Tag Archive for: career advice

4 Questions to Ask Yourself Regarding Your Job

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Image via Shutterstock

For many women in senior management positions the workload becomes stable and the opportunities for new and original work start to show up less often.

Here are some questions that you may ask yourself to know if now is the time to ask for more from your job, and what direction you can choose with more awareness.

1. What will my life be like in 5 years if I keep this job?

Often women in senior positions have made it to the glass ceiling of their profession. Is that you? If you were promoted, what is the level of responsibility and what are the daily tasks of this new position? Is this something that you are willing to take on? Is the level of salary increase over the next 5 years in this position something that you are excited about receiving or is it lacklustre? According to 2018 data by SHRM, most executive positions only expected a 3% salary increase, and no one knows what the 2019 forecast. Is working in this job creating difficulties in any other area of your life? Personally? Physically? Relationships? Health? Mental Health? Note down what impressions that you have about keeping this job in all of these factors.

2. What will my life be like in 5 years if I don’t keep this job?

What if you could decide for yourself what your life will be like if you don’t keep this current job? What are the other opportunities for employment? What marketplace demand is there for your skills and what salaries are being offered to seasoned entrants? What is your value proposition as a candidate, how will you shine? Could you choose to take time off right now and develop your own consulting business and become profitable competition for your previous job?

3. What do I love about this job?

Challenge yourself to write 25 things that you actually love about the job that you are in. A long time ago I heard the 80/20 rule applied to work. If 80% of your job is taken up with things that you enjoy and feel masterful about and only 20% of your job is not, then you are in a sustainable career for you. If it is the opposite, it may be time to consider a change. What else is possible for you to love about this job that isn’t obvious at the moment? Sometimes we get bogged down and don’t actually ask for the job to be enjoyable.

4. Is now the time to change?

Jumping back to fantasizing about winning a lottery or having an astonishing inheritance come in so you can retire from working altogether, which of course would be wonderful, realistically is now the time to actually ask for more from your job? What are you aware of politically from the company structure? Could you be promoted? Could you ask for more responsibility and get a pay raise or more benefits that would add to your life? If quitting and opening your own firm or business is attractive, is now the time?

What if it’s possible to ignite a fire under your current job and develop it into something more profitable, something that you are excited to arrive at every morning? Asking and answering the above questions will start to point at possible changes that you can make to your job and your life, to increase the level of satisfaction and joy. Yes, it is possible to have both satisfaction and joy at work, and settling for anything less is not an option for me these days.

Guests contributors views are their own and are not affiliated with theglasshammer.com in any way

About the author

Deepa Ramaraj is a Computer Science Engineer turned Health and Wealth Educator. Deepa facilitates workshops for corporate companies to boost sales, to dissolve interpersonal or inter-departmental challenges and to transform the way business is done. These workshops are totally unconventional in approach. She also conducts workshops for individuals about how to receive more money, reduce stress, have better relationships, improve health and upskill as a parent.

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How to Work with Difficult Co-Workers

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articles
You have worked hard for your career or position and did a lot to achieve where you are at now.

You’ve seen a lot and know there is nothing you can’t handle. Then there’s that co-worker. The one “bad apple” you just can’t stand or get along with – perhaps they’re negatively impacting teams, projects or just making your work-life needlessly more challenging.

A nerve-wracking work relationship can quickly become a personal burden leading to stress, frustration and lack of motivation. It can result in a less than enjoyable work environment, and perhaps even effect the capabilities you have in your role.
You may also intentionally or unintentionally draw other colleagues into the toxic situation as you try to cope.

The good news is, it is possible to deal with even the most problematic co-workers and difficult colleagues, and it starts with following a few simple rules:

Acknowledge the situation as it is. Don’t try and pretend everything is okay when it isn’t. The first step to moving forward is seeing the situation as it is, not as you want it to be, or hope it to be. If is not working for you, acknowledge that is the case, even if only to yourself.

Recognize it’s not personal. If you have spent any time speculating that the behavior of the problematic person is personal and about you, stop it now. It’s not. They may have something else going on in their lives that you don’t know about. It may not even have anything to do with you. You may be the convenient target right now, but they are not behaving this way because of you, so there is no point in wondering what you might’ve said or did wrong to create the situation.

Don’t let it consume you or overpower you. Whenever you choose to see yourself as powerless and without choice due to what another person chooses, you make yourself a victim. You don’t have to lose happiness and fulfillment in your life because of someone else’s behavior. You are never powerless. Ask yourself, “What choices do I actually have here that I haven’t considered yet?” Also, don’t obsess and talk about it all the time to others as it makes the problem bigger. Put your mind towards choices, actions and conversations that are empowering for all.

Be grateful for that person. This may sound like an impossible request, especially if someone has been making life miserable for a while, but just try it for 20 seconds a day. What contribution are they and what can you be grateful for about them? Gratitude and anger can’t coexist – so by instilling gratitude and focusing less on the anger and upset, the tensions will tend to dissolve it and make it less significant.

Start fresh every day. Resentments build up over time because we hold onto memories of yesterday. We keep referencing them in our minds until we are already angry, frustrated and preparing for conflict or problems before then next interaction. If you give everyone a clear slate, every day (including you and your difficult colleague or co-worker), yesterday has less influence on determining the present, and you will be open to something other than conflict, fight or problems occurring. Choose to be kind even if they aren’t, choose to be happy rather than approaching that person with anger and frustration due to the past, and go into every moment with them wondering, “What could be possible here I haven’t considered?”

Always be you. Don’t turn into someone else around that person, don’t stop being you or make yourself small. The simple tool of, “Interesting point of view,” can assist. The idea is, whenever the anger, upset, reaction or judgment about that person (or about yourself in relation to that person) comes up, you say to silently to yourself, “Oh, interesting point of view, I have that point of view.” Repeat it several times and notice how the “charge” or intensity of the reaction begins to dissipate. When we do reaction or judgement, you aren’t being present as yourself. With “Interesting point of view,” you stop the reaction loop and get to be, choose, and act, as you.

In a perfect world, we would live and work by the Musketeer’s guiding principle of: “One for all and all for one,” but unfortunately, we don’t always get the colleagues who make that easily possible. Big egos, sneaky schemers, toxic gossips, lazy lopers, reckless careerists and obnoxious attitudes show up in business just as much as in life. But with these tools, you can be less at the effect of problematic people, stay true to yourself, and be the source for instigating greater outcomes for you and all involved.

Guest Contributors Views are their own and not affiliated in any way with the glasshammer.com

About Doris Schachenhofer

After completing her social work studies in Vienna, Doris Schachenhofer worked with children, homeless people, delinquent teenagers and prisoners transitioning back into the real world. Today she travels the world teaching and supporting people to be more of themselves. Her Being You classes are delivered in both live and online settings. Follow Doris here and on Instagram.

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Gender Roles in Business | Are They Still Relevant in 2018?

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Guest Contribution

In a rapidly changing world, stereotypes of gender are transforming many aspects of society and business culture.

Not only is motherhood no impediment to the degree of ambition and expectation women have in terms of achieving greater job and career responsibility, male attitudes to gender roles are shifting, with men more willing to make job changes and sacrifices to achieve better work and family life balance, and to contribute to their wives or partners career success. Many traditionally male or female dominated jobs are also seeing an increase in gender balance to varying degrees, particularly in the last 10 years.

While many are successfully shifting attitudes to gender-roles, narrow mindsets can still dominate in both overt or subtle ways, and both men and women can still feel limited in their freedom to advance in business or chose a career that may be perceived as atypical to generalized norms.

Whether you have experienced a little or a lot of discrimination for the body you were born in, you can have profound impact on the future of business by taking a leadership role in empowering yourself and others to go beyond gender-roles or any other perceived limitation.

This begins with committing to becoming limitless in your own mindset and addressing any unconscious judgements you may have in place. Adopt the following questions into your business mindset and become an invitation to function outside of confines based on gender or any other definition:

Are you willing to be a leader that empowers all people?

The key to continual progress where gender-role issues may arise is to first recognize that judgment, definition or discrimination of any kind, gender-based or not, will create a limitation in mindset and as a result in business. It is important to ask yourself the question, “Am I willing to be a leader for the empowerment of all?”

When you ask this question, you will step beyond oppositional thinking such as men versus women, right versus wrong, and begin to see the change you can affect with the people around you based on the possibilities available, rather than the problems and issues you think you have to overcome to succeed.

If you perceive gender-based judgment coming into play around you, or even in your own thinking, asking a question as simple as, “What else is possible here?” or “What choice is available beyond this?” will expand your thoughts beyond any barriers to include all kinds of possibilities for instigating change that you may not have previously considered.

Do you encourage contribution or competition?

The narrow-thinking that underpins gender-role stereotypes are usually accompanied by a sense of divisiveness, opposition and competition. The elements of competition are: right and wrong, win and lose, better than and less than, proving and defending. When you function from competition you cannot acknowledge your value and capacities in their own right and you cannot receive the talents and capacities of others that could contribute to you. In business this means potentially losing money, projects, and opportunities by not being willing to come together and take advantage of what everyone can bring to the table.

Eliminate oppositional thinking and develop a contribution-based mindset. Ask yourself, “What do I know that no one else does?” “What do others know that I don’t that would contribute to bringing this to fruition?” “Who or what can I add to the business/project today that would contribute to this becoming greater than what I can create alone?” “What are we capable of together that we could not create alone?”

With a contribution mindset, you can be in pole position and invite others to springboard off you to create even greater. This in turn can challenge you to look at what else is possible for you and what you are capable of that you haven’t acknowledged. A contribution-based perspective empowers you and others to out-create alongside each other, rather than compete against each other from oppositional positions.

Are you willing to be a game-changer?

As a leader in life and business, would you ever truly allow any definition, judgment or limitation to be relevant, significant or dominant? A limitation is only real if you decide it is. When you recognize that no judgment or belief can hold you back, you can ask questions like, “How can I out-create and go beyond this with ease?” and “If this wasn’t a problem, what possibility would it be?” and see possibilities, opportunities and advantages where others see none. A true leader is willing to be a game-changer, not just a player.

When you are willing to acknowledge that any limitation is only relevant if you choose to make it so, you will recognize your ability to create a different future and be an invitation for others to do the same. With an empowered perspective, gender-based roles, biases and limitations lose relevance in the face of our commitment to embracing and levering all differences to create more in our businesses and organizations.

The glasshammer.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with view of guest contributors or their organizations or affiliations.

About Doris Schachenhofer

After completing her social work studies in Vienna, Doris Schachenhofer worked with children, homeless people, delinquent teenagers and prisoners transitioning back into the real world.
Follow Doris here.

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Making 2019 the best that it can be!

There are a variety of quotes throughout history that all mean something to the effect of, ‘Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans’.

At this time of year, we start to think about goal setting for 2019.

Call them New Year’s resolutions or good old fashioned hope strategies, but either way, what we are really saying is that we want change. And, change can be hard.

Intentionality is the starting block for change. Knowing that we want to change is key. And better yet, if you can know and articulate where you are now and what the future state might look like then you are further on that you think. However, don’t panic if you do not know all or any of these three elements.

Just start by looking deep inside and being honest with yourself, go for a walk and breathe while you think about these prepared questions to get you started:

1. What stands out for you from 2018?

Note down what thematically or specifically took up your mind, heart or soul. It can be good, bad, neutral but something memorable. It can be an event, thought, insight, learning or feeling. It can be one thing or several things.

2. What are you proud of/did best at in 2018?

Everyone is different. Some of us easily know what we did well at and others ( i am one) sometimes struggle to see just how far we have come. Often high achievers can be insecure and can’t see their amazing myriad of accomplishments, so if this is the case, push yourself to see the good by ‘getting on the balcony’ for a second so you can watch the movie of your life more objectively as well as star in it. You might be surprised by what you learn.

3. What made you happy in 2018?

Simple question, right? Maybe hard to answer so dig deep into all the aspects of your life- career, family, friends, spiritually, fun, money and whatever values matter to you. Then specifically, think about what made you happy at work. Which tasks, interactions, role and responsibilities energized you?

Now, of course even the best goal setting can be derailed by 2 factors and the first factor can be you, yourself! The second is less surprising to guess – yes – others can rain on your parade.

By you, I mean your unconscious mind producing completing agendas (seen as ” i cant do that because I …..e.g. don’t have time).

The conscious mind is an interesting concept, because how much of it drives the bus? If we dare to examine how our values and constructs are often inherited or implicit from our surroundings, we find that some goals are not even what we want anymore, that they have been formed at a different time in our lives for different reasons that no longer work for us. You do not have to autopilot your way through life believing everything you were told by your dad, mom or granny.

It is ok to evolve. Give yourself permission. Best. Holiday. Gift. Ever.

We have coaches who can help you with our sister company www.evolvedpeople.com

Book time now with Nicki Gilmour for a complementary exploration to see if coaching is for you. Or email nicki@evolvedpeople.com

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Happy Thanksgiving: Career Plans for 2019 can start now!

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers in the USA.

Enjoy the time to rest and be with family and friends.

To everyone else in other parts of the world, have a great week. We are taking a publishing break.

It is a great time to start thinking about 2019.  What you might want to change, do more of or do less of? What are you thankful for? What will you do differently next year? If I wave a magic wand and we are transported in time one year from now, looking back what would you have liked to have achieved?

Career decisions – they are personal, professional and full of patterns.

Time and time again, when coaching I see that people feel that they are obliged to do jobs that no longer work for them. We grow and then stuff ourselves into boxes, we all do it at some point, so why put up with situations that no longer fit? Making decisions depends on your personality, preferences and wherever you are at in your life for sure, but your operating environment matters as behaviors come from how you intersect with the culture around you.

The glasshammer is 11 years old, and very early on in this journey, I was lucky to have a life changing experience for which I am thankful. I was fortunate to be part of a fascinating “big brother house” type learning experience, a residential executive masters in organizational psychological (I/O) with a concentration in change leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. This amazing course taught me the systemic levers of change- whether it concerns change at an individual or an organizational level, one thing is true, it is hard to ensure that you walk the talk and that the talk (self-talk) is not controlled by legacy beliefs- conscious and unconscious about the way things are! Basically we are all a product of what our granny/father/mother told us when we were nine years old.

I learned that change leadership starts with really knowing yourself. You can control more than you think you can but equally important is knowing what you cannot control (the systemic stuff). You can play the game once you know the game, or you can choose a new game.

So the good news is that you can lean in, lean out or lean sideways, but do what is right for you personally and then ensure your strategy works in the context, aka the environment you are operating in. The rest is just general advice!

If you want to explore coaching with me, please book into an exploratory call by emailing me nicki@evolvedpeople.com or booking into this calendar for a 15 chat as I am now enrolling 2019 clients and cohorts. Limited places (and there is a cost, please note depending on session type, length etc).

Make 2019 your year!

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Know the Flexibility You Want in Your Current Job

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If your current work structure is too demanding and you’re considering a work hiatus, first explore a more flexible schedule with your boss.

Women frequently tell me they left their jobs because flexibility was impossible. When I dig deeper, I find that they made premature assumptions or exerted no effort to negotiate. A boss who is asked a simple question on the fly e.g., “Can I work at home on Fridays?”, is not likely to react positively. It takes a more professional proposal, ideally a written one that leads to flexibility about 80% of the time, detailing all the safeguards that will ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Before you craft a proposal, pinpoint the flexibility you want. A vague request puts the onus on your boss to figure out possible scenarios. Get specific by asking yourself these three key questions:

1.Can I afford to earn less than a full-time salary? Do I want reduced hours or a more flexible full-time schedule?
2.How much do I want to advance to more senior levels? Would flexwork slow my progress? Is a better work/life blend more valuable?
3. Could I compress a predictable 40 hours into fewer days?

Going part-time

If you don’t want to work 40 hours or more, then what is the alternative? What is a job share possibility and who could be a good partner? Could your most important job responsibilities be done in a part-time schedule? Could you work three days and be paid 60% of your salary—a substantial savings for your employer and two free days for you? How would a part-time schedule affect your employee benefits eligibility?

There are other considerations as you consider your ideal flexible schedule. Would your day begin or end earlier/later than the standard hours? There are practicalities to think about such as which regularly scheduled meetings require your on-site participation? And should you be on site for predictable monthly responsibilities requiring last-minute coordination among many people? If you’re a manager, how much on-site training or oversight is needed by your direct reports? You might be a person who needs the buzz of a busy office to be productive. If you’re in a client-facing role you need to think about how your flexwork schedule would sync with their needs, especially for those in different time zones. What are known busy periods and would you be be willing to forego flexibility during those times? Would your current childcare arrangements fit your ideal flexible schedule? Would your childcare provider be flexible if you need to work extra time in emergency situations? Would you prefer to cut back on or eliminate travel? How would travel affect your desired flexible schedule?

Know Which Employers Have the Most Flexible Cultures

If you run up against a brick wall getting the flexwork you want, head toward
small businesses—often led by individuals who fled from inflexible corporate America. Great progress has been made by employers across-the-board, but it may be years before flexibility is status quo across big corporates or mandated by government. Smaller, more nimble management teams (especially at professional services firms, nonprofits, companies founded more recently and those employing more women) have the leeway to bend on work structures. Small employers (50 to 99 employees) are much more likely than large employers (1,000+ employees) to offer employees the ability to:

· Change start/end times periodically or daily
· Compress workweeks by working longer hours on fewer days
· Work some hours at home
· Take time off without penalty as personal needs arise.

The big take-away is that today women have options to nurture both family and financial security. It’s possible to lean in-between in a wide range of workplaces—keeping both balance and sanity intact.

Kathryn Sollmann is a flexwork expert, speaker and career coach—and the author of Ambition Redefined: Why the Corner Office Doesn’t Work for Every Woman & What to Do Instead.

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Women in Technology: 4 Tips to Advance in your career in tech

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Guest contributed by Avery Phillips

Interestingly, despite the noise, the number of women in computer science jobs is actually lower than it was in 1995 — by 37 percent.

Research from Ohio University shows that organizations with greater levels of gender diversity can see sales revenue up to 1325 percent higher than those with the least amount of gender diversity. Still, the stereotypical Silicon Valley crowd remains predominantly male, despite the gains being documented on several levels.

Set Yourself Up for Success

It’s still an uphill climb, unfortunately — women are granted less than 2 percent of venture capital funding, despite accounting for 38 percent of small business ownership. Networking is incredibly valuable before you take the plunge and head to Silicon Valley. Arm yourself with great people, good ideas, and a lot of perseverance.

Here are 4 tips for setting yourself up for success:

  • Cultivate real-life positivity. According to Fortune 500, companies with three or more female executives see an incredible 66 percent increase in their return on investment. What you bring to the table is invaluable, and you shouldn’t let potential investors forget it.
  • Diversity breeds innovation, and innovation in tech means money — something an investor is happy to hear about. Build a team that you can count on and trust them. Pushing the tech sector outside of its current homogeny will benefit companies and consumers alike.
  • Embrace your strengths. Society will tell you that to be successful in tech and business, you must eschew traditionally female traits and conduct yourself as a man. Throw that idea out the window. Society sees men as the standard for business conduct because that’s what it’s always looked like. Interrupt that idea, embrace your differences, and use them to your advantage.
  • Believe in your work. Being a woman in tech is hard, and it will continue to be hard for quite some time. Change does not happen overnight, but the implicit biases that individuals bring to the table do not diminish your work. Have faith in your cause and hustle until it happens. The next generation of workers will thank you.
Taking Advantage of Current Opportunities

Advances in augmented reality, device connectivity, and remote monitoring are changing the way we look at education and personal health. Historically, these fields (sans technology) have been dominated by women, which makes a female tech-takeover more widely palatable although not a given.

Though it may unfairly gendered, investors perceive women as having more authority in these fields based on previous career trends, making investment in female-founded startups more likely in the health and education sector.

Classrooms are quickly becoming highly digital, requiring students to use laptops and tablets proficiently for many activities. Education requires applications designed to be understood by a variety of learning styles, applicable across subjects, and available at a cost reasonable to educational institutes. Unfortunately, the lack of a consumer market makes it less appealing to existing tech companies; there simply isn’t as much money to be made, despite the long-term benefits of a more educated population.

Healthcare is becoming increasingly digitized, with individual health data being collected and used to make treatment decisions from afar or to monitor patient adherence to treatment plans. While this presents an incredible advancement in the accessibility of care, it places patient data at high risk. The tech sector is charged with responding to the risk and protecting patient information — whatever that may look like.

Currently, solutions in both markets lack efficacy and practicality, creating huge opportunity for innovative thinkers to disrupt the industry. With women being more welcome in these sectors, it’s the perfect bridge to a Silicon Valley C-Suite.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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OP-ED: Navigating Employment with a Disability

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October is Disabilities Awareness Month

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for persons with a disability is 81.3% that means only a 18.7% employment rate. Among persons with disabilities ages 16-64, the unemployment-population ratio is 70.7% (29.3% employment-population ratio)

These numbers prove we have inclusivity problems in areas beyond the media & government websites. By “we” I mean people with disabilities. I am a wheelchair user and part of the disabled minority that has a higher-education degree. I am part of the 32% of working disabled persons who work part time and the 10.6% of working disabled persons who are currently self-employed.

At the time I’m writing this post, I’m simultaneously trying to boost my freelance salary to a full-time equivalent and/or find full-time employment. I wish I could claim to be an “expert” on helping people with disabilities find employment; I’m not. I’m a freelance writer who knows what the climb toward (and fall away) from full-time employment feels like.

I’m always learning on my journey. One thing I know is that if you’re looking for a job, it’s important to know your rights as a disabled person under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA,) the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC,) the Department of Justice (DOJ,) the Department of Labor (DOL) and state and local government. All of the aforementioned departments are responsible for upholding the rights provided to you by the ADA.

I’ve also acquired a wealth of tips that have made job searching with a disability less overwhelming. Hopefully, this post will make your climb a little bit easier.

Know Your Employment Rights & What They Mean

After July 26, 1994, the ADA protected persons with disabilities from job discrimination by “all employers, including State and local government employers, with 15 or more employees.”

That sounds simple enough, but as with most laws, you won’t clearly understand your rights until you know the definitions of key terms and know where the loopholes are.

To be covered by the ADA, you must have all of the academic qualifications and work experience required by the employer to do the job. Your disability must be a “substantial” impairment, meaning that it affects a major life activity like seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing, self-care, completing manual tasks, learning, and other functions. You must be able to perform the essential roles of the job with or without reasonable accommodations.

“Reasonable accommodation” can be defined as a modification or change to the job or environment that helps a disabled person perform essential tasks or receive equal benefits to other employees. This includes the application process.

Some examples of modifications include providing readers or interpreters, adjusting work schedules, modifying training or tests and more. Your employer is required to provide you with reasonable accommodations unless they can prove that doing so would cause “undue hardship.” Undue hardship is substantial difficulty or financial distress.

Employment practices that the ADA covers includes:

  • Recruitment
  • Hiring
  • Training
  • Firing
  • Pay
  • Promotion
  • Benefits
  • Leave
  • Lay off

During the hiring process, your employer cannot ask you if you are disabled or about the severity of your disability. They can ask you questions about completing job-related tasks with or without accommodation, including asking you to demonstrate how you would perform a task.

You cannot be required to take a medical exam before being offered a job. After a job offer, an employer can ask that you complete a medical exam if they require one of all employees. You cannot be discriminated against based on any information that comes from the exam. When you begin working, your employer can only ask questions about your disability if they relate to the job. All of your medical information is to be kept confidential.

Your employer is not required to offer a health care package that includes pre-existing conditions. The ADA does not require that a person with a disability be hired over other qualified applicants because they have a disability.

An employer can refuse to hire a candidate if they pose a threat to themselves or others. The threat must be an objective fact based on evidence. The employer cannot refuse to hire you because of a “slightly increased risk” or perceived risk to you or others.

Building Codes & the ADA

All of the employment protection in the world won’t help you if a building’s structure is inherently inaccessible. The ADA has compliance guidelines for contractors so there is an accessibility standard when building businesses. There are a lot of technical points regarding space needed for wheelchairs and it’s very technically worded and impossible to memorize. Unfortunately, there are loopholes and exceptions written in, as with most laws. But, it’s good to understand some basic rules and note if they aren’t followed upon your first visit to the building.

Tips for the Job Search & Beyond

The hard truth is that the ADA is not your biggest advocate, you have to be. It takes us more work to land the interview, and we can’t relax when we’re in the room if we want to get the job. Here are some tips I’ve learned to help you make job searching less stressful than it already is.

Tip 1: Use Your Resources

If you have resources available to help you find a job at the level your qualification/experience allows, use them. Able-bodied people do it all the time.

Networking with a disability can be difficult, especially in person. I find that as a wheelchair user, I’m constantly fighting to be heard. A group of people (OK, honestly even one person) is not likely to kneel down on my level, so I have to look up constantly and be loud often.

It shakes my confidence, especially in professional situations. Disabled people know that the ADA only protects us so much. Do what you need to do to level the playing field as much as possible. Here are some ideas:

  • Vocational services
  • Resume writing services
  • Headhunting services

The statistics above prove that even with the ADA in place, having a disability makes it more difficult to get a job. Don’t be ashamed to reach out wherever you can for help.

Always speak up for yourself. Make sure the jobs you are seeking are not below your intellectual abilities.

Tip 2: Know the Building

If, when and to whom you disclose your disability is entirely your decision. If you choose not to disclose, you still need to be sure the building meets your needs before an in-person meeting.

Have a friend or family member call to ask if the building is accessible. That term is general and means different things for everyone, so future accommodations might be necessary. (See above for some basics.) But any barrier that keeps you from having a successful interview or first day should be addressed as soon as possible.

If you are a wheelchair user and there is a huge staircase in front of the building, for example, you need to know of alternative entrances. Having a friend call is a way to maintain your right of non-disclosure for as long as you can. They don’t have to identify themselves or ask anything beyond basics.

Look at the bathroom before the interview if you can. If the bathroom doesn’t meet your needs or is being used for storage, address the issue carefully. Do not view the facilities with your employer.

If you feel like your rights are being violated, record it. Digital records are more reliable than paper these days as it’s more difficult to misplace them.

If you don’t feel comfortable asking a superior to record agreements or conversations for you, do it yourself. If your rights are being violated, you’ll need to prove it in court, and that’s not easy. The more records you have, the better your case will be. Contact a lawyer or call the EEOC for more information.

Guest Contributed by Sarah Turner

Sarah is an experienced content writer and digital marketer. She is a well-versed online strategist and produces quality content to help others improve their website. Her expertise covers site development, social media promotion, SEO and content creation.

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6 Ways to Mentor Others to Change their Trajectory and Yours!

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women working mentoring
In all great ‘mentor-mentee’ relationships, both lives are changed for the better.

As a mentor, not only can you share your experience to benefit another, you also gain from their unique perspectives and insights that differ to yours. Mentoring is a two-way street where, if maximized, can contribute to both you and your mentee’s growth and success in surprising ways.
If you desire to create successful mentoring relationships, here are six essential “do’s” and “don’ts”:

Tip 1: Don’t advise

Considering the traditional meaning of mentor is “advisor,” shouldn’t the one thing a mentor definitely be doing, is giving advice? Sharing your experiences and making suggestions is not a bad thing, but a truly empowering mentor knows that what creates more than giving someone an answer, is asking them questions. Asking questions allows you to invite the unique leadership capacities of another to come to the fore, rather than mirroring yours.

What if it was never about getting someone to do it your way? Even when someone comes to you for advice, ask them simple questions like, “What do you know about this?” “What are you aware of that’s required here?” and begin empowering them to find their own way.

Tip 2: Do Inspire

Inspiring others is ten thousand times more effective than advising them. By you not holding yourself back from being successful, being committed to never giving in and never giving up – and going for it with the speed, perseverance and determination you do – you become an inspiration for others to go as well.

Inspiring rather than advising also helps you avoid the trap of trying to get people to become more than they are willing to be. Most times, you want more for other people than they want for themselves. Trying to be the motor for people that don’t want to go takes a lot of energy and doesn’t lead anywhere.

Put your energy towards those you know can and will go further. Ask yourself: What unstoppable greatness can I choose to be to inspire others? Who can receive my contribution? Who is willing to be successful? Asking these questions will make you aware of those who can go and those who can’t and where you can make the greatest difference.

Tip 3: Don’t set goals

Particularly in a business mentoring relationship, the expectation is for the person you mentor to succeed by setting goals and attaining them with your help. The danger of setting goals however, is clearly indicated in the origin of the word, meaning “gaol” (a limit or boundary). With goals, your sights are fixed on an outcome. You become hyper-focused and invested in that result, excluding any new information that potentially threatens it – even if it would mean a change for the better.

Do set targets

Instead of identifying fixed goals, create broader targets of what you would like to achieve. Unlike goals, Targets are movable and more flexible. You can shoot at them numerous times and you can adapt and change them. As you create a project or run a business, you have to be open to constant change and re-evaluating your targets to match the next level of where you want to go.
Ask yourself every day: What is my target? Is it still relevant, or do I need to change it? Adaptability is a highly desired and required leadership skill. By setting targets in your mentoring relationships, you will increase your ability to use adaptability to create greater than expected.

Tip 4: Don’t visualize

Visualizing is great, but it has one big limitation: your mind. When you visualize, you can only see as far as your brain’s capacity to visualize things. It cannot go beyond that. And there is much more available than what your mind can come up with!

Tip 5:Do actualize

Actualizing is not just about visualizing or talking about what you desire, but making it show up in physical reality. Trajectory change occurs when you actualize beyond what you can visualize, and it starts with a question. Ask: What can I truly create that is far greater than I can imagine? What steps can I take today so that what I am asking for can come to fruition? What action is required for this to actualize?

A question takes you beyond your mind and imagination. It takes you beyond definitions – definitions of success, of what is possible for you, your business, or another person. Definition by definition alone is a limitation. If you don’t define your future, your success, your capacities – there are no limits to what you can achieve.

Don’t forget to allow mentoring to be easy! Successful mentoring should not be all about what you do, but about what you choose to be in the world and with others that creates the future you would like to see.

Guest Contributions are not necessarily representative of theglasshammer.com’s views. We have no formal or informal connection with our guest contributors.

About the author

Susanna Mittermaier is a psychologist, psychotherapist and author of the #1 international bestselling book, “Pragmatic Psychology: Practical Tools for Being Crazy Happy.”  A sought after public speaker, Susanna has been featured in magazines such as TV soap, Women’s Weekly, Empowerment Channel Voice America, Om Times, Motherpedia, Newstalk New Zealand and Holistic Bliss. Susanna offers a new paradigm of therapy called Pragmatic Psychology and is known for her ability to transform people’s problems and difficulties into possibilities and powerful choices. Follow on Twitter @AccessSusanna.

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7 Steps to Writing to Your Own Simple Self Improvement Plan

 

planCareer progression and happiness is intersected with the other elements of your life.

If you want to achieve the type of growth that brings happiness and satisfaction to your whole being, you need to focus on, among other things, your education, physical health, and fitness, spiritual health and personal relationships, in addition to your career path. To achieve better outcomes, you need to put your self-improvement plan in writing and without further ado. Here are seven steps on how to go about it:

1. Brainstorm

First things first, you need to have a foundation on which to build your self-improvement strategy. Hence, sit alone in a quiet room (definitely when the kids are safely tucked in!) and write down every goal, target or achievement that you wish to accomplish in future. While at it, be sure to use your heart and not your head. Write anything, and everything you want in life, however ridiculous or farfetched it looks, time for editing and logical thought will come later. It is through the continuous flow of raw ideas from your mind to the paper that your creative juices, as well as the imaginative side of the brain, will come to life and your plan largely depends on those.

2. Divide Your Goals into Categories

As mentioned earlier, your personal growth needs to involve every aspect of your life for it to be effective. As such, after you write down all that you plan on achieving or acquiring, deconstruct the list and put everything into 4 categories as follows:

• Intellectual – To include spiritual health, personal education, and general knowledge.
• Physical – Overall body health and fitness.
• Professional – Including money and finance, work relations, and any other career goals.
• Social – To include everything in your personal relationships, whether with your kids, romantic partners, family, and friends.

By dividing your goals into categories, you get a clue on which aspects of your life need more attention and most importantly, it helps you track your life progress.

3. Review Your Goals

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but without a clear and strong “why” on each of your goals, your self-improvement plan won’t achieve much, just like the New Year’s resolutions of more than 91% of Americans that never get accomplished. Do people still do those by the way?

If you are like most women, losing weight is probably one of your priorities but why exactly do you want to do it? To rock your summer body or to be healthier and stronger? If it’s the former, you may end up backtracking at the sight of a chocolate cake. What we are saying is, only include in the plan things that are very important to you, and you will find it easier and more natural to do what’s required.

4. Focus on a Single Goal

Stereotypically and slightly generalizing here, women are great at multitasking and all, but as far as personal development goes, it’s much better, easier and more effective to focus on one thing at a time. Go through your list of goals and objectives, of course in the context of the four categories mentioned above and pick one for each category based on urgency and importance. Focus solely on those and only add more when your progress is satisfactory.

The good thing is, goals and activities in the different categories are mutually exclusive, and you can, for instance, join a gym and regularly attend social events even as you work towards your master’s degree.

5. Find the ‘How’

Now that you know what you will be focusing on sit and reflect on how exactly you will achieve your targets. If you need to, do further research on the Internet or even consult experts, like in the case of improving your fitness level. The most important thing is first to be aware of, and after that put clearly in writing, the roadmap to achieving your goals. For instance, if your objective is to increase your savings, you need to determine how much to save in a day/week, expenses to cut off or even better, how to make more money. As a suggestion, look for activities that you can turn into long-term habits, and that will have the most significant impact on your goals.

6. Take Stock of Your Situation

Depending on what you want to achieve, you will probably need some money, skills, competencies or abilities in the course of your plan. Thus, before you embark on actualization, make a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and resources at your disposal as far as your personal development journey goes. You may also have to consult or research on what you need here.

Having an objective look at your circumstances relative to your objectives and ambitions will help you prepare better for the challenge ahead, thereby reducing the possibilities of failure or false starts. It also helps you determine whether the goals you have set for yourself are achievable or beyond your reach.

7. Take Action to Actualize Your Goals

Now that you’ve written all that needs to be written, it’s time to get up and chase your dreams, literally. You already know what you need to do to achieve your goals so restructure your daily routine to include the daily goal-oriented actions and commit yourself to them. Eliminate everything and everyone that might cause you to falter in your journey. For instance, if it’s going to the gym, carry your gym wear to work to avoid going home first and then becoming too lazy to leave the house. It will also do you a lot of good to have a checklist to recap what you do every day towards your goals.

Final Thoughts

There is no conventional way to write a Self-Improvement Plan, and it’s all dependent on your preferences. However, we believe that if you write your plan according to the above steps, you will find it much easier to navigate through it and achieve your goals. Above all, believe in yourself and your goals, and the world is all yours to conquer.

Guest contribution

About the author

Jake Lester is an essay writer that is currently writing for edubirdies.org. The most recurring themes he covers are education, writing and marketing. He has his own writing style and this is why he is appreciated by readers. You may look through Facebook, Twitter & Google+.

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