4 steps to your professional best | SmartBlog on Leadership

Whatever your line of work...if you want to lead in your field, if you want to stand out, make a difference, earn an excellent reputation and succeed financially, too, then rate your approach to work against the following practices. ...

- Cultivate a burning desire to excel in your field
- Hone your chops
- Develop your own point of view
- Build your body of work

I'm particularly interested in #3. For anyone who reads CSR often, this won't come as a shock. But the author expands on this point in a smart and compelling way, writing,

After you’ve had a good amount of experience, and you’ve learned what the experts in your field have to say, start to ask yourself this very powerful question: "What do I think about all this?" or "If I could flip a magic switch and make everything in my field/company/team different, what would I change?"

I think these are questions we should be asking ourselves on a regular basis, to make sure we're staying true to our personal visions and to help us refocus on our goals. It's easy to let a month or a year slip by without being conscious of where exactly we're headed. I think knowing this is a the 5th step in being your professional best.

Read the full article here.

How to lead your peers (SmartBlog on Leadership)

Peer leadership is something that is often overlooked in leadership circles because, most often, we focus on what and how leaders lead their followers. This is appropriate, but much of what’s accomplished within an organization is because of people in the middle who get things done. Sometimes it requires leading up — what you do for your boss — but often, it requires what you do with and for your colleagues — leading peers.

I think this is particularly relevant to the entertainment industry simply because so many of the people at the top are nutjobs. Assistants and junior executives in this industry rely on each other, and have loyalty to one another (at least the good ones do), that I don't think is seen in many other businesses. I certainly know that was true during my time at CAA.

And while I had a great boss there, I think the reason for this banding together is usually because the consequences of a mistake were more often than not totally disproportionate to whatever error was made. I guess this is my longwinded way of saying that I agree with this article, but rather than calling it "leading your peers," I see it as the teamwork that's already been built from time in the trenches together. You do what it takes to make sure you and yours get the job done, no?

Read the full article here.

8 Negotiation Lessons From The NFL Lockout (OPEN Forum)

1. Step back and start treating the other person — whether a client, vendor, distributor or even an employee — as a partner, advises Ed Brodow, author of Negotiation Boot Camp. "The reason for most deadlocks is because people are too busy fighting with each other and treating each other like adversaries.” ...

8. Eliminate emotions. Although this can be difficult, try to put your emotions aside when negotiating. "Remember ‘It’s not personal, it’s just business,’” says Brodow. “You need to stay calm and not get carried away. Always be willing to walk away from a negotiation. Remember: a negotiation will not determine the rest of your life. If it doesn’t work out, you will find something else as good or better.”

These and six other words of wisdom when it comes to making a deal. And these lessons will come in handy no matter if you're trying to get a raise, hire an actor, renegotiate your contract, or option that piece of material. And some of them are just good life lessons too.

Read the full article here.

How to Know When It Is Time to Leave a Job (by me @ Suite 101)

Feeling like your job is almost worst than catching the Bubonic plague is actually the easiest way to know you need to begin job hunting. But sometimes there are other, more subtle signs that you need to be heading to greener pastures. Such as...

* You're Never Going to Get Promoted
* You're Discouraged from Taking on Additional Responsibilities
* You Don't Agree with the Direction of the Company

Hopefully you won't find it too obnoxious that I'm posting articles that I wrote. I promise only to do so when they're relevant (or at least not completely off-topic), and I hope you enjoy them. Of course, your feedback is always welcome! And those of you who know me well, you can have fun trying to guess which companies I talk about in the article.

Read the full article here.

I'm Now Writing for Suite 101 ! Check it out!

I am now writing about the entertainment industry and career advice for Suite 101. You can check out my profile here.

So far, I've posted three articles, with many more to come!
Stupid Mistakes to Avoid in Your Résumé and Cover Letters
Feeling Stuck as a Hollywood Assistant?
Is Agency Experience Really Necessary to Work in Hollywood?

If you have any topics or questions you'd like to see me to address, please feel free to send me an email.

Where Will You Be in Five Years? (Harvard Business Review)

...You need to be prepared to do some serious introspection and consider parts of your life that you may not regularly think about. "It starts with a reflection on what you are good at and what you are not good at," says Weintraub. Far too many people spend time doing things they are not suited for or enjoy. Weintraub suggests you ask yourself three questions:

What are my values?
What are my goals?
What am I willing to do to get there?

The angle of this article is mostly about how to answer this question when it comes up in interviews or within a job setting. While that's important and certainly relevant, I actually think we could all benefit from thinking about our five-year-plans - there's no rule they have to be set in stone or inflexible, or even just about your career. Just mulling it over in your head for a little while will bring up questions and ideas that can help you better plan - and better enjoy - your life in big and small ways. You might be surprised where your future takes you.

Read the full article here.

How Long Will This Take? 3 Steps to Being a Better Judge of Time (Fast Company)

...Human beings are generally pretty lousy when it comes to estimating the time they will need to complete a task. Psychologists refer to this as the planning fallacy, and it's an all too common problem - one with the very real potential to screw up our plans and keep us from reaching our goals. ...

People in positions of power, for example, are particularly vulnerable, because feeling powerful tends to focus us on getting what we want, ignoring the potential obstacles that stand in our way. A recent set of studies ... shows that such a narrow focus does indeed turn powerful people into very poor planners.

This certainly explains a lot about why bosses always think the people who work for them should have finished everything in fifteen minutes or less. But more than that, the article breaks down why we underestimate completion times and how to avoid it in the future. Good read and definitely worth the thirty seconds it will take you to read it. Oh wait... maybe you should budget a full minute or two. :)

Read the full article here.

Using Stories to Overcome Fear by Peter Guber (Harvard Business Review)

Leaders must tell a story that makes fear an ally, not an adversary, ultimately conveying the message that fear — F.E.A.R — is "false evidence appearing real." ...

Your story and its supporting facts transport the people who hear them to carry your story forward. Good stories, well told, turn people into apostles and advocates of your brand, service, mission or cause.

Will you look at that! Hollywood's own Peter Guber writing for the HBR. Pretty snazzy. And his article actually provides some good info on how to get away from the data and engage people on a more emotional level in order to move forward.

Read the full article here.

Fool vs. Jerk: Whom Would You Hire? (Harvard Business Review)

These two criteria — competence and likability — combine to produce four archetypes: the competent jerk, who knows a lot but is unpleasant to deal with; the lovable fool, who doesn't know much but is a delight to have around; the lovable star, who's both smart and likable; and the incompetent jerk, who...well, that's self-explanatory. ...

Our research showed (not surprisingly) that, no matter what kind of organization we studied, everybody wanted to work with the lovable star, and nobody wanted to work with the incompetent jerk. Things got a lot more interesting, though, when people faced the choice between competent jerks and lovable fools.

Ask managers about this choice — and we've asked many of them, both as part of our research and in executive education programs we teach — and you'll often hear them say that when it comes to getting a job done, of course competence trumps likability....

But despite what such people might say about their preferences, the reverse turned out to be true in practice in the organizations we analyzed. Personal feelings played a more important role in forming work relationships—not friendships at work but job-oriented relationships—than is commonly acknowledged. They were even more important than evaluations of competence. In fact, feelings worked as a gating factor: We found that if someone is strongly disliked, it's almost irrelevant whether or not she is competent; people won't want to work with her anyway. By contrast, if someone is liked, his colleagues will seek out every little bit of competence he has to offer. And this tendency didn't exist only in extreme cases; it was true across the board.

The above is taken from a fascinating Harvard Business Review article entitled "Competent Jerks, Loveable Fools, and the Formation of Social Networks." I think it should be required reading for all of us - and if a copy happens to find its way into a boss's inbox here or there, I don't think anyone would blame you.

Read an excerpt from the paper here.
Click through to a PDF of the full paper here.

How to Write a Résumé That Doesn't Annoy People (Harvard Business Review)

But in our fear to avoid saying anything that might get our résumé tossed out of the pile, we end up saying nothing at all. As a result, the hiring manager feels like she's reading tea leaves, not CVs. One feels forced to come up with arbitrary rules to narrow the field. Nobody with an objective statement, no résumés longer than three pages, no serif fonts.

It would be nice if the above was a joke, but it's probably not. With so many résumés to sort through, even the tiniest thing can land yours in the "Toss" pile instead of the "Keep" pile. The author's list of suggestions (with additional comments in the article) are as follows:

1. Get the formatting right.
2. Insert dates for everything
3. Fill up on the buzzwords.
4. Choose verbs that mean something.
5. Rewrite your résumé for each job application.
6. State career objectives or outside interests - but be very careful.
7. The further into your past, the less detail you should have.
8. Keep it short.
9. No typos.

Back in the day, I had to look through literally hundreds of résumés when we were replacing an assistant at my company, which prompted me to put together a little list of my own. You can check that out in the next post (above). And as always, please share your thoughts.

Read the full HBR article here.

Don’t Go Down In Fame: 5 Warnings Signs You’re Too Ambitious (Brazen Careerist)

What’s so important about being “the best?” Sure, I might be able to define my pond narrowly enough to claim I’m the best scientific poet under 40 east of the Mississippi, but does that really get me any closer to a happier, more meaningful life? When ambition and mastery become the goal instead of a pleasant by-product, you’re on the fast track to burn-out and disappointment. ...

Five Warning Signs Your Ambition May Be Out of Control:
1. You often feel overwhelmed.
2. You're constantly comparing yourself to others.
3. You don't have time for vacation.
4. You feel entitled to rewards for your efforts.
5. You're starting to make moral compromises.

Aside from #4, I'd guess this describes many, many of the folks here in Hollywood. The post's title is perfect: "Going Down in Fame" - flaming out because the concentration is on fame, power and prestige rather than the end product. I'm counting on my "generation" of film folks to change this. Do you think it's possible?
Read the full article here.

Retaining a Workforce That Wants to Quit (Harvard Business Review)

Why are employees walking away from their jobs, even with unemployment still hovering near 10 percent? Our studies show that the three biggest reasons are a lack of growth opportunities, dissatisfaction with compensation, and employees feeling their contributions aren't being recognized. Growth and recognition are particularly important to younger workers, who have higher expectations of their employers than others do and are defecting in large numbers.

I know I've left jobs because of things like this, but would have been happy to stay if one or more of the above reasons had been successfully addressed. Why do so many managers seem to simply not get this? Then add in the fact that "The cost of replacing an employee is estimated at up to 250 percent of annual salary." Can you say "no-brainer"? Frustrates me to no end!
Read the full article here.

Powerlessness Corrupts (Harvard Business Review)

The less there is to go around, the more infighting there is over the crumbs. Comparing companies that have lost dramatically during a previous recession with those that have succeeded, I found that the losers were twice as likely as the winners to be characterized by internal rivalries and intergroup conflicts — and only half as likely to employ cross-department teams. ...

The powerless retaliate through subtle sabotage. They slow things down by failing to take action — a form of pocket veto, in which a bill is killed simply because time runs out. Negativity and low aspirations show up in behaviors psychologists call defensive pessimism, learned helplessness, and passive aggression.

I think this explains a lot, and is also yet another arrow pointing towards the need to avoid office politics. I believe there's room enough for everyone, and hope I'll keep that attitude as I rise through the ranks.
Read the full article here.

The Early Bird Really Does Get the Worm (Harvard Business Review)

Though evening people do have some advantages — other studies reveal they tend to be smarter and more creative than morning types, have a better sense of humor, and are more outgoing —they’re out of sync with the typical corporate schedule. When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards. My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which get them into better colleges, which then lead to better job opportunities. Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimize them, my survey showed. They’re proactive. A number of studies have linked this trait, proactivity, with better job performance, greater career success, and higher wages.

I'm definitely an evening person, but take heart in the fact that this article says you can train yourself to be a morning person - that way I'll have the best of both worlds! Now if I could just stop hitting the snooze button...
Read the full article here.

12 Things Good Bosses Believe (Harvard Business Review)

It seems to me that, by adopting the habits of good bosses and shunning the sins of bad bosses, anyone can do a better job overseeing the work of others. ...

1. I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.

I've only listed the first "rule," but I think it's such so true that it should make all of us want to read the rest. The author is also expanding upon each of the twelve points, so there are links to his more in depth analysis at the site. Find those links and read the full article here.

Why Leaders Should Always Act Confident, Even When They Don't Really Know What They're Doing (Business Insider)

The best advice I can give bosses is to develop wisdom, to express confidence in their decisions (to sustain legitimacy and inspire people to action) and yet to keep doubting what they know and are doing in private and in backstage discussions with their trusted advisers. But my advice makes my own stomach turn a bit as, although it explains why our leaders are smart to bullshit us, and that it might even be for own good at times, it is still an argument for deception or at least exaggeration and less transparency.

I think this is just a fancy way of explaining my mantra: "Fake It 'Til You Make It." One day I woke up and realized - much to my surprise! - I did actually know what I was taking about. Within reason, of course.
The full article has some great links to related information, definitely worth checking out. Read it here.

To Run A Business Better, Rethink Its Playscript (Forbes)

If your company's strategy were presented as a play, would anyone come?

My recent research suggests that companies should develop their strategies by writing descriptions of the logic, storylines, decisions and motives behind what they do and who they do it with. Executives shouldn't only draw and analyze maps or plot numbers on a chart; they should create what I call a "playscript," a narrative that sets out the cast of characters in their industry and how they're connected, the rules they observe, the plots and subplots they're involved in, and how they create and retain value as the drama develops and the cast changes.

I'm all for tackling new areas in ways that are already familiar, and I think this article makes some good and important points. But... Do you think this would work for companies that deal with "playscripts" all day, every day (i.e. studios, production companies, et al)?
Read the full article here.

Want the Job? Tell Him the Meaning of Life (NY Times)

You’re a collection of all your experiences, good, bad, indifferent, and great leaders you’ve worked with. Actually, you learn a lot from the worst managers you’ve had. You learn probably more than from the great managers.

This town isn't exactly known for it's kind, mentoring, teamwork-oriented bosses, but I think many of us have consciously made the decision to do it differently. This article has some sage advice on that topic that's relevant to everyone.
Read the full interview here.

Writer's Biggest Mistake: Paying Attention to Hollywood Trends (The Wrap)

It's too late to get in on that trend for the simple reason that it is the trend. If it's the trend today, it had to be in the works at least a year ago, and much more likely two or three or more years ago. To cash in on that trend by writing a script geared to it is to guarantee that, by the time you go to market with the script, it's already old news, stale and pale and so last year.

Great advice for all of us, whether writers, directors or development execs. The next big thing usually comes out of left field, not from a concerted effort to figure out what the market will want in a year's time.
Read the full article here.