TWN is a monthly publication that is intended to inform, inspire, and celebrate you. Each issue will give you tips and information for your personal, professional or business development. I will also let you know about services and upcoming events at TransformationWorks. If you have missed previous issues of TWN, you can view them by visiting TransformationWorks, click on "current newsletter", scroll to the bottom of current newsletter, and go to the date you want.

I value your input, and welcome your suggestions and comments about TWN. Please feel free to email me.

Does 'emotional intelligence' really matter in the workplace?

"Bosses and leaders, in particular, need high EQ because they represent the organization to the public, they interact with the highest number of people within and outside the organization and they set the tone for employee morale", says Goleman. "Leaders with empathy are able to understand their employees' needs and provide them with constructive feedback", he says.

Patterns of emotional intelligence are not fixed, so men and women can boost their all-round EQ by building their emotional abilities where they lack them. Working with psychologists and success coaches, for example, women can hone their assertiveness skills and learn stress management techniques, while men and women can learn the importance of listening to co-workers and customers, reading their moods and winning their trust--all increaingly important aspects of leadership, teamwork, and customer and co-worker relationships.
--APA Monitor, July 1998

Upcoming Events

The Women's Business Focus Group (WBFG) is a success team for women who want to turn their business or professional visions and ideas into achievable goals and sustain momentum toward success.

Collage Playshop
Saturday, February 28th
9:00 am to 1:00 pm

Want to understand more about your talents and abilities? Tap into the E.Q. and power of your brain? Want to know more about your life purpose overall or maybe the best direction to go in the next six months? Want to put an extra zing into manifesting your dreams and goals? Then register now to participate in the Collage Playshop.

If you missed the Collage Playshop in November, don't miss this opportunity to step out of your ordinary way of goal setting!

Career Change: Decisions, Decisions, and More

A decision is only as good as the information on which it's based. So the first step in making a career decision is to have answers for the question: What kind of person am I? When you know the answers, you can then translate them to identifying the work that will satisfy your interests, your stylistic preferences, your values and needs, and the skills you want to use. You want to be able to say, "I am the kind of person who...so I need to be in a job that... For example "I am a person who enjoys being creative, so I need to be in a position that allows much self-expression and is not highly structured." Or, "I am the kind of person who gets satisfaction from having variety, so I would be best in a job that allows me to work on projects with different people." This kind of knowledge is gained from knowing how to ask yourself the right questions.

Many people make the mistake of labeling themselves based on their job title rather than developing a clear sense of who they are and what they do. You are not your job title. You are a unique combination of personality traits, skills, values, interests, needs, and motivations. And the easiest way to gain self-knowledge as a career seeker is through the career assessment process.

Based on self-knowledge, you can begin to define and explore career options that might be a good fit. So how do you know what fits? Career decision making is based on both internal and external factors. The process involves merging your internal dynamics--your skills, interests, values, personality--with the external realities of the world of work.

There are four stages in the career decision-making process:

1. Self- exploration
2. Occupational exploration
3. Goal setting and decision making
4. Implementation of the decision

Self-Exploration

Self-exploration gives you answers to these questions: Who am I? What motivates me? What interests me? What skills and abilities do I most want to use?

Occupational Exploration

This step involves investigating the world of work based on the knowledge of who you are, and answering the question: What specific jobs are most suitable for me at this stage of my life? At this step, you are doing occupational exploration, not job market exploration. The former is about getting the details on specific occupations; the latter is about the reality of the job market where you are or where you want to relocate. At the end of this stage, I ask my clients to describe in detail their ideal job and their minimally acceptable job based on self-knowledge and their occupational exploration.

Goal setting and Decision making

This step involves research to get the facts you need, learning what your career options are, and weighing how well each will satisfy your interests, values, and use the skills that are most important to you. This is also when you will begin to consider the realities of the job market in your area or an area to which you want to relocate.

Implementation of the Decision

Once you've made a career choice, you usually take one of the following actions: If you already have the skills and knowledge required for the job you want, you prepare for the actual job search by shaping up your resume, strategizing your job campaign, and networking for job leads. Or you make plans to acquire the skills or knowledge you need for the new career.

For More Info on Career Change...