Manager Tools Blog

Even Comedy News

wendii — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:31:18 +0000

I was curious to find out how John Oliver got the job of hosting the Daily Show while Jon Stewart is away for the summer. (If you don't watch it, don't worry, that's not really what this is about). While looking around, I found an interview of John Oliver in the New York Times talking about the preparation that John was doing to take over the show. He's not only presenting, I found out, but he's in charge of all the content too.

There were two parts I found particularly interesting. First, Oliver is asked: "How did Jon Stewart approach you about this?", and he replies: "..he called me up and said, “We’ve got the money — I’m going to shoot it this summer. Would you do it?” To which I guess the only answer is yes." The follow up question is: "There was no hesitation?" and the answer: "I’ll do anything for him, whether it’s hosting this show or disposing of a body." That's loyalty to a boss. The interview absolutely gives the impression that Stewart is in charge of the show, and that he is the boss. Yet, Oliver would do anything for him. However Stewart acts as a boss, he's doing it right.

Then there are some questions about the process. It turns out, that they don't just turn up in the afternoon, mess around for a while and hope that the jokes are funny. There are two parts where he describes the process: "Jon built it to operate in a certain process, so that process really has to stay. It’s like a Nascar driver giving keys to his car to a member of his pit crew. I fundamentally understand how the engine works — I just never have driven it that fast before." and "What he’s always told us is you want to make sure that the spine of the argument is in shape. You can write jokes at any point of the day. Jokes are not that hard to write, or they shouldn’t be when it is literally your job. It’s harder to shift the point of view of a headline later in the day. That’s the kind of thing you need to keep an eye on early. You’d think you’d come in early in the day and go, “What jokes should we tell?” And that’s not always the case."

And the lesson from all this? Everything that is good has a process. Someone has thought through every detail of how to make it good, and better and better, until it just works, and looks effortless. Even comedy news.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/step-aside-jon-stewart-john...

Things I Never Knew

wendii — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:38:06 +0000

I love finding out something new. The internet is the best thing that ever happened in my life. I can't wait more than 2 seconds to look it up when someone asks a question. Do you know how they make steel shapes (for boat propellors and golf clubs)? First, they make a wax mold. Then they dip that in glue and sand, until it's big and fat. They bake that so the sand hardens and the wax melts. Then, they pour in the steel. Once it's set, they break off the sand template, and voila! No wonder those things are so expensive. It takes ages!

I read in last September's Success about a new Macy's distribution facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia. It's so large, that the architects had to take account of the size of the curvature of the earth. I can't imagine that. I looked up how long the building would have to be (because.. well, I had to KNOW), and it's 2.9 miles long. That doesn't sound far, but on the other hand, a nearly 3 mile long BUILDING. That's massive! They're going to keep 900,000 pairs of shoes in there. (I think that's the definition of heaven).

What does any of this have to do with my daily life? Not a lot. It keeps me curious, because I know if I look it up I can find the answer to everything. Some days, two brain cells collide and come up with something completely new. I'm convinced that wouldn't happen if I didn't let my mind wander and explore and wonder.

Do you know someone who is graduating?

wendii — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:15:27 +0000

From now until July 31st, you will receive the written materials for the 'Resumes for Graduates' cast, with your purchase of First Job Fundamentals.

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Will it make a difference? This is what one of our clients said:

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— Peter Rogers, Vice President, Technology, Merkle Inc.

Don't start your career without this valuable information.

Purchase for yourself or as a gift here.

New and Old

wendii — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:44:05 +0000

I read in June's Success magazine about the founder of Ikea. First, I was surprised to find out he was born in 1926. With all the startups run by under 25 year olds now, I think we've become conditioned to thinking it's success by 25 or else.

He started selling low-cost furniture in 1947 and discontinued all his other lines in 1951. He opened a showroom only because of competition from another catalogue retailer.

I love Ikea showrooms. I love how they encourage you to follow the route they dictate so you see everything. I love the pencils and measuring tapes in case you forgot your own. I love the bit before you checkout where you can't help but buy 100 tealights. I don't care that I'm being manipulated by marketing. I enjoy watching them do it well.

I'd always assumed it was a new thing. But no, there is nothing new under the sun. [A quote from the Bible, which shows that sometimes what is old still has value to us.].

http://darrenhardy.success.com/tag/young-maverick-entrepreneurs/

An Hour? Is That It?

wendii — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:47:48 +0000

I was reading an article in Inc about Duolingo, which is a language training website. It caught my eye, because earlier in the week I'd seen some people discussing it on a forum and saying it was very good.

Anyway, the co-founder, Luis von Ahn, was asked "Do you take a hands-on approach with the hiring now?". He answered: "I do. Every person who comes through here, I talk to them for an hour. It is amazing how much comes out in an hour".

Earlier in the interview he said: "I made a concerted effort to hire people who are going to play nice". Believe me, you don't learn if someone will play nice in an hour. You have to spend hours and hours. The honeymoon period wears off everything we do, including interviewing. If you still like the person after the honeymoon, then get married. But not an hour.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201306/jeremy-quittner/i-hire-nice-people.ht...

Avoiding the question

wendii — Mon, 27 May 2013 14:34:52 +0000

There's an article in April's Entrepreneur magazine about answering questions in media interviews. It says "Media trainers will say, "Answer the question you wish they had asked." Politicians do this. It's an interesting move because it makes you seem self-possessed and stupid at the same time."

I've seen the same advice given for interviewees interviewing for jobs, and it's just as stupid. Everyone knows what the politicians are doing, and everyone knows what you're doing too. They make me want to do this: no,no,no,no,no,no ANSWER THE QUESTION.

But instead, I just give up and move on. So now the candidate hasn't answered my question, I haven't listened to what they were trying to tell me (because I've decided that it's not relevant), and I'm not inclined to believe in the interviewees honesty. Who wins? No one.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/226069

Management

wendii — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:04:37 +0000

January's Fortune had an interview with Herb Kelleher, Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines. In it he says that many companies have come to Southwest to find out how they hired and motivated their employees. Basically, he says, they were looking for a formula.

Then he says: "The concept is simple, but the execution takes a lot of work and a lot of attention. If you're going to pay personal attention to each of your people, for instance, and every grief and joy that they suffer in their lives, you really have to have a tremendous network for gathering information'.

That line 'every grief and joy that they suffer in their lives' reminded me what One on Ones are really all about. They might be rote, and boring and mundane for weeks and weeks and weeks, but they allow you to build the relationship which allows you to share in the grief and joy of your direct's lives. That's professional love. That's management.

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/14/kelleher-southwest-airlines...

Audacious Culture

wendii — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:52:00 +0000

May's Inc contains an article about 'Audacious Culture' and lists several companies who have non-standard corporate cultures and rules. There's one which requires a health risk assessment each year and which has introduced a 'twinkie tax' in their cafe. There's one which gives employees a four week sabbatical after 10 years.

The one that really caught my eye though, was Menlo Innovations. The headline says 'Taking Teamwork To The Extreme'. In the text it says 'Developers - and nearly everyone else - work in pairs and switch partners weekly. Employees talk through problems while passing the mouse back and forth...'.

The thought of sharing my thoughts, computer and mouse with someone while I'm working was like nails on a chalkboard for me. Which is why I work from home, on my own, and don't share my thoughts until I've had time to at least half bake them. Fortunately, our company allows that.

It shows though, that you need to chose your place of work carefully. If you can't deal with that kind of teamwork, don't go to work there. One person rarely changes the culture from the bottom up. You'll be miserable and that'll show in your results. Find somewhere you'll fit, even if the job title, pay or location aren't what you would have liked.

http://www.inc.com/audacious-companies/leigh-buchanan/menlo-innovations....

Non-Resume Life

wendii — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:49:05 +0000

Vizify, a new app is described in Inc. It says it's 'designed to help job seekers create online resumes that give potential employers a sense of their off-resume lives'. Every time I see something about interests and non-work lives on resumes or as part of the job search process, I get mad all over again.

Yes, it's all about people. Yes, we want to get to know people and have relationships, and that's not all about work activity. But during the interview process, it's all about the 9-5. An interviewer CAN'T ask about your family or your age or your politics and nor do you want them too - that's why we have discrimination laws.

You don't want them to ask about your interests or your other non-work activities, because the time you spend time talking about sailing you're NOT talking about what matters - what you can do for them.

There are times and places for everything. The interview process is NOT the time for your non-work life.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201304/jennifer-alsever/case-study-vizify.ht...

Backpacks Never Grow Up

wendii — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:21:04 +0000

I saw an article in Inc. entitled 'Backpacks Grow Up. New options with sophisticated style'. Despite their assertion and a rather groovy graphic, backpacks are not grown up.

I can understand that a heavy laptop and all the the things you need to bring to work are better held in a backpack than over one shoulder. If you commute to work by public transport or bicycle, then, yes a backpack is more convenient.

It's never going to look executive-like though. A couple of solutions: we don't recommend you take briefcases or purses to internal meetings, so that won't be a problem. Have a briefcase/purse at work and transfer your belongings before you meet clients. You can do the same with appropriate work shoes too.

http://www.incmagazine-digital.com/incmagazine/201304?pg=54#pg54

Finding Extraordinary People

wendii — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:04:48 +0000

In an article in Fortune, there are five suggestions for finding extraordinary people for your team. Suggestion one: build your bench. I think we said that.

Suggestion two: play in the right sandboxes. I think we've said that for job hunters, but not for employee hunters. It works just as well though. Be in the organisations you think your potential employees will be in.

Suggestions three: try guerrilla tactics Hmmm. My favorite ever recruiting article was about guerrilla tactics, but I don't think they're necessary in the normal world (they're fun to read about though!).

Suggestion four: tweak the job description (by which they actually mean the advertisement . Definitely. If you're not getting who you want, you haven't thought hard enough about what might attract them. (And yes, a job advertisement is more about attraction than the job description).

Suggestion five: become a celebrity. With social media, you can definitely become well known in your industry. If you get great results and get people promoted, you can be a rock star in your organization. Both those things will cause people to want to work for you.

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/23/attracting-great-employees/

What blogs do I read?

wendii — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:58:57 +0000

A few people have asked me which blogs I read, after I mentioned in a Career Tools cast that I have over 300 in my feed. I'm sorry, but I think you're going to be disappointed. Most of my list is made up of things that interest me, or help me do my job - they're not really about management or careers.

I have 16 folders and I divide my blogs amongst the 16 topics. I was using google reader, which I loved, but as it's going away I'm using Feedly. Don't love it as much, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

My favorite in my business section is Nicholas Bate; http://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/ If you remember Tom Peters Top 50 books, he's very like that. Short and makes me think.

All my favorite career blogs come from ERE.net. They're mostly aimed at recruiters and hiring managers, not candidates.

For the women, my two favorite appropriate office wear blogs are http://caphillstyle.com/ and http://corporette.com/ Both are written by whip smart women, and have great commenters too.

In productivity, my favorite blog is http://www.asianefficiency.com/ If you're an omni-focus fan, this is a can't miss.

I have a bunch of social media blogs, my favorite of which is probably http://www.chrisbrogan.com/# He does a great sunday morning newsletter too, if you want to run your own business, or get into the social media world.

If you travel a lot, don't miss http://boardingarea.com/ You'll see a lot of repeated stuff, but you won't miss a deal, an announcement or a solution to a problem.

I tend to have an afternoon one weekend when I explore a topic, and I add up to 50 blogs on that topic. Over time, if I don't find them useful, I have a clear out. I'm probably down to 150 at the moment, and I'll build back up over time. The ones I've mentioned here have been favorites for a long time. I hope you find them useful.

If you have others to share, with me or the rest of the community, please do in the comments - I'd love to hear about them.

Open To Opportunities

wendii — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:08:51 +0000

Yesterday I read a profile on Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, written in October last year (yes, I’m a little behind on my reading). The part that interested me was the description of how she got from Google to Yahoo. It says: “Mayer had no plans to leave Google. But when Spencer Stuart recruiter Jim Citrin called last June, she agreed to meet with the directors”.

There’s nothing disingenuous in this. It’s exactly what we tell you to do. There is never anything wrong with being open to a discussion about a role elsewhere, and to having that discussion. You don’t need to tell your boss. Who knows, it might go nowhere and then you’ve lost his trust.

We tell you that executives do this all the time, and I was glad to find an example of exactly that. Being open to discussion is what gets you the opportunities you never dreamed of. Be open.

http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/11/40-under-40-marissa-ma...

Long Term Plans

wendii — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:25:59 +0000

Reading a bunch of business magazines last weekend, something struck me. There was an article about Michael Porter (the academic who created the five forces model) who at 65 is on a campaign to change American productivity. Since no company strategy meeting is complete without a discussion of the five forces he might well do it too.

There was an article about various big company CEO’s succession plans. The CEOs were between 60 and 70. One was 75. There was an article about Warren Buffett. He’s 82.

At 65, I imagined myself sitting on a rocking chair, telling people about the good old days. The description of one of Michael Porter’s weeks included a flight back from London, two tv appearances, two speaking engagements at a conference, and advisory sessions to a Fortune 500 CEO and the government of Rwanda.

I’m starting to wonder what I would do if I didn’t have 25 years of work left in me. What if I had 45? I’d wouldn’t even be halfway through my career. There’s a lot I can do in 25 years, but there’s a lot more I can do in 45. Time to make some REALLY long term plans.

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/15/porter-rivlin-economy-fix/
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/15/michael-porter/

Are you in trouble?

wendii — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:00:23 +0000

There’s long article in Fortune magazine which is an extract from ‘American Turnaround’ by Ed Whitacre. In it, he describes working with Fritz Henderson, General Motors’ CEO, when Ed became Chairman.

There were two particular passages that struck me. In them Whitacre describes giving Henderson specific instructions as to the content and structure of a presentation that Henderson is to prepare for the board. One says: “I want you to prepare a simplified presentation on revenue, expenses and dealer shutdowns... Keep it short and to the point.” The following paragraph says: “Fritz didn’t do that. Instead he showed up with a long detailed presentation”.

Behavior, especially habits you’ve had for a long time, can be hard to change. 6 months later, Henderson was gone. The writing was on the wall long before though.

When your boss gives you specific instructions for something you should be capable of doing, you’re in trouble. However hard it is, change. Now. It’s a sign you’re in trouble.

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/23/ed-whitacre-american-turnar...

What do they know?

wendii — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:42:51 +0000

There was a great article in last month’s Inc about a corporate spy. What he does is, at least what’s described in the article, completely legal. It relies on public records and ‘loose-lipped’ employees.

In one example, he describes finding the US contact for an Asian patent holder in minutes using Google Translate and international patent filings. He says he has an 80% chance of finding the cell-phone number of your competitor’s main contact with Walmart in 5 minutes.

If I ever leave this job, I’ll do that job. I love a good google challenge. The opposite of the ease with which he can get the information, is the ease with which companies and employees (including you) give it out. Most people I meet could do with be a lot more taciturn – especially the young lady I met recently at a spa. In 5 minutes I knew about the owner’s bitter divorce, who owned what building and their financial difficulties with keeping the business going. Ooops.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201302/george-chidi/confessions-of-a-corpora...

Onboarding

wendii — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:36:52 +0000

Mark and I have every intention of writing a series of casts on onboarding. Until that happens, please, please don’t use two services I read about this month in Inc (not available on line). The description of the Allaboard service in Inc says, ‘All about lets new hires log on to view company videos and slide shows and earn prizes by answering trivia questions’.

First, is this really a suitable way of onboarding all your hires? I can imagine that they’ll say it’s aimed at Gen Y, but the smart, driven young people I know, know that you don’t play games at work.

Second, it hands off one of the most important times in the relationship between the manager and the new direct. Why would you want to hand that relationship to a computer game? Manager, it’s your job to onboard your new hire. Direct, you should be able to expect your manager to do this.
I hope this is just a trendy idea which will go away soon. Until then, I recommend you ignore it.

Career Crisis

wendii — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 01:00:43 +0000

Mark and I recently talked about what to do to help someone when they know they’re about to be or have been laid off, so it was top of mind when I read an article about Mayor Bloomberg, the mayor of New York.

In it, he was asked a question about how he reacts to promotions and firing and he says: “I always had a policy: If it’s a friend and they get a promotion, I don’t bother to call them; I’ll see them sometime and make a joke about it. If they get fired, I want to go out to dinner with them that night. And I want to do it in a public place where everybody can see me”.

He goes on to say that he can remember the name of every person who called when he was fired, and none from when he was promoted.

Your friends need you when they’re in crisis. Are you willing to be seen in public with them, even if your profile isn’t as high as Mayor Bloombergs? Are you willing to go over with pizza and sit on the sofa and listen to them rant? Are you letting yourself off the hook too easily?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/11/the-bloomberg-way/30...

June Conferences Now Open for Registration

Dani Martin — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:39:15 +0000

We're happy to announce that registration is now open for our Effective Manager and Effective Communications Conferences in Washington, DC on June 4 - 5, and Houston on June 18 - 19. Attend our Effective Manager Conference on day one or our Effective Communications Conference on day two. Discount offered when you attend both days!

We also have some seats available for our upcoming EMC and ECC in Sydney on May 13 - 14 and our EMC in Shanghai on May 16. If you're thinking about attending, don't wait! They are filling up quickly.

The cost for the EMC or ECC is $995 each for DC and Houston and 1250 AUD for Sydney. When you attend both the EMC and ECC, the cost is $1695 for DC and Houston and 2000 AUD for Sydney. The cost of the Shanghai EMC is 7880 CNY We guarantee it will be the best training experience of your life.

Here's a listing of ALL the Manager Tools Conferences, including our 2013 schedule.

If you have any questions or need assistance with registering for any conference, please email me (Dani) at customerservice@manager-tools.com. I'm happy to help any way I can.

We hope to see you at an upcoming conference!

It's All About People

wendii — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:25:32 +0000

When you read a whole lot of different things all at once, themes start to jump out at you. I read 10-15 magazines at the weekend, and I kept seeing the same theme expressed by the successful people who were interviewed.

Phil Libin, the CEO of Evernote said: ‘Hiring people smarter than yourself is the long-term answer to your micromanagement problem’. An article about Chris Van Gorder who turned around 5 hospitals in California said: ‘First Van Gorder prioritized repairing staff relations’. David Farr, CEO of Emerson Electric says: ‘…Develop the best people around you. Never compromise with people'.

Geoff Colvin, looking at Fortune’s most admired companies remarks that: ‘Seven of the top 10 companies are a one-man phenomena’. He goes on to say that of the companies that have stuck around since the first Fortune list, only one is a one-man phenomenon. In another article, he lists the strategies that companies are using to keep on top through a tough economy: ‘They keep on developing human capital. Every company claims that ‘people are our most important assets,’ but few mean it’. He quotes Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM: ‘he liked to observed that calling IBM a hardware of software or services company was wrong in each case. “We’re a people company,” he said.’

Much as we might want to do it all ourselves, or shut ourselves in a box and not deal with other people – it really is all about people.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201303/phil-libin/why-hiring-people-smarter-...

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/28/news/companies/scripps-van-gorder.pr.for...

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/28/news/companies/emerson-electric-farr.pr....

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/28/news/companies/most-admired-companies.pr...

Who Knew?

wendii — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:26:52 +0000

I read a bunch of magazines at the weekend and it occurred to me that I really don’t think all that deeply. There was an article in Fortune about a company which grows turf and then sell it to football stadiums. It’s a $60bn a year industry that employees 800,000 people in the US.

I’ve seen turf arriving at people’s homes but it’s NEVER occurred to me that someone somewhere is growing that turf. In the Arizona and California deserts of all places! On the same page, there was an article about an insurance company which employees firefighters to take preventative action against wildfires. That’s smart. NEVER occurred to me that someone would be doing that either. There’s an article in Inc about dog sledding. It takes 15,000 Douglas Fir stakes (15,000!) to stake out a dog-sled race, and they have to be made by someone (a company called Stake Shop).

This is one of the reasons I read magazines. I might be deeper into a subject with a book, and more up to date with a blog, but I get breadth from magazines. If I only read books or blogs or magazines, I’d miss out. Reading all three means I get as much creative input as possible – and that gives me ideas which improve our business.

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/14/sod-west-coast-turf/

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/14/wildfire-protection-service...

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201303/nancy-averett/entrepreneurs-who-keep-...

Smiling

wendii — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:21:23 +0000

In our conferences we tell people that everyone gestures – even people blind from birth. Gestures aren’t related to what we see, they’re related to what we’re saying.

Over the weekend I read some research about smiling. The researchers looked at athletes at the Olympics and Paraolympics and measured their smiling. They found:

1. There is no difference between blind and sighted people’s expressions (they smile equally and at the same times).

2. Blind people are capable of ‘masking expressions’ just like sighted people, like smiling when they don’t win.

3. The results were consistent across the 23 countries they looked at.

Which goes to show that people are people, whatever their ‘personality’. And, the Wendii curve stands ☺

http://davidmatsumoto.com/content/2009MatsumotoandWillinghamJPSP.pdf

Lateness

wendii — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:17:06 +0000

In an article in Entrepreneur Ross McCammon says “We decide not to be on time (and it is always a decision) the message isn’t, I’m too busy. The message is, I don’t respect this meeting enough – I don’t respect the people waiting for me in the meeting room enough – to do the easiest thing in the world: just show up”.

In the same way ‘I’m triple-booked’ just says, ‘I can’t manage my time and priorities’ not ‘I’m so important’. Worse, lateness breaks down trust, and that does the opposite of what we’re always asking you to do: build relationships.

One of my favorite ways to look at this, and I can’t remember where I first read it, is to ask yourself, ‘What would a Navy Seal do?’. Do you think they’re late for meetings? Do they have donuts? Do they have an agenda, and do they finish on time? Oh yeah. Be in middle school again, and pretend you’re a Navy Seal going to every meeting this week. What difference does that make to whether you’re late or not?

http://entrepreneur.coverleaf.com/entrepreneur/201302?pg=23#pg23

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/12/navyseal-movie/

Multi-tasking Again

wendii — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:23:28 +0000

It seems surprising that there are still articles written about multi-tasking. I thought that we’d all accepted that we can’t multi-task. However, in December’s Entrepreneur magazine, there was another article, letting us know, that no, nothing has changed, and we still can’t multi-task.

There was one line that helped me understand the problem differently though: “When you’re on the phone and writing an e-mail at the same time, you’re actually switching between them, since there’s only one mental and neural channel through which language flows”.

As a person who can’t pat her head and rub her tummy at the same time, it makes perfect sense to me that I have only one channel for words in my head, and it can only be used for one task at once. Even though I’d already accepted I can’t multi-task, the article was still useful. “Einstein”, it says “was not multi-tasking when he was dreaming up the special and general theories of relativity”.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224943

Asking Questions

wendii — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:57:49 +0000

In an article in Success Magazine, there is some guidance on how to ask questions to speakers in presentations. It says: express your reservations or ask your questions in a respectful, non-confrontational way. In other words, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Don’t mutter, “That’s never going to work.”

So half of you reading this are thinking ‘well, duh!’. But I have seen the people ask speakers questions which are clearly critical or hostile. And I’ve done it when I’ve called a service provider and I’m already in a bad mood. I start with a question which I know will show them in a bad light.

I never get good results when I start a conversation that way. I never see speakers and questioners get good results when they start that way. No matter how much the person you’re speaking to has irritated you, begin in a kind and gentle way. Ask a genuine question, not one designed to start a fight. You’ll get better results that way.

http://www.success.com/articles/1991----work-wars

Courage

wendii — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:16:22 +0000

There was an article in Bloomberg Businessweek recently about Ford’s transfer of CEO power. The part that caught my eye was a description of the Thursday morning meets that CEO, Alan Mulally, instigated. Each of his top managers were to report on their initiatives using the red/amber/green method. The article says that some time went by with every one of the managers reporting green.

Eventually, Mark Fields, head of the North American business showed a red. Alan’s reaction was perfect in this situation: he clapped. “The applauding CRO offered praise: “Great visibility Mark. … Is there anything we can do to help you?”

There’s three things I took from this. First, a professional does not report green when the actual status is red. Yes, you could lose your job for reporting red. Yes, your job is to perform and get results. Your professionalism and sense of ethics is more important than that. Second, every one, even someone as far up the organization as Mark Fields has red issues. Third, if your team is frightened of reporting red, you don’t know what’s really going on. You need to be positive and encourage candor when it comes.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-15/fords-slow-motion-ceo-su...

Engagement

wendii — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:54:41 +0000

An article in Bloomberg Businessweek discusses the happiness of different countries following a study which asked about different measures of satisfaction. Whilst the countries which were happy and sad was interesting, most interesting to me was that the global average for people being engaged at their jobs is 11%.

Really? 11%? If that is true (and I haven’t seen the original research), that’s horrifying. The meme of the last 10 years has been ‘follow your passion’. Is no-one doing that? And even if they’re not – and I don’t believe everyone can – are they not at least finding some satisfaction in a job well done?

Are they not getting enough feedback to know how well they’re doing? Are they not get coaching to increase their skills? Are they not developing relationships at work? Are they not being delegate to stretch them? Apparently not. Manager Tools and Career Tools has more to do than we ever knew.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-20/singapore-confronts-an-e...

Risky Behavior

wendii — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:19:27 +0000

An article in Wired about near misses in accident research says ‘Studies have shown that the more often someone gets away with risky behavior, the more likely they are to repeat it; there is a sort of invincibility complex”. There’s a ‘I got away with this time, I’ll get away with it next time’ thought in our heads which leads us to continue the risky behavior.

Common sense tells us that if we continue to cross the road against the red light, eventually we may well get hit by a car. Somehow we don’t apply that to our work. In my experience, I’m often ready to be finished and move on, and I don’t hotwash my own actions, even though I know reviews and checklists for the future are helpful.

One way to get round this is to add ‘hotwash’ to your project plan. The project isn’t done until the hotwash is done AND the findings have been added to your checklist for the project the next time. Whether it’s a simple hour long job you do each week or a five year project, making sure that you don’t take unnecessary risks next time is an important part of the project.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/08/st_essay_close_calls/

Stupid questions

wendii — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:15:35 +0000

In a recent interview with Alan Greenspan, two journalists asked him the question: “Before you were a professional monetary policy person, you were a professional saxophonist. What are the similarities between the two professions?’. Mr Greenspan’s answer was ‘Virtually none’. Which was a pretty clear answer. As my mother used to say ‘ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer’.

This made me think of stupid interview questions I’ve heard. In my previous job, I usually sat in with a hiring manager and sometimes I really couldn’t convince them not to ask a stupid question. Or they asked without warning and, since they were my customer, I couldn’t kick them under the table, no matter how I wanted to.

The worst thing about a stupid question is not really that you get a worthless answer. It’s that you missed the opportunity to ask a worthwhile question and get a worthwhile answer. It’s not just a wasting something you have, it’s wasting something you could have had too. Don’t waste limited time in an interview on stupid questions. Use the Interview Creation Tool!

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-09/alan-greenspan-on-his-fe...

Optimization

wendii — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:25:18 +0000

I’ve kept an article from Bloomberg Businessweek since April last year. It describes the work that a private equity company does in order to maximize the efficiency of a plant it bought before selling it on.

Whilst there is a great deal of emotion around what private equity firms do, that’s not what interested me about this article. The journalist went to the plant and helped in the two week boot camp, where the company applies Kaizen to the operation.

The results are startling. The on-time delivery rate increased from 72% to 96%. The time to build is a quarter of the industry average. Sales are up 19%. How did they do that? Simple things: sort, straighten, sweep, standardize, sustain. Reduction in movement that doesn’t increase value – for example, increasing the height of a keyboard so that the person standing up doesn’t have to bend over to type.

It makes me wonder what else I can do. My printer is at arms length from me, and my filing cabinet too. I have a quick note book and a few pens on my desk. My O3 notebooks are there too. Nothing else. But my phone lies on my desk, and when it’s charging, I can’t see it. Maybe a stand and charger would help. My files are on dropbox, but they’re messy and I take some time to find what I’m looking for. Maybe an hour tidying up and archiving would increase my efficiency. Every think I do could be improved. I’m thinking… are you?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-26/my-week-at-private-equit...

Standard Progression

wendii — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:32:13 +0000

Adam Savage, the co-host of MythBusters describes how he learned to repair his car in an article in Wired magazine. He says: ‘Every repair followed the same progression: (1) I don’t know how, (2) I can’t afford to pay someone else to do it, (3) I have to do it, (4) hey, that wasn’t so hard!’.

It reminded me of the progression we all go through when we’re first delegated something: (1) I don’t know how, (2) I have to do it, (3) hey, that wasn’t so hard! There are some thing we’ll never understand. No matter how I try, I’ll never be good at calculus. But I have learned how to work out percentage change, by practice, practice and more practice.

The sub-heading of the article was: “The more complicated the project, the more potentially awesome the outcome – but first you need the courage to try”. In the early days of this new year, maybe it’s time to take on something new, knowing that at first it’ll be hard, and that with practice, it’ll get easier.

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/10/ft-savage-first-car/

Working Ahead

wendii — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:59:15 +0000

An article in the WSJ discussed the negotiations which are currently going on between dockworkers unions and several east coast and gulf ports. Apparently, an agreement is near, but the effect on retailers who import the goods we see in stores has been dramatic.

Not knowing whether there would be a strike in JANUARY, they rerouted to west coast ports and air in OCTOBER. At first, I couldn’t imagine having to make such a costly decision based on not knowing what would happen in 4 months.

And then I realized, I do it all the time. We don’t know how flight prices will change for Mark to visit Frankfurt, Shanghai and Sydney mid-year, but we’ve already making those decisions. I didn’t know how the fiscal cliff will affect the economy, but that didn’t stop me setting targets for Career Tools for 2013.

Sometimes, you just have to admit there is uncertainty, and make a decision with the knowledge you have now. You could be right, and you could be wrong, but not making a decision at all is almost always more costly than making one.

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732466910457820760274...

What you want…

wendii — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:14:13 +0000

A profile piece in September’s Fast Company about Maelle Gavet, the CEO of Russia’s largest e-commerce company has an interesting quote. She says “‘People keep saying, ‘We need more prioritization.’ I say, ‘Guys, what you want is less work. And that is not going to happen’”.

It reminded me of all the times I’d heard ‘prioritization’ as the solution to overwork at conferences. (The answer, if you haven’t heard it is delegation. Eventually, there’s no one to delegate to but the floor, and so the least important things don’t get done.)

In a growing, thriving organization, or even in a declining one, there will never be less work. If you’re getting less and less work, take it as a hint to work on your resume. There will always be more work than you have time to do. The trick is to work out how to be more effective and how to do what’s essential. And then to DO THAT first. The rest can wait. Sometimes forever.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3000043/jeff-bezos-russia

Unusual Places

wendii — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:59:38 +0000

In some magazines they have a bit where they show a reader holding up the magazine in unusual places. Outside the Taj Mahal or the White House or another famous building. Up a mountain or scuba diving. You get the idea.

I seem to have a new ability to spot people doing One on Ones in unusual places. Every article I read, One on Ones jump out at me. The latest is in an article about the Blue Man Group. Fortune’s October issue says ‘The associate directors… have weekly contact with Blue Man captains in each city’.

It seems like everyone has a reason not to do One on Ones.. and for every reason they give, someone else has overcome it. So if you’re still not convinced, come to the forums. We’ll find someone with just the problem you’re trying to overcome who is ahead of you in solving that problem, and you can get started with the best practice you’ll ever start.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/02/smallbusiness/blue-man-group.fortune/ind...

Boring And Repetitive

wendii — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:04:45 +0000

We’ve said many times on Manager Tools that management is not simple, but it consists of simple actions. It’s not sexy, it’s boring and repetitive.

This was brought home to me by a quote on the letters page in September’s Inc magazine. Bennet Simonton, president of Simonton Associates says “My experience has taught me that if management meets the basic needs of employees to be heard and respected, and to have competence, autonomy, and purpose they will be more capable than anyone thinks possible”.

When I shared the quote with Mark he said ‘in the land of the blind, the one eyed man or woman is king’. Not only is good management not sexy, it is boring and repetitive AND it’s what gives you the edge you want.

Making Contact

wendii — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:34:33 +0000

The founder of Kayak was interviewed in an article in October’s Fortune, and one part struck me. Talking about recruiting he says: ‘The joke at Kayak is, if we have a business trip out of San Francisco, when the plane lands, my colleagues will say, “How many people did you hire on this flight?”’

It reminded me of Mark, who regularly gets emails from people he met on a plane, gave them his email address and they follow up. How does he do it? This is what I’ve learned from those emails. He really does follow our guidance on greeting people on planes.

He’s interested in people and what they do. He’s enthusiastic about what we do. He’s kind and helpful to the attendants and the people around him. He actually invites interaction.

If you’re finding it hard to build your network, think about the opportunities you have when there are lots of people around. Do you invite interaction, or do you have your ‘don’t talk to me’ face on? Are you really making the effort?

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/27/kayak-paul-english/

Whatever you're doing...

wendii — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:58:12 +0000

..do it well. Or as Muhammed Ali put it: “Whatever I’d a done, I’d a been the best at it, if I’d a been a trash man I’d a hauled more bins of trash than anyone else!” I was reminded of this by a piece in Fast Company’s October issue talking about Apple and Microsoft.

It said: One former top designer’…discovered at Apple ‘workers carefully loading boxes so the logos all faced the same direction. “I asked why and one guy explained that he loved the look on people’s faces when … he revealed all the boxes perfectly aligned.”’

I find, there’s a pride in a job well done which invigorates you. I know when I cut corners, and I know when I’ve worked hard. When I’m being half-assed, I know it, and I don’t feel good about it. Whatever you’re doing – be it photocopying or creating a 10 year strategy do it well – even if no-one else will ever know. You will.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670705/microsoft-new-design-strategy

Stupid Advice No. 1

wendii — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:25:38 +0000

From October’s Entrepreneur magazine an article entitled: “Accentuate the Negative”. ‘No’, it says ‘means more than just a rejection of a request; it means a rejection of the requester’. Huh? Really?

Sometimes, it feels like it, but every therapist I’ve ever spoken to has said that taking a rejection as a rejection of yourself, you set yourself up for issues. You are not your work, your ideas, or your request for a raise. You are a human being with value merely because you exist.

Worse, they suggest that the way to ameliorate the no is to say ‘Melinda, it sounds like you’ve thought lot about this. Your points are valid, but I just can’t see your vision right now. So I’m afraid the answer is no’. This is bad, for the same reason that adding words to negative feedback is bad – it makes the direct suffer through until you get to know what he knows is coming. It’s obvious. Just say no, rip the bandaid off and move on. It’s better for you and it’s better for the direct.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224368#

Changes To The Forums

wendii — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:09:49 +0000

We have rearranged the forums to make them easier to use. Don't worry, we haven't deleted anything - the full 6 year history is still there.

We've consolidated the categories, so it's easier for you to choose where you put your question and to find answers to similar questions.

To help you find things here's a list:

General questions and Comments now includes the FAQs, Finance and Accounting and International Management topics.

Manager Tools Conferences includes posts for both the Effective Manager and Effective Communications conferences.

The Manager Tools Trinity covers, as you would guess, One-on-Ones, Coaching, Feedback and Delegation.

Career Management is the new home of general career discussions, Influence and Persuasion, Communication, and Interviews.

Hiring includes both Hiring and Interviewing Others, as well as the Bench Success Stories.

Management and Leadership is where you'll also find the Project Management discussions.

All the other categories remain the same.

We know for those of you who have used the forums for a long time, it'll be an adjustment, but we hope that you'll find the new structure easier in time and that it'll be more intuitive for newcomers.

Podcast Awards - Manager Tools Wins Business Category

wendii — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 02:20:55 +0000

Last night we were delighted that Manager Tools won the People's Choice Podcast Award in the business category. It's the fourth time Manager Tools has won in this category and the whole team is thrilled that you, our listeners, voted for us again.

Mike, Mark, Maggie, Dani, Mytyl, Traci, Kate and Liza were all over the States making management and careers better for you, so Wendii accepted the award on their behalf in Las Vegas.

It's a privilege to serve you. It's a joy to work for you every day. We're delighted with your support. We thank each and every one of you for your nominations and your votes.

Thank you!

March Conferences Now Open for Registration

Dani Martin — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 03:44:24 +0000

We're happy to announce that registration is now open for our Effective Manager and Effective Communications Conferences in Orlando on March 5 - 6, Washington, DC on March 12 - 13 and Los Angeles on March 26 - 27. Attend our Effective Manager Conference on day one or our Effective Communications Conference on day two. Discount offered when you attend both days!

We also have some seats available for our upcoming EMC and ECC in London on January 28-29, 2013. If you're thinking about attending, don't wait! Both days are filling up quickly.

The cost for the EMC or ECC is $995 each for Orlando, DC and LA and £995 for London. When you attend both the EMC and ECC, the cost is $1695 for Orlando, DC and LA and £1695 for London – a $300 (or £300) savings. We guarantee it will be the best training experience of your life.

Here's a listing of ALL the Manager Tools Conferences, including our 2013 schedule.

If you have any questions or need assistance with registering for any conference, please email me (Dani) at customerservice@manager-tools.com. I'm happy to help any way I can.

We hope to see you at an upcoming conference!

What's Your Burning Management/Career Question?

wendii — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:25:50 +0000

We're compiling an FAQ for our new website. We'd love to make sure that it's answering your burning questions about management and careers. Please post them in the comments below and we'll make sure they get answered!

Need Help With Your Trinity Rollout?

wendii — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:15:24 +0000

Manager Tools now has a product to help you with the rollout of the Trinity.

Step by step instructions for your rolling out One-on-Ones, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation in an interactive email series. Over 100 emails over the course of six months.

We know that managers love the idea of the Trinity, but don't implement it. Many of you would like to attend a conference but you just can't. We've designed the Trinity Rollout Email product to answer that need for just $35. Manager Tools Licensees, you are entitled to this product as added value to your license. Please login to receive subscription instructions.

What You Get

100+ emails timed to your rollout
ALL of our guidance. ALL of it
- How to handle resistance
- When to start
- How long to go
- When to go slow, and when to speed up
A link on every email to allow you to ask ANY question you have
All the emails available at any time for you to look forward and look back

February Conferences Now Open for Registration

Dani Martin — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:50:49 +0000

We're happy to announce that registration is now open for our Effective Manager and Effective Communications Conferences in Chicago on February 5 - 6, San Francisco on February 12 - 13 and Atlanta on February 19 - 20. Attend our Effective Manager Conference on day one or our Effective Communications Conference on day two. Discount offered when you attend both days!

We also have some seats available for our upcoming EMC and ECC in London on January 28-29, 2013. If you're thinking about attending, don't wait! Both days are filling up quickly.

The cost for the EMC or ECC is $995 each for US locations and £995 for London. When you attend both the EMC and ECC, the cost is $1695 in the US and £1695 for London – a $300 (or £300) savings. We guarantee it will be the best training experience of your life.

Here's a listing of ALL the Manager Tools Conferences, including our 2013 schedule.

If you have any questions or need assistance with registering for any conference, please email me (Dani) at customerservice@manager-tools.com. I'm happy to help any way I can.

We hope to see you at an upcoming conference!

January Conferences Now Open for Registration

Dani Martin — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:59:07 +0000

We're happy to announce that registration is now open for our Effective Manager and Effective Communications Conferences in Newark on January 8 - 9 and Dallas on January 22 - 23. Attend our Effective Manager Conference on day one or our Effective Communications Conference on day two. Discount offered when you attend both days!

We also have some seats available for our upcoming EMC and ECC in London on January 28-29, 2013. If you're thinking about attending, don't wait! Both days are filling up quickly.

The cost for the EMC or ECC is $995 each for Newark and Dallas and £995 for London. When you attend both the EMC and ECC, the cost is $1695 for Newark and Dallas and £1695 for London – a $300 (or £300) savings. We guarantee it will be the best training experience of your life.

Here's a listing of ALL the Manager Tools Conferences, including our 2013 schedule. We continue to add locations, including international cities, for 2013.

If you have any questions or need assistance with registering for any conference, please email me (Dani) at customerservice@manager-tools.com. I'm happy to help any way I can.

We hope to see you at an upcoming conference!

Podcast Awards!

wendii — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:01:34 +0000

The Podcast Awards are here, and we'd like you to nominate Manager Tools at www.podcastawards.com in the business category and for the People's Choice.

There are two periods during the Podcast Awards process - Nominations, and then Voting. The Nominating period has already started. This is where folks like yourself nominate podcasts to be considered for the awards. Once nominations are complete, the top nominees are then put on the list for actual awards voting.

Now is the time to nominate your favorite casts in all the categories on the front page of the Podcast Awards, in a one time only submission. Nominations close on October 15th. Voting will open around 1 Nov, and if we've been nominated you'll be able to vote every day for the awards. For Manager Tools you'll need to type the podcast name in the business category and copy this url into the url space: http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/feed/rss2.

We don't ask you because we like winning awards (thought it's nice, we like hearing from individual managers more). We ask because, as you know, our mission is to reach as many individual managers and professionals as possible and help them be more effective. The Podcast Awards help us reach more people. We want everyone to know about and benefit from Manager Tools, and we'd be honored by your nomination.

We'll remind you when voting starts so you don't have to remember that part now. Once again, that's www.podcastawards.com.

Your nomination helps us fulfill our mission. Thank you for taking the time to nominate us.

December - and London! - Conference Open

Dani Martin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:25:15 +0000

We're happy to announce that registration is now open for our Effective Manager and Effective Communications Conferences in Washington, DC on December 4-5. Attend our Effective Manager Conference on day one or our Effective Communications Conference on day two. Discount offered when you attend both days!

We also have some seats available for our upcoming EMC and ECC in London on January 28-29, 2013. If you're thinking about attending, don't wait! Both days are filling up quickly.

The cost for the EMC or ECC is $995 each for DC and £995 for London. When you attend both the EMC and ECC, the cost is $1695 for DC and £1695 for London – a $300 (or £300) savings. We guarantee it will be the best training experience of your life.

Here's a listing of ALL the Manager Tools Conferences, including our 2013 schedule.

If you have any questions or need assistance with registering for any conference, please email me (Dani) at customerservice@manager-tools.com. I'm happy to help any way I can.

We hope to see you at an upcoming conference!

Are Resumes Going Away?

wendii — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:26:05 +0000

Recently, I read an article in CNN about the good old paper resume becoming obsolete and basically being replaced by media presentations and social networking sites. It talked about a hiring manager in NY who asked two potential hires to make a video about themselves and answer two basic job related questions... I found it a bit strange and frankly was sad. Not that I am an old timer, I'm up to speed with most social networking sites and media (Facebook, LinkedIn, You Tube, etc..) but still find "pride" behind a hand shake and handle my "old paper resume". What's your take? Do you feel paper resumes are now a thing of the past?

Here's a copy of the link in case you haven't seen it: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/11/tech/social-media/facebook-jobs-resume/index.html?iref=allsearch

Paper resumes are how it's done. Video is talked about, but is not gaining any traction. There is no evidence paper resumes will disappear in the next 10 years. Imagine this headline: Resumes continue to be used in 95% of companies. Not very exciting huh? Change - and frightening change for many people - makes news.

Resumes aren't going away any time soon. Even if they did, because a meteorite hit the earth, it's still useful for you to create a resume. It helps you work out how to cohesively describe your role - which bits are important and which bits are not. It helps you think about your accomplishments and why they are important.

If you send someone a link to your resume or bio on line, you're hoping that the a) the site it up, b) it displays the same way on their computer as it does yours and c) no changes have been made to the format since you last looked.

It took 500 years for resumes to be created from verbal and letters of recommendation. Resumes are not going to be eliminated in the next 10.

International Assignments

wendii — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:04:40 +0000

Something different - we received this question about internationalization from a listener, and since it's a questions we believe has relevance to many, we're answering it here on the blog.

What's your take on globalization? Are we Americans now "forced" to become global minded professionals considering the growing competition and outsourcing demand? It seems that if you want to be noticed and climb up the ladder, you would need to have at least one international assignment these days... What's your opinion?

If you are given the opportunity to have an international assignment we recommend you do so. You're not 'forced'. You don't HAVE to take it. All things being equal (which they never are) your career will benefit. You will hurt your career if you refuse repeatedly, but you still don't HAVE to go.

Companies have always valued the broadening of experience and understanding that an international assignment will give you. An awareness of the world outside your door is important. If you can take an international assignment do. You'll either decide you love it, and move heaven and earth to do it again (I did!) or you'll hate it and be grateful for what you have at home. And that's okay too. You don't have to love what you find, just know it's there.

If it's not possible for you to go aboard (for family or other reasons), there's other ways to internationalize your resume. There are three things we recommended in our 2008 cast:

First, look at your ORGANIZATION. Ask what its global reach is. Think about what your division or company does. If it has offices or sells products in multiple countries or continents, make sure that is mentioned in the responsibilities portion of at least one of the jobs you have held in that firm. Second is TEAMWORK or PROJECTS. If you have worked on a team or a project whose purpose serves a country other than the one you are in, make sure to mention that project. And finally, PEOPLE. If you’ve worked with a diverse – meaning in this case international – workforce, particularly as peers, or as your team members, make note of that diversity in your responsibilities. It might read as “Managed 9 financial specialists from 3 different continents working on complex financial legal transactions.” Even THAT can be a tip off to a question regarding your interest or abilities in serving in an international or foreign capacity.

Stupid Advice We Read

wendii — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:57:05 +0000

Mark and I keep talking about starting a column called 'Stupid Advice We Read'. It came up yet again, when I read in an article in Businessweek: "Once a resume is created, job seekers can submit hundereds of applications online with zero or minimal extra cost. The problem is that companies have responded with crude filtering devices, so many of those resumes remain unread. "Technology allows [companies] to search for keywords. And if applicants don't use the right keyword in their resume, they won't make the list".

This is stupid. First, the filtering devices are bad. That's true. So, as a recruiter, you leave the search criteria open and scan 400 or more resumes looking for what you want. And, when you've had some practice, you can do that pretty quickly and pretty accurately. So resumes aren't not being read for that reason.

Second, the keywords you use are pretty generic. If you're a project manager and your resume doesn't say 'project manager' or 'project management' somewhere on it, then yes, you need to think about keywords - but how many does that apply to? Less than 0.01% I'd guess. If you're an Oracle 9i guy you have 'Oracle 9i' on your resume. You have to, in order to describe what you do.

Instead of worrying about keywords and recruiter searches, create a great resume which showcases what you do and how well you do it. You'll be found. Use the extra time and energy to engage with your network. They are the people most likely to help you find a job anyway.