How To Trick Yourself Into Making The Leap To Your Next Job

I recently read a great annual recap post from a successful entrepreneur that asked, what has been your biggest take-away or key learning this year? I responded to the post by stating my biggest take-away for 2015 was that we should all make a leap we might be a little afraid to make, whatever that leap might be. Win or lose, we’ll be better off for having tried, and when it turns out to be a fantastic move, even better!

My comment stemmed from an actual event in my life in 2015, a job change that turned out to be an absolutely fantastic move. Without getting into too many details, I had a job I truly enjoyed, was working with a great team made up of a group of folks that I loved working with (and spending time with), but sadly, was also at a place that didn’t really align with my values. Ultimately, it just wasn’t the right place for me.

While I thought about leaving, my commitment to finish the job I started, the desire to continue working with the team I had grown to love, and that natural fear we all have of changing jobs, kept me from looking. It wasn’t until I was lucky enough to hear about some changes that were going to effect me that I finally decided to start my job search.

Fortunately, by the time those changes were put in place, I had already secured a great new job at a great new company with a great new team. But, I’m not just spinning a yarn here, folks, I have a purpose. See, I’ve changed jobs twice in the past two years, following two seven-year stints in a row, and on each occasion, when looking back, I probably should have changed jobs sooner than I did. Now, while I believe everything worked out perfectly for me, I can also sympathize with all of you out there who might not be working the job you really want, or working for the right company, but find yourself in a spot where you are afraid, or maybe just reluctant, to make the leap you know you should be making.

Trust me, you are not alone. I know a lot of great people who aren’t necessarily happy with the job they have, but share that same fear of beginning a job search, especially if they worry an employer getting wind of their decision to leave might retaliate in some way. Fortunately, though, I have a little exercise that might help.

The last thing anyone working a full-time job wants to do is take the time to find another job after working all day, but we all know it is much more beneficial on many levels to conduct a job search while still employed. Though being unemployed provides much more free time to conduct a job search, it can also negatively impact confidence and even result in job seekers accepting a job offer that might not be right for them.

So, here is what I propose you do to find the motivation to conduct the job search you might be reluctant to start. Go to work next Monday and work a normal day. Do your job just as well as you always do, and when you walk out the door to go home that night, pretend your boss just took you aside as you were walking out and told you he or she just discovered you are going to be let go in six weeks.

Think about the scenario for a second. If this actually happened to you, what would you do? Would you go home and lounge on the couch in front of the TV, or would you get to work finding a new job?

I understand this might take a little effort and almost seem silly to convince yourself this mock layoff warning has occurred, but I promise you this – if you can truly take this little ruse to heart and pretend you have just six weeks until you’re out the door, you’ll do what you need to do to ensure you find that next job!

Start by updating your resume, portfolio, website and LinkedIn profile, and asking colleagues for recommendations. Ask past employers and colleagues to serve as references. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can get everything for your job search lined up once you actually get over the fear of making that leap and start these tasks.

Go to work every day and keep doing the amazing job you’ve always done, and every night, every weekend, every lunch break, look for the job you really want – with the commute, salary, culture, company and team that will make this move a fantastic one!

If you have been contemplating making that leap for some time, but have been reluctant for whatever reason, this little “six week fire drill” might surprise you! If you really buy into it, put your nose to the grindstone, and work the job postings and your network, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the progress you can make in those six weeks.

With the average job search taking two months, by the time you reach the six week mark from that imaginary layoff warning from your boss, you might just be well on your way to a couple great job offers. In my case, by the six week mark, I had already turned down an offer for the salary being too low, was in the final round of interviews for a job I knew I would love, and waiting on a job offer from the fabulous company I’ve loved working for over the past four months.

Make that leap, my friends! Win or lose, you’ll be better off for having tried.

Screen capture by William L. Savastano

Thank You And I Wish You All The Best In The Coming Year

I hope the social media stars have aligned and the Google, Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn algorithms have come together to result in your eyes actually finding their way to my words today so I may take a few minutes to reflect on an amazing couple of years and thank you for the role you may have played in making them so.

You hear quite often that a door doesn’t close without a window being opened and for me that has really proven to be the case many times in my life, especially over the past two years. While at times, I’ve had to break that window to get it open, or crawl through it just in the nick of time, it still doesn’t change the fact the grass has truly been greener on the other side of that window.

First and foremost, whether you and I spent a lot of time working together at some point in the past couple years, or just had a few passing greetings in person or through electronic means, let me say that I am thankful to have had that time with you. While some interactions obviously have more impact on one’s life - like a recruiter forwarding on your resume, a friend giving you a special thank you card, a loved one giving you some great advice, or parting ways with an employer or major client - I believe each interaction, whether seemingly positive or negative at first, ultimately has a positive impact on the course of our lives in the end.

While I wonder sometimes if my optimism is real, or if I just fabricate it following life’s events and interactions, ultimately, I believe the true nature of the event or interaction is trumped completely by my perception of it in the end. I truly believe how we perceive and approach life’s triumphs and challenges is entirely up to us.

But, that being said, when I take stock of life today and compare it to where I was two years ago, or one year ago, and discover I am better off, there is little more I can do than be thankful for each event and interaction, whether seemingly positive or negative at the time, because those events and interactions are what led to the positive outcome I am experiencing today.

So, whether you were one of the events or interactions that seemed positive, or negative, at the time, I thank you for the part you played in landing me where I am in life today, and wish you the very best in the coming year...

Photo by Christopher Jayanta via Pixabay

Do We Really Need Swear Words In Business Headlines?

Now, don’t get me wrong  - I swear all the time – especially when I’m driving, as I am sure a lot of my fellow Southern Californians do, but I recently found myself put off by the use of a certain four letter word used to describe excrement. Why? It was in a slide presentation featured in an email from Slideview that claimed to be able to show me how to build better marketing content.

Being an avid content marketer, I am definitely interested in any presentation that claims to be able to show me how to build better content. But, there I was, on the third slide of the presentation, and sure enough, there in the headline was the word “shit” where you might have just as easily found a more appropriate word.

Again, not opposed to swearing, but when you are about to teach me how to build better content, the last thing I think you should show me is that you lack the creativity or vocabulary to grab my attention without using an expletive. I can’t be the first to notice this trend of trying to shock-jock business readers with the words “shit” and “fuck” to get their attention. To all of you business writers and content creators out there, I ask, is this really necessary? Is this really where we want to go?

I get that we’re not in the schoolyard anymore and can hear some of you referencing big boy panties in your rebuttal, but again, I would argue it is not that these words offend me, it is simply that I believe they do not, and should not, have a place in our business writing because I also believe we can do better than trying to grab attention with words that would make children gasp, point and giggle.

As business writers, it is our job to take the time to create messaging that actually garners attention on its merit, not on its juvenile showmanship. We should take the time to do the job right and earn our clients’ or employer’s money with solid messaging, not simply by putting a swear word in the title and calling it a day.

Credit Unions and Cybersecurity

I recently conducted some research on the cybersecurity challenges credit unions are facing and here is what I learned:

Data security breaches are a significant problem for credit unions because once members begin to question the safety of their personal information, these financial institutions can incur massive losses before member trust can be restored. Many consumers have been known to reduce the number of financial services they’ll put through their credit union following a breach, and some have been known to leave the credit union entirely.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions found that, on average, a data breach costs a credit union just over $225,000. While credit unions have implemented security measures and devoted resources to protecting customer data, much like all industries, their measures are failing to keep up with the ever-increasing sophistication of attempts from hackers to gain access to credit union members’ personally identifiable information.

Even though federal regulations have been imposed on credit unions to ensure a basic level of security for member data, these regulations, even when met, are still falling short of stopping data breaches caused by malware. Thus, credit unions may be meeting regulations, but are still not meeting members' security expectations.

With endpoints that can vary from ATM machines to company laptops to customer and vendor portals, credit unions inadvertently provide many avenues for a cyberattacker to gain the foothold they need to launch malware and access databases housing sensitive customer information like social security numbers, passwords and credit card numbers.

And unfortunately, their own infrastructure is not all these credit unions have to worry about. As reported in a recent Business Insurance article, when asked what keeps her up at night, Debbie Matz, the head regulator for 6,350 U.S. credit unions, answered: a cyberhacker sneaking in through a credit union vendor, cracking through to the larger U.S. financial system and wreaking havoc along the way.

The credit union vendor portals Matz refers to can include a vendor’s own separate payment processing systems, like point of sale systems, which also leave credit unions vulnerable no matter how well they secure their own infrastructure. If a point of sale system endpoint is left unsecured, credit union members' personal information becomes vulnerable to theft and the endpoint can be used as an access point to larger systems.

One of the scariest parts of this story is that credit unions across the country are relying on traditional antivirus solutions to protect their infrastructure. These solutions are less than 50% effective at stopping threats, at best, and usually, threats are only identified after they cause damage. The data breaches these solutions don't stop are expensive to repair and also harm brand identity, which can lead to a reduction in revenue and even litigation.

There really is only one solution that can secure a credit union’s infrastructure as well as protect it from attacks originated at vendor portals. Credit unions should seek out a solution that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to protect every endpoint in their infrastructure from not only malware that has been identified by antivirus software, but also malware that has never been seen before. Once their own infrastructure is secured with this technology, credit unions should insist their vendors do the same, thus securing their organization completely from over 99% of malware.

While credit unions definitely face some substantial challenges when it comes to cybersecurity, the technology already exists to secure their data – they just need to deploy it.

Photo via Pexels

Getting Sales To Use Marketing Collateral

It's the age-old challenge for marketers...how to ensure the collateral your team creates actually gets used by the sales team. In this guide, I show you the secret to solving that challenge.

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