Blog - Carpenter Smith Consulting, LLC

Resume Building

February 13, 2012

One aspect of your personal leadership is developing or revising your resume to show potential employers how you can be a solution to their problems. Part of career counseling is helping people know themselves well and then creating inspiring, forward-thinking, professional resumes. Employers often spend less than 30 seconds looking at a resume before they decide to keep or toss. As you are writing your resume, think about what an employer needs and remember, this is your first opportunity to…

It’s February 13th – Do you know where your Resolutions are?

February 13, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

The single most difficult challenge we have faced in our consulting and coaching practice is how to help our clients make and sustain the changes they have identified as critical to their success. It is a struggle in all change management but it’s particularly poignant for individuals who understand cognitively what they need to do, but who find (over and over) that they fall back into the patterns they have relied on for much of their lives. It’s important to…

Being Proactive in a World that Won’t Slow Down

February 6, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

Last week we challenged you to become a proactive employee. In response to that post, we got a lot of email asking for guidance in how to become a proactive employee – in a world that won’t slow down. In our twenty years of experience, we have found that proactive employees – proactive people – are successful in large part due to their ability to think strategically in planning for themselves, their departments, and (when they have the power) their…

Are you a Proactive Employee?

January 30, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

In reading the new book Quiet by Susan Cain, we happened upon a very useful gem related to Career Success in the New Economy. Cain notes, “…proactive employees who take advantage of opportunities in a fast-moving, 24/7 business environment, without waiting for a leader to tell them what to do, are increasingly vital to organizational success.” Is Cain suggesting mutiny? Not likely, but let’s take a few moments to explore how we define a proactive employee and how you can…

Looking Up and Moving Forward

January 23, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

As the job market begins to loosen up and attitudes about the economy grow more optimistic, take a few moments to evaluate your future. Are you satisfied with your current role or should you consider making a move? Do a quick scan of your work life and ask yourself, “Would I apply for (and be thrilled to be offered) the job I currently occupy?” If the answer is yes: Congratulations! You are in the right place. Be sure to ask…

Organize your Life in Pursuit of your Goals!

January 16, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

Over the years, we have coached many people and one thing stands out as key to their ability to succeed. That one thing is that they organize their life in pursuit of their goals. In order to stay focused, arrange time each day to reflect on your goals. You can reflect over breakfast, when you arrive at work, or as you get ready for bed – just make sure that you take a moment each day to review your goals…

Claiming Your Power Changes the World

January 9, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

As you know, our goal is to support you in claiming your power and creating success in this new economy. And, while we want you to be successful for your own sake, we also want you to be successful for the sake of the world. You see, the more you claim your power and your innate leadership skills, the more positive and effective your impact will be with your family, your community and … the world. Think, for example, what…

Happy New Year!

January 2, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012 – the year that you are going to claim your power and your leadership in creating career success in the new economy. Today we are going to invite you to think big. To think about what it means for you to live a life that you are proud of and one that fulfills your sense of what is important in the world. The New Year is an opportunity to imagine, without limitations, a better…

Resting can move you forward

December 26, 2011

Monday Morning Business Coach

We have been talking to you these past weeks about how to move forward with power and impact as you look for a job or consider creating greater satisfaction in your current work. We even suggested that you consciously and thoughtfully take advantage of the holiday gatherings to meet new people, connect with people you have known and build alliances that can support your efforts. Today we are going to suggest you rest. (For most of us, today is the…

What do you wanna be when you grow up?

December 19, 2011

Monday Morning Business Coach

Do you remember when you were a kid, the many times you were asked what you wanted to be when you grew up? Without even knowing it, that question probably shaped your current work satisfaction and it may be limiting your success in the new economy. Many of us have chosen a career based on childhood dreams and/or the values that someone else held for us when we were young. We assumed that we would be doing what we…