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It is the week of Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year.  It is my favorite holiday because I am so grateful for a holiday that is all about expressing ‘Thank You’ to friends and family but also clients, colleagues, students…well, everyone who is a part of my life.  In fact, instead of sending out Christmas or Season’s Greetings cards, I just finished sending out about one hundred Happy Thanksgiving cards.

A business ‘Thank You’ sentiment can be delivered any time and in many forms—in-person or in a phone call, of course, or via an e-mail message, written note, a certificate of recognition, etc.  The key to effectively conveying to the business person that they are doing/have done something that deserves gratitude is delivering your thoughts in a professional and prompt way.

For those of you looking for a job—and there are way too many of you out there—the effort to send a thank you note may seem like a job in itself.  You may not know what to say or how to say it.  However, taking the time to write from a place of appreciation can produce a heart-felt, well-scripted ‘Thank You’ to help you land a job or advance in your career.  (Hint:  do not start with “I just want to thank you…” instead start “Thank you….”)  On the other hand, the lack of effort—and respect—to take the time to send a ‘Thank You’ even via e-mail, can derail a career opportunity.

For instance, during the reception after a program I moderated at Baruch College, a student introduced herself and mentioned that her career interests were in my field of training.  When she asked if she could schedule an informational interview with her, I said, “Yes.”  We met in person a short while later and this bright, intelligent, and dedicated senior told me of the challenges she was facing finding a job in her major.  Since I knew colleagues in her field, I suggested that she e-mail me her resume and, after reviewing it, I would send it to colleagues at two different organizations.  I wanted to help her since she had impressed me as someone who was working hard to be a leader.

However, a week, then two, then three passed without getting an e-mail.  It’s my nature to be generous; I could have reached out to this student.  However, sending a ‘Thank You’—even if she didn’t want to send me her resume—is a form of respect for my knowledge, my connections, my time.  If she couldn’t take the time to compose a three or four sentence e-mail, she was not the person I would recommend to what could have been a potential employer.

A Wise Choice

Sending a ‘Thank You’ can be a crucial career move that illustrates how you will manage your on-the-job behavior.  The image you see to the left is the cover of a card from a graduate student who was in one of my “Supercharge Your Career” programs (the next program will be in January).  Unlike the senior I described above, my “Supercharged” student made the effort to buy, write, stamp, and send me a card that included a well-written note acknowledging the role I played in helping him move forward in his career.  He also attached his business card with a paper clip so that I knew how to contact him and/or that I could pass along to one of my colleagues in his field.

Previously, this student had thanked me in person and via e-mail; the card was an added and thoughtful professional touch.  There are times, however, when e-mail can be an effective means to make the receiver’s work easier.  For instance, you met a business executive at a networking event, you engaged in a long and compelling conversation about your shared field, and you exchanged business cards.  Ideally, the next day you sent her an e-mail and, if she had suggested it, you included your resume.  After reading your well-written and insightful e-mail—and reviewing your professional-looking and well-written resume—she replied to you and then forwarded your e-mail to a Director in her company who she knew was looking for someone with your credentials and potential.

A resume that is sent electronically has a better chance of being passed along and read than a hardcopy one because there is no need to photocopy and/or send it to be put on a desk that probably has a lot of other resumes from various and unknown sources.  The ease and convenience of sharing your information via e-mail is a preference.  Of course, in addition to sending an e-mail message you can also send a hand-written note of thanks.

Not all online connections are effective when looking for job.  Do not text a ‘Thank You’ unless that is your usual form of communication with a specific recruiter.  Also, remember that online greeting cards can be effective to send for a colleague, friend, or family member when you want to remember their birthdays, the holidays, etc.  It is not a good platform in which to send a ‘Thank You’ for a job interview or related step in the career search process since they are too informal for a career search.

If one of your employees has done an outstanding job or contributed greatly to a team effort, you might consider a ‘Thank You’ that takes the form of a ‘recognition’ event.  Once a year, one of my corporate clients hosted a ‘Recognition Day’ for their small staff during which each individual received a certificate of appreciation.  Each certificate was customized to include the person’s outstanding performance and contributions to the operation of the organization and read aloud as the employee accepted the certificate.  Although a monetary recognition is always welcomed, being publicly praised for performance is also appreciated.

To me, Thanksgiving is not just an event that happens once a year.  Giving thanks is a part of each day when I have the chance to appreciate those who take the time, effort, and consideration on my behalf.  Enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving holiday and ongoing opportunities to give thanks, thanks that hopefully will include gratitude for landing a job!

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I love to read.  And I love to read Fortune Magazine.  Why?  The voice, the tone, the integrity of its articles and the scope of business covered.

The September 6, 2010 issue is now torn apart.  Not out of frustration or anger.  It is torn apart because as I went through the issue, I tore out a single page of an opinion piece, seven pages of a profile, etc.  Right now, you may be asking yourself, “Why do you tear out articles?”

I inherited the gene from my mother.  I remember that she tore out and referenced articles from at least two if not three newspapers to share with her children or neighbors.  I continue this habit.  A habit that I know could be eased by going to the www.fortune.com website, reading the article online and sharing the article electronically.

I like paper.  I like that I can sort the articles into five “destinations” or folders:  1) MGT 3300—“A Management Approach to Organizational Behavior”—the undergraduate class I teach in the Management Department at the Zicklin School of Business within Baruch College, part of the City University of New York; 2) “Ideas” that can help my business; 3) “Writing” that inspires me to be a better writer; 4) “Investments” that can help my bottom line; and 5) “Other” which includes “Technology” articles to reread and then maybe discard.

For instance, this is the beginning of a new semester and I’ve filed the following in MGT 3300:

The cover story, “Trader Joe’s:  America’s hottest retailer is also notoriously hush-hush.  Fortune uncovers the secrets of its success” will be used to illustrate organizational culture.

“Why J&J’s Headache Won’t Go Away:  Once praised for setting the standard in management crisis, the health care giant is battling a stream of drug recalls.  Fortune investigates what went wrong—and why it isn’t getting any better.”  This can be of interest in the leadership, communications, or other sessions; my corporate communications majors will find this of interest.

“Chrysler’s Speed Merchant:  CEO Sergio Marchione is racing to fill a dry product pipeline; his unorthodox methods aren’t for everyone” by Alex Taylor III will be discussed in class tonight.  The assigned reading in the textbook for the session is “Foundations of Organizational Structure.”  The chapter starts with a picture of CEO Sergio Marchione (in the very same clothes he is wearing in the Fortune photo) and an overview of “Restructuring Chrysler.”  Good timing!

The next article will eventually go into “Writing,” a bulging folder that has more than one article by the excellent Wall St. author William D. Cohan.  His latest for Fortune is, “Dick Fuld in Exile:  Already lampooned and vilified, the former Lehman Brothers CEO now faces investigation and maybe a cash crunch.  Now wonder he’s working so hard.”  Fuld will be discussed during the chapter “Personality and Values” or “Emotions and Moods.”

There are too many technology articles that I’ve saved to mention.  Technology is defining our culture and determining our future.  I want to keep up-to-date and I also want to provide my students rational anticipation of how their “technical future” will evolve by 2020.  Actually, writing about the impact of technology on the future of business is going to be part of their term project.  And I’m ready to share with them the articles in my files that I tore out from Fortune!

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Last May while reading Baruch’s “Weekly News,” I happened upon an entry regarding the fall’s Freshman Convocation 2010.  What caught my eye was a note that the book chosen for the entire Baruch College Community to read and discuss was The Bitter Sea:  Coming of Age in a China before Mao by Charles N. Li.  What a great idea, I thought, and requested and received my own copy of the book.

During the convocation on Wednesday, August 25, faculty, staff, and students will have a chance to talk about the book together.  Also, that evening, the Baruch Performing Arts Center will present an abridged staged reading adaptation of the text.  Although I don’t teach freshmen, I wanted to be involved by at least reading the book and sharing my insights here in my blog.  Who knows?  One day, I could have some of the current freshmen in one of my business classes.

The Author’s Note at the beginner of the book states that, “‘Bitter Sea’ is the literal translation of the Chinese expression ku hai, which means ‘life and the human condition.’”  Reading this memoir is a way to understand life and the human condition in a different time and place.

The reason the idea of community reading impressed me so is based in part on the story of Li, a former dean of the graduate division and linguistics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara.  Prof. Li’s rendition of his childhood struggle to relate to his father and to find a way to express himself may not be literary genius.  However, it is very definitely a way to gain insight into his search to find a self in very challenging circumstances that included abuse and ridicule from family, teachers, and the government.  The professor’s book is a lesson in transformation, looking back at levels of neglect and ridicule while putting them in context of a culture and a period of time in his life when his parents had to find their own ways to survive during changing circumstances.

Another reason why the idea of a community reading impressed me is that at Baruch, faculty and students represent over 150 countries; it refers to itself as the most ethnically diverse campus in the U.S.  Reading a story of the past puts those from another time and place into focus and helps to understand the history that the parents and grandparents of others had to endure in a different environment.  Prof. Li was born around the time of the start of World War II.  His father was a wealthy Chinese government official whose career was cut short by being sent to jail for treason.  The wealth, cohesion, and relationships within the family were destroyed by waves of new political regimes.  In 1945, the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek assumed power; in 1948 while living in Shanghai, the Communist army took over the city.  His parents settled in Hong Kong and his father thought of the idea to send his son to a Communist reform school, a place that tried to break the young man’s spirit and destroy his reason.  Instead, it fed his determination to find avenues to leave China and pursue a college education.

At 283 pages, The Bitter Sea is not a long read.  It is an interesting read and a worthwhile read to understand Chinese history and the learning path of a strong-willed, intelligent individual who was always, it seemed, working to be a leader.  It is a good read for the Baruch College Community.

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Sunday evening—or maybe it was early Monday morning—I was browsing channels on my radio (I don’t have a TV, my PC was turned off, and audio files are  too large for my Palm Centro) and stopped when to listen to a business report on the benefits of keeping a journal in a job search.  This interested me because the reporter (whose name I thought was Steve Greenberg but am not certain) mentioned that there is research to validate this statement.  Doing a quick search on the website of WCBS NEWSRADIO and a general search of the web, I couldn’t find the audio of the report or a reference to the research.  If you know of any, please let me know.  I’ll continue to search and let you know as well.

The topic was so close to my own way of processing stressful situations, that I remember the essence of what was reported.  That is, job seekers who keep a journal are in better emotional shape for the next interview than those who do not keep a journal.  There could have been a statement that the research showed those who keep a journal are more likely to land a job offer.  That would make sense but I’m not certain about that fact.

What I do know is that journal writing is a helpful tool to process emotions.  If you are able to “debrief” an interview while being  100% candid and honest  about your strengths and challenges, chances are that the next interview will be a better one.   You’ve taken the time to reflect on what you did well and what you did not so well.  Possibly, you are more honest with yourself writing in a journal than you could have been having a conversation with a significant other or a good friend.  A journal doesn’t judge or hold accountable.  That blank piece of paper you fill up is for you and feedback is what you, not a journal, generates.

Journal writing is a tool that can aid in recording sentences that you can practice for your next interview at the same company (think positive) or for a first interview at another company.  Jotting down small talk or ice breakers (“What a great day” or “Snowing again! When is this going to stop?  Do you know it snowed in Dallas?”) or key phrases you want to include in a conversation (“I’m a multi-tasker” or “Focus is a key to productivity”) can reinforce what you want to practice when meeting someone new in their office—or when networking at a professional meeting.

What would be helpful as well is to write out what the interviewer asked you specifically and how they asked the questions.  That is, was their wording “canned” or did it seem targeted to you as a potential candidate whose resume they had read thoroughly?  Were they fully present for you or did they toss questions your way while looking at their computer screen or checking their IPhone messages?  Writing about how you could interject their activities into a positive statement can be wonderful preparation for your next encounter with a distracted interviewer.  What do I mean by a positive statement?  “You’re great at multi-tasking.  That’s a great skill and one I’m certain to learn when I am working in your area/on your team/in the company to be as efficient as possible.”  That could make the interviewer blush that he was noticed multi-tasking or that she was caught checking e-mails to confirm her next interview.

Although I will continue searching for this research, I feel comfortable posting this entry on my blog because the information is solid and helpful to those looking to ace a job interview.  My own journals date back to the time I was a junior at the University of California at Berkeley about— well, a long time ago.  Through the years, okay decades, I’ve taught journal writing to students in adult education courses and to individuals.  To this day, I still go to my journal to write about a coaching or consulting client, letting my creativity flow so that I can come up with new ideas to reduce their obstacles blocking optimum performance or break down challenges executives are facing with behavior in the organization.  If you’re interested in learning how to make the most of your journal writing during a job search or preparing to pitch a client, contact me at leigh@ltr-nyc.com  for a free half-hour consultation.

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Saturday, I was looking through the latest Dell catalog searching for a lightweight laptop with a screen larger than 10″.  Oh, and one that I could customize with a bright green or a rich blue color from Dell’s design studio.

“Get caught red-handed with NEW OPI designs” caught my attention on page 17.  OPI, as any woman would know if they get manicures, is the polish most often used in nail salons.  The company’s lucious and whimsical colors are six of “NEW Dell-exclusive OPI Design Studio laptop designs” that for $85 you can get applied on  select Dell laptops. 

Although I don’t get manicures in a salon, I do know something about OPI.  In 2006, I was a contributing writer for PINK Magazine, a monthly publication for professional women.   My role was to help identify a leading female executive then interview the woman and write up my notes for PINK’s monthly e-newsletter.  When I got the assignment to interview an executive at OPI, I was a little hesitant to take the assignment as I didn’t think the topic was, well serious enough.  During the interview, however, I remember sitting hunched over the desk where my telephone was located and frantically writing notes on this interesting field.  After my interview was published, the editor of PINK raved about the tone and thought it some of my best work.  You can be the judge as below is the article that appeared in PINK’s e-newsletter for August 2006.  You can also find a PDF of the article at my website:  http://www.ltr-nyc.com/Online_InPrint.html

Now I need to go to the Dell website and see if I want to apply one of the OPI colors to the laptop I just might buy.

THE CULTURE OF COLOR: Suzi Weiss Fischmann, OPI Products, Inc.  by Leigh Henderson

PINK: What was your career path?

SWF: “Bottom up.” I grew up working in the family clothing manufacturing business in New York City. In 1982, I move to Los Angeles to work in another family business, Odontorium Products Inc., that provided lotion, remover and implements for nails. We were successful and decided we wanted something for the customer to take home. In 1989, OPI rolled out 30 colorful shades of nail lacquer.

PINK: You are also Artistic Director. Why that additional title?

SWF: I design every color like an artist. The name comes first – six of us get together to brainstorm – and then we work on the ingredients to get the color to live up to the name.

PINK: What’s OPI’s growth secret?

SWF: Great marketing. The first time a customer buys our product is on impulse. The second time is because of quality. Madonna wore OPI’s Italian Love Affair when she married Guy Ritchie and sales soared for that color afterwards in London. Sharon Stone had on Innsbruck Bronze

PINK: What the biggest challenge are you facing today?

SWF: Pressure to be environmentally friendly. Regulatory agencies don’t do quantitative risk assessment and do not differentiate the potential risk of minute amounts of ingredients from two pounds. The European Union’s rules and regulations are a nightmare. Hopefully, in the next five years we’ll find a balance so that we’ll be approved to use very small amounts of ingredients in a safe way for our customers.

PINK: What’s your management style?

SWF: We have 350 employees in the Los Angeles office and my management approach is, “the door is open.” I’m very low key, I delegate, and work closely with the vice presidents of marketing and advertising. I want to provide inspiration and allow my employees creative freedom.

PINK: If you wanted to ask for a raise what color would you wear?

SWF: Red. It represents chic, Rita Hayworth, Hollywood. It’s also my favorite color to wear.

PINK: What’s the secret of your success?

SWF: I create every color collection as if I’d never done one before. The day I don’t, I won’t do it anymore. I get my inspiration every day from my husband and my daughter, 13, and a son who is 10.

PINK Points:  With every bottle of Red-y to Help purchased, $1.00 will be donated to the American Red Cross.

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Miss me?  My last post was on December 10, 2009, around the time when I began working on another level playing field special report.  Almost finalized, it will be availabe  at the Leadership Training Room website in early February.

The report contains almost 11,000 words that I’ve crafted into a letter and six essays about the impact of the Great Recession on lives, my own included.  Great Recession (two words, 15 characters with the space) is  better to use in a 20-page report than writing out the worst economy since the Great Depression (six words and 40 characters with spaces). 

The level playing field special reports I write are based on workplace behavior and the impact of external factors on an individual’s performance.  My reports are positioned to inform, educate, and enlighten readers on topics that resonant with them and can help further their careers.  The youngest of nine children, my older siblings loved to tell me, “Children are to be seen and not heard.”  Well, I’m being heard now on an international stage like this blog and enjoying writing to be heard by you and others.

What I’ve also been doing since I last posted a blog entry is volunteering the area of human resources for organizations.  The work has included collaborating with other volunteers in the process to fill a position:  developing an accurate position description, reviewing and evaluating resumes, identifying the first and second tier candidates to be called in for interviews, and interviewing a series of professionals to filter out the one we feel has the credentials and the ‘good fit’ demeanor to be hired.

Although I’ve hired people previously, the hiring process during the Great Recession has been different.  It’s different because I’m sensing desperation by how words are strung together.  Very determined to get a job since being laid off or fearing being laid off, the tone of a candidate’s writing often gives off a feel of, “It’s all about me and you should hire me because I am so great and I really need this job!”

How do I know that?  Well, in one very long cover letter, the writer composed 12 sentences and they all focused on her.  “I am…”   “I have…”  “I worked…” “I look forward…” was what I read and thought, “What about how her skills, knowledge, and experiences apply to and can benefit our organization?”

Hers was not the only cover written that way.  Many came in with a form cover letter with obviously only the inner address and salutation changed—which is not good form from my perspective.  What I wanted to read in their sentences was that the prospective candidate had done their research:  been to our website, searched periodicals online that could provide them more background, and then could translate this information into words that created a relationship between our needs and their backgrounds.

Resumes, also, left a lot to be desired.   Proof and proof again.  Use the “Grammar Check” in Word.  Punctuate consistently in descriptions and bullets.  Be accurate with the tense:  all past or all present tense.  Etc., etc., etc.

Finally, if you want to be heard and be seriously considered to be hired for a position, use the appropriate wording to describe what you do.  We, charged with hiring an employee, need to trust that an individual expressing an interest in being a candidate and possibly ‘the one’  hired, has documented authentically what she has done and is capable of doing from the first day on the job.

Whether you are in the process of developing a cover letter or resume—or an 11,000 word paper—write so that you are heard.   Now, it’s time for me to go resume finalizing my next level playing field special report.