There are certain necessities in life, and having a mentor is one of them. No matter where you are in your career -- just starting, rising, stuck, at the end -- you need such a coach. In fact, you need a series of them.
Where do you find them? Look around you and see whom you admire. Potential mentors are busy working in your department, in your organization, in your profession. They are not typically your direct bosses, who need you in your place (although, some who are promoted might take you with them). Search for outstanding people two or three levels above you in experience and talent. You will discover them talking in meetings and at conferences that you sign up for, even if you have to pay for it. Watch for those who are smart, on the rise (if they have not risen to the top already) and genuine. Seek out those whose advice you might value for ways to think through problems, tackle dilemmas, handle difficult (but critical) people and get noticed and tracked. In short, increase your opportunities. Imagine how they might guide you and, hopefully, have the power to nominate you.
But don't wait until they find you. You have to start the process. Compliment them after they have given a presentation, and tell what impressed you. Ask if you can talk to them about a project you are working on, one in which they have expertise. Don't think of it as asking them to sign on as your life mentor; instead, ask for their take on your work and a suggestion to make it better. Then report back what happened, what didn't. If their advice failed, think about whether you followed it well or if timing was against you. Sometimes they are wrong twice in a row, and you have to move on to another. It's not uncommon.
Continue to ask for specific advice along with initiating conversations about their careers and the state of their organization and profession. Celebrate their continued successes. It will make stronger bonds as well as underscoring what it takes. And, as you rise, look for other experts. Every CEO has a board to talk to; every smart politician has a kitchen cabinet, at the least. Every successful person turns to and relies on brilliant others to advise them. No one does it alone.
Thank them each time. An absent thank-you note is a sure sign of selfishness, ignorance or overload. But authentically successful people make time to write thank-you notes or email. Always. Sometimes, they even send a token gift of celebration. Some also remember birthdays. Think of mentors as your family, your work family, for whom you are always on your best behavior.
Find talent by working with it. Get yourself active by joining committees and taskforces in your organization. Certainly join and participate in professional associations. Or, consider civic, religious or political volunteering as well. Getting mentored is not a formal process, but you can learn this networking skill and make your way in. Sign up for unpaid work; learn by doing and watching those who do it well. Growth and leadership need development through belonging. Only through that process can chance be at your side.
Being catapulted up by mentors is an education in itself. You'll learn many skills, technical and strategic savvy, along with the nod from someone who does more than mentor you -- someone who can sponsor you and nominate you for a position for which you would otherwise not have been considered.
The unspoken rule is that you must show yourself to be one of them. By demonstrating your work and your relationship, you gain their trust.
Taking the risk of connecting to sage others, over and over in your careering progress, will yield unimagined opportunities. And it will be a model for what you will do for others, in turn.
Make your luck happen!
***
Dr. Adele is the author of "Skills for Success" and "Launch Your Career in College." Visit her website, dradele.com
Showing posts with label mentoring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mentoring. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Mentoring for Managers, Career Development Tools, more from Al Walsh
Financial Statements for Dummies - A Career Development Tool
Don't know how to read Financials?
Paraphrasing the popular “how-to” books, this article is a basic primer on understanding Financial Statements.
It’s scary to me how many business managers can’t read their own company’s Financials. Even some business owners barely understand their own Financials (and, scarily enough, some Finance people too).
Any manager who wants to advance beyond the status of “junior flunkie” should have at least a cursory understanding.
I’m not going to get involved in double-entry accounting and debits & credits. That would just confuse you and it’s unnecessary for this discussion. If you have no idea what I was just talking about, accountants post two entries for every transaction; a debit and a credit. It’s called double-entry accounting. Enough said.
All you accountants out there can now close the article and go away. This is basic stuff.
So here goes:
The two basic Financial Statements are the Balance Sheet and The Income Statement (or P&L).
Let’s talk about the Balance Sheet first:
The Balance Sheet is a reflection of the financial makeup and standing of the company at any point in time - usually at each month-end. It is a roll-up of every transaction the company’s done from day-one to present. It reflects EVERYTHING that’s happened; including Profit or Loss (more on that later).
The Balance Sheet is made up of three broad categories: Assets Liabilities and Net Worth (or Owners’ Equity). The total of Assets always equals the total of Liabilities plus Net Worth. (Assets = Liabilities + Net Worth)
Assets = the things the company owns: Cash, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Land, Equipment, etc. If you prepay insurance, or some other purchase, you would also post an asset entry here.
Liabilities are the debts of the company: Accounts Payable, Bank Debt, Car Loans, etc. They’re split up between Current Liabilities (the money due within the current fiscal year) and Long-Term Debt (Amounts due beyond the current fiscal year).
Last, we have Net Worth (Owners Equity).
Net Worth contains: Any money invested in the company minus any dividends paid plus the net total of all annual profits (negative for losses) since day one (called Retained Earnings) plus the total of profits (negative for losses) in the current year.
Not too difficult, huh? Now let’s talk about the Income Statement (P&L):
The Income Statement is a reflection of all Revenues and Expenses for the current year; in other words, the company’s profitability. The bottom-line number is Net Profit, which = all Revenues less all Expenses. Remember I said earlier that the Balance Sheet reflects ALL transactions of the company? The Net Profit total of the Income Statement flows to the Balance Sheet as the total of current year profits in the Net Worth section. At each year-end, the Income Statement zeros out to begin a new year. On the Balance Sheet, the current year profit in the Net Worth section transfers to the Retained Earnings total and the current year profit value goes back to zero for the start of a new year. If you’re confused, read this a couple times and you’ll get the hang of it. This is where beginning accounting students start getting glaze-eyed, but it’s not that tough. Just sleep on it.
That basically sums up your two key Financial Statements. There are others, but unless you’re heavily involved in the numbers you don’t have to know those. With an understanding of these two, you can get a decent handle on the company’s status.
I didn’t get into some of the more complex stuff like Capital Purchases vs Expenses, or Depreciation, or some of the hinky accounting transactions, but that’s okay. That’s a set of topics for another day.
If you’re still confused, get your hands on some Financials and go find the categories mentioned in this article. It will come to you.
I hope this helps.
Don't know how to read Financials?
Paraphrasing the popular “how-to” books, this article is a basic primer on understanding Financial Statements.
It’s scary to me how many business managers can’t read their own company’s Financials. Even some business owners barely understand their own Financials (and, scarily enough, some Finance people too).
Any manager who wants to advance beyond the status of “junior flunkie” should have at least a cursory understanding.
I’m not going to get involved in double-entry accounting and debits & credits. That would just confuse you and it’s unnecessary for this discussion. If you have no idea what I was just talking about, accountants post two entries for every transaction; a debit and a credit. It’s called double-entry accounting. Enough said.
All you accountants out there can now close the article and go away. This is basic stuff.
So here goes:
The two basic Financial Statements are the Balance Sheet and The Income Statement (or P&L).
Let’s talk about the Balance Sheet first:
The Balance Sheet is a reflection of the financial makeup and standing of the company at any point in time - usually at each month-end. It is a roll-up of every transaction the company’s done from day-one to present. It reflects EVERYTHING that’s happened; including Profit or Loss (more on that later).
The Balance Sheet is made up of three broad categories: Assets Liabilities and Net Worth (or Owners’ Equity). The total of Assets always equals the total of Liabilities plus Net Worth. (Assets = Liabilities + Net Worth)
Assets = the things the company owns: Cash, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Land, Equipment, etc. If you prepay insurance, or some other purchase, you would also post an asset entry here.
Liabilities are the debts of the company: Accounts Payable, Bank Debt, Car Loans, etc. They’re split up between Current Liabilities (the money due within the current fiscal year) and Long-Term Debt (Amounts due beyond the current fiscal year).
Last, we have Net Worth (Owners Equity).
Net Worth contains: Any money invested in the company minus any dividends paid plus the net total of all annual profits (negative for losses) since day one (called Retained Earnings) plus the total of profits (negative for losses) in the current year.
Not too difficult, huh? Now let’s talk about the Income Statement (P&L):
The Income Statement is a reflection of all Revenues and Expenses for the current year; in other words, the company’s profitability. The bottom-line number is Net Profit, which = all Revenues less all Expenses. Remember I said earlier that the Balance Sheet reflects ALL transactions of the company? The Net Profit total of the Income Statement flows to the Balance Sheet as the total of current year profits in the Net Worth section. At each year-end, the Income Statement zeros out to begin a new year. On the Balance Sheet, the current year profit in the Net Worth section transfers to the Retained Earnings total and the current year profit value goes back to zero for the start of a new year. If you’re confused, read this a couple times and you’ll get the hang of it. This is where beginning accounting students start getting glaze-eyed, but it’s not that tough. Just sleep on it.
That basically sums up your two key Financial Statements. There are others, but unless you’re heavily involved in the numbers you don’t have to know those. With an understanding of these two, you can get a decent handle on the company’s status.
I didn’t get into some of the more complex stuff like Capital Purchases vs Expenses, or Depreciation, or some of the hinky accounting transactions, but that’s okay. That’s a set of topics for another day.
If you’re still confused, get your hands on some Financials and go find the categories mentioned in this article. It will come to you.
I hope this helps.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Al Walsh on the World - Watch out for that Tiger
Nostradamus Was Right, World-End Is Coming!
Watch out for that tiger!
Nah! Nostradamus made good money selling nonsense to the impressionable, but he makes for good comedy relief leading into my next topic; which is quite serious.
A lot has been written about techniques for business people in the new millennium. I happen to believe that the required skills are largely timeless; being applicable at all times. But perhaps there is one factor that we should pay very close attention to at this particular time.
We’ve been through many economic downturns and survived; including the Great Depression. But I think the one we’re in now deserves special attention. It’s unique because there are financial tidal-forces of monumental size out there that haven’t played out yet. Just consider the multi-trillion, largely-unregulated, highly-speculative derivatives market. A good portion of it is tied to the mortgage mess, and those instruments haven’t been priced down to their true value on balance sheets yet.
Somewhere along the way there’s going to be a day of reckoning, and it’s not going to be pretty.
The actions of the Fed & Treasury to throw “funny-money” (huge quantities of new, unbacked money) at the mess have just frozen it in time. There will come a thaw. What will we have when it comes? The money-throwing might help stem economic deflation, but it will inevitably create huge monetary inflation. We have yet to deal with that monster. And if we can’t stem the economic deflation, we might get the unique “thrill” of having deflation and inflation simultaneously. It’s enough to make one very queasy.
The Wall Street pundits blow sunshine at us because they don’t know what else to do. I can smell their fear. The government just seems to be in a stunned state.
Given the oddity and uniqueness of the situation, it’s difficult for most businesses and individuals to surmise what the impact to them will be. This, of course, leaves everyone in a high state of anxiety.
If you’re not aware enough yet to feel edgy, I highly recommend you start now.
We all want to believe that it will work out okay. Government “talking heads” come out periodically to tell us so. But I don’t think anyone really knows. The banks don’t want to lend to each other for fear of what the “other guy” is holding in his hand. “Will they go under and take me with them”". It’s like a scary game of poker. The banks aren’t loaning out the money they got for their junk mortgage instruments from the Fed because their balance sheets are in jeopardy. The Fed is probably in the best position to know the true nature of the situation, because they bought a lot of the junk. But the Fed isn’t talking. They won’t even say who they gave the money to.
I can’t prove it, but I’ve believed for a long time that the government manipulates the markets during such times through their finance house partners. The “Plunge Protection Team” (The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets) is, after all, quite real and various statements have slipped out of the Fed hinting at such activity. So we are left wondering what is real, and what is smoke & mirrors. Main Street is left holding the bag - with their liquidity cut off and with no good sense of what’s coming.
About six months ago I learned something that made me really frosty. It seems an executive order was put in place to absolve public companies from having to meet full disclosure rules in a national emergency. If the government deems it “necessary” for “national security purposes”, a public company doesn’t have to tell their investors the full truth. Is anybody besides me scared to death at that prospect? I can’t help wondering if it’s being applied now; and to what extent.
In my opinion, we really managed to make a mess of things this time and people have good reason to be concerned.
Which brings me to my subject. Now is a very good time to sharpen your intuitive senses. In the best of times we of the modern world are buried in information. Sorting through it to keep ourselves founded can be daunting. Now we’re faced with challenges that have no precedent, and for which we have no feeling of the potential hazard. Pay attention.
When a farmer in India has a tiger in the neighborhood, he has no trouble keeping his priorities straight. He’s got to feed the family, and there’s endless chores to do, but that tiger is always in the fore-front of his mind. We need to be a lot like that farmer, and use our intuitive senses to help us keep alerted to potential danger.
Since the first humans sat in their caves at night listening to the predators snarling in the moonlight, we’ve been building a strong survival instinct. In our civilized world, that instinct has been dulled. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the wolves from the sheep. But the instinct is still there if we listen.
There’s a tiger in our neighborhood, and perhaps some wolves too. This is a very good time to heighten our senses and watch for trouble. If it comes, it will probably arrive quickly and in a form we’re not accustomed to. Like that farmer, we have to watch for surprise attacks from the bushes.
Good luck to all of us.
Al Walsh is a regular contributor and has launched his consulting practice. Please enjoy his other posts and comments he is a favorite at The NEW New World of Work.
Watch out for that tiger!
Nah! Nostradamus made good money selling nonsense to the impressionable, but he makes for good comedy relief leading into my next topic; which is quite serious.
A lot has been written about techniques for business people in the new millennium. I happen to believe that the required skills are largely timeless; being applicable at all times. But perhaps there is one factor that we should pay very close attention to at this particular time.
We’ve been through many economic downturns and survived; including the Great Depression. But I think the one we’re in now deserves special attention. It’s unique because there are financial tidal-forces of monumental size out there that haven’t played out yet. Just consider the multi-trillion, largely-unregulated, highly-speculative derivatives market. A good portion of it is tied to the mortgage mess, and those instruments haven’t been priced down to their true value on balance sheets yet.
Somewhere along the way there’s going to be a day of reckoning, and it’s not going to be pretty.
The actions of the Fed & Treasury to throw “funny-money” (huge quantities of new, unbacked money) at the mess have just frozen it in time. There will come a thaw. What will we have when it comes? The money-throwing might help stem economic deflation, but it will inevitably create huge monetary inflation. We have yet to deal with that monster. And if we can’t stem the economic deflation, we might get the unique “thrill” of having deflation and inflation simultaneously. It’s enough to make one very queasy.
The Wall Street pundits blow sunshine at us because they don’t know what else to do. I can smell their fear. The government just seems to be in a stunned state.
Given the oddity and uniqueness of the situation, it’s difficult for most businesses and individuals to surmise what the impact to them will be. This, of course, leaves everyone in a high state of anxiety.
If you’re not aware enough yet to feel edgy, I highly recommend you start now.
We all want to believe that it will work out okay. Government “talking heads” come out periodically to tell us so. But I don’t think anyone really knows. The banks don’t want to lend to each other for fear of what the “other guy” is holding in his hand. “Will they go under and take me with them”". It’s like a scary game of poker. The banks aren’t loaning out the money they got for their junk mortgage instruments from the Fed because their balance sheets are in jeopardy. The Fed is probably in the best position to know the true nature of the situation, because they bought a lot of the junk. But the Fed isn’t talking. They won’t even say who they gave the money to.
I can’t prove it, but I’ve believed for a long time that the government manipulates the markets during such times through their finance house partners. The “Plunge Protection Team” (The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets) is, after all, quite real and various statements have slipped out of the Fed hinting at such activity. So we are left wondering what is real, and what is smoke & mirrors. Main Street is left holding the bag - with their liquidity cut off and with no good sense of what’s coming.
About six months ago I learned something that made me really frosty. It seems an executive order was put in place to absolve public companies from having to meet full disclosure rules in a national emergency. If the government deems it “necessary” for “national security purposes”, a public company doesn’t have to tell their investors the full truth. Is anybody besides me scared to death at that prospect? I can’t help wondering if it’s being applied now; and to what extent.
In my opinion, we really managed to make a mess of things this time and people have good reason to be concerned.
Which brings me to my subject. Now is a very good time to sharpen your intuitive senses. In the best of times we of the modern world are buried in information. Sorting through it to keep ourselves founded can be daunting. Now we’re faced with challenges that have no precedent, and for which we have no feeling of the potential hazard. Pay attention.
When a farmer in India has a tiger in the neighborhood, he has no trouble keeping his priorities straight. He’s got to feed the family, and there’s endless chores to do, but that tiger is always in the fore-front of his mind. We need to be a lot like that farmer, and use our intuitive senses to help us keep alerted to potential danger.
Since the first humans sat in their caves at night listening to the predators snarling in the moonlight, we’ve been building a strong survival instinct. In our civilized world, that instinct has been dulled. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the wolves from the sheep. But the instinct is still there if we listen.
There’s a tiger in our neighborhood, and perhaps some wolves too. This is a very good time to heighten our senses and watch for trouble. If it comes, it will probably arrive quickly and in a form we’re not accustomed to. Like that farmer, we have to watch for surprise attacks from the bushes.
Good luck to all of us.
Al Walsh is a regular contributor and has launched his consulting practice. Please enjoy his other posts and comments he is a favorite at The NEW New World of Work.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Dr. Lois Phillips offers timely advice, Perfect your Presentation Skills!
Communications Consultant Lois Phillips PhD* suggests that anyone, but particularly career changers, spend some time in a course or with a coach improving their presentation skills. Public speaking both is and isn’t about interpersonal communication, which happens when we are speaking to someone privately but we can build on a few of the same skills. Any person delivering presentations – whether technical, motivational, or persuasive- needs to be attentive to the audience. Where are they coming from? What’s on their minds? Today’s busy people are wondering: “What’s in this (presentation) for me?” Delivering a presentation to a small or large group with poise and self-confidence is a critical skill If you are changing your career and want to move into a supervisory, managerial, or a political role.
Of course, any presenter needs to know the topic well enough to be seen as an expert who has ‘done their homework’ and to have a single overarching message, but I’ve seen dynamic speakers fail because they didn’t predict what was inevitably going to happen when they were finished speaking. Predict the tough questions, whether the questions are coming from skepticism, competitiveness, or resistance to the change you are proposing. People are impressed by speakers who are ready for the Q & A and who can bridge from even the most irrelevant question back to the main message.
Speakers tend to over-prepare, wasting their own time and the listeners. It’s not necessary to share every single idea or bit of research on a particular topic. It’s best to be selective and focus only on the information that will be useful to your listeners. Are these people on the staff of a company about to be acquired or merge? Do they need reassurance about the process of change? Are you pitching a new extraordinary product or service that will require risk and new capital? Are you wanting to build trust in your ability to lead the change effort? Whatever your purpose is, after all, you’ll want the listeners to leave saying “that presentation changed my life.”
*Lois Phillips is the co-author of “Women Seen and Heard: Lessons Learned from Successful Speakers,” Luz Publications, 2004.
Of course, any presenter needs to know the topic well enough to be seen as an expert who has ‘done their homework’ and to have a single overarching message, but I’ve seen dynamic speakers fail because they didn’t predict what was inevitably going to happen when they were finished speaking. Predict the tough questions, whether the questions are coming from skepticism, competitiveness, or resistance to the change you are proposing. People are impressed by speakers who are ready for the Q & A and who can bridge from even the most irrelevant question back to the main message.
Speakers tend to over-prepare, wasting their own time and the listeners. It’s not necessary to share every single idea or bit of research on a particular topic. It’s best to be selective and focus only on the information that will be useful to your listeners. Are these people on the staff of a company about to be acquired or merge? Do they need reassurance about the process of change? Are you pitching a new extraordinary product or service that will require risk and new capital? Are you wanting to build trust in your ability to lead the change effort? Whatever your purpose is, after all, you’ll want the listeners to leave saying “that presentation changed my life.”
*Lois Phillips is the co-author of “Women Seen and Heard: Lessons Learned from Successful Speakers,” Luz Publications, 2004.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)