The reason I share Chris’ story is because there are millions more like him in the U.S. and around the world.  These are tough times and with so many people unemployed job competition can be fierce.  Here are a few tips at every stage of the job search process to help you rise above the fray and land the job you’ve been wanting.

Sending out Resumes

• Notify your personal networks.  The more people that know you and realize your looking for a job the better.  Know any entrepreneurs, VP’s, or CEO’s?  Let them know your available.
• Clean up the resume.  Be sure to include a cover letter and check out these two resources for help with writing a fantastic resume. Resume Resource 1  Resume Resource 2
• Contact a recruiter.  A quick google search for recruiters in your area should suffice.  Contrary to what some have been told recruiters are free of charge to you, employers hire them to find good people so why not get in touch with them.

Tip #1: Simple Stretching

If you’re like most people you probably spend a good portion of your day behind a computer.  A few times a day take two minutes to try a handful of these exercises: loosen up your neck by rolling your head in slow circles, do the same with your shoulders, lift your hands above your head and cross them like an olympic swimmer diving into the pool, to stretch your forearm place your arm straight in front of you and pull your hand back towards your body.  This should get all those areas that tend to lock up during a long days work nice and loose.

Tip #2: Take 10 Deep Slow Breaths

Although this isn’t quite the same as an hour long meditation session, doing some controlled breathing can really help reduce stress levels by increasing oxygen to the brain and the release of endorphins (happy hormones) into your body.  Simply take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds, then release it and hold that breathless state for a few moments before inhaling again.  Repeat this a few times and you will instantaneously feel the difference.

Tip #3: Tea Please

Caffeinated coffee has been linked to increasing the perception of stress in our bodies by increasing the output of cortisol the “stress hormone” that regulates our blood pressure and blood sugar levels.  All that to say, if your experiencing high levels of stress you probably don’t want to go the local coffee shop and stock up on high levels of caffeine during your lunch break.  Tea (especially ginseng tea) on the other hand has been shown to bring hormonal balance and reduce stress level, so skip the coffee and make yourself a steaming mug of ginseng tea next time your circumstances are getting the best of you.

Tip #4: Keep The Multi-Vitamins Handy

High stress levels tax your body and deplete it of vitamins essential to your health.  Although you will get some of these nutrients in the food you eat (assuming you have a healthy diet) even the best eaters among us still don’t get enough nutrients naturally.  To counteract this keep a bottle of multivitamins by your desk and remember to take one each day.  Vitamin C will keep your immune system strong, Vitamin B will raise your energy levels, and Vitamin E has some great antioxidant powers.

Tip #5: Relaxing Tunes

Music has an amazing ability to help us regulate our moods and emotions.  Multiple studies have shown that listening to mellow or relaxing music lowers our blood pressure and eases the stress and tension in our bodies.  Of course, most of us don’t need scientific studies to tell us that music helps us relax!  Next time your feeling the strain put on a little Clair de lune or Ray Lamontagne and feel that tension slip into oblivion.

Post image shot by Michael Prince

“What’s in store for the future” you ask?  Our immediate focus will be on increasing the number of tastes you have to choose from. If your not completely thrilled with the tastes we currently have check back in a few weeks because we’ll have designs rolling hot off the press all the time.  One thing to keep mind is that we’re limiting the sale of each taste to 250.  The positive side to this is that out of the 1.4 billion people online only a few hundred will ever have your look.  The downside is that we can sell out of a particular taste.  We’d never want you to miss out on a taste you love because you waited too long, so recognize that it can happen!

I know I speak for the entire team when I say “Welcome to the Nectar Family!”  We promise to do everything in our power to help you strengthen your personal brand and we’re looking forward to some wonderful years together.

Below are a few links and screenshots to some press Nectar has been getting lately.

In the following video I discuss the concepts of introvert and extrovert, why I believe that extroverted caricature I just described above is complete B.S., and why I think introverts have a place at the entrepreneurial table.

Public speaking can strike fear into the heart of the bravest among us.  There we are – singled out, with all eyes on us, our palms are sweaty, butterflies dip and soar in our stomach, and our heart is beating so hard we’re sure everyone can see our shirt palpitating to the rhythm in our chest.  Good God it’s terrifying! So how do the pro’s do it?  They thank their host, dive passionately into their subject matter, make a few jokes, wrap it up, and stride off the stage.  How can they walk up there seemingly calm, cool, and collected?  

Becoming an excellent public speaker (like anything) takes a lifetime to master so don’t expect standing ovations by tomorrow.  However, by implementing a few of these principles you’ll be building a foundation of excellence in your public speaking that will aid you for years to come.

Principle 1: Center Around One Big Idea.

Believe it or not, most people don’t have too little to say, but rather too much; this is especially true if you’re someone who doesn’t get to speak in public very often.  As you sit down to prepare you’ll find that all these various ideas, stories, directions, connections, and keen insights are popping into your brain and you might be tempted to say them all.  ”How could I possibly leave that stunning insight out?” you exclaim.  Here’s why, if you try to say everything you’ll end up communicating nothing.  Remember, there’s something beautiful about simplicity and clarity.  It’s a breath of fresh air when someone walks to the stage and says “Here’s the one thing I want you to walk away with”.  Right off the bat you’ve communicated to people why in the they should listen to you and assured them that your’re not about to waste their valuable time.  As you prepare for this speech the mantra rolling around your head should be “What EXACTLY am I trying to say?”.  That will help everything in your presentation, from the introduction to the conclusion, have a laser-like focus.  It’s sort of the difference between hitting a home run and laying down 5 or 6 bunts.  

Principle 2: Speak With Passion.

If you don’t care about the topic at hand why on earth would anyone else?  If you’re speaking out of a sense of duty or obligation it only communicates to your audience “honestly, this doesn’t really matter to me and it shouldn’t to you…feel free to tune me out because I’m wasting your time anyway.”  The greatest speeches in history resonated and became catalyst’s for change because those delivering them did so with extreme passion and conviction.  Just watch the “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.   Is there any question he has a passion for this subject?  Of course not, it’s like he feels this down to his toes, he believes what he’s saying is important and that those in attendance need to listen.  

Of course you may say, “Well I would be passionate if I were speaking about eliminating racism, global poverty, or the aids crisis, but I’m not, I’m just an accountant presenting the latest financials to the execs at Corporation ‘X’.  My topic is boring and uninteresting and I can’t change it.”  I sympathize with you, but it’s no excuse.  You absolutely must find the reason it matters.  Why are you being given twenty minutes of valuable time?

If you already have a passion for your subject that’s great!  Don’t hold back.  Feel it down to your toes, let it light up your eyes, and give a sense of urgency to your voice.

Principle 3: Get Your “PING” On.

In her book RenGen author Patricia Martin discusses the theory of where original ideas come from.  She writes the following.

Scientists have studied the changes that take place in brain function when subjects are presented with something unexpected… What if I put an object in front of you that you have never seen before? In that case you will search your memory and ask it: ‘Where have I seen something like this?’ No answer. You will keep searching your brain, checking the nooks and crannies of your cortex.  All the while you are rapidly forming an assessment of whether this thing could harm you.  Unsure, you may begin to invent a way of classifying or understanding the object.  You might refine it by fusing it with a known object, thus inventing something original.  This is how we generate new ideas. We search for what I term potential inspiration for new ground- or P.I.N.G.  The richer our storehouses of images and memories we have to PING against, the more combinations of answers and solutions we can conjure.

I believe that as you craft a presentation you are doing some major ‘PING-ing’, so to speak.  You are pulling from the storehouse of experiences you’ve had, books you’ve ready, blogs you frequent, weird places you’ve been, interesting conversations you’ve had, etc.  If you haven’t interacted with other people’s ideas very broadly then it’s quite possible that your ability to PING is pretty limited.  If you took the time to watch the “I Have A Dream” speech above you may have noticed that Martin Luther King Jr. had seriously interacted with the Old Testament of the Bible and the ideas of pacifists like Leo Tolstoy and Ghandi.  In other words, his speech wasn’t created in a vacuum, but was profoundly enriched by thinkers that had gone before him.  The lesson for all of us here is that we need to experience broadly, read widely, and think deeply to create speeches that stir people.

Wrap Up

To listen to some of the world’s greatest communicators head on over to TED.com.  For a wonderful book on preparing and delivering dynamic speeches check out Ken Davis’ book “Secret of Dynamic Communication“.

If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM culture head-on, I probably wouldn’t have.  My bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis and measurement.  In comparison, changing the attitude and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people is very, very hard.  I came to see in my time at IBM that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game- it is the game.

Culture?!  What is this Lou character talking about?  Sounds like he’s going all Oprah on us.  Part of the challenge of this soft stuff is that it can be hard to pin down because it isn’t necessarily easily measured or quantified – which is why it’s also easy to ignore.  I mean come on, how do you measure the culture of a place?  

 So let me take a stab at describing this soft stuff.  Soft is…

• The power of great design.
• Remembering employee birthdays
• Over-communicating when all hell breaks loose
• Really listening (all too rare) 
• Handling conflict well
• Saying “great job” when someone deserves it 
• The power of first impressions 
• The way a great attitude can lift any team
• The leadership of a Tom Brady
• The attention to detail of a Steve Jobs 
• Honesty
• Thoughtfulness 
• Smiling
• Keeping your company vehicles clean
• The “vibe” of your workplace
• Authentic friendships among teem members
• The kindness in the voice of a customer service representative
• A good handshake and steady eye contact
• The intangibles we sense in great leaders

…one of the professors observed that one can be a good manager knowing hard or soft skills, but one can only be a good leader with both.

1. Self-promotion and image crafting

If you were to Google ”Brett Tilford” a year ago, the only thing you would have turned up was a two-sentence bio on my old employer’s website and some archived race times from my high school competitive swimming days.  Pretty pathetic.  A recent survey found that over 75% of employers were Googling the names of perspective employees and that 35% of those surveyed have eliminated a prospect because of what they found.  After a year of  blogging, along with a healthy dose of involvement in other social networking sites, a search for my name yields plenty positive of results.  Notice my use of the word positive in the previous sentence.  One factor to be very aware of as you launch into the blogging and social networking world is that this can be a double edged sword.  In other words, don’t act like an idiot online.  The idea is to promote and shape your online image.  Be authentic but always put your best foot forward on your blog.

2. Relationship building

The ability to leave comments and interact on a blog really opens up the opportunities for connection with a wide range of people.  Initially, the only people likely to frequent your page are family, friends, and colleagues, but over time you’ll notice names popping up in various comments that you don’t recognize.  People from different states and even countries may interact with your content and have their lives enriched by it.  Send them an email thanking them for their thoughtful comments and in no time you’ll have connections that span the globe.

3. Stand out from the crowd

You’ve probably heard the term information overload and the havoc it’s wreaking in our lives.  It’s as if we’re drowning in a sea of information with no land in sight.  Our problem isn’t too little information, it’s too much information.  When you write, you’re developing a necessary and powerful skill in our current world: the process of taking in information, synthesizing it, and then infusing it with meaning.  If you can learn to effectively collect, synthesize, and infuse information you begin to set yourself apart from the competition and strengthen your personal brand.