Author Archive

I am often surprised by the comments of my clients who tell me of their belief in “the yellow brick road”, that there is a predefined script for successful lives and careers. We are to go to college, get a good paying job, get married…buy a home…white picket fence…
When you look into the lives and careers of the people around you, you will find that there are as many ways to live life and manage careers as there are people on the earth! I have always told my son “Matthew, there is no timeframe on you, live your life in your own way, in your own time”. This is what I believe, that each of us needs to live our life in our own way. Each of us needs to tune into our own intelligence, our unique intuition to make sense of the world and make the decisions of our lives. It is important to look within when deciding on a path or course of action. I am afraid that many tend to listen to others and the incredible amount of information that bombards us each day through the media, organizational cultures, and people around us. It is difficult to be who we are…

Just imagine how comfortable you are as you tell one of your own stories. You know what you were facing, you know what you did, and you know the results you achieved. If you tell a success story from your career, you can clearly demonstrate the way you work, the way you get along with others, the results you can achieve. Choose stories that are closest to demonstrating success in situations akin to the job at hand, but in general, you want to craft stories from your career that demonstrate at least the four major requirements of the workworld of today: Leadership, Communications, Teamwork, and Technology.

I recommend stories that unfold using the acronym C.A.R. – CAR Stories! Provide information about the Challenge you were faced with, the Actions you took, and the Results you achieved. You know how sometimes when you tell a story you don’t know how to end it? Or, you tend to wander? You can avoid such problems by crafting the written story in eminent detail. After completing the crafting of the story in this long form, you can then begin to tell the story in verbal form. Remember that the “written word” is quite different than the “spoken word”. I recommend using a mirror so you can see yourself as others see you. Of course a video camera is better, but not everyone has a video camera. And know that you can tell your well-crafted story from a number of perspectives. One story can yield a number of different telling that showcases the skills of a leader. If you tell the story another way, using different verbs and highlighting other aspects of the story, you can tell it such that it showcases your communication skills, or your technology skills, or your teamwork…or…

Often I find myself cautioning clients of mine to take care of themselves. As Jon Kabatt-Zinn said in his very powerfully titled meditative book “Wherever You Go, There You Are”. You cannot escape yourself, no matter where you go and no matter what you do. With the spirit of that title and the content of his book, Jon demonstrates the necessity in life to take care of self as the number one priority. Sounds selfish, no? But actually, when you think about it, taking care of yourself is the most generous thing you can do for the people you love and all of those with whom you come in contact. When you take care of yourself, you have more energy, and can be more giving to others. It is easier to be generous with others when you have taken care of yourself.

By W.H. Murray

Until one is committed

There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,

Always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),

There is an elementary truth,

The ignorance of which kills countless ideas

And splendid plans;

That the moment one definitely commits oneself,

Then Providence moves too.

All Sorts of things occur to help one

That would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision,

Raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen

Incidents and meetings and material assistance,

Which no man could have dreamt

Would have come his way.

I have learned a deep respect

For one of Goethe’s couplets:

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

Published by

J.M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. 1951