Navigating the Job Search is Like Driving in Spain

Navigating the Job Search is Like Driving in Spain Imagine this: you are in a rental car in Spain. Its stick shift, of course, which you havent driven in over twenty years. You set out to drive at least an hour. So you get in your rental car ready to hit the road they said that most of the street signs are similar enough to what you are used to that it shouldnt be a big deal.  Then, you come across a set of street signs like this (photo courtesy campervantrips): No big deal really right?  Except, you are supposed to turn soon, according to your GPS (which seems to be off by 100 meters).  Wait, did I say meters? Yeah, thats foreign to me So Im in a foreign country, driving a different kind of car (stick), using a measuring system that Im not used to (how long until 250 meters??), the GPS is off enough to make a difference, and the next exit I want is M-30. Wait, is that an exit, or a road?  And what the heck is E-5, and why is the next one E-901 instead of E-6?  A-4, A-42, A-5 ????? AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! This was me a week ago. I rented a car in Spain and, with three teens in tow, drove to various beaches around Barcelona. Most of the time it was fine, but every once in a while it got really confusing! Is this exit for M-30, E-901, A-3, A-4, A-42, A-5 and why cant it just be ONE thing?  Like, in my state back home, theres one exit number like exit 291. That is, I think, two hundred ninety one miles from the south border of the state.  Guess what the next exit is? 292!  Or maybe 293, if it is two miles up.  I dont remember exactly, but they are in numerical order, and they make sense. They make sense to me because Ive lived in this region for the last twenty something years. After the fourth day of driving in Spain, I start to get it. I didnt totally get it, but I started to get it a little. I got it enough to feel like I was on my way to being more confident with those signs. Want to know what the trick was? IGNORE THE NOISE. The signs in Spain are too noisy. There is too much superfluous writing  on the signs, and to read it all would mean to slow down and probably be a danger to cars behind you.  Reading every single thing is too much, it takes too much time, and its not (always) important. Knowing what you can and should ignore is a terrific skill, both when driving in a foreign country with weird-to-you signs and when navigating a job search, which for many of us, is foreign territory. Because its all new, we tend to be hyper-sensitive to stimuli articles that say this, videos that say that, and too much contradiction. Worse, theres plenty of bad advice that really gets people mixed up (like, if you arent on google, you dont exist. Or worse, you must use Twitter in your job search.)  Both of those can be good, but not if you arent doing any fundamentals. If you arent figuring out how to do the basics, then the advice to get on Twitter and do your job search there is harmful noise. In your job search, figure out what is noise, and ignore the noise. This is a SKILL that you can learn and improve. At first it will be pretty confusing but as you find your groove youll figure out what you can ignore, and what you need to focus on. To your career success! Navigating the Job Search is Like Driving in Spain Imagine this: you are in a rental car in Spain. Its stick shift, of course, which you havent driven in over twenty years. You set out to drive at least an hour. So you get in your rental car ready to hit the road they said that most of the street signs are similar enough to what you are used to that it shouldnt be a big deal.  Then, you come across a set of street signs like this (photo courtesy campervantrips): No big deal really right?  Except, you are supposed to turn soon, according to your GPS (which seems to be off by 100 meters).  Wait, did I say meters? Yeah, thats foreign to me So Im in a foreign country, driving a different kind of car (stick), using a measuring system that Im not used to (how long until 250 meters??), the GPS is off enough to make a difference, and the next exit I want is M-30. Wait, is that an exit, or a road?  And what the heck is E-5, and why is the next one E-901 instead of E-6?  A-4, A-42, A-5 ????? AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! This was me a week ago. I rented a car in Spain and, with three teens in tow, drove to various beaches around Barcelona. Most of the time it was fine, but every once in a while it got really confusing! Is this exit for M-30, E-901, A-3, A-4, A-42, A-5 and why cant it just be ONE thing?  Like, in my state back home, theres one exit number like exit 291. That is, I think, two hundred ninety one miles from the south border of the state.  Guess what the next exit is? 292!  Or maybe 293, if it is two miles up.  I dont remember exactly, but they are in numerical order, and they make sense. They make sense to me because Ive lived in this region for the last twenty something years. After the fourth day of driving in Spain, I start to get it. I didnt totally get it, but I started to get it a little. I got it enough to feel like I was on my way to being more confident with those signs. Want to know what the trick was? IGNORE THE NOISE. The signs in Spain are too noisy. There is too much superfluous writing  on the signs, and to read it all would mean to slow down and probably be a danger to cars behind you.  Reading every single thing is too much, it takes too much time, and its not (always) important. Knowing what you can and should ignore is a terrific skill, both when driving in a foreign country with weird-to-you signs and when navigating a job search, which for many of us, is foreign territory. Because its all new, we tend to be hyper-sensitive to stimuli articles that say this, videos that say that, and too much contradiction. Worse, theres plenty of bad advice that really gets people mixed up (like, if you arent on google, you dont exist. Or worse, you must use Twitter in your job search.)  Both of those can be good, but not if you arent doing any fundamentals. If you arent figuring out how to do the basics, then the advice to get on Twitter and do your job search there is harmful noise. In your job search, figure out what is noise, and ignore the noise. This is a SKILL that you can learn and improve. At first it will be pretty confusing but as you find your groove youll figure out what you can ignore, and what you need to focus on. To your career success!

Writing Resume - Use LinkedIn to Your Advantage

Writing Resume - Use LinkedIn to Your AdvantageWriting a resume can be difficult and frustrating when you don't know how to start and organize your ideas. After all, you want your resume to be professional and neat. It's important to choose the right keywords and search terms for your resume and to eliminate redundant information.LinkedIn has the largest user base of professionals and members, so it is the place to be in if you want to get hired. When applying on LinkedIn, you must do your research and make sure you choose the right keywords for your profile. It will help get you more qualified leads that are interested in what you have to offer.The first thing to think about when you are applying for a job seeker's experience is that it should be concise and easily searchable. If the information in your resume is long and is hard to read, it won't take you anywhere. Instead, use bullet points, bolding, subheadings, and italics where appropriate. Also, remember that LinkedIn is an on line community so you want to focus on people you already know and you should share some of your personal information with them.Another advantage of LinkedIn is that you can create and market a business. When you join, you can promote your product or service and build your reputation as a successful professional. However, because LinkedIn is still in beta, you need to be careful with how you use it.Your LinkedIn marketing is the best way to attract new customers. It helps to build your network. Don't use all of your network to market your LinkedIn profile, but instead you can segment your network into smaller groups for each niche that you are interested in. When you get a lead from one of your members, you can follow up with them.Even though you may be frustrated about the way LinkedIn is designed, there are still some solid strategies to use. The advantage of using LinkedIn is that you can search for employees in your field. You don't have to know anyone in their specific field an d the network is also large enough to give you leads. You can use this list to ask for a meeting and get in contact with them.The other advantage of LinkedIn is that it can put you in contact with people who are willing to pay you to talk. This doesn't mean that you should start promoting your business, but just to share something you have to offer. If you have something to offer, they may also be interested in buying or selling that something.While writing resume is hard, it can still be done. LinkedIn can still help you make the most of your skills. If you are looking for a career change or a new job, it might be time to consider LinkedIn.

Tips For Launching Your #SideHustle

Tips For Launching Your #SideHustle As a career coach/writer/entrepreneur who started a business with less than nothing in 2008, and today has coached people around the world, and in the Obama White House, I’m passionate about the life-changing effects of small business. My small business allowed me to make a comeback in my own life. In the early horrendous “interesting” years of starting a small business with nothing but dread, determination and debt, I remember wishing there was someone to hold my hand, and tell me exactly what to do. But, time passes. I didn’t die. In fact, I started getting clients. And, I realized that the incredible thing about owning a small business is that every single day you have the opportunity, if not the responsibility, to create the world you want to live in. Some of you will be happy with a side hustle and one client a month, while others will end up running enormous Fortune 500 companies. Your empire, your responsibility. This Women’s History Month If you have even the tiniest spark of an entrepreneurial idea, guard it, cherish it, protect that flame. Your idea will save your life. Do you know how many women around the world, and here are home, are still ground down into dust, and made to feel that all that is worthwhile is how big their breasts are? Do you know how many women are born and bred to feel worthless?   We used to burn women at the stake. Now, with social media, women burn themselves: progress! This Women’s History Month I hope you commit to making your own “herstory.” Use what you have to create what you need. Baby, I know: getting started is terrifying. And how exactly do you get started creating a small business, or side hustle when you don’t have a MBA, and Carlota, how do I even sell, and who would I be selling to, and why would they buy from me and oh my god, what about taxes, oh this is insane, I’m going to get back into bed and binge watch Broad City again, go away, I’ll come out when it’s safe. Trust me when I say that as a history major, and produced playwright, just the idea of business was frightening. But also trust, that you, like me, know a lot more than you think you know. Your business idea probably grew out of an experience you had, or a service you wished you could find. That’s. How. Empires. Begin. An idea. And the stuff you don’t know? That’s the exciting part of being an entrepreneur! Now you educate yourself, and grow your network, and research and challenge yourself to get the knowledge necessary to bring your idea to reality. People become entrepreneurs because they have an idea that keeps them awake at night, an idea that makes them feel alive, NOT because they have an MBA, or know all the answers. Being an entrepreneur is believing in your dreams. Today, right now, write out a concise description of your small business/side hustle idea: how would you describe it to a good friend? Who might be interested in your idea? (These are your potential clients.) Why would they be interested? How would your idea benefit them? How would you find these potential clients? (This, btw, is a great time to join your college/grad school alumni association(s) and ask if they have any free resources for entrepreneurs. Nowadays, some universities have small business incubators. Do they have an entrepreneurs’ group? Join it! Sign up for upcoming events, workshops and mentors. You might be thinking, “Um Carlota, I’m not an entrepreneur yet…?” I just waved my magic wand: boom bitch, you’re an entrepreneur, get to work! #yourwelcome)                                                                                    Hustle! Write out everything you can think of regarding your idea, and then start listing your questions and concerns. The more concrete you can make your questions, the greater chance you have of being able to discover the answers. Answers lead to more answers, and more ideas. Check out Score.orgâ€"a fantastic and free source of small business informationâ€"and google your area’s Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Association. What free resources do they have for female entrepreneurs? Follow these groups on social media, and see how you can join and learn from the online conversation. Visit your alumni association(s) Facebook and LinkedIn page. Do they have entrepreneurial groups and resources? Are there men and women who are willing to mentor young entrepreneurs? These people know all about your so-called stupid questions, they’ve lived them! Help yourself to get the help necessary. Some of you might be thinking, “Well, that’s cute, but I don’t know everything about my idea yet, I better wait till the time’s right.” Okay, but years from now, when you’re still waiting to know everything (i.e. for official permission to be the woman you wish to be), and your friends have started numerous businesses, and maybe failed, but probably also succeeded, and changed their own lives…tell me how your perfectionism *cough fear cough* worked out for you. In my own experience, ideas lead to more ideas whereas fear only leads to more fear. Women’s History Month strikes me as an excellent time for women to reject the ambition-destroying myth we’re force-fed about embodying perfection, n’est ce pas? Make time for your business to succeed. If you have time to watch Narcos, you have time to build your own damn empire. Before you give me that look, and roll your eyes, bitch I wish you would. I started a successful business in a broke-ass apartment in Queens…and now I have clients from NYC to Cabo San Lucas to Australia. It took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, profanities and rejection to get here. Achieving your destiny is always going to be inconvenient. It’s never fun per se to open yourself up to the world. But what’s the alternative? Exactly. Shut up, get to work. Right now, with your list of what you need to know, go through your monthly calendar and set aside time every day, even if it’s just 25 minutes, to do the research, make the calls, schedule the meetings necessary. Are you going to need certifications? Are there free training classes or apps? Make the time to get the knowledge, resources and advantages that you need to triumph! Give your (wonderfully imperfect unique) self permission to succeed. As a coach, almost every day I have men and women sit in my office, tell me their fascinating dreams and then immediately tell me all the reasons theyll never work. Oh. Okay. Good meeting, NEXT! Listen if you dont believe in you, how exactly am I supposed to believe in you? Today make a decision that you’re going to believe in your ideas UNTIL they come to fruition, not IF because, spoiler alert, unless you believe, no one else can. You know how many people, in the early years, laughed at me, told me I was crazy? The same people who now read my articles on Huffington Post and XO Jane, who heard about my keynote at Wellesley College, and emailed me to say, “Wow, Carlota, I never doubted you.” Yeah? Jealous much, bish? #petty #goals And yes, early years of this business were pure sh*t: no vacations. No money. No brunches. Nothing but work, 24/7.   But at the end of my life, I won’t be thinking about all the luxury vacations I didn’t take. I’ll be remembering the broken clients who, because of me, got help, found love, and created opportunities. I’ll be remembering the brave woman who sent me a card on my birthday reading, “Happy birthday, you saved my life! Thank you for being born! You are loved.” And maybe it was a birthday when I had all of $100 in the bank, but I felt like the richest person on earth because I knew how hard that client had fought to come up to the light. I held the proof in my hands. My mailman watched me cry at my mailbox and said, worriedly, “Hey, lady…d’ja get bad news?” And I said, tears streaming down my face, “No, no… wonderful news!” No one has to believe in your business but you. You are the one who will have to fight for your goals and your dreams. If you believe in yourself, you’re luckier than most. Your entrepreneurial passion can save our bruised, battered world. This Women’s History Month, I hope you will give yourself permission to make your own “herstory.” When I was broke, and exhausted and frightened and I wanted, desperately, to give up, I thought of the anonymous women who went before me… and I knew that surrender was impossible. Resistance was my responsibility. I hope it’s yours as well. That’s how seriously I take small business. Clients sometimes ask me which woman in history inspired me, and it’s the millennia of women who were beaten, and raped, and killed and silenced. The women who never were given joy and opportunities, but simply rules and guilt and shame. The women who were taught to step on the throat of their own songs. Women just like me. Women just like you. This is your time: go build your empire. About the author Success Strategist Carlota Zimmerman, J.D., helps men and women from all walks of life, and of all ages, identify and achieve their goals, with the primary objective being the enhancement of  her clients’ professional and personal lives in  ways meaningful to them. Helping clients improve their lives in all aspects that count, Carlota’s expert counseling extends from focusing on clearly defining ambitions, uncovering networking secrets and crafting dynamic elevator pitches to successful job-hunting strategies, social media recommendations, and more. Her clients are located across the world, from New York City to the UK. . Images: Main.  Believe.  

Dont let your career become outdated

Dont let your career become outdated Im still stuck on that study in the Harvard Business Review that I wrote about a few weeks ago. The data shows that what women want from their career is respect, and what men want is a series of engaging problems to solve. This struck me as totally true. But personality type complicates the picture. My personality type is ENTJwhich is only 0.5% of the female population. So you can bet that I care less about respect than most women. And the guys who work in non-profits saving lives and being kind or whatever, its a safe assumption that they are feeling types and that they want respect more than complex problems. Its important to know where you fall on this spectrum so you know what you are looking for in a job. Of course its also important that you know your personality type because then youll know the type of work that will feel good. And once you know how you want to spend your days and what your goals is for work, you are halfway to being able to coach yourself and all the other people I coach as well. (The other half you need for coaching success is the ability to see immediately how people are lying to themselves and have the guts to tell them.) But theres another problem looming in the background. We are all scared of becoming irrelevant because it limits our options for getting what we want. I found that my worries about irrelevance started when I withdrew my application to a graduate program in history and played professional beach volleyball instead. I worried smart people would ignore me. Then I quit playing volleyball and I worried that hot people would ignore me. Then I had a baby and I worried that everyone would ignore me. Which they sort of did. Well, they didnt ignore me in the mental ward, with my new baby. But what I realized soon after that is people always worry about being irrelevant to some group or another. And I found that the best way to solve the problem is to keep learning and keep fitting yourself into new places when the old places dont work for you any more. And we are all facing that as Generation Z enters the workforce. I study generational trends voraciously. Now I realize that watching whos coming up is a way to ensure Ill never feel irrelevant. I can see what will matter and what wont matter and I can reposition myself. Heres how we should all be adjusting so we can continue to meet our goals well past the time that Generation Z floods the office. 1. Forget about collaborative leadership. Due to Generation Xs disdain for authority and Generation Ys obsession with being part of a group, we have a leadership vacuum. Generation Z will fill that in six seconds. Entrepreneur magazine is known for celebrating the 25-year-old CEO. But in their recent leadership issue it was all gray-haired men. Why? Because the Baby Boomers were the last generation to be comfortable with top-down leadership. But Generation Z will lead top-down, (similar to kids born to WW II veterans). And it will feel good to them. 2. Forget about female leadership. Everyone can shut up about lets get more women into leadership positions. Because they dont want leadership positions. Or theyd get them. Obviously. Women want to have time for their kids. And leaders especially top-down leaders dedicate their lives to their work. There wont be female leadership and male leadership. There will be people who lead at home and people who lead at work. People will take ownership of outcomes for the areas of life they care most about. 3. Forget about dispersed media. The age of the big blog is over. There are too many. And also, blogging is a sweat shop job that no one will want in future generations. So media will shift to big media sites. They will just be a little smarmier. They will break news like Gawker does. They will steal content from each other liberally. And they will be run by algorithms rather than editors. Also, Generation Z wont care about managing their own brand online. They dont use their own names online right now, so there is no reason to believe they will in the future.  Gen Y, as teens, were all about making themselves noticeably special online. Gen Z just wants to connect with their offline friends where their parents cant find them.  4. Forget about living with your parents in your 20s. Aaron Penn of Urbanophile wrote a great post describing the decline of work among Generation Y. One of the reasons 80% of Gen Y live with their parents after college is that their Baby Boomer parents are living in McMansions. The next generation will not have so big a house to come home to. And the unemployment rate for Gen Y is high, but its artificially high. They were raised to accept only a job thats a dream job, so for Gen Y, going to their parents house is better than taking a bad job. And now they are unemployed. Generation X invented the word McJob because they took a McJob when offered one. And their kids, Gen Z, will do the same. So unemployment will soon be a sign of being old and outdated. Gen Z will see this and take whatever job they can get. 5. Forget  about hiding behind your own generation.   Our inclination is to identify with our era. We hope truths of our generation rule the workplace for our whole lives. But if you settle into what is true for your generation, you are going to become outdated fast. Because what is true in the workplace is largely a function of what the new generation brings to work. For those of you who can understand generational trends, you can adjust where you point yourself in you career to accommodate these shifts. For those of you who dont believe in grouping people by  generation, get over yourself. Im going to tell you three names. You tell me how old each of the women is: Shirley, Jennifer, Ashley. You know, right? Because in general, each  generation  picks a certain type of name. Its not just your hunch. Its reality. The Baby Name Wizard shows trends in names as just one example of how easily we can make generalizations about generations. And look, if you cant see the name Madison coming up as a Gen Z name, then you need to read this post again and again, because seeing trends does not come easily to you.

Writing a Resume - How to Write a Resume and Cover Letter For Your Job Search

Writing a Resume - How to Write a Resume and Cover Letter For Your Job SearchIf you're trying to get the job of your dreams, you should know how to write a resume and cover letter. You will be amazed at the difference it can make in your odds of getting that job.As you may already know, applying for jobs can be tricky at times. There are many people who become discouraged when they have applied for jobs and have not been selected. If you want to avoid this, it's best to know how to write a resume and cover letter.When you first start looking for a job, the first thing you should do is write a cover letter. This is an easy step by step instructions for writing a resume and cover letter. It will help you craft your letter by explaining your qualifications for the job and why you would be a good candidate for the position. The cover letter will also include some basic information about yourself that will be important when the employer reads it.Step two in writing a resume is creating a job description. In this step, you will first list the job responsibilities of the position. Next, you will need to describe how you can perform each job and your experience with that particular job. Be careful here, because some employers might ask you to describe your previous experience. That's fine, but remember that it's important to describe your skills and abilities.Step three is a few lines of bullet points explaining what you bring to the job. These should be short and to the point. Don't take too much time here because the employer won't be reading your resume. Use bullets that are easy to read so they can quickly look over your resume.After describing the job requirements, you will need to list all of your work experience. Be sure to include your job titles, positions held, dates you worked, and details of your duties. Be sure to mention your professional affiliations or any other sources where you have volunteered your services.At the end of your resume, you should inclu de an employer summary that states your best traits and highlights the things you want employers to know about you. Write the employer summary using bullet points to describe each item. For instance, in the example above, the employer summary for your name would be something like 'Employer Summary: Youthful and High Energy Candidate'Employer Summary: Great Communication Skills, Knowledge of Online Training.'Job applications contain a lot of information so you will have to learn how to write a resume and cover letter. The first step is to research job opportunities in your field and apply for the ones that interest you.

5 reasons why Danish workers are the happiest in the world - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

5 reasons why Danish workers are the happiest in the world - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog You will often see Denmark listed as one of the ?happiest countries on the planet.? Interestingly Danes are not only happy at home, they?re also happy at work and according to most studies of worker satisfaction among nations, the happiest employees in the world are in Denmark. Here?s just one data point: Gallup found that 18% of American workers are actively disengaged, meaning they are ?emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and less likely to be productive.? The same number for Danish workers is only 10%. But why are Danish workers so much happier than their counterparts around the world? Here are five fundamental differences that explain whats going on. 1: REASONABLE WORKING HOURS I once talked to an American who had gotten a job as a manager at a Danish company. Wanting to prove his worth, he did what he had always done and put in 60 to 70 hours a week. After a month, his manager invited him to a meeting. He was fully expecting to be praised for his hard work, but instead he was asked ?Why do you work so much? Is something wrong? Do you have a problem delegating? What can we do to fix this?? Some non-Danes wonder if Danes ever work. Not only do Danes tend to leave work at a reasonable hour most days, but they also get five to six weeks of vacation per year, several national holidays and up to a year of paid maternity/paternity leave. While the average American works 1,780 hours and the average South Korean 2,024 hours per year, the average Dane only works 1,408, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) statistics. Danes also have more leisure hours than any other OECD workers and the link between sufficient leisure and happiness is well established in the research. The difference to other countries is stark. Many companies around the world celebrate overwork as a sign of commitment. ?You have to put in the hours? is the message in the mistaken belief that the more hours you work, the more work you get done. We call this ?The Cult of Overwork.? Danish companies, on the other hand, recognize that employees also have a life outside of work and that working 80 hours a week is bad for both employees and the bottom line. 2: LOW POWER DISTANCE In many countries, if your boss gives you an order, you pretty much do what you?re told. In a Danish workplace, extremely few direct orders are ever given and employees are more likely to view them as suggestions. Dutch sociologist Geert Hofstede has quantified the culture in more than 100 countries on several parameters, one of which is ?power distance.? A high power distance means that bosses are undisputed kings whose every word is law. Danish workplaces?with a score of 18-have the lowest power distance in the world. Just for comparison,? Belgium has a power distance of 65, China clocks in at 80 and Malaysia holds the world record at 100. By law, any Danish workplace with more than 35 employees must open up seats on the board for employees. This means that Danish employees experience more autonomy and are more empowered at work. Here?s just one example: By law, any Danish workplace with more than 35 employees must open up seats on the board for employees, who are elected to the board by their peers and serve on an equal footing and with same voting powers as all other board members. 3: GENEROUS UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS In Denmark, losing your job is not the end of the world. In fact, unemployment insurance seems too good to be true, giving workers up to 90% of their original salary for two years. In the U.S., for instance, losing your job can easily lead to financial disaster and loss of health insurance. This leads to job lock i.e. staying in a job you hate because you can?t afford to leave. Simply put: If you?re a Dane and you don?t like your job, you can quit that job without risking serious financial problems, forcing companies to treat their employees well or risk losing them. 4: CONSTANT TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Since the mid-1800s, Denmark has focused on life-long education of its workers. This policy continues to this day, with an extremely elaborate set of government, union, and corporate policies that allow almost any employee who so desires to attend paid training and pick up new skills. It?s called an ?active labor market policy,? and Denmark spends more on these types of programs than any other country in the OECD. This lets Danish workers constantly grow and develop and helps them stay relevant (not to mention stay employed) even in a changing work environment. It also makes their jobs richer and more interesting. 5: A FOCUS ON HAPPINESS Here?s a word that exists only in the Scandinavian languages: Arbejdsgl?de. Arbejde means work and gl?de means happiness, so arbejdsgl?de is ?happiness at work.? This word is not in common use in any other language on the planet. Many people around the world hate their jobs and consider this to be perfectly normal. For instance, where we Scandinavians have arbejdsgl?de, the Japanese instead have karoshi, which means ?Death from overwork.? And this is no coincidence; there is a word for it in Danish because Danish workplaces have a long-standing tradition of wanting to make their employees happy. To most Danes, a job isn?t just a way to get paid; we fully expect to enjoy ourselves at work. In other countries, the attitude towards work is often very different. A few years ago I gave a speech in Chicago, and an audience member told me that ?Of course I hate my job, that?s why they pay me to do it!? Many people around the world hate their jobs and consider this to be perfectly normal. Similarly, many workplaces around the world do little or nothing to create happiness among employees, sticking to the philosophy that ?If you?re enjoying yourself, you?re not working hard enough.? THE UPSHOT I?m not trying to paint Danish companies as utopias for workers and their international counterparts as tyrannical hellholes. There are bad Danish workplaces and stellar non-Danish ones?Zappos and Google are two that I?ve personally visited and studied. But studies have uncovered a number of systemic and cultural differences between Denmark and the rest of the world that serve to explain why Danish workers are on average so much happier. This goes far beyond happiness. We know from any number of studies that happy workers are more productive and innovative and that consequently, happy companies have happier customers and make more money. This may help explain why Danish workers are among the most productive in the OECD and why the Danish economy continues to do so well. Related posts Always being busy kills productivity here are 5 ways to avoid it Top 10 reasons why happiness is the ultimate productivity booster 10 steps to build a strategy for happiness Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Appetite lost in translation - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Appetite lost in translation - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Yesterday my wonderful girlfriend suggested crab chowder for dinner. We found a great recipe a few years ago by british TV chef Ainsley Harriott which quickly became one of our favorites. Ainsley is a man who is very obviously happy at work as you can probably tell by looking here. We Googled our way to a danish version of the recipe which had lost a little something in the translation though: And no, thats not the danish spelling of crab chowder :o) Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related