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Career Advice from Beyonce Knowles

Million dollar image advice:It's yours free, won't cost you much to apply in your life (starting today), and it comes from a real millionaire: Beyonce Knowles.

Recently, the Associated Press reported that Beyonce has learned to be "photo ready" at a moment's notice. How does she do it? In her purse, she keeps several different pairs of sunglass, a couple of pairs of nylon stockings,  plus a pair of dressy slip on shoes. This allows her to dress-up, or change her entire look, in just a few minutes.

Sure, she's a pop star, but wouldn't it be smart if you could update your look in 5 minutes because the big boss, a big client or an old friend just showed up?

I keep an electric razor in my desk drawer, a clean shirt (covered with a plastic bag) behind my office door, and a comb in my back pocket. I used the razor this morning because I over slept. I used the shirt recently when I forgot I had to leave work and go to a board meeting out of town, and the comb, well, my hair is so fine that when a butterfly flaps his wings in Argentina, I need to call John Edwards' hair stylist.

It's not sucking up to look professional at work. After all, do you want people to think you look like a zombie, or more like a million bucks?

 

The 100% Job Interview

If you want to ace that next job interview, I suggest you do it the easy way--by being 100% committed. Whether it is a job interview, or a marriage, being 100% committed is easier, much easier, than being half-in and half-out. If you are married, being "100% In" means you are not wasting time and energy thinking about other people because you will not be having a fling, a hook up or an affair. It's just not an option. For a job interview, it means giving 100% of your attention to the job at hand--making a good impression and learning about the new job.

To be 100% committed to an interview means you will, without a doubt, be there early. Using MapQuest.com, and spending $10 on a real map, and listening for traffic reports on the radio as you drive, and even getting there a full hour early (if you have any doubt about the travel time) is perfectly normal behavior for someone who is 100% committed to being at the interview early.

Being All In for your job interview means focusing on the people you meet. It includes, turning your cell phone off, not just the ringer, but the whole darned thing. If there is someone you love who is so ill that you feel you must keep your mobile phone on, you should probably ask to reschedule the interview. There is no other acceptable excuse for taking, or making, a personal call during a job interview. I know that if someone really wants to talk to me, they won't be taking phone calls, answering pages, text messaging or checking their e-mail.

If you are 100% committed to making a good impression, you will do your homework. It is perfectly normal for someone who is All In to look up the company they are visiting by name on ThomasNet.com. You might then search by product, and see if you can figure out who would be the company's closest competitors.  Being committed means dressing appropriately. Wear sneakers only if you will be working in shorts. Wear a three piece suit if you will be working in a profession like banking, insurance or education. Smart, 100% committed, job hunters don't just wear whatever is clean, they think about the impression they want to give and dress to impress.

Someone who is 100% committed to a job interview has the right attitude. I've seen the "I'm too good for this job" attitude in factory workers and vice presidents. Blue collar or white collar, that type of attitude looks boorish on anyone. When an interviewer is delayed by pressing business, someone who is committed to the interview will wait for them. Your time is not so valuable that you can't wait an extra hour while the personnel director or CEO handles a crisis.

Someone who is all-the-way committed to doing a job interview doesn't have any reason to beg or worry. As one of my work friends likes to say, "I needed a job when I started here, and I'll need a job when I leave." It's good to remember that most of the people interviewed will not be hired, so you might as well relax and have a good time. Take a chance and smile--it makes people wonder what you've been doing. Switch things up a little and ask the interviewer a couple of tough questions. Based on your skills and their needs, maybe you are interviewing for the wrong job. Your prospective employer will never know what you can do for them if you are so tense you can't make friends, smile and show them who you really are.

After all, a job interview is kind of like a blind date: if you aren't 100% committed to making a good impression while still being you, you might as well stay home. So I say, if you want to ace your next job interview, go All In, do it with 100% gusto, put every piece you've got into the game, lay your cards on the table, and see what the other player has in his hand. Life's a lot more interesting that way, and your odds of being hired are better too.

The Secret to Getting Any Job You Want

I was at an adoption conference in Greensboro, NC, listening to a speaker talk about multi-cultural adoption. He was black (I'm white), and this speaker said that his momma taught him that women would judge who he was as a man starting with his shoes. "A self-respecting man wears nice shoes," his mamma said. Sure enough, this successful entrepreneur was wearing shiny, black, dress shoes, slacks and a sporty golf shirt. Lots of men would wear that same outfit with sneakers and it just wouldn't have given the same impression. That's when I realized, you can get any job in America if you do one thing: You must wear shiny, black shoes.

You could probably get hired to pack chicken eggs wearing dirty, brown, suede work boots. After all, packing eggs is about as low-skilled a blue collar job as you are likely to find in America. If that's all you ever want to do, save your money and wear whatever shoes you happen to have. But you could get the same job, probably at a higher hourly rate, and with much better chances for advancement, wearing shiny black work shoes. Nice work shoes make you look like the kind of person who cares about doing a good job, no matter what the job is. It is not a long journey from egg packer, to egg farm manager, to egg company owner, but only if you wear shiny black shoes.

How about a restaurant management trainee? You might be able to get through a job interview in flip flops, but if the next young lady has shiny black shoes, she'll get hired first. Why? Because flip flops make you want to wear short shorts, or ripped jeans and a tube top. Shiny black shoes make a girl want to wear a skirt, a blouse with a collar and some jewelry. Which person do you think is going to take pride in her fast food uniform? Which woman is more likely to get hired at the best restaurant in town? Which woman is more likely to become the regional manager for a large restaurant chain?

But wait, surely sports stars can get hired wearing sneakers. Heck, they get PAID to wear sneakers! Yeah, they get paid to wear sneakers on the court, but wearing sneakers to negotiate a multi-million dollar endorsement deal could cost you a million dollars or more. Why? Because if you wear sneakers and a jogging suit, business managers will assume you are an ignorant jock who will roll over at the first bone they throw your way. They will low ball you, and you'll have to fight for every penny. Shiny, black dress shoes make a sports star want to wear an expensive suit that says, "My lawyers can beat up your lawyers!" That gets respect, and a better opening bid. Easy money.

So, start practicing now. Wear shiny black shoes to every job interview and performance review. Let those shoes dictate the rest of your outfit as appropriate. Be friendly, make small talk and send thank you notes afterward. Use a little creativity, and you'll see that you can still be completely you, even when you look nice.

Team Building--Choose the Right People

Having the right people on your team makes a difference. For example, The Iraq Study Group (a team made up almost exclusively of American politicians) just published a major bi-partisan report with their top recommendations on what the U. S. should do about The Troubles in Iraq. Any professional soldiers on that team? No. Anyone with experience introducing capitalism to third world countries? Nope. For goodness sake, were there any Iraqies on the team? Not that I know of. So, are any of you surpised that this group of Washington insiders came up with suggestions that sound exactly like the same things we've been hearing from Washington insiders for the last 3 years? I don't think so.

If you want a solid team to take your group, company or organization in a new direction; if you have a tough problem you haven't been able to solve without a team; if you need to build momentum behind a change in corporate culture; well, you need a team with some strength, guts, pazzazz, diversity, skill, knowledge and wide ranging experience.

An Audit Schedule Makes You a Pizza Wizard

Imagine you make pizzas for a living. How would you like to have an almost preternatural ability to avoid problems, make your working life easier and keep your customers happy? You can, by setting a weekly audit schedule. Here’s how it works.

Tuesdays—You focus on safety. Are the knives sharp? Is the back door being kept locked? Are the floors free of trip hazards? Is the first aid kit full?

Wednesdays—You audit freshness. Is the stock being rotated? Does the food smell fresh? Is there any food out of date?

Thursdays—Cleanliness. Floor clean? Hands washed? Bathrooms and exterior looking good?

Fridays—Customer service audit. Are your internal customer (if you’re a pizza maker, that’s the wait staff) happy? Are the final customers (the ones buying the pizzas) happy? This is a good day to check-in with the boss (before the rush starts) and ask if there is anything he wants you to fucus on tonight.

Saturday—Personal relationships. Rules, ethics, checklists and techniques are important, but you still need to be around great people to succeed. Ask how people are doing. Check in with anyone who has been sick or has trouble at home. How are the hostesses doing? What’s going on with your suppliers? Who likes to talk about sports or stocks or babies?

In quality control, we call this an "audit schedule." You will probably find something that needs work in every area, every day. That’s normal. Just imagine the progress you can make by focusing your attention on each of these areas for 52 days every year. What could that type of focused effort be worth in your career? Could preventing a robbery help you? Are clean bathrooms important to customer loyalty? How much is a great rating from the health department worth?

As a quality manager, I’ve used an audit schedule for years. Ben Franklin's personal  audit schedule helped make him a success. Audit schedules, formal or informal, have helped me see steady improvement at every job I’ve every done. The district manager has one. Your manager has one. You can have one too. The point is to keep revisiting the key areas that affect your career success. Make you own audit schedule right now and use the comment tool below to share it with the other readers.

Sell Your Ideas at Meetings, Management Training Tip

As a new manager in training, Scott was at the planning meeting for the new restaurant opening. The problem was that when he opened his mouth, no one listened. So, Scott commented more often, even on topics he didn’t know much about, just to make his presence felt. It didn’t work. Scott spoke out louder. Now, he was getting a reaction, but the response was nasty looks and arched eyebrows. Crushed, Scott began to wonder if he was in the wrong line of work. If this has happened to you, that’s good! Being invited to the planning meeting demonstrates career advancement. With just a little work, you’ll start to gain influence as well. Start with these street proven tips.

1) Make a list of everyone’s name, associate that name with someone else you know by the same name. Then see if you can tell what color eyes everyone has. Sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it? Almost silly. But recognizing people’s faces and learning and using people’s names is vital. How can you motivate or sell your ideas to people you don’t even know?

2) Listen much more than you talk. Frankly, as a management trainee, you don’t know everything yet. You may not have much experience with the personalities or politics involved in this group. So, spend some time learning each player’s strengths, weaknesses, preferences and hot buttons.

3) Start commenting by agreeing with positions you support, rather than trying to take on more experienced rivals. By being positive, you show you are a team player who cares about results rather than power.

4) Enjoy yourself. Have a soda. Help pass out the papers. Smile and make a few jokes. People like to work with people they like. Life is too short to spend all your time clawing for influence when you could be having a great time too!

5) Don’t push your agenda until you have an agenda. Don’t struggle for influence when you have nothing to say. Otherwise, you will burn up all your “influence capitol” on fluff and be left with nothing when you come to an issue you really care about.

Try these suggestions for selling your ideas at your next management training meeting. Let me know how they work for you. Or, share your favorite technique or strategy for selling your ideas by using the comment tool, below.

Get a Raise: How To Ask Your Boss For More Money

Here is a great article by guest contributor Neen James. Neen is an Aussi living in America and loving it! She an author, speaker and seminar leader who helps people achieve amazing things in their work life. Here's what Neen had to say about asking your boss for a raise.

How many people do you know who think they deserve a pay rise, but are too scared to ask? You might even be one of those people! Why is it we are afraid to ask for what we believe we are worth? It’s time to stop worrying and start asking, but before you charge into your boss’s office give yourself the best chance of success with these helpful tips…then book that meeting with the boss.

Do an audit. Make a huge list of all your achievements in your current role. Think about where you add value to your organisation and how you have grown the business. List both demonstrable results such as statistics, sales figures, client testimonials and reports as well as those things that can be a little more difficult to quantify, such as improving staff morale.

Know what you’re worth. Find out what similar jobs to yours are paying in the market. Look at the same industry and other industries to determine what your market value is and what type of additional package benefits are on offer for similar roles.

Show Results to Bump Up Your Career

One of the best ways get the positive attention you need for career advancement, is to show results. It's a given that you should be the kind of person who gets results, but that doesn't mean anyone notices, does it?

Make it Visual for Career Development

So, take before and after photos. Track your progress with a checklist. Write-up a progress report. Take your raw numbers and make them into a bar chart, pie chart, line graph or table. It is not sucking up to make the results of your work more visual, more interesting and easier for your boss to read. That's just being a good communicator. Sure it takes a little extra time, effort and planning, but showing results can help you chart the path to your next raise.

PS
Shhh! Don't tell anyone else this, but tracking your results will also make you a better performer. You'll see where you are going wrong sooner, and get more chances to make course corrections when you track your own progress. Sharing with the boss is just a little extra something you can do to keep him happy. You and your people are the ones who benefit most from making results visible.

Change your Career DNA with Meditation

Could meditation be a secret method to "rewrite" your career DNA? The newest research on genetics points out that it's not just the DNA we have, but which strands of DNA are turned on or off that makes us who we are. Ethan Watters, writing in the November 2006 of Discover magazine, talks about experiments with fat yellow mice that should produce fat yellow babies, but by changing their diets and switching off the defective genes, these genetically altered mice produce normal sized brown offspring. While the science to prevent birth defects is years away, we can take this idea and use it in the workplace NOW!

Your Career Depends on Right Speech

Unless you start doing “it” today, all the goal setting, management retreats and quality checks in the world won’t save your company from a major stumble. "It" is right speech. As a quality manager, I like to imagine that if everybody does their job, and quality is high at every stage in the production process, I’ll enjoy a smooth operation and get satisfied customers as a result. But experience has taught me that a mean spirit can infect and poison the work place when people don’t watch what they say.

Mean comments by coworkers about managers, snide asides about other employees, managers who gossip about recently terminated employees, supervisors who don’t communicate managements intentions, unnecessary secrets, and people who just won’t listen are all examples of “wrong speech.” When you take a few sturdy seeds of discontent here, and add a bit of angry manure over the top, pretty soon you have the good workers quitting, everyone gossiping and such an uproar that the work starts to suffer.

How to Encourage Right Speech

You can plant seeds of right speeech by setting a good example. You will see things start to change when you only communicate in a spirit of cooperation and good will, and when you refuse to tell secrets about others or keep unnecessary secrets about yourself. You will find people much more willing to work with you when you show you care by listening without judging, by asking about other people's needs and by following up on your requests in simple, clear and straight forward ways. When you are impeccable in your speech, your team will learn to trust you, follow you, and work toward making a quality product once again.