Remembering 9-11

I had lunch with a client yesterday. We are having a tough time getting his building sold. He reminded me that it is 3 years this week since we signed a contract with our first buyer – the first of a string of several that have failed due to their inability to procure financing. And while this is certainly bad enough, this is only one of several other failed attempts that this client has made to pull himself out of the morass of our current economy.

To say he is discouraged and demoralized goes without saying.

Then the business section of The Chicago Tribune this week reported a story on a cafe in the Little Village neighborhood that has been forced to close due to the recession. The owner opened the cafe 6 years ago in 2005 after losing his $90,000/yr job as a project manager with Lucent Technologies. The closing of his business was met with tears by many in the community – including the artist community that had enjoyed meeting there – many of whom no longer could afford to do so.

This story is hardly unique. Roger’s Park landmark establishment, The Heartland Cafe – which opened it’s doors in 1976 – is only open today due to the fundraising efforts of the community.

There is not a single commercial artery that is not liberally peppered with “Space For Lease” signs. The small businesses that have disappeared under the weight of “The Recession” seem as numerous as the stars.

Those of us in the real estate industry already knew by the end of 2005 that the real estate ‘bubble’ was beginning to burst – even though the media was still reporting increasing real estate prices. In fact, it was later estimated that prices did not peak until 6 months later – in June ‘06. But we in the industry knew better. Buyers had started getting nervous. We heard more and more buyers voice concerns about over-paying. Some were even refusing to be held up at gunpoint by greedy sellers. Some were actually willing to walk away from deals they deemed to be ‘too rich’.

The government did not declare a full blown ‘recession’ until 2007. By that time, those of us in the real estate industry had already woken up to ‘the new economy’. Foreclosures were at never-before-seen levels. Buyers were in full blown flight. We had already realized that if we were going to maintain our incomes, we would need to do something different – we would need to reinvent our businesses. By the time the government finally declared that the economy was in recession, getting a real estate license had ceased being the “Plan B” of what to do should you lose your job.

So I understood my client’s frustration and discouragement only too well. I had been experiencing the same emotions in my own business for several years now.

I had no answers for him when he asked what he should do to turn this situation around. As he so shrewdly noticed, we are hardly the only ones wandering aimlessly wondering what to do. Our predicament is mirrored by our fellow citizens over and over again.

Is there anyone that can provide us with leadership out of this quagmire? Where is this generation’s FDR? I welcome your input.

The Secret To Successful Job Hunting – Part 3

Gail MarksJarvis of the Chicago Tribune had an excellent article in the Sunday “Money & Real Estate” section yesterday. Since I had done a couple of posts on the topic, it was affirming to have her echo much of what I said. But I am hardly any kind of an expert! So it was particularly affirming to have Gail say, “Browse the online job sites for research – NOT to apply for a job!”

Here is her article reproduced:

Looking for a job? Go get some coffee or hit the gym

Polishing resumes and smiling doesn’t win jobs in a competitive environment. People need to plot ways to get to the manager who needs help

January 23, 2011
Gail MarksJarvis

Matthew Krzus and his friends graduated from college in May, and most of them are struggling to get jobs.”Even though we’ve come close, there’s always something,” he said. One friend, who swears he has behaved identically in all interviews, was called “too intense” in one and too laid back in another.

Krzus has been in third-round interviews that seemed like done deals, focusing on salary and start dates. Then came disappointment. In one case he received a call saying that the vice president’s niece needed the job, and in another was told that the company could hire only one person and needed to weave an entry-level job with a higher-level position.

“We joke that we need to know the magic formula for what to say,” he said.

His comment is universal, spoken by job seekers young and old as they navigate one of the most competitive job markets in decades. It’s why people must be creative and stretch beyond the usual advice about resumes, dress, handshakes and smiles.

A key is to enlarge your job search.

Go to the coffee shop or the gym. Because employers haven’t had enough employees for three years, managers are desperate to get work done. So bring a solution directly to them and not through human resources, said Jeffrey G. Allen, author of “Instant Interviews: 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life.”

Go to a Starbucks or gym, for example, in a neighborhood where managers live and start conversations, asking managers about their businesses, listening for their needs and offering solutions, said Allen.

If you have a specific company or job in mind, try parking lots in office parks and warehouse districts. Hang out at conference hotels and choose seats on trains and in airports next to people with laptops.

Bypass HR. Allen’s basic premise from his days in human resources: People in HR do not know the job, the need or whether you fit, so you have to get to the decision-maker. Ask a contact on online networking site LinkedIn to pass your resume to a specific individual and aim for an introduction in a specific department. Or go hear a manager speak, exchange cards and follow up with a comment on the topic.

Browse online for research, not applications. Beware of too much time on the Internet, said “Eliminated! Now What?” author Jean Baur. Instead of applying for jobs alongside hundreds, use the Web for research so that you know the company and manager and where you might fit in. Learn industry buzzwords and hot buttons and use them in resumes and interviews.

Follow the news. In community newspapers or trade publications, look for these topics because they suggest a need for new hires: A promotion or retirement, or a business relocating, acquiring a site or other business, expanding or getting a new contract.

Get discovered. To stay visible while looking for work, consider volunteering in an area that might provide contacts or experience. Also speak, write articles or teach a class, maybe through adult education or a university extension service. Ask people about their businesses and talk about solutions you might provide companies or organizations. Ask for referrals to firms or people.

Turned down for a job? If you get turned down, ask about needs (and introductions) elsewhere in the company and industry. “Turn this into networking,” said Baur.

Get a contract. After years of cost cutting, many companies have projects they need to get done and find it safer to offer contract jobs than make permanent hires. So Baur suggests looking for projects when networking, and notes that experience can lead to a job. Carrie Shea, chief executive of Griffin Strategic Advisors, said senior managers are valuable in projects.

Magical phrases. In encounters with managers or people in your network, Allen said, say you have been “watching” the business and would “like to join” it. (That’s instead of asking for a job.)

Reveal — but not too much. Baur said older workers might need to play down their ages and showcase their energy and enthusiasm. She suggests older workers’ resumes break jobs into two categories: First, highlight key work experience, dating jobs from the last 10 to 15 years. Then add a category of “previous experience” without dates, and don’t date an old college degree.

If asked about salary, Baur said this might suffice: “I would hope to be paid for the scope of this position.” In an interview you can ask, “What is the range in this environment?”

gmarksjarvis@tribune.com

Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune

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At the Future Of Business event I attended last week, Marshall made this statement: “If you are going through a tough time right now or having trouble finding a job, then you need to look at your system. If you are not achieving the outcome you desire, then your theory is wrong. 85% of the success of any goal is determined by the first 15% of the process: i.e. the theory. If your theory is wrong, you will not succeed.”

Marshall demonstrated to us through an exercise that 94% of failure is the result of a faulty system. Only 6% of failure is a result of the people involved. If you plug people into a faulty system, even your best people will fail. This is why performance reviews are a waste of time. It isn’t that the employee isn’t doing their best or not working hard – it is because they are trying to succeed in a system that does not allow for success. What needs to change, then, is the system.

If you are going through tough times right now – what changes must you make to your system? What theory are you operating under that is faulty? Hopefully, Gail Marks-Jarvis’ article will give you some fresh ideas.

The Secret To Successful Job Hunting – Part 2

Since I dug The Science of Getting Rich off my shelves to quote yesterday’s passage, I came across another golden nugget to share:

You must begin to do what you can do where you are, and you must do ALL that you can do where you are. You can advance only by being larger than your present place. No man is larger than his present place who leaves undone any of the work pertaining to that place.

The world is advanced only by those who more than fill their present places. If no one quite filled his present place, there would be a backslide in everything. Those who do not quite fill their present places are a dead weight upon society, government, commerce and industry.

If there is something that may be done today and you do not do it, you have failed insofar as that thing is concerned. And the consequences may be more disastrous than you imagine. You cannot foresee the results of even the most trivial act. Much may be depending on your doing some simple act; it may be the very thing which is to open the door of opportunity to great possibilities. Your neglect or failure to do some small thing may cause a long delay in getting you what you want.

Do, every day, all that can be done that day.

[Wallace D. Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich; Chapter 12 "Efficient Action"]

I had coffee with a dear friend who is an executive coach. Her typical client is the CEO or COO of a large corporation. So she has a unique perspective on Corporate America that I lack. She shared with me that talent is always in demand, no matter the economy.

Hand in hand with ‘creating an impression of increase’, be willing to grow larger than your current place. Prove yourself to be talent – and you will have no shortage of job offers.

The Secret To Successful Job Hunting (Dusting Off The Classics)

The secret to finding a job is actually not a secret at all. It is not new – although perhaps not as widely known as it should be in this economy. The best jobs are found through your sphere of influence – who you know and who knows you. NOT through an on-line job site!

I was talking to a client just the other day. He has had a rough go of it with this recession and has been looking for a real job for nearly a year (i.e. a job that is suitable for his experience and skill level). I shared with him that my husband has recently started looking also and has submitted a few resumes through these on-line job sites. To no avail. Even though a couple of the positions perfectly match his experience and skill set. So I expressed my opinion that searching for jobs on-line is a complete waste of time. (My apologies to all those earning a living through on-line job sites.)

To which Marc replied, “Do you know how many resumes I have submitted on-line? Nearly 1,000! Do you know how many I have heard back on? Exactly zero!”

Well – there you go. That says it all. I know, I know. You’re supposed to load up your resume with keywords that match the job posting, etc… However!

I don’t know why a prospective employer would waste time posting a job on-line in the first place.  In this economy, any job posting will clearly produce an overwhelming number of responses. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that responding to them all is impossible. That being the case, why wouldn’t you just pick up the phone and ask your network,  “Who do you know?” Why on earth would you go through the bother of posting your job on Craig’s List or Career Builder or some such? (Maybe someone out there can enlighten me.)

I know – I know, the younger generation hates picking up a phone and will avoid it at all cost. So post it to your Face Book or Linked-In profile! For that matter, if you are LOOKING for a job, that’s probably a much better way to go than sending in a resume to a nameless, faceless, phone-less imaginary virtual being in cyberspace. (Do I give away too much?)

You tell me: who are you more likely to hire? Someone that comes referred to you where you can at least trust the quality of the lead? Or someone that is a total stranger whose resume you randomly pick out of a stack whose work ethic and abilities you know nothing about?

So, if you are in the market for a job, allow me to suggest that you may want to dust off some ‘old school’ job hunting skills. Talk about ‘old school’, Napoleon Hill in his classic Think And Grow Rich actually devotes considerable energy to this very topic in Chapter 7 -  “Organized Planning”.  He even tells you precisely how to put together your resume. The information may be a little dated – but it is no less valuable.

Another ‘old school’ resource:  Wallace D. Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich – written in 1910, a year before his death. This is a little book championed in modern times by Bob Proctor and can easily be read in an afternoon – though you will want to go back and drink it in chapter by chapter. In this book, Wattles says that the secret to getting into the vocation of your desire is to do your current work in a ‘certain way’. That ‘certain way’ is to convey to everyone that you come into contact with ‘the impression of increase’.

Wattles explains:

Increase is what all men and all women are seeking… The desire for increase is inherent in all nature. It is the fundamental impulse of the Universe… People are seeking more food, more clothes, better shelter, more luxury, more beauty, more knowledge, more pleasure – more life!

You must so impress others that they will feel that in associating with you, they will get increase for themselves. See that you give them a use value greater than the cash value you are taking. If you always take an honest pride in doing this and let everybody know it, people will go where they are given increase. You will be surprised at the unexpected benefits which will come to you.

(The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles; Chapter 14 “The Impression of Increase”)

So there you go, my friends. Classic, timeless advice that is as true today in 2011 as it was in 1911.

 

 

Asking For The Order

My husband and I attended Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Mikado” at Lyric Opera last night. It was an evening of pure silliness and froth. (I can’t help but wonder how many of the regular subscribers gave their tickets away – it’s hardly Lyric’s typical ‘serious’ operatic fare!)

Here is just one more indication of the times we are living in: even Lyric is soliciting at every opportunity! In addition to the requests included in the program, which are ‘de rigeur’, they took advantage of the informal and comedic nature of the work to cleverly work in a ticket sale pitch – right into the fabric of the play! One of the characters, The Lord High Executioner, is singing a rather silly song (as are they all!) about how he keeps ‘a little list’ of people that, should they be executed, “would none of them be missed”. Lyric improvised some additional lines into the song about some of their upcoming shows. And on the screen above the stage where the lyrics appear, they posted an ad. “Tickets available for all shows!”

The response from the audience was one of laughter. So no one took offense at it. No. I take that back. In an audience of that size, SOMEONE surely took offense. But by and large, it was received well. Regardless, the point was made.

My point being is that it’s quite alright to ask for the order. Even Lyric Opera does it – right in the middle of a performance! The worst that can happen is the person you are asking will simply say ‘no’. Which is perfectly within their right to do. At an event I attended once, the speaker posited that if you are offended by someone asking you for ‘the order’ – in whatever shape that may be – it says more about you than about the person asking for the order.

As Tony Robbins would say, “H-m-m… Something to think about…”

“All Things With Exuberance”

A role model of mine was interviewed by the Tribune a few years ago because of his part in moving Kendall College from Evanston to its current location at Chicago Ave & Halsted St. In that interview, it was disclosed that his personal motto was “All Things With A Vengeance!” By which he means, of course, do nothing halfheartedly. As Yoda says, “There is no ‘try’. There is only ‘do’ or ‘not do’. “

I liked the spirit of it – because Lord knows, I never do ANYTHING halfheartedly – as those who know me will attest. I can’t help it really. It is a family trait – like blue eyes. It is in my DNA. But the energy around the word Vengeance does not sit well with me. It is like being angry and wanting to find someone or something to smack. (Actually, it is a very masculine energy – which may be another reason it does not sit well with me.) So, wanting to come up with my own personal slogan that captured the spirit but that leaves out the angergy (the energy of anger), I coined my own personal slogan “All Things With Exuberance!”

That slogan has served me well – and I still like the feel of it – but I have gotten away from using it these past couple of years. It has felt trivial or wrong to be exuberant while so many people are faced with serious financial challenges and losing their homes. Now I admit that I may have a myopic view because of being in real estate – which has been particularly hard hit and hits in a very tough spot: home and hearth -  the emotional center of our lives.

And, of course, the experts claim that it is Exuberance that got us into this fine mess to begin with. As in, “Fine mess you got us into this time, Ollie.”

Earlier today I was talking to a client about the state of the market, the economy – and how it has effected how people treat each other. When times were good, people tended to treat each other well. We were more willing to be generous, give each other the benefit of the doubt and treat each other fairly. Now that times are bad, it seems that we, as a society, have withdrawn into a place of fear and suspicion. We are so afraid of losing what we have that we grasp too tightly. We grab things with a Vengeance. We don’t care if it hurts the other guy as long as we ourselves are taken care of. Oh – we might care, but what can you do? You have to take care of yourself and your own, right?

I submit that, contrary to what the experts tell us, we need to begin expressing the feeling of Exuberance once again. It may not be easy to capture that feeling when things are not going right. In fact, it may even feel downright WRONG to be exuberant when so many are losing their homes and experiencing so much pain and misery. But it just may be the single most important thing we can do. For without Exuberance, we only perpetuate the negativity around us – causing the Universe to contract in on itself even more.

So how do we begin? By being grateful. Instead of seeing the glass as half empty, let’s start seeing it as half full. It may be a Pollyanna view – but it cannot hurt and it just may help. No matter how bad things are, there is always something for which we can be grateful – even if it’s just the fact that we are alive and able to enjoy another day of living. A grateful heart keeps us properly grounded and will ultimately pull to us all manner of good things.

So please join me: find ways that YOU are able to experience Exuberance once again. Share them with us here – and the results of your doing so. I challenge you to either prove me right or prove me wrong. And I promise to do the same.

“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!