10 No Cost Ways to Present Yourself at Your Best – #6 & #5

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

So here we are in week 3 of a 5 week series dedicated to no cost things you can do to treat yourself well and demonstrate that you value yourself.  After all, if you don’t treat yourself well – who else should?

This week, I have 2 additional tips (and stories of course!) for you.

#6. Keep your shoes clean and in good repair.

So I am not a person that is easily shocked (especially in work situations).  But I must say, a work situation that deeply shocked me involved shoes – let me explain…

I had an opportunity to sit in on a meeting with a CEO of a very large firm – let’s say it was a “him” and that his name was John Smith (I assure you this story is true but I am just changing the person’s identity to protect and forgive them for an obvious moment of temporary insanity).  Anyway, I was thrilled to get into this meeting.  It was a chance for a large group that I supported to get some recognition for some amazing breakthrough goals and financial results they achieved in a short period of time.  The group got the attention of this CEO who wanted to know how they did it.

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10 No Cost Ways to Present Yourself at Your Best – #8 & #7

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

So how did it go last week?  Did you get rid of junk jewelry?  Did you pack away your holiday clothing and decide to save your favorite pajama pants for bedtime?  I hope so.

Working as an HR executive and Career Coach for over 20 years has been like getting paid to “people watch” at a shopping mall.  You can’t make this stuff up!  This series is dedicated to the little things that I have noticed people can do to treat themselves better and demonstrate that you value yourself and that you deserve to be treated well.  If you don’t feel that way about yourself – who else should?

This week, I have 2 additional tips for you.

#8.  Keep your hands clean, neat, and smooth.

Nothing is more unsightly than hands that are dirty or unkept in any way.  Think about it – you offer your hands to others when you greet them or help them – why would you offer them dirty or uncared for hands?  We can’t control all of the germs on our hands, but we can at least look like we care about how we literally and figuratively “touch” people.

I have a couple of things to say about hands:

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10 No Cost Ways to Present Yourself at Your Best – #10 & #9

By Gina Calvano | 1 Comment

As I mentioned in one of my last blog posts, I have been doing a lot of networking in the past few months.  I always feel that my personal experiences make for the best inspiration for content – if I am noticing it – there is a reason.  And if I am pained by my observation, then there is a purpose lurking somewhere in my pain – it is just a matter of time before the purpose clicks for me.  Lately, I have had a lot of clicking going on.

I have decided to share a series with you about my observations that can provide some no cost ideas on how to present yourself at your best.  Treating yourself well matters because it is a path for allowing good things to come your way.  We attract what we put out into the Universe.  If we are not treating ourselves well then we are going to find hard times trying to get others to regard us or treat us well in return.  Minor changes can go a long way – so it’s in that spirit that I share my observations and ideas with you.

Mind you, I am not a personal stylist nor am I particularly into fashion and the latest trends.  But I know bad or inappropriate treatment when I see it and often we are our own worst offenders.  More importantly, I know what I think when I see it (I am human – I can’t help it – I make decisions about people when I see the way they look and I know I am not alone in this).  Of course, I consciously weigh it in with a lot of other variables like how they treat others, how they present themselves, their ideas/energy/chutzpah, etc.  But I cannot ignore it because I know it means something about how they value themselves – and how people value themselves matters greatly to me.

So I offer to you 10 no cost ways to present yourself at your best.  Every week – I will write about two things – counting down to the most important thing you can do to present your best self.  I hope they inspire you to treat yourself better and in return boost your confidence by demonstrating to the Universe that you take pride in your appearance and that you deserve to be treated well.

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The easiest mistake you can avoid making in your career

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Never underestimate the power of a good handshake!

Seems obvious, right?  Does anyone out there disagree with me on this one?  Probably not – so do I seriously have to blog about Handshaking 101?  Ahhh ya, I do because there are still far too many people out there who still hold onto their bad handshake and it is killing their advantage over their competition.

Bad Handshakers of the world (you know who you are), you must stop this insanity (you know, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result – as in – “I’ll give the ‘limp fish‘ shake again – but this time – this time by golly people will get that I have energy, and that I am confident and powerful!”).  Do you hear it now?  This is the kindest (full on – benefit of the doubt), talk bubble that good handshakers see over your head when they try to shake your limp fish hand. We get it – maybe you are having a bad day or you are a little low on energy or self-esteem right now, but unless there is a cast of some sort on your arm or hand – there is no excuse – for a bad handshake.  Why?  Because it is the least amount of effort, easiest and fastest way to convey a sense of energy, confidence and “glad to see/meet you”!  And if you don’t have energy or confidence at the moment for whatever reason, it is the least amount of effort, easiest and fastest way to fake a sense of energy, confidence and “glad to see/meet you”!

Are you smacking yourself in the head yet?

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What’s Love Got To Do With It?

By Gina Calvano | 1 Comment

Oh my – that crazy little thing called love.  Is there anything else truly more powerful?

In my coaching practice I often tell people that if you want to do something you can love, but you can’t (maybe because you can’t figure out what that is or maybe because it is just a task you ‘have to do’ but don’t prefer to do – like laundry) – then, love what you are doing.  Huh?  You might be thinking how the heck to you love something you already know you don’t love?  It comes down to 3 things:

  1. a choice
  2. a shift in your focus
  3. action

First – you must choose to have a life that includes loving doing what you love and the first step in making that happen is to love what you are doing.  You must make a CHOICE.  Break what you have to do into small portions – discover love for some aspect of what you are doing.  Consider the following ideas:

Do you love …

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Balance, balance, balance – “Blend” your values

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

I recently figured out a way to “blend” two of my values.  This was inspired by my life long quest for balance.  If you are like me, you too cram too many things into a 16 hour window each day (sometimes for me it’s a 20 hour window).  But if you also value sleep like I do (man, oh, man – I do like my sleep!), then you must get creative about how you accomplish all the things that matter to you – so I seek to “blend”.  What do I mean by “blending” my values?  Let me share with you a recent real-life success story about blending my values…

Well – I have (as you do too), values in my life – things that I hold near and dear to my heart and/or purpose on this planet.

One of those things is being a Mom.  My value statement for being a Mom is:

“When my life is ideal, I am a loving, kind Mother who serves my children like they are a priority and matter at set times of the day and when they call upon me for assistance no matter what else is going on at the time or regardless of how I might feel.  This or something better!  I make choices that favor my values.”

One of my other values is leading a healthy lifestyle – that includes exercising.

Many of you know, especially if you are parents of younger children, that it can be challenging for these two values to co-exist harmoniously.

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How to Accomplish Anything

By Gina Calvano | 1 Comment

Stop trying is the answer.

So how is it going with your New Year’s Resolutions?  Here we are – week 3 of the new year and my resolution is going great.  I decided to stop trying anything for 2012 (and for the rest of my life).  Why?  Because trying is a state of mind and it is a trap for losing and aggravation – or as I like to say it in a fancy way (I like to say a lot of things in a fancy way) – willfully engaging in a prolonged struggle that will lead to certain failure.

I learned this from one of my favorite coaches – my 3rd grade son.

He came home from school the other day with his (or should I say OUR) homework.  New for this year, he has to grade his own assignments on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best.  I asked him how he thought he did on his assignments and he said a 3.  I asked him what he thought he could have done to make him feel like he did “4” work.  Surprisingly he had 3 specific things he thought he could have done (I was blown away!).  I asked him that since he knew what he could do to be a 4, if he was going to do 3 or a 4 work with his next assignment.  He said he would try to be a 4.  This struck my coaching chord in me.

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Share your commitment to learning on job interviews.

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

A great follow-up for our previous blog “Why education matters”.  Being able to authentically share your interest and desire to keep learning matters on job interviews.  Check out this article from Harvard Business Review

http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2011/03/where-will-you-be-in-five-year.html

Want conviction? Profoundly help others

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Welcome to our 4th and final week  continuing on our topic of  “4 key distinctions that matter for finding career happiness.”

Let’s recap.  There are 4 things I want you to master in order to fully manifest the 3 C’s of career happiness (clarity, confidence and conviction).  Our first distinction was get comfortable making choices, our second was get courageous and our third was get committed to on-going education.  Remember, you are never really “out of school” – formal education and training should never stop.  Hopefully you selected a career and industry that are good matches for your abilities and interests so regular doses of  the latest information and the opportunity to connect with your peers should be nourishing to your soul – if they aren’t – HELLO – you may be in the wrong job/field (call us immediately before reading any further so you can get the help you need to find a career that excites you).

Last week we talked about needing to demonstrate your affiliation to OTHERS in your profession.  I shared that affiliation matters and one of the best way to show that you have the opportunity to be socially connected to your professional network is through pursuing continuing education (plus it helps you stay on top of the latest knowledge and developments in your field).

Going after continuing education and training is where you FIND your career and industry affiliations – the top talent in your field – the “who’s who” that YOU WANT TO BE CONNECTED to.  But how do you turn the illusion of being connected to these folks (it’s really just an illusion because your just hanging out in the same places they hang out), into a reality?

Welcome to the 4th distinction – PROFOUNDLY HELP OTHERS.

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Why ON-GOING Education and Training Matters – Knowledge, Skill and Social Affiliation Expansion

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Welcome to week 3  continuing on our topic of “4 key distinctions that matter for finding career happiness” after you obtain the ‘3C’s’ – clarity, confidence and conviction.

Before all that – I just have to share my joy over Spring – it is coming – I can just feel it – can’t you?  What a difference a week makes in the weather!  I am done, done, DONE with winter and anxiously awaiting Spring.

I do promise however to continue working to help the workforce transition to the indigoforce and to keep sharing my thoughts and great information through our blog – but I just might be doing it from outside soon – at least I hope!  Lucky for you – fresh air just might be the ticket to even better blogging content for you – we shall see – hopefully SOON.

Onto our topic…

Recap – Our first distinction was get comfortable making choices and our second was get courageous.  Did you clarify what your relationship to the concept “choices” is for you?  Did you assess if you have the courage (defined as feeling afraid but moving forward anyway), to make changes from time to time in your career?

Getting clear about the skills you need to develop and the environments where you can easily get exposure to obtaining those skills makes it is easier to make a move.  And remember, every job/career, field/industry, work environment,  and boss has their drawbacks.  When you are clear about what you are there to achieve personally and professionally most job drawbacks can become very tolerable.

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