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The importance of listening

~ ACTIONABLE EXPERT ADVICE ~
First Published in Cynopsis Classified Advantage

One of the most important skills you should use in your job search is listening carefully, both literally and metaphorically. You have to listen to your friends when they tell you about opportunities. You have to listen to your bosses and clients to learn about your strengths and weaknesses. You have to listen to your heart to know what you really want to pursue.

You especially have to listen to the wording of the job ad. What does it actually say they are looking for? You have to listen closely to the recruiter and to your interviewer.

You will already have invested large chunks of time developing your own unique positioning to separate you from the pack. You have probably crafted yourself a script for your elevator meetings, a template for your cover letter, a set of anecdotes for your interview. And all this as it should be. If you have thought it all through and internalized it and what it means, it will do its magic for you. But if you are determined to stick to your script willy-nilly this investment might all be for nought.

Listen carefully to what is said and also between the lines to what is unsaid. And that means listening not only in the moment of the interview, but it means listening to the research you will have done in advance. Listen to what the company says on the website. Listen to the story the recruiter tells you about the job. Listen to the LinkedIn profile of your interviewer. Take it all in and frame your responses and approaches accordingly.

If you are safely in a job but aspire to a promotion or a new assignment, listen to your boss, to your co-workers, to the press so that you can create the opportunity and be there as the obvious person to fill it. This comes not just from wanting it and telling your boss “I want the bigger title,” but from asking the right questions of the right people and listening to what is needed, so you can tell them you will provide just that.

People like to be listened to. They like to be heard. They do not like to be ignored. So tell them you heard them by responding directly and positively to something they said. Don’ t stick to a script be ready to improvise. If they feel you have not listened to them, or worse yet responded with a ” No, ” they will shut down and they will not listen to you. Listening keeps you relevant and smart. Their awareness of your listening to them keeps them engaged with you. I can’ t stress this enough.

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Posted on September 28, 2010 in behavioral, coaching, job search, management, marketing

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Basic Presentation Tips

It never hurts to restate the things that we all know but don’t always remember to do. I recently turned up these old notes from an Edward Tufte presentation.

Tufte’s Presentation Tips
1. Show up early.
2. Early on in the presentation, tell your audience what to expect from you.
3. Give everyone in the room a piece of paper, such as detailed evidence of a point you are going to make.
4. AVOID OVERHEADS. (Today = Powerpoint?) Use them only if you are showing very complex information.
5. Never apologize.
6. Practice and rehearse. (do both I guess!)
7. If you use humor, it should be directly relevant to the target at hand.
8. Don’t use the singular male as universal; use the plural “they/them” instead.
9. Finish early.
10. Be very careful when answering questions. You’re often judged solely on Q & A. If a question requires a long answer, you may be better off answering it privately, after the presentation.
11. Don’t be afraid to show pride in what you’ve done (often accomplished thought your gestures)
12. Drink a lot of water. (Public speaking and flying are the 2 most dehydrating things you can do.)

Here is more Tufte

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Posted on August 20, 2010 in communications, marketing

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A way to help your client and grow your business

Do you have clients who don’t know what else you can do for them? You know all the things that your company can do, but unless you tell your clients, how are they going to know?

I was talking to the client of a design firm I was working with, and discovered she was taking a huge chunk of her creative project – which my client could have been doing – to another company. “I didn’t know they could do that too,” she said. “Why didn’t they tell me? It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”

And she’s right. You can’t just assume that everyone knows what’s going on in that room down the hall. Since your client already trusts you creatively, she will very likely consider a new service or talent that you are offering. So it is up to you to make sure she knows about them. Introduce her to your other teams. Cross-sell her your other services. Show her the work and tell her how it can help her.

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Posted on August 18, 2010 in management, marketing

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Put Serendipity to Work for You

Knowledge of all sorts – including where the perfect job or client is waiting for you – is spread far and wide. Itʼs easy and cheap to connect and interact with people who we never thought in the past would be reachable. The Internet makes it possible for us to tap into so many fast-moving resources and information streams.

This is bad news and good news. First the bad: since what we need to know is so widely spread about, it has become harder than ever to get what we want with a traditional search. But the good news for us is that it is more likely than in the past that we will find something valuable through a chance encounter.

I have been inspired by The Economistʼs review of a book called The Power of Pull: How Small Moves Smartly Made Can Set Big Things in Motion. It speaks to something I believe is most important in a job search, indeed in all of our business development: and that is being open to serendipity – even actually encouraging it. The authors propose a straightforward three-pronged strategy. First: approach the right people. Second: get the right people to approach you. And third: use these relationships to do things better and faster.

They have three tips. One is to live near brainy changophiles. For example, people of interest cluster together in Silicon Valley, NYC, London, Shanghai, Bangalore and so on.

So if you are in such a locale, every social interaction is potentially profitable. Even chatting to your dentist, or to another parent at the little league game could lead to something interesting.

Second go on the conference trail. There are many new conferences popping up as our businesses are changing so very rapidly. They remind me, as I have so often found, that corridor conversations are far more often useful than the formal sessions.

Their third tip is to make better use of online social networks; particularly to make contact with new people. Your friendsʼ friends may be just who you need to be talking to.

So get out there. Be open. Be smart. Ask questions. Ask your friends who you should meet. Do it online, do it in the flesh.

Make the serendipitous possible. Position yourself both physically and psychically. The chance encounter could be your ticket to a new gig or to the new idea that changes everything.

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Posted on August 16, 2010 in coaching, job search, marketing, success

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Coaching feedback – this stuff works!

I just completed a course of coaching with a client in the film/TV business. Here are some excerpts from his review of our work:

We accomplished the goals extremely well. I went from lackluster “brand” materials (cover letter, resume, etc) in serious need of improvement to getting job offers and finding new opportunities in the span of weeks. Before the sessions, my general outlook was also somewhat dire. From the beginning, Michael saw my strengths and encouraged them. Every bit of advice has come in handy so far and I am 100% confident that it will for years to come.

I genuinely feel that this whole experience was priceless and look forward to continuing to use what I learned from the coaching sessions for years to come…My only regret is that I did not find Pollock|Spark sooner! Thank you so much, Michael! I can’t say that enough.

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Posted on May 25, 2010 in coaching, job search, marketing, success, testimonial

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13 snapshots from coaching = 13 ideas for you

Journalist or personal brand?
A journalist is working with me to define her long term goal. Super-busy and writing for major titles now, but where is this going, she wants to know. Is it about books or appearances or a content specialty? We have moved towards defining the aspirational goal and are embarking on tactics that will bring us closer to it while still maintaining and enriching the base of work.

But it’s not self-promotion!
A client who was never comfortable promoting herself has developed an effective way to reach out. She now says “I’ve proved the theory: if you ask you get it. I feel good about myself. I am more comfortable calling people: its not pushy, it’s doing something for them.”

Transition to a management role
A client who was a very good craftsman had been promoted to running his whole creative office. This transition is not as easy as it looks for most creative types. He was helped to develop more effective time management practices, prioritization and delegation techniques and to figure out how to motivate creative staff and to keep them happy.

Meeting Prep
Research as much as you can about the person you are going to be meeting. Don’t assume anything. The more you know the smarter you will be. A client followed this advice this week and what she discovered “gave me a different sense of the company.”

Strength in your stories
Another client fed back to me in her own words one of the core ideas we had been working on: “I have to have my stories back in my mind and draw on them and bring them out at the appropriate time. The fact that I have been working on them and focusing them makes them that much stronger.”

Sweat your resume
A client working on a resume discovered that its communication can be powerfully affected by the choice of layout, type face and emphasis. He created several versions, varying the summary and the layout. Together we evaluated them making choices to get the best possible result.

But what do you really want to do?
I am working with clients to focus their long term dreams and goals, so that we know whether short to medium term decisions are heading us in the right direction.

How to think about your website
Planning a website with a client we thought through what a potential buyer is looking for when they come to the site and then decided what we want him to do when he gets there.

Interview prep rocks results
During interview prep with a senior executive who was meeting with a corporate CEO I made up some likely questions and we practiced her responses. After the interview she emailed me that many of his questions were “straight from our rehearsal.” So she was ready for them.

How to thrive in a corporate restructure
I have a client in a leading TV firm who is facing corporate restructuring. She will thrive and advance in the evolution, not least because we have put thought and time into defining her turf and job scope and strategizing, on a weekly basis, how to manage up and across effectively.

Plan B and Plan A
Working with a couple of clients on two fronts: a “corporate job” front and a “start my own business” front. In the short term when there are bills to be paid and investment to be made it is the practical solution.

Startup marketing
With a client who is starting a new business we have developed the main message and begun on the website – now we are moving to targeted outreach. We have defined our tactics and are now providing the motivation to make progress on sales calls and affordable marketing programs.

KickStart your marketing
A design firm for whom I led a Marketing Intensive KickStart Workshop has launched its new website – on schedule. They emailed: “Thanks for all your input in helping us pull this together.”

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Posted on May 6, 2010 in career transition, coaching, management, marketing, testimonial

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Design firm gets team in sync for marketing effort

It’s critical that my clients – especially the creative people I work with – are deeply involved with their own professional development, both strategically and tactically. Just telling them what they should do doesn’t work. Without full understanding of why to take a particular course of action – and without having worked through the possibilities and come to the conclusion themselves – they will not follow through.

So the way I work has developed over time, moving from traditional consulting methods to incorporate the tools and techniques of coaching and workshops: I help my clients to arrive at their own conclusions. I create the framework, bringing my experience and suggestions to the table so that ultimately my clients are enabled to address their own challenges and discover their own opportunities.

The effect is magnified when I work with a team as it’s reinforced and multiplied by their collaboration over time. A most valuable added benefit for teams is that they learn anew how to work with each other. A Workshop takes them out of their regular day-to day roles and they step back and revisit the larger picture.

I recently led a Marketing Workshop with the core team of a design firm and here is what the owner told me afterwards:

“The work we did together was certainly helpful, for me to have an outside perspective, but perhaps the most important thing being that we all thought as a team and came to an understanding of what it means to work at (the company) and what we stand for.”

These words made my heart glad. After all, how effective can your marketing be if it does not spring from these fundamental understandings. This is exactly the sort of result that a Workshop can provide.

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Posted on March 8, 2010 in marketing, workshops

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How to make word of mouth work for you

We know that most business and most jobs come from connections. So it is much to be desired that your friends and colleagues and clients tell their connections about your value and what you can do for them.

In fact since valuable information is a premier form of currency, in business and socially, people actually like to pass it on. It gives them credit, it aggrandizes them as someone in the know. They get points for good leads.

So do them a favor and make it easy for them. Give them guidance in what they say about you. Give them the words, the value statement, the anecdotes, that will make them eager to pass it on. But you won’t be saying to them directly “Here’s what you should say when you talk about my business.” You will be talking about yourself and your work in such a way that it becomes clear to them how they will talk about you. They will have loved the story you told them – that carefully chosen story that underscores your capabilities. They will have loved it so much that they will tell it over and over again. Because it makes them seem – yes – in the know.

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Posted on February 23, 2010 in coaching, marketing

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Are people pleased to hear from you?

When people hear your name in a voice-mail or see you in their inbox, how do they feel? Which messages do they want to respond to first (or at all)?

My guess is that they will want to reply to someone who is going to help them; someone who can offer them advice, or come up with just the service they need; someone who’ll give them some useful information. They probably will not be so interested in talking to someone who always wants something from them, or is going to nag them or make them feel guilty, or have to explain themselves.

And please don’t say to them, “Didn’t you get my messages last week?” That puts them way on the back foot. If they haven’t responded, just go into the conversation, or message, as if this was the first time.

Think about it; when you look at your messages, whose calls do you respond to? Put yourself in their place when you pick up the phone, or hit “send.”

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Posted on February 23, 2010 in coaching, marketing, sales

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Go out and sell!

Love this from the NYT interview with Cristóbal Conde, president and C.E.O. of SunGard

Q. What’s your best career advice for young people?

A. My advice to young people is always, along the way, have a sales job. You could be selling sweaters. You could be selling ice cream on the street. It doesn’t matter. Selling something to somebody who doesn’t want to buy it is a lifelong skill. I can tell when somebody comes in for an interview and they’ve never had any responsibility for sales.