Note: This is the first installment of a two-part series offering practical tips on how to chart your career course with confidence. Follow us for updates:
In a recent poll, we asked participants in a workshop entitled “Career Confidence” to identify their biggest obstacles to career growth. The number one response? Lack of opportunity.
Since my role in Talent Management gives me a chance to chat with employees about their career paths, I often hear about this obstacle. Certainly, higher level positions are scarcer than entry level positions, and it sure doesn’t hurt to be in the right place at the right time. But could some of the perceived lack of opportunity be caused by Cinderella thinking? You be the judge. Here are three examples of Cinderella thinking I’ve encountered:
You know in your heart of hearts that you’ve got the goods. You’re smart, you’re passionate, and doggone it, you have great ideas. Where is that fairy godmother to turn all this budding potential into stunning realization?
The last Friday of the month could not have come at a better time! Although it does usually come at the same time, at least monthly — or so we’ve been led to believe. Regardless, it’s time for the second installment of our tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek instructional series.
No, I’m not aping the hyperbolic headlines you see in social media just to get you to read, although I’ve been meaning to write about that. I really mean it about this piece. The writer is a copywriter by trade, and he laments the overly complex and lofty language used in advertising and other marketing. He argues that if a company can’t describe its product and its benefits, then even a talented writer won’t be able to do it. And that’s when you end up describing something like accounting software as a “complete suite of solutions” or a “holistic, cross-platform experience.” And there’s that word – “experience.” Marketers often talk about selling an experience or an emotion. Or they describe a product as being “aspirational.” There’s a place for those things, of course, but I get impatient when I’m being sold a cleaning product with the promise that if I use it, I’ll have more time to live a more awesome life. I’d prefer more straightforward messaging, like: “decreases cleaning time by 30%,” even if the claim is a little dubious.
For Complex Products, Using Simple Language is a Value-Added Solution
Each week, “A Linking Mess” offers a handful of articles that have recently caught the attention of our Sr. Copywriter.
This week, I’m linking to three articles about sleep. The topic of sleep seems to get ever more attention, and not just from people like Leggett & Platt employees who have a vested interest in the subject. If you read these articles, prepare to see the requisite stock images of people sleeping (or trying to sleep). I should reach out to the stock-image people and sell them the many photos my wife has taken of me sleeping and spooning one of our dogs.
Research estimates that we begin formulating a response to a message when we have heard less than 15% of what someone else has to say. Think about that: A whopping 85% of communication is spoken while we’re distracted by our own inner voice.
This inner distraction is a serious communication roadblock, so I felt compelled to give it an appropriately serious name: I call it the Chattering Monkey Syndrome.
The solution is simple: Quiet your inner monkey!
I’m Shela Bannasch, filling in for my boss Paul M. Johnson while he is attending the ISPA Expo this week. As I am a young whippersnapper, I spend a lot of my time on the Internet and, when I’m not perusing the Facebook or watching cat videos, I sometimes like to read interesting articles and stuff. This week, I’m examining one of my favorite places on the Internet – Wikipedia.
I’m a big fan of Wikipedia as both a source of knowledge and a source of entertainment. I may go there with the intention of looking up some actor’s filmography, but through a series of links, I find myself an hour later reading about the ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. It’s fascinating. And while it may seem like a waste of time, it has made me pretty good at trivia.
