You've decided you need a coach. Congratulations! This is a major step in taking control of your career and charting a new course for success. But now comes the hard part: how do you choose the right coach? With so many options out there, it can be tough to know where to start.

Here's a helpful guide to finding the coach who's right for you. Look for someone who is competent (credentials and experience), compatible (chemistry), and committed (to your success and to helping you make lasting changes). These are the three C's of choosing a coach.

1. Credentials and Experience
The first thing you'll want to look for in a coach is credentials and experience. What kind of training and experience does this person have? Do they have any relevant certifications? What is their coaching philosophy?

2. Chemistry
It's also important to find a coach with whom you have good chemistry. This is someone you'll be working with closely, so it's important that you feel comfortable with them and that you...

It is inevitable that, when looking at the popular crowd, people will make assumptions about the politics involved. However, there is more to this group than meets the eye. There are several reasons why being popular is only sometimes what it seems.

For one, the popular crowd is often made up of people considered to be "conformists." This means they generally follow what most people are doing or saying. Although, as a result, they may not always be expressing their true beliefs, popularity can be beneficial for your career, but it can be detrimental to your happiness.

We start working because we have to; money, food, and shelter are key. Growing up, were you told to follow your dreams, or did you grow up knowing work is a way of life? No matter why or where we started, we begin to wander and wonder how we fit into the big corporate world.

As things progress, confidence becomes a friend we are constantly chasing. We assume some have it; others don't, and we watch other professionals...

Have you ever heard that your NETWORK is your NET WORTH?

So why do we resist networking? It moves so many out of our comfort zone in different ways, and that's okay. But what if you are overthinking it?

What is keeping you from networking, and what story do you need to tell yourself to get started?

Networking is about BEGINNING, BELIEVING, BUILDING, and LEVERAGING.

BEGINNING
We must network. That is all they tell you in the BEGINNING. Employers spend time setting expectations and training employees, but very few explain why networking is essential, and even fewer model networking or provide successful strategies. Without mentorship, it can feel like an awkward dance of reaching out and struggling to find your way through a conversation without a clearly defined outcome.

BELIEVING
When prioritizing so many things in your career, it is hard to see the long-term benefit of taking time for something that does not have an immediate ROI. However, for success, you need to believe...

Something missing in your career? Feeling stagnant? Need a reboot?

Find your opposite.

So often, we look at our peers and colleagues as our competition, but what if they are there to compliment our style, teach us and learn from us throughout our career journey? Think about it; we become stuck, and instead of looking for new answers, we start to fear uncertainty, which spirals into insecurity. It stalls us out and moves into negative emotions, self-talk, and resistance.

We naturally like to work with people who think and act like us. They are easier to collaborate with, not to mention easier to manage. At work, we know we should collaborate. Still, in reality, we often need to move to consensus quickly to meet the business's demands, robbing us of the mind-expanding exercises we need to facilitate growth.

But what if we found a partner that didn't think like us? When we engage with them, we will begin to expect the unexpected, reducing the emotional reaction (the amygdala...

Who has more demands? You or your employer? If your employer struggles to meet your needs, this is for you.

When it comes to your career, do you struggle to balance your responsibility to yourself and the organization? I talk a lot about this with my clients. The word they often use is GUILT. Many times we have to go back to the beginning of this relationship to remember how it started. 

You and your employer made a mutual agreement. You accepted your employer's offer, and they committed to pay you to perform a job. It was business. 

The longer you are there, the more invested you become in the relationships, the work, and the results. Then, as time passes, you expect more from each other. Your employer watches you build new skills and wants you to take on more responsibility. You feel accomplished and successful. You may expect a raise and promotion in return, but the recognition feels good. 

But then, one partner in this...

My question is if you lost your job today, would you feel relief? If you can admit that out loud (it will stay in between the two of us), it is time to think about a search. It is a candidate's market, and depending on your salary, a good search can take up to eighteen months. 

Have you ever quit a job or had your position eliminated, and there was a weird feeling of relief that accompanied fear? If this is not you, you are one of the lucky ones - keep reading.

Of course, it is easy to fall into a space of regret, frustration, or anger after it happens. But what action can you take before it happens?

Unfortunately, most people find themselves in the space of regretting the past: instead of taking the time to look towards the future and the risk that precedes success. 

Yet, every step that has brought you to this moment has given you something to learn from and helped you move forward. This is hard to remember when things do not feel like they are going your way....

Do you roll your eyes when your leader schedules time for your review? After all, why are you talking about last year? You turned in your self-review over a month ago, and you can't even remember what you wrote. 

It's time to change the narrative in your head about this annual event.

It is not something you should be rushing through. Instead, make the most of the time dedicated to a conversation focused on you and your future. You deserve this, you worked hard all year, and instead of rolling your eyes when you see the meeting invite, you need to prepare.

So what do you need to do to make the most of this conversation?

First, plan to talk about what you are proud of accomplishing last year. However, don't discuss the project - instead, gather your talking points around how they contributed to the company or department. Articulating your team's contribution to the bigger picture and the ROI gives your leader talking points that they can use in executive...

Title matters. When I was younger, I was naive to think that the work I did and the people I did it for were what mattered. Then I got promoted. Overnight, everything changed. I was invited to more meetings, asked to weigh in on more situations outside of my department, and had a more significant influence on the organization.

With that being said, some leaders had always treated me with the same respect. Most of the executive team would see me in the hallway and stop for a genuine chat expressing great interest in whatever conversation we had that day - but with others, it was different.

I only bring this up because TITLE should be part of your career strategy. While the title may not change the work you are doing or the satisfaction you get out of your role, it can benefit you in many other ways.

First, sadly, people treat you differently internally and externally. The vendors and consultants you work with externally make initial judgments about you when they see your title....

Life is short, time is in short supply, and our attention spans are getting shorter by the minute. What you need to know is bullet-pointed below, but read to the end of the article if you need the justification.

Your networking strategy must include - UP, DOWN, and SIDEWAYS.

Why UP?

• The leaders who forged the way have insight, advice, and perspective for situations you have yet to experience.
• They may have bigger picture knowledge or ideas that will help you shape views that stretch you beyond your current thinking or experiences.
• Internally or externally, they may know of opportunities that will move your career forward.

Why DOWN?

• You can provide the same opportunities from the above list for this group.
• Those who have not achieved the same milestones may see the world differently and share a perspective you have not considered.
• They can give insight into information that others are afraid to share beyond their peer group. 

Why Sideways?

• This group is not your...

Corporate America is experiencing more change than it has in many years. 

Most companies have awakened to the need to embrace technology, the reality that they lack diversity, and the need for mental health initiatives while navigating the pandemic and leading from afar.

Those who still did not believe they could trust people to work remotely were given a new dose of reality and proven wrong. As a result, the expectations of leadership and careers are evolving.

So will you follow the career path of those that went before you? The one that got your boss and your boss' boss to their station in life. Will you wait in line for your turn, or may I propose a different option?

Our career path was laid out before us for years, making life easy yet frustrating at times. Instead of focusing on moving up the ladder, focus on the journey.

So how do you differentiate a career path from a journey?
The path is straightforward. The journey is full of exploration.

First, find good...