Are you in your Dream Career? Are you satisfied with your current role or should you consider making a move? It’s never the wrong time to evaluate your careerand to think about whether or not you’re doing workthat you love in an environment where you thrive. Do a quick scan of your work life using the prompts below, and ask yourself, “Would I apply for (and be thrilled to be offered) the job I currently occupy?” If the answer is…
You WILL Fail. Those were the first words out of a friend’s mouth when, in 2011, we said we were going to create and send out a nugget of our best thinking every Monday morning for a year. For a brief moment we actually wondered, what could we possibly find to say every week for a whole year? Apparently, a lot! Thanks to your support, we’ve delivered 7 years of weekly coaching nuggets! Today marks the 7th Anniversary of the Monday…
We were recently facilitating a company meeting with a team of people, many of whom had worked for the company for their entire career. In the meeting, people were complaining about the challenges they faced and the hardships of the current financial environment in their industry. They were feeling threatened, singled out, and personally beat up in this environment. As we listened, we came to understand that this group had been together for so long and for so…
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote a post about The 5 C’s of Self – Confidence and the importance of standing in your own truth. The 5 C’s include: Conviction, Certainty, Commitment, Courage, and Connection While many of you wrote that you loved the idea of the 5 C’s, those of you who know us know that we are often saying don’t get certain, get curious. So, many of you asked what we were thinking when we included certainty in this list. And…
Last week, in our post, Imposter Syndrome: You’re Not Alone, we encouraged you to watch the short TED-Ed talk, What is Imposter Syndrome and How Can You Combat It?. We hope it was helpful to learn more about this surprisingly common experience that can seriously undermine your confidence, and get in the way of success. As a result of last week’s post, we had a lot of people asking if there is any way to bolster their confidence. Many of us have been made to believe…
At Carpenter Smith Consulting, we’re passionate about supporting you in creating success and satisfaction in your leadership, your work, and your world. And, to do that, we know that you need to take care of yourself. No self = no success or satisfaction. So, this week we want to encourage you to read this thought-provoking article in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology, Life-Saving Relationships by Kirsten Weir, March 2018, p 46 – 53. The author does a great…
In the USA it’s Labor Day, a time each year when we, as a country, recognize the contributions that workers have made to the success, strength, and well-being of our country. Our last few posts have been focused on the challenges people face when working. Last week, we offered some coaching in “It’s All About Teamwork”. Since that post we’ve heard from a number of you asking what the word teamwork even means in our current work world. So today, we…
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about leadership, and how to handle a situation if you become labeled the problem, and then how to stay engaged and not take others’ actions and reactions personally. Today, we’d like to continue the conversation with some thoughts about the importance of teamwork. While personal talents and individual contributions are vital elements of organizational success, your ability to engage collaboratively on a team, and contribute to a successful team outcome is…
Last week, we talked about how to handle a situation if you become labeled the problem. We heard from many of you that similar scenarios had played out in your lives and that you were hurt by the experience. So today, we’re expanding last week’s post to talk more about this issue. We know it doesn’t feel this way, but it’s important to remember that most of the time other people’s actions and reactions are not personal to you. Other…
As coaches for over 20 years, in businesses of all varieties, we’ve seen many examples of people who have concerns about someone else’s behavior; and yet, they themselves are seen and experienced as “the problem” in the office. How can that be? Let’s take a look at Janet. Janet is a confident and competent businesswoman who came to us on the brink of being let go. She was distressed and angry, and she was looking for an ally to figure…