Career Skills Enhancement

Ever found yourself just going through the motions, ticking tasks off your list but unsure if you're really on the right track? You're definitely not alone. Just last week, on the Career Shifts Podcast, I spoke with Phani Pattamatta, who shared his unique approach to self-assessment, "Chintan Baithak," or what he calls a personal brainstorming session. Imagine this: sitting quietly in a corner, reflecting on the past year, jotting down your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), and setting clear "North Star" goals. Then pinning these goals on a soft board to keep them in view daily, which helps you stay aligned with your aspirations. Well, this is exactly what he did all these years. In many corporate settings, it's the season for annual appraisal conversations, where managers review our performance. Sometimes, their views differ significantly from our self-assessment. While organizations mandate these annual reviews, there’s a huge opportunity for us to adopt Chintan Baithak in our personal lives. Why consider integrating Chintan Baithak into your routine? Here are some compelling reasons I've discovered: ➡ Enhances Clarity and Focus Regular sessions help dispel the fog around your goals. By revisiting what you aim to achieve, you stay on a clear path and avoid drifting from your core objectives. ➡Promotes Accountability This reflective practice demands brutal honesty about your successes and failures. This level of honesty increases your accountability, urging you to own your progress and adjust as needed. ➡Facilitates Continuous Improvement Acknowledging what didn’t work isn't just about recognizing failures; it's about turning those insights into actionable steps. This fosters a habit of continuous self-improvement. ➡Helps Manage Stress Understanding what needs adjustment and having a plan reduces anxiety. When you're clear about your direction and next steps, the stress of uncertainty fades away. ➡Strengthens Decision-Making Regular Chintan Baithak sessions improve your ability to make decisions that are aligned with your long-term goals, based on a clear understanding of past outcomes and current objectives. As we navigate the season of annual reviews, why not apply a similar reflective approach to your own life? Like formal performance reviews, this practice can spotlight your growth areas and celebrate your achievements. The keys to benefiting from Chintan Baithak are consistency and absolute honesty with yourself, which I had also heard from my other mentor, Tarun Nallu. Trust me, the clarity that comes from this exercise is a game-changer! Also, don't forget to join me for the next episode of Career Shifts tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 May 24, at 7 PM IST, where I'll be speaking with Raja Krishnamoorthy (Kitty), an acclaimed actor & distinguished Talent & Organizational Development consultant. #SelfReflection #ChintanBaithak #careershifts

In my 18 years at Amazon, I've seen more careers transformed by the next 2 weeks than by the other 50 weeks of the year combined. It's performance review season. Most people rush through it like a chore, seeing it as an interruption to their "real work." The smartest people I know do the opposite: they treat these upcoming weeks as their highest-leverage opportunity of the year. After handling over fifty feedback requests, self-reviews, and upward feedback 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 for nearly two decades, I've learned this isn't just another corporate exercise. This is when careers pivot, accelerate, or stall. Your feedback directly impacts compensation, career trajectories, and professional growth. Your self-assessment frames how leadership views your entire year's work. This isn't busywork—it's career-defining work, but we treat it with as much enthusiasm as taking out trash. Here's how to make the most of it: 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 - Ask yourself: "What perspective am I uniquely positioned to share?" Everyone will comment on the obvious wins and challenges. Your job is to provide insights others miss, making your feedback instantly invaluable. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀 - I keep a living document for every person I work with. When something feedback-worthy happens—good or challenging—it goes in immediately. No more scrambling to remember projects from months ago. This ensures specific, timely examples when needed. 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 - Don't just list tasks—craft a narrative. Lead with behaviors that drove impact. Show your growth in handling complex situations, influencing across teams, and making difficult trade-offs. Demonstrate self-awareness by acknowledging areas where you're actively improving. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 - They receive little feedback all year. Focus on how they help you succeed and specific ways they could support you better. Make it dense with information—this might be their only chance to learn how to serve their team better. 𝗢𝗻 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - The difference between criticism and valuable input is showing you genuinely want the other person to succeed. When that intention shines through, you don't need to walk on eggshells. Be specific about the behavior, its impact, and how it could improve. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 - Good constructive feedback often feels like an insult at first. But here's the mindset shift that changed everything for me: feedback is a gift. It's direct guidance on improvement from those who work closest with you. When you feel that defensive instinct rise, pause and focus on understanding instead. Here's your challenge: This year, treat performance review season like the most important work you'll do. Because in terms of long-term impact on careers—both yours and others'—it just might be.

Your personality is your most valuable professional asset - and your biggest potential liability. The difference? Understanding how to leverage it effectively. Many professionals struggle to understand their strengths and weaknesses, leading to missed opportunities and stalled careers. You've probably tried self-reflection or asked for feedback, but these methods often fall short. That's where personality assessments come in. But not all assessments are created equal. ---Class A Assessments--- ▪ Used for psychiatric or mental health evaluations ▪ Highly validated and reliable for clinical use ▪ Example: MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) ---Class B Assessments--- ▪ Trait-based assessments used in professional settings ▪ Validated for use in hiring, development, and team building ▪ Examples: Hogan Assessment, Birkman Method, Winslow Profile ---Class C Assessments--- ▪ Personal development focused ▪ Used for self-awareness and team dynamics ▪ Examples: MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), DiSC, EQ assessments Many assessments are built on the foundation of the Big Five personality factors, also known as OCEAN: 🔸Openness to experience 🔸Conscientiousness 🔸Extraversion 🔸Agreeableness 🔸Neuroticism (or emotional stability) These five factors are considered the fundamental building blocks of personality. Understanding where you fall on each of these dimensions can provide powerful insights into your behavior, preferences, and potential career fit. Over 20 years ago, I took the Hogan Assessment. It was like someone handed me a user manual for my own brain. I discovered strengths I hadn't recognized and blind spots that were holding me back. I didn't just file it away. I reviewed it annually, using it as a roadmap for my personal and professional growth. Each year, I'd focus on leveraging a strength or addressing a weakness. The result? A more intentional and successful career path. You might be thinking, "So what?" ----Here's how you can apply this---- 1. Choose the right assessment for your needs (Highly recommend Class B) 2. Take it with an open mind 3. Review the results with a certified interpreter 4. Create an action plan based on your insights 5. Revisit and revise annually It's not about changing who you are. It's about understanding yourself better so you can make informed decisions about your career and relationships. Here's a question to ponder: If you had a clear map of your personality traits and tendencies, what would you do differently in your career? Share your thoughts below. And if you've had experiences with personality assessments, I'd love to hear about them!  

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has published the "Privacy Foundations Self-Assessment Tool" to help businesses evaluate and strengthen their privacy practices. This tool is designed for organizations that may not have in-house privacy expertise but want to establish or improve how they handle personal information. The tool is structured as a questionnaire and an action planning section that can be used to create a Privacy Management Plan. It covers key #privacy principles and offers actionable recommendations across core areas of privacy management, including: - Accountability and assigning responsibility for privacy oversight. - Transparency through clear external-facing privacy notices and policies. - Privacy and #cybersecurity training for staff. - Processes for identifying and managing privacy risks in new projects. - Assessing third-party service providers handling personal data. - Data minimization practices and consent management for sensitive information. - Tracking and managing use and disclosure of personal data. - Ensuring opt-out options are provided and honored in direct marketing. - Maintaining an up-to-date inventory of personal data holdings. - Cybersecurity and data breach response. - Secure disposal or de-identification of data when no longer needed. - Responding to privacy complaints and individual rights requests. This self-assessment provides a maturity score based on the responses to the questionnaire and tailored recommendations to support next steps.

Before your manager starts writing your performance review, block off one hour THIS MONTH to do your own annual review. Here’s why + what to capture: ✅ YOU MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM The easier it is for your boss to recall your wins and growth, the easier it is for them to advocate for you. ✅ YOU COMBAT RECENCY BIAS Humans remember what’s most recent. A quick recap helps them see the whole year of your impact, not just the last few months. ✅ YOU SHAPE THEIR PERCEPTION By sharing your list of accomplishments first, you’re anchoring what they’ll remember and focus on when evaluating your performance. ✅ YOU MAKE YOUR CASE A fact-based list of results strengthens your position for a raise, bonus, or promotion. And, it gives your boss tangible proof when they go to bat for you. ✅ YOU IMPRESS SENIOR STAKEHOLDERS When you’ve got a fresh list of accomplishments, you can confidently share real, concrete results in conversations with leaders who influence your career growth. It allows you to self-promote in a fact-based way. ✅ YOU CREATE A RECORD FOR YOUR FUTURE SELF Save a copy to your personal files to make it easier to update your resume, LinkedIn, or prep for interviews in the future. ✅ YOU REMIND YOURSELF HOW FAR YOU’VE COME We rarely stop to appreciate our progress. This is your moment to notice your growth and build momentum for what’s next. And if your growth feels a little stalled, it may be time to reevaluate your career trajectory. Here are some prompts to get you started in capturing your self-review: 👉🏽 Accomplishments 👉🏽 Big projects you led or contributed to 👉🏽 Innovations, improvements, or where you took initiative 👉🏽 KPIs and metrics you met or exceeded 👉🏽 New skills, learning and development courses, conferences you attended 👉🏽 Challenges tackled and lessons learned 👉🏽 Deadlines met or exceeded 👉🏽 Awards, promotions, or recognition 👉🏽 How you addressed setbacks and feedback Then, wherever possible, add numbers (e.g. revenue increased, time saved, cost reduced, engagement improved, etc.) It’s one hour that can change the trajectory of your next review, your compensation, and your confidence. Trust me: your future self will thank you. ♻️ Repost to make sure others in your network get this reminder, too. — Hi, I’m Ava (pronounced like Ava-cado 🥑) ✨ I share practical advice to help women thrive in their careers and make more money. 🔔 Hit the bell on my profile to get my latest posts in your feed. 📨 Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly career and job search insights.

Self-reflection is an important tool for entrepreneurs to use to help grow and improve their businesses. Continuous self-reflection is not always feasible in the busy life of an entrepreneur. Therefore, I recommend a practice that I undertake in my own business: taking stock at the beginning of each quarter. Some of the questions I ask myself are: 💡Do my core values still align with the mission of my business? 💡What is the business's unique "value added?" 💡 Am I bringing my business's unique value to the table? 💡Am I effectively communicating my unique value added to others? 💡What has worked well in the last few months? Why? 💡What has not worked well in the last few months? Why? 💡What should I change, and what should I keep the same? 💡What should I be doing to add more value? 💡Is there something new I can learn to impact my business significantly? 💡What is that something new? 💡Can I identify and plan for monthly or seasonal trends in my business? 💡Are there areas in which I can (or should) ask others for help? This sort of assessment is to help me re-focus, get out of the weeds, and know where improvements should be made that will make my company stronger and better. It is an exercise I also recommend to clients who are interested in reassessing. At times, we all get bogged down by the minutia involved in running a business. That is to be expected. The key is resurfacing and making sure we also can see the forest for the trees. To improve and grow, in business and in life, it is important to know what matters most and has the most impact. We cannot expect different results from the same behavior.

It’s performance-review season and guess what: Women consistently rate their own performance lower than equally performing men. That’s not my opinion; that’s science. In their paper, “The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion” authors Christine Exley and Judd Kessler found that women subjectively describe their ability and performance to potential employers less favorably than equally performing men. Even when all incentives to promote are removed - the gender gap remains. Think about that. The gap shows up not only in public settings, but in private self-evaluations. It starts as early as sixth grade and by the time we reach leadership, it’s woven into how we talk about our own impact. That insight stopped me in my tracks. Because in my work with leaders, especially women, I see the same pattern: extraordinary results expressed in language that makes their contributions sound optional. Over the next four Mondays (through November 17), I’m releasing a series called: Evidence Over Ego: Closing The Self-Evaluation Gap. I’ll unpack this research and connect it to what I teach in Lead with Voice through Storyline by Kingswood. You will learn how to bring: 1️⃣ Clarity to what you’ve accomplished, 2️⃣ Consistency to how you communicate it, and 3️⃣ Narrative Authority to the story that represents you when you’re not in the room. Each week will include one short reflection or “homework” exercise to help you prepare for your year-end self-evaluation, so you’ll have the tools to write the review you deserve. Then, on November 24, I’ll bring it all together in an article on The Canopy, with guest insight from Judd Kessler himself, to help you approach this year’s self-evaluation with confidence, evidence, and clarity. This week’s reflection: Block 30 minutes on your calendar. Look back at the past year and list two to three key outcomes from each quarter. For each, write: Outcome → Your Role → Evidence → Why it matters. Keep it factual, not self-congratulatory. This simple exercise does two things: it surfaces tangible proof of your impact and begins to retrain how you evaluate yourself, based on evidence, not hesitation. Closing the self-evaluation gap begins with how we describe what we’ve already achieved. Don’t wait for December to tell your story. Practice now, document often, and make sure your impact doesn’t go unnoticed, even when no one’s watching. Next week: I'll talk about why language matters and why you should care. #EvidenceOverEgo #LeadwithVoice #Storytelling #PersonalBranding #PerformanceReview #LeadershipDevelopment Series informed by ©The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion, Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler NBER Working Paper No. 26345 October 2019, Revised May 2021 JEL No. C91,D90,J16 Thank you Ilana Turko for sharing this work with me! You knew it was right up my alley.

👋 Hey PhDs … I’ve been thinking a lot about self-reflection lately, and how often people try to skip it… and they shouldn’t! I get it. When you’re unhappy (or burned out) you want to move fast. You want out. So the job search can become: “Just tell me what titles to apply to… what can I pivot to quickly… what fits my current skills?” The problem is, that way of thinking can keep you stuck, or worse, land you in a new role that looks “ok on paper” but still feels wrong once you’re in it. Taking time for real self-reflection often saves time later because your job search becomes more targeted ... even though it doesn’t feel that way in the moment. One tool I genuinely love for this is Stanford’s Meaningful Work Kit. It forces you to take a serious look at your skills (the ones you actually want to be using), your values, and the kind of work culture you thrive in: https://mwk.stanford.edu/ And because I see this need so often with the early-career researchers I work with, I also built a guided option you can use anytime: Skills & Values Inventory Tool (free): https://lnkd.in/g2B3XrFD It walks you through a structured self-assessment to identify your core transferable skills, work preferences, and career values with prompts that help you get specific because that is where the insight lives. BONUS: Once you’ve got your results, you can plug them into Career-Compass (https://lnkd.in/g_rtvsSG) to refine career path ideas and get job titles that match YOU, making the job search feel a lot less random. Take the time. Your life & career are worth the pause & reflection. #HeyPhDs #PhDCareers #CareerDevelopment #CareerTransitions #BeyondTheBench #JobSearch #ProfessionalGrowth

Annual planning isn't just something you do as a company — you should do it as an individual as well. My process has three components, all of which I recommend sharing with key stakeholders — your coach, peers, board and/or your leadership team — to foster alignment and request accountability. 1. Revisit the job description ----- I spent fifteen years with one title, and yet, my role, areas of focus, and measures for success evolved consistently. That's one of the great things about being a CEO — it's always forcing you to learn, adapt, and evolve. Eventually, I started revising my job description every year, using a few prompts for inspiration: * Am I spending time on everything listed in this job description? * What needs more of my time and focus? What needs less? * Do my responsibilities align with and contribute to the company's goals next year? * How do I want my performance to be evaluated? In the comments, I've included a link to my most recent job description as a reference. 2. Write a growth plan ----- To borrow words from the great Dolly Parton, “Find out who you are and do it on purpose." As part of the performance review process, I've always asked everyone in the company to write a growth plan (aka a self-assessment). One of my core beliefs is that writing catalyzes clarity. Yet, writing is often an underutilized tool to analyze performance. Writing a self-assessment gives you an opportunity to reflect, celebrate wins, acknowledge what could be better, and create a plan you can share with teammates. My growth plan includes three key elements: * Reflect on the past year. How did you perform relative to the goals you set? * Reflect on the upcoming year. What new goals are you setting and why? * Personal growth. What growth is needed from you to be successful in the role? Between the job description and the growth plan, each has a distinct purpose, and is 1-2 pages max. All of the important content is listed as bullets. Keep it concise so you can easily look back on it later. 3. Analyze your time ----- Setting intentions with a job description and a growth plan is great, but then things happen. Everyone gets busy, and we need consistent accountability to focus on the most important things. That’s where time tracking comes in. At the beginning of each year, I set up labels and colors in Google Calendar for all the areas I want to track. At the end of every day, I manually go back and fill in non-meeting blocks of time with whatever I worked on. Then, I can leverage the Time Insights feature to analyze how much time I spend in each area. To take it one step further, my assistant Katie Cross (hire her!) created a sheet with a breakdown we had more control over. See the video for a screenshot. Tracking your time doesn't have to be perfect or precise. Just start, do your best, stick to it for 30 days, and it will become a habit. It's a gift to your future self. Hope these ideas are helpful!

A risk assessment for cybersecurity professionals…… When was the last time you served you? The world of #cybersecurity can be extremely demanding. The constant need to be attentive to the details, the continuous learning, and the holding of the SME position not just within your career but also among your family and friends. You become everyone else tech problem solver. Someone always needs something from you and then when you’re drained no one even bothers to reach out. And if you have a family then you can exponentially increase the amount of energy needed to support everyone in their time of need. Which is seemingly all-day-every-day. Simply put. It gets really lonely 😞 . And what sucks is that your vocabulary makes you hard to understand. So even when you’re trying to speak about what frustrates you, it goes over everyone’s head. And to get vulnerable, as a man, I can’t break down. Nor do I have the luxury of falling apart because the only person available to put the pieces back in place is ME. So what do we do? How do we perform a risk assessment on ourselves? Here are a few things to consider: 1. Self-Reflection and Awareness •Daily Check-Ins 🗓️: Take a few minutes each day to assess your mental state and emotions. Are you feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed? •Journaling ✍🏾: Write down your thoughts and feelings to identify patterns or triggers that affect your well-being. •Mindfulness and Meditation 🧘🏾♂️ : Practice mindfulness techniques to stay grounded and aware of your mental state. 2. Work-Life Segmentation •Set Boundaries: Clearly define work hours and personal time. Avoid overworking by sticking to a schedule. •Take Breaks 😌: Regularly take short breaks throughout the day to rest and recharge. •Disconnect 🔌: Ensure you have time away from screens and work-related technology. 3. Physical Health •Regular Exercise 🏋🏾♂️: Incorporate physical activities into your routine, such as push-ups, pull-ups, body/conventional weight training, walking, running, or yoga. •Healthy Diet🥗: Maintain a balanced diet to support overall health and well-being. •Adequate Sleep 😴 : Ensure you are getting enough sleep each night to help your body and mind recover. And… 4. Professional Support •Therapy or Counseling : Consider speaking with a mental health professional if you feel overwhelmed or stressed. •Support Groups🎗️: Join groups or communities of professionals who understand the unique stresses of cybersecurity work. All of this to say that while you’re providing services to others don’t forget about YOU. That’s for “others” to do. If you are a Cybersecurity or IT professional and you want a safe place to off load…… I can help. With over 2 decades in the IT industry I know the value of speaking to someone who understands me. Let’s normalize personal #riskassessments Take care of yourself first cyber family. #informationsecurity #IT #infosec #leadershipbyexample #mentalhealthawareness