Are You on the Right Career Path? Ask Yourself These 4 Questions

I just found out a close friend has cancer.  I was shocked by the news.  Although her cancer is highly treatable, it was a complete surprise.  She will need to go through 6 months of chemo and hell to recover.  I share this with you to help you step back from the daily grind and see the big picture.  Life is short and finite. ...  read more

How to Become an Extraordinary Leader – 3 Unexpected Lessons

When I was nominated for a leadership training at work, I was honored but skeptical I would learn anything substantial.   I am glad however to be proven wrong.  In the last five months, I have learned more about my leadership style and leadership brand than I had ever expected.   Even better, I am already applying what I learned at work and seeing results.  Here are the three unexpected leadership lessons I learned about how to become an extraordinary leader. ...  read more

Soft Skills Workout – Who is More Confident – Cindy or Jack?

workout

Workout Objective:  A lesson in self-confidence.
Prerequisite: None.
Recommended Frequency: Just once.
Workout steps:  Read the scenario below and vote.

Who do you think is more confident in this scenario?  Let’s assume that Cindy and Jack are equally qualified and capable .

  • Well educated – Cindy graduated from Berkeley with a 3.4 GPA and majored in electrical engineering and Jack graduated from SF state with a 2.7  GPA and majored in marketing.
  • Extensive work experience – Both have worked for 15+ years.   Cindy worked in consulting and now for a fortune 100 company as a product management leader.   Jack worked mainly in started up and is in his 8th start up as director of marketing.
  • Had some setbacks – Cindy has been laid off once in her career.  Jack has experienced about 4 lay offs so far.

Who do you think is more confident – Jack or Cindy? ...  read more

What Makes Us Happy & Motivated at Work – Three Ways to Gauge

happy and motivated at work

More than a year ago, I changed jobs and managers within the same company.  I went from having one of the worst leaders I have ever experienced in my career, to having one of the best.  On my first day with this new leader, she asked me a simple question – what make you happy at work?   What was different about her is I realized she really cared and wanted to know my answer.  I remember being a bit unprepared and told her what came to mind quickly ...  read more

5 Most Common Regrets in Life & How to Avoid Them

no-regrets

Last month, I heard this great talk by Jyri Engestrom, a successful Internet entrepreneur on the topics of happiness.  He said, most people have five regrets in life – all of which resonated with me.  And you probably would agree these are the most common regrets as well.  If so, then I ask you – why not address them now before you are dying so you can live life with no regrets. ...  read more

How to Ask Someone to be Your Mentor – Dos and Donts

How to ask someone to be your mentor

I am republishing this article with new content as my learning on how to ask someone to be your mentor has evolved. 🙂  Hope you will find it useful.

We all need formal and informal mentors to help us grow and learn.   Young professionals have more of a need for formal mentors.   Seasoned professionals needs more a broader network, but not necessarily formal mentors.  It’s more helpful to have “Board of Advisors,” a group of people you know and can go to for specific advice. ...  read more

Career Success – When Is the Best Time to Network

best time to network

Many of us only remember to start networking when we hate our current job or when we are between jobs.  Unfortunately that is the worst time to start networking.  You can come across

  • Negative –  If you are hating your job.  It’s inevitably you will complain about it while networking. No one likes to be around complainers
  • Desperate – if you are looking for a job, you may very well be in a “rush to network.”  That will come across needy.  You will be too focused on finding a job and getting someone to do something for you vs. just getting to know people and letting them get to know you.
  • Pushy – You are likely more on a timeline..  You may start “stalking” people (eg., follow up too often) so you can “network” to get what you need (a connect, a job opportunity, etc..)

Even if you consciously try not to be any of the above, you may still come across that way if you are “networking” on a timeline.  The key to networking is “to be interesting and interested.”  You cannot just focus on what you need at the moment.  It’s also a time to really to get to know the other person and see how you can help them. ...  read more