It's Your Career, Drive It Like You Stole It

We'll be publishing insights from attendees of this year's PW&WCBA event over the next several weeks. Would you like to share your thoughts? Email them to Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

Chuck Millhollan, It is your Career, Drive It Like You Stole It written by Demetrios Plessias

Chuck Millhollan spoke about how to lead your career to a better today and future. He compared a used broken down car idling by versus a muscle car as what your career could be compared to by others. He stated how it is important not to get led off the path of your career. He provided the following insight as food for thought.

- Know what your worth.
- Know your next position and plan for it.
- If you were going to show off your career, what would you show?

Statistics were given that 9% of jobs are found on-line while 75% of jobs are found due to networking. Chuck expressed the importance on not being invisible and to take advantage of social media sites and networking events. He expressed that your network is only as good as what you put into it. Your career is a large part of your self-worth therefore it should be maintained through knowledge sharing, obtaining certifications/licenses as well as keeping up with the latest innovations.

To add my personal thought to this session, I really enjoyed this session since Chuck made it interactive for all but the most I got out of it was that Chuck made me realize that one should not lose track on the development of their career even though it is very easy to be bumped off track. I have now developed a plan that would give my career the upgrade that it deserves. Thanks Chuck for the jump start.

Demetrios Plessias is a project manager for WSP Flack + Kurtz which is a consulting Engineering firm in NYC. He can be reached at demetrios.plessias@wspfk.com

Challenge: How can you make a great first impression during a networking event?

Guest contributor, Lisa DiTullio, shares her suggestions and tips for making the most of your 2 second best impression.

I recently met Ann at a networking event, her name tag read "DIVA". It didn't take long during my brief exchange with the DIVA to form a first impression - not long at all. In fact, according to Malcolm Gladwell, we are able to size someone up in just two seconds - it's the power of our adaptive unconscious. In recognition of Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, let's celebrate the power of the glance.

When encountering someone new, first impressions count. This is particularly true when networking with others - you want to leave a positive, memorable impact when meeting for the first time. Through observation and measurement you can improve your presence and connection - ideally to leverage the encounter for lasting value.

Think about your first contact with someone. Do you exhibit the following qualities to make you stand out and be remembered in a positive manner?

1. Confident: Do you inspire others? Do you speak in a sure way? Are you poised and level-headed?
2. Credible: Do you have expertise and can you be trusted? How often can you persuade others?
3. Capable: Do you have what it takes to get the job done? Are you an efficient, effective and expert in your field?
4. Calm: Do you remain unruffled during turbulent times?
5. Clean: Do you have a neat appearance? Can you speak in plain language; get right to the point; present fresh ideas?
6. Charisma: Can you use your personal being, rather than speech or logic alone, to interact with others in a real and meaningful way?
7. Connections: Do you establish lasting relationships?

Everything you do during the first 2 seconds of an interaction speaks volumes, especially your actions:

• Do you maintain direct eye contact during dialogue?
• What do you do with your hands when you communicate?
• Do you face the other person in an "open" pose?
• Can you stand still? Do you jiggle your feet, your knee, or your leg?
• Are you aware of your facial expressions?
• How's the pitch of your voice? Do you speak clearly?

Bring a buddy to the next networking event. Ask your pal to observe you from a distance - solicit honest feedback when the event is over - How did you do? What did you do? Focus on a few improvement opportunities and try again, but make it quick.

Now its time for you to join the conversation - Share your ideas, suggestions and thoughts on what the successful project manager looks like on our discussion on LinkedIn.

Contributor: Lisa DiTullio (Lisa DiTullio & Associates)

ProjectWorld & The World Congress for Business Analysts will take place November 14-16, 2011 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL. Interested in speaking at this year's conference? Click here for details.
Be sure to visit www.projectworld.com for tools, articles, templates and event updates.

A Place for Face-To-Face Meetings?

Last week I was thinking about computing in the cloud, and even today I was pulling files off of Basecamp for another project. However, being in the events business, buzz on The Harvard Business Review and The Economist blogs about the value of face to face meetings definitely pulled me back down to earth.

When you're managing a project, how important do you feel face to face meetings are? Additionally, where do you place the value of networking events and conferences in contrast to online networking or webinars?

On The Harvard Business Review blog, Stephen Greer writes

"The most important aspect of these meetings is that they weren't blaming sessions. We shared successes and best practices — and learned from challenges."

To me, that is often the value of attending conferences, the opportunity to be inspired by thought leaders and peers, and also to share best practices and experiences. You might learn as much or more sharing "war stories" (and successes!) during a networking event or over coffee between sessions as you do during the sessions themselves. Similarly, inspiration may strike or your team may gel during the down time of a face to face meeting in a way that just isn't possible during a con call or by email.

Where do you stand? Would you just as soon save the networking for twitter? Or are you looking for some face time?