To say that the last few years have been unusual is an understatement! We went through a terrible global pandemic and people lost their jobs in unprecedented numbers. Then the jobs came back and people began to quit – the Great Resignation. But even if they didn’t really quit, many experienced a ‘silent quitting’. And then the economy turned down again – layoffs are happening at companies where you would never have expected them, and we may be going into another recession. Who could have predicted all this a mere 3 years ago?
But always in crisis there is opportunity and as someone famously said – you’d hate to waste a good crisis! If you were too stressed or busy to take the opportunity 2 years ago, now could be the time to take a fresh look at your job and career prospects, short and long term, before you are forced to. Or maybe now you are already in that tough position of being laid off and have to scramble to react. Read more
https://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.png00Kathy Parkshttps://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.pngKathy Parks2022-11-29 21:12:182022-12-11 21:26:414 Ways to Jumpstart your Job Search – Again!
Have you noticed how many unsolicited emails there are in your inbox these days giving you new tips for goal setting? Yup – it’s that time of year alright – even though we may not be ready for it – 2022 is here. So here’s another one for you.
Each year I do a goal setting message with the latest and greatest tips for setting bright and shiny goals for the new year, a clean slate ahead. Early on, I started with New Year’s Resolutions but after a while it became just goal setting and the process I was talking about each year became simpler and simpler. Because if you make it too complicated, no one is going to do it anyway. However now, after yet another year of stress, ambiguity and uncertainty it almost seems pointless to set goals after what we’ve been through. But of course, that just makes it the most important thing we can do! It’s one of the few things that we really can control right now, when there’s so much we can’t. Taking control over something can help us get our life back and maybe even some feeling of that ‘normalcy’ we are all looking for.
After looking at what other people are suggesting, I’m going with simple and ambitious for this new year. I’m following Michael Bungay-Stanier, coach and author, who is coming out with a new book soon called “How To Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters”. And I agree with him when he says you should set a ‘worthy’ goal this year. Read more
https://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.png00Kathy Parkshttps://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.pngKathy Parks2022-01-06 17:45:382022-01-06 17:45:382022 Goal Setting – This Year Needs Something Different
One of the great things about spending the winter in Maui is being able to take my paddleboard out on the ocean and get some exercise in the warm sun. But even more importantly, to search out turtles, colorful fish, perhaps a monk seal or two and especially to watch for whales. But the ocean is tricky, one moment it is calm, not a ripple anywhere and the next moment the wind comes up and the surface changes. The waves can get big and it can get quite rough very quickly. So I am hesitant to go out unless it looks perfect, calm, flat, with no wind. I want to see clearly down into the depths, just like looking into an aquarium. Days like that however, are few and far between. And even if I start out in calm weather, and it changes in that heartbeat, I don’t ride it out, I am scurrying back to the shore as fast as I can go. But I quickly realized that you cannot time the ocean (much like life, just when you think the moment is perfect, everything changes) so I finally decided just to go for it anyway. Read more
https://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.png00Kathy Parkshttps://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.pngKathy Parks2021-12-20 00:39:062021-12-20 00:39:06Little Pockets of Perfect
Here we are a year and ½ later since the start of the pandemic and no one ever expected we would still be dealing with pandemic related issues. If you thought you were stressed and burned out a year ago, I can only imagine what you are feeling now!
As leaders I’m sure it has been incredibly difficult to hold it all together with so much uncertainty for so long, a challenging business environment and all the people issues you’ve had to deal with.
Maybe if you (like many) haven’t gotten it totally right this last 18 months, as organizations bring their employees back to the workplace slowly, now may be an opportunity to review and revise your approach and there’s good reason to do so right now.
In 2020, over 40 million people lost their jobs and now all of a sudden we are in the middle of ‘The Great Resignation’, people are looking outside their organizations for new work in record numbers and there are lots of open positions. (In fact 2.7% of the US workforce quit in April 2021, and a survey from Microsoft found that 41% of the global workforce is considering leaving their current employer within the next 12 months.) Many employees have realized they don’t love what they do and many are not going to put up with it if the environment they find themselves in right now is lacking. People don’t leave organizations; they leave their managers so there is a lot you as a leader can do to stem this potential tide of resignations. And it is so much cheaper (and rewarding) to keep an employee than having to recruit and hire a new one, especially if a few little changes in your leadership style might make all the difference for them. Read more
https://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.png00Kathy Parkshttps://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.pngKathy Parks2021-11-07 21:16:432021-11-07 21:19:52Returning to the Office – 3 Things Your Employees Might Want You to Think About
2020 is finally (and thankfully!) in our rear view and we have a whole new squeaky-clean year ahead of us once again. Who would have thought, as we sat down a year ago to put our new year’s plans on paper, that we would have had the year we did? Not in our wildest dreams. However, it’s a testament to the human condition to how resilient we all have been, how people were able to pivot, adjust and adapt and make it through one of the worst years ever. Some better than others of course but here we are, ready to push on to 2021 with a vengeance.
At this time of year, we usually sit down to put goals on paper, striving for even better results. But some are probably thinking, with all this uncertainty still, what’s the point of setting goals when we really don’t know how things will go this year? Last year’s plans sure didn’t amount to much. Read more
https://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.png00Kathy Parkshttps://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.pngKathy Parks2021-01-03 22:59:292021-01-04 21:29:12New Year’s Resolutions in Reverse
Some people love to network, others do not. And especially now in the time of Covid, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, people are worried that it might not be ‘appropriate’ to network, especially if you are looking for a job, or want to pivot your career. But if you think about it, the worst thing you can do if you have not talked to someone for a long time and now need a favor, is to reach out in the guise of asking how they are doing, and then ask for something for yourself, instead. People will see right through you. So for that reason alone, it is critical to network on an ongoing basis, no matter what is going on in your life, and how hard you think it might be.
Most people equate ‘networking’ to sticking a name tag on your jacket and bravely entering a room of strangers. And while we can’t do that anymore anyway (silver lining!) networking is really more about building meaningful relationships, about serving people and earning their trust and respect. Because humans are social beings, and I think we’ve discovered now more than ever, that we need to feel deeply connected to others to thrive. We want to be seen & heard by others, so essentially ‘connecting’ is vital for our overall wellbeing. And connections start with communication which is what networking is all about. Read more
https://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.png00Kathy Parkshttps://kpcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kp-logo-retina.pngKathy Parks2020-10-11 22:51:012020-12-16 23:36:08Networking in the time of Covid
4 Ways to Jumpstart your Job Search – Again!
/by Kathy ParksTo say that the last few years have been unusual is an understatement! We went through a terrible global pandemic and people lost their jobs in unprecedented numbers. Then the jobs came back and people began to quit – the Great Resignation. But even if they didn’t really quit, many experienced a ‘silent quitting’. And then the economy turned down again – layoffs are happening at companies where you would never have expected them, and we may be going into another recession. Who could have predicted all this a mere 3 years ago?
But always in crisis there is opportunity and as someone famously said – you’d hate to waste a good crisis! If you were too stressed or busy to take the opportunity 2 years ago, now could be the time to take a fresh look at your job and career prospects, short and long term, before you are forced to. Or maybe now you are already in that tough position of being laid off and have to scramble to react. Read more
2022 Goal Setting – This Year Needs Something Different
/by Kathy ParksHave you noticed how many unsolicited emails there are in your inbox these days giving you new tips for goal setting? Yup – it’s that time of year alright – even though we may not be ready for it – 2022 is here. So here’s another one for you.
Each year I do a goal setting message with the latest and greatest tips for setting bright and shiny goals for the new year, a clean slate ahead. Early on, I started with New Year’s Resolutions but after a while it became just goal setting and the process I was talking about each year became simpler and simpler. Because if you make it too complicated, no one is going to do it anyway. However now, after yet another year of stress, ambiguity and uncertainty it almost seems pointless to set goals after what we’ve been through. But of course, that just makes it the most important thing we can do! It’s one of the few things that we really can control right now, when there’s so much we can’t. Taking control over something can help us get our life back and maybe even some feeling of that ‘normalcy’ we are all looking for.
After looking at what other people are suggesting, I’m going with simple and ambitious for this new year. I’m following Michael Bungay-Stanier, coach and author, who is coming out with a new book soon called “How To Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters”. And I agree with him when he says you should set a ‘worthy’ goal this year. Read more
Little Pockets of Perfect
/by Kathy ParksOne of the great things about spending the winter in Maui is being able to take my paddleboard out on the ocean and get some exercise in the warm sun. But even more importantly, to search out turtles, colorful fish, perhaps a monk seal or two and especially to watch for whales. But the ocean is tricky, one moment it is calm, not a ripple anywhere and the next moment the wind comes up and the surface changes. The waves can get big and it can get quite rough very quickly. So I am hesitant to go out unless it looks perfect, calm, flat, with no wind. I want to see clearly down into the depths, just like looking into an aquarium. Days like that however, are few and far between. And even if I start out in calm weather, and it changes in that heartbeat, I don’t ride it out, I am scurrying back to the shore as fast as I can go. But I quickly realized that you cannot time the ocean (much like life, just when you think the moment is perfect, everything changes) so I finally decided just to go for it anyway. Read more
Returning to the Office – 3 Things Your Employees Might Want You to Think About
/by Kathy ParksHere we are a year and ½ later since the start of the pandemic and no one ever expected we would still be dealing with pandemic related issues. If you thought you were stressed and burned out a year ago, I can only imagine what you are feeling now!
As leaders I’m sure it has been incredibly difficult to hold it all together with so much uncertainty for so long, a challenging business environment and all the people issues you’ve had to deal with.
Maybe if you (like many) haven’t gotten it totally right this last 18 months, as organizations bring their employees back to the workplace slowly, now may be an opportunity to review and revise your approach and there’s good reason to do so right now.
In 2020, over 40 million people lost their jobs and now all of a sudden we are in the middle of ‘The Great Resignation’, people are looking outside their organizations for new work in record numbers and there are lots of open positions. (In fact 2.7% of the US workforce quit in April 2021, and a survey from Microsoft found that 41% of the global workforce is considering leaving their current employer within the next 12 months.) Many employees have realized they don’t love what they do and many are not going to put up with it if the environment they find themselves in right now is lacking. People don’t leave organizations; they leave their managers so there is a lot you as a leader can do to stem this potential tide of resignations. And it is so much cheaper (and rewarding) to keep an employee than having to recruit and hire a new one, especially if a few little changes in your leadership style might make all the difference for them. Read more
New Year’s Resolutions in Reverse
/by Kathy Parks2020 is finally (and thankfully!) in our rear view and we have a whole new squeaky-clean year ahead of us once again. Who would have thought, as we sat down a year ago to put our new year’s plans on paper, that we would have had the year we did? Not in our wildest dreams. However, it’s a testament to the human condition to how resilient we all have been, how people were able to pivot, adjust and adapt and make it through one of the worst years ever. Some better than others of course but here we are, ready to push on to 2021 with a vengeance.
At this time of year, we usually sit down to put goals on paper, striving for even better results. But some are probably thinking, with all this uncertainty still, what’s the point of setting goals when we really don’t know how things will go this year? Last year’s plans sure didn’t amount to much. Read more
Networking in the time of Covid
/by Kathy ParksSome people love to network, others do not. And especially now in the time of Covid, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, people are worried that it might not be ‘appropriate’ to network, especially if you are looking for a job, or want to pivot your career. But if you think about it, the worst thing you can do if you have not talked to someone for a long time and now need a favor, is to reach out in the guise of asking how they are doing, and then ask for something for yourself, instead. People will see right through you. So for that reason alone, it is critical to network on an ongoing basis, no matter what is going on in your life, and how hard you think it might be.
Most people equate ‘networking’ to sticking a name tag on your jacket and bravely entering a room of strangers. And while we can’t do that anymore anyway (silver lining!) networking is really more about building meaningful relationships, about serving people and earning their trust and respect. Because humans are social beings, and I think we’ve discovered now more than ever, that we need to feel deeply connected to others to thrive. We want to be seen & heard by others, so essentially ‘connecting’ is vital for our overall wellbeing. And connections start with communication which is what networking is all about. Read more