Bev's Tips for a Better Work Life

Tips for a more rewarding and resilient career

For almost 20 years, Bev has been coaching
professionals to thrive at work, navigate
transitions and grow as leaders.

Career management

Successful people listen & manage their emotions

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 

How do super achievers do it? 

&

What can we learn from them?

Have you ever wondered what makes super successful people different from the rest of us? Just how do some celebrities, business leaders and others rise to the very top of their chosen fields? Camille Sweeney and Josh Gosfield explored this question in their intriguing book,  ”The Art of Doing – How Superachievers Do What They Do and How They Do It So Well.” 

The authors, who are married, started wondering about amazing achievers in the context of a multi-media art project. Gosfield, a fine artist, had dreamed up the career of a fictional ‘60s French pop star, Gigi Gaston.  As he invented and documented Gigi’s path to success, he and journalist Sweeney began to ask themselves: What is success? And who gets it?

Instead of reading up on theories about success, the authors decided to go to the source and ask successful people how they do what they do.  They interviewed dozens of accomplished people, all at the top of their fields.  The result is the book’s 36 entertaining mini portraits of “superachievers.”

Last week in Wisconsin, Gosfield and Sweeney shared key lessons from their research at Conversation Among Masters, a conference of senior executive coaches.  Their initial goal was to uncover what makes top achievers unique.   But after months of interviews with a broad mix of highly successful people, what they found most interesting is that these extraordinary folks share many core principles and practices. [Read more…] about Successful people listen & manage their emotions

Wondering about your next act? Ask: who needs something?

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 Gen. Robert E. Lee,

higher ed innovator,

 inspires encore careers

Has the tumultuous job market got you fretting about what to do next?  You’re not alone.  And among the folks wondering about their next career are millions of Baby Boomers.  Many don’t plan on early retirement, but they worry age discrimination or technological shifts might block their way to a new phase. 

Now me, I’m an optimist.  Not only have I weathered several reinventions, but through my work as an executive coach I have a close-up view of people finding satisfying second and third acts.  I was contemplating the new phenomenon of encore careers a few months ago, when we visited Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.  

As I mused, we wandered into the lovely Lee Chapel & Museum, where we saw the office in which Gen. Robert E. Lee actually worked during his last years.  It struck me that encore careers aren’t all that new, and Gen. Lee is a fine example of how reinvention is possible no matter how badly your current career may end.  [Read more…] about Wondering about your next act? Ask: who needs something?

To create a stronger career, find a bigger mission

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 

To make greater progress,

Find a goal bigger than yourself

When I first met Gayle Williams-Byers in the early ‘90s I was impressed by her determination.  At the time, she had begun a coveted internship in the White House.  She was supposed to be writing a paper about her learning experience as an intern, for 12 hours of academic credit from Case Western Reserve University, where she was a junior.

Gayle’s problem was that the only work she was given at the White House was making photocopies.  She needed those credit hours, but didn’t feel she would be able to claim them because she wasn’t learning anything.

Gayle found her way to my Washington office through an acquaintance.  She requested a few minutes of my time, then pretty much announced that she’d be transferring her internship to my team.  She said that she’d do anything, that she’d make it worth my while to take her on, but that she needed a challenge and she absolutely had to learn something.

Today both of Gayle’s parents have PhDs, but when she was growing up no one in her family had attended college.   And as one of her family’s three first-generation college students, Gayle was anxious to learn as much as possible.  She regarded the semester in Washington as the opportunity of a lifetime, important not just to her but to her family and community as well.  She wanted a full experience, even if it meant walking away from the White House and inventing something new.

Gayle returned to my office after graduation and kept working for the company while completing a joint JD/MBA program.   Then, during her last years in DC, she was counsel to a Senate Committee.  Along the way she encountered many challenges, from racism to breast cancer, but I never doubted her ultimate success. I knew she just wouldn’t quit hustling to develop her potential because it meant so much to her supporters.  [Read more…] about To create a stronger career, find a bigger mission

Strong women must manage the likability trap

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 

Successful women leaders

manage the way they “lean in”

I’m enjoying the controversy Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has stirred up with her instant bestseller, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead.  Sandberg argues that, despite gender biases still prevalent in the workplace, hesitating and offering excuses won’t get women anywhere. She urges women, instead, to believe in themselves, fully engage, step up and “lean in.”

I generally agree with Sandberg.  As a career coach I often speak with extraordinary women who, after years of disparate treatment, feel hesitant and uncertain when their talent suggests they should act like confident and determined leaders.

But we can’t ignore the cautionary note from some critics…
[Read more…] about Strong women must manage the likability trap