Win At Work

Many things are best done one at a time, including applying for jobs. High performance career coach Eric Woodard explains why.

Do you feel like you need to explain yourself more than might really need to? High performance career coach Eric Woodard explain how sometimes, you don't really need to explain so much (even if it feels like you do).

High performance career coach Eric Woodard explains why you should NEVER work on your birthday.

High Performance Career Coach Eric Woodard offers 7 tricks to help you do the thing you need to do when you just don't feel like doing that thing.

Sherpas respect the mountain; in your life and work, maybe you should too!

High performance executive career coach Eric Woodard explains why, “these challenging times may be a time to challenge yourself even more.”

Being the DUMBEST person in the room is often a great strategy for winning at work. High performance executive career coach and mentor Eric Woodard explains how.

In this episode executive career coach and mentor Eric Woodard discusses the resistance that we all sometimes build up in our minds. Stretching is important because it helps break up scar tissue and restrictions that keep one from moving with as much flexibility as they might. There are all sorts of devices one can get to help with physical flexibility However, mental flexibility is just as important; the devices one can use to break through mental restrictions are out there, but a little less evident. Being mindful about and knowing how to break through mental restrictions can really give you an edge towards winning at work.

Executive career coach and mentor Eric Woodard explains why you may not want to apologize for your life at work, especially in the Age of COVID!

There may have been a time when it was quaint or contrarian cool to claim ineptitude with technology, but no longer. The COVID-19 crisis offers a great opportunity for you to get GREAT at using technology for your work and your life.

The world's response to the challenge of COVID-19 represents a huge disruption to so many lives and careers. Three ideas that might serve during this time are: 1) Look Up From Your Career 2) Are You Serving the World? 3) Think About Other Stuff More

Some of the coolest movies are ones that depict characters traveling in time to meet their past or future selves, or manipulating history by changing one detail. If you could go back in time and talk to you past self, what career or life advice would you give yourself?! Of course, there is no really good way to speak to our past selves. However, there is a good chance that – along the space/time continuum – your future self would LOVE to talk to you right now. Any idea what they might want to say to you? Unless you happen to have a really awesome crystal ball handy, it’s difficult to say exactly what the future will hold for you over the next 10 years. However, nobody knows you better than you – and even though some of the details must be unknown, nobody has a better sense of what your 10-years from now self might have encountered or might want you to focus on now. Here’s the question: your 10-year older self is talking to you right now, but are you listening? We do favors for our future selves all the time. We brush our teeth, we pack a lunch, we pay our bills….what favor is your 10-year older self hoping you’ll do for them now?

The tradition of linking resolutions to set periods in the calendar goes back to ancient times. The ancient Babylonians were among the first to make promises about the upcoming year during their 12-day festival of Akitu. Julius Caesar helped kick of traditions of new year resolutions in ancient Rome when he decreed that the year would start in January, a month named after the two faced god Janus. Later, John Wesley helped start traditions involving church serves convened on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day where congregants would think about ways to improve themselves and their communities in the coming year. December of 2019 not only marks the last month of this year, but it also marks the last month of this decade! It may be worth considering how one doesn’t even need to wait till the end of the year to make a resolution, but that resolutions can be linked to any amount of time on the calendar. One could make a new week resolution, a new month resolution, the familiar new year resolution, or event a new decade resolution. As Bill Gates noted, people often overestimate what they can get done in a year, but underestimate what they can get done in 10 years. With a new decade on the horizon, this may an opportunity to do some thinking about the work you want to do in the coming 10 years, and how you will make an impact on the world through the work you’ll be doing!

Have you been improper in your work? I sure hope so because being proper kind of sucks. Women, minorities, people of certain religions, gay people, people of certain gender identities, laws regulating things like worker safety, the presence of child laborers, people being paid what they were promised were, at one time were (and in some places still are) considered improper for the workplace. But what is really improper are rules or situations in the workplace that prevent people from expressing who they are. So often, claims about improperness are just excuses to express people being their authentic selves. Ironically, sometimes, claims about improperness are the most improper things themselves. If and when you hear claims about something being “proper,” be a champion and consider who is really being improper, the one being accused or the one making the claim. It could be either, but if it’s the later, speak up and stand up for what you think is right.

Feedback about your work is helpful…sometimes. Sometimes at work people make the mistake of assigning importance to all feedback equally, although this might not be the greatest idea. Some feedback, and some criticism of your work, may be more useful than others. A lot of it may not be useful at all. For example, in 1958 high school student Robert Heft of Lancaster, OH submitted his design for a 50-star American flag to his history teacher for a class project. Robert had heard that Alaska was on the verge of being admitted to the Union, and would be followed closely by Hawaii, such that the then current 48-star flag would need to be updated. However, when Robert submitted his assignment, his teacher thought the work was bad and gave him a grade of a B-. At the time Robert felt like his work deserved a better grade, and his teacher’s criticism of his work was, well, bullshit. So over the next two years he called and wrote different parts of the government until, in 1960, Robert Heft received a call from President Eisenhower inviting him to attend the first raising of the new American flag – based on Robert’s design – over the U.S. Capitol. Afterward, Robert went back to his teacher who admitted that they had been mistaken, and revised Robert’s grade to an A.   The work you do and the impact you have represents the legacy of your life on this earth. If and when you do work that you think is good, that you believe in, that you’re proud of – don’t ever, ever, ever let naysayers dissuade you from what you’ve set out to do. Such naysayers may bring criticism for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with you. Critics may attack your work because they’re jealous, or ignorant, or fearful…or they could just be plain mean. Moreover, it’s sometimes that case that when critics come after your work, that the work you’ve done isn’t meant for those critics. Especially when you receive unsolicited feedback from people your work isn’t even for, you should give yourself lots of license to ignore them. The work you do is your art. Often the best art, and I would argue – work, has lots of critics. In turn, the best artists continue with their work in spite of those critics, or even because of those critics. Let criticism of your work fuel your motivation to keep doing it! When you do work that matters, that you know will have a positive impact on the world – stay the course. Because, if you do, it will help you win at work.  https://www.eric-woodard.com/

The idea that you are too old or too young for a great career is horseshit.

When your back is against the wall and your up against a project or deadline that is a must do, the necessity of the situation can sometimes give you superpowers.

High performance career coach Eric Woodard offers a trick to get through career rough waters. If you're struggling with a job search or career, the most important thing is: don't lose hope; don't give up. Many have faced challenges in their lives, especially with career stuff - through history people have offered advice about how to deal with it. Sailors used to focus on the phrase, "hold fast" to get through rough times; you can too.

In this episode, career coach Eric Woodard talks about the importance of maintaining composure during a job search. Even with the right strategies, finding a job can be HARD During a job hunt, it's vital to MAINTAIN COMPOSURE If you don't, potential employers will sense that you're rattled, and your job hunt may become a downward vicious cycle. Remember - when things seem super hard, take that as a sign that you are getting closer and closer to a great opportunity.

Career coach Eric Woodard describes what it means to "Show Them What You Can Do."

"Get Yourself Out There!" What does that even mean?! In this post I offer a little bit more about what getting yourself out there means, and why it is important. Specifically, I explain: Why authenticity is your super power How you shouldn't worry so much about what people think How "There" = the arena, the place you can make an impact Why it's so important to not spend time in places where there is little chance of making an impact This is the first post of a two post series. In the next post I will offer more about what "Show Them What You Can Do" means to me.

In this episode career coach Eric Woodard offers some of his story and explains why career stuff matters so much to him.