We are pleased to have Sheila Goldgrab speaking at the Toronto ExecuNet Meeting on March 24th, 2010 presenting:

“Not in Kansas any more”

Whether you are in job transition looking to land a leadership role in an organization or you are currently leading one, the social web has changed what is expected from you. New technological tools have eliminated traditional barriers and are driving a new approach to leadership. The core competencies of achieving results alone are not enough. What we expect from leaders is changing and this has implications for how you spend your time in your job transition. Sheila Goldgrab, Executive Coach and Thought Leader on the subject of leadership in the 2.0 age, shares what‘s changed and why working on your leadership brand while in job transition matters.

 

“It is the duty of every person…to know and consider that (s)he is unique in the world.”  Martin Buber

 

As a Speaker: 

“Sheila’s insights were well articulated and highlighted by practical examples and wonderful stories from her client experiences.” 

“Sheila was clear, engaging, warm, professional and knowledgeable!” 

Exceptional organizations offering ideal working conditions, above average benefits and the most progressive and forward thinking programs are selected for Canada’s Top 100 Employers 2010, now in it’s 10th year. The employers making the list were among 26,000 of Canada’s fastest growing employers which are announced by Maclean’s and The Globe and Mail and published on eluta.ca with the specific reasons they were chosen and a profile. Reasons for Selection included flexible work schedules, training programs, career development, fitness memberships, designated rooms for napping, substantial referral fees for new hires and an employee trout pond and baseball field!

2010 is the 11th anniversary of the 50 Best Employers in Canada which included 8 new organizations with 42 remaining on the list from previous years.  They are recognized as the best companies to work for as rated by their employees.

The research involved in selecting these companies is extensive and certainly of great value to everyone, whether you are an employer, employee or in career transition. Check it out and find out what makes these organizations the best in Canada!

“Leadership is the ability to articulate vision and influence others to move towards achievement.”

In today’s challenging economy our global recovery will be achieved through the actions, courage, determination and responsibility of great leaders! Here are a few inspiring quotes on Leadership: 

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” ~ Peter F. Drucker

“A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice.” ~ James Callaghan

“A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.” ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams

“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.” ~ Noam Chomsky

“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” ~ Ralph Nader

“Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than when they teach.” ~ Rosabeth Moss Kantor

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” ~ Rosalynn Carter

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” ~ Winston Churchill

“South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu walked by a construction site on a temporary sidewalk the width of one person. A white man appeared at the other end, recognized Tutu, and said, “I don’t make way for gorillas.” At which Tutu stepped aside, made a deep sweeping gesture, and said, “Ah, yes, but I do.” ~ Walter Wink 

We are pleased to have Bob Woodcock speaking at the Toronto ExecuNet Meeting on November 25, 2009.

Bob Woodcock……….Leadership that guides & inspires
Managing Director, Predictive Success Corporation    

“Maximizing Your Behavioural Fit To Your Desired Role”

Further to Bob Woodcock’s presentation, “Maximizing Your Behavioural Fit To Your Desired Role”, he has offered to complete a Predictive Index profile along with complimentary feedback for anyone that will be attending.

“In preparation for our November 25^th meeting “Maximizing Your Behavioural Fit To Your Desired Role” we would like to extend the invitation to have you complete a behavioural assessment called the Predictive Index®. If you would like the opportunity to complete your own profile please contact Julie Cane at Predictive Success Corporation. Her email address is jcane@predictivesuccess.com. Please identify yourself as being a part of the ExecuNet group attending the session on November 25^th. Once you have completed the Predictive Index® survey, Julie will forward a copy of your profile directly to you. We ask that you bring this along with you on November 25th.”   Bob Woodcock 

Bob Woodcock is a high energy and enthusiastic leader! Identified as a high potential leadership candidate with a  multinational, “50 Best Managed Companies” organization, Bob led a team of 100 to record performance levels, using Predictive Index as a talent management tool.

A certified Predictive Index analyst, Bob has successfully increased employee engagement, reduced turnover and built high performance teams working with a variety of companies across a broad range of industries. The lessons learned by managing in today’s business environment and as an entrepreneur for 13 years are transferable and repeatable. Bob’s mandate is to help build new leaders at every level of the organization. He can be reached at bobw@predictivesuccess.com.

Register today for November’s ExecuNet meeting with Bob Woodcock!

Maintaining your online profile today is a critical element in managing your career. But does your company have a completed online profile? Recently I was searching Linkedin for a specific company and although I found the organization, there was no company information, which would not be so bad if there was a link to their website. NO, not there either. And two of the three partners in this organization did not provide a link within their profiles to the company’s website!

It was not long ago that your entire online focus was an email address and possibly a website that was designed, hosted and maintained by someone other than you. Today, there are millions of people online with profiles on Facebook, Linkedin, VisualCV and Twitter, just to name a few and many who are maintaining their own websites and blogs. The resources available to “connect” or engage in online networking are free and easy. But you may be missing out on opportunities because the information in your profile or your company’s profile is lacking pertinent details.

Social networking sites are resources that have the potential to connect you to millions of people and generate opportunities beyond imagination. It is true that your talent could have an impact on the opportunities generated but the fact that one YouTube video could be viewed by 30 million people within 3 days attests to the power and the influence of social media today!

If you have created an online profile, is it complete? Have you included contact details? If you are associated with a company, do they have a completed online profile? You’ve just announced the publication of your new book. Did you include a link for anyone interested in purchasing it? Are you looking for connections but have your settings set to hide your profile or not to accept introductions?

Review all of the information contained in your online profile, the online profiles of the companies you are associated with, websites, blogs, etc. to ensure the information provided is complete, relevant and accurate.  Accessing information that is incomplete or being drawn into something of interest only to find out it is not available leaves a bad first impression.

Do you have a completed LinkedinProfile? If you are questioning the significance of a presence on Linkedin, please take the time to review the 2009 Social Recruitment Survey Results from Jobvite.

You may not be in career transition today but there’s no guarantee that you won’t be next month, next year or the year after that. Here are a few results from Jobvites’ survey:

80% of the companies surveyed are using or planning to use social networking to find and attract candidates this year. 95% of those using social networking sites for recruiting are using Linkedin. Those using Facebook increased from 36% last year to 59% this year. Twitter is now ranked third with 42% of recruiters using it to source candidates.

Since Twitter was not even ranked last year it is evident how quickly an online presence has evolved into a critical  job search tool that rivals that of a resume!

If you wish to succeed in your job search it is imperative to add an online presence in addition to your professional resume and cover letter. According to these survey results, I recommend starting with Linkedin!

Last June, Jeremy Hansen saw an ad in the newspaper and applied for the job. After countless interviews, a battery of medical tests and a series of 20 training tests he has just been selected as one of two candidates to become Canada’s newest astronaut!  In doing so, Jeremy Hansen has realized his dream job, a dream he has held since he was 5 years old! 

The Canadian Space Agency received 5,351 applications in response to their national astronaut recruitment campaign which was eventually reduced to 16 candidates, consisting of 5 CF-18 pilots, two doctors, an engineer who was an Olympic kayaker, a researcher in how species survive in extreme environments, a professor of physics and astronomy and a nanotechnology researcher. 

To find out more about Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques, the first new recruits to join Canada’s elite corps of astronauts since 1992, check out the following links:

The London Free Press, “Jeremy Hansen became a pilot at age 17″
The Toronto Star, “Two out-of-this-world Canucks”
canoe.ca, “Fighter pilot, medical doctor, Canada’s newest astronauts”

Are you interested in pursuing your dream job? Contact Martin Buckland for job search strategies, career coaching and professional resume writing services.

On Tuesday May 5th 2009, Caldwell Partners International recognized another “Top 40 Under 40″, remarkable, Canadian business leaders, marking this as the 14th annual event. These men and women truly represent the essence of leadership. The chosen nominees were selected by an independent advisory board, comprised of 26 leaders from across Canada based on five criteria: vision and leadership; innovation and achievement; impact; growth and development strategy; and community involvement and contribution. 

Douglas Caldwell, chairman of Caldwell Partners International Inc. and founder of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 says, “These people are amazingly innovative and creative and concientious and haven’t been caught up in this meltdown.”

The award recipents are: Josh Blair, Brian Chafe, Michael Cole, Michael Copeland, John Corley, Dr. Fiona Costello, Dr. Sam Daniel, Dr. Andrew Demchuk, Caley Denton, Mark Derbyshire, Jacques L. Drouin, Jerome Dwight, Wade R. Felesky, Shane C. Fildes, Shaun Francis, Scott Gilmore, Elissa Golberg, Sriram H.Iyer, Ray Jayawardhana, Mitch Joel, Dr. Shana Kelley, Michel Kelly-Gagnon, Jeff Kinnaird, Steven Koles, Dr. Julie Lessard, Cam Marshall, Ryan Marshall, Jessica McDonald, Prashant Shanker Pathak, Pascal Pilon, Cameron Piron, Jason Potter, Marlo Raynolds, Dani Reiss, Dr. Michael Taylor, Scott Thomson, Dr. Sam Michael Wiseman, Jennifer Wong, Sarah Young  and Barbara Zvan.

Douglas Caldwell says, “These are young people with optimism, energy and the temerity to say, ‘We can make this work’.”  He goes on to say, “We should be very confident in the future based on these people who are already leading in many sectors.” 

In addition to The Caldwell Partners International, sponsors of this event included, The Globe and Mail, National Bank, Kingbridge Conference Centre and Institute, Deloitte and Air Canada.   

Have you invested in a professional resume? Have you created a VisualCV? And a Linkedin profile? Is your resume posted on Monster? Workopolis? And if that doesn’t have your head spinning, did you know that you can now have a Twitter Resume?

At twtjobs you can create your Twitter Resume with the same basic principals used in Twitter. Start with a headline, and write your “resume”. If you know Twitter, you won’t be surprised to find out that your resume must be written using no more than 140 characters. It actually gives you lots to think  about, ”If your resume had to be 140 chars long, what would you tell a potential employer?” Although the content is limited, you are able to add Skill Tags to enhance your information.

Additional information, although limited to a drop down box, is available to add to your Twitter Resume including, industry type, education level and years of experience.

If you have invested in your professional profile on Linkedin, there is no need to be concerned about the limited content  in your Twitter Resume because you have the option to link it to your Linkedin profile.

PinkSlipParty brings in over 200 people for first Canadian event in Toronto! The Toronto Star reports “Pink-slip Party sign of times”and quotes Sharon Ledwell, recent pink slip recipient describing the event as, “a mosh pit for the underemployed”. Colour-coded bracelets; pink for those seeking jobs, blue for their friends and green for recruiters, were worn by all in attendance and were attributed to an atmosphere more affable than that of most networking events.  

pinkSlipParty.com is dedicated to helping displaced professionals find, and secure the job of their dreams. Soaring unemployment rates and those with pink slips soon to join the ranks will ensure the popularity of professional networking opportunities around the globe.

Successfully securing a new job is more often a result of who you know and not what you know, making networking the number 1 job search tool! Visit Toronto ExecuNet and Senior ExecuNet for more professional networking events.