Four Quick Tips to Building Self-Confidence

Lack of confidence got you down?

Have you ever said the wrong thing in a meeting? Or got passed over for a promotion? Did you make a team decision that resulted in less than glowing results?

These are not uncommon situations and while they may seem like “no big deal”, they can have a big impact on your self-confidence. A recent study by renowned Psychologist Tomas Chammor-Premuzic, found that one’s self confidence has a bigger impact on success than IQ level. He further discusses the importance of following your instincts and how your confidence level is directly connected to how well you are in tune with your intuition.

In business, it is easy to see why having healthy self-confidence is a necessity.  More importantly, learning how to rebuild your confidence after it has been tested can have an even more profound effect on one’s success.

Here are my quick tips for rebuilding your confidence:

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Essential Skills Every Manager Should Know!

Can you guess which four skills every manager should have?

With a more diverse, cross-industry workforce these days; it is helpful to lend some clarity to the core competencies of a successful manager. Throughout my years of management coaching, I have learned that there are certain skills imperative to successful management which span across all industries and skill levels. There are the major skills, such as leadership and communication, and there are secondary skills that may be overlooked; but are just as important in making the difference for all managers.

Here are 4 essential management skills:

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How to Start Making Changes

Make change happen in your life now!

The upcoming November election has caused me to think about all the different changes that will happen within the next couple of months. The biggest change will be electing a new president, we will also experience a shift in seasons, the potential increase in interest rates, and new laws coming into effect in the New Year.

With this much upcoming change, it is important to take the time and reflect on your life to see what changes you would like to make. Too often do you hear someone say “I wish I could change this!” I especially hear this when on the topic of work. Instead of sitting around and wishing you could change something, here are a few of my most trusted tips on how to actually implement change in your life:

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What is Decision Fatigue and how can you avoid it?

Are you experiencing decision fatigue?

You may have heard about prominent industry leaders and even our Commander in Chief’s seemingly bizarre behavior: President Obama wearing the same suit every day, Steve Jobs always wearing a black turtleneck and jeans, or Mark Zuckerberg wearing the same gray hoodie and jeans 5 days a week. Why do these strong, innovative, and accomplished leaders do this?

The answer is decision fatigue.

If you have not heard about decision fatigue before, it is the idea that constantly making decisions, small or big, can leave one weary. Whether it is deciding which brand of Greek yogurt to buy at the store or which insurance plan best fits your lifestyle and budget, can take the same amount of energy and your decision is mostly affected by how tired your brain is. Making too many decisions in the morning can lead to decision fatigue by the end of the day. Being in a powerful position of high responsibility where one is in regularly in charge of making decisions will lead to burn out. Eliminating as many small decisions possible, such as what to wear each day, will cut down on stress and ultimately fatigue.

Most people don’t notice the signs of decision fatigue. In an article published by the New York Times, they conclude that the more choices you make throughout the day, the more your brain looks for shortcuts. The brain copes with this in two ways; one is by becoming reckless and acting impulsively, the other is by to going into an energy saving mode and shutting down, where no decisions are made. I know I have personally felt this way so I looked to some experts on advice of how to combat this issue.

To quote President Obama, “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.”
So how can you implement structure in your life so you can save the most amount of energy for the tasks that really matter?

Here are my best tips to beat decision fatigue:

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Candidates Still Prefer Personal Touch

The majority of candidates still highly prefer this one thing!

As much as I believe in the benefits of investing in new technology, it can never replace the enduring benefit of personal face-to-face interactions.

More and more candidates have been leaving feedback on the enjoyment of working with me and the personal touches in my business. Instead of an automated phone system, you can always speak with a live person, even after hours. I personally meet with each candidate to ensure that their skills and personality are a great fit for a position. But most importantly, I truly foster a relationship with each candidate; through the inception of our job search process to months into their new job to ensure long-term happiness and success in their position.

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How to Write Great Job Descriptions

Get Top Candidates to say YES to your Job!

Today I am focusing on one of the fundamental tools of recruiting top talent – job descriptions. I realize that many companies think of a job description as just another function of the recruiting process, but in reality, a job description is the recruiting world’s best advertising tool.

The main reason we use job descriptions is to advertise on sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, Craigslist, Monster, Hired, Glassdoor, etc. Remember, if you want to hire the best, you need to put forth your best effort in writing a compelling job description.

Ready for top candidates to respond to your next job posting?
Here are my 7 favorite tips on writing captivating and successful job descriptions:

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The Power of “Thank You”

Your parents were totally right about this…

Thank you. Two of the most powerful words in the English dictionary and a manager’s toolbox.

While this may seem like a very simple topic, it is one that is easily forgotten. When I talk with managers about the most common ways to keep their employees happy, generally the answers include some sort of monetary compensation. If not a bonus, other top answers include perks such as paid personal time off, a Friday half day, taking the team to lunch or hosting an office pizza party.

While all these answers are great, it shocked me that no one thought of actually saying “Thank you!”

When done right, these words have the power to shift perspectives, invigorate a team, and most importantly, build loyalty and trust with your employees. A paper published by UC Berkeley sates “67% of employees are motivated by praise from a manager.”

Here are three ways to say thank you today:

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How to Maintain Control of Your Meetings

Make sure you do this in every meeting!

Often described as “soul-sucking,” “the biggest dread in the day,” and “a waste of time,” meetings continue to be a much-dreaded business norm. But the reality is, we do actually need to conduct face-to-face meetings for a myriad of reasons. From client to board meetings, there are certain tips you can learn to upgrade your experience and get the most out of your time. Where is the most important place to start? With you!

Here are my top tips on how to have the best meeting ever
(and exactly what to avoid!)

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Human Resources – Going Paperless

Are you ready to “Get with the times” and go digital? Don’t fall behind on this game-changing HR trend!

I am getting more and more requests for HR assistants and HR professionals to assist companies going paperless. It is important to stay current on these kinds of trends and to utilize only the ones that will benefit you and your company the most. While going paperless may seem like an easy task, there are some pros and cons as well as basic steps to take. Globally, about 24% of organizations are in the process of going paperless.

To keep you up-to-date on this compelling trend, here is my quick guide to paperless HR:

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Politics in the Workplace

What you should stop saying at work….

Normally when we think of office politics, we think of work gossip, eager employees trying to move up the ladder, and knowing whom to approach when you need an extra budget for your project. Lately it seems as though office politics seem to have been set completely aside and real politics have taken its place. With the RNC and DNC just behind us, we are inching closer to Election Day, and opinions about the Presidential candidates seem to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

The old rule of not discussing politics, religion or money seems to have taken a back seat to the now daily conversations around candidate and supporter speeches, political stances, twitter remarks, and the like. In our daily lives, we may be able to walk away from a conversation or unfriend someone who has an opposing view on Facebook; but this task becomes quite complicated when it comes to co-workers, clients, and business colleagues.

On July 19^th, SHRM published an article that states “26% of people surveyed note greater political volatility in the workplace than in previous years.”  Although this is not the majority, it is still a lofty amount and the key contributing factor to the increased vocals of employees on their political views. Not many businesses have company guidelines that include the discussion of politics, and that may be because “it is illegal to ban political conversations in the workplace but also impossible to enforce” according to another SHRM article. With that in mind, I decided to share my most trusted tips for dealing with politics in a work environment.

Here are my top tips for handling politics at work:

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