Career Max Group

I learn a lot from my dog, Blake.  Since I haven’t written about him before, let me ‘introduce’ him to you.  Blake is a rescue dog.  I guess for most people, this means that means that I rescued him from a shelter, which is true. But he really rescued me too.  I found him online and my gut told me ‘this is the one’: an adorable, older (9 years old at the time), well-mannered, chocolate lab.  He was living in a VERY small town shelter in the middle of Texas, about a 1.5 hour drive from Austin, just waiting for me.  More about Blake in future posts…

In our 2+ years together, we walk together everyday. I would like to think I walk him but I think he usually walks me.  As he takes me on his walks, what amazes me about Blake is his ability to greet everyone with such excitement and interest.  He doesn’t have any filters or judgments!  If he sees someone on our walk (human, dog, duck, or cat), he automatically assumes that they want to say ‘hi’ to him and pet him so he goes right up to them to greet them with a smile and a tail wag.

Now, this goes over better with some people (you know those dog lovers out there) and not as well with others (usually people who aren’t fond of dogs, have their own mean dog, or have nice dress-up clothes on).  But regardless of the reaction, Blake continues to pursue these critical and interpersonal interactions.

What does this have to do with you? With your career? With your life?  Imagine going about your day assuming that everyone wants to talk to you, to be near you, to interact with you, to hear what you have to say, to receive your smile.  Ahhh… such relief!

It is critical in our career to build relationships with coworkers, industry peers, managers, executives, vendors, reception, operations, and everyone in-between.  I find that those who have the easiest time building these critical relationships are the ones who feel most at ease with the introduction and the ‘getting to know you’ phase. They, like Blake, assume that most people want to know them, want to know how they can help them, what they have to offer.  They approach their interpersonal career relationships (and interviews!) with eagerness and don’t get discouraged when the other person doesn’t react with the same tenacity.

It’s these relationships that we develop and hone over months and years that allow us to create a true community to support us in any phase of our career and in our life.  Just because you don’t have to interact with someone now, doesn’t mean they can’t help you later. And vice versa. Trust me, you will call upon well-developed career relationships at some point in your career. This could be for advice, to help with networking, to get industry expertise and knowledge, to find a connection, or a multitude of other things. And, hopefully, by extending yourself they will call on you too.

I know we all have our own personality and our own ways of doing things. Some of us are more outgoing than others. I encourage you to be genuine and ‘real.’  However, as a Career Coach, I encourage you take on this challenge: For one week, go to work and be like Blake.  You might be amazed by what you receive in return.

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If you would like more guidance and help in creating successful career connections, contact me to schedule your initial complimentary ‘Career Coaching Jump-start Session’:

info@careermaxgroup.com or 310-909-7040