Select Your Email & Voicemail Wisely

I want to discuss the choices some people make in selecting email addresses and voice mail greetings.

Select Professional Email Names
I work with a lot of people that seek new jobs or want to start businesses. They constantly amaze me with their email addresses. You must recognize the situation before I share some examples. Remember, these people want to convince potential employers that they will be good employees or potential clients that they will be good suppliers. They should select names that communicate their name in simple, professional terms.

Some people, in the effort to impress, send potential employers email names like the following: "blue_420129", "atomic_1999", "pgyankee2", "onefromcanadaeh", "dadsgirlhi", and "hotcoed". These are real email addresses I encountered while helping people find jobs. How do you think potential employers feel about hiring "dadsgirlhi" or "hotcoed"?

Voice Mail Greetings
Another common problem deals with voice mail greetings. I remember one frustrated person that had called scores of companies and no one would ever return her calls. So, I called her and listened to the following greeting "Hi You know you reached the right number if you recognize my voice. Please do not leave a message if you do not recognize my voice". I immediately understood why no one returned her calls--she told them not to unless they recognized her voice.

Job seekers need to change voice mail greetings to communicate clearly that they contacted the person they wanted. The greeting should include the person's name not just the phone number. Your voice should express warmth and welcome. Ensure that you return calls the same day, even if you leave a message after hours.

Accelerate Your Job Search

Recently (April 19, 2011), I shared a post about influencing 3 vital behaviors to make change. The thought came from the book Influencer by Kerry Patterson and the group at VitalSmarts. I mentioned that several colleagues and I studied what 3 behaviors were vital to accelerating a job search.

We identified 3 key actions that we thought would help people find jobs faster and at higher salaries. We tested our findings with two dozen professionals earning salaries of $80-150,000. More than half found a new job at their desired salary within five weeks. Some of them had been looking for more than 18 months. Next, we tested our theories with 12 people looking for low-salary jobs. A couple had criminal records, a couple had disabilities. Ten of the twelve found jobs in less than three weeks!

Let me share the three vital actions that will accelerate your jobs search, or the job search of someone you know.

1. Call 10 people a day: Do not limit calls to hiring authorities or advertised job openings. Call friends, colleagues, associates, and others who may have information about companies that would benefit from your skills. Ask questions to explore their needs, projects, goals, and challenges. Once you have enough information, prepare your approach to the decision maker to schedule the appointment. Ten to fifteen of your phone calls will be to follow-up on meetings and interviews.
   
2. Schedule 10 meetings/interviews a week: Meetings or interviews provide useful forums to gather additional information about a company's needs, priorities, or projects. They also allow you to impress both the hiring authority and their team.
   
3. Follow-up four times: Follow-up is not the time to ask if the hiring authority has made a decision. That only irritates them. Instead follow-up provides additional opportunities convince them you can do the job the want done, can fit into their team, and will provide a good return on investment. One should send a thank you card the same day as the interview. Three phone calls spaced every 4 working days allows you to fix the things you said poorly, say the things you wish you had said, and compensate for requirements you did fulfill.

There three vital actions accelerate your job search. You will find a job faster and at a higher salary if complete them each week. We've proven it.

Circles Program Helps People Leave Poverty

I attended the graduation exercise for 12 people who completed the Getting Ahead course offered through Circles. These 12 people currently live in poverty in one of the toughest housing units in our community. They appeared before the crowd of well-wishers with changed attitudes, countenances, and behaviors. They expressed their confidence to leave behind lives of poverty and get ahead with their lives.

Circles, a nationwide program developed by Scott Miller at Move the Mountain, helps thousands of people across the nation change their lives and move out of poverty. The program recognizes the findings of Bridges Out of Poverty. Circles provides participants with structured formats to bridge out of poverty.

The program mirrors what we teach at the GoalsWork Institute.

• Participants learn principles and skills in the 15 week Getting Ahead course. To graduate they set goals to move their lives towards self-reliance
• Each graduate, now called a circle leader, receives 3-4 other allies (middle to upper class volunteers) to help them implement their plans and achieve their goals
• Circle leaders act each month according to their plan, they may also ask allies to act with them
• Circle leaders face the limitations that have prevented their success in the past, and may reach out to sabotage their present success. Allies help them work through their limitations.
• Circle leaders create synergy in two ways. They meet at least monthly with their allies to report their progress, outline future action, and brainstorm solutions to limitations. All Circles participants get together weekly at a dinner to celebrate success, lift each other, and keep on track.

Circles programs across the country create success. You can read testimonials on their web site.

Two graduates spoke Tuesday evening. Their well-structured, cogent, and impressive comments reflected their new found confidence plus the innate (but oft denigrated by others) intelligence the participants always possessed. As one graduate said "A lot of people do not believe we are smart, or can solve problems. They see us as poor and ignorant. This program helped us recognize our intelligence...We know we can succeed. We know, that with the help of others, we can achieve the success that has eluded us in the past."

Walt Disney Inspires Billions

My family and I spent this week at Disneyland. We introduced two grandchildren and one son-in-law to the Magic Kingdom. Our visit renewed my admiration for the genius of Walt Disney. I grew up just 3 miles from the Disney studios in Burbank, California. Four of our children were born in hospital rooms adorned with murals of Disney characters that Walt sent his animators to paint. He died in that same hospital.

Walt Disney inspires billions of people around the world with his characters, his theme parks, his movies, and his vision. He shared Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln to remind all of us of the meaning of liberty. He shared a message that It's a Small World when riots, race discrimination, and hatred abounded. He encouraged us to treat the world better at a time that fluorocarbons threatened the ozone layer. I marveled at his vision of the community of tomorrow at the end of his Carousel of Progress.

Cancer cut short his final dream, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). The version we visit today, pales in comparison to the living, working community Walt envisioned. He tried to establish a vision for green, collaborative, planned communities decades ahead of its time.

Walt Disney inspired me with his statement "If we can dream it, we can build it". I've tried to share his confident application of work to dreams with others. I hope Walt's vision inspires you.

A Good Marriage an Eternal Goal

My wife and I renewed our marriage vows yesterday. We returned to the place we made them 35 years ago. Four of our six children accompanied us. Memories swirled as we relived not just our wedding, but also the past 35 years of marriage. We reviewed both the bliss and the blasts. For marriage, and parenthood, deliver both great joy and great heartache.

Revered educators and leaders influenced our early years of marriage. David O. McKay, an educator and religious leader, declared, “No success can compensate for failure in the home”. Harold B. Lee, a welfare leader during the great depression, stated, “The greatest good you can do, will be within the walls of your own home”. Charles Astle, an early mentor, taught us the importance of focusing on our marriage while our children grew, or when they left, we would find ourselves worlds apart. My father joked (we thought at first, understand at present) that the first million years of a marriage are the toughest. So, do not make any major decisions until you get that far. All four pieces of advice provide strength and wisdom during our marriage.

Marriage requires sacrifice, selflessness, and persistence. Both Carol and I have sacrificed to keep our marriage strong. We both balance the needs of the other—and our children and grandchildren—with our own needs. Marriages cannot survive one partner always receiving and the other always sacrificing. Balance brings blessings to both. Finally, we persist in building our relationship. Marriage requires effort during conflict, during stress, and during good times. We did not surrender to temporary challenges, differing personalities, or contrary goals. A strong marriage needs sacrifice selflessness and persistence.

My wife and I renewed our marriage vows because we remain committed to our marriage. We endured strained times in those 35 years. We worked through hard decisions with passion and constraint. We do not consider our marriage perfect or plan to live “happily ever after”. We intend to remain committed to working out the rough spots and coming to a unity. Our efforts have already blessed us with six wonderful children, four outstanding daughters- and son-in-law, and nine beatiful grandchildren, so far.

The day we renewed our vows, we visited an older couple that befriended us during the early years of our marriage. Earl is 88 and cannot hear anymore. Johanna is 80 and cannot walk anymore. They have lived together in marriage for 65 years. They are well into their first million years.

To those who want to throw it all away in just five years, to those who marry never intending it to last more than 5 years, we share the examples and principles that helped us. We encourage you to reject the current fad of failed marriages and recycled relationships. Go for the gold and platinum in your marriage. Truly, no other success can compensate for failure in the home and the greatest good you will do will be within the walls of your own home.