Workplace Wisdom... Discover Fulfillment in Life and Work with Michelle Y. Drake
The ability to embrace what inspires us in life and work and the tools to live in fulfillment exist in all of us.
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And Emerge as the Leader You Were Born to Be!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Salary Ranges and YOU!
"What kind of salary should I ask for?"
This question came from my friend Anna and was accompanied by a worried frown. Anna lost her job recently (cutbacks, cutbacks, cutbacks) and had a promising opportunity in the works. I was prepping her for an interview this week, and we'd finally gotten around to the salary question.
"Well, what's the salary range for a position like yours?" was my counter-question.
"I don't know," came her response. She knew what she had been making, after several years of being with the company she worked for, but didn't have a clue what someone in her position should/could ask for coming into a new company. And being isolated from the job market, she didn't know the salary trends for her industry.
Since I know that Anna isn't the only one who's unsure of the answer to the big salary question, I thought I'd do a little research on the subject of salary ranges and post a quick tidbit of salary info here on my blog.
Here's a quick list of salary resources to get you started:
* My personal favorite is www.Salary.com * Job posting sites can be a great resource: sites like craigslist often have salary info along with job descriptions, and sites like CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com have salary calculators and wizards. * Tons of salary info here: Economic Research Institute - www.erieri.com * The good 'ol government site: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - www.bls.gov * Professional and trade organizations often have a slew of info and some even have message boards where you can post your questions and get answers from other professionals like yourself. * Don't forget your research! Check out the company's website and tap into your personal network and ask around. First-hand knowledge direct from a reliable source can be valuable.
I hope this info helps all of you job seekers out there and even the non-job seekers, too. It's always a great time to make sure you're getting paid what you're worth!
The week of July 14th through July 18th, 2008 is Lipstick Leadership Week at KitchentotheCornerOffice.com! That means we want to hear YOUR stories about how your mother changed your life and made you into a successful career woman.
What lessons did your mother teach you that turned you into a leader? Did a Sunday afternoon of baking turn into an opportunity for responsibility? Did a Thanksgiving meal become a metaphor for organizational structure? Tell your story in writing or request to send an audio or video. To contribute, just submit your story to me here. You can read your submission and others' right here on my blog during Lipstick Leadership Week!
My new book, From the Kitchen to the Corner Office: Mom's Wisdom on Leadership, chronicles the lessons I've learned from my own amazing mother and other female role models. I'll be sharing those stories - and the stories of women I've interviewed for this book - during Lipstick Leadership Week - and I invite you to join me in this celebration of maternal wonders!
If the pictures weren't enough to convince you that this city girl actually got in the water and cast out that rod, here's a little video footage as proof! Enjoy!
Surprise!!! Fly Fishing Brings Balance to this City Girl's Hectic Work Life
When my husband Rich (and son Mike and our parish priest Fr. Gregg) left for their cross-country motorcycle trip in May, the last thing that they thought I would be doing with my "free" time was fly-fishing. I have to admit that when I was invited by Mark Victor Hansen, as a member of his Inner Circle, to spend 5 days in the wilderness of Colorado I was hesitant. Could an admitted city-girl like myself find any enjoyment in the rustic environment and activities that Dunton Hot Springs offered. When I googled the Hot Springs I was not reassured.
But being the open-minded person that I am, I agreed. Walking into the event with reluctant enthusiasm. As I shared in my last post, I experienced many firsts during this trip...but I fell in love with fly-fishing. There were three of us assigned to a field-guide that would take us to a good fishing hole...in the hopes of actually catching a fish. My footing was surprisingly steady (maybe it was all the time I spend balancing myself in 4-inch heels) as the current of the river rushed by. Mark did have some difficulty with his footing and proceeded to give me a cold hug after he fell into the drink (the river...not the bottle!)
I fell in love with the movement and rhythm of the fishing line as I gracefully cast and reeled in. It was soothing...listening to nature, smelling the pines, rocking back and forth as I cast, feeling the cold water rush past my legs. The tension of the city melted away as I enjoyed my brief encounter with the countryside. To my surprise, Dunton Hot Springs was just what this stressed out Mama needed to recharge me to move ahead with the work of tomorrow...by enjoying the wilderness today!
Hi, it's Michelle, and I'm in Dunton Hot Springs, Colorado at an amazing, very rustic resort. Well, it's rustic on the outside, but on the inside, it's stunning.
This place made me think about how quickly we make judgments of our teammates the workplace, how we look at someone and we immediately make an assessment, never taking the time to look a little bit deeper to see all of their talents, intelligence and skills.
As managers, we need to make sure that we're not rushing to decisions when it comes to our team members, whether we're assigning tasks or deciding who to downsize. We need to make sure that we're taking the time to evaluate everything that each of our people have to offer: their skills, their attitudes and their contributions.
In so many ways, people bring different unique elements to the workplace; for instance, some people help with keepu up morale more than they help with the actual work of their projects. That doesn't mean they aren't important!
And so this morning, I'm going to practice reserving my own judgments about our itinerary - I'm going fly-fishing! Can you belive it? - and keep an open mind to the experience. Today, take the time to think about people in your workplace and the talents they have that you may overlook and discover the unique value they bring to your team.
The Key to Personal Growth...New Experiences! Today Meditation with Steve Sadleir
Well, it has taken a little more than 72 hours for me to re-enter!
One of the things that was so special about DuntonHot Springs...in Colorado was that this city-girl got to try lots of new things. I know that I like to continually challenge myself to move out of my box (admittedly I have a pretty big box to start with!). The adrenaline rush of trying something new gives me a charge! So this past week I have quite a laundry list of "new experiences"...fly-fishing, horseback riding, skinny-dipping and meditation!
Have any of you ever meditated? I have never done a formal meditation with a guru...and this week we had Mark Victor Hansen's personal meditation guru with us all week. Helping us novices begin a meditation practice. I was so surprised when I met Steven Sadleir. He looks like a regular, California surfer dude. Here we are in the meeting room where we meditated daily...don't I look centered and peaceful!
His approach to meditation is so simple and authentic that it was easy for me to fall right in. He was kind enough to let us extend an invitation to experience a meditation with him to our friends...we are friends, right? Here is your invitation!
I would like to invite you to Steven's Global Shaktipat Meditation via teleconference (yep! meditation over the phone!) to deepen your connection. (it is not as complicatied as the name suggests!)
Thursday evening, June 19th, 6:00 pm Pacific, 9:00 pm Eastern, for one hour Just dial 1-605-475-8590 then pin 5490316#
I will share more of my first times...in my next post! But for now...think about what YOU have done recently to stretch yourself and what personal growth might be in store for you if you tried something new! Any of you want to share your stretch stories?
Excuse me if this entry isn't as coherent as usual, but my plane home from Colorado was delayed, and I didn't get home until 2:30 a.m.!! To say that I'm tired is an understatement!
The Mega Inner Circle conference was INCREDIBLE. It never ceases to amaze me how many interesting, intelligent and inspirational people attend these events. And the location was breathtaking - I'll try and post a few pictures next week (after I've had a chance to sleep for at least 72 hours!) and I'll fill you in on who I met and what we did, including the fantastic meditation practices I learned.
In the face of our flailing economy, I've been on the lookout for articles that offer tips on how to weather this recessional storm so I can share the info with you, my readers. In my own life, I've been through some tough financial situations with my family in the past, and I know firsthand how difficult it is to stretch that dollar to keep food on the table, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs. It seems like just yesterday I was ripping up my husband's old shirts and sewing them into shorts for our little boys (now grown college men) to wear during the hot summer months. Thankfully, those days are behind us now, and we've found great success in running our company, the Cove Group.
So today as I was perusing the headlines, I saw a few great articles from Yahoo! that listed jobs and industries where people can earn good money and find some stability in this shaky economical time.
The first article is entitled "10 Hot Jobs That Start at $50K+" by Cherie Berkley at PayScale.com (read the full article here). If you're unhappy in your current job or are just looking to branch out into a new field, here are 10 jobs that you might want to look into, according to the article:
Interesting, huh? I thought so, and even though most of these jobs require a certain level of education, I fully believe in always being willing to learn - especially when that education can lead to a lucrative career like these. Thanks to Cherie Berkley, PayScale.com and Yahoo! for writing such a great article!
The other article I stumbled across was even more appropos: "Recession-Proof Jobs in 2008" by Larry Buhl for Yahoo! HotJobs. Mr. Buhl saved us the trouble of searching for strong industries during these tough economic times, and he's listed them here in his article. Here are the highlights:
* Education * Energy * Health Care * International Business * Environmental Sector * Security
I hope these articles help if you're in a place in your life where a new career is on the horizon. Seize the opportunity to start a fresh career path and reach a brand new level of success in your professional life!
Just another quick note because I'm on my way to Colorado. Mark Victor Hansen and his Mega Inner Circle group are convening in Colorado for an immersive conference, and I'm so excited to be a part of it. Mark's Immersives are always chock full of interesting people, amazing insights and inspiration, and more valuable information than I can fill a notebook with! I'll be out of town for a few days, but when I return, I'll be sure to give you the highlights.
Here's hoping the temps in Colorado are far below the near 100 degrees the East Coast is facing today!
Whew! I've got a busy, busy week ahead of me. So before I get too towed under, I wanted to stop by and drop a quick line.
My new book "From the Kitchen to the Corner Office: Mom's Wisdom on Leadership" has been well-received by everyone who's read it. It's so flattering and gratifying to see the fruits of my labors! I hope everyone has a chance to read it and to visit its website to share their own stories of "Mom's wisdom." We're going to be launching a "Lipstick Leadership Stories" series soon, so feel free to drop by and tell us about the amazing women role models in your life!
Now I'm off to do one of several radio interviews I have scheduled for this week. I'm also taping two TV shows, "Mystic Matters" (a local CT show hosted by the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce) and a segment with CT State Representative Diana Urban. I'll be sure to post more details - including where and when you can watch - soon!
Until then, here's to a profitable week ahead! Remember to take time out to breathe! (Hey, that's good advice. I should remember that!)
I have over 20 years of experience as an executive coach specializing in strategic communication. My years as a radio talk-show host have given me additional tools to provide communication coaching to entrepreneurs, as well as executives from Fortune 100 comapnies.
I've been a keynote speaker for corporate events, universities and industry conferences.
I'm a the author of From the Kitchen to the Corner Office: Mom's Wisdom on Leadership!" (Morgan James Publishing).
I'm a wife, a mother, an artist and an active volunteer in my community.
