Your Time as a Caterpillar has Expired - Your Wings are Ready For Collection

 

Your Time as a Caterpillar has Expired - Your Wings are Ready for Collection by Sue Courtney

I couldn't resist that title.
It is the beginning of a Brand New Year - 2014.
What will you do with it?
You have a 365 page book in front of you - and you are the author - you decide what goes in it!
What an awesome thought - THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!!

So, with that thought in mind, a little planning might be in order.
Begin by deciding what you want to achieve in all areas of your life by the end of 2014 - include work/career, finance, family/relationships, and what ever else is important to you.
Then work out a realistic schedule of journey goals that will enable you to end the year where you want and make a quarterly plan for each area of your life.
 

• What do you need or intend to achieve from January to March?
• April to June?
• July to September?
• October to December?

Now sub-divide into journey goals or achievements for each month.
My advice - don't plan too much into each month. Be realistic - life is busy - it was hectic and busy last year, why would the new year be any different?

So be realistic, but challenging. Make your journey goals few but impactful.

Then schedule them into your diary, get yourself an "accountability buddy" or coach and make 2014 your very best year yet.

Please let me know what some of your goals are and how you are doing. Tell me how you plan to achieve them - I love hearing your stories and maybe I might be able to offer encouragement and advice.

To your amazing success in 2014 - I know you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
I believe in you.

I'm currently doing exactly what I advise my clients to do right now - after taking a well deserved break I am remembering all that contributed to making 2013 a fabulous year and I am planning how to build on that to make 2014 the best year ever. I began the planning process while "enjoying" a rather grand adventure courtesy of the effects of the weather on the UK transport system. In other words, while stuck on a train going nowhere because of a flooded line, I used the time to plan for success in 2014. I then enjoyed the adventure that was the magical mystery tour  that eventually got me home. Great fun.



My first seminar of 2014 will be on Saturday 15th February 2014, in Southampton. (UK)
I will take you through my unique 3 step MAP system for career success which includes a styling section on dressing for your shape.
In 2013 I had a job specification written specially for me!
If you would like to be in that enviable position I can show you how on Saturday 15th February 2014 in Southampton (UK)
If you are serious about getting ahead in your career this year then you need this information as soon as possible.
More information in my next newsletter - remember to keep this date free to meet me in Southampton and kick start your career success.




It's an idea I saw on Facebook. Take 1 large jar and, beginning on January 1st, fill it with little notes about all the amazing things that happen to you - surprise gifts, goals achieved, memories worth saving, daily blessings, moments that make you laugh out loud, special events ....... whatever is special to you. On December 31st 2014 you empty it out and realise how blessed you were over the year. I have bought one for each of my family as well as myself and I can't wait to begin using it. (Actually, my son has cheated a bit. He got a new guitar on 31st December and has put that in the jar - a day early! No matter, I love his enthusiasm).
Try it - it will focus your mind on all that is good in your life, which will ensure you get more of the good stuff!
Let me know how it goes.



These days it is more important than ever to create the right first impression - positive, professional and authentic - if you want to achieve career success. So often women are overlooked for promotions and it is my mission to stop all that.

I work with ambitious, professional career women just like yourself, to achieve the success you want. You should be able to climb as high up the career ladder as you wish and enjoy the same opportunities as your male colleagues.

To achieve this I have developed my unique 3 step MAP system and I deliver it in a variety of ways - as a
  

• One day and two-day seminars where you access my complete MAP system and start your journey to career success.
• Special, intensive, luxury weekend where you access the whole of my MAP system in luxurious surroundings, so you can return to work next day and start implementing what you have learnt, with the added bonus of 60 days support from me to ensure you take action
• My personalised Promotion Programme where I work 1 to 1 with you to achieve your career goals and support you for the first 90 days in post.

The programme deals with developing a powerful mindset, taking actions that will give you the edge over your competition and then restyling to present the right image for success.
Best wishes

Sue Courtney
Personal Rebranding for Career Success

Why are you treating yourself like a second-class citizen?

How are you being treated by other people?

Well?

Dreadfully?

The truth is that you are being treated as well as you allow.

Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?

If you aren’t currently being treated as fairly, graciously, respectfully and politely as you would like – take a look at the way you treat

a)     Yourself

b)    Others.

The answer is in one of those two or, possibly both.

If you aren’t treating yourself with kindness, courtesy and respect others will pick up on this.

You may now be wondering how they would know how you treat yourself – well there are many outward signs that you may not be aware of.

People pick up on the visible signs first – 55% of people’s first impression of you comes from your visual appearance. So, beginning at the top

·        Is your hair well cut, coloured (if you use colour), clean and well groomed?

·        Is your makeup well applied – not to heavy, but enhancing your natural features?

·        Are your clothes neat, flattering to your body shape, appropriate for your age and position, clean and well maintained?

·        Are your accessories minimal, discreet, appropriate?

·        Are you using the latest technology in mobile phone, iPad, other mobile technology?

·        Are your shoes well maintained, comfortable, appropriate and stylish?

·        Do you carry spare tights/nails/makeup as required?

Do you begin to get the idea? Open your mouth to speak carelessly, do careless work, arrive late or leave early or forget appointments and it is easy to see that you aren’t treating yourself with respect. If you don’t, chances are most other people won’t either.

By your actions or inactions you are silently allowing others to treat you as the second class citizen that you treat yourself.

Onto b). How are you treating others? If you are careless of their feelings, putting them down at every opportunity, gossiping, criticising and moaning then the majority of people will be less than willing to go out of their way to be kind and thoughtful to you. They will, most likely treat you as you treat them, which seems only fair.

What most will fail to realise is that this behaviour, too, is a manifestation of your low self esteem.

Either way, if you don’t appear to feel you are worthy of respect and courtesy others will treat you as you show them by your treatment of yourself.

The answer – should be blindingly obvious by now.

Treat yourself with the love and respect you deserve by taking outrageously good care of yourself and see what happens.

Now I don’t mean go out and buy everything you want, eat and drink what you want and run up a huge bill. No, No, No. Quite the opposite.

To take outrageously good care of yourself you need to ensure you eat a healthy, balanced diet, drink plenty of water, get sufficient sleep for your needs and exercise most days.

Then you need to apply my principles of investment dressing to your shopping – remembering that less is more. Buying only the best you can afford and only what works for you. Take great care of all your clothes and get up in time to ensure your hair, makeup and clothes are as good as possible before you leave the house every morning. No last minute rushing, pulling on anything that comes to hand, hurriedly pulling wet or unwashed hair up into a band and applying makeup en route to work, grabbing a coffee and bun as you fly past the cafe because you didn’t have time for breakfast.

Take care of you bank balance by careful and thoughtful purchases – ask questions before you buy anything.

Have a go at these ideas and let me know what happens.

You know you’re worth it.

Copyright © 2013, Sue Courtney – Success & Image Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

Golden Rules for Getting Ahead by Sue Courtney

I have been proactively working on a set of Golden Rules that, if you conscientiously apply them, will increase your chances of being offered that job of your dreams or that much sought-after promotion. They are the result of personal experience and research and I offer them to you in the hope that they enable you to achieve your desired results.

Basically, for career success, all you need to do is Stand Out From The Crowd.

It is that simple – but not necessarily easy. You need to be totally committed to achieving your career goal and willing to ‘go the extra mile’ in order to be noticed. That having been said, in my experience it doesn’t take a massive amount of extra effort to get noticed.

Read on and I will explain my five rules to enable you to  Stand Out From The Crowd for career success.

Rule#1 Look the part.

 I know I repeat this often – but only because it is vitally important. The first impression people make of you will be visual. If you dress the same as all the others doing your job you will just blend in to the background – and that is not a good thing. Your aim is to be noticed. Your aim is also to be associated in the minds of management as a promotion prospect as soon as they see you each day. My Wardrobe De-Tox sessions are perfect for this. Go to www.successandimagecoach.co.uk/wardrobe-de-tox/   

I remember when I was a supply teac her some years ago. I had been teaching for a few consecutive days and had arrived at work quite early. As I strode purposefully into school I passed a parent of a child from another class who asked me if I was the new head teacher. I explained that I was, in fact, a supply teacher based mainly in year one. She apologised for her  mistake but explained that she had assumed this because I looked so “invincible”! I always dressed smartly in suit or dress and jacket rather than the more casual attire of the permanent staff and so I looked as if I should have been in charge. I had to smile.

Rule #2 Arrive early and leave late.

Try to arrive earlier than the managers several times each week and be sure they realise you have beaten them in – there is no point in arriving early and putting in extra time if nobody notices. And don’t waste your time while you are there – be productive and proactive, getting little and big jobs done, getting organised for the day and looking useful.

Don’t clock watch. Finish off the job you are doing before you even consider leaving and then see if there is something else you could usefully do that would make the following day a little easier – for yourself or a colleague.

Rule #3  Look for ways to add value and help out.

Offer to take on a task to help a colleague out. Make suggestions that might make a task more efficient or quicker to complete.

Spread the love – help others whenever you can, whatever their role in the company. Could you do some small thing to make the cleaner’s job a little quicker, easier or more pleasant? Do you know what interests the top manager so you could pop an article on the subject on his/her desk occasionally?

 

Rule #4  Be cheerful and upbeat

That means no moaning and no gossiping. Look for the good in all people and situations – no matter what there will always be something.

Greet everyone with a smile and a cheery “hello” even if you aren’t feeling cheery. You will be surprised how something this small can change the mood of a section.

Being relentlessly cheerful and positive is a habit that can really make a difference – try it for yourself and see.

Rule #5  Volunteer

Put yourself forward for courses that will enable you to add more value to the company and do your job better – actually ask to be included on them, explaining that it would enable you to do a better job for the company. Constantly upgrade your skills so you can offer more to the company than you currently do – even if it has to be done in your own time and at your own expense, look on it as an investment. If you are serious about getting ahead it will be worth it as you will recoup the expense many times over when you are paid more. I offer seminars and courses based on my unique 3 step MAP system – go to www.successandimagecoach.co.uk for details or email me at sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk to ask about seminars and courses coming up in the next few months.

GET NOTICED as an exemplary employee. If your colleagues are unhappy about your behaviour – well done, you must be doing something right. It shows you are worrying them because you are making them aware of what they should be doing and aren’t. Redouble your efforts and keep striving for your goal. Remember that successful people do what others won’t.

 

The underlying truth of the matter is this – if you are willing to do more than you are currently paid to do, you will eventually be paid to do more than you currently do.

It really does work – I have proved it and so have many of my clients over the years. So get out there and do your thing with style. And please let me know how you get on.

Copyright ©2013, Sue Courtney – Success and Image Ltd. All rights reserved.

How To Get To The Top Part 2 by Sue Courtney

Since it has been demonstrated that mixed gender departments produce more profits for companies, exactly what is stopping women getting to the top? And what can be done about it?

 

Succession planning in some companies is woefully inadequate. Grooming the most appropriate candidate for an up-coming position would, automatically include a number of women, so this is a place to start. It will work as long as women are encouraged and supported. So often they are not.

 

Too often the feedback I receive from women is that men often feel threatened by successful or ambitious women and so do what they can to hold them back. Disappointingly, the “old boy’s network” is alive and still thriving at the higher levels of many companies in this country.

 

In Norway businesses have benefitted from the implementation of a quota system. All companies are required to have women holding at least 40% of all boardroom positions. Richard Branson reports that the figure is now “an encouraging 44%”. However, this doesn’t translate into CEO status, where the figure is around 2%. This system brings a balance of experience and viewpoints and since the population is made up of both men and women it makes sense to have both equally represented at decision-making level in companies. This may soon become the law in the UK, as the EU is considering implementing it as law for the whole of Europe. Watch this space to see how it works.

 

Richard Branson also points out, in his article “Why We Need More Women in the Boardroom”, that since 70% of household purchasing decisions are made by women – from the brand of shampoo to the house, car and holiday– and since, often, 50% of the employees in a company are women, surely it makes sense to have them equally represented at the decision-making end of the company.

 

He goes on to suggest that companies might begin by considering the opportunities available for women to advance their career in the company – beginning with asking the female employees themselves for their experiences and advice. Such wise words.

 

However, this won’t address the most pressing reasons for the lack of female applicants for top jobs, which are

·         Lack of affordable childcare – the biggest issue for mothers wishing to return to work after birth.

·         Lack of shared parental leave after childbirth

·         Lack of long parental leave entitlement by fathers – mothers have long leave options, fathers are usually lucky if they have a couple of weeks.

·         The impact maternity leave can have on small companies.

·         The reluctance of some companies to promote women because they are unwilling to address the changes that this would require.

 

Not all companies can offer subsidised childcare for their staff, I accept that. But something has to be done to stem the loss of top talent in business.

 

Flexible working is an option. In the examples I have seen it rather looks and feels like being a small business owner, working from home. It allows employees to work out their own schedules and fit work round school runs and other meetings. This works as well for fathers as mothers and is something I read about many years ago, when it was seen as the future of business in the UK. Hmm. That prediction didn’t quite work out, did it?

 

There are many who are against quotas, preferring targets instead. There is currently a target to have 25% women board members by 2015, and certainly there is evidence that this would have a beneficial effect on society and business in the future.

 

 

So what are the answers?

As many and varied as there are companies I suspect.

 

 

I firmly believe that it has to be possible to “have it all”. That, if they so wish, women should be able to pursue a career, reach the top and also bring up a family – but it needs enormous determination on the part of both women and companies to achieve this.

 

However, I stress, “If they so wish”. Not every woman has to want to reach the top – any more than every man has to. It is time we got honest about what we really want, worked out what it will cost not just in financial terms, but also in terms of lifestyle, happiness and peace of mind. It should be as acceptable in the UK as it is in Norway, for men to stay at home and bring up the children – if that is their choice.

 

It also helps to have supportive family and to have the luxury of deciding when the right moment for career advancement is. It may be from the moment of birth or it may be once the children are older. Equally it may be to not have children at all. Again, no right answer – just a personal choice.

 

So, from my research, the main factors affecting the number of women reaching the top of their career ladder are

·         The attitude of the largely male-dominated upper echelons of major companies

·         The lack of affordable childcare

·         A lack of confidence in their ability to fulfil a role – especially if the job specification is worded in ‘male’ language

·         Women’s own doubt about the effort to reward ratio being worth the potential sacrifices.

 

My solutions?

·         Re-write job advertisements and job specifications to use more female friendly language. It would be great if companies would use more neutral language, but failing that, do it yourself and see the difference in your confidence.

·         Do the maths. Actually work out the financial benefits to pursuing your career against the cost of childcare. Then factor in your happiness, which is priceless. Do what feels right for you – otherwise you will be resentful, whichever choice you make.

·         Childcare not an issue? Great. Develop a plan – a detailed plan of all you will need to do, get a coach or mentor and get to work on achieving your goal. Be relentless in your pursuit of success – and be open to changing companies, sectors or career if that is what it takes.

 

I am able to provide a tailor made solution in the form of my unique 3 step MAP system for career success. This is available as

·         Option 1 - a series of 12 webinars with manual, over 6 months for those wanting an affordable option.

( sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk )

·         Option 2 - A luxury, intensive weekend event, where clients use the whole of my MAP system to begin to develop their individual strategy for success. This works well for those who are impatient and want to get their career moving quickly. ( sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk )

·         Option 3 - my bespoke promotion programme, providing individual support whilst using my MAP system. This is for those who want an individual programme and one to one support throughout the process. ( sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk )

 

 

I am very happy to offer a complimentary strategy call to discuss options and whether any of the above would be suitable for your needs.

 

Whatever you decide to do – make it your conscious, positive decision, develop a plan and do something towards achieving your goal every day.

 

I would love to hear about your experiences of this issue – both positive and negative, so please email me with your thoughts at

sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk

 

 

copyright © 2012, Sue Courtney – Success & Image Ltd. All rights reserved.

How To Get To The Top - Part 1

 

·         More than 50% of graduates in the UK are women

·         Nearly 50% of the workforce in the UK are women

So why are the vast majority of the top jobs held by men?

 

It is widely recognised that businesses perform better with women throughout the company, so what is going wrong?

 

There are several possible scenarios:

·         Is it that recruitment is biased in favour of men?

·         Is the system stacked against women with families?

·         Or do few women aspire to the lifestyles that go with the top jobs?

 

Undoubtedly career success requires hard work and the willingness to make tough choices. Women have to make sure they are the right person, in the right job at the right time – but that isn’t the whole story. As Hilary Devey says

“It may be a little more difficult for a woman than a man so she has to work harder – fact.”

This may be true, but is it right?

 

This situation represents a shocking waste of talent – it is bad for women, bad for business and bad for the economy. The system of promoting from only half of the workforce, as is the case in many companies, is inefficient and is causing the loss of a vast amount of talent from the business sector.

 

Every business knows there is a huge cost associated with recruitment and training so it surely makes sense to retain the skill sets that have cost so much to develop? This has to be basic good business sense.

 

Women bring different life experiences, different perspectives and are often more constructive. This ultimately leads to better decision making. Evidence shows that companies with an equal mix of men and women in leadership positions make better decisions, make a higher return on sales, equity and capital investment.

 

So what can be done?

 

Hilary Devey states that not enough women are coming forward to apply for senior roles. Why is this?

 

It may be that the wording of job advertisements contain gender bias. Words such as “gravitas”, “demanding”, “relentless”, “outstanding” and “exceptional” will all lead to more applications from men. It may also influence the recruiters who may appoint candidates based on unconscious language bias and gender stereotypes.

 

Added to this is the tendency for women to point out the few attributes from a long list that they feel they fall short in and use this to talk themselves out of a job. Men, on the other hand, will often point out the few attributes they are confident in and ignore those they may not possess.

 

It is an issue of confidence.

 

In the UK today, approximately two-thirds of women work at least part time.

Many of these find the challenges of juggling work and family commitments can affect their confidence and their career progression.

 

There comes a point when women have to choose what they want to do with their lives and often, work is an important part of this. However, the reality is that being a mother can slow their progress up the career ladder.

 

More than four in ten mothers with good degrees say they have taken a job for which they are over-qualified in order to secure a part-time working arrangement. Too often they have to sacrifice seniority and pay to achieve a satisfactory work/life balance.

 

There are also the costs of childcare to be factored in to the equation. Childcare in the UK is among the most expensive in the world and many families spend 33% of their annual budget on this. Often it just doesn’t make financial sense for women to return to full-time work after having children.

 

Clearly it is a complex issue. However, there are facts that point to it being cost effective for companies to develop strategies for managing career breaks because it has been demonstrated time and time again that mixed gender teams and departments produce more profit.

What do you think?

Do you have a solution to the issue?

 

More to follow in Part 2.

 

Sue Courtney is an expert in Personal Rebranding for Career Success.

For information about her programmes and events please email her at sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk

Or go to her website at

www.successandimagecoach.co.uk

Free book – “The Ultimate Guide to Personal Rebranding for Professional Females Climbing the Corporate Ladder” can be found at www.freepersonalrebrandingbook.co.uk