Fall 2012

Dear Colleague,

Another year is coming to a close and has been an eventful one with successes and challenges in business, the economy, the weather and of course in politics. These successes and challenges bring a host of accomplishments and celebrations along with trials and tribulations. Whether a success or challenge, however, every situation enriches us with greater wisdom and experience and enables us to grow. Each scenario is accompanied with some positives and negatives that require us to make choices. How we react in both good and bad times will greatly impact the outcomes. We all come to a fork in the road on many occasions in life and career where we have to make a choice to be positive, be thankful and focus on the glass being half full. I know what you're thinking, easier said than done! I wholeheartedly agree, however, what is the alternative? Dwelling on the negative and focusing on the down side only brings us down and holds us back from growing and being happy.

"Embrace Thanksgiving and Take 5 to Celebrate Your Talents"

As we approach Thanksgiving, it's a good time to reflect on the positives for which we have to be grateful. As I get older and gain additional life experiences, each year I am even more appreciative of those positives and start each day with thankfulness and gratefulness! The topic for my monthly blog on Boston.com's Global Business Hub section for November is "Embrace Thanksgiving: Take 5 to Celebrate Your Talents" so I thought it would also be an appropriate topic for my fall newsletter. Amidst all of the negatives we are faced with in life and at work, why not emphasize and focus on the positives because there are so many!

When it comes to our careers, we will yield better results if we leverage our talents and capitalize on our strengths - celebrate your talents! As leaders and managers, empower others to leverage their talents and capitalize on their individual strengths to enable individual and team success. Self awareness and exploration is the foundation of managing our careers. One piece of that journey includes knowing our value add - what we have to offer. Identifying our strengths begins that journey. There are many resources that can help us to identify our strengths and I would like to share a few of those resources with you.

Books and Resources to help identify strengths:

• StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath

• StandOut, by Marcus Buckingham

• Emotional Intelligence 2.0, by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves

• Campbell Leadership Descriptor, by David Campbell

A couple of years ago I came across the following quote which I loved and have posted on my office bulletin board as a daily reminder:

"I am too blessed to be stressed, and I am too anointed to be disappointed." - Author Unknown

During these challenging times, it can be very easy to fall into the trap of dwelling on the difficulties rather than being grateful with the abundances we are blessed. Celebrate these abundances - recognize our strengths and leverage them in everything we do personally and professionally. Take a moment to reflect on and appreciate our accomplishments and achievements, and the positive impact we have made in the lives of others. Optimism and gratefulness are part of the celebration process.

As we get ready for Thanksgiving, let's take this to heart and embrace the thankful spirit in our careers as well and carry it throughout the year. Be grateful for our talents, our successes, our contributions and celebrate them! Every day, take 5 minutes to discover a deeper and new level of satisfaction and contentment sprinkled with lots of optimism and gratefulness by doing the following:

Take 5 and Celebrate Your Talents

• Acknowledge successes - big or small

• Celebrate accomplishments - step back and take time to enjoy

• Express gratitude - be happy for the experience and the reward

• Recognize victories - as they occur, relish in the moment

• Reach out to others - thank the people who played a role in helping

• Accept challenges - see obstacles as opportunities for learning and growth

• Stay positive - attitude is everything, look at the cup as half full rather than half empty

• Smile and laugh - inject humor daily, best stress releaser and energy booster

In addition to being thankful for and celebrating our own talents, it is equally important to show gratitude to others. Not just a thank you but truly and selflessly acknowledging the role someone has had in your success and expressing gratitude. Putting other people's interest's front and center and reaching out to be of service, initiating without being asked. Sincerity and authenticity in showing support and collaboration to express your appreciation is essential. Fast Company published an article by Howard Jacobson in November of 2011 titled, "Gratitude as a Business Strategy" and focused on this very topic. It discussed how people do a lot more complaining than showing gratitude focusing on what's wrong rather than all the things that are good. It's easier to jump all over something that doesn't go the way we expected yet we take for granted when things fall right into place as we intended. It went on to describe how so many people from all different professions suffer from 'Gratitude Deficit Disorder' and even referred to it as "a global epidemic" and challenged readers to "make a list of people you are sincerely grateful towards and create an action plan to communicate your thanks, with no hidden agenda" which inspired me to come up with my own which I'd like to share with you.

Three Ways to Say Thank You and Express Gratitude

1. Send a personal hand written note articulating how they played a role in making a difference to help me fill a specific need; taking time to include anecdotes, reflections and learnings that display the mark they left on me and/or the situation

2. Initiate an act of kindness to address a specific need or interest of the individual who made a difference for me such as: introducing them to a colleague in my network who could be a strong resource; invite them to a topical and relevant program or event; forward an article or link

3. Maintain an on-going relationship and dialogue on a long term basis - don't stop after doing the first two but continue to stay in touch, follow up and show interest in their needs and challenges as well as celebrating their successes. Relationships are long term and expressing gratitude is a process of establishing and enhancing trust so that it is deeper than a one-time thank you but more of an on-going give and take that will naturally result in meaningful and trusting relationships.

There were several relevant quotes in Howard Jacobson's Fast Company article that spoke volumes to me and the following one was my favorite…

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

--- William Arthur Ward

Thanksgiving is about being grateful for all that we have and rejoicing in thankfulness. As we get ready to wrap up another year and begin a new one, let's make every day like Thanksgiving. Be grateful for our strengths, leverage our talents, and rejoice in thankfulness every day of our career. Take 5 to celebrate your talents, thank others who played a role and have a more fulfilling career and a happy quality of life. Don't waste energy on the negative things that occur every day and/or on the actions of people which you cannot control. Benjamin Franklin said it best, "Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it."

Current Updates

It has been another active year as the market continues to slowly rebound and we see more needs in the talent management areas. There is consistent demand as organizations continue to be concerned about attracting, developing, engaging and retaining top talent as they do more with less. I'm very grateful to say this continues to create much need for my areas of specialty which are executive coaching, leadership development, management training and career development. Once again, most of my work this year has focused on the design, development and delivery of these programs in addition to a high demand for one-on-one executive coaching. Please be sure to visit my website at www.ritaballenassociates.com where you can see a sampling of topics for which I offer consulting services, programs and workshops as well as my approach to coaching.

Earlier this year, I began serving as a member of the Board of Directors of More Than Words, a non-profit which empowers youths who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business! I've truly been inspired by their accomplishments and hope you will join me and consider supporting them! MTW started in 2004 as a pilot online bookselling venture with a few young men in state custody and then transitioned to a vibrant storefront in 2005 and added café training program in 2008. Youth ages 16-21 work as a team to manage their online and retail bookstore and café as they gain skills and accountability while receiving intensive support to map plans for their future. MTW sticks with youth for the long haul with at least 24 months of follow up support. In addition to their site in Waltham, they have a 2nd site in Boston. I invite you to stop by either location, have a latte and browse their book shelves.

As we start the holiday season and you begin thinking about your holiday giving this year, please consider joining me and getting involved by donating books, CDs, DVDs, volunteering your time or expertise, providing cash funding, sponsoring a book drive at your organization, using their catering services and/or passing the word along to your colleagues, peers, community, family and friends. To learn more about this incredible organization, please feel free to call me or visit their website at www.MTWyouth.org.

I began my final year as the President of the Association of Career Professionals International - New England in September, and welcome you to visit our website to consider attending our programs. In case you are not familiar, ACPI New England is a network of career professionals in the New England/Boston area offering connection, information and development. "New England's Voice on Career Issues", ACPI-New England is dedicated to developing the expertise of career professionals and organizations through the promotion of professional and business development, networking and best practices. Check out our website at www.acpi-ne.org for more details and to view our program calendar featuring a diverse mix of authors, thought leaders, panels and presentations. I hope you'll consider joining me at one of our events.

This year I was invited to start writing a monthly blog and column, "Rita's Career Corner" in the Global Business Hub section of boston.com with a new topic each month and an opportunity to post questions and "Ask Rita…" All of these blogs can also be found on my website. Last month's topic was "So You Want to be in Sales? Select a Career in Sales for the Right Reasons" and, as I mentioned earlier, this month's topic is "Embrace Thanksgiving: Take 5 to Celebrate Your Talents".

Please take a moment to visit my website to see a variety of events and read some of my other published articles. Here are a few highlights of some of my upcoming programs:

• Emotional Intelligence - A Predictor for Success
  Webinar for MBA Women International
  December 13, 2012

• "Creating an Affinity for Networking" -
  Panel Discussion for the Manchester Area Human Resources Association
  December 4, 2012 Dinner Meeting, Manchester, NH

• Radio Interview on
  "Coach me Radio with Caroline Dowd-Higgins"
  November 27, 2012, 5:30 PM
  sky.radio.com/shows/coach-me/

I wish you and yours a very happy and grateful Thanksgiving! Remember to embrace the thankful spirit of this season and preserve it throughout the year. Take 5 to celebrate your talents as well as to show gratefulness to others. Not only is it enlightening but it is rewarding in both tangible and intangible ways that lead to better performance, results and satisfaction!

Many thanks for your continued support, your business and your referrals! I am grateful for another active year and welcome the opportunity to be of assistance and continue to provide a variety of talent management consulting and coaching services. Please reach out and share some of your stories - updates, accomplishments and challenges! I look forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards,

Rita B. Allen

Rita B. Allen Associates | 460 Totten Pond Road, Suite 110 | Waltham, MA 02451
781-890-6803 | rita@ritaballenassociates.com | www.ritaballenassociates.com