photo by jabella

Yes, I know it is a rough economy and sometimes you just have to let people go. But what happens if you keep the person who is creating chaos and disharmony for everyone else?

Recently, I wrote a post about toxic personalities:

But this type of person is dangerous to others too. Some take it to an extreme and will carry out sabotage missions that if they are mentioned sound so irrational that you think they are kidding.

Mark Harai stopped by in the comments and he said that when you have a toxic personality who is causing chaos – they should be the one to leave. That works if you are the one in charge, and… you have the courage to execute. On Mark’s blog, he wrote Eliminate Viruses from your business, he says:

It got me thinking about one particular thing you absolutely need to drive your business to success – A GREAT ATTITUDE throughout your organization.

A bad attitude is bad for business

One bad attitude can spread like a virus. No complaining, negative, argumentative, whiny, prima donnas need apply and if they do, don’t hire them!

But, again, it works if you are the one in charge AND you are willing to act. In companies, non-profit organizations, and yes, even in churches, I have seen people with toxic personalities rule the roost. They may be a manager, board member, or someone who yields power just because of their connections. At the same time, there are other people whose heart and soul are invested in the company or organization mission but they will end up leaving because the toxic personality or as Mark says “prima donnas” pushed them out the door.

How do you know if you should leave?

I wrote a post called when is it time to leave. You can review the suggestions there but in general, if you are in such chaos that you cannot look forward to the next day and this goes on for more than a month, you need to review your options.

If you are management, what do you do?

If you are the one in charge and you are letting one person ruin your organization, you need to get the courage to confront the person and as Mark said, “Eliminate the virus.” This will not be easy but if you want your organization or business to flourish and good people to stay, you need to take charge and make it happen. Don’t do it impulsively. Create a plan with justification, consult an attorney if needed, but don’t let one person take down the whole organization. You don’t have to give them that much power.

It’s your move…

photo by Denise Cross

Just in case you think I have changed from a career marketing professional to a health guru, let me assure you that is not the case. But I firmly believe in the overall health of everyone from multiple perspectives. I think that you need to consider everything (but in stages) to help you reach your goals.

Assess your total career picture

The healthiest thing I did for me initially was assess my total career picture. I can guarantee I never looked at my life from that perspective until 2009. I wasn’t happy and though I made incremental changes, I never looked at the total picture, especially from a long term perspective.

When I looked at my future, I saw continuing to balance my Design Resumes business with non-profit management contracts in an effort to keep a stable contract income each month, I would never focus on marketing Design Resumes.

Giving up some contracts didn’t change anything. In review, I realized I needed to give up the last contract with Wausau Whitewater and any related marketing fees to succeed. This would me an immediate loss of a stable contract income of about $14,000 annually.

A major healthy career decision for me

I made the final decision on December 12, 2009 in the midst of the worst economic climate in 80 years. Emotionally, that was a very hard decision. I had many friends through Wausau Whitewater and I had one particular friend who would be impacted immensely by my departure. It took time to heal that relationship but we gained even more respect for each other in that journey.

That change, though scary, let me grow Design Resumes. I did decide to find expert help, which I have never regretted. The confidence and direction I gained from that expert help changed how I marketed and ran my business and opened the door to many other opportunities.

2010 was a year of investing into the business and ultimately though I held steady with revenue, I also increased debt substantially. I don’t regret the investments but I don’t plan on ever funding that way again.

2011 is a year of focus on three other sectors.

For me, sitting at my computer has made me unhealthy. I’ve gained weight and gotten out of shape. Though I tend toward healthy eating, I have to improve that even more and make time for exercise. I plan to find more time for yard work as well as other exercise than I did in 2010.

Financially, I now have new goals. I am seriously working on becoming debt-free. To reach that goal, I am following Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. I bought the book last year at the prompting of the friend from Wausau Whitewater but didn’t start reading until a month ago.

I am now putting his plan in place. It will mean making serious decisions on everything and prolong other investments into both my business and my home but in the end, I will experience freedom like never before. I am coupling that reading with Your Money Counts by Howard Dayton to get a Biblical perspective of money management.

Opening new areas. I launched a second blog last month. This will let me talk about some things that don’t necessarily fit in the career marketing area. Will it be another revenue stream? Maybe, someday. I do highly recommend multiple streams of revenue for everyone. When you put all your plans in one area, you often will be disappointed. Employers downsize and rightsize and for you that may mean an end to your career.

Healthy for me means different things than it does for you. But for us to grow as an overall person, we have to make choices that lead us to overall health. Take your first step today and if you want to share it here, please do. I write this kind of post periodically as a reminder to me. Being accountable helps you reach your goals.

Photo by robstephaustralia

Through the years, people have commented, “You are so organized! How do you do it all?” Unfortunately, this is another misconception about me, much like how I deal with balance as we discussed in yesterday’s post, Start with Balance. This is the fourth post in the series, You have to Start to Finish.

Organization is definitely one of my goals and I occasionally give the appearance that I am organized with my ever-present Day-Timer and my colored pen lists. I even write posts on topics such as how to keep track of your resume in Where did I put that resume? or how to make organized decisions as in A Little Decision-Making Tool. But right about when you think I have it all together, I admit to failing in posts such as Achoo! Allergic to Mail.

How am I going to start with organization in 2011?

What is my goal to get organized and at the same time keep my life in balance and make myself accountable in the area of finances?

1. Creating the colored pen list is key. My to-do list reads like a mini-resume with action statements like “write blog post” or “Process Mail” or “Update QuickBooks.” I have three standing reminders in black ink on the top of each list. Two of the 3 almost always happen: Read Bible and Exercise. The third is a specific reminder to ride the exercise bike with ____ Minutes ____ Miles ___ Calories Burned, but that one gets ignored — a lot! Red is for the urgent and important things, usually client-related. Purple is for my office projects like Process mail. Green is for financial related items: Update QuickBooks, Mail Check to…., or Pay mortgage. Blue is for household chores such as Vacuum living room or Sort laundry.
2. If I make the list wisely and then follow it, the client projects will get done, mail will get processed, my bills will get paid, I will stay on top of my financials and the household projects.
3. Kindergarten rules like put away what you take out are so simple but this concept is one many adults struggle to follow. You need to have a place for things to go first but assuming you do, putting things away when you are done with them will help you stay organized. In your office or workplace, when you work on a project and then file it in any easy to retrieve place or label your computer files in a way that lets you find things, then you make progress in this area. In your home, the same principle applies. If you take it out, put it away.

Here’s some projects I have on my list for the next few days:

1. Set up invoice files for 2011. I still keep paper files for invoices for tax purposes. I have a set of labels I print with the tax categories and year on them.
2. Organize client files and enter into database. I struggled with this one all year but now have a basic database that I can expand on to track clients and better manage them.
3. Clean closets. I have two large closets with office things in them. The former office downstairs really needs some organization and purging. Getting rid of things you don’t use any more makes you feel better and helps you stay organized.

More tools for organization:

1. Jason Alba’s JibberJobber is a great career management tool for job seekers and for lifelong career management. Jason is continually refining JJ and it only gets better.
2. Flylady has been a help to disorganized people everywhere. Marla Cilley with her many associates has motivated and led people to solutions for household cleaning, dinner planning, exercise, and overall organization. I have used many of her tools through the years and still find that her “You can do anything for 15 minutes” coaching coupled using her timer gets me moving through projects I procrastinate.
3. I’ve used my Daytimer since 1982 and still prefer writing those lists to Blackberry’s or PDAs or even Outlook. Something about the writing helps me get things done.
4. Oh, and those colored pens? I use Pilot G-2 gel pens from Staples.

Whatever you decide, I think you will find that if you Start with Organization, it will help you move forward!

]]> http://designresumes.com/2010/12/start-organization/feed/ 11 http://designresumes.com/2010/12/start-balance/ http://designresumes.com/2010/12/start-balance/#comments Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:10:48 +0000 Julie Walraven http://designresumes.com/?p=5991

Photo by evilerin

People who know me will find this to be a hilarious topic. Start with Balance is post # 3 in my You have to START to finish series. Balance is one of the things I hear everyone talking about these days and I am about as out of whack as they come with the topic of balance.

I had planned this as part of this series but couldn’t help but hear Jim Connolly speaking to me when I read his post this morning, Have you been working this week? Jim also mentions Danny Brown’s post, the Danger of Not Work which also discusses this issue. Both of them talk about how when work isn’t “work” to us, we run the risk of never quitting.

Jim says this:

If like most business owners you LOVE what you do, always be aware of the need for balance.  Paradoxically, by working a little less, you often find that you achieve a little more.

and Danny says this:

When we’re passionate about something, we never see it as something we have to do – we see it as something we want to do. But how long does it take for our not work leading to everything else not working?

Both fit me well and have even before the solo focus on Design Resumes this year. I can remember way back, probably around 2003 or 2004 when one of my very good friends e-mailed me these words and told me to put them on my computer:

Take time for yourself — every day!

I put them on a post-it and left it there for a few years. My friend struggled and still struggles with the same problem himself, so in reminding me, he was reminding himself.

But I do love what I do, I love working with my clients, I love blogging, I love social networking and writing in general so none of it is work for me. However, I do know that I can’t be creative all the time and the well does run dry. So I break up my days, doing house projects sometimes and on days when I am running out of steam, I take a nap.

In the summer months, I tend to be outside much more. Wisconsin doesn’t lend itself to play much, for me, anyway since I don’t ski or snowmobile. In the spring, summer, and fall, I walk and work in my yard or even just move to the deck.

I wrote about the job seeker perspective in All Work and No Play, Or earlier. The same concept applies to anyone, job seeker, career changer, entrepreneur, or happily employed and not moving. We all need to look at the issue of balance.

Since I am still working on the  balance concept, here’s a few of my concessions:

1. I’ve started reading fiction again. Not deep fiction, just light fiction that makes me relax. I finish a book every few days. Delving into someone else’s world gives me a different perspective and I love to read. Before I was only allowing me to read books related to marketing or the career industry and so I was getting to the point it wasn’t relaxing to read anymore… it was work! Now the novels entertain me and often teach me at the same time.
2. I go to bed much earlier these days. Before I stayed up until 10pm or so most nights but sometimes the last three hours were just me sitting watching TV mindlessly and waiting for the magic hour. Now if I wake up sleepless, I pick up my book and read again until I am tired and my average sleep is more than 7 hours most nights as opposed to 5 to 6 hours.
3. I break away to go cook something. Again something I love and it serves a duel purpose — I enjoy being creative in the kitchen and I and whoever else is around gets fed.
4. Periodically, I meet a friend for coffee or lunch and just leave for a couple hours. Since I don’t have a car right now, I really am at home (which is also where work is) most of the time and so getting out just for a bit helps.

Notice that none of the points above cost anything except #4 costs any money and even #4 can be under $20 easily (if you opt for lunch instead of coffee). For job seekers watching a budget, there’s a few options to break up your day.

I suspect balance will always be a challenge for me, but in 2011, I will give more thought to finding more. Stay tuned to my next thoughts on Start with… my series on You have to Start to finish!