Career

Greetings Friends and Fans,

Firstly, let me thank our sponsors, who help make every Culinary Connections event truly special and successful: our Presenting Sponsor Karolina Dehnhard of Budd Larner, PC, Christal McElroy and her colleague Allie Colman of EisnerAmper, LLP, Vince Egan of Benjamin Edwards and Gene Sower of Samson Media. Thank you for your continued support in connecting great people together.

And a special thanks to Leslie and Kurt Knowles and Chef Vince Raith of The Manor for entertaining us in the kitchen and spoiling our palates. I hope you take advantage of using some (or all) of the recipes which were curated especially for us during the holiday season and beyond! Have a look at The Manor’s website for more information on hours and special events at www.themanorrestaurant.com!

Thank you too, for your generous donations to The Community Food Bank of New Jersey. We have made the season brighter for many of those less fortunate than we.

Look at our list of attendees and check out pics on my Facebook page at either Susan Ascher OR The Ascher Group.

Here’s the list: Patent Attorney, Complex Litigation Attorney, Wealth Manager, Jeweler/ Gemologist, Chef, Event Planner, Real Estate Attorney, Real Estate Developer, Business Owner, CEO, Health and Wellness Coach, Pilates/Yoga Studio Owner/Fitness Instructor, Domestic Engineer, Engineer, Sales Professional, Realtor, Philanthropist, Banker, Beauty Consultant, Fashion Consultant, Professional Organizer, Accountant, and Executive Coach/ Business Strategist…and so many more!!! The best part of the whole thing, we did what we do best: eat, drink, connect, and HAVE FUN DOING IT!

SAVE THE DATE!

Our next event is Tuesday, January 26th at the award-winning four star Restaurant Serenade in Chatham. Stay tuned for details in my upcoming email blasts!

Also, if there is someone you would like me to add to my list and include in my communications, please send me their email address and I will invite them.

Thanks again for being my friends and fans! And in the spirit of the season, I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy New Year, and whatever you celebrate during this wonderful time of year!

Love,
Susan

3 Things You’ll Learn With a Career Coach

Finding a new career is daunting, especially in the current economic climate. For every job posting, there are dozens (sometimes hundreds) of applicants. How do you make your resume stand out? If you’ve been on a job hunt for a while with nothing to show for it, career coaching might be the best option for you.

What Should I Look for in Coach?

If you’ve decided to take the plunge and hire a career coach, the first thing you should look for is a clear online presence. Is his or her website clean, professional, and polished? Are there links to LinkedIn or Twitter? Are client testimonials available? If the answers are no, widen your search. If you expect a career coach to help you connect with potential employers, he or she should be engaged in the craft.

To determine if your career coach is really an expert, look for work outside of career coaching. Is he or she published? Does the individual give conferences or offer speaking engagements? This should help you narrow down the field of prospects and watch for any red flags.

What Can I Expect From Career Coaching?

Once you’ve selected a career coach, the actual work begins. Career coaches vary in their approach, but you should be able to determine whether your personal goals align with the goals of the program you’ve chosen. In general, you can expect these kinds of services from an experienced coach:

• A review of your resume and how to make it stand out.
• How to create a unique personal brand.
• Networking tips.
• Advice for nailing the interview.
• Improving your social media presence.
• Making your “elevator speech.”

What Kind of Coaching is Right for Me?

The kind of coaching you’re searching for depends on your unique needs. If you’re looking to stay away from corporate life and start your own business, you may benefit from Solopreneur coaching. This type focuses on building your brand, networking, and improving your social media presence to effectively start a career on your own terms as an entrepreneur.

On the other hand, if you find your career in a rut and your field is in sales, sales coaching might be the best option for you. Perfect for realtors, bankers, lawyers, accountants, and comparable professionals, sales coaching will teach you how to bolster your capital and pad your bottom line.

No matter what kind of coaching you choose, a qualified counselor will help you do the following things:

• Improve your self-awareness and help you determine which direction you’d like your career to go.
• Help you achieve clarity in your job search goals, so you aren’t applying to jobs that will be a time sink.
• Increase your career management skills, whether that’s public speaking and networking, or developing a successful sales strategy.

Are you still on the fence about whether to hire a career coach? Consider it this way: professional athletes often hire trainers and personal coaches on their way to making it to the most elite level of competition. If you think of a career coach as a guide to the highest possible level of your field, you may be willing to take the leap.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Career Coaching.

Additional Resources:

Should You Hire a Career Coach?
Why Should Job-Seekers Use a Career Coach?

Reverse Mentorship Is About Relevance, Not Ego

Communication among multi-generational employees can be complex. With as many as four generations working together, age differences and work sensibilities are bound to be varied. When you hear the word “mentor” or “coaching,” you may think of them as necessary tools to mobilize the younger generation to engage in the workforce.

However, sometimes older generations need mentoring, too, and it can come from an unlikely place: younger employees. Just as there are a multitude of skills older generations can teach younger ones, there is also some knowledge to be gained from the fresh outlook of millenial employees.

The Young Teaching the Old

This style of career coaching is called “reverse mentoring,” and it was made popular by the chairman and CEO of GE, Jack Welch. It serves as a useful tool to teach older employees a few tricks that they might not be able to pick up as easily on their own. Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast Company, realizes that employees in their forties and fifties may not have the same perspective on the future as the younger generation. Younger employees bring with them a fresh set of eyes and an expertise with rapidly evolving technology. Consider how reverse mentoring can help even the wiser generation:

They learn information they wouldn’t get from other places. The younger generation knows what’s hip and what’s trendy. They have new ideas and a fresh outlook, and they can teach the generation that came before how to recognize new ways of thinking.

The Millennial Perspective

Millennials are often better at explaining new technology to a generation that didn’t grown up with it. Online classes and tutorial websites are great for learning how to use new technology, but reverse mentoring provides a faster, hands-on approach. Millenials grew up using technology almost as an extension of themselves. If more veteran employees are struggling to use social media or other technology, the younger generation can provide one-on-one training.

Collaboration creates a fresh perspective. The differing viewpoints of each generation work fantastically together in this aspect. Reverse mentors bring creative new endeavors to the table, while traditional values temper creativity with practicality. Together, they can come up with well-balanced ideas to market new products or capture a new audience.

These two groups will feed off of each other’s energy. Just as veteran employees learn new perspectives and creative approaches from a reverse mentor, they millennials are learning tricks from those with years of experience. It’s a symbiotic relationship that strengthens employee engagement, and ultimately, the success of the company.

How to Do It Right

Reverse mentorship will only work if it’s executed properly. Any amount of hesitance or miscommunication on either side could send the whole thing into a downward spiral. The key is to balance two very different energies. While a reverse mentor might teach an employee with seniority how to use social media, the more senior employee may need to teach them how to maintain professionalism while using it. Emphasize the value of collaboration: new ideas, advanced skills.

CLICK HERE to learn about CAREER COACHING

Additional resources:

• Reverse Mentoring: What it is and Why it is Beneficial
• Reverse Mentoring: The Big Benefits to Learning From Younger Employees
• Why You Need a ‘Reverse Mentor’ at Work

The Ultimate Workplace Hazard: Communication Breakdown

The evolution of the workforce has reached a point that has never been seen before: four separate and very different generations of employees working together under one roof. While this can be great for combining traditional wisdom with fresh ideas, it can also lead to some performance disruptions.

Amidst the tech-savvy skills required for new jobs and the rash of changes, younger co-workers find themselves butting heads with older, established co-workers. Before the internet, nepotism was the largest disruptor to the career ladder. Today, technology changes the very nature of offices, job descriptions, and duties. Understandably then, most managers may have a problem with finding ways to get everyone to just get along.

Start with Communication

As with everything in life, communication is the keystone to a thriving living or work environment. In the office, however, the means through which you communicate are just as important, a fact made even more apparent with the differences in generations.

Each generation grew up communicating in different ways. Senior employees grew up with rotary phones, Baby Boomers value face-to-face conversations, and the youngest generation prefers e-mail, text, and social media. Providing your employees with multiple ways of communicating will encourage them to actually want to communicate.

Address the Dress Code

Differing generations also tend to disagree on formality within the work place. Baby Boomers, and even some Gen Xers, grew up in a time where suits and ties were required in the work place. A well-pressed suit and a firm handshake signaled a hardworking employee. Nowadays, younger generations have grown up in a casual atmosphere, where physical appearance doesn’t necessarily dictate work ethic.

To older generations, an informal atmosphere and casual dress may seem disrespectful. Get everyone on the same page as to what is acceptable attire in the workplace. If older employees know that casual dress is okay and should not be considered disrespectful, they may be a bit more accepting. Likewise, if younger employees understand where their older mentors are coming from, they’re much less likely to view them as stuffy and out-of-touch.

Understand Work Ethic and Motivation

All generations have different values and different motivations. Generally, senior employees are more work-driven because that’s how they were raised. Baby Boomers tend to work for personal growth and development. Gen Xers often see their careers as a series of challenges to overcome. And the youngest working generation, the millennials, are often categorized as people who simply work to pay the bills.

Digging deeper, the factors that actually motivate different generations to work vary just as much. While some generations are motivated by success and a job well done, others are motivated by flexibility and guidance. Once you understand the differences between work ethic and motivation, you can communicate with your employees based on their individual needs and encourage them to recognize each other’s.

Learn more about career strategies with CAREER COACHING. Click here.

Additional Resources:

• How To Communicate In The New Multigenerational Office
• Tackling the Challenges of the Multigenerational Workforce
• Leading the Four Generations at Work
• 8 Tips to Communicate With 4 Different Generations in the Workplace

Why Millennials Need Career Coaching

People known as millennials, those born in the late 1980s up to the 2000s, seem to be looking for a greater work-life balance than previous generations. They are motivated by different factors than the generation before, and much different factors than the Boomer generation, who will be entering retirement over the next few years.

Businesses need to keep up with changing career coaching trends. What worked for Baby Boomers will probably not work for millennials. Learning exactly what motivates a millenial and how businesses can cater to those needs will help make the most of their employees’ abilities.

The Work-Life Balance

An even balance between work and life is the top priority of most millenials, studies show. Nearly one third of surveyed millenials say that balancing their personal lives and their work duties has become a challenge over the past five years, and they want that to change. Almost half of all millenials are working more hours than previous generations, leaving very little time for personal responsibilities and family.

Millennials are actively seeking flexibility in where and how they work. In fact, most employees would be willing to take a pay cut if they were allowed to telecommute. This is important for a couple of reasons.

For one, millenials currently outnumber the amount of other generations of employees in the workforce. Additionally, turnover rates with millenials are high: if they’re not happy, they have no qualms about seeking employment elsewhere. Businesses can’t afford to lose money on high turnover rates.

What’s The Issue?

Baby Boomers and Generation X employees still set the standard for the way that companies are run. Many employees in these generations adhere to traditional values: less than half of Baby Boomers have a spouse who works full-time.

The remaining Boomers have spouses that either don’t work at all, or work part-time jobs. This means that someone is always there to take care of personal responsibilities and family duties. It seems that there is a gap in understanding the problems that plague today’s workforce.

How Do We Fix It?

Technology and coaching. More and more employees are able to work from home and are more than willing to do so. One of the top reasons millenials quit jobs is because of a lack of flexibility. Millenials want a flexible work option, but they also desperately want to make a real difference in the workplace.

Career coaching is designed to find what motivates employees and build upon it. Many millenials are not familiar with their soft skill set and don’t know how to identify their strengths. When they’re not given the motivation they need to succeed or can’t identify the skills needed to get there, they look for something else.

At the end of the day, most millenials want a little bit of guidance, a lot of flexibility, and the opportunity to express their strengths. If you can give them that, they will reward you with talent and resourcefulness.

Click here to learn more about Career Coaching.

Additional Resources:

• Millennials want a work-life balance. Their bosses just don’t get why.
• Millennials Want Work-Life Balance Too. Here’s How They Can Get It
• Millennials value greater flexibility, appreciation, team collaboration and global opportunities

Oprah announced this past Tuesday that she is moving her Harpo (Oprah spelled backwards) Studios in the West Loop of Chicago to her OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) studios in West Hollywood, California. Her good friend and CBS news anchor, Gayle King, commented by saying that when she told Oprah it was “so sad”, Oprah’s response was simply: “ONWARD.”

So when you leave your job, voluntarily or not, ONWARD. Take it as the silver lining in the cloud. The old “one door closes and another one opens”.

When American Express parts ways with Costco, it’s not the demise of either firm, it’s just a new beginning and a business decision for both.

When the client you have done business with for the last ten years is sold, well, it happens. Go on and find a new one. Or two. ONWARD.

And when your firstborn goes off to college. ONWARD. For her AND for you. Think of all the things you never had time to do for yourself and embrace the possibilities.

There are so many changes still to come for all of us. How we view change is a choice. Is it an opportunity for renewal or a roadblock? Is it an opportunity for success or failure?

Or do we get a little inspiration from the woman who spent twenty-five years building one iconic studio, only to close it and move ONWARD in another? No wonder Oprah’s life is a testament to success, change and renewal. She is always moving ONWARD. So should we!

Wikipedia defines touch points as business jargon for any encounter where customers and business engage to exchange information, provide service, or handle transactions.

Me? I define a touchpoint as that unique, special moment in time when you have the opportunity to make a super, uber, meaningful connection with another human being, be they friend, family, client or customer.

Let me give you a few examples.

You are a partner in an accounting firm smack in the middle of signing off on a financial statement which is due by 5 pm today. In walks one of your Senior Managers, asking if you have five minutes so he can (as he is jumping for joy) tell you about the new client he is about to sign on. Do you tell your employee you are too busy? Working on a deadline? Or do you stop what you are doing for a few minutes to congratulate him, tell him how excited you are, and that you want to sit down with him as soon as you finish your project? If it is the latter response, you have just experienced a touchpoint with your employee. Taking that extra minute or two for the “attaboy (or girl)” pays dividends in employee loyalty and engagement, over the long haul.

These potential opportunities occur in every day life as well. Recently I was on a flight to Denver when I recognized the flight attendant in my cabin. Darnelle! I exclaimed. Is that you? She couldn’t believe I remembered her from a previous trip. Next thing I knew, she was offering me complimentary drinks and food, and I was signing my newest book, my gift to her for her thoughtfulness. Just like the partner in the accounting firm and his manager, I had experienced a touchpoint with Darnelle.

The moral of the story? Touchpoints are the fleeting moments which become opportunities to show someone that they are important; they are the emotional moments we are presented with, to comfort or compliment someone who has just experienced pain or joy in their life; and they are the meaningful, small ways in which we demonstrate how we understand our customers and clients, how we value our family and friends, and how we touch others and let them know that they are special.

Next time you are presented with a touchpoint, take an extra minute or two to recognize it. You might be just be surprised at the connection you can make, and the outcome you derive.

Tell me about the last touchpoint you experienced, and how it made YOU feel!

There they go again: A-Rod and Lance, two of the dopiest athletes on the planet. Lying. Changing their stories. Lying some more. Changing the “facts” (and I use the term “facts” loosely). Lance having to pay up for his perjury. And A-Rod writing his handwritten note of apology. (Another joke. If that is his actual handwriting, he may have a career in calligraphy in the offing if all else fails). Fifty shades of lying.

I could barely make it through Fifty Shades of Grey, the first book,let alone the second or third. Unless someone strong arms me (you’ll excuse the pun) I probably won’t see the movie. Point is, Christian Grey can have his fifty shades of whatever. As a former boss of mine once said when I told I him I loved cold calling (and everyone else hated it): “one man’s (or woman’s) pleasure is another man’s (or woman’s pain). And therein lies the truth.

Christian Grey is a fictional character, but Lance and A-Rod, once real life icons, not so much.

In his latest lie, Lance Armstrong has pleaded guilty to careless driving for hitting two parked cars with his SUV in Aspen. His girlfriend, also a liar, said she was driving when she was not, in order to take the fall for him. This fact courtesy of a St. Regis hotel doorman who saw him driving the car. Liar, liar, pants on fire. And your nose is looking a little longer too.

A-Rod’s and Lance’s actions and words were nothing more than was straight up lies. In the end, there is no such thing as fifty shades of truth. You see, when it comes to telling the truth, there are no shades of gray. You either doped or you didn’t. If you did, tell the truth. If you didn’t, tell the truth. Either you were behind the wheel, or your dopey girlfriend Anna Hansen was. Tell the truth.

The truth may hurt,(okay, allow me just one more pun) but it’s still the truth. And honesty, as the saying goes, is still the best policy.

Christian may be able to live in world of fifty shades of gray, but for the rest of us, A-Rod and Lance included, life is just a little more black and white, especially when it comes to telling the truth.

Oxford Dictionary defines misremembering as remembering imperfectly or incorrectly. And Merriam-Webster defines conflation as “blend, fusion; especially :a composite reading or text”.

Brian Williams, the once iconic pillar of journalism, the last bastion of truth, justice and The American Way, the preppie scholar and boy next door, the guy in whom we put our trust, the guy we believed hailed to a higher standard, deceived us. Not only us, he deceived his superiors. He deceived the brave men and women who actually are shot at and have to deal with the reality of those circumstances every day, as defenders of our freedom. And then there are those closest to him: his friends, his family and his colleagues. He deceived us all.

In the last couple of days, we sadly come to find out, courtesy of Travis Tritten of Stars and Stripes, that Mr. Williams has been conflating his story for years. Last I counted, about twelve. Since 2003. Hard to swallow.

And to their credit, Comcast, NBC and the powers that be moved swiftly to put him on a 6 month hiatus. In my world I call it putting him out to pasture. A respected reporter, a pillar of truth in airwaves, and one of the last icons of journalism in this country, Mr. Williams put aside his once stellar ethics, misremembered his story, and conflated the truth.

And POOF! He is gone.

The moral of the story?
1. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
2. Misremember is not a word you want to have in your vocabulary.
3. Conflation chastens.

The fall from grace is hard. Who knows what will be in store for Mr. Williams? Only time will tell if his superiors will misremember him.

Let me know what you think will happen next in your comments.

Today’s blog comes in advance of a week’s vacation for yours truly. I am coming off an awesome 2014 and a whirlwind of HOLIDAZE. All good stuff but I need to unplug, chillax and have a nice glass of wine in front of a roaring fire with the snow-capped mountains my only distraction. Then when I return, I can come out re-charged, re-created and re-imagined.

Do you honestly think I won’t have a few calls here and there? That I will cancel my 4 am call to my London client next week? That I won’t be formulating bigger and better plans for all of you? That I won’t be thinking about the title for my next book for the Dude, Seriously trilogy? Of course I will. But I will be doing it in a calm, serene venue with few distractions, regularly scheduled snowshoes and workouts, and lots of down time with family and friends. I don’t owe it only to you. I owe it to myself, so that I can continue to grow with all the people that matter to me and my business. This is not a frivolous luxury for me. It is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

And it is for you too! Read on.

Here are the facts folks. Americans are so busy looking over their shoulders at work, they only take half of their paid time off.

“Employees only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation time and paid time off, according to a recent survey of 2,300 workers who receive paid vacation. The survey was carried out by research firm Harris Interactive for the careers website Glassdoor. What’s more, 61% of Americans work while they’re on vacation, A new study has found that U.S. workers forfeited $52.4 billion in time-off benefits in 2013 and took less vacation time than at any point in the past four decades.”

American workers turned their backs on a total of 169 million days of paid time off, in effect “providing free labor for their employers, at an average of $504 per employee,” according to the study.

I truly feel sorry for the company, as much as I do for the employee. They think they are reaping the benefits of an all work, no play mentality, when in reality, they are robbing their culture of creativity, the cornerstone of every great organization.

Don’t be that 51% who can’t figure out a way to take vacation. Your soul needs it. Your brain needs it. Your body needs it.

What are your thoughts? Email me at susan@susanascher.com or comment down below. I want to know!