3qtr2005 Issue - What's Inside?
Feature Article How Well-Positioned ARE You?Before becoming a business/personal life coach, I was offered a wonderful chance to create - and teach - a Computer Sciences class at Northwestern University. The decision to recruit me was based on my direct and varied experiences in the Information Technology sector, having successfully run a private telecommunications company for a large financial institution for many years. Yet my interests were already drifting away from IT and moving more toward becoming a coach mentor, and leadership consultant. (It had become increasingly obvious to me that it was not so much the technology, but the people behind the technology that truly made the difference in the products and services my organization offered.) So I seized the opportunity to develop a class that blended where I had come from, and where I was heading toward. Titled, Managing (the Human Side of) Mission Critical Systems, I would begin each semester by asking my students to define what made a system mission critical. My favorite answer was this one: "A Mission Critical System is a system that MUST work because if it doesn't, then your ability to do business is significantly jeopardized. And WHEN it doesn't, it's OUR job to get it working again ... F-A-S-T." So when I suggested that our careers are Mission Critical systems - and they're our most important Mission Critical system, at that - they stared at me in disbelief. Yet what I believed back then, I believe even more today. To present my case, I made a special point of stressing a career-related aspect of the materials we were covering in each class. So when we talked about crisis management, I invited someone who was laid off to be a guest speaker. That enabled us to see the similarities between a temporary systems outage ... and a career outage. As an add-on to the module on new system procurement practices, I brought in an executive recruiter for a lively and interactive session about personnel interviewing and selection. And when talking about system/software upgrades, I asked the question: What new features and functionality do you want to be able to put Now that we're more than halfway through 2005, that's a question that YOU might want to seriously consider. After all, whether you plan to look for a new job or not, you want to be able to add something new to your resume every single year - to show you're growing, and to keep your edge. So what ARE you interested in?
The point here is that the best opportunities for you may not be obvious to those who have the authority to assign you those opportunities. It's therefore up to YOU to make your wishes known. Does it always work out? No. But it NEVER works out if you don't ever try. Case in point: As head of telecommunications, I wasn't even being considered as an interim leader of a management coaching pilot program that was aimlessly drifting after the head of human resources left the company. But I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do. So I talked with my boss - and his boss - and got the okay I was looking for. (Working this project helped me confirm that I really wanted to start my own coaching company some day. And on July 4, 2000 - Independence Day - GottaGettaCoach! opened its doors ... that is, its phone lines.) Now in order to get the necessary approvals to run the pilot, I had to already have good relations up-the-chain. Otherwise, I know I would never have been given consideration. But I did my prep-work, got my audience, made my pitch, and the rest rolled out from there. Inherent in this is another important aspect to answering the "What new features and functionality?" question, and that is: How well-positioned are you to make your request? Spend some time with this question because its answer will do more to determine the possibilities of your future than any other. Improving your relations up-the-chain is an excellent new feature and functionality for 2005, as well. So do you now see how your career really IS a Mission Critical system? And that it's your most important one at that? It's a system that MUST work because if it doesn't, then your ability to do business is significantly jeopardized. And WHEN it doesn't, it's YOUR job to get it working again ... F-A-S-T. Book Bit: A Quick-Hit-Overview of a Recent ReadTitle:
Hope and Help for Your Nerves "They say it's 'just nerves' ... But it can stop you from working ... upset your personal relationships ... transform you from the busy and interesting person you used to be into someone else." So says panic disorder expert Dr. Claire Weekes about the tricks your nervous system can play on you. Whether this internal tension slows you down a little or a lot, the truth is that no one is completely immune from what fear, uncertainty, and doubt can do to you physically, mentally, or emotionally. And although this book was written for more severe sufferers of "nervous illness," it can help anyone suffering from anxiety learn its causes, better understand its symptoms, learn to relax, and finally break free. At the risk of oversimplifying things, we have two main types of
nerves: voluntary nerves, or ones that we use to consciously move our muscles,
and involuntary nerves, ones that automatically control our internal organs,
intestines and the like. The involuntary nervous system has two sub-systems: the
sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system is in charge of
our adrenaline - it kicks in when we are in a 'fight or flight' situation (real
or perceived), increasing our heart rate and blood flow, among other things. The
parasympathetic nervous system acts in the opposite manner by balancing the
adrenaline rush and enabling us to relax. When we're over-stressed, over-tired,
over-frazzled, etc. our adrenaline producing nerves tend to over-produce.
Indicators include sweaty palms, that sense of nervousness, dry mouth,
restlessness, dread, or a number of other not-too-pleasant side-effects. What Dr. Weekes offers is a way to analyze and understand these symptoms so that there is no shock and bewilderment, so that our secondary fear cycle never gets started. To recover from (or avoid) panic, she instructs, we must realize and accept that our adrenaline-producing nerves are simply over-stimulated and not read anything more into it than that. The four-step process she recommends is this:
This book may be too deep a look into panic disorders and nervous illness for some. But if you are at all curious about gaining more control over your counter-productive thinking, or learning more about how your mind and nervous system works, it is a very insightful and meaningful read. And, in that there are more than 20 million Americans who suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder - approximately out of every nine, according to the American Psychiatric Institute - it may be particularly relevant and helpful for you or someone you know.
Thanks to LS for recommending Hope and Help for Your Nerves. Great Things I Didn't Say!
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for 2qtr2005 AdministriviaThis edition of Not Just Talk! was written and created by Barry Zweibel, professional certified life coach, certified executive coach, and president of GottaGettaCoach!, Incorporated. GottaGettaCoach! specializes in helping executives - and managers aspiring to be executives - think more strategically and creatively about what's most important to them, and provides life coaching and career coaching services to those looking to make good things happen sooner in their lives. For information on how GottaGettaCoach! can help you - or your organization - please contact Barry directly at 847-291-9735, bz@ggci.com, or via www.ggci.com. PRIVACY POLICY: GottaGettaCoach!, Incorporated values your subscription and respects your privacy. As such GGCI will not rent, sell, or lend, any subscriber information to any 3rd party without your express permission ? permission we are NOT asking for at this time. GGCI is proud to be a member in good standing with The Better Business Bureau. To change or cancel this subscription, click here:
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