Blog - Carpenter Smith Consulting, LLC

Integrating Feedback with Skill and Grace, Part 1

March 5, 2012

In last week’s post, Get Comfortable with Feedback, we discussed 3 rules for receiving feedback about your performance. Those rules were: 1. Listen calmly to what is being said. 2. Thank them for bringing the information to your attention. 3. Schedule a time to meet again. Feedback is an opportunity to understand the impact that you have on others and to decide if it is the impact that you want to have. So, once you have listened calmly, thanked them…

Get Comfortable with Feedback

February 27, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

One of the most important skills required in today’s new economy is the ability to properly accept feedback from others. Whether that feedback is in an informal discussion, a performance evaluation written by your direct supervisor, or a 360 completed by your peers, it is essential that you know how to respond appropriately to professional feedback. It probably goes without saying that when the feedback is positive it’s not hard to accept another’s opinion of us – we feel good…

Take Action by Pausing

February 20, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

The world is changing and the people who will succeed need to be able to quickly learn what’s needed to move forward, apply that learning, and, most importantly, sustain that learning over time. As coaches and business consultants, we get hired because people – with the best of intentions – are struggling to (really) change those things that are getting in the way of their success. Typically, our clients know that they need to learn new skills, have often done…

Resume Building

February 13, 2012

Career Tips

One aspect of your personal leadership is developing or revising your resume to show potential employers how you can be a solution to their problems. Part of career counseling is helping people know themselves well and then creating inspiring, forward-thinking, professional resumes. Employers often spend less than 30 seconds looking at a resume before they decide to keep or toss. As you are writing your resume, think about what an employer needs and remember, this is your first opportunity to…

It’s February 13th – Do you know where your Resolutions are?

February 13, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

The single most difficult challenge we have faced in our consulting and coaching practice is how to help our clients make and sustain the changes they have identified as critical to their success. It is a struggle in all change management but it’s particularly poignant for individuals who understand cognitively what they need to do, but who find (over and over) that they fall back into the patterns they have relied on for much of their lives. It’s important to…

Being Proactive in a World that Won’t Slow Down

February 6, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

Last week we challenged you to become a proactive employee. In response to that post, we got a lot of email asking for guidance in how to become a proactive employee – in a world that won’t slow down. In our twenty years of experience, we have found that proactive employees – proactive people – are successful in large part due to their ability to think strategically in planning for themselves, their departments, and (when they have the power) their…

Are you a Proactive Employee?

January 30, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

In reading the new book Quiet by Susan Cain, we happened upon a very useful gem related to Career Success in the New Economy. Cain notes, “…proactive employees who take advantage of opportunities in a fast-moving, 24/7 business environment, without waiting for a leader to tell them what to do, are increasingly vital to organizational success.” Is Cain suggesting mutiny? Not likely, but let’s take a few moments to explore how we define a proactive employee and how you can…

Looking Up and Moving Forward

January 23, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

As the job market begins to loosen up and attitudes about the economy grow more optimistic, take a few moments to evaluate your future. Are you satisfied with your current role or should you consider making a move? Do a quick scan of your work life and ask yourself, “Would I apply for (and be thrilled to be offered) the job I currently occupy?” If the answer is yes: Congratulations! You are in the right place. Be sure to ask…

Organize your Life in Pursuit of your Goals!

January 16, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

Over the years, we have coached many people and one thing stands out as key to their ability to succeed. That one thing is that they organize their life in pursuit of their goals. In order to stay focused, arrange time each day to reflect on your goals. You can reflect over breakfast, when you arrive at work, or as you get ready for bed – just make sure that you take a moment each day to review your goals…

Claiming Your Power Changes the World

January 9, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

As you know, our goal is to support you in claiming your power and creating success in this new economy. And, while we want you to be successful for your own sake, we also want you to be successful for the sake of the world. You see, the more you claim your power and your innate leadership skills, the more positive and effective your impact will be with your family, your community and … the world. Think, for example, what…