Food, Inc

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Lament Of A Working Mom

While I enjoy reading other people's blogs that include rants about various things that annoy them, as of yet I haven't written any posts that would fall into that category. (The closest to a rant would probably be complaining about my dogs destroying Christmas trees or stealing muffins.)

As any working parents know, juggling work and family schedules can be challenging. My daughter is now 9, and for some reason things seem to be getting tougher.

When I came back to work after a 3 month maternity leave, I was determined to handle it all. I continued nursing exclusively, refusing to give up and rely on formula. I had milk pumping and storage down to a science. I never gave my kid a single drop of formula. She slept straight through the night. I was excelling at my job. This working mom thing isn't so tough, I thought.

I still think I'm doing OK with balancing things as far as "getting it all done" goes. Not great, but at least keeping my head above water. But lately I've been running into situations that really are just impossible for working parents.

It's just little things. Like the cast party for the play that someone was thoughtful enough to schedule at 3:30. The tennis lessons that would be really fun, but start at 4:00pm. The awesome horseback riding camp that is 9:00am--Noon Monday--Friday.

I don't need my child to be completely over scheduled, with an activity happening nearly every night of the week. I just want to be able to say yes more than I have to say no when she asks about getting involved in something. Instead, I always have to say "We'll see, let me look into it" and then hope that whatever it is happens after 5:30pm or on a weekend.

Lately I've just been feeling like the only Mom that acually has to be at work from 8 to 5 every day. Well, maybe not the only one, but certainly feeling like I'm in the minority.

So even though no one that could matter will ever read this, I'm going to pretend for a moment that they will. Planning summer activities for children? Well, in addition to the "Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00am--11:00am" option, why not throw in a 6:00pm--7:00pm option? Does the swim team need to practice exclusively weekday mornings in the outdoor pool? What's wrong with an evening or Saturday morning in the indoor pool instead? And most importantly--if it's a one-time event for something my kid is already involved in, DO NOT schedule the ending celebration at 3:30pm on a Wednesday. Is that so much to ask?

The Proactive Job Search

In the last month I've heard from 3 different friends that unexpectedly lost their jobs. They each had been in their positions for at least 5 years, and suddenly found themselves dusting off and updating their old resumes, and beginning the often daunting task of getting a new job.

While I hope that this isn't a predictor of what 2008 and the recession has in store, I think it does serve as a good reminder to everyone to be prepared. You never know when you'll find yourself in the same spot. So here are 4 things every currently employed person really should do right now to better prepare just in case.

1. Update your resume. Everyone dreads doing their resume. Staring at a blank Word document or template and getting started on your resume from scratch can be tough. But it can be a lot tougher if you haven't done it in a few years. While you are at your current job, it is easier to describe what you do, and to quantify your achievements. Plus there isn't the same kind of pressure on you if you don't really "need" to get it done. Get it done anyway.

2. Search for a job. When is the last time you looked to see what types of jobs are available in your field? When did you last open the classified section of the paper, or browse online job boards? If it was when you found your current job, and if that was more than 2 years ago, you need to look again. You need to be familiar with companies that hire in your field and with competitors of your current company. It is easier to find a job when you have a job, so even if you aren't truly looking for another position right now, see what's out there. And who knows, you might just stumble across a better opportunity.

3. Feed your network. Just like your resume, don't wait until you need it to nurture your network. Going to a mixer once in a while and collecting business cards isn't effective networking. You need to maintain strong relationships with people that can help you if you find yourself looking for a new job. Most likely, that will be people that belong to the same professional organizations that you do, or former colleagues or classmates. So attend meetings, keep in touch with friends, and take people to lunch. Even better, get involved in the community. You'll not only feed your network, you'll also contribute something positive, and you'll feel good about it. I promise.

4. Exercise your right brain. It's not too late to make yourself less outsourceable. Practice skills that will make you more valuable, to either your current employer or your next one. Read Dan Pink's "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future" and work on your six critical senses for the future: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. The book not only explains how each sense applies to both your business and personal life, it also includes a Portfolio for each, with tools and exercises to help you really cultivate each sense. (For those of you that aren't motivated enough to read the book, I do plan to do a post on each sense in the near future, so stay tuned. Although I highly recommend reading the book yourself.)

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand,
as in what direction we are moving."
- Oliver Wendall Holmes -

A Beautiful Florida Sunset

Despite my hectic work schedule last week during my trip to Ft. Lauderdale, I did manage to find a quick minute between meetings to snap one picture.

It may not be quite as endearing as a friendly snowman picture, but as I said, I was between meetings.

I did have an interesting event on my flight down to Florida. Once we landed, we had to sit on the plane, at the gate, for almost 40 minutes. Our pilot told us all he knew was that there was something going on involving the FBI. From my window seat I was able to see several police cars with their lights on pulled up next to the plane. Next, we were told to get off of the plane, but to leave everything on the plane--coats, purses, carry-ons. If you took your cell phone with you it had to be turned off. All passengers were kept in the gate area which had been cleared for us, and which was surrounded by more police. A K9 officer and his dog came through the area about 1/2 hour later, checking every passenger individually. We watched out the window as all of the checked luggage was spread out around the plane and checked by more dogs. After another 1/2 hour, we were allowed to go back onto the plane 3 rows at a time to retrieve our personal items and then we could leave.

I made friends with one of the officers who was "guarding" us, and on my way out I asked him if he could tell me what happened. He said that they had received a call from Washington informing them that there was a bomb on our plane. Apparently it was just a false alarm.

I think after that I deserved a little time by the pool, don't you think?

3/3/08 Update: The airline just sent me a nice letter apologizing for the inconvenience, and included a $50 travel voucher. Considering that it really was something out of their control, apparently, I think it's great that they stepped up and took responsibility for it. This was my first experience on AirTran, and given this response I think I'd use them again.

Florida in February

I'm heading out to Florida today for a business trip. Florida in February is never a bad thing, but I do hate the travel part. In order to get decent direct flights, Philly was the only airport choice.

I have had awful experiences flying out of Philly, and also pleasant ones. One thing I always do is make sure I am at the airport VERY early. I think traveling is stressful enough without adding the extra stress of rushing and potentially being late. I don't mind sitting at my gate for 1 1/2 hours if I have to. In fact, the last flight I took out of Philly was on Southwest and it departed at 7:30am--I was through security and at the gate by 6:15. Plenty of time to enjoy a coffee and a soft pretzel for breakfast.

Grammar Does Matter

I'm constantly amazed by the sloppy way people use email in the business world. I'm not sure why such little effort goes into basic emails. Could be because it is just too easy, and has become so routine, that no extra thought goes into it. While I admit I may be a bit too tough when it comes to expectations as far as grammar and phrasing are concerned, I still think there should be some minimum standards for anyone sending business email.

Everyone that uses email on a regular basis in their career should realize that sending out an email with blatant grammar errors truly does reflect on their professionalism. Email has become a crucial part of building a business relationship, and it helps you form your opinions about people. Not too long ago I received an email from someone who used "hear" when they should have used "here". It was one of my first contacts with the person, and it leapt off the screen at me. I have to admit, it did factor into my overall opinion of the person's business savvy, attention to detail, and their intelligence.

I do admire people who can write effectively, yet also casually enough that it seems as though they were just speaking the words. I struggle with this a bit; maybe I'm focused too much on getting the wording exactly right. However, I do see some people take this "style" to the extreme. Run-on sentences...half-finished thoughts trailing into each other...excessive use of aposiopesis ...casual to the point of being unreadable...

I'm not sure that correct grammar is always a black and white issue, since in many instances there can be more than one way to correctly write the same thing. Although I'm not sure I agree with everything on these pages, here are a few interesting places to brush up on your grammar:

10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

Dodge the grammar traps

Most Annoying Grammar Mistakes in English

Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb

Information Overload

Lately I've been innundated with information. Articles, newsletters, message boards, magazines, webinars, conference calls....it's overwhelming. It's not just doctors that need to keep their knowledge current; to be successful in any career you need to keep up with latest trends, and keep learning, and keep trying to improve your skills. Reading industry publications is pretty much essential. And with email and the internet, it's really easy to access tons of information. But when is it too much?

I get at least 2 magazines a week, sometimes more. I subscribe to roughly 10 electronic newsletters. Some come daily, some are weekly. I also have several websites that I try to find time to check out at least once a week. That's a lot of information to sort through. It's hard to find the balance between reading enough to learn what you need to and reading so much that you are wasting productive time.

With things that I get via email, I used to try to at least glance at everything the same day it came. If there was something in a newsletter or email that I wanted to read in it's entirety, or just check out further, I'd leave it in my inbox. If not, I'd delete it right away. The problem with this approach is that after a week, I never seemed to get back around to reading the things I wanted to. Sometimes by the time I got to them, the information was no longer timely.

So I created a filter for my email, to funnel all articles into their own folder. Makes my inbox in general easier to manage, but now I'm finding that things pile up so quickly in the designated "articles" folder, that going through it has become a dreaded task. And I can't seem to keep up with it. If I clean it up and get it down to only things I've read and want to save, within a couple of days it's filled again with unread mail, and I avoid it.

Magazines are even worse, and I get less of those. I tend to just let them pile up, and eventually go through the pile when it gets so high that it will easily topple over and cause damage.

How do you manage all of the information? I want to make sure I read everything that will help me, I want to read it in a timely manner, but I don't want it to take up too much of my time. I also want to make sure it doesn't get to the point where I just shut down and stop reading everything. If I can figure out a good system, I may need to make it a New Year's resolution to implement it and stick with it. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I Love My Car

I love my car. I love the way it feels when I put my foot on the gas pedal, I love that it’s sleek, that it’s fast, and that it has excellent brakes.  I even love the little things—the silver trim along the door that you only see when you open the door and are getting in or out.  The way the dashboard displays glow in a cool blue light, even when the headlights aren’t on.  The rubber floor mats that are great for winter.  (They are also good for spring and summer, in case you happen to be too lazy to change them out for the standard carpet mats.) 

One of the reasons I probably love my car so much is that it is a pretty significant step up from my last car. Don’t get me wrong, I liked my last car.  I had it for 10 years, and it was pretty reliable, not completely uncomfortable, and it did what I needed it to do.  But I didn’t love it.  It was great for me at the time that I bought it.  It was reasonably priced, and it essentially met all of my expectations.  But when it was time to get rid of it I was glad to do so.  I had changed a lot in 10 years, and it no longer fit me.  I could have easily gone out and purchased the latest version of the same make and model car.  I’m sure it had lots of changes and improvements since the version I bought 10 years earlier, and it probably would have been adequate for my needs.  The problem is, adequate wasn’t good enough for me.  I had changed—I’m older, wiser, I can afford something more—so I needed something different.  The car I bought cost more, but it was clearly a big upgrade in terms of quality, style, and performance, and 3 ½ years later, it’s still well worth the investment.

My car situation is exactly what many businesses face when it comes to choosing service providers.  Maybe the service they currently work with does an OK job.  Maybe they started using them when they first opened up, and they couldn’t really afford to pay much.  Rate very likely was the determining factor they used to select a service, and little else mattered.  But as their business changed and grew, they find that their incumbent providers aren’t really a great fit for them any longer.  They want to upgrade, and they want the same things you want in a better car:  quality, style, and performance.  So it stands to reason that when you want something better, you should expect to pay more for it, right?  It doesn’t seem so obvious to many of the buyers I encounter.  But, I guess if it did my job would be too easy.

I’m not saying that everything that is better should cost more.  But there has to be a minimum level of value received, and value and price aren’t necessarily same thing.  If you walk into a BMW dealer and tell them all of the problems you have with your VW, you wouldn’t then ask them if they could match VW’s price, would you?  Just because they are both German cars, and both have the same purpose, they are clearly not the same product.  A short test-drive of each will show you that pretty quickly.  So it makes no sense that a buyer would do the same thing when it comes to business services. 

The last thing anyone in business-to-business sales wants is to be compared to a car salesperson.  (I don’t want to offend anyone in car sales—I know there are lots out there that don’t fit the negative stereotype.  I bought my car from a good one.  But let’s be honest—that is one of the stereotypes that exist for a reason.  There are too many who purely rely on the standard high-pressure, high-cliché approach that make just about everyone dread shopping for a car.) When it comes to selling your services, you need to be able to differentiate yourself and demonstrate value.  The key, of course, is figuring out how to do that.  As soon as I got behind the wheel of my car I was sold.  It was instantly clear that there was no comparison between it and my old car. Maybe offering a test drive of your services is all it will take to convince your buyer that it’s time for them to upgrade.