If your optimism has taken a few hits lately, don’t let it show when you’re networking and interviewing, on the phone or in person. Like it or not, you’re measured by what you say and how you say it. If you’re clear and concise, positive and proactive, your listener will be interested in hearing more about what you’ve done and how you’ve done it. Your attitude will either help you overcome obstacles or will create obstacles that you can’t overcome.
Attitude starts in your head and ends in your behavior. What you think is how you look and frames what you say. Suffice it to say, having a good attitude is more than a platitude and changing a bad attitude to a good one requires an intentional reframing of how you see the world, or at least your place in it.
What’s your frame? Are you the problem or the problem solver? The confused or the clarifier? The lost or the leader? You get to choose what that role is and how you choose to conduct yourself while in it. What are the challenges the company must confront? What are the needs the company must meet? What can you do that makes a positive difference in the outcomes the company chooses to engage?
The answer moves from your head to your hands and feet. It moves your heart before it shows in your deeds. If you’re a people person, find companies that value relationships along with hard work. If you value quality, match yourself to companies whose products and processes are exemplars of what you believe to be best in class. Match the best of what you do and who you are to companies that share your values and aspirations.
If you’re at a turn in the road you hadn’t expected and have, for now, lost sight of your way forward, reach out and ask for help. The people you see, the stories you hear, the relief that you get may appear to be short term, but if you listen, learn, and stay with it, you’ll regain your balance, reassert your strength, and recalibrate your internal compass.
Volunteer. When you’re feeling down there are few things that feed the soul more than helping people whose life experiences are more daunting than whatever it is you’re facing. Volunteer where you can do the most good. Match what you do best to what others need most. And while you’re at it, meet volunteers who share your values and concerns and who can be contacts who make a difference in your life.
Mentor. It’s likely that you have life experience or business success that could advance, enhance, and build the repertoire of those who would like to follow your path. If you know how to lead strategically, manage tactically, negotiate effectively, interface productively, produce efficiently, work globally, communicate succinctly, market cross- culturally, while navigating the complexities of on-going change, you can make a difference for those just starting out or those who want to learn how to do their jobs better.
