Volume 6 • Issue 1 • January 2006
 

Letter from the President

Goal Setting in 2006

Goal setting. Either this term sets your heart on fire, or it makes you cringe. To be honest, it used to make my stomach turn. If I wanted something, I just worked hard and achieved what I set my heart on, and for years that worked for me.  As I grew older and my goals got bigger, the thought of a goal was no longer enough to make that goal into a reality. I'm not sure if it was Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Og Mandino's The Greatest Salesman in the World, Robert Kyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad, or Tom Schaf's sales training. However, one, if not all of those books and trainings, made a powerful, lasting impact on my life as well as my ability to set and achieve my goals. There are many critical elements to setting good goals, but the five that stand out the most to me are repetition, completion, inspiration, measurement, and integrity.

What I initially learned from goal setting may be the only thing that really matters. Eighty times more people who set and review their goals daily actually achieve 75% or more of those goals in a given year.

I also learned that setting goals to compensate for last year's failures is typically a recipe for disappointment, stress, and internal sabotage. You need to be okay with what worked and didn't work in the previous year, as well as what you learned about yourself in the process, before you can successfully set realistic and challenging goals.

When setting a goal, you want to set one that gets you out of bed in the morning. Would you pick "I want to lose 20 lbs. by December," or would you pick "I have a body that supports me being well, fit, and beautiful"? I learned that the second goal was much easier to review daily, and it actually inspired me the more I said it. As a result, I altered my behavior to have that goal become a reality. I went to the health club and ate less unhealthy food.

Measurement-yuck. That means I have to be accountable. Measurement could be a number or a date. In the context of having a fit body: I will complete a triathlon by June 15, 2006. The bottom line is that it happens or it doesn't. I actually do the triathlon or I don't; there's no in between. 

After the initial simplicity of dealing with the notion that all I have to do is set good goals and then read them to myself (in the mirror) daily, I then had to deal with the reality that to achieve those goals, I had to have a powerful relationship with my word-to stand in front of the mirror and look at myself every day and read the goal "I have a body that is an example of fitness and health" only to wolf down a Big Mac 2 hours later had no integrity. The same goes for the goal, "This year I will close 25% more business than last year," and then to ignore my 'Outlook reminder' to prospect.....where was the integrity in that? To thine own self be true.  I had to deal with my word in the matter of my goals, and the relationship between my word and myself. Now that's confrontation.

Once I realized the power of goal setting, reminding myself daily of the goals I set, and then going the full monty by dealing with who I was going to be in the matter of my goals...I began to achieve the goals I set one by one. My perception of myself transformed, and who I became was a woman who can have anything I want-because I say so, and because I can trust myself to accomplish it!

Best of success!

Margaret

The Job Search: Getting Started

Looking for a new career can be a long procedure, especially if you don't know what you want. Finding an opportunity that matches your experience and skills, and is something you're interested in can be a challenge unless you know where to start looking.

The best way to get ahead in the game when looking for a perfect position is to examine your strengths. What do you do best? Where do you feel you excel in your everyday activities? What are you passionate about? (Remember, we tend to be better at the things we enjoy).

Then, look at your areas of weakness. What types of things do you find yourself getting flustered by easily? What are tasks that you'd rather not do on a daily basis? When you answer these questions, you'll find yourself automatically considering positions that match up with what you want and don't want.

Third party companies are great resources, because they expose you to a variety of opportunities and career paths. Having an experienced Recruiter assist you in your job search will open doors to many different ideas. If you ask, most recruiters will give you positive and negative feedback that will inevitably help you out with your job search, either through their company or on your own.

Finding an opportunity is only half the battle—the rest is up to your résumé. Its job is to tell the employer who you are, where you’ve been, and where you want to go. It must be professionally written (no typos!) with exact dates, and it should be consistent. Your résumé will have to sell your skills and your experience. Remember; if there is a major concern about it, you may get passed by. For additional résumé tips and helpers send an e-mail to stephanie@alliancehrnetwork.com.

So, you know what you want to do, you know what you don't want to do, and you know where to look.  Now you've got to start sending out those résumés. The more people you hit, the better your chances that your résumé will be looked at. Starting off on the right foot will help you find an opportunity that you're happy with long term, not just a job to get you by.

-Katy Browning

Got Assessments? Start off the New Year on the Right Foot

Are you dedicated to finding employment with the best fit for you in the New Year? Why not start that process with a company that's looking to fill its positions with people like you?

Alliance HR has recently become a distributor of the PIAV assessment. PIAV literally stands for Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values. This assessment is an accurate portrayal of what gets someone out of bed in the morning. Have you ever worked somewhere where you had all the right job duties, but you were unhappy?

This might be because the company was looking for an employee who was motivated by innate qualities that didn't match yours. Some people are motivated by policies and procedures, some are motivated by training and development, and others are motivated by making money-everyone is different. For example, what motivates a sales professional is going to be completely different from what motivates an administrative assistant.

Using the PIAV, we'll find out through six different dimensions what your stronger and weaker motivating factors are so we can more accurately fit you with the best company.  This report will also show the national mean for each category, which means that you can see how your motivations match to the national norm.

Get to know yourself and why you want to do the job. Incorporate the PIAV assessment into your job search and make this your most productive and successful New Year yet.

-Kirsten Hollesen

 

 

We are sending you this eNewsletter for information purposes. We hold our relationship at high value and will not share any of your information with second parties. If you would like to invite someone to subscribe to our eNewsletter, or you wish to unsubscribe, please email marketing@alliancehrnetwork.com