This is what we do after completing our Education and internship
Whether you go for a job or pursue higher education, like a PhD, can significantly impact your future. While you sacrifice short-term salary when you opt for post-doctorate education, your long-term learning potential increases by a large margin. Here are some guidelines to assist you in making the most of your PhD degree. A virtual […]
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AI has made its way through several industries in the past few years, revolutionizing how jobs work. The field of statistics is no exception. Not only has the statistics-related job market changed, but its relevant education is also leveraging technology and AI to its advantage. Online statistics programs are gaining popularity rapidly, and you can […]
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In the diverse field of healthcare, a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) qualification, especially a post master’s FNP certification, opens the door to a variety of rewarding and impactful job roles. This article will explore the various career paths available to those who have achieved this advanced level of nursing practice. From traditional clinical roles to […]
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In today’s competitive job market, having an edge can make all the difference in advancing your career. Pursuing a master’s degree, particularly online graduate master degrees, offers a strategic advantage for those aiming to land better job opportunities. In this guide, we shall closely look at the top ways in which obtaining a master’s degree […]
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If you are looking to gain more autonomy, respect, and professional responsibility as a nursing professional, you should consider becoming a family nurse practitioner. As an FNP, you can provide preventative and advanced primary care for patients from infancy to old age. You will also perform many of the same tasks as a doctor, enabling […]
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So you want to step down from a leadership role to become an individual contributor. A lot of people see leadership at the top and individual contributors at the bottom. And so the natural question is, “Why the step back?” And, unfortunately, over many years recruiters and hiring managers get cynical, so they assume something is going on unless you can successfully explain why you want to step down from your leadership position.
The key to explaining why you want to step down from a leadership position and be an individual contributor again is to follow the “Experience + Learn = Grow” model that I teach at Work It DAILY. You need to keep your explanation as factual and objective as possible.
When you’re an individual contributor, one of the bonuses or upsides is that you get to build your skill sets. You get to hone your craft. You get to get to the next level in the kind of value that you can create.
When you become a leader or a manager, you step away from the majority of that. Now you’re coaching or mentoring others. It’s a different thing. It’s servant leadership.
As a leader, what can happen over time is your ability to stay on the cutting edge of your industry and keep up to date with your skills and abilities can dull a bit because you’re not doing it every single day.
Here’s a great example of how to explain why you’re stepping down from a leadership position:
“I was an individual contributor, and in that time I was learning a lot of skills and it positioned me to become a leader. And as a leader, I was able to coach and develop X number of people. But what I miss is my ability to continue learning, growing, and becoming cutting-edge in that skill set. That’s why I want to go back to being an individual contributor. I think there’s a lot for me to learn and benefit from, and I think there are other people out there that right now it’s their turn to lead. But for me, it’s about being able to do that workâthe thing that I love and growing my skill set.”
That’s an honest and valid answer.
It’s important to share an explanation like the one above, especially if you’re a seasoned professional because age discrimination exists. I can’t change your age, but a large part of that discrimination is actually experience discrimination and how you explain your experience. One of the techniques that I teach at Work It DAILY talks about this from a more balanced perspective. You pay a wisdom tax, and so you need to be able to articulate these kinds of career moves or transitions in a way that makes sense.
By following the “Experience + Learn = Grow” model and focusing on skill development opportunities, you’ll successfully explain why you want to step down from a leadership position and be an individual contributor again. Find your voice, tell them your story, and let them see the complete you.
Good luck, and go get ’em!
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In the dynamic world of business, real challenges demand decisive actions and a willingness to drive change. My experience in reviving a business serves as a vivid example of this.
When I took the helm of a company that was losing $20,000 a month, the situation was critical. The previous owner was on the verge of not making payroll, a crisis averted by my owners’ timely intervention and investment. From there, I focused on transforming five key operational areas, turning a dire situation into a thriving success story. This effort catapulted our profits to nearly $100,000 a month, culminating in the successful sale of the business.
This article is a journey through that transformation. It’s about sharing the strategies and insights that helped navigate and reshape a struggling business into a profitable venture. For business leaders facing challenges or looking to preempt them, these lessons are about fostering resilience and guiding your business toward a path of prosperity. Here, I combine practical advice with the wisdom gained from experience, aiming to empower others in their quest for business success.
The Team Evaluation: When I took over the struggling business, the first step was a critical evaluation of our existing team. Understanding each member’s strengths and weaknesses was key to our turnaround strategy. In this process, I found that many talented team members were simply in roles that didn’t suit them; and, regrettably, there were a few who didn’t fit with the upcoming changes, leading us to make the tough decision to part ways.
Strategically Expanding the Team: Following our team evaluation, our hiring strategy centered on finding individuals who were not just right for the roles but would also elevate our team’s overall dynamics. We sought people characterized by their passion, determination, and a consistent track record of excelling in almost everything they undertook.
Solution: Begin by thoroughly assessing your existing team. Identify not just the strengths and weaknesses of each member, but also consider if they are in the right roles where their talents can be best utilized. This evaluation can reveal hidden potential and opportunities for internal role adjustments. When expanding your team, look for candidates who not only have the necessary skills but also demonstrate desire, drive, and a history of excellence in their endeavors. This approach ensures that new hires not only fill the required roles but also contribute positively to the team’s dynamics, driving collective success. The goal is to create a team environment where collaboration, passion, and high performance are the norms, fostering a dynamic and effective work culture.
The Comprehensive Overhaul: A major breakthrough in transforming the business came from addressing the inconsistencies in our customer experience. We looked at every aspect of our operations to ensure a uniform and positive experience for every customer. Addressing this required a holistic approach, streamlining processes not just in customer service, but across all operational facets of our business.
Solution: To improve customer experience, it’s crucial to establish consistency in all operational processes. Review each interaction point within your business, from the initial contact to post-service or post-sale follow-up, and strive to make these experiences uniformly positive and engaging. By delivering consistently excellent service at every touchpoint, you build trust and encourage customer loyalty, which is essential for any business.
Setting the Business Compass: The first step in addressing our team’s inconsistent performance was to define clear, overarching goals for the business. These goals served as our compass, guiding the direction of every strategy and decision. It was crucial that these goals were not just ambitious but also resonated with the vision we had for the company’s future.
Translating Vision into Action: With the business goals in place, we then developed specific team and individual goals that aligned with these broader objectives. This alignment was key to ensuring that every effort and achievement at the team level contributed directly to the business’s overall success.
Solution: Start by setting clear and inspiring goals for your business as a whole. Then, break these down into specific, measurable goals for each team and individual. This approach ensures that everyone’s efforts are not only aligned but also contributing to the bigger picture. Embrace a coaching mentality in driving accountability, focusing on guiding your team toward these goals and fostering their growth. This strategy transforms accountability into a powerful tool for development, aligning team members’ efforts with the company’s overarching objectives. By doing so, you create a culture where each person understands and plays a vital role in the collective success of the business, leading to a more consistent and effective team performance.
The Sales Process Overhaul: A key challenge in the business’s revival was the lack of a defined sales process. Developing and documenting a clear sales strategy was essential for bringing consistency and growth to our sales efforts. Each salesperson had their own approachâor no approach at allâwhich made it difficult to identify areas needing improvement.
Implementing a Structured Approach: To address this, we developed and documented a clear sales process. This became our blueprint for sales success. By retraining our existing team and using this process for training new salespeople, we achieved a level of consistency in our sales approach. This not only improved our overall sales performance but also allowed us to pinpoint specific areas where additional training was needed.
Solution: For any business struggling with sales consistency, the key is to develop a well-defined sales process. Document this process and use it as a foundation for training both new and existing sales staff. This ensures that everyone is on the same page, making it easier to deliver consistent results and identify areas for further training and improvement. A structured sales process is a powerful tool for driving sales growth and efficiency.
The Proactive Review Strategy: During this transformational business journey, I learned that overcoming negative reviews isn’t just about damage control; it’s about taking a proactive stance. People are quick to share their bad experiences online, and these can spread like wildfire on social media and review sites. The first step in combating this is to ensure your customer experience is top-notch, as discussed earlier. A solid customer experience naturally reduces the likelihood of negative reviews.
Engaging with Reviews: It’s also crucial to actively engage with all reviews, both positive and negative. Responding to reviews shows that your business cares and is committed to resolving any issues. This visibility in handling feedback can turn a negative review into a positive impression for potential customers reading these reviews.
Encouraging Positive Reviews: Furthermore, we started encouraging our customers to leave reviews. While it’s important to steer clear of offering incentives for reviews, simply asking customers to share their experiences can lead to an increase in positive feedback. Incorporating this request into our follow-up processes ensured it became a natural part of our customer interaction, subtly boosting our online reputation.
Solution: To effectively manage online reviews, ensure your customer experience is consistently excellent. Engage with all reviews in a constructive manner, showing responsiveness and a commitment to improvement. Encourage customers to leave reviews as part of your regular follow-up process. This approach not only helps mitigate negative feedback but also builds a stronger, more positive online presence for your business.
This journey of transforming a struggling business wasn’t just a professional milestone; it profoundly impacted me personally. It was more than just reviving a company; it was about saving jobs, creating new opportunities, and expanding horizons. We didn’t just turn the business around; we expanded it, reaching into multiple states and opening new locations. Each step of this journey didn’t just contribute to our business’s growth; it created countless opportunities for others, bringing jobs and prosperity to communities.
The experience taught me invaluable lessons about resilience, innovation, and the power of a well-executed strategy. It showed me firsthand how focusing on key operational areas can not only save a business but can set it on a path of expansive growth. These strategies became the cornerstone of our expansion, proving their worth time and again.
As I share these insights, I do so with the hope that they will inspire and guide you in your own business endeavors. Remember, every challenge is an opportunity in disguise. Embrace them, learn from them, and use them to fuel your journey to success. The road might be tough, but the rewards of perseverance and strategic thinking are immeasurable.
While leaders often excel in steering their organizations toward success, they must engage in continuous self-reflection to identify and address their leadership weaknesses.
In this article, Work It DAILY experts from Vistage, renowned for their expertise in executive coaching and leadership development, share invaluable insights on recognizing and addressing leadership weaknesses. Read on to tap into the collective wisdom of these experts, gaining practical tips and actionable strategies to enhance your leadership acumen.
I have a â3-Mâ policy when it comes to leadership weaknesses. And it doesnât involve Post-it notes! The three Ms are mindset, mentoring, and measurement.
Armed with these three Ms, a leader will spot and correct their biggest weaknesses!
The first “M” is mindset. A leader who desires to practice leadership at its highest level must cultivate a mindset of humility. We see humility and vulnerability a lot these days and for good reason. The leader who understands they are not perfect may lack key skills and knowledge in certain situations, or is just downright fallible… Is a leader people are willing to follow. This leader will receive honest feedback from those around them. And will engender positive and authentic relationships with key team members.
The second “M” is mentoring. Any person who wants to become a leader or a better leader needs to spend time with people who are further down the path than they are. This could be mentoring or coaching or even a peer group. Placing yourself in a position to get advice, challenge, encouragement, and perspective will go a long way toward finding and closing those performance gaps.
The third and final “M” is measurement. Measurement takes the form of formal or informal and valid instruments designed to give you objective feedback about your skills, preferences, impact, and performance. In this realm, we have to be very careful consumers. There are tools out there that have excellent face validity and no substance. However, I firmly believe that if we want to change something we have to measure it.
Armed with the “3-M” strategy, any leader can improve!
Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.
Identifying weaknesses in yourself, as a CEO, is critically important for growing your company. You are the bottleneck. Since your weaknesses affect the entire company, dealing with them, however hard, is a great return on investment.
Depending on your level of self-awareness, identifying some of your weaknesses can be easy, but even the most self-aware individuals need to look to others for help.
But as a CEO, getting honest feedback is problematic. People defer to you. Talking truth to power is difficult. Employees often withhold the feedback that is the most important for you to hear.
Creating the right culture will make getting feedback on weaknesses easier. You need to create a culture where feedback is the norm and not just positive feedback. You need to model for your staff the right way to provide feedback, both positive and negative. Feedback should be specific and timely, and most importantly, negative feedback should be non-judgmental.
There is a saying, âPraise in public, criticize in private.â I strongly disagree. If you create a culture where feedback to help someone is only done in private, you are missing out on group learning. Failure should be celebrated. Failure talked about publicly will lead to the identification of weaknesses. You canât fix a weakness until it is identified.
Another great source for feedback is a peer group, a peer group without competitors and vendor relationships. When I joined such a group, a Vistage CEO group, it took just a few months for my fellow CEOs to see one of my weaknesses. They saw me avoiding a tough conversation that I needed to have with a key executive. When month after month they offered advice that I did not take, they realized it was not a lack of knowledge, but a weakness that I needed to confront. Because they were my peers, there was no deferential treatment. There was no judgment, just a desire to help me.
Find your weaknesses. Fix your weaknesses. Donât just count on self-discovery. Create a company culture where non-judgmental feedback is the norm. Join a peer group. Be relentless. Never stop improving.
Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.
There are three critical areas for CEOs to pay attention to spot leadership âweaknesses.â
The first is âunstructuredâ self-reflection/assessment. Find some quiet time and think about the things that are always on your mind that you avoid dealing with.
The second is structured. Seek either executive coaching or even behavior therapy. We often need a sounding board to work through whatever we are going through.
The third, and last, is to look at metrics for insights. Employee turnover, morale, general team dynamics. Look for patterns of issues that crop up and dig into why. Deal with them before they become crises.
Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.
How have you spotted your biggest leadership weakness? Join the conversation inside Work It DAILY’s Elite Program.
Considering there is a significant nursing shortage in the United States, itâs easy to assume that youâll receive a job offer or acceptance letter for the first job or educational program you apply for. While skills shortages might put you in a strong position to be considered, itâs not guaranteed. Educational programs and hospitals still […]
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As the demand for educational leaders continues to rise, preparing for such a role requires an active approach. Those hoping to lead in the classroom or as administrators need a particular set of skills and abilities that will make them successful in such roles. From developing communication techniques to furthering your education, there are several […]
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The holidays can be really stressful for job seekers, especially for those who are between gigs right now (I won’t call it “unemployed”). It’s stressful because you’re with your family and everybody asks, “So how’s your job search going?” or “Where are you in your job search?”
Family and friends also tend to give a lot of really horrible, unsolicited advice on how to look for a job:
These are bad job search techniques, and yet these people likely haven’t looked for work in a while or are super old school. And while they’re trying to be well-intentioned, all they’re doing is stressing you out.
So, as someone who’s been coaching people through this for many years, my advice is to be prepared to set your boundaries. When somebody asks about your job search, you can say…
“I love that you’re thinking of me. I promise you, my job search is under control. I’m taking a well-deserved day off today to celebrate with family and just want to talk about other things. But I promise you, I’m working with a career coach and all is good.
By setting boundaries, you’re shutting them down. You’re letting them know you appreciate their kind thoughts, but you’re not going there today.
It’s important for you to set boundaries with family, friends, and anyone else in your life who is bound to ask about your job search. People have to understand that they are overstepping and being inappropriate.
They always say people treat you the way you let them. So be prepared. Have that answer, rehearse it, practice it in the mirror. Make sure you’ve got a smile on your face so you don’t look angry or defensiveâbut shut the questions down.
If they ask you again, or they start to give you advice, or they don’t listen to you, say, “You know, I really don’t feel like talking about this right now. I’m just trying to enjoy my day.” And if they still keep talking about it, turn on your heel and walk away. We’ve got to learn to stand up for ourselves.
Good luck with your holiday job search! Go get ’em!
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Who isn’t a little curious about what a successful professional does differently than the average person? It’s not about what they do with their money. It’s how they approach their careers.
Passenger Or Pilot: Which One Are You?
It’s easy to think we are all doing what we can to take control of our careers. However, this article points out a misconception some people have: thinking they lack control over certain aspects of their career. Or worse, not even bothering to try to take control.
In our careers, we are either a:
A) Passenger – an employee held hostage by golden handcuffs.
B) Pilot – a business-of-one who is in charge of their destiny.
I can see why being a passenger in your career might be attractive. You get to leave the scary, intense work of navigating to the pilot. But is that what you really want? Currently, I’m seeing a shift in our workforce’s mentality.
More and more people are seeking professional emancipation as part of the natural evolution of the employee. They are tired of being a passenger and want to learn how to become the pilot of their career. That being said, here are seven tips for those seeking to become an ultra-successful professional…
Your career has equity. Recognize it and start to determine how to use it to your advantage.
Inventory your assets as a professional and determine who is willing to pay top dollar for them. If you don’t have valuable skill sets that are in demand, start acquiring some.
You must negotiate with employers. Don’t take what is given to you without a discussion. An employer is a customer who is always looking for the best deal, and you’re the business-of-one providing a service for them. You want to do business with a customer willing to pay for the quality of work you provide.
Learn to effectively negotiate salary, perks, and other benefits so you feel good about the partnership. You don’t work “for” an employer. You work “with” an employer.
Remember that doing things well is more important than doing new things.
Get focused on building your expertise and understanding how you are the aspirin to an employer’s pain. You must be great at a few things, rather than okay at a bunch of things. What is your specialty as a business-of-one?
Look for the smartest people you can work with. Find companies you admire and respect. Not for their pay and benefits package, but for the kind of products or services they deliver.
You must seek your professional tribe and partner with them to up your career game.
Want to do better in your career? Don’t be so self-centered. It’s not about your needs and wants.
Instead, focus on the needs, wants, and business objectives of the people you are partnering with. You’ll be able to offer more value and get more in return if you do. They are your customer. Exceed their expectations and you’ll have them eating out of your hand.
Get yourself in a financial position that enables you to quit a job and survive without income for one year. Every job is temporary. You may lose a job. You may want to leave a job. In either case, having the security of savings will give you the power to make the best decisions for your business-of-one.
Who wants to stay in a bad situation just for the money? Ask anyone who held on to a life-sucking job only to get laid off how that worked for them. They’ll tell you they wish they could have left at the first sign of trouble.
There is no real failure. We experience, learn, and grow. Stop playing it safe and start embracing your fear. As the old saying goes, “Life begins where your comfort zone ends.” You will not survive and thrive in your career if you don’t constantly learn new things.
Making mistakes teaches us what not to do. That’s a good thing! Stop worrying about what others think and start worrying about what will happen if you don’t take control.
I hope these tips help you build good habits in your career so you can become an ultra-successful professional. How are you taking ownership of your career today?
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.