Professional Success Podcast

Host Sheila Boysen-Rotelli is here to talk about how sometimes the best way to increase productivity is actually to slow yourself down. In all of her experience, Sheila has found little relationship between speed and productivity!

Episode Highlights:

• Being more productive does not necessarily mean being busier or doing more work
• After working for a plethora of organizations across various industries, Sheila has found that productivity has little to do with speed
• People have become conditioned to remain in a constant state of impatience
• Stress and overwhelm from the outside are signs that life is moving too fast and can slow productivity
• The missing minute is so important because it contributes to stress and the feeling of inefficiency
• Operating on the razor's edge, that being the constant movement throughout the day, can cut us
• It's important to find breathing room in your schedule and can contribute to that missing minute
• As with anything, having a schedule and being prepared can help with the stresses of life
• Sheila believes that we should only schedule 80% of our day and leave the other 20% blank
• Schedule time in your calendar for your breathing room in which nothing is planned
• Give yourself room to breathe by adding buffer time between each task and appointment
• Think about a time when you were rushing to get something done and how that rush affected the quality of your work
• Force yourself to take extra time on your tasks that you usually find yourself rushing on
• A cool-down period is just the time you take to review your work after finishing a task
• Use the importance of a task to determine how long you should take for your cool-down period
• Avoid mistakes by taking some time to go over your work
• Ask your superiors and coworkers for the time that you need; they will probably give it to you
• Describe the results that you are trying to get out loud
• Centers your thinking
• Gives the other person the mindset and patience to wait through any extra time that you need to take
• Most people respond to others too quickly, whether it be an email, text message, or in-person
• Look at the spectrum of daily disruptions and determine where you schedule falls on this spectrum
• People with no interruptions throughout their day usually take all day to answer a message
• Those who have a lot of disruptions in their day are rushed to respond quickly
• Collaboration and negotiation about reasonable deadlines will help everyone involved to stress less
• "When is the latest this needs to be done?"
• "Do you need the whole project or part of it by that date?"
• "How perfect do you want this to be when I submit it to you on that date?"
• "Do you want to move the delivery date of this project?" - potential scheduling conflicts

3 Key Points:

1. As humans, we have become conditioned to always be in the mindset that we need to be doing something and it can be overwhelming.
2. The missing minute is that minute that should exist between every task and appointment that we have throughout the day.
3. The length of a cool-down period, or spending time for review, should be determined by the importance of the task. This allows you to be more confident in the work that you turn in and also helps to avoid mistakes.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Often, slow is faster than fast." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli
• "When we take control of our day by just slowing down a little bit...We can improve the quality of our work. We can feel more calm." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli
• "Now, dress me slowly because I'm in a hurry." - Napoleon Bonaparte
• "Every time you catch yourself in a rushed mistake, just stop yourself and replay the moment in your mind." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli
• "True productivity is about one meaningful change at a time." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Contact Sheila at [email protected]
• Fast Track Your Job Search: fasttrackyourjobsearch.com

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' your host Sheila shares few tips on how to overcome toxic productivity. She talks about the challenge and the balancing act called productivity which is specifically also known as toxic productivity these days.

Episode Highlights:

• Today Sheila is talking about something that she is struggling with right alongside so many other people.
• Toxic productivity is the inability to stop doing or producing, even when the need for an outcome has somewhat gone away.
• Your signals before slipping into toxic productivity might be different, but that way you'll know that there's some opportunity to shift perspective or think about things a little bit differently.
• As Sheila she sets her top three priorities for the day, these priorities might be work related but they could also include personal things or things related to her family.
• Consider using a timer on your phone & watch that is set to take three one minute breathing breaks.
• Sheila is getting better every single day and that is exactly what she wishes for the listeners!

3 Key Points:

1. Sheila definitely speaks from her own experience here because she has encountered this idea of toxic productivity. This is something that personally resonates with her, so her goal today is to share some actual insights that she's researched over the last few months. She has implemented some and found that they work tremendously well for her as well as for some of her clients.
2. There are some signs that indicate we're infringing on this territory of toxic productivity. From that slope of productive and toxically productive, it can be really slippery and it can look a little bit different for each of us.
3. Overcoming toxic productivity can be pretty simple. The first one is Sheila sets her top three priorities, daily. Second thing that she does is that very conscientiously she links to her what's and why's. Number three, she takes little breather breaks during the day. The last one is taking time to just turn-off from work.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "I have always been a go getter, and over achiever." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "The next sign is and this might sound weird, but counting down to Monday." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Then the last one is always feeling behind." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Personally I am still on this journey myself, I am not an expert." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "It sounds simple, but it's so powerful." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' your host Sheila Boysen-Rotelli, a Master Certified Career Coach, Recruiter and Talent Development Leader shares some of the highlights of a presentation that she had a chance to give earlier this week. She elaborates on the skills of the "Future of Work", things we can all think about from our own personal and professional development to build & accentuate as we advance our own careers.

Episode Highlights:

• Sheila states that she started the presentation talking about a staggering fact that 85% of jobs that will exist just 10 years from now haven't even been invented yet.
• As the speed of change is moving so quickly, it really does come down to this idea of being a lifelong learner and finding meaningful ways not only through traditional education and training but also through non-traditional ways.
• Sheila mentions that one of the best ways to prepare for the future of work is to be open to acquiring new technology skills.
• In the future of work, we're going to need that human ingenuity to invent, dream-up new products and ways of working, says Sheila.
• Professionals with digital skills like coding, web development and digital marketing, are going to and will continue to become even more important than they are now.
• Sheila says that at times when people feel uncertain about their future, jobs, business, or industry, it's key to connect with people on an emotional level.
• She talks about three buckets in terms of the future of work including how the work is going to be done, who's going to be doing this work, and where & when is the work getting done?
• Rather than focusing on replacing workers, forward-thinking employers are going to harness the power of man-machine relationships to improve productivity and creativity among their employees.
• Education systems can be leveraged to help create pipelines of workers with needed skill sets based on the Future of Work projections but education systems need to get better at exactly that.
• Sheila points out that organizations need to be thinking about workforce planning. Employers need to build an infrastructure that supports the future of work.
• She highlights that there's little point in rescaling your employees investing in that huge endeavor if they aren't going to stay.

3 Key Points:

1. Sheila talks about highlights of her recent presentation during the 'Midwest Academy of Management and Annual Conference'. There she spoke on the topic which she really is passionate about i.e. - "Future of Work". She says that we need to develop some new skills that will help us to feel like we constantly have this fresh opportunity to expand on something we're already good at.
2. Based on the research that's been coming from researchers, the host highlights eight top skills of the future workforce that have really become illuminated throughout this process of studying this. There will be very few jobs for life, someone that's going to succeed in the world that we see coming out of all these changes, is going to be able to adapt to ever-evolving workplaces, and have that ability to continuously update and refresh their skills.
3. The reality is that technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, even virtually augmented reality and robotics are going to make businesses more resilient to future disruptions. Anyone that can help companies to really exploit and tap into these technologies is going to be in a great position.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "How can we best prepare ourselves for this future where that speed of change is accelerating?" - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "There is definitely a list of skills that seem to be rising to the top as we think about what are the skills of the future workforce." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "The first skill is Adaptability & Flexibility because one thing is for certain, the way companies operate & work is going to change, the world was already changing rapidly." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "We consider 'Data Literacy' the fuel of the Fourth Industrial Revolution because Data is a critical asset for every company." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "The opportunities to put these digital skills to work are countless." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Employers need to prepare for new jobs and career paths through on-going analysis through advanced training and rescaling of our workforce." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Determining technology aspirations by area, department or division is going to be key." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' Sheila shares few tips on how you can craft a job you love, she talks about what it means to craft a job and how you can do this. Sheila discusses 5 great steps on how to craft your Job.

Episode Highlights:

• 'Job Crafting' is actually a term that was coined by Jane Dutton and Amy Wrzesniewski, and it is the act of customising your job to better fit your own individual strengths, passions, and what motivates you.
• Sheila achieved success by focusing on the things that she enjoyed the most and that actually ended up helping her to make a pretty big career pivot.
• You need to ask yourself that what is it that fuels your energy, it's about finding the things you love, and that you're good at and what it is you want to be known for?
• Having clarity on what you love doesn't mean you can stop doing all the things you don't love.
• Shifting form commitment to action involves putting your insights to work and building an action plan.
• 'Job Crafting' is not a discrete activity, you don't just do it once, but it's something that we form into a continuous habit and process.

3 Key Points:

1. If your job has you dreading Monday mornings, start thinking about to craft a job that you love without needing to do that full update of your resume.
2. 'Job Crafting' isn't about changing your title or your function or your salary, necessarily, instead, it's about infusing more of what you love, and more joy into your work. You need to ask yourself a few questions like, "What is it that you're most interested in?"
3. Take notes, look for patterns, and then notice, what do you see, maybe you discover that your favourite activities include learning something new, or solving a problem. Or maybe you really enjoy mentoring, training or coaching other people.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Step one, maybe this sounds simple, but it's simply making a decision making a decision to take action because job crafting begins with making a choice." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "You have to first know what brings you joy: the tasks, the actions, the projects, the conversations, the challenges, the interactions, etc." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "A state of flow is when you almost get lost in what you're working on." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "You might still need to do the boring meeting updates or run those reports that don't get you terribly excited or crunch those numbers." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Start by finding links between the things that you love to do, and the potential positive outcomes for the company." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' Sheila talks about and gives few easy steps to coach yourself. She mentions the reasons why you should become your own coach as well as advocates why hiring a coach is a fantastic investment in your personal and professional development.

Episode Highlights:

• Sheila started coaching business in 2011 and what she needed the most at that time was some coaching for herself. She ended-up in a messy situation, but came out of it by accidentally coaching herself to where she is now.
• Think about what you are looking for, think about specific questions like what's the timeline of what I need, etc.
• Ask yourself a series of questions to ensure that you're on the right path and get very clear on what that goal is.
• One of the greatest gifts a coach can give you is that accountability partnership. They help you think about and identify your next steps.
• The final step is to show yourself some empathy; a great coach will deliver tough love, but with a huge dose of empathy.

3 Key Points:

1. Consider hiring a coach for your personal and professional development because coaching can move you forward, helping you jump over hurdles and achieve really big things. A great coach can help you achieve outcomes in many different domains in your life.
2. Think broadly, not to just limit yourself to the most obvious next step and finally, tap your energy. She says once you've identified all of your alternatives, just sit with them, imagine yourself walking towards each and make a note of which one gets you the most excited and inspired. That should be your first action.
3. Find other means of creating accountability for themselves, how can they make their action feel like they have to do it. She suggests a couple of strategies to consider scheduling it like determining what actions they need to take and what is the time line and book them as well as considering finding an accountability partner or a buddy.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "With discipline and practice and a little bit of a structure, you can often coach yourself out of some of these difficult times." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "So, a coach might ask you questions like what's important to you about that promotion; what does that job entail, what will that look like?" - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Take yourself on a quick journey through this framework: define what your current reality is, be factual and objective." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Do a little bit of outreach, find someone looking to create their own accountability partner up, keep each other on track, check in with each other maybe weekly or every other week." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "True coaching is delivered with kindness, and you need to show that kindness to yourself." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' Sheila Leader shares few tips on how to get rid of impostor syndrome. She shares her personal experience of overcoming it and also highlights some facts about it.

Episode Highlights:

• Impostor syndrome is that terrible feeling where everyone can see you're perfectly qualified to be there to ask for that to win the deal to be successful, except you.
• Impostor syndrome is not terminal and no pills are required to treat it.
• We are wired to see the bad in ourselves, but the good in others and you can use this to your advantage by choosing a trusted friend or colleague, who will tell you all the reasons that your fear is unbounded, they can see your qualification, what helps you stand out from everyone else, and sometimes hearing that from an external source that can help you to counteract that noise of that internal voice.
• We need to fight fear with logic while defensively to do the scary things, recognizing and labelling impostor syndrome, getting support from others and planning for the worst.
• Our impostor syndrome has had years of practice, it's embedded in our brain and our wiring, so we won't be able to defeat it overnight.

3 Key Points:

1. It is that feeling that you don't deserve the success you've achieved or that you're somehow fooling everybody into believing you're much more competent or qualified or capable than you are.
2. To overcome it, first, we need to recognize and label impostor syndrome, next tip is to grab a trusted friend or colleague, tell them what you want to do and what's holding you back and ask for their unfiltered opinion. Third tip is to practice fear setting and the final step is to be patient, to practice and to be persistent.
3. It takes time, patience, practice and persistence to conquer impostor syndrome, so hang in there as you deserve your success.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "If you're not a doctor and you're afraid to perform surgery, that's not impostor syndrome." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Your impostor syndrome is a version of your meanest inner critic." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "For fear care and self-doubt, they can drive even after you've done your best to eliminate them." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "So, let's kick this imposter syndrome, to the curb." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' Sheila talks about how we can cope with change at work, without stressing out too much. Sheila discusses a few actions you can take to open your mind and expand your comfort zone with change. She advises listeners to put five tips into play and make change feel just a little bit less stressful.

Episode Highlights:

• Prior to 2020; you could still get by as a fantastic performer at work, even if you were a little bit resistant to change but now not so much change has become everything.
• Sometimes a change is coming can sound very similar to the sky is falling. She suggests starting by putting some boundaries around the change, this should actually help you to take a deep breath and move ahead.
• Change is an opportunity to add some type of new learning or some type of new fluency in a system to your resume, or to build your reputation with a brand new leader a team or a customer base.
• A big part of what makes change so scary is a sense that we don't have control or that we're losing control. So it's normal for us to crave a sense of autonomy or a sense of control.
• Notice when you have your first positive experience with that new system or that new manager / client or a new team, even if it was an accident.

3 Key Points:

1. If you want your career to continue to rise, you're going to need to be able to deal with change. If you find it hard to get comfortable with change, you're not alone.
2. Put some boundaries around change and remaining optimistic.
3. Let yourself acknowledge the pain that change brings. Do focus on the upside, but not at the expense of acknowledging and preparing for some of the challenges. Don't just put your head in the sand; we resist change for a reason.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Our natural inclination is to resist anything that feels different, but more exposure, often leads to more comfort." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Next is to go ahead and let you acknowledge the pain that change brings." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "There will be challenges, transitioning to a new system, definitely provides us with new opportunities, but what comes with it is a brand new learning curve that we have to work our way up to take time, it's going to take effort." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Give the anxiety a little bit of space and allow yourself to address it." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "When I arrived at this step, I identified a number of things that were in my control." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "The fifth step is to commit to positive change and to commit that positive change to memory." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' Sheila dives into the topic of 'Future of Work'. She says that lots of experts are out there, predicting what the future of work is moving us towards. No matter what your job, your career stage or your aspiration, there are plenty of pieces of tangible advice that you can put to work to prepare for your future professional success.

Episode Highlights:

• Remote work is probably going to be here to stay. During pandemic, working virtually has become the norm for many of us.
• In the future, we'll see a more complex definition of productivity grounded in actual outcomes versus just time online.
• Don't just pay lip service, but be proactive and engaging with a variety of voices and experiences and most importantly be humble.
• Companies are working to determine the ideal balance of hierarchy and freedom and the previous trends that were so big are having an impact on that decision.
• No one can predict the future but there are some actions you can take that will be sure to serve you, no matter what the years ahead might look like.

3 Key Points:

1. Studies on productivity are not conclusive, some show productivity is up and others conclude that work time is up. One prediction is that virtual work is here to stay, kind of the way we use the traditional office will likely shift. This means, there will be an office to go to, but you won't necessarily see that as everyone's default. You'll go occasionally when the project demands.
2. In future companies will also have to think in terms of diversity and inclusion. Companies are starting to move away from having standalone diversity strategies and departments and the most progressive organizations are weaving diversity and inclusion into the fabric of their business strategies and what they do every single day.
3. The "Gig Economy" may expand; there's a tension that a lot of US workers are facing between desiring independence of gig work, but also relying on healthcare and the benefits provided by full time employment. This tension, most likely will keep the gig economy in the US.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Prior to the pandemic, company philosophies on remote work were really all over the place." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "The good news is that you're going to have a little bit more freedom of choice." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Consider your priorities, let go of that mindset that busyness equals productivity. What impact do you want to have and what work do you need to prioritize in service of that impact?" - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Know that you'll make mistakes along the way, listen, and just assume that you don't know everything." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "And the future of work also requires us to look at shifts in corporate structure and hierarchy." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "The common thread is that everyone's trying to design for more agility, and more resilience." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' your host Sheila shares few tips to help as you make the job transition after taking a pause and move towards that goal of getting that next job.

Episode Highlights:

• The first tip would be to assess your needs. She thinks that this is so important because we might automatically assume that we need to jump right back in where we work.
• Your thoughts and responses to some of the questions that she spoke about during today's episode can really guide you in selecting the possible next roles and career paths.
• Your new resume and the story that you're focusing on should reflect to bring specific facts to the forefront designed to really position you as the expert that your prospective employers are going to be excited about.
• Now that you're armed and ready with your resume and your story, you'll need to start researching companies reaching out to your network scheduling and coffee chats comprising all those things that are involved in job searching.
• These past two years have been very challenging for all of us so you're not the only one, who is in this process, hence keep on going.

3 Key Points:

1. Reflecting while you assess your needs before making a job transition move because time has passed, things have changed, you might have changed, and what you need or want or even what you're ready for that may have evolved.
2. The number one rule with your Resume and LinkedIn is that you need to make sure you are absolutely being honest. Though honesty is non-negotiable, however the highlights of your history can be articulated in a million different ways. Think about the right accomplishments being featured right at the top of Resume. You are absolutely entitled to tell a different, but equally authentic story about yourself to help you move in a new direction.
3. The best way to keep momentum high and disappointment low is to focus on what you can control versus what you can't. You cannot control the exact results, so you might want to set some action oriented goals and keeping on top of those will help you to feel like you're making forward progress.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Time has passed, things have changed, you might have changed and what you need or want or even what you're ready for, that may have evolved." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Be thoughtful about the last role or roles that you held and consider how much do you actually want your next role to be similar or to be different?" - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "Have you focused on those skills and metrics and experiences that you really want to make sure you highlight and call your potential new employers attention to." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli
• "So, now that you're getting good at telling the story, you want to think about the story that centers you as the hero." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

• Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

In today´s episode of 'Professional Success Podcast' Sheila talks about the various reasons for Work Burnout (Where you're just not able to or not feeling-up to going into work) and also gives some tips on how to overcome Work Burnout.

Episode Highlights:

· You might experience burnout, if you don't have much control over your work or if you feel you never have enough time to finish tasks and projects that you're working on.

· "The consequences of burnout can be severe, your productivity can drop dramatically", says Sheila.

· Spending a little bit of time really thinking about your purpose or discovering your purpose can go a long way towards helping you avoid burnout and keep that stress at bay.

· One quick and easy way to add meaning to your career is to be able to give back to others or help others.

· When stress isn't managed well, it really can contribute to burnout, so we need to manage stress effectively.

3 Key Points:

1. The common causes of Work Burnout could be when your values don't align with the actions or the behaviors, or the values of the organization that you work for or if you feel lack of recognition for the work that you're doing, or having monotonous kind of low stimulation work.

2. When feelings of burnout start to occur, many people focus on short term solutions like taking a vacation and this can certainly help, but the relief is often only temporary. You also need to focus on strategies that will have a deeper impact and create more lasting change.

3. You can avoid or even overcome burnout by finding ways to create more autonomy. Try talking with your boss to see if they're willing to let you have more control over your tasks or overdue dates, etc.

Tweetable Quotes:

· "And then even having little or no support from your boss or your organization just the perception of that can be a big cause." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

· "This not only ends-up impacting your career but can negatively impact your team and your organization as well." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

· "Also, performing a little bit of a job analysis can really help." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

· "Burnout is a mixture of professional exhaustion, but also disillusionment with other people or an organization or your career path over the long term." - Sheila Boysen–Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

· Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast