Introduction  0:00  
Welcome to work mom says,

Unknown Speaker  0:03  
Don't be an idiot.

Introduction  0:05  
And now here's your host, work mom.

Lori Jo Vest  0:13  
Hello, I'm so glad you're here for this episode of work. Mom says, Don't be an idiot. It's episode 14. And we're going to talk about career and business coaches, and the fabulous advice they've given me over the years. And I, when I talk about career and business coaches, I'm talking about anybody who coached me, it could be a boss, it could be a co worker, it could be a mentor, you know, a lot of different types of people will coach you throughout your career. But I want to just dive in, give you some things that you can use moving forward so that you are not stuck in your career, but you're moving forward. So number one, be open to hearing about your blind spots. This one's really hard for a lot of people. Do you listen, when people criticize your behavior. If they're criticizing you, that can be a lot harder. But if they're talking about your work, listen, if they're talking about your behavior, or how you look at things, or maybe an approach you take to solving problems, listen for those blind spots, because it'll make a difference in how you can grow beyond them. Number two, people first, everything else. Second, this is such a critical lesson in business, you're doing business with people, not projects. So the people always need to come first. And if you make that a priority, that means you'll be kind, you'll be compassionate, you'll be a problem solver, you won't be the person that gets in the way of getting things done. So put the people first and and everything else falls into place. So much better once you take that approach. Alright, number three, feedback is love. This is another really tough one to get. If you are getting feedback from a client, or co worker, or a boss, listen and listen well.

Unknown Speaker  2:23  
And what I mean by that, don't sit there and think about what you're going to say next. A lot of us do that. Listen, sit on your hands, and consider what they're saying. A really good lesson that I learned when I moved into the ad agency world is that the work that you do that you get paid for isn't yours. It belongs to the team and belongs to the company belongs to the client. So once you finish it and present it, collaborate, accept the feedback, make the changes, feedback is love. There's no other way of saying it. And once you get that mantra in your head, feedback won't bother you. And that's a really good place to be in your career. Okay, number four, make a lot of friends in your industry. One of the most important things you can do is get to know people that do what you do. Get to know your competitors, go out for coffee, have a coffee call, you know, set up a zoom call and spend half an hour getting to know each other. Go to industry events, industry events in person industry events online. Make it a point to meet three or four people at every event. We've got a speaker coming up in the next couple of episodes about networking and the art of conversation. And I think that'll be really helpful to that effort. If you're relatively new to networking, push through the discomfort of networking, it can be really hard to to you know, walk up to a group of people that are talking or send a LinkedIn outreach to someone that you think might not want to hear from you or might not want to talk to you do it anyway. The only way it gets less uncomfortable is by doing it more often. Practice makes perfection. And it also makes things a whole lot more comfortable. You won't die if they don't want to talk to you. Okay, number five, don't tolerate toxic workplaces just don't. If the boss says things that are off color, if they are cruel to people trust me. I've seen it. They call people out and criticize them and in team meetings. If they ridicule people, if they make inappropriate off color comments, don't tolerate it, find another gig. Getting out is the best thing you can do in those environments. It's not good for your spirit. It's not good for your career. It's not good for your life. So you deserve to be happy. Don't tolerate Toxic workplaces, I've stayed in places nine months to a year where I should have gotten out the first two weeks. But, you know, we all have a tendency to keep trying. So give it up, if it's truly toxic, don't waste your time, get out. So, okay. Number six, surround yourself with other people who want to be successful, you will rise to the level of the five people that you spend most of your time with, you'll hear me say this over and over, because I want you to remember it. It's the kind of thing that if you see somebody doing something that you want to do make friends with that person, because you want to follow in their footsteps. And I'll give you an example. I have a small digital ad agency called Pop speed digital marketing. And we do social media, email, marketing, websites, stuff like that. And what happens is, you know, I'm growing this company, I've done all these things, but I haven't necessarily grown a company before. So I found a couple of people that have been doing it a whole lot longer than me. And one of them, I met him on LinkedIn and said, Hey, would you mind talking? And he said, Absolutely not. And we've gotten to be friends. He actually, his name is John Reed, he appeared on the

Unknown Speaker  6:17  
practice on a harmless idiot episode, if you haven't listened to it, you need to. But I reached out to Jonathan, Hey, would you talk to me a little bit about how you run your agency, so that I can, you know, kind of follow in your footsteps. And he has been so generous, I didn't know he was going to be generous, I didn't know he was going to be so fun and awesome to hang out with. But I reached out in a cold outreach and said, hey, you know, I know somebody who knows you or something, I made up some excuse, let's talk. And he's been so kind and allowed me to talk to him several times, about, you know, different business things that were coming up. So don't be afraid to reach out to people that you want to have in your circle. That's how you will get successful is by surrounding yourself with other successful people. Okay, so number seven, keep your resume up to date, no matter what, if you think you're going to be with your employer for another two years, year, five years, whatever, keep your resume up to date, you may be surprised. I've been surprised. Most people will get laid off or fired at least once in their career, if not two or three times, I think three is pretty common. With the economy doing what it does, you know, sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not. With, you know, an agency can lose a client, your business may lose a huge percentage of business because of some type of, you know, thing they that is out of their control, and you may get let go for financial reasons. Or they may just not like you that happens to have your resume ready. You want to land on your feet, you want to have people that you know, in the industry, it's really important to keep those things up to date, your LinkedIn profile, and your resume always. Okay, number eight, don't go it alone when you need help. Ask for it. Like I said, I reached out to people that were doing what I wanted to do and said, How are you doing this? And can you you know, would you mind sharing, people are so kind, you'll find people that are doing what you want to do want you to succeed too, because successful people usually have really good people skills. And there is this thing I firmly believe in called karma, that those who are kind of compassionate will be more successful. So don't be afraid to ask for help. And I mean that in so many different ways, from asking for advice from a mentor to oh my god, I'm working 70 hours a week, I just can't do this anymore. Boss, I need help. Can you help me prioritize what you think is most important? Can you help me get back to a normal work life balance, I can't do this. And you're allowed to say that you are allowed to ask for help. You don't have to go it alone. And I encourage you to set boundaries and ask for the kind of help you need so that you're not running yourself ragged, burning yourself out because you will reach that point of no return where you are just no longer competent because you have too much on your plate you're trying to do at all and you're doing good enough instead of good work. So ask for help. Okay, number nine, no one is above you, and no one is below you. And what I mean by that is when you'll hear me say over and over again people first you are not below your boss, you are not above the person who you know brings the coffee or makes coffee or you know, does whatever it is that you know that might seem like a task that's not as highly paid as what you do. You are not above anyone, you are not below anyone. So that means Be kind to people who need your help. Help. And don't be afraid to ask for help from others when you need it. Don't be afraid to reach out to your favorite author. Don't be afraid to reach out to your favorite VP at your company, your favorite potential client, your favorite business celebrity, you just don't know when you might be able to make a new friend. And, and treating everyone right is a true secret of success in business, it just is. Okay, we're going to wrap up with number 10 appropriately, don't burn bridges, unless you absolutely have to. And what I mean by that is, when you're leaving an engagement, wrap it up nice and tight. Like matter of fact, I would say put extra time in those last few weeks instead of kind of dragging it out and maybe not doing so much work, put extra time in to wrap up that last two weeks and make an easy transition to the next team member. And people will remember that people will recall that you were that way. And the other thing that can happen is if you leave for a new position, and you get to your new job and find out oh my god, it's a toxic workplace, you want to make sure that if you go back to your old employer, they still want you. And that's really, really important. And it's worked out for me more than once. So don't burn a bridge unless you absolutely have to. There are times when you may have to. If you're in a toxic environment with behavior from coworkers, or the boss that you just can't manage, then it may be appropriate to just not come back to just say, Hey, this is my notice. I'm leaving as of today. I can't handle the toxic environment. And it's perfectly acceptable to do that for your own health and safety. So those are my top 10 lessons I've learned from coaches in business in the last 30 something years. So I hope they're helpful. If you would like me to cover something a specific topic or if you'd like me to invite a specific guest on go to work, mom says.com Hit that contact button. Fill up that form or find me on LinkedIn. I'm Laurie Joe vaste. On LinkedIn, I'm an open networker. Get a hold of me there and send me a note. They're always open to hear from you would love to know what you're thinking and how I can help. So thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you next time. Thank you.

Introduction  12:33  
Thanks for listening to work. Mom says don't be an idiot. For more information. You can email work mom at L O ri work mom says.com That's Laurie at work, Mom. says.com. And remember,

Unknown Speaker  12:49  
don't be an idiot

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