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FranklinCovey Blog | Stephen R Covey
Great Work, Great Career Q&A – part 1
Q: We had a lot of questions on the Great Work, Great Career webcast about having a personal brand. Some asked for more information. Others wanted to know how the idea of branding yourself works in our interdependent reality and how it aligns with collaboration and teamwork.
A: A “brand” is being known for something. You might be known in your organization or to a small group in your industry, or more broadly, to the websphere. As you know from a product focus, the most important thing to strive for in a product brand is trust in the brand. I believe the same is true for personal brand. There are many reasons this concept of personal branding has grown in importance. In the knowledge age, I can’t rely on your job title to tell me what problems you can solve, you have to tell me or build a reputation (brand). In order to gain any mindshare, you must be able to succinctly represent yourself because the rate of information has accelerated. Also, while face-to-face networking will never go away, I would suggest social networking gains in importance every year and without the nonverbal cues from face-to-face, who you are needs to be very clear on the web or your network will get confused.
Of course, individual brand is an independent concept. It is what “I” am known for. And I am suggested that your brand is in NO WAY a manipulative spin on who you are. It is, instead, communicating who you are. It does no good to your career if you have deep technical skills and have led projects resulting in cost savings and increases in employee loyalty if no one knows about it. In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Covey explains how interdependence is a choice only independent people can make. This is really important: Only by knowing myself—my talents, passions, and vision—and by taking responsibility for my choices regardless of the difficulty of the situation—only then am I capable of building win-win relationships and collaborating to resolve difficult challenges. The confidence in self, my deeply rooted worth, allows me to be open and curious on the surface of my life. I don’t have to be right all the time because my self-worth isn’t tied to being right or “winning.” I’m much more curious, knowing that I don’t know everything about anything.
If you get stuck in independence and don’t progress to interdependence, you might be effective in building a career, but you won’t be highly effective.
How do you use social networking to grow your personal brand?
What steps have you take to progress to interdependence?
We would love to hear from you.
Author: Jennifer Colosimo, Chief Learning Officer at FranklinCovey
Great Work Great Career – Complimentary Webcast
When we say that a person has had a great career, what do we mean? That he or she made a lot of money? Moved spectacularly up the corporate ladder? Became famous or renowned in their profession?
And what about you? Are you looking forward to a great career? Would you describe your current career as “great”?
How do you create a great career for yourself? Can you have a great career and still have a great life at the same time, keeping the things you love – family, friends, work, and play – all in balance?
The answer is, “It depends.” It depends on how you want to contribute and how you define balance.
Based on content featured in the soon to be released book Great Work, Great Career, by Dr. Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo, in this webcast Jennifer will share critical, insightful principles and practices to help you discover your great career by discovering what your contribution will be and how you will make it.
Specifically in this free webcast you will learn:
- How to begin identify your strengths, as summed up by your talents, passion, and conscience.
- Tips on how to craft a Contribution Statement.
- How to use your resourcefulness and initiative to get the job you want and overcome obstacles to making your contribution.
- How to create a network of supporters, both co-workers and clients—who can help you achieve your career goals.
When: Friday, November 20, 2009
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. CT/11:00 a.m. MT/10:00 a.m. PT
Cost: Complimentary
Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/198135273
Source Code: GCCB
Please join us, we would love to have you attend.
Empathic Listening Tips
Being understood by others is the greatest need of all. – Stephen R. Covey
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey describes Empathic Listening as reflecting what a person feels and says in your own words to their satisfaction so they feel listened to and understood. Empathic Listening is not listening to advise, counsel, replay, refute, solve, fix, change, judge, agree, disagree, question, analyze, or figure out. Whether you are familiar with The 7 Habits and are looking for a refresher or new to them all together, here are a few tips to remember when using Empathic Listening.
It is best to use Empathic listening when:
- Emotion if high.
- The other person does not feel understood.
- You do not understand the other person.
- Trust is low in the relationship.
Here are a few Empathic Listening starters, these should help you get started using Empathic Listening.
- So, if I am understanding you correctly you are saying…
- What I’m hearing is…
- You seem…
- You must have felt…
- You feel…about…
What tips have you learned as you have used Empathic Listening in your life at home or at work? We would love to hear from you.
Q&A with Stephen R. Covey
Q: With every working generation, there are changes in what is motivational (e.g., Boomers vs. Gen Xers). As the mix of the generations (and cultures) continues to increase, and new cohorts enter the workforce, what approaches can we use to take advantage of this diversity to build organizational performance?
A: Synergy is celebrating diversity. So, involve people in the question you are asking and let them come up with their recommendations. Initially, start with small groups of three or four people so they are authentic and genuine in their communication and not “politically correct.” Then, let each small group share analyses and recommendations and begin to synergize at a higher level the question you are asking.
The key to this generational question is to be synergistically resolved through deep cooperation and authentic communication. Employ a great deal of empathic listening and restating another person’s point until that person feels understood. This takes a different mind-set and skill set.
How do you use diversity (the mix of generations, cultures etc…) to build organizational performance? I would love to hear from you.
This question and answer with Dr. Covey was featured in the January 2009 issue of Training Magazine.
Join Stephen R. Covey’s free social learning community at www.stephencovey.com
What is a great career?
When we say that a person has had a great career, what do we mean? That he or she made a lot of money? Moved spectacularly up the corporate ladder? Became famous or renowned in their profession? And what about you? Are you looking forward to a great career? Would you describe your current career as “great”? When you get to the end of your productive life, will you be looking back on a mediocre career? A good career? Or a great career? And how will you know?
HOW do you create a great career for yourself? Can you have a great career and still have a great life at the same time, keeping the things you love – family, friends, work, and play – all in balance?
The answer is YES – look forward to Stephen R. Covey’s new book Great Work Great Career scheduled for release on November 15, 2009. More info coming soon.
Creating a Win-Win With Your Child
As a husband, father, grandfather and most recently a great-grandfather, I am thrilled with my growing family. They are my greatest blessing and my greatest joy.
Even still I’ve wondered over the years what mistakes I have made as a father. Of course, there are mistakes along the way. Looking back I think one of the things I would have done differently as a parent is spending more time developing informal win-win agreements with each of my children. Doing this consistently and over time, covering the different phases of their lives would have been beneficial.
Because I traveled a lot, I felt that I often indulged them and went for lose-win too often. Instead I would have liked to pay the price to take the time to build relationships through win-win agreements.
You may ask, what is a win-win agreement? › Continue reading
Do more of what matters.
Last week in our webcast, The 4 Key Principles for Getting Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times, we had several questions submitted that we didn’t have time to answer. We thought we would take the next few posts and answer some of them here. One of our participants, a hospital administrator, asked, “How do you keep employee morale up when you’re asking them to do more with less?”
The answer: Don’t ask them to do more with less.
Instead, ask them to do less of what doesn’t matter and more of what does matter.
Morale has little to do with how hard people work or how tough the job is. People will do extraordinary things and work incredibly hard if they feel their contribution matters. › Continue reading
Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times
If there’s one thing that’s certain in the business world, it’s uncertainty.
Who would have thought a couple of years ago that giant corporations would be toppling overnight? That gas prices would rise sky high and then collapse again within a few days? That the economic boom would implode into the worst recession in 50 years?
But even in unpredictable times like these, some companies still perform with excellence. How do they do it? What principles do they follow? This blog is a place where we will discuss exactly that. It is a place where we can share insights and successes.
The book Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times, a new book by Stephen R. Covey and Bob Whitman, chairman of FranklinCovey, captures four key principles for getting great performance in good times and bad.
First, winning companies slim down to a few key simple goals with clear targets and careful follow-through. Everybody in the firm knows the goals and what to do about them. › Continue reading
Landing a New Job in a Tough Economy
In these unpredictable times it is likely that you or someone you know is looking for a job. I have had several people approach me for advice and insight on matters concerning professional development, whether looking for a new position or looking to advance in their current role. I have seen the tremendous need for direction and guidance on this topic. As a result, this August I will be hosting a professional development webinar series. The topics I will cover are Employability, Resilience, and Contribution. But until then I would like to share a couple thoughts to help you or someone else find new work.
Times have changed. One of the things I often tell people is that you can’t do a job-search the way you used to. Most people have relied heavily on a job application form and a resume. Typically, that just doesn’t work anymore, although those are useful things and most times necessary. In today’s world you have to adopt a new mindset for finding and securing a job-and not just a job but work that you would find meaningful. › Continue reading
Managing Fear and Insecurity
Much of our world is gripped with a sense of fear and insecurity–fear of losing jobs, homes, or our future. In such a state of insecurity and vulnerability, it is easy to see why people might resign to being in survival mode and looking out only for themselves, at home, at work or in the community. In this environment people tend to respond by being more and more independent. The mindset becomes: “I’m going to focus on ‘me and mine.’
Certainly, independence is vital; however, the problem is that we live in an interdependent reality. Our most important work, the problems we hope to solve or the opportunities we hope to realize require working and collaborating with other people in a high-trust, synergistic way-whether at home or at work. Having an interdependent mindset, skills and tools are vital, especially now as we work through challenges unlike anything most of us have ever seen in our life time.
The principles found in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are all about helping people learn how to understand and build interdependence. The more we really understand and practice the habits, the more we will build the core skills and character necessary to successfully respond to the many challenges that will inevitably come our way. As a result, we will be able to manage our fears and insecurities, and take charge of our lives-which, in turn, can reduce our fears and insecurities.
Are you focusing on practicing interdependence? What differences have you seen in your life?
Join my free social learning community at www.stephencovey.com
Author: Stephen R. Covey