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Entries Tagged as 'Professional Advice'
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Posted February 9th, 2010 By Kimling | 2 Comments |
Former TV news reporter who made the jump to Corporate Communications at Meltwater.
Location: San Francisco CA
Education:
BA Philosophy, Wellesley College 2004
MS Broadcast Journalism, Boston University 2005
Fanatical about: Yoga, food, road cycling, great video production and swimming
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Performance reviews can be tough. Myself, my friends and my colleagues often experience anxiety prior to going into quarterly or annual reviews. So when I came across a blog post titled “How to Sail Through Your Performance Review,” I just had to share some of the advice here:
- Know what you’ve done well. Before you go into your review, make sure you know your strengths, accomplishments and be ready to articulate them. I have outlined all my goals and objectives for the next six months and keep a running tally of my accomplishments. Additionally, it’s a good idea to make a list of any additional things you’ve accomplished if you go above and beyond.
- Acknowledge your areas of weakness. Excuses don’t fly, especially if your weaknesses are obvious. Take constructive criticism like a champ– with maturity and humility.
- Commit yourself to improving or fixing the problem. It’s not enough to sit there and acknowledge your weaknesses. You have to demonstrate a “meaningful understanding of what went wrong.” Actions speak louder than words; show what you’re doing, or planning to do, to improve.
I am definitely going to be following these three steps for my next review and think it will alleviate the anxiety going in. If you have any additional tips, please feel free to share in the comments.
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Category: Professional Advice
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Posted January 26th, 2010 By Guest Blogger | 8 Comments |
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As a kid I used to play a game with my sisters we called the “Trust Game”. It was a simple game with a deeper lesson than I realized back then. My oldest sister, Stephanie, would stand behind me, I would close my eyes and fall backwards, allowing her to (and hoping she would) catch me. In the few seconds before I felt her arms catching me, a rush of doubt and fear flooded my mind. However, once I felt her arms and knew I was saved from falling to the ground, comfort and joy overwhelmed me. It was the fear and doubt that, once overcome, produced satisfaction and security.
I had no idea as a little kid with grass-stained jeans and buzz-cut hair that I was actually learning one of the key qualities of successful sales people; the value of trust. In those moments when I was falling to the ground I would go through what many prospects go through during the sales cycle. There are so many fears and doubts that enter the mind when evaluating a particular product or service, and that can be overwhelming. The key to settling those fears and making your prospective client feel safe is building trust. I wish the lesson learned as a kid about trust had stuck with me a bit more, because I forgot about the value of trust when I got older. In my first sales role at a previous company, I was mistakenly under the impression that in order…
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Category: Professional Advice
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Posted January 5th, 2010 By NickyD | No Comments |
With Meltwater since June 2006, took a world tour with Meltwater News through Silicon Valley, Philadelphia, New York, Buenos Aires, most recently landing in SF to help build the MW Communications effort.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Education: BA Political Economies of Industrial Societies, UC Berkeley 2006
Fanatical about: Cycling, running, Danish Modern, art collecting, music mixes, Bourbon
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If you are a young professional, I can’t advocate seeking out a mentor enough. A mentor is by definition more senior than you and has had greater professional experience, but most importantly, a mentor is your source for inspiration and long-term development. A mentor is invaluable for bouncing ideas off of and learning from.
To make the most of your mentor-mentee relationship, remember that it’s your responsibility to make your mentor’s investment in you a valuable use of his/her time. It’s not all take, take, take.
I came across some helpful advice on how to maximize the relationship with your mentor, and thought I’d recap it for you here:
- Be thoughtful about your mentor’s interests. Be on the lookout for any articles or books that may interest your mentor and make sure to pass them on. It’s a two-way relationship where you can mobilize around shared interests, and grow via knowledge sharing.
- Give deeper insight into the company. You are more junior than your mentor, and you can be helpful eyes & ears into micro-currents that they might not be aware of. Your mentor can benefit from your insights into layers within the company and, in turn, have better insight for their own decision-making.
- Pick up the check. Once in a while, show your appreciation by paying the check at your mentor’s favorite lunch spot, especially if you’ve spent the whole lunch benefitting from your mentor’s advice.
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Category: Professional Advice
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Posted December 22nd, 2009 By Guest Blogger | No Comments |
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My brother and his girlfriend recently started taking their new dog to puppy school. They learned that the most effective way to train a puppy is to reward desired behavior, not disciplining bad behavior. Receiving no positive reinforcement for bad behavior, the dog is not really interested in being naughty. Anxious for praise and other small snack rewards has him on track to becoming a star pup.
When I heard this story I thought about the parallels to management. The times I’ve performed at my best have been when my manager has given me trust and plenty of positive reinforcement.
I received this right from the start at Meltwater. Having been vetted through the recruitment process where all my strengths and weaknesses were exposed and discussed, the people who recruited me made me feel accomplished even before I had proven myself in sales. From that trust and positivity grew an excitement for the job and a loyalty to the management team that undoubtedly contributed greatly to my early success as a Sales Consultant. Hearing that I was good made me believe I was good, and it inspired me to do more good things.
I’ve now had the opportunity to manage on a few different levels, and I see how the same holds true for the people I lead. When my approach is to give praise and offer support, I breed inspiration, results, and loyalty to myself and the company. When I point fingers and show doubt in my colleagues, I am met with…
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Category: Professional Advice
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Posted December 17th, 2009 By Kimling | No Comments |
Former TV news reporter who made the jump to Corporate Communications at Meltwater.
Location: San Francisco CA
Education:
BA Philosophy, Wellesley College 2004
MS Broadcast Journalism, Boston University 2005
Fanatical about: Yoga, food, road cycling, great video production and swimming
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I work in a high-energy team that is constantly seeking to cross action items off the collective to-do list. However, not everything runs efficiently. Let’s face it: no matter how effective your team is, there are certain activities that are just inefficient and drag down your highly-productive day –– I’m talking about meetings (wah waaah).
In a recent blog post, my colleague introduced some “novel” meeting ideas like keeping everyone standing and scheduling (not to mention sticking to) 30-minute meetings.
My team has a tendency to book one-hour meetings that somehow inevitably go into triple overtime. And I will confess right here on this blog: I get bored…FAST. (Don’t take it personally, Team)
So I came across a piece of advice recently that I think is realistic to stick to, even if you are in lengthy meetings:
Meetings, like Action Items, should have specific, actionable goals: Rather than “Discuss Project A,” think of more focused goals, such as, “Determine budget and workflow for Project A.”
From now on, when I create a meeting agenda or receive a meeting agenda, I’m going to seek a resolution or course of action for each action item. Hopefully, I won’t have to feign amusement ever again.
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Category: Professional Advice
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