INK: Business Advice Blog for the Everyday Employee: 2013

A Year in Review: 3 Trends of 2013

And the winning blog post this year? *Drum roll by the little drummer boy* My China adventure! Thanks to all of my readers, twitter followers, Linkedin connections, friends and family for being there through thick and thin. As the end of the year is fast approaching it is rewarding to...

I'm planning a recessed lighting project in my living room and it can be a complicated question as to where each of the lights is installed. It is a bit tricky determining exactly how far away and at what angle you place a focused light on a piece of art, a couch, and general ambiance. This is where my inspiration comes from this week, light . Just like lights in a living room, how do highlight certain accomplishments and skills of your own?

Direct accent light or promoting yourself

When looking for a new job or promotion, you are forced to "toot your own horn" during interviews and reviews. You have to strategically sell yourself and tell people "yes, I am the best person for the job and this is why". It may seem egotistical to self-promote, but honestly you are the only person that knows the exact input and output of your work. Others wouldn't know the six failed attempts before the finished product unless you tell them how tough a problem it actually was. When consciously and carefully done, placing yourself in the spotlight can be the right decision.

Ambient light or subtle and passive marketing

General room lighting is like relying on your work to speak for itself, which is best for every day use. Without a doubt, your actions speak louder than your words and results are better than shamelessly promoting yourself. If done well, your team will be rock stars or shining stars and complement each other so everyone gets credit. We know we can't do it all by ourselves!

Natural light or in other words, no endorsement

Although the sun does have all of that vitamin D that is so good for us, the sunlight that comes and goes every day is easy to forget about. We expect it, rely on it, and take it for granted. When your work becomes an afterthought, you aren't being remembered or recognized! Do not leave it to chance, luck, or time and be proud of your efforts. If you don't want to do it yourself, find an advocate (or a contractor in the case of the living room) to do this light work for you.

I will post pictures when/if my living room project is completed. In the mean time, do you struggle with bragging about your efforts? Are you your own light, or do you shine on others and praise their work? I think you should do both!

What Chocolate Pie Can Teach Us About Life

Happy Birthday to my boyfriend, my dad, and my grandpa! For our family holiday get-together this year, I did a clever combination of chocolate birthday cake and Thanksgiving pie: chocolate pie! It got me thinking, why can't we combine other things to simplify our lives? Two birds with one stone?...

When Do You Know You're Ready? 3 Ways to Assure Yourself You Are

There are few TV shows that I watch religiously every week and the one I always tune in to is the dashing Nathan Fillion in ABC's Castle. Even though the series has a too familiar plot cadence by now, I can't help falling in love with the bad jokes and...

A Book Review of Lean In

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by: Sheryl Sandberg Honestly, I didn't read this book right away because I am already an active feminist. My passion for teaching girl students about STEM, increasing the number of women in technical careers, and supporting women for executive roles is something that...

Striving for Perfection: 3 Things That It Is Actually Good For

Usually when you are trying to achieve perfection it is an endless road. You keep adding, you keep reading, you keep editing. If you are trying to produce results then it is not a good habit to get into because you will finish nothing. Striving for perfection however, does help...

Ender's Game: 3 Things to do when real life isn't a game

I enjoy a good movie, but usually from the comfort of my couch at home, not a movie theatre. At home there is a dog, a beer, and slippers that will make even C-rated movies watchable. So the fact that I even went to a theatre to watch this movie...

3 Favorite Questions, Part 2: The Hiring Manager

advancement, interview, job search, Lessonsx3

The best advice I can give to someone wanting to improve their interview skills is to sit on the other side of the table. When your team is the one that needs another team player, always, always volunteer to be a part of the interview process. If you are going to...

3 Favorite Questions, Part 1: The Interviewee

advancement, interview, job search, Lessonsx3

This week I thought I would do a double perspective and share my favorite questions to ask during an interview based upon what side of the table you are sitting at. An interview is like a date in which neither person knows if things should proceed to a second date/interview....

3 Reasons To Act Like a Kid at Work

Whenever I meet new people in business situations whether at a conference, virtual meeting, or interview, there is one thing that I base my interest on seeing them again on: "fun". If you are going to be a bore, a stickler, or a show-boater, I have no reason to want...

Congress is Running on Hate: 3 Ways to Keep Your Cool

Seriously, I can't believe Congress's failure to act and keep the country running. Don't they understand the implications of their closed-mindedness? There are so many better ways to argue with a broken record, the birds from Finding Nemo, or terminators. Replace it, ignore it, or try another way. So here...

A Book Review of Linchpin

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by: Seth Godin Can you be irreplaceable even if you aren't a genius? This book argues that with the right attitude, yes, you can. Linchpins are not born they are made and not by following a map or a recipe. There is no defined process of...

3 Things About the Best Day of Your Life That Can be Applied to Everyday

Wedding season is in full swing! I went to two weddings in the last week and they were both beautiful! And, ironically I am celebrating an anniversary of sorts this week too because this blog was started a year ago. That means there are lots of reasons to celebrate! Don't...

3 Ways to Deal with The Worst News Ever

advancement, emotional intelligence, Inspirationx3, story, unemployment

Diverging a bit from my regular blog posts, this month I'd like to share a few personal stories that have been my INspiration lately. This week, it is about my, well, politely said, "opportunity in disguise". The hard truth is that I was laid off last week due to company...

Hey Miley! Do More with Less! And 2 Other Lessons from the VMAs

I appreciate the fact that I can read the news and watch the highlights of the VMA 2013 in 1/10th the time the next day. As always, there are the critics, but I feel there are lessons hidden in some of the good and bad performances. Here are my thoughts....

I was inspired this week by the title of a post called "Are you Acting Your Wage?" by the Daily Worth and it got me thinking about job titles and salaries. My title is "Technical Program Manager"; what in the world does that mean? What type of program? How big a program? How new a program? What part of the program do I manage? There are so many programs and program components, do you really know what I do based on just my title? Is the salary range really a good indicator to base your expectations? No and uh, no. So if you are looking for your next career move (internally or externally) how can you prove to people that you are worth the high end of that spectrum?

Dress up

Most tech companies have a relaxed dress code with employees wearing jeans on more than just casual Fridays. But even if that is the case, take the advice I was given once and "dress for the job you want not the job you have". And take it a step further: dress up the other components of your image and improve the way you sit in meetings, your email signature, and the way you bring problems to your boss.

Elevator up

When meeting people for the first time, you need to be able to rehearse a polished elevator pitch that clarifies who you are and what you do. Whether it is the CEO, a competitor, a customer, or an old classmate, you want to impress them all. The best way to elevate your job is to show results through numbers and a cause-and-effect equation. "I do X for program Y so that my company sees Z." Make sure you know what you'll say and don't get stuck tongue-tied; then you won't be worth much at all!

"Sheryl Sandberg" up (or Man up)

Don't be afraid to get in people's faces about your efforts and goals. If you want a raise there are designated times they can happen and if you ask for it today I can bet you won't get it. You need to be in the running well before and so you need to speak up for yourself and advocate for your self worth. Ask to do more. Ask for feedback. Ask for the promotion. And if you're not convinced, maybe these stories will convince you.

What I Learned from Kicking Men in the Balls

emotional intelligence, Inspirationx3, story

Denver doesn't seem all that safe of a place at night. In fact, if you regularly read the news it seems like there is nowhere that is safe. It can make some people (including me) uneasy. So I did something about it and over the weekend, I attended a class...

A Book Review of The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by: Charles Duhigg Did you know that Target knows when you are pregnant? Or that the memory loss victims in the movie 50 FIRST DATES could psychologically create new habits? This book breaks down the way our brains...

A Book Review of 3 Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time by: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin How can you change the world? You start by finding something worth changing. This biography of the Eastern adventures of Greg Mortenson sometimes caused me to sit...

About Being a Patriot: Loyalty at Work

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you all enjoyed a little break and some time in the sun over the holiday weekend, as did I. I find it kind of ironic that most of us dawn our red, white, and blue pride only a few times a year. What about...

3 Ways Why Not Being the Smartest Person in the Room Benefits You

There is a circulating theme this month that may have stemmed from Google no longer hiring based on GPA (which I fully support) and one of my favorite blog posts about how being stupid is a good thing. There are many opportunities that we give and receive information: school, news, parenting,...

What I Learned in China: Top 10 Q&A from a First-Time Traveler

It takes a while to readjust after an amazing 2 week trip to China with 15 of my MBA classmates. Touring to Beijing, Shenyang, and Shanghai, I learned some fascinating things about the Chinese culture, companies, and emerging market opportunities. I have not really been out of the country before,...

A coach not a principal: How to be a Better Boss

The formality in the workplace hinders a supportive environment that helps teams and companies achieve success. Principals treat everything like a report card, pink slip or detention, and rehearsed full school assemblies. Everything is by the book and everyone, even staff, fears being "sent to the principal's office". This method is...

Do You Have 10 Minutes Today?

Guest, Inspirationx3, Project Eve

How can you start making a dent in your "to do" list when you only have 10 minutes? Today, I was motivated by this post by Project Eve and my friend Miranda's recommendation of the book Switch. When you feel overwhelmed with too much to do, you don't know where to begin!...

Don't Follow Stop Signs: Marketing Tactics to Learn from Traffic Control

Do you occasionally suffer from road rage? Are you a Colorado driver that doesn't know how to merge using the full 1/2-mile merge lane? Do you speed every day or do you stop for a full and legal 3-seconds at stop signs? Drivers rarely fully adhere to the traffic laws that stop...

Did You Know That You Are Creative?

Inspirationx3, quote

Last week I published a review of Made to Stick. I think this book is read not only by marketing professionals but really anyone that wants to add a little creative spice to their work. What I've found though when talking to people is that not many people (except explicit...

A Book Review of Made to Stick

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die by: Chip Heath and Dan Heath Did you know that “Nice guys finish last” was a misquote from a baseball manager? A “sticky” idea, no matter if it was intended or not, can help you be SUCCESsful – as long...

The Most Dangerous Word to Use at Work

Guest, Inspirationx3

I enjoyed reading this article by Brad Hoover this week about the most dangerous word being "try" because it "simply shows a lack of belief, passion, commitment, and confidence". It is hard to disagree with this claim, but I'm going to argue that "tomorrow" is the most dangerous word to use. Such as...

Is change always good? How can you avoid bad change?

Inspirationx3, quote

Brocade got a new CEO this week! A big welcome to Lloyd Carney and the coming growth of Brocade, SDN technology, and the networking industry. One of the best things in my opinion that Lloyd said about joining is his first order of business is to listen and learn. I...

Do you like the changes?

I made some changes! The title and description is now more about the INK part of an ink blot rather than the BLOT part. I feel like it better represents what topics the blog covers. Inspiration comes from the source rather than the result. I hope you continue to enjoy...

Have You Failed Your 2013 Resolutions Already?

The last few days I've been contemplating on my own blog post How to Make the Best New Year's Resolutions this past week. It is hard to stay upbeat and positive when trying to determine your faults, slow down your dreams to reality, return to the struggles at work, (and deal with...

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