Why Lunches Are Good For Your Career.

Today's Thursday!Rush to work — get in — check your email — check your voicemail — and run off to your status meetings.

WORK. WORK. WORK. WORK. WORK.

Next thing you know, it's 6 PM and you're wondering where the day went.

I want you to make a change today. Take just one of the 10-12 hours spent at work and GO TO LUNCH.

Not at your desk. Not in your cafeteria. Not with anyone you currently work with.

Have lunch with someone new. Someone that energizes you. Someone that will get you to think out of the box. Someone that might get you to consider making a bold career move.

WHY? Because it's good for your CAREER. Meeting new and interesting people: Gets your mental energy moving. Grows your professional network. Allows you to search for future talent (so you don't have to work with those pesky people in HR). Allows potential management to look at you as possible future talent (that's always good to have under your belt).

And frankly, your work won't suffer one iota.

You need to do this more often. Why not the present?

Call that one person right now and make that lunch date. Do it. You'll thank me.

3 Tips When Everything Is Failing All Around You.

"Sometimes the hurricane knocks down the biggest trees, to only allow the saplings to thrive." Is this happening in the marketplace today? 

Are many of our cherished institutions failing and falling by the wayside? What saplings are beginning to grow out from under the devastation?

First, let's discuss the biggest trees in the marketplace — let's look at a basic company directory:

• Management/Admin - shrinking, less middle management, no admin
• Financial - in a tizzy, most are looking for 'inventive' ways to save
• Human Resources - outsourced areas, shrinking training, little hiring
• Operations - outsourced overseas, replaced by tech, do more with less
• Marketing - outsourced, social media typhoon, failing media institutions
• IT - enterprise to cloud, sexy area to basic plumbing transition, changes instantly
• Sales & Customer Service - most valuable of the bunch, yet do more with less

If you work in any of these areas, you've probably seen some of these things occurring (and some others).

But change is a constant. As I tell all my clients:, "Don't try to desperately hang on to what you're losing, anticipate the future based on what's happening now, and move towards it with your eyes wide open."

First — what can you currently do to stay alive and relevant in your department? You know what areas are growing and conversely, what areas are shrinking (or going away). Don't put your head in the sand — you need to take action TODAY.

Ask for more responsibility. Check out what the 'hot' projects are. Who are the stars? Begin to push yourself and challenge the internal status quo.

If you were unemployed and wanted a job in retail, I wouldn't point you towards Blockbuster, I would direct you to the Apple Store.

Second — start thinking strategically. Where is your area of expertise going? You don't want to be a slide-rule salesperson in a world of calculators. Start taking steps now to make what you have to offer powerful, relevant, and in-demand for the next 5-10-15 years.

Third — embrace change and stay flexible. Don't fight the rising tide. Don't watch the trees fall all around you and expect your tree to survive. Where are the saplings? If you don't make the jump now, you might not have the timing, resources and opportunity to make the jump when needed.

It all starts with a simple, clear plan coupled with ACTION. Start today.

What first step do you need to take to begin this process?

Want Success? Be A Giraffe.

Most executives and business owners tend to keep to themselves. Of course they go to meetings. They interact with their clients. They even give a presentation or two. But they feel they're work or product will ultimately deliver the success, money and notoriety normally associated to hard workers.

Well — each of these is not enough. You need to be a giraffe.

You need to stand out from the crowd. Be noticed. Have your work seen by the right people at the right time. Stick your head into the trees and grab those tasty leaves.

You need to MARKET yourself. Now how do you do it Rich?

Here are some tips:

Think strategically and broadcast your ideas. Stop messing with all the tactical stuff all the time — think what is going to happen with your company, marketplace, product 6 months, 12 months, five years in the future. Brainstorm with others about what you're thinking. Put a presentation together and present it to people who matter. Get those creative juices flowing!

Stick you head above the cubicle once and awhile. Look around — what's happening in your office, in your neighborhood, your marketplace, the world? If you worked for bookstores, record shops, newspapers . . . you should have seen this coming YEARS ago. But most people stick their heads in the sand. Start using your peripherals — who's moving up, who's going out of business, who's getting fired, who's making the big bucks?

Go where the important people go. This is a big one — mingle with the big boys and girls. If you are an executive, have lunch with them — see how they think, tell them your ideas, mingle! If you own your own business — stop trying to go through intermediaries to get your next client or customer. Go where they go and mingle with them! If you are targeting high-income earners — hit charities, country clubs, salons, gyms — anywhere they might be.

You need to get off the ground and start sticking your head into the clouds. Start thinking and acting that way!

What do you do to be a giraffe? How has it been successful to you?

This has been another installment in my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?” — today’s focus is how stand above the crowd.

1Q11 - What Have You Done So Far?

It's the end of the first quarter of 2011. Three months, 90 days . . . what have you accomplished? This is a great time to look back and review what you did — what went right and what went wrong. Time to measure, monitor and regroup for the next 90 days. Ask yourself:

• What was the biggest thing you accomplished?
• What made the biggest impact?
• Who did I meet and how did they change my business?
• How many clients did you close? Did you lose any? Fire any?
• How much money did you bring in?
• What did you learn?
• Where do you go next?
• Why did I do those stupid things? (my favorite)

I love the end of quarters — it allows me to hone in on what I accomplished, where I dropped the ball, and what I have to do next to accelerate the whole bailiwick.

If you don't do it, someone else will.

How do you monitor and measure yourself?