Mark Hirschfeld

My dad was a fan of one car company when I was growing up, so he was a bit disturbed when I brought home another brand.

He walked all the way around the car. I asked him if he wanted to go for a drive. He opened the door of the car, and then shut it.

It shut easily and firmly, something that his brand of car was not known for.

“Hmm,” he said.

He eventually realized I made a good purchase.

Lenny closed and door and changed his mind.

When you’re in the job search, you too may need to close a door or two. Those doors, metaphorically, speaking, are mindsets that will get in the way of you moving on.

There are some self-limiting doors that need to be shut, such as “there are absolutely no jobs in the midst of the pandemic.”

There are some self-defeating doors, such as “I am so angry at my former boss that I will never trust another leader again.”

There are some self-destructive doors, such as “there isn’t anyone out there who can understand me or would be willing to help.”

Take a page from Lenny. Take a good look. Close the door if you need to. Chart a different path.

There are free training videos on the web site of my faith community: https://www.thetablempls.com/jobresources  You can find all the posts at www.markhirschfeld.com

#careercoach #jobhunting #careers #jobsearch

It’s the week after Thanksgiving and I’m posting about food! Here’s my story:

A former colleague, Dr. Kenneth Liggett, had a wonderful metaphor about healthy relationships:

“Mark, let’s say you want to eat healthier. You know apples are healthy, so you create a diet where you only eat apples. But that wouldn’t be healthy, would it? To have a healthy diet you need a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables and proteins.”

He continued: “The same thing is true with your network of relationships. If you only have “apples” you don’t have a healthy network. You need different, healthy relationships in order to have a truly healthy network.”

Think about your current network—do you have diversity, or do you only have “apples”?

As a job seeker, having a more diverse network can help you in so many ways. A more diverse network can “see” things about you that a more homogeneous network can’t. They may have insights about job opportunities that you wouldn’t be aware of otherwise.

Over the last several months I’ve been intentional about expanding my network. I’ve met some wonderful folks and learned a lot.

To expand your opportunities, diversify your network.

#career #careercoach  #openforwork #jobsearch

You can find all my posts at www.markhirschfeld.com

From October to the end of the first semester at Colgate University, with over 3,000 folks on campus, there were no reported COVID cases.

None.

Their success was attributed to an evidence-based plan that was passionately communicated, but one action that set the tone early in the semester was President Brian Casey living in a dorm in quarantine for fourteen days, the same action each student had to endure.

He acknowledged to the campus that this was going to be difficult, but it could be done.

I’m sure Dr. Casey didn’t want to live in a dorm, but in doing so he exhibited a sense of empathy and presence. He led.

The campus responded accordingly, and a semester of school is safely in the books.

My friend and collaborator @bradshuck has carefully studied leaders who behave this way, who are leading in these challenging times and achieving remarkable results.

He calls this approach “Compassionate Leadership”, and his research clearly shows six behaviors that more effectively engage and inspire.

You might not need to quarantine in a dorm for two weeks to make your point, but take a page from Dr. Casey—leading with compassion can make all the difference.

#leadership #engagement #compassionateleadership

But Red is at the Buxton wall.

… but Rick didn’t make the flight.

… but I’ve lost the way.

Asserting your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom. It’s adolescence.

… but in the middle of the punch line I keep nodding off.

For those of you in the U.S., I hope you had a nice holiday!

Friends, as we go into the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, I want to express my gratitude to you. Over the past seven months since I’ve leaned into this platform I’ve learned a lot, developed some great new relationships, caught up with some former associates, and have been inspired by many of your posts.

I’ve posted this a number of times, but my employer has a free web site where you can send a message of thanks to someone. Seems worth sharing again. Use it as much as you like,

Wishing you peace and health and safety. I’ll return to social media next Monday.

In gratitude, Mark

Go to: https://appreciate.biworldwide.com/

Friends, I’ve posted this before, but given the increase in COVID cases I thought it worth sharing again:

There was an article in the newspaper about a woman who was recently invited for an in-person job interview. She thought it went well, but didn’t get a call back.

She followed up and found the position had been filled. When she asked why they hired someone else, they said: “When you came in for an interview you wore your mask the entire time. We thought you might be one of those people who will complain about every safety issue.”

Each of us will need to make a decision about what kind of work environment for which we will feel comfortable. In the case above, the woman was actually relieved she found out that their values regarding safety weren’t the same as hers, and went onto her next career opportunity.

I used to work for a utility that highly valued safety, and I never felt unsafe when I worked there. That was important to me, so in that case my values and the values of my employer were aligned.

Use online resources to understand the safety culture of a prospective employer. Additionally, you can use networking skills to gain additional insights.

Do your homework. Find a job that is right for you in an environment and culture that fits what is important to you.

All my daily posts at http://www.markhirschfeld.com