Hitting this imaginary wall does not mean you need to change careers or find a new job. Sometimes all you need to do is step back and consider alternative solutions to rekindle your work life. Perhaps one of the most effective ways of re-engaging in one’s work is through professional development.

Looking around the office here at Hazell, I see a group of people who are continuously engaged in development and who champion lifelong learning. The type of learning does not only occur in formal education settings like university courses or work seminars, but include informal spaces like community and civic activities, cultural events, work discussions and observations with colleagues, and independent reading and research.

A number of our staff is heavily engaged in volunteerism, including Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), Frontier College’s Beat the Street program, Coast to Coast Against Cancer, Rotary Club and the PACT program. Others are more formally engaged in learning. For instance, I am newly enrolled in a part-time M.Ed. program, with a focus on Workplace Learning and Social Change. Our accountant, Angie Buado, is returning to her HR background and is currently taking part in George Brown’s Career and Work Counsellor Program, while also taking on the new volunteer role of Director, Community Services at her church. Jennifer Collins, our President & Managing Partner, recently completed an intensive 1-week residency at Royal Roads University as part of her Executive Coaching Certification and Masters of Leadership.

Continuous learning helps each of us maintain our skills, provide us with the knowledge to make informed decisions and lead successful lives as members of our family, community and work organization. It is not a commodity, but a process that begins from early childhood into our late adult years. Learning is also one of the best ways to help us cope with an uncertain future influenced by globalization, new technologies and a demand for innovation.

How do we pinpoint which volunteer opportunities, courses, workshops, events or learning spaces are best suited for ‘me’? Well, the only way to answer that is by taking the time to reflect on your career in order to increase awareness of one’s skills, strengths, passions, purpose and potential. Easier said than done, right?

Well, the emphasis in learning and professional development should be put on gathering input from many sources. Consider the different aspects of your work that bring you satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Take note of the skills and tasks you really enjoy using and doing in order to discover elements you want to emphasize on a go forward basis. Also, seek outside input from you supervisors, peers, staff, friends and family to help you gain more insight. In doing so, you may identify training or mentoring relationships that will help you break down the ‘wall’ and begin moving towards more fulfilling work.

Finally, for teams and organizations seeking to foster a more ‘learning’-centric workspace, start by moving from training-based development towards newer policies that foster learning through informal means and knowledge sharing. One investment that is proving to be beneficial to organizations is transforming managers and executives into coaches, helping to foster a work culture built on open communication, trust, accountability and development. Not only has leader as coach programs assisted in increasing employee engagement, but it also has a direct impact on the company’s performance.

So, use learning as a way to break out of the funk, whether as an individual, team or organization, and you won’t regret its impact on your bottom line.

Does Your Leader-Manager’s 360⁰ Assessment have All Three Lenses?

The popularity of 360⁰ assessments as a talent management tool is spreading almost virally. This is in large part due to four factors:

• Today’s Zoomers, Gen Xers and Yers are hungrier for immediate feedback than previous generations. In fact, they expect it.
• Organizations are more ‘customer-centric’ and use performance measurement systems to drive continuous improvement. They are asking internal and external clients, “What do you think?”
• The simplicity and immediacy of online technology makes it easier and less expensive to provide 360⁰ assessments, which drives ever increasing use.
• At performance appraisal time, most executives enjoy having multiple perspectives to draw upon rather than being the sole judge of a direct report.

The Multi-rater Lens

Best practice organizations understand the virtue of gathering timely feedback about their leader-managerss from all possible angles. To this end they use the ‘multi-rater’ lens to enable leader-managers to clearly see how superiors, peers, subordinates and other stakeholders perceive them. In fact, most people see the multi-rater lens as the entire 360⁰ assessment process; however a fulsome 360⁰ assessment provides up to two more lenses.

The Psychological Lens

While the multi-rater lens gives a subjective, second-party perspective, the psychological lens provides an objective, third-party perspective. Quite simply, the leader-manager completes a series of exercises and is compared by a psychologist to specific reference groups. Through this objective comparison, the psychologist (or psychometric instrument) draws conclusions about the leader-manager’s personality traits, motivators, emotional intelligence, reasoning skills, vocational interests, aptitudes, working preferences, leadership and decision making style. The objectivity, speed and accuracy of this type of assessment make this lens very valuable.

Team Lens

The multi-rater and the psychological lenses place a spotlight on the individual leader–manager, but this only provides part of the picture. The team lens is an integral part of any 360⁰ assessment. The team lens looks at the team’s dynamics including: stage of development, team members’ engagement, and greatest gain potential areas as compared to high performing teams.  The team lens broadens the leader-manager’s perspective, so a personal development plan can be set to address the leader-manager’s needs and the team’s needs in tandem. This ‘dual discipline’ approach always results in a more holistic action plan, which serves as a positive catalyst to the team’s and individual’s development.

The next time you consider a leader-manager assessment, consider using all three lenses. You will be glad you did!

Now that I have completed University of Waterloo, I once again find myself in a position of transition: I relocated from Waterloo to Toronto to work at Hazell & Associates (H&A). Toronto is quite a noisy, busy, “TTC” change from Waterloo! I have to say university life is quite different from working life. It is just wonderful to realize that H&A actually practices the transition principles that we relay to our clients – it allowed for a smoother transition for me. I have once again been given the opportunity to grow. Our transition workbook says a ‘distinguishing characteristic of accomplished and successful individuals is the way they perceive change and their capacity for managing change.’ This resonates with me. I now take a more positive approach to change. Of course the sun does not warmly shine for 350 days of the year in Canada like it does in the Bahamas! But I now see four beautiful seasons in Canada instead of just one. The beaches here look nothing like the Bahamian beaches – but then again the lakes in the Bahamas look nothing like the lakes here. Waterloo is definitely more peaceful than Toronto. But there are so many more activities and wonderful opportunities in Toronto – like working at H&A – that I would not have experienced in Waterloo.

I believe this new year, 2011, provides the perfect impetus to fully explore and embrace new transition opportunities! Yes, change is scary and exciting. Plus, I am told by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., that fear will always exist as long as we continue to grow. And I want to grow.

Of course, networking is not simply a game of give and take. As the holiday season is analogous with giving, networking is no different. Networks, relationships and connections are commonly owned resources, like the earth – everyone can profit from it, but to do so, everyone must also strive to keep it flourishing and bountiful. So approach your network with open arms, uncovering others’ needs and problems and providing resources for them when possible. Do not take your network for granted.

And before you attend different holiday events, be sure you are prepared! If it’s more of a business function, take a moment to research who will be there, and perhaps you will discover specific individuals with whom you would like to connect. Also, refine and build your personal brand. Know your value and how to speak to it, and have business cards ready. Stand out! Of course, if the event is a more social setting, take a moment to genuinely get to know people better. You may be surprised at which conversations and connections end up bearing fruit in the future.

So take control this holiday season and reach out to your network in a mindful and assured way.

Safe driving!

Serving as a Life & Career Coach for the past 30 years  I have seen  the good, the bad and the ugly including: people in their 20’s & 30’s  already retired in dead-end jobs they hate ( fortunately, many eventually made a career change or started their own business and moved closer to their  dream  job and work bliss); successful executives creeping uncomfortably towards retirement believing anything after their present gig will be a precipitous step down;  65 year olds celebrating the end of their formal working career because now they can pursue ‘full time’ the volunteer work they love; and people well into their 80’s completely engaged in their ‘life work’ while some of their peers  stagnate, resigned to being put out to pasture.  How is it people can hold the same jobs and go through the same life transitions yet experience them completely differently? Why is what is empowering to some so deflating and debilitating to others?

At age 56, I am a baby boomer or what the current literature refers to as a ‘Mature Worker’ or ‘Zoomer’.  No matter the label, I am at that magic life point where I can pause, stop Zooming, reflect back on a wonderful 33 year career and look forward to another 33 some years of ‘passionate longevity’ full of further engagement and contribution.  I am also of the age where I can reflect on life’s lessons with a somewhat balanced perspective — my three kids remind me my Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is gradually diminishing, while my supportive older friends remind me my Emotional Intelligence (EI) is increasing.  Using both my IQ and EQ I have distilled two essential life lessons about how to achieve passionate longevity:

1. Be magnetic to what you love. The magic recipe for this life skill has 5 ingredients:   1. Identify your preferred skills and unique abilities 2. Know what interests you  3.  Connect with people who share your values  4. Understand what types of environments motivate you  5. Identify and get into work and play activities that capitalize on  1 – 5
2. Understand the nobility and greater sense of purpose in what you do. It is inspiring when you find it. This is illustrated wonderfully by a story; the first is about a traveller who encounters, one at a time, two different stone masons working different ends of the same structure. He asks each one, “What are you doing?” The first responds, “Isn’t it obvious? I am just laying brick”, while the second says “I am building a Cathedral where thousands will congregate over the millennium to celebrate”.

Whatever you do it is your choice, so be magnetic to it and take the time to see the nobility in it, and passionate longevity will be yours.

Now look in the mirror. What do you see? A cathedral builder or a bricklayer?

While our intent with the H&A blog is to neither sermonize (yeek!) or channel our founder, we always like to revert to our core values when contemplating doing something new. Our values emanated from my mother and father and are the DNA of the H&A culture. Our founders are long gone from the business, but our fundamental values continue to  guide us and keep us true.

So let me share the results of the value test we, the partners of H&A, applied to our decision to start a blog, as we want to give you, our first-time readers, an insight into our thinking behind the blog and a promise of what you can expect from it in the future:

It seems appropriate to end this first blog where I started – with Robin. One of his favorite questions, which is at the heart of all we do at H&A, was : “What makes your toe nails twinkle?” We are dying to know!