A client of mine travels extensively. He couldn’t always do this. There was a time when he was too concerned to leave because he didn’t have a team capable of handling the business in his absence. They would goof off and do as little as possible. So he never left. And the business suffered.

So here is what I worked on to help him get out of the office and get focused on adding greater value to his business:

1. We defined the performance attributes of every job (what attributes are necessary for an employee to be successful in the job). This gave us a clear picture of which jobs had people who were a good fit, and those who were not adding any value. We first realigned existing staff – right people in the right jobs.

2. We then reviewed the now “open” jobs (open because we didn’t have anyone in the organization who had the right success attributes for the jobs) and sourced candidates from the large amount of unemployed talent (because of the recession). The clarity of knowing what we specifically needed, coupled with a larger job candidate supply, allowed for successful hiring. Time consuming but critical for the success of the company.

3. With the right people in the right roles, we then created clear daily performance expectations that defined what needed to be done but allowed employees to develop how to complete the work. This inspired employee ownership; they became more emotionally connected to their work and workplace. And with the right employees in the right roles, they welcomed the ability to do their work in their best way.

With the right employees in the right roles, so much more work gets done. Employees who are in roles that play to their talents, strengths and passions, feel more capable and competent. They like what they do. They feel part of a family. This kind of employees doesn’t goof off when the boss is away.

I present more of this process in the book Fire Up! Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition.

Your people are your profits. And as such, you need the right ones, connected to what they do and passionate about doing it. In the past, it was more difficult to assemble your A team because there was less great talent to choose from. Today, due to layoffs, organizations have the choice of truly outstanding talent – the talent that can create their A-level performers. So as others are terminating and cutting, use the three steps of redefine, realign and hire to attract and hire the best talent now available to improve the performance power of your team. This talent surplus may not last long.

Use this three-step process to build your A team:

1. Redefine – In today’s intellectual workplace, employees make more unique decisions – they think their way through the day. Since each of us thinks differently, not every employee is a good fit for every role. Therefore, it is critical to clearly redefine the talents and strengths (thinking), skills and experience needed to be successful in each role. This allows you to source the right employee from inside the organization, or from the pool of unemployed talent in the market.
2. Realign – After redefining what you need in each role, assess your existing team. Determine who currently is working in the right role, and who could improve performance if moved to a more appropriate role. And, be aware, this review may indicate some employees are not right for the organization. Complete your realignment. This will show you the open roles that need hiring from outside of the organization.
3. Hire – For those roles that do not have the right talent from within, it is important to go to today’s market of unemployed talent. This is effective when you have clearly defined attributes needed in each role; you now know what attributes to hire. From this point, you can develop a sourcing strategy to attract and hire those employees who have the performance profile (talents, skills and experience) you defined as required to excel in the role.

Our tough economy has actually created an opportunity for many organizations to rebuild an A-levek team. Key to using this unique moment in time is to spend the time to define what you need, then hold firmly to these requirements as you hire. This is how to make your (hiring) plan come together in true “A Team” fashion.

An M&M’s real value is in its filling, not in its candy coating – the inside matters more than the outside. It is the same with hiring employees and voting for candidates.

You can’t tell by looking at someone if he will be a good or poor fit for a role. As with the M&M (the candy coating on the outside doesn’t add any particular value to taste or to the candy), a person’s age, gender, ethnicity, religion or even sexual preference has no direct correlation to his/her ability to be great in a job. An extraordinary customers service employee is one who is a great listener, empathetic, problem solver and solution-focused. An extraordinary political candidate must be visionary, strategic, a great listener and a consensus-builder. These attributes could be in a 65-year old woman, or in a 23-year old man. These attributes could be in a black employee, or a gay white middle-age Greek man. Greatness is not based on the exterior.

We can’t assess who is a good fit if we don’t hear meaningful dialog about what candidates (political and employment) believe and think. In the workplace we host interviews. We ask talent-based questions to determine how candidates would handle actual workplace situations to assess their thinking and fit – their “filling.” We then hire those who have the talents, passions and strengths to be successful, and celebrate their “candy coating” – whatever it may be. We hire the best. Great organizations hire for the “inside” and celebrate the “outside.”

I am reminded of this as I watch our electoral campaigning. Candidate debates and speeches are our way of “interviewing” candidates for “fit” – to assess their talents, passions and strengths and to see if they are the right for the role. When all we hear are attacks on other candidates we do not have the necessary information to choose wisely about a candidate and we allow our biases to limit our options – so many Americans still have a problem with a black president, gay cabinet members and women on the Supreme Court. We are in an age where the best person for the job is the one that has the talents, passions and strengths (the filling) to do the job – CEO, customer service, senator or judge. I see a constant focus on candy coating instead of filling in the workplace: I also see it in government.

As you hire employees or go to vote, focus on a candidate’s ability to do the job in an extraordinary way, make a difference and add value. You’ll find when you hire or vote for “fit” you’ll get a more passionate, engaged and productive employee or candidate. Things get done. Progress gets made.

One of the reasons I think we are stuck in “average” is we continue to use outdated thinking in both who works in our companies and who works in our government. Shouldn’t we demand performance greatness from both? Shouldn’t we require both to be fully accountable for results? Shouldn’t we improve this process by hiring for fit – by hiring for “filling,” not candy coating?

Maybe if we learn from the M&M, we’ll elect and hire those who show up committed to making a difference. Maybe if we realize it is what you know, what you are good at and how you use what you know to handle today on today’s terms that generates results, we’ll choose wisely about who we want on our team. Who knew there would be so much wisdom in an M&M?

“Prosperity-induced padding”– how interesting? Prosperity is the thing we work hard to achieve. “Padding” is the thing we work hard not to achieve. What does this tell us about how we use our prosperity? What does this tell us about our choices?

Prosperity brings us:
Time – many have enough resources not to need to work.
Talents – many have the ability to develop their personal greatness.
Treasure – many have great financial resources.

How do you use these to bring something more significant to the world? Consider using your prosperity to:
1. Reorganize and redesign your space to commit to recycling 100% of what can be recycled to tread more lightly on the planet.
2. Donate to and support a charity you find personally valuable and meaningful.
3. Buy healthy food for those who don’t have enough, or any – locally, nationally or internationally.
4. Sponsor a child’s education – locally, nationally or internationally.
5. Mentor a child, peer or someone older in what has helped you achieve your personal or professional prosperity.
6. Invent something new and valuable that advances the quality of life, the respect for the planet, improved health, or something else significant for humanity.
7. Educate about tolerance, acceptance and respect for differences.

Having access to so much doesn’t always make us better. Many times it makes us less healthy, less charitable and less concerned. “Prosperity-induced padding” is what I now call using my “extra” for me instead of for others. And I am committed to ending it – for health and for impact; I know I can’t be just aware of me.

So consider returning some of your prosperity back to your world. A little more time, talent and treasures shared with the world can help others improve their lives. Absolutely celebrate your success and prosperity. But then share this prosperity with others. Another way to say this is, be great, then share this greatness with the world.

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it. And The Greatness Zone is finally here. Starting Monday, October 11, 2010 you will be able to order it at the new and robust www.TheGreatnessZone.com, and at Amazon.com. Learn how to live in your greatness zone; it is the end of average…

So what do they do off the field that helps them realize their greatness? What helps them move from good to great, from ordinary to extraordinary? And what can this tell us about encouraging championship behavior in the workplace?

Champions first know their talents; their natural aptitudes start them out as “good.” What helps them achieve champion (exceptional) status is an intrinsic passion for what they do; this provides the energy, drive and focus to commit to the extra work, effort and disciplined achievement to move from good to great.

So let’s talk workplace. Good employees are those who can do the job. Great employees are those who have the passion to excel at the job. They do things both in and out of the workplace to improve, grow, learn and achieve. They excitedly go to training programs, watch videos and buy resources, even with their own money. They set goals for themselves that are many times greater than the goals their managers set. Passion drives excellence. Passion creates champions.

Marcus Buckingham presents in his book First Break All the Rules, that 65% of employees do just enough not to get fired. They are good, not great. They are not champions. Core to this is they are either in jobs that don’t play to what they are good at (the don’t feel capable or competent), or they are good at the job but don’t love it (the find it boring).

To learn how to activate your employees’ passion, you must first be able to connect through a regular and recurring dialog – person-to-person. In this dialog you learn about the things that move and inspire your employee. You start to gather critical information to help you realign an employee to a role that he is both good at doing and passionate about doing, or make modifications to an employee’s existing role to include more of what appeals to the employee.

Consider the following questions to connect with your employees and to gather critical information:
1. What do you love most (least) about this job?
2. If you could work in any area of the company, what area would it be and what job would you want? Why?
3. What are you talents, values and interests? What do you love to do outside of work? What matters to you in and out of work? What do you think you are capable of being great at?

These several questions allow you see into your employees to better understand what matters to them and what moves them. And when you know what moves them, you can activate their passionate response – the response that leads them to “championship” performance, because champions are what your customers and business need.

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it and contact me to show you how to activate the “champion” in your employees.

We all spend more time considering what we are not rather than what we are. We always compare ourselves to others – to who they are, what they have and what they think. Instead, we should check in on ourselves – to understand ourselves and use our voice, not the voices of others, to direct us in work and in life.

My work has me speaking to audiences and writing about discovering and playing to our talents, strengths and passions. I always find that we are all infinitely more capable and more connected than we initially believe, but don’t know this because we don’t invest the time to self-discover. When we are unfamiliar with how capable and competent we are, we allow others to direct us into areas that do not play to our greatness – we pass the wheel to another driver. And we end up on a road that is not always right for us. Life is too short to spend any time on the wrong road.

As I like to say, and is part of my personal belief, that someone larger than you thought you should be you, and equipped you with gifts that show up as your talents, strengths and passions. And when you play to these gifts, you see how capable you are.

I feel empowered with that news. That makes me want to discover my talents and build my life and work around them. This is how I connect to what I am naturally good at. This is how I feel capable and competent in a constantly changing world. This is how I invent my life in the way that makes the greatest sense for me. And inventing our lives is the greatest gift there is in life. And to do it well it requires that we “know ourselves.”

The first thing I always recommend for people starting to reconnect to who they are is to journal. Spend 10 minutes each day writing your thoughts.

Here are some good prompts to get you going:
o What am I doing when I am happiest?
o When I feel like I am making a great difference, I am doing…
o Two things that I love about my life are…
o What surprised me most about today was…

The goal of the journal is to help you start to notice you – how you think, what you believe, what you feel and what you notice. This is a great way to get introduced to your talents, strengths and passions. This will tell you a lot about you.

Journaling may be difficult to start, but once you start, you will look forward to the time each day to get connected to yourself, share your thoughts and be in the moment. The more you learn about yourself, the better decisions you will make about life and work. In the process, you will see how brave, strong and smart you really are. And this is something important you should know…

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and watch for my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World, due out October 1. Sign up at www.TheGreatnessZone.com to hear of our events and resources, and friend us on Facebook at “The Greatness Zone.”

There is a life lesson in this same phrase, “if you blend, you lose.” Your greatest happiness, impact and success will be in living your true life, not in following the crowd.

We are truly unique – different from everyone. This distinction is both external and internal. We look different, we think differently. Our brain biology predisposes us to be good at some things and not others. We love some things and not others. Our greatness is in the unique combination of talents, passions and strengths that came hardwired in our DNA when we were born. We were born to be unique – not to blend.

To take advantage of this greatness, we must take the time to know ourselves – to learn about what we are good at, passionate about and what matters to us.

Most of us have a loud “committee” – those internal voices that tell us to play it safe, blend, don’t stand out, do what everybody else does, be concerned with what others think and say. Then, we conform. We listen to voices that steer us away from our abilities, our dreams and our best contributions. When we don’t know ourselves well, we trust the perspectives of others more than our own – others’ voices become louder than ours. We follow the herd.

When we blend – when we act like everyone else even though we are different – we really do lose. We lose when we don’t play to our greatness – when we don’t develop our talents and strengths, and live our passions. We lose when we miss out on the things that move us, inspire us and engage us. And when we say no to these, we give away our greatest gift – the ability to invent our lives as we want them.

So, to develop the courage to stand out and be who you are,
1. Identify your talents.
2. Next, identify your passions.
3. Then, review your life to see how much of your talents and passions you include in the way you live and work.
4. Change things to live what matters to you. Turn down the volume of others’ voices.

My personal perspective is that when we realize our personal greatness, we bring our best to our world – we transform our world. So, if we blend we don’t live authentically, then we cheat the world. When we blend, we all lose.

As has been said, “We don’t get harmony when we all sing the same note.” We are supposed to find our own voice and sing our part. Discover your part and sing it in your way. What a concert it will be.

This perspective is presented in my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World. Join our mailing list at www.TheGreatnessZone.com to be notified when the book is available, and please pass this on to someone who can benefit from it.

Here is my perspective. Each of us has specific talents and strengths – attributes uniquely hardwired in us. Some are great with details and solving challenges, others are exceptional listeners, relationship builders or have spiritual insight. Some are artistic and some can write. Some can invent and some are extraordinary teachers. Each of us has the ability to create our personal masterpiece – our great work.

When we discover and play to our talents and strengths, we bring our best to our lives and to our world – we access our greatness and use it to impact the world.

o A teacher’s great work can change the life of a student forever.
o An artist’s great work can change a person’s mood with their art, music or writing.
o A builder’s great work can create a safe place for a family to realize their dreams.

The point is you have a masterpiece in you – there is greatness in you. But most people are unfamiliar with how to find and release their masterpiece. It starts by knowing yourself – the talents, strengths and passions you have. Here’s how:

1. List what you are great at. What comes naturally? What do others say you are great at? What do you seem to have great success doing?
2. List what you are passionate about. What gets you excited, energized and fired up? What could you do all day and never look at the clock?
3. Review your lists. Where do they intersect? What are you good at and love doing? These are your masterpiece areas. These are your areas of greatest performance, greatest impact and most significant contribution. What things come to mind? Where are you at your best?

The more connected and self-aware you are, the clearer your masterpiece areas will become. The world needs you as you are. Don’t try to force it or to be what others insist you be; instead, play to the talents, strengths and passions you that are part of the deeper or “true you.” When you understand yourself, you will see your masterpiece emerge.

I’ll talk more about this in my new book, The Greatness Zone; Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, and Transform the World, due out in September 2010. Watch for more information soon.

Her entire interview (a podcast on ITunes) is great. But the reason to mention it is because she said something that resonated with me – “come to work stupid.”

Now, that doesn’t mean be ill-prepared or come to work without focus. Rather it means come to work without thinking you know (or must know) all the answers. Come to work or to a meeting with an open mind, ready to hear what others think, believe, feel – then build your response. This creates opportunity thinking. This creates the ability to constantly reinvent yourself and your value. This creates the ability to focus on greatness and to allow others to contribute their best.

The reason why this resonates so strongly with me is that I believe each of us have very particular talents and strengths. And a large part of our ability to be great (at home and at work) is based on our ability to know ourselves – to know our talents, passions and strengths – and to direct our lives and work around these strengths.

Mavericks (innovators) know that if they allow others to play to their greatest areas, they will think differently – more dynamically, more originally and more openly. And that our results are based on our ability to inspire maverick and innovative thinking in all our people. Collective genuis. None of us are as smart as all of us.

So back to the theme – “come to work stupid.”

Come to work expecting to learn.

Come to work expecting great things will happen each day because you have assembled a team of talented and passionate employees, committed to your compelling vision and purpose.

Sometimes we feel we have to have all the answers. Most times we need to be the facilitator of the event that allows the answers to come forward.

Core to the maverick or original-thinking mindset is having a team of talented employees and a culture of openness, communication and a focus on greatness. How well does your organization do with this?

It is important to come to work stupid (open, non-judgmental, approachable, sincere, interest, passionate, open-minded), but go home wise.

The greatest innovation in our economy comes from small businesses or individuals who bring their ideas for greatness to the world. In today’s “hard to get a job” workplace, why not look at what you are great at, innovate and reinvent your work self? Why not focus more on your ideas, talents and passions than on existing jobs – and invent a new and better role for yourself?

Challenge your thinking that a job is in one place, is for one employer, has a fixed work week, and has a specific title. Does that make you uncomfortable? Of course – all change does.But as things change, holding on to the past doesn’t help you become successful today.

How to reinvent your work self:
1. Identify what are you good at and what value can you bring to others?
2. Identify what do you love to do and what value can this add for others?
3. How much do you need/want to make each day, week, month?
4. What opportunities do you see that could give you the earnings and allow you to play to what you are good at and passionate about – how can you reinvent your work self?
5. What do you need to investigate to determine how to do it professionally?

My starting recommendation for people working through this transition is to take a talent assessment (you can find mine on this site) and to read the book, Start With Why by Simon Sinek (this week’s featured resource). Knowing your “why” – your purpose – will guide you on this process of self-reinvention.

Additionally, I am starting a new section on my website Reinvent Your (Work) Self, including stringing together many part-time roles into one new one, trying something new, and inventing a new (high-value) role for yourself.

Check back regularly as I develop this with help from many employment experts on www.LiveFiredUp.com and click on “Job Seeker.” Maybe your current difficulty in getting hired will be the incentive for you to reinvent yourself in a bigger and happier way. Know yourself, know your “why” and have the courage to reinvent yourself.

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to help you learn how to reinvent your (work) self.

The recession forced virtually all organizations to reduce their spending. And in today’s intellectual and service workplace, most of these expense reductions related to manpower. Thanks to the recession, most organizations have now seen they can get more done with fewer of the right employees, than more of the wrong employees. Great lesson.

Getting more done with less is not about overwhelming employees by adding the responsibilities of laid off employees to surviving employees. Rather, it is about understanding employees talents, strengths and passions and realigning employees to roles that use these to make a more significant difference. Studies continue to support that employees who are engaged (intrinsically and emotionally connected – they are good at what the job requires and like doing it), out perform all others. They are more creative, more focused and more interested in their work. The result is greater performance. This requires a greater attention to “fit.” Fit determines the “right employee.” Right employees get more done.

So to get more done with less:
1. Define the talents, strengths, skills and experience needed in each role.
2. Realign existing talent to roles that match and need their attributes.
3. Hire those positions for which you do not currently have the right people.
4. When interviewing, use talent-based questions (workplace situational questioning) to assess candidates’ talents and assess their responses and fit.
5. Clearly define performance expectations and allow employees greater freedom in achieving expectations.
6. Provide recurring feedback to encourage employees to perform.

We are in the new “normal.” The recession showed us we can get the work done with fewer of the right people, keep costs down and improve profitability. Did the recession change how you hire and who is on your team?

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it, and contact me to show you how to get the right people in the right roles to build your A-Team.

We create our best lives and work when we build them around what we are good at and love to do; when we build them around our “thing.”

You do your best work when you feel capable and competent. You are more creative, more interested and more focused; you are in your element. You feel confident; you reach for more; you do more – and better. You are at your best when you play to what you are good at.

Now imagine yourself working in an area where you do not feel capable and competent. You second-guess your decisions. You don’t feel very creative nor are ready to take risks for greatness. You feel unsure. You just play it safe. You watch and don’t participate.

What a waste.

Live is too great and too much of a gift to allow it to go by without playing to our talents and passions – our unique gifts. I believe it is part of the plan that we invent our lives around the unique gifts we received in our DNA – our hardwiring. The more we know ourselves, the more we can identify these gifts and include them in our lives. This way we play to our “thing” – and the quality of both work and life is better.

What are you great at? Not sure? Try this:
1. List what you feel you are good at.
2. Ask three others who know you well what they feel you are good at. Compare their comments to yours.
3. Start to see a profile of your talents and strengths – your “thing.” Identify how you can include these in both your work and life.

We are not good at everything. But we are exceptional at some things.

We each are given a very particular set of talents, strengths and passions – many call these our “gifts.” It is our responsibility to know them and to build them into as many aspects of life as we can – because they are our best areas. We are good at them. We love doing them. We make a difference with them. And I believe we each have a different great “thing” so we have the ability to bring something particular and extraordinary to our world. There is space for all of us to have our “thing.”

Please forward this to someone who may benefit from it. Please contact me if you need more information to help you find “your thing.”

Michelangelo sculpted many amazing works. But his best (my opinion) are the four statues called The Slaves – four torsos in the process of being released from stone. These represent what Michelangelo felt was his role as sculptor: the sculptor doesn’t create – rather, he learns about the stone and then releases what is in the stone. His message: managers are like sculptors. Their role is to learn their employees’ best performance attributes and help them to release them into the workplace.

We each have unique talents, passions and strengths. These prepare us well for some roles, and not for others; not every employee is good at every role. And though employees should know their strengths, many do not. This requires the manager to assist in helping employees learn their best abilities to determine their best fit – those roles and responsibilities that allow their best to happen at work.

When we play to what is in us, we impact the workplace with significance. We do our best work. We are passionate, capable and provide our greatest impact.

Our role as managers is to help release the best from each employee. Consider these ways to help your employees learn how to release their best in the workplace:
1. Identify the critical talents, skills and experience needed in each role; this allows you to know what you need in each role.
2. Have employees define what they are good at, either through communication with others, self-inspection or a talent assessment tool.
3. Have employees define what they are passionate about in the workplace.
4. With this information, realign employees to roles that need what they are good at and are passionate about doing.

This allows employees to play to their strengths – we allow employees to release their best to the workplace. And when they deliver their best, they earn the title, “talented” – something you can imagine Michelangelo repeatedly heard.

Please pass this to someone who can benefit from this information, or contact me to help you learn how to release your employees’ talents in the workplace.

Some celebrities seem never to fall. Their careers keep rising, they have money, fame, great lives and great success. And then there are the other 350 million of us who deal regularly with disappointment, challenge and failure.

Failure – it is part of living a great life. In fact our failures are a means to better understand ourselves – to learn how capable we are. Think of it this way:

When we fail, we meet an obstacle we are unable to navigate around. This obstacle is a roadblock requiring us stop, think, observe, assess and learn. For the times we did not fall or encounter an obstacle, we were successful in our response – nothing new to learn. But obstacles require more thinking, more effort and more lessons. These lessons set us up for future successes.

So as you move through life, your greatest lessons will be in your failures. But you won’t succeed if you don’t get up from every fall.

So here is my “pick myself back up” approach – see if it works for you:
1. I go to my library of wise quotes and highlighted passages in books from wise authors; their comments and wisdom help me regain my footing and sanity.
2. I look at how I failed; I record 3 things that did not go right (what do I need to learn?).
3. I record three ways things could improve – and what I need to do to make them improve (what talents and strengths do I have I didn’t know about – or what resources and help from others can I count on?)
4. I record two things I am great at (because a bruised ego needs some good news).
5. I make a commitment to improve and give myself a high-five for being tough in a tough world – and then get a Starbucks.

Develop your response to getting back up stronger and more determined. Realize only you can do this for you. You own your life and all of or your responses. Learn to see a fall as a lesson to make your future days more successful.

Technology is a great new tool in the job hunting process. Our social networks put us in touch with so many more people – those who are hiring and may be interested in our unique combination of talents, strengths, skills and passions. Getting the word out is key. Use your social networks to get noticed.

Facebook:
Create a “get hired” Facebook page (not your social site – a true “qualifications-focused and get hired” site). Include:
o Core talents, interests and values as part of your bio.
o Pictures of you in the workplace, in the community and copies of letters of recommendation and commendations.
o Scan your talent-based resume as an image and add it to your photo album.

Twitter:
Use Twitter to share key aspects of your talents and aptitudes with your Twitter audience.
o Create a Twitter account for your job seeking. Name it appropriately.
o Search for and add hiring managers, HR professionals, entrepreneurs, roles that match roles you are looking for (nurses, health care, engineer, retail associate, accountant), associations, managers, etc.
o Send out a daily talent comment. Example: seeking accounting role; detail-focused; strong performer; value-focused.
o Develop a weekly series of 4 or 5 tweets that show off your talents and your ability to add value.

For more comments on each and for other social media ideas click here.

In the age of technology, use your connections wisely to let the world know your talents, interests and the jobs that are a good fit for you. Many people get hired this way.

Your EQ – your emotional intelligence (your ability to know yourself, manage yourself and get along with others) accounts for 40 – 60% of your career success. Very important.

Today’s workplace is a service-based (relationship) workplace. Since employees are paid to think through their responses to customers, and they control their minds, managers must now engage and inspire employees to activate their performance. Today’s managers must be able to listen, hear, watch and connect – they must be relationship builders, connectors and communicators.

To be a relationship builder requires strong EQ – a clear knowledge of yourself and how to successfully relate to others. This enables a manager to better connect with and understand employees – to know their talents, values and interests to put them in the right jobs, motivate them and activate their performance.

To improve your EQ:
1. Become more aware or your responses, reactions and emotions. Noticing how you react helps you assess its effectiveness and ineffectiveness.
2. Manage your emotions to improve your ability to listen, respond and successfully react with others.
3. Watch the behaviors of others; understand their moods and communication method to improve how you connect with them. Learn to listen so people will talk, and talk so people will listen.

Smarts – defined today – relate more to your ability to know yourself and to connect successfully with others rather than just what you know. Though some people are naturally better at “connection” and EQ, studies support all of us can improve. Improving your EQ has a direct impact on the quality of your work and life relationships, the quality of your work and the quality of your life.

So to determine if you are a good fit for the job, hiring managers need a new style of resume – one that gives them these three things:
1. What are you great at (what are your talents and passions because they reflect your greatest performance areas)?
2. How have you used what you are great at (in other jobs so they can see it in action)?
3. What value have you created for other companies (so they can see the value you can bring to their company)?

See a sample of the new Talent-based Resume.

Here is what the captions mean:
#1. What are you great at?
List your talents and the things that make you successful. Are you great at building and sustaining relationships? Are you focused, driven and goal-oriented? Are you great at solving problems and paying attention to details? Are you great at inventing, creating and innovating? Don’t be humble, be bold and confident.

#2. How have you used what you are great at?
Hiring managers want to see you in action. Were you able to diffuse angry customers successfully? Were you able to keep a project on track or under budget? Were you able to work with a variety of personalities, and get the job done well? Hiring managers are not interested in everything you have done; they don’t have time for that. They want to see you use your talents – they want to see that you can do what you say you can do. Provide work experience that supports your talents.

#3. What value have you created for other companies using your talents?
Companies are hiring you because they want you to create value for them. They are investing in you and for this investment they expect a return (the same way you expect a return when you invest your money in a mutual fund or bank). The greater the return, the more valuable you are to a company. Tell them how you saved 5% on overtime costs by rearranging the work schedule. Tell them how you invented a new service that added $30,000 to the bottom line. Show your impact with numbers. Show the specific value you have brought to your other employers.

New workplace – new resume. Use the new talent-based resume because it provides the meaningful information hiring managers want. It helps you stand out and get hired.

Please forward this to your friends who are job searching. Help them get hired in 2010.

Most people continue to apply for the wrong jobs because they don’t know what they are good at. And today, to have the best performance, you must work in job that needs what you are great at and are passionate about. Without these, you don’t feel capable, competent or excited in your work – and it shows.

So here is how to proceed:
1. Write down what you think you are naturally good at – your talents – this will be things like connecting with others, focusing on details, committed to big performance, great at listening and relating to others, creating order out of chaos…etc. Don’t be humble. List everything you are good at; things that come naturally to you. This is difficult for many people so try these other two options:

2. Next, write down what you are passionate about. What do you love to do – what gets you out of bed in the morning and what you could do all day? It may be teaching, helping others, running a business, writing, painting, cooking, selling…whatever you love to do. List as many as come to mind. You will find that you generally do not need help with this – each of us is far more aware of our passions than our talents.

Now: look for the intersection of your two lists – what are you good at AND passionate about doing. This is the starting point for finding a job that fits you. This is key to finding a job AND loving your job.

You may be great at connecting with people and passionate about sharing stories. A job in sales, customer service or retail in any industry may be a good fit. You may be great at focusing on details and precision and are passionate making a difference. You may find that careers in the medical field, IT, law or similar fields will play to your talents and passions.

Know yourself – because your next step is to learn what the hot jobs are – so you can determine which jobs are a good fit for you and which needs what you are great at. This will give you a competitive advantage in getting hired.

Click here for the full “Get Hired” Plan. See all the “Get Hired” resources at www.LiveFIredUp.com, click on “Job Seeker.”

Consider this: Not everybody is great at everything. No kidding, right? But this is important because it explains how to help you identify what your employees’ hooks or “performance activators” are.

The brief explanation, also supported by the new book Drive by Daniel Pink, is our hooks are based on what makes us feel capable and competent in what we do, and like doing it; we must be good at what we do and passionate about doing it. When this happens, we perform. When this does not happen, we are just not that interested in our work.

Picture this: a salesman in an accountant’s role. Death wish. There isn’t any hook – the role does not play to what a salesmen is fundamentally good at and passionate about doing – that is connecting with others, winning others over and making the sale. Okay, reverse the roles – an accountant now in a salesman’s role. Again, no hook – the sales role does not play to the accountant’s love of details, focus on control, order and analysis (more about details than people).

No competence, comfort or passion and performance suffers. When you are good at what you do and love doing it you perform better.

To find your employees’ hooks:
1. Identify what the employee is consistently good at (talents).
2. Identify what the employee’s passions and interests are.

Start a regular conversation with your employees to get to know them. When you know their talents, values and interests you will find their hooks. Then you can realign them to roles that activate their best performance. Your people are your profits.

For more information click on “For Managers” on www.LifeFiredUp.com.

For many people, when things get tough, they shut down. They run out of gas, feel stuck and sit waiting for rescue.

As today’s quote so clearly says, you can’t side idle – you must get up, take ownership and get on with things. You are responsible for your rescue.

But here is what you need to know: You are infinitely more capable than you first believe. You have significant talents and strengths; you have wisdom and power – you need to access it.

Ariane de Bonvoisin explains in her book First 30 Days that when you encounter an obstacle, you are forced to stop – and now think. An obstacle is nothing more than an opportunity to look into yourself with new clarity to see your greater capabilities. Obstacles – tough times – actually can show us how much more capable we are.

So how do you keep driving when you feel like you are out of gas?

1. Find some quiet time and listen inward – get introduced (or re-introduced) to the more significant you.

5. Choose to act by creating a plan – start small; but start.

No one said life would be easy – but it is always good. Obstacles force us to better know ourselves and to see what we are really made of. So when you feel like you are out of gas, build a plan to get yourself back on the road of life. It is both an adventure and a great ride.

See the life power tools on www.LifeFiredUp.com and be sure to click on the Hunt for Opportunities.

I met many remarkable women at this conference but one in particular, Barbara Miller, has an amazing message you need to hear. Barbara says it best so here is her explanation:
“There is nothing I love more than my family; they are at the center of who I am and everything I do. The last couple of years have been a journey, melding my passion for my children and our life with my design work. This exploration led to the formulation of YES! Spaces – a design philosophy that helps families create homes that honor every family members’ interests and integrate them into still beautiful and comfortable rooms. Each child and every family is unique – they are a gift and deserve to be given a voice and a place in their own home.”

Okay, wow. Read the last line of her quote again.

Here’s the point. Not only does Barbara know herself well enough to play to her talents, passions and strengths, but she has so clearly shared an important message for us all. We all should have a voice and a place – not only in our house but in our world. We all get to be here – to be ourselves – to live our lives – to have a place – and to be heard. Again, wow.

So, what is your true voice (what are you great at)? What is your place (what are your passions and ways to make a difference)? What greatness do you have that the world needs? And what tolerance, patience and acceptance do have of others – who, like you, deserve a voice and a place?

Make 2010 your year of making a difference – for yourself and for others.

(Barbara always has great things to say so sign up for her blog, “Designing My Life.” And Yes! Spaces will be a book due out in October 2010.)

Most people don’t believe that it is possible to love your job – to love what you do and to be passionate about doing it. Most feel that work is how you make the money to have the life you want. But in today’s world the right job is one that plays to your strengths, activates your passions, allows for your best performance and adds great value to your life. Finding the right job is not complicated but it does require you to take the time to know your talents, strengths, passions and interests. There is no reason for you to hate your job; with a little direction, you can learn to define and hired into your dream job. Now is the time to find the right job and a job you love.

Though there are great many more people looking for jobs in today’s economy, great companies are always hiring the best talent. Understand that if you are right for the job (you have the talents and the passion to do the job) then you are the best talent. By knowing what you are great at and what activates your passions, you identify roles and jobs that need what you do best – this makes you very competitive. This is what gives you the confidence to apply for jobs in which you know you will make a great difference. This confidence comes from being great at what the job needs and passionate about doing it. This is what great companies are always looking for.

Those who have found their “right” jobs have committed the time to learn their talents and passions. They know what they are great at and have committed to working in areas that activate their passions because it activates their best performance.

Today, passion is a key performance motivator. The more passionate you are about what you do, the greater your performance, the quicker you learn, the more connected you feel to the work, and the greater impact you provide. You can see that the right job now must be based on your talents and your passions, as it allows you to progress to your greatest performance.

Self-awareness is critical in today’s emotional workplace. It is critical that you take the time to understand how you think, what you are great at and what you love to do. Each of our brains is unique – hardwired to respond in very particular ways. This is the reason that a salesman and an accountant would rarely like to change jobs. Each of their brains processes information in a particular way – one more social and one more analytical. The right job for one is not the right job for the other. So it is critical for our success that we know ourselves well enough to know which jobs are the right fit – and they will always be those jobs or roles that play to our strengths and activate our passions.

To help you identify the “right” job, follow these seven steps:

1. List what you are great at. (Intellectual connection on the grid image). Take a talent assessment if you need help or simply list what you are naturally great at. Notice this said “great” not “good” as the focus must be on things that you are the best at to be the most competitive. Don’t be humble. Be accurate and be honest.
2. List what you are passionate about. (Emotional connection on the grid image). Passion drives energy; the more you involve your passions in your job, the more engaged and excited you will be in your role. This is the most significant component of performance. Identify what you love to do. You may see this play out in your hobbies and interests.
3. List what will make you feel successful in your role. (Success connection on the grid image). Will it be to progress to management, work a flexible schedule, work from home, have a certain impact, work with a certain type of customers, people or products, etc? Be clear in your definition of what success is from your perspective.
4. Review what you listed from areas 1, 2 and 3 above and identify where any of the items listed intersect. In other words, what are you great at, passionate about and meets your definition of success? This intersection indicates the areas of your greatest performance fit. This is critical information needed to identify your dream job – your “right” job.
5. What careers, roles or jobs need what you are great at, passionate about and meet your definition of success? These are opportunities that play to your strengths and activate your passions. These opportunities will allow you to be the most connected and most engaged. This will encourage your greatest energy, performance and impact. Create a list of your “Right” jobs, roles or careers. Consider everything that meets your criteria. You may find that the best job for you does not yet exist and if created would add great value to an organization. Don’t be afraid to invent your ideal job. Just be sure to identify its value.
6. Apply only for jobs that meet your criteria. Highlight your “fit” on the face of your resume. Use a talent-based resume – one that highlights your talents (what you are great at) and then presents how you have used your talents in other jobs. This helps a hiring manager easily and accurately assess your job fit. Since the job also activates your passion, applying for the job is now exciting, empowering and engaging. Applying for jobs that activate your passions encourages your best job application, resume and cover letter. This is your moment to show your fit and passion. Don’t miss this opportunity – this is where you get their attention.
7. Go into your interview with great confidence. You know the talents needed in the job match your talents. You know you love the nature of the work as it appeals to your passions. You have used these talents in other roles so you can easily show how they look to others. You have everything going for you. You know you are a good fit – and good fit is exactly what the hiring manager is looking for. Be confident. Don’t over prepare. Talk candidly, honestly and openly about your performance, your talents, how you fit and what value you can provide. This is how to stand out and get hired.

When you focus on “fit” – how you are the right person for the job – you show that you understand yourself, have defined roles that play to your strengths and passions and have applied for jobs that allow you to create the greatest impact. This process gives you a competitive advantage. You now stand out against applying for jobs. Not only are you good at what the job needs done but you are emotionally or passionately connected to doing it. The thought of it gets you fired up and excited to show up for work. And at work, you are happy to be there, doing what you do best and making a significant impact.

Today, job fit matters. You are unique; how you think, what you are naturally good at (talents) and what activates your passions now influences your effectiveness in the workplace. Play to your strengths. The best performers are those who love what they do. You deserve a job that needs our passionate performance. So follow these seven steps to work strong and live stronger. And managers – insist that who you hire be well matched to the talents needed in the job. This improves performance and connection.

Check out “Stand Out and Get Hired” to determine your intellectual connection, and learn to apply for the right job.

I have been speaking and working with both companies and individuals for over 25 years. Most seem to be convinced that their work life and their home lives are supposed to be average; that passionate and exciting lives are reserved for the famous and the few. My message in all that time has been to train people to spend time with themselves – to learn what they are great at and what they love to do. It may be reading, cooking or gardening. It may be flying, singing or investing. It may be connecting with others, inventing or working with computers. Each of us is gifted with a very specific combination of talents and strengths. Our lives are given to us to discover who we are, discover our combination of talents and strengths, and then build a work and home life that plays to what we are the best at and the most passionate about. This is how we own our lives. This is how we live more authentically and honestly. This starts with a greater self-awareness by answering the two questions: What am I a great at? What am I passionate about?

Life is not a dress rehearsal. The sooner we learn what gifts, talents and passions we have, the sooner we can build our lives around them. Not only does this make us more competitive in our work lives, but it amplifies each day of home lives. We live more fully, contribute more significantly and enjoy our lives. Albert Einstein said, “The single most important decision any of us ever have to make is whether or not to believe we will live in a friendly universe.” That means do we feel that life is supposed to be extraordinary and that the world is a positive place waiting for us to contribute our best. Or, as many feel, life is meant to be bland and boring…and they just count the days until it ends.

For me, and for those I speak to, the only way to approach life is Fired Up! Be passionate, be excited, love what you do and the life you have. Know yourself, play to your strengths and build a life that lets you work and live in a way that excites you and moves you. It is your choice. The buck stops with you. You own your life and your decisions about it and work. If you hate your job, start to identify a job you love and build a plan to get it. If there are aspects of life that are bland or are not for you, start to build a plan to change. Time doesn’t wait. Bland and boring is a waste of your time. Choose great. Choose passionate. Choose Fired Up!

As I travel and work with managers and employees, I find that most do not know themselves well – they are unaware of what they are great at and what activates their passions. The result is they work in jobs they find to be boring, uninspiring and disengaging. The more disconnected they become from their work, the more their performance (and the performance of the organization) suffers. So take control. Know yourself well; know which jobs play to your strengths, which jobs ignite your passions and which jobs activate your best performance. Then, if job hunting, apply for jobs that meet these criteria. Stay focused on jobs that play to your strengths because these are the areas in which you are most competitive. Play to your strengths and then be sure the employment world knows what you are great at. Great employees are always in demand.

So, if job seeking, define what jobs need what you are good at, activate your passions and respond to your definition of success. If you are thinking about starting a business (for the Florida Tech program attendees last week, this week and next week), play to your strengths by getting to know what you are good at, what are your passions and what is required for you to be successful. Find this intersection and you will see business opportunities. Find this intersection and you will max your performance.

Spend some time with yourself. You’ll be pretty impressed with the talents you have – then you’ll know how to use them to work and live in a more successful way.

In many areas of the country there is a supply of employed talent. Many organizations now have a greater choice to fill openings or realign. But wait – you first need to know what you need. Learn how to create a Talent Matrix – a one page profile of the talents, skills and experience you need (presented in Fire Up! Your Employees). This means you need to know how to assess applicants for talents and how to define the talents needed in each job. Define it up front and the interview process is easy – you know specifically what you need and you can easily match your needs to the attributes you find in your applicants. Hiring made simple.

Review the free chapter downloads and order your copy of this new hands-on, step-by-step guide to attract, hire and retain the right employees. Fire Up Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition – get your copy today.