Looking for a job? Preparation can make a difference

A post from Jason Womack on "being ready" made me think of the importance of doing your homework before a job interview.  I've been interviewing a lot of candidates recently, and you can really tell the difference between those who take the time to not only become familiar with your company, but also spend time thinking about how they would integrate with your company.

This is more than figuring out what they key products are, what messaging is on the web site, or what recent press releases have hit the wire.

For me, the candidates that really stand out go beyond cursory research.  For example, I've encountered candidates who have prepared a document with their thoughts on our company's strategy versus our key competitors' - with recommendations for how to make our company more competitive.  I've also run across people who have called our company asking for information from our Sales team to see how we position ourselves, what business problems we solve, and how we engage with prospects.

The difference wasn't in what these folks knew or that they'd put forth the extra effort (though that tells you something about a person).  No, the key difference was in their ability to engage in a meaningful discussion during the interview process.  They behaved like informed members of my team, which made it even easier to envision what it's like to work with them.

So, if you are interviewing and want to stand out, get beyond a scan of the web site, engage with the company you want to work for, and bring informed passion to your interview.

Get Cozi with your family

I've just jumped into a service called "Cozi," which is a free online tool you can use to coordinate all the crazy commitments across your family.

I've got three kids, all with busy school and sports schedules (especially in the fall) and I travel a lot.  That means it is a delicate symphony of schedule coordination to make sure everyone gets where they need to be, everyone gets picked up when they should be, and collisions are well understood ahead of time.

When I heard about Cozi, I had to go see what it was about.  I'm still way early in the adoption process, but it is impressive so far.  As you can see at right, there are a lot of features includes with your free Cozi account.  The cool thing about this is you can provide logins to each person in your family, and they can create their own events as well as "assign" tasks to others (for example, adding "Milk" to the shopping list, or adding "Take out the trash" to one of your kids' To Do list).

Master your schedules

Entering appointments is easy.  For example, I can enter "<kid's name> Soccer Practice every Tuesday and Thursday until November 1," and Cozi creates the series correctly on the right person's calendar.  Pretty cool.

But the calendaring is even more powerful than that - you can link it to web calendars, there's an add-in to sync with Outlook, and there is a very well executed iPhone app (other mobile phones can get to a special Mobile web view that is also easy to use.

Everyone's calendar is color coded (you can choose the colors) so it's easy to print out a master calendar or check it out online and tell who's doing what.

The calendaring system can send reminders to the right person's mobile phone, if you so desire, making it easy to keep people on schedule.

Lists for everyone

The To Do lists are very flexible.  You can create shared lists (for example a Grocery list) that show up on everyone's radar, or create individual lists that can be selectively shared with others (so you can keep that Christmas shopping list between you and your spouse).

But wait - there's more

There are other features I haven't dabbled in yet, including a Family Journal for capturing "baby book" like memories, pictures, and other things you want to remember (think of it as a family blog).  Apparently, this can be used to publish articles for sharing with extended family, and even publicly if you choose.  I don't have experience with it yet, but it looks pretty cool.

The journal also feeds into a dynamic screen saver that shows photos and upcoming commitments on your screen when your screen saver is active.

I must say, I'm very impressed for a free service (I'd be impressed with this as a fee service, for that matter).  If you want to know more, head over to Cozi's web site for more information, including a short overview video of Cozi.

Be Bodacious: Improve your career with cowboy wisdom

Just finished reading Steven D. Wood's "Be Bodacious: Put Life In Your Leadership" and I must say I am impressed.

This book is solid theory for personal leadership development, presented in the form of a story about a guy who learns  some powerful lessons from his boss.  The boss is a colorful character nicknamed "Cowboy," who teaches through a series of stories from a Journal he's assembled during his life.

To be transparent, I avoided this book for a little while because I'm kind of tired of these "leadership fables" - there have been a lot of them in the past several years, and they sometimes take too long to get to the advice.  Now, I wish I'd jumped right in.

I'm happy to report that "Be Bodacious" doesn't waste time in getting to the point - with just a little story setup, you get to the meat of the learning pretty quickly.

This is an easy, entertaining book to read and it goes quickly (it's only 150 pages).  In this book, you'll learn:

• How to get out of crappy jobs and into jobs you really enjoy and feel passionate about;
• How to lead a team by igniting their drive and spirit;
• How to get to know your team as individuals so you can give them what they need to be challenged and successful;
• And a whole lot more.

Some other things you'll learn are just as important - like how to get out of the trap of comparing yourself to others, which can really mess with your confidence and limit what you can achieve.  Closely related to this are some good techniques to help you identify when you are hanging on to old habits that are preventing you from being successful (the chapter "Rocket Fuel" was very relevant to me).

The book also deals with some proven "sharpen the saw" techniques to make sure you spend time on yourself, so you can improve your own skills.  There are some thought-provoking elements on this topic.

This book is a quick read, and I think it's perfect for anyone who's a business leader or aspires to be. You can find out more at Be-Bodacious.com including seeing the "Be Bodacious" movie (it's short, but good), and you can download a sample chapter.

You might also check out Wood's blog, where you can get a taste of his writing style, philosophy, and leadership mojo.

So, 'nuf said - Be Bodacious, and put some life in your leadership.

Deja vu, all over again - are you guilty?

Ever notice yourself or others making the same mistakes over and over again?  I have seen this in a lot of the places I've worked, and a lot of the problem is that people tend to tolerate "emotional business cases" (latest, loudest, and most charismatic) over "real" business cases (logic, data, and well-thought out strategy decisions).

The root cause is that we like to do fun and exciting things, and real business cases are hard work and sometimes boring.  Then there is the fact that we often take shortcuts when analyzing ideas we like.

Know what?  This is not uncommon - take a look at this comparison of the current BP oil spill to one that happened in 1979.

It's eerie how similar they are, isn't it?  Are you guilty of repeating the mistakes of the past?  How can you break the cycle?

The Image of Success

I've been quiet here lately due to some hectic schedules, but I have had the opportunity to do some reading so you'll see a few book reviews pop out here soon.

I'm starting with a book I really enjoyed - Lizandra Vega's "The Image of Success: Make a Great Impression and Land the Job You Want."  A long time ago, I read a book called "Dress for Success" but the copy I had was written in the last era of 70's attire.  This book reminded me of that, but was far better than I expected.

Put your best foot forward (and keep your shoes on!)

As you can tell from the title, Vega's book is focused on helping you make a great impression as a job hunter.  I was impressed with how holistic her approach is, as it covers everything from soup to nuts.  For example, you'll become educated on:

• how to market yourself;
• what to wear, and how to match your attire to the company where you're interviewing;
• how to make the most of your physical characteristics;
• how to prepare for a job interview;
• how to behave in the interview;
• how to follow up, and more.

Vega is clearly an expert in her field, having spent many years in recruiting and working as a career and image coach.  The practicality of her advice is definitely rooted in real-world experience.

The style is very clear and easy to read, and there are plenty of visual examples in each part of the book.  Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the book is Vega's collection of horror stories, which show just how much some people need this kind of help!

For example, you might be amused with stories of coffee spills, foot odor (hence the admonition to keep your shoes on), shocking remarks people make, and other interesting things she's encountered in her career.

Not looking? It's still applicable.

I'm not job hunting at the moment (I received a review copy of the book), but I still found a lot of value here to help me re-think the image I portray at work.  There are some things I can do to "up-level" my image and remove some of the rough edges for sure.  I may not do them all, but at least I'm more conscious of the areas I can improve.

If you want a full run-down, check out the table of contents from The Image of Success, or visit Lizandra Vega's web site.

Speaking The Language of Accountability

I'm trying to instill more accountability and discipline in myself, my team, etc.  Since words are important, I am trying to start by insisting on what I refer to as "The Language of Accountability."  This is about being deliberate about commitments, specific about what you're committing to, and trying to root out "squishiness" and weasel words in your commitments.

For example, use words like:

• "I own this."
• "I will complete this by <date>."
• "Here is what I will do..." or "Here is what I will deliver..." or something similar.

Simple changes like this can make a big difference.  The test is pretty simple - you can ask three questions to find out if you're using The Language:

• Do I know what I'm committing to / what is the expected outcome?
• Am I clear on who owns this item?
• Do I know when to expect it to be completed?

If the answer is no to any of these, you aren't done committing.