Podcast
Looking for a new job or want to move up in your company? Lesa teaches you the tools and strategies you need to land your dream job, increase your promotability, and successfully navigate your career.
342: Bridging the Gap Between New, Mid-Career, and Late Career Employees (with Cheryl Fields Tyler)
My guest this week is Cheryl Fields Tyler, CEO and Founder of Blue Beyond Consulting. We are talking about the challenges – and rewards – of having multiple generations in the workforce (Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z).
Cheryl tells about the key takeaways from her research – both for younger workers and those who lead them – including the skills you need to work in a multi-generational work environment, the differences and commonalities in workers’ needs and requirements, and how to leverage a range of strengths in a diverse workplace.
341: Focusing on the Gap vs. Focusing on Your Progress
Subtitle: “Beating Yourself Up for What Didn’t Get Done vs. Celebrating What Did Get Done.”
When you don’t meet your goal - be it for your job search, your job, or your personal life - what do you make it mean?
In this episode, I cover the thinking and the doing part of regrouping without blame when things don’t go as planned.
334: Influence Without Authority - How to Lead When it’s Not in Your Job Description
There are two basic types of leadership: Positional (it's in your job description to lead others) and Influential (you are leading by influence rather than job title). I talk about why influential leadership is so important, the characteristics of an influential leader, and nine strategies for leading with influence rather than authority.
328: Should You Apply on LinkedIn or Through the Company’s Website?
I get a lot of questions from clients about whether they should apply to a position they see on LinkedIn - or go directly to the company’s website. I give the pros and cons for each, as well as best practices for increasing your chances for getting a closer look by the humans at the other end.
327: Tips for Cultivating Relationships with Recruiters
A best practice for your long-term career progression is to find best-fit recruiters and cultivate relationships with them over time. In this episode, I discuss the types of recruiters, how to begin a relationship on the right foot, and how to continue that relationship in a way that is mutually beneficial.
321: Overcoming Setbacks and Obstacles in Your Career Path
EVERYONE has setbacks and obstacles in their career. NO ONE has a perfectly linear journey, where they leave each job at the height of achievement, only to land in an even better job – no gaps in employment, no difficult bosses or coworkers, no layoffs or RIFs, no personal or family issues requiring extended time off work. The question becomes: What do you do when the inevitable happens? I want to break this down into actions you can take, and the mindset you’ll need to navigate.
320: Resources for Career Development
Career development should be a career-long, proactive, thoughtful process to achieving your career goals. In this episode, I break down the proess of career development and provide resources for getting the career development assistance you need.
300: 300 Episodes - Academy Awards for My Best Advice
I can’t believe this is episode #300! In honor, I am offering My Best Career Advice, Academy Award style, in each category I cover.
299: People Pleasing in the Workplace: Self-Preservation or Lack of Self-Worth? (with Amy Green Smith)
As those of you who listen to the podcast regularly know, I seldom have guests on the podcast – and only when they are fantastic and will add value to you listeners. Today’s guest, Amy Green Smith, is a perfect example of this. We’re talking about People Pleasing – something many of you are very familiar with. Amy tells us when it is okay to people-please in the workplace – and how to know if you’re doing it for the right reasons. She gives several scenarios to help us understand people pleasing, when it’s right, and when it isn’t.
298: Five Unusual Things to Be Thankful For – 2023 Edition
If you’ve been a faithful listener of the podcast for some time, you’ll know that I do a special episode each year during Thanksgiving week.
It started out as five unusual things to be thankful for that weren’t specific to me. Somewhere along the way, they became MY five things. The hope has always been that you will look at the circumstances of your life through a different lens after listening to my list.
297: Do's and Don'ts of Interview Etiquette
Today, we’re covering interview etiquette — what to do, and what not to do. I’ve talked about several of these points on previous episodes, so I’m including links to those here.
296: The Importance of Body Language in Job Interviews
Body language, or nonverbal communication, can make or break your interview. No matter what is coming out of your mouth, a trained interviewer will pay attention to what you are saying with your facial expressions, arms, posture, and general demeanor. If what you are saying is at odds with your body language, a trained interviewer will believe your body language. The caveat here: Be yourself. Here then, are 11 tips for conveying appropriate body language during a job interview.
295: Help! I'm an Introvert and I Hate Networking!
When it comes to networking, it’s not about introverts being socially awkward. It’s about the drain on their energy. It’s about having to initiate a conversation (they generally DON’T want to do this). It’s about small talk, which seems pointless to them. I’d like to offer the flip side of networking for introverts, followed by 13 tips for you introverts to…if not love networking, at least not hate it so much. Maybe even enjoy it a little.
294: Common Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking a Promotion
Today, I’m diving into 14 reasons why people fail to prepare themselves for a successful attempt at a promotion. For the purposes of this episode, I’m talking specifically about internal promotions – although many, if not all, of these strategies will apply if you are seeking a higher position with a new company.
293: How to Improve Your Time Management and Productivity
Today, I want to talk about how to improve your time management and productivity as a key way to increase your chances for promotion. If you’re like many people, you may role your eyes at the term “time management.” If you’re structured and organized, you may think you’ve already mastered time management. If you are unstructured and disorganized, you may think it’s hopeless…a skill beyond your ability to master. Here are my top 12 strategies to improve your time management. In each instance, I’m giving you some of my tips as to how I implement that strategy.
292: Pros and Cons of Using a Third-Party Recruiter
I get a lot of questions about using recruiters in my clients’ job search, so I wanted to dive into this topic and my perspective on the role of recruiters in your job search. Now, let’s dive into the vocabulary you should be aware of regarding recruiters, as well as the pros and cons, in my opinion, of choosing to navigate your job search this way.
291: What Should I Wear to a Job Interview?
We’ve gotten very relaxed in our dress since Covid, especially those of us who have worked from home. Even many companies have relaxed their dress standards — so what does this mean for how to dress for a job interview?
290: Job Searching with a Chronic Physical or Mental Health Condition (with Jane Springer)
Job searching with a chronic physical or mental health condition can be tricky to navigate. We will be tackling this issue on two fronts: how to take care of yourself during a job search if you have a chronic physical or mental health condition, and when/if to divulge this information to the prospective employer. My guest for this episode is Jane Springer, who’s been on the podcast several times before. Jane is a life coach specializing in health and wellness for women ages 50+. We talk about what a chronic physical or mental health condition is, how to manage your condition during the stress of a job search, and how to make sure you find a job that can accommodate your specific health needs.
289: What to Do if You Aren't Getting Any Job Offers
Oftentimes, people who schedule a consult with me are doing so because they have been job searching with little to no success. One of the questions on the scheduling form has to do with the number of applications they have completed, the number of interviews with different companies they’ve had, and the number of job offers they’ve received. I ask for this information because it helps me begin to narrow down where their problem might be. Let’s look at each step of this process, and what to do if your problem is in that step.
288: Identifying Potential Red Flags When Looking for a Job
I want to start by talking about an internal “red flag” – this has nothing to do with the company you are applying to and everything to do with YOU. Each time you make a job move, it is so important to evaluate your current job for your motivated skills you'd like to seek in your next job, while also being aware of your burnout skills you'd like to avoid. When you don’t do this work, you risk jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire…or, at best, not progressing in your career towards your ideal job. Now let’s talk about the possible red flags an employer could be waving right in front of your face.
Let’s work together