critical thinker   Help us spread the word: Share this episode with your LinkedIn contacts. Go to our LinkedIn page, select a post, and hit share. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Add us to your playlist on Spotify Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher

Today I’m going to lay out a case for a philosophy that I’ve believed in for a long, long time. I believe it solves a myriad of problems, so I think it’s a tool everyone should have at the ready. The philosophy is – do one thing differently.   http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/083 #personaldevelopment #scalemyskills #peoplemoveorganizations  

Today, I want to introduce you to an approach for tackling problems that works well when you are feeling stuck. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/082 #personaldevelopment #scalemyskills #peoplemoveorganizations  

This week, I’m going to share 5 tools that got me through a very stressful week. I think one of the hardest things to do when you are stressed is to be able to think about these strategies. So, make sure you put this week’s guide somewhere you can reference it the next time you find yourself hitting your stress limit.   http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/081

Everything we do, everything we hear, or see, or participate in has a context within which it happens. How do you consider context when making decisions, creating processes, addressing change? This week, we’ll talk about the importance of context. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/080

Sometimes, making something personal makes it easier. I think objectives at work can be this way. This week, I talk about how you can make your objectives more personal, and more fulfilling by looking at them in terms of making your manager’s life easier.

When it comes to our job, sometimes we can be hesitant to ask for help. This hesitancy can be caused by our own personal beliefs, or it can be caused by the culture that we are part of. We covered the personal beliefs about asking for help in Episode 78, and I encourage you to go back and give that episode a listen. Today, we are going to talk about the cultural aspects of companies that can lead us to resist asking for help when we need it.

There is an art to asking for and giving help. The key is to find a balance so that you are both comfortable asking for help when you need it and generous about giving help when it is needed. If you do one without the other, there will be negative consequences. Today, we are going to talk about how you can better balance this skill.

I’m excited to introduce a new intermittent segment that we are adding to the podcast called Career Day. In these episodes, I’ll be interviewing someone about their job with the goal of helping you learn what the career is all about from an insider’s perspective, what skills are best suited for the position, and what experience will help you get into the position. Even if it isn’t a career you aren’t interested in for yourself, it is always helpful to have a better understanding of the roles that people around you may fill.   Today’s career is Project Management and I’m interviewing Chris Schain, who is an experienced project manager, now in a role where he is managing project managers. Chris brings a prospective that will help you understand what makes a successful project manager, and helps give an understanding of what a potential career path in project management may look like.  

Understanding the different levers that impact margin for your company helps you understand how healthy the business is. It may also help you understand ways that you can help impact margin by either improving revenue or reducing cost so that margin is increased. This week, I cover the basic concepts of margin and I promise you’ll never think the same way about pickles again!   http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/075 #personaldevelopment #scalemyskills #peoplemoveorganizations

Customer Experience is everybody’s job, although sometimes it might be hard to see how you can influence it. It may seem like you can’t make an impact if you aren’t in a leadership position, but that isn’t the case. Today, we are going to talk about some ways you can make an impact on customer experience, regardless of your role or title.

Every job has a process – whether it is well documented or not, effective or not, enforced or not. And, whether you are the kind of person who likes process or not, you still follow a process. For those of you who get itchy when talking about a process, we might also call it guidelines. You have some set of guidelines you use to get yourself from point A to point B each day. I have a saying that I say frequently to my team: trust the process. What I mean when I say it is that, when you question why something is the way it is, you must trust that the process handled it appropriately, and therefore there is a good reason for it. Trust that there are rules and guidelines in place to help get each process from point A to point B in a manner that results in the best possible solution given the situation. Trusting the process doesn’t mean that there is no room for improvement. To design a process you can trust, there are a few guidelines you can follow, which is what we will cover in this week's episode.

We can all use some tips when it comes to managing meetings better. Whether you attend the meeting or host it, this week, I’m covering tips that will help you ensure you are being as productive as possible. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/072

I ready The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People not long after it was originally released, and then not again until last year. I was blown away. I think it is a book you can learn from over and over again. This week, we talk about Habit #2: begin with the end in mind. I think it is really important to make sure you build time into your life to step back and make sure your vision is still the right vision for you. http://www.pmocoaching.com/podcast/071

I find the social science of the brain to be a very interesting topics, which means I read a lot of books about it. It is a fairly new science, and scientists admit that there is still a lot to learn, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take what is known and apply it to the way we work. Work, by its definition, involves other people. So, the more you know about how other people think, the more you  can tailor your work in a manner that will be more likely to be positively accepted by the people you work with. Our social connections are necessary for our survival – not just at work, but in life. If you think about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the lowest level is the physiological stuff, and then comes safety, and next is social. Without social connections, you can’t move up into the hierarch where you get into esteem and self-actualization.

Do you have a job description for your life? This week, we are going to talk about a tool that you can use to keep your priorities at the top of you mind at all times. Because, when the rubber hits the road, it is sometimes easier to react to the urgent than it is to follow the priorities you’ve set for yourself.

Today, we are going to talk about identifying busy work so you can get onto being productive. I guess I’m making the argument that being busy – fake busy – is standing in the way of being productive. What I want to do today is give you a framework for thinking about the work you are accomplishing and to help you move away from busy work and toward being more productive. It means working in a mode for most of your day that contributes to your priorities. It is called the Productivity Mode Optimizer – and yes, that is PMO hidden in the title. Pretty cleaver, huh?

Navigating the corporate world means you are always negotiating. You may be negotiating with a coworker about a project deadline. Or, with a client about how to resolve an issue. Or, you may be negotiating with your boss about a promotion or a raise. Whether you think about it consciously or not, you are always negotiating. And, because our goal is to help you be successful in your career, we want to spend 10 minutes with you this week teaching you one component of negotiation. The concept we are going to be covering in this episode is called BANTA. It stands for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.

Everyone in your management chain – and everyone in a leadership position at your company is making decisions based on your company’s financial position every day. So, it is important for you to have some basic understanding about some of the core building blocks of financials.  Today we are going to talk about the difference between fixed and variable cost. If you can really understand this concept, you’ll have a better ability to analyze business strategy. So, this is fixed and variable cost 101.

There is one thing that will, without a doubt keep you from being successful in your career. If your coworkers and bosses don’t have trust in you, you will be like Sisyphus, pushing your career up the mountain only to see it slip back down. Mahatma Gandhi said it very well, “The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.” A lack of trust is something you can’t afford in your career. And, the thing is, trust is something other’s get to decide. Do they trust you or not? Of course, it is based on your actions, but the decision to place trust is still theirs. So, how do you increase your chances of ending up in a place where your coworkers and bosses make a decision to place their trust in you? On this episode, we are going to talk through the different components of trust. By understanding the components, you can determine if there are any levers you can pull that may help you improve your trustworthiness in other’s eyes.

Every single one of us has a lot to learn. You may be an expert at something, but a complete novice in another area. Or, maybe you have only been out of school for a short time and you are pretty much a novice at everything. So, whatever your situation, you are going to be put into a scenario where you are not the most knowledgeable person on the topic, and you are going to need to rely on the advice or feedback of someone else. When this happens, one of the most important things you can do is accurately assess how much weight you should give to their advice. This week, we talk about how you should determine whether or not you should give weight to the advice you are getting.

Have  you ever thought of your skills as a portfolio? A portfolio is more often associated with investments or creative careers than business careers, but the reality is – we each build our portfolio of skills. In this episode, I help you think of your skills in terms of a portfolio and to become more strategic about how you are thinking about them and deploying them. I’m going to give you a very concrete tool for thinking through your portfolio in a way that helps you decide what skills you should invest time in.

Our objective on People Move Organizations is to make you successful in your career whatever your definition of success looks like. One of the things that will make you stand out from your peers is your ability to improve your customer’s experience with your company. Even if you are in a role where you don’t interact with your customer directly, you should always have customer experience in the back of your mind. If you’d like to get a basic introduction to the concept of customer experience, check out episode 19. You may have heard of the problem solving technique of asking Why 5 times. This technique helps you dig deeper into a problem by ensuring that you don’t accept the first answer to a problem. The idea is that if you keep asking why five times, you’ll dig deep enough to really understand the root cause of an issue. I took that basic concept and adjusted it to address the idea of customer experience. I was looking for a way to help all employees within a company keep customer experience in the back of their mind as they contemplated a change to their process. I originally posted this framework as a blog post on LinkedIn in 2016. I call the framework the 5 How’s. There are 5 How Questions that you should always consider if you are going to implement a change to your process. Alternatively, if you have a process that you suspect could be improved, you could use these 5 questions to help you assess if a change is needed.

One of my favorite tools is the RACI matrix. Although this is commonly considered a project management tool, it has applications to all business processes. This week, I talk you through the way to use a RACI matrix and why it is beneficial for you.

Having clarity of your personal purpose is a foundation to having strong self-awareness. Being clear about who you are and who you aren’t gives you the confidence you need to make hard decisions. But, unfortunately we are not all very clear about our purpose. I also believe that your purpose changes over time. When you are early in your career, you are focused on establishing your career. As you start a family, your focus shifts, and as you near retirement, your focus shifts again. So, it isn’t necessarily a one-and-done situation. If you haven’t thought through your purpose recently, it may be time to take another look at it. In this week's episode, I share a recent decision I made wit confidence because I was clear about my personal purpose.