Blurred Lines

It’s important to know where the boundaries are at work just like you know when you need to stay within your driving lane. Blurring the lines at work may get you into more trouble than trying to switch lanes during rush hour.  We all want to be liked, wanted, needed, respected and admired but at what cost?  When you think by making friends with the assistant to the CEO you will get you any further along in your career than if you were to stay focused and work hard at what you are doing – you’ve now got “blurred lines.”

You know when you’ve crossed the line in your career when you are more motivated by what people think or say about you vs. how well you perform in your job. Your accomplishments at work should be measured by your job performance and not your personal performance. Yes “kissing ass” may make you friends in high places but at what cost to your career and more importantly to your self-esteem? Knowing who you are and what you stand for helps you keep your work intentions focused even when the lines seem to come together.

It may be hard to know where the lines are blurred when your work life becomes your social life.  Working late is great but when you do it because you have no place else to be the lines are starting to get fuzzy. Having boundaries with balance is a way to measure your progress in keeping your work life and personal life separate.  If your only friends are those from work you are definitely putting all of your eggs in one basket.  Finding your self in the middle of work/personal drama is not the way to ensure your success in your career. It’s okay to make friends at work but remember your job comes first and your personal life needs to take a back seat if it begins to interfere with getting your work done.  Here are a few signs that you are blurring your work lines:

  1. Texting your friends at work when you should be completing a project for your boss;
  2. Making plans on the weekends and after work inviting some but not all of your co-workers and creating your “work clique”;
  3. Dishing the dirt about your boss or other co-workers because you feel the need to “share” and have no one else to complain to;
  4. Buying gifts or treating your work friends because you want to be seen as a leader when all you really need is to be liked;
  5. Covering up for someone’s mistakes at work to protect your friendship vs. manage your “work-ship.”

Finding the right balance between your position and what you hope to accomplish in your career and that of being the most popular person in the room is never easy.   We all want to be liked and admired for who we are as a person vs. what we do at work. There comes a point when you have to decide if it’s more important for you to be liked or respected.  You are going to be put in positions that are challenging and where you are called on to make tough decisions that may have an impact on some of your work “friends.”  You can’t allow your personal ties to interfere with your professional ones.

Knowing how to balance your relationships at work from your personal life is the difference between being a mature leader from someone who is seen as wanting to be the life of the party.  When it comes to keeping your personal life and your professional life on equal footing, learning how not to blur the lines will make it easier for you to successfully move away from the drama you create towards seeking a more peaceful and productive work life.

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

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Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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What You Are Willing To Put Up With…

You may love your job you may hate your job.  You may have a great boss or  you can’t wait to bolt out the door at 6pm. If you know what motivates you to come to work in the morning that’s great but if you still struggle with whatever it is that keeps you up at night maybe it’s time for a little soul-searching.  We all have our breaking point.  We all push the limits of our success no matter what we think is important to us.

It’s not like you are trying to turn a blind’s eye to people or situations that make you uncomfortable or do not serve your long-term career goals.  But when you put up with things far longer than you should whose interests do you really have at stake?  It’s okay to be optimistic that a job situation will work out.  Whether you are fighting with a co-worker have lost the trust of your boss, or don’t really love what you are doing you will eventually have to find a time to be true to yourself and be able to live with your choices.

Testing your resolve at work means you may have to condition yourself to trust those you would ordinarily pass in the hall without a second glance. Knowing who your friends are is one thing but do you know who your office mate is really when it comes to trust and confidence?  Things move fast at work, people change but knowing how much you are willing to put up with when it comes to your work environment is important not only to your sanity but to your ultimate career success.

Making sure you are part of a work environment that fosters trust, cooperation good communication and where you are in a position to not only learn but to grow is a prerequisite to any career move you are considering. When you allow yourself to work in conditions that erode your confidence and your ability to trust others, you set yourself up for failure and a stressful work life. It’s one thing to roll with the punches it’s another thing to keep getting punched.

Learning to protect yourself and to recognize when a situation or person is not the best for you when it comes to your career advancement is a valuable lesson to adapt early in your career.  It’s easy to be liked and to like everyone around you, but knowing how to carefully pick and choose your battles and your friends will be one of the greatest skills you learn in your career life.  Sometimes you may think you have to travel a rough road or deal with difficult people in order to get ahead in your career.  The good news is that you don’t need to put up with anyone or anything that makes you uncomfortable or unsettled in your job.  There are plenty of things in life that will cause you sleepless nights and your job, your work or your boss should not be one of them.

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

Follow greenlightjobs on Twitter http://twitter.com/greenlightjobs

And, on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/50


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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What Motivates You?

It may be money, it may be your ability to create original work, or it may even be the fact that you need to have a place to go every morning. But when it comes to what actually motivates you, it’s good to know where you stand and what makes you tick.  When you learn what motivates you in your career and at work, you enable yourself to better focus and accomplish your goals whether you are looking for a job or climbing the ladder of success.

We may not always like what we have to do but they don’t call it “work” for nothing.  You may have found a way to do what you love but have you found a way to harness that enthusiasm and energy to accomplish all that you wish for yourself when it comes to managing your career goals?  It’s not always easy to know what you need to do when it comes to finding ways to keep yourself motivated.  How you manage your time vs. how you manage your enthusiasm are two very different skills you may need to develop in order to be successful in your attempts to stay motivated.  It’s not enough to possess good time management skills but do you know how to prioritize what’s important from what needs to get done?  You can force yourself into doing anything you want even those things that you may not particularly like, but will those things be enough to just “check the box” or will it help you to move forward in your career?

Keeping yourself challenged creatively and energetically is about tapping that thing within you that makes you soar with excitement every time you think about it.  It may be a project near and dear to your heart, it may be the idea of a corner office or it may very well be the bonus check you’ll get at the end of the year for a job well done.  No matter what the outcome of your hard work, knowing what motivates you will help you lead your future choices with confidence and assurance and know that you should learn to trust yourself.

When you focus on what makes you happy and excited about your work it might be wise to take an inventory of the choices you’ve made so you can maintain your level of motivation when distraction looms in the wings.  It’s one thing to love what you do or know what you want to do but when you are distracted and unable to accomplish your goals you can easily loose faith and focus.

Staying on course when you are being pushed and pulled in many directions tests your patience and your motivation.  Calling on your ability to stay focused despite the distractions may be the challenge you need to help keep you motivated even if it pushes you to your limits.  You’ll see what you are made of and how much your passion for what you do will drive your decisions, choices and actions when it comes to making your career and job search your number one priority.  Finding and holding onto what you love to do may be easier for some than for others but so long as you know what makes you happy and what motivates you there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish.

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

Follow greenlightjobs on Twitter http://twitter.com/greenlightjobs

And, on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/50

 


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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Losing Your Mind

Who said your job search and career choices would be easy?  It’s not that you are trying to make it more difficult each time you think you are taking one step forward only to take ten steps back.  Figuring out your next move is as much a part of the process as actually looking for a job.  The goal here is not to lose your mind figuring out your next move, but to learn how to manage the stress and choosing what options you have along the way.

It’s easy to lose your mind over the little things in life without making your career or job search one of them.  Whether it’s the car breaking down, the dog getting sick, or your weekend vacation plans falling apart, you can choose how to react to just about any situation life throws at you.  Finding a job or changing a job is one of the most stressful situations you can thrust yourself in whether it’s your choice or someone else’s.  You don’t deliberately go out of your way to make your life more difficult but some days it just feels like it.

Your job search or career choice can and should be a fun life altering experience.  Like falling in love, getting married or having a your first child, finding a new job experience should fill you with joyful anticipation not dread and fear.  You can worry yourself sick over whether you should stay or leave your current job, whether your boss has your back or not and whether you’ll ever get that promotion you’ve been working so hard for over the past year. Losing your mind is an easy thing to do when you allow chaos and crises to rule your every thought.

When you know what you want, losing your mind becomes less of an option. Sure you can continue to become distracted over small issues making the bigger decisions seem overwhelming or, you can prioritize and make a list of the items you need to address in a way that makes your next career move more productive and predictable.

Like a “To-Do” list of errands you may need to run, creating a process where you can clearly and accurately map out your career strategy the way you would attack any other project that needs completion, helps you stay on time and on budget no matter how long your job search takes.  It may sound simplistic and pedestrian but focusing on one action item at a time may just help take the edge off your need to jump out of a window at the thought of looking for your next job.  Here area a few simple steps to help you get started:

  1. Look at your LinkedIn Profile, resume, bio or website to make sure the information is up to date or create one if you don’t have any of the following;
  2. Make sure you have up-to-date contact information on key networking contacts;
  3. Make an inventory of your accomplishments at work with key revenue and cost savings, if you don’t have that information, start getting the research done;
  4. Think about who your references should be and get a list together and reach out and make sure they still remember you;
  5. Lastly, spend time really understanding what you like and don’t like about your current job BEFORE you make the move to leave or start your job search.

Taking your worries with you about your current situation will not help you remain clear and focused when it comes to making sure your next career choice is the best one for you.

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

Follow greenlightjobs on Twitter http://twitter.com/greenlightjobs

And, on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/50


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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