Sunday, March 15, 2020

Raising Your Game with Healthy Competition - Your Career Intel

Raising Your Game with Healthy Competition - Your Career IntelFrom slugging it out in Little League to winning on Wall Street, the competitive spirit is central to our identity as human beings. And I think of business as the ultimate competition the sport many people grow up to play.As General Manager of the IT Division at Lucas Group, my primary goal is to create a culture of winning mindsets among my teammates. We work to win, rebound when we lose, and thrive on a healthy balance of competition and cooperation. Along the way, Ive learned from some great leaders about the importance of winning fairly and treating others with respect. Communication, trust and collaboration are key, and playing fair is the only way to find long-term success.Look at healthy competition, and youll see that its all upsideHealthy competition raises your game. In college basketball, for example, teams tend to do better in a tournament when they toughen up playing mora difficult competitors beforehand. You see the phenomenon in business, too. Steel magnate Charles M. Schwab liked to encourage a friendly rivalry between workers on the day and night shifts by writing their production numbers on the mill floor. His motto was straightforward The way things get done is to stimulate competition.I see this on my team, too were always focused on achieving more. Internally, we look to other divisions for motivation, even if theyre bigger. And of course, we also look outside Lucas Group for motivation. Having worked for a larger executive recruiting company, I know whats available in this business, and I believe were better.Healthy competition leads to innovation. If youre competing in a crowded field, you wont succeed by doing what everyone else does. Healthy competition encourages you to distinguish yourself. In the book Inside Apple, for example, author Adam Lashinsky describes a culture where product development teams are purposely kept apart to compete against one another.Healthy competit ion forces you to focus on your core customer If youre targeting a specific demographic or location, market challengers encourage you to better understand the setting. Watching your competitors can also tell you which practices are effective and which arent. In the Food Networks Throwdown with Bobby Flay, for example, the shows star goes head to head with chefs known as the best in their food category. During the friendly duels, Flay and his competitors prepare the same dish for a blind taste test. No matter the outcome, its a win-win with both sides learning more about their craft and gaining visibility.A team culture with healthy competitionCreating a healthy team starts withhiring peoplewho expect excellence from themselves. I look for people who have a competitive track record. I ask candidates about the last goal they wanted to achieve, what obstacles they faced, and whether they achieved the goal. I ask them to tell me about a time they recently competed for something.You hav e an advantage in business when the people on your team are competitive, collaborative and understand the importance ofhard work. Once I have these team players on board, my mission is to help them achieve their partieal best every day. For my team, the result has been a group of high achievers always stretching themselves to do more. Several rock stars in particular consistently commit to investing in themselves. Their focus is on building the future, not looking at the past. That competitive spirit is 100 percent needed in this business. Its what drives the IT division to achieve superior results and provide impeccable service to our clients and candidates.Creating strong competition within an organization can lead to success, but only if its done correctly. I once read about a Fortune 500 CEO whose favorite saying is a phrase from the legendary and ruthless warrior Genghis Khan Its not enough that I succeed. Everyone else must fail. Approached in the wrong manner, internal comp etition can destroy morale and ruin results. The key is to ensure that the rules of competition foster teamwork, not aggressive rivalry.An internal drive to excelSome people believe success happens to other people then there are those who expect it from themselves. An internal need to excel is the fruchtwein powerful of all motivation. This competition is self-contained youre driven to work, to accomplish and to exceed what youve done before, simply because you want to. When youre internally motivated to improve, you end up winning a lot more than you lose. An internal engine is paramount to continue setting the bar higher and reaching for more.Competitive Sports and Business SuccessThe business world is filled with people whose athletic experience has translated into career success.One example is Rachel Gary, the head of Marketing and Communications at ONE World Sports, who advocates sports participation at any skill level. The New York Observer quotes her as saying, Many of the tr aits needed to succeed in sports are similar to those in business, including goal-setting, confidence, discipline and leadership skills.Playing sports in college and high school gave me many transferable skills, too. They includeDedication When I played college basketball, if one person was late, the whole team had to run. You have to show dedication to your peers. If one person isnt performing at a high level, theres a ripple effect on the whole team.What it means to be part of a healthy and dysfunctional team On a healthy sports team, athletes wantto win and know how to help one another achieve a common goal. The same is true for healthy business teams people want to close as many deals as possible, and they help each other along the way.Perseverance How do you act in the face of adversity? You have to have core beliefs and a ordnungsprinzip in place, so that even during difficult times, you keep trying.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

How To Fix My Sleep Schedule

How To Fix My Sleep Schedule Are you exhausted? According torecent studies, more than a third of Americans are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis. Sleep deprivation is having devastating short- and long-term effects on ur health and well-being by increasing our risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and mental distress.Sleep is absolutely vital to your wellbeing and mood. Its time to make this a priority and abflug experiencing the benefits that come from a good nights sleep likebeing moreproductive at work, happier and even having better sex.Why our sleep schedules get thrown off.One of the biggest reasons why our sleep schedules get thrown off is because we do it to ourselves. Thats right we blame nature, but really, were the ones contributing to the problem. Mainly, we dont keep regular hours on weekends, we stay out late and sleep in in the morning, hoping to catch a few last zzs to make up for the difficult work week. Or we try to finish a proj ect for work when we really should be sleeping. Perhaps we go running right before bed and have trouble falling asleep, only to feel groggy and not up to our voreingestellt performance the next day.Perhaps we eat too much before hitting the sack. Maybe, we had a few too many drinks, and we wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble resetting and going back to sleep. These, at least, are some of the most common reasons why our sleep schedules get off track. And in order to get them on track again, we need to start making active strides toward having better sleep hygiene.8 steps for fixing your sleep scheduleThese eight steps will help you fix your sleep schedule and get the recommended sevento nine hours of sleep a night.1. Admit you have a problem.Take an honest look at your sleep patterns and track how many hours you sleep a night for seven days. Add those numbers up and divide by seven to see where you are today, and how many hours per night you need to add to get to your sleep target of seven to nine hours per night.2. Connect with your why.One of the most important factors in determining whether or not youll be successful in implementing a change in your life is to connect with the bigger why that is motivating you.Are you hoping more sleep will help you be less snappy with your children? Or do you want to sneak in a morning workout? Or are you just looking for a boost in energy so youll be less dependent on coffee?Determine the top reasons you want to get more sleep and write them down. That way, when youre tempted to stay up late, youll connect with your why and say no to that extra glass of wine, extra hour of work or episode of House of Cards.3. tischset a schedule.Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day is a great move and makes the transition into sleep more seamless over time. Start by determining how many hours of sleep youd like to get and then set your sleep schedule accordingly. If you are targeting eight hours of sleep and need to be up at 630 am, then your lights should be out by 1030 pm each night.4. Set the mood and make a wind-down plan.Its a given that youll sleep better in a quiet, dark and cool environment, but youll also want to keep stressors like your laptop and phone out of your bedroom to create asacred spacefor rest.Although its tempting to scroll through Facebook and Instagram to decompress, at night, youre going to want to stay away from your phone, TV and laptop because their artificial light interferes with your bodys natural ability to wind down. I dienstgrad my phone in the kitchen so that Im not tempted to look at it one more time before putting my head on the pillow.One of the simplest pieces of advice I give to my executive coaching clients is to implement a strict no electronics policy one hour before bedtime. Its a simple rule that is hard to implement at first, but it does yield profound results.The easiest way to break a habit is to replace it with a new one so ditch your d evices before bedtime and start a new nighttime ritual (i.e. writing in a gratitude journal, practicing meditation, sipping herbal tea or doing some light stretching) before bed.5. Get the right tools.It can also be helpful to use tools likesleep meditation, aromatherapy, earplugsand deep belly breathing techniques to ease into sleep.Arelaxing sleepmeditationcan be restorative and can help you feel rejuvenated even if you dont fall asleep immediately. Sleep meditations can be used to help you ease into sleep or to help you get back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.6. Acknowledge and plan for what could get in your way.Knowing where you might meet resistance and planning strategies ahead of time is helpful in overcoming obstacles when they come up. To be prepared, write down the top five things that will likely interfere with you getting to bed on time and then determine a plan of action to deal with them.Dont forget to include common sleep detractors alcohol and c affeine.Although alcohol may make you drowsy at first, after a few hours it acts as a stimulant and can disturb your sleep quality throughout the night. So its best to limit your sauvignon blanc intake before bedtime or to skip the booze entirely.As any coffee lover knows, caffeine is a stimulant that perks you up, so its essential to avoid coffee before bedtime. But caffeine stays in your system for quite some time, so its best to avoid caffeine completely in the four to six hours before bedtime.Try to avoid naps as well. They can interfere with your sleep later on.7. Get some exercise even a small amount makes a differenceAs little as 10 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as walking briskly, can drastically improve nighttime sleep quality. Make moving your body a priority, and set a calendar reminder if you need to, in order to make it happen.8. Get a sleep buddy.It can be helpful to have a sleep buddy to help you make sure you follow through on your plan.Find a good friend or fam ily member and tell them your sleep goal and then ask them to check in with you every day for the first week and then every few days going forward. You could up it a notch and do a sleep challenge with this friend so you are both holding each other accountable.Now that you know the eight steps to fixing your sleep schedule and getting a better nights sleep, share these tips with your friends so they can start feeling the awesome benefits of being well-rested, too.Pro tipsDoes staying up 24 hours fix your sleep schedule?This is likely to throw off your circadian rhythm even further, so its best to avoid staying up a full day. Youll end up oversleeping to compensate, and your body will be confused. Plus, staying up 24 hours can have some negative side effects on your overall health not to mention its a very difficult thing to do.How long does it take to adjust to a new sleep schedule?When youre traveling, the general rule is one day per time zone, meaning you can change it one hour p er day. This isnt the case for everyone, though. For some, it could even take weeks. If youre trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule, make the changes gradually. For instance, push back your bedtime time 15-20 minutes per night.How can I reset my body clock fast?Some ways to reset your body clock include Fasting for 16 hours Taking a melatonin Adjusting your lighting (for instance, installing blackout curtains)Note that these methods, particularly the first two, should be used sparingly, such as when youre traveling and want to get on a new time zone quickly.--Lisa Abramson is an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker and bestselling author of The Wise Mama Guide to Maternity Leave. She is the founder of Wise Mama and the co-founder of Mindfulness Based Achievement, which teaches high potential women leaders how to create sustainable success.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Top Guide of Example Writing Customer Experience Resume

Top Guide of Example Writing Customer Experience Resume One of the absolute fruchtwein important things to bear in mind when creating a customer service resume is that you have to respect the exact time of the individual reviewing your resume. Some customer service resume samples are offered on the internet, and they could have the ability to supply additional beneficial tips regarding inclusions, but they might not always have the most optimum structure. Whether youre a customer service professional looking to move up the ladder, or youre taking a look at ways to take your initial steps into the business, then youll need to craft your resume carefully to not just to stick out from the crowd, but also to make sure you land yourself an interview where you are able to truly shine. A premium quality sample customer service resume will incorporate several suitable key terms and phrases that could contain phrases like customer satisfaction, customer retention, processes or efficienc y, based on the particular job. To land the job that you want, be certain to list all your customer experience and client service experience. Customer service jobs are sometimes a true rollercoaster. It takes in a number of different jobs. It requires a broad range of skills, here is a list of the most important ones that employers will expect to see in your CV. The Good, the Bad and Example Writing Customer Experience Resume The work experience part of your resumethe part in which you describe your previous jobsis the most important bestandteil of your whole job application. As youve just read, writing a good work experience for your resume isnt that difficult. You could start with building a comprehensive writing unstructured collection of all of the elements and tips that you want to include, ranging from. Moving from doing the research to writing an extensive account of it isnt necessarily simple. Dont neglect to highlight the five essential skills above that are mo st desirable for the job and emphasize that youll be bringing a good deal of valuable abilities and experience to the job. Detailing your work experience provides you with a fantastic chance to showcase your capacity to apply your abilities and knowleuchtdiodege at work. If its necessary to compose a resume with very little or no experience, dont worry Your prior experiences are regarded as a great indicator of how you will deal with the new job. So have a look at your resume and be sure that it mentions all the important requirements. In case you have lots of experience in customer support, you can want to use a combination format to highlight both your years of knowledge and accolades. For instance, instead of saying youve led a thriving team at a nearby restaurant, add some information. The majority of their time is going to be spent zeroing in on the facts of your work experience. If you neglect to quantify your experience, the hiring manager wont be in a position to te ll if youre a great fit or in the event you can manage the workload essential for the job. Utilize our cover letter sample to polish your abilities and receive the job that you desire. Get started today and receive the job that you want faster Editing your resume to reflect the particular job which youre applying to is vital. Locating a great application tracking software may be intimidating undertaking. Also, user would have the capacity to understand how to make data out there. If your experience exceeds 10 decades, it is going to be hard to stick to a single page without the danger of foregoing key details.