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Reinvent yourself

Plan • Do • Reflect


I'm in Las Vegas this week, delivering a talk on networking. Thankfully, I’m not tempted by the casinos and I haven't had time for shopping or a show. And yet, just moving about the city, I am struck by how Vegas is constantly reinventing itself. I was here just a year ago and not only are the shows all new this year, but the city boasts almost a completely new skyline. (Which reminds me: the city also boasts a lot — the ads and self-promotion are everywhere.)

I can't help but think that there’s some career advice in there somewhere.

Meanwhile, it's Friday again. Let's wrap this up so we can get to the weekend.

Check in

Take a few moments to revel in your progress this week.

  1. What did you learn?
    What surprised you? What made you proud? In what ways did you progress?
  2. What was the hardest thing you did this week?
    Was it worth it? Give yourself credit for working on hard stuff.
  3. Are you happy?

 


Ideas of Note

Cultural Immune Systems

The culture of an organization is almost a living thing, with a personality and a mind of its own. It should be no surprise, then, that the culture of any organization will also have an immune system. And just like their biological counterparts, when an alien body — or an incompatible leader, or someone pushing too much change  — enters an organization, antibodies will swarm and attempt to eject the alien body. I have seen this happen more than once in my own career, and it has come up with two different clients in the last few weeks.

If you seek to lead — and especially if you seek to lead change — you can't ignore the cultural immune system. You won't be able to lead at all if you are ejected from the organization. In general you’ll be better off if you back down and work at more subtle and nuanced levels. In this case, direction is more important that speed. 

Learn more

Drop me a line if you would like to learn more about cultural immune systems. For some extended reading, I was pleasantly surprised to see two articles trending recently on  the ‘most popular’ list on Harvard Business Review. Check them out.


News and Events

Break the Tie!

I was all set to announce our next book club but we have a tie. The Startup of You is tied with Thinking, Fast and Slow — followed one vote behind by Never Eat Alone.

So, help break the tie. If you haven't voted already, take the super quick survey of which book(s) you would like to read.

Here are the books we’re considering:

  1. The Startup of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career — Reid Hoffman, et. al. (Amazon)
  2. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman (Amazon)
  3. Never Eat Alone: Expanded and Updated (Amazon)
  4. Quiet Influence: The Introvert's Guide to Making a Difference — Jennifer Kahnweiler (Amazon)
  5. Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader — Linda Hill, Kent Linebeck (Amazon)
  6. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success — Carol Dweck (Amazon)
  7. Other: Please Specify ____________________________

How it works: We’ll use a private LinkedIn group to host an online conversation. Every Monday morning we’ll start a new ‘discussion’ with a few questions relating to the latest chapter in our progress. Anyone in the group can comment, ask further questions, explore, and discuss using the LinkedIn discussion features.


Words of Wisdom

“That’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being — to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.”

— Malcolm Gladwell

 

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.


Copyright © 2014 Heather Hollick, All rights reserved.
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Heather Hollick
PO Box 401
Honor, MI 49640

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