A Formula for Change

Here’s the short answer to this complex question:

D + V + F > R

In this formula, R equals Resistance to change. What overcomes R is a combination of D (Dissatisfaction), V (Vision), and F (Feasibility). This formula is the work of Richard Beckhardt who, like other consultants, had no authority to mandate change, but only the ability to influence others to embrace it. Let’s examine each in turn.

Resistance to Change

Resisting change is often seen as a negative posture. Yet resistance to the wrong kind of change can save an organization, so its potential value must not be overlooked. The change maker must first meet people where they are, and both understand and empathize with their position.

Picture those who embrace change and those who resist change as being two groups who access different sets of experience and information. The challenge of those who embrace a change is to lead those who resist it on an educational journey that helps them see the world in new ways. They must be exposed to the kinds of people, information, and experiences that proved transformative to those who embrace change. From this perspective, the change maker’s task is one of education, not of persuasion or power.

Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo

The change maker must build motivation to change within others. A powerful source of motivation is dissatisfaction with what isn’t working. People can be dissatisfied with the status quo (the way things are) or with an undesirable future (the way things may be).

Many resist change because they think the current condition is viable, whereas others who embrace change see that it is not. Those who see what isn’t working have to document, and share, that painful reality, in ways others can grasp. This may mean introducing service providers to the wrath of their customers, giving workers feedback on the shortcomings in their performance, or exposing organizations to data about how their competitors are leaving them behind. This knowledge induces pain and discomfort. Yet this pain becomes a powerful motivation to act differently. Creating dissatisfaction now to avoid a future pain (think reducing carbon emissions now to mitigate global warming later) is the hardest, but the process is the same.

Vision of Something Better

A second powerful source of motivation to change is a vision of the good that comes from it. This happens naturally when people are engaged in creating a shared vision of what they want. Typically this involves a collaborative exercise in envisioning a preferred future, and there are many great group processes that produce this result.

People also get excited about change when they see it in action, benefiting colleagues in real time at an organization that feels similar to their own. This happens from exposure to best practices embraced by peer leaders who serve as external voices for change. Typically this involves field trips, best practice studies, and competitor analysis.

Feasibility of Change

The third powerful source of motivation to change is belief in the feasibility of the proposed change.  Even people who know that the current situation is untenable, and can imagine a better future, may still remain paralyzed because they can’t see a way forward.

These people need to be inspired by those who have achieved change in similarly difficult settings, supported to envision ways around obstacles, and coached in strategies to make the change work.  Once they see the pathway forward, they will join you.

Helping Others Move Forward

Richard Beckhardt said, “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.” Give people the benefit of the doubt. Assume that if they don’t embrace change, it’s because they don’t know how bad things are, can’t envision a more positive future, and see no pathway ahead. Listen to them, engage them, and educate them, until together you can move forward.

About Jay W Vogt

Jay W Vogt is an organizational development consultant, and author of Recharge Your Team – The Grounded Visioning Approach.  Learn more at www.peoplesworth.com.

When you’re hunting for a new job, this question can be seriously depressing. You might suddenly start mumbling about how you’re “in between jobs” or “it’s really tough out there…”

Stop! Stand tall. Seize the moment. This is a perfect opportunity to briefly tell someone what you want to do and subtly seek out his or her help.

Not only will this boost your self-esteem, it can be crucial for finding and making new connections.

If you say, “I’m looking for a job,” people will probably wish you good luck and the conversation will end there. If you say “I’m excited about moving into an entry-level role within an PR firm,” chances are that sooner or later someone will say something like, “Oh, I know someone you should talk to about getting into the field.”

Searching for a job is normal. But if you hide it or act ashamed of being unemployed, people can perceive it—and you—in a negative manner. Instead, take control by leading the conversation in a positive direction and creating opportunities for people to help you on your journey.

You’ll be surprised by the positive ripple effect this shift in mindset can cause.

Annie Favreau for Inside Jobs, a site that helps people discover career choices they’ll love and build strong, successful futures. Join the conversation on Twitter at @InsideJobs!

Feminism needs a face lift. While the mere suggestion of plastic surgery, even a in metaphorical context, might send shivers up the spines of the movement’s hard line, the sentiment holds true for many working, voting, mini skirt-wearing women, to whom bra burning just sounds like a waste of a perfectly good La Perla. In an era when women are breadwinners in a third of American homes, many modern women seem to view feminism as quaint at best, and shrill at worst.

But Erin Matson, the action vice president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), might be the woman to change all that. As one of NOW’s youngest ever national office holders, Erin isn’t out to “fight the man,” nor is she overeager to see patriarchal conspiracy in every slight. Instead, she wants to celebrate women for all that they are, and remind them that no one should stand in the way of their becoming even more. For Erin, there are no man-hating diatribes or sarcastic smirks at women who highlight their hair. Instead, her work is driven by the simple, if occasionally radical, notion that women are people too – and that they should always be treated as such.

Q: What first drew you to feminism, both personally and professionally?

I had been politically interested and active from an early age. I staged my first protest in my parents’ living room in elementary school over declawing our cats because it was an injustice! I won that battle.

I was very interested in progress politics, so I started phone banking when I was 11 for progressive candidates. I was very involved in [Minnesota senator] Wellstrone’s campaign – I would skip school to campaign for him.

When I was a senior in high school, I developed anorexia and nearly lost my life. I fought tooth and nail to save my life. I didn’t intend to do it, but I woke up one day and way unable to get up on my own. The doctor gave me one week to live. Coming out of it, I vowed that I world do everything I could to support other women.

Eating disorders are often trivialized as emotional imbalances. I made the connection that eating disorders and pressure for women to take up less space is more than just shape and size. We see it in the underrepresentation of women in political life and at the top of corporations, in the devaluation of work within the home, in the lack of support for parenting. I shifted my progressive political activism to something that was purely feminist.

My career path is untraditional. I majored in women’s studies and all I wanted to do was work in a women’s nonprofit, so I got a part time job doing communications and fundraising for a women’s non-profit. I also worked part time with an entrepreneur out of his basement. I scanned freedom of information requests from the SEC, prepped his research. I loved it because I am entrepreneurial and creative myself, so it was interesting to be with someone who had built a business out of nothing. There isn’t much paid work in women’s nonprofit advocacy, so it’s very normal to take a second job to support the do-gooder job.

Next, I took a full time job that was for profit, but felt like a nonprofit, which matched mentors within C-Suite. It was a phenomenal experience for me. I was able to work with amazing women who changed my life. One of my bosses had to translate a face-to-face program into a virtual program, so we worked hand-in-hand. She treated me as a partner and a team member – I was 22 – and we built the program from the bottom up. It was 2002, so online meetings were a novelty – it was intense and so cool. I learned how to work collaboratively and how to work in a business setting.

I had so much fun with the new product development that I realized I loved creative work. I decided I wanted to go into advertising. I went to advertising school and some corporate communications and worked at a few trade agencies.

Working in advertising, I remember walking into offices where the ad concepts would be naked women splayed out with their heads cropped out of the pictures, glistening with arched backs. It was interesting shift for me having been environments about empowering women. Suddenly, I was in a frat house. I had a great time, but it was different.

Q: You moved up the NOW ranks very quickly: you were the president of Minnesota’s chapter by age 23, and now you’re one of the youngest national officers ever. How did you earn such an impressive title at such a young age?

I went to Georgetown and while I was there, I was fortunate to work at Feminist Majority as an intern volunteer. I moved back to Minneapolis after graduation. I was devastated because I couldn’t figure out how to be a feminist if I didn’t work in LA or New York or DC. But then I found NOW.

I took leadership roles in the state chapter. I wrote fundraising letters, stuffed envelopes, went to events. I became program chair at started working on birth control refusal. I became state president when I was very young – 23. The joke now is that if you go to the bathroom during a meeting, you’ll be elected to a position. Fortunately for me, I was actually present.

It was a labor of love on nights and weekends. I worked 40 hours a week. The fact that I was freelancing from home allowed me the flexibility to interview people or to testify against a bill. I became involved in NOW nationally and founded my own chapter. I set up a discussion series to draw in younger women.

Some of my biggest projects have been campaigns on birth control and HPV. I also got active with the Young Feminist Tack Force because I wanted to move feminism forward in my generation.

Q: What are the benefits and challenges of working for an advocacy organization?

In the past, I got myself into unsustainable situations with employers a few times because I am an extremely hard worker with huge dreams. I was expected to work 80 hours a week forever. Few supervisors will tell you that they don’t want you to work this much. It can be hard to advocate for your own boundaries.

But, I have found doing what you love and finding work that you love is inspiring and exciting. To be able to get up everyday say ‘what’s next’ is a joy. I thought I had to do everything perfectly when I started out, but life is messy, with kinks and curves. There are opportunities everywhere. Ultimately, the world is run by people who show up.

Q: What motivates you to keep fighting on behalf of women?

There’s a huge amount of pressure on young women’s appearances and pressure to be a certain type of woman. The pressure isn’t always what I felt, which was to be thin, but there is so much emphasis put on women’s appearance in society. Simply talking about it is huge, especially with younger women. We’re made to feel bad if we admit we feel bad.

Another issue I want to highlight is being comfortable taking up space. Having self-confidence and believing that you belong in a room, not feeling like I have to be nice so everyone will like me, believe that you have something worthy to say. Everyone has three things that they do really well. We’re trained to think that believing that is boastful or brash.

Q: How did you come up with NOW’s Love Your Body campaign and what do you hope it will accomplish?

The Love Your Body campaign started in 1998. It is a forum for women to take action and sound off against advertisers for the unrealistic expectations they represent in the media. It’s important for young women to remember that the problem is not with them, it’s with unrealistic expectations. We’ve had a blog carnival and Twitter chats to spread that message.

This issue is something that younger women really connect to. Women often come up to me and thank me for Love Your Body. Breaking the silence is powerful.

Q: What goals do you have for yourself and for the future of your career?

I have big dreams and big goals. I would love to help – leadership is working through other people. I believe in a leadership model that is teaching other people and helping them work together to bring about mainstream level conversation about women.

I want to organize more than a million people on the Washington Mall for reproductive rights. I will work like the dickens to make it happen – I don’t know when and how, but I want to work with and gather as many people as I can to make it happen.

Q: How can women support each other and advocate for their rights in their day-to-day lives, especially in the workplace?

Activism can occur at a person-to-person level. I would advocate talking to others around you. Insert the gender lens into conversation. Speak up for women when people make bad jokes. Do what you can to lift up softer voices in the room. If you see someone isn’t being called on as much, reach in an say, “We haven’t heard from Jenny yet. Let’s hear what she has to say.” Try to elevate the status of women in your own conversations.

Activism is power. I would urge people to find others – a formal group like NOW, or an informal group like Twitter. Some people like political activism; other like direct service work, like helping out in shelters. Everyone is different, so don’t think there is just one path. Find people and activities you enjoy.

I would like to say one thing about feminism today and how it is different than it used to be. The most common way women are held down today is by accusing other women of having personal defects rather than saying women as a class are bad.

Women continued to be paid less. You hear, ‘She didn’t know how to negotiate,” ‘She chose the wrong career path,’ ‘She took time off for kids.’ You don’t hear about the institutional deficiencies that keep women’s pay low.

Women as a class are devalued a discriminated against. When a woman is raped or beaten(and the stats on rape and violence are shocking – one in three women will be a victim of sexual violence or partner violence), we ask, ‘Why did she get into that relationship?’ or ‘What was she doing out that late?’ We have a public health epidemic of sexual violence.

And women are discriminated against in reproductive issues, too. The medicine for a sore throat is $3. The pill is $70. What’s up with that? And for advocating for birth control, Sandra Fluke was singled out as a slut as if birth control use were a personal defect. The fight over birth control is framed as though there is something wrong with women.

Rachel Allen is a sophomore journalism major at the University of North Carolina. As an editorial intern at NEXT for Women, she loves helping women live their professional dreams. 

Here, Debba explains how to make new friends and keep the old – both virtually and in real life.

So, what is it that these companies offer, that many others don’t, to make them so likeable for women of different ethnicities?

• Targeted agendas for recruiting & retaining Multicultural Women, such as:
  • Advertisement in multicultural women-specific press and social media spots
  • Hosting & sponsorship of recruitment events focused on women of various ethnicities
  • A variety of initiatives to encourage the progression of women from different cultural backgrounds,  including:
    • Mentoring
    • Career counseling
    • Training on diversity and inclusion subjects like:
      • What effect gender has on communication & leadership styles
      • How racial/ethnic differences influence communication & leadership styles

And these measures are worth it:  at 22 % multicultural women attrit less than their Caucasian male (28%) and female (31%) counterparts.

Dedicated to propelling desired change, Colleen Slaughter, a native of Kentucky, specializes in leadership development and executive coaching for women. She has spent over 20 years – 13 of them in Europe – working with and consulting individuals and organizations from over 35 countries.

At 40:20 Vision we love to dig into what’s next. 40-something women have earned their confidence and can provide a sneak peek into the other side of decisions as we answer the questions that young professionals want to know.

Q. I love my job, but I don’t feel like I’m making a contribution in the world. How can I find a way to do some good in the world through a job I enjoy?

It’s not an either or option. There are plenty of ways to start fulfilling your life through giving back. Most 40-somethings agree that volunteering and helping others is one of the best ways to get outside yourself and actually get to know yourself.  Here are their thoughts on how:

There are many shades of green…

This woman who spent 20 years at a Fortune 500 company can honestly say the grass is greener on the other side.

“I totally relate. I loved my job developing new business for a Fortune 500 consumer goods company but I felt something was missing.  I eventually left and now I’m running a non-profit. It’s exactly what I’m supposed to do but it isn’t the answer for everyone.  Here are a few things to consider.  

1) How do you contribute to larger society in the job you are in?  At the Fortune 500 company, I did it by focusing on new products that were far more sustainable. This raised the issue of sustainability for the company, and made it easier for consumers to buy products that were both good for them and good for the world.  You probably have more options than you recognize to affect meaningful change just by stretching your day job.

2) How do you balance your day job with what you do outside of work?  For example, I sat on the board of a local non-profit which (a) allowed be to contribute to our community in ways I couldn’t do in my Fortune 500 role and (b) gave me non-profit credentials so that when I did make the switch people took me seriously.

Non-profits or expressly mission driven companies (e.g., Thom’s shoes) are one way to make a difference – but they are certainly NOT the only way.  Think of the good that you can enable through the resources available to you in your current job, then find a project and get started .”    – Mary Jo Cook, Chief Impact Officer, Fair Trade USA

The best of both worlds…

This financial advisor who’s seen both sides of the NGO table agrees. She has found she can do more “good” outside of her work responsibilities.

“Working for a non-profit or an NGO may actually disappoint as the bulk of the efforts are tied to fundraising and prospecting for funds.  If you want to get involved, I would recommend keeping the job you love and looking for opportunities where you can volunteer, get your hands dirty and be engaged with the cause/people you are hoping to support.  Be a mentor, tutor kids, or volunteer for a cause to name a few.  

Match your passion.

CSR is increasingly important so there will be more opportunities to get involved within a corporation through employee engagement programs and cause marketing. And as this global marketing strategist relates, it’s a trend that’s not just for corporations. From skill based volunteering resources such as Catchafire to crowd-sourced fundraising, you can find something that matches your passion.

“Don’t worry about not working as Gandhi. It’s absolutely possible to love your job and  do good. Think about all the people you meet and the causes you care about most.  Is there any link between the two? For instance, if you work for an airline but you care deeply about green issues, you could get to know those in the organization who work on emissions. Contribute a portion of income to a cause you care about rather than give up a job you love to take a lower salary. There’s always a way to contribute, and forums like Kickstarter and Kiva as well as mentoring programs like Taproot make it easy.” 

Double your passion.

These two women who are passionate about fashion as their career find the way to fit in passions for the greater good:

“Good for you to have a job you love. You’re lucky. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your job and excelling at it.  Grow and prosper with the job you love. There are thousands of needy volunteer organizations that need someone like you that truly wants to make a difference.“ 

“Get your company to rally around a good cause – support a charity or walk for cancer. etc. It’s also a great way to bond with executives and people outside your specific area.  Aside from quitting your existing job and joining a not for profit charity group or Greenpeace, it is a way to give back.”

In the end, if you are passionate about it, you will find the time and the place.

Christina Vuleta is a strategic consultant and creator of 40:20 Vision. 40:20 Vision is a resource to start conversations, share experiences and facilitate mentoring between generations. It provides advice from 40-something women to 20-something women on what we have learned in life about career, passions, self-fulfillment and relationships. Most recently a director at The Futures Company, a strategic marketing and trend consultancy, Christina has made a career out of understanding insights that drive women’s aspirations and life decisions.

To get you started on your own journey to dream we encourage you to download a free chapter from the book here.

Whitney sees the world as a series of opportunities to invest—in stocks, in ideas, and in people. She believes her true mission is to help people “disrupt themselves” and build a remarkable and surprising future.

She is currently the president and co-founder of Clayton M. Christensen’s investment firm Rose Park Advisors (Disruptive Innovation Fund), a former Institutional Investor-ranked sell-side analyst on Wall Street, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Senior Advisor to the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, and a TEDx speaker.

Connect with Whitney here:

Email at whitney@whitneyjohnson.com
Follow @johnsonwhitney on Twitter
Visit the Dare Dream Do Facebook page

Joan Jett may love rock and roll, but thirty years after the hit single’s debut, her female compatriots are still eerily absent within the punk genre. When people think punk, they think of The Ramones and The Sex Pistols – or Green Day, if their iPods don’t predate 1995. But they don’t often think of anyone without a Y chromosome.

Seattle’s The Juliettes aim to change that, however. Their debut album, “Clutch the Pearls,” released May 1, 2012, contains tracks like “Hooray, You’re Gay” and “BOB,” which stands for Battery Operated Boyfriend. Taylor Swift they are not. Here, lead singer Julie Mains tells us how they balance rock star revelry with professional life and how you can punk-ify your work wardrobe.

How would you describe the band’s sound?

We sound like a combination of Green Day, The Go-Gos, Joan Jett, Brian Setzer. We’ve even been called the female Foo Fighters, which is pretty much the highest compliment we could get.

What’s the most fun thing about being in an all-female band?

There are so many things. The most fun thing about being in THIS all-female band is that we have a lot of love and respect for each other. I have yet to be in a band with men where at least one of them didn’t think we was the boss of me, musically or otherwise. In this band, nobody is the boss of anybody. We are very careful of each other’s feelings and are even sometimes too cautious.

We write about things that are relevant to women. We dress up and put on a great show because we are all about having fun and giving our audience an experience. We take our music seriously, but not ourselves. We like to rock out with our frock out.

What is it like to be a female band in such a male-dominated genre?

Both inspiring and depressing. People are often surprised at our level of professionalism, sadly. Then, after they see us perform, we get asked why we aren’t famous or out opening for some huge act on a regular basis. The compliments are nice, but we also face a lot of sexism or harassment. At our last gig, the sound guy called our drummer, “sweetheart” over and over and then told her her sound check was arousing him. Something ridiculous like that happens at every gig.

Still, it makes us work harder and fight harder. I don’t know why we are considered less relevant or less of a good investment financially than say another band of boys singing derivative sounding songs about some girl he has weepy feelings for. Women control 80% of the buying power in this country and should be well represented in this industry by strong voices reflecting the experiences our sisters are having. Oh wait, it might be because we don’t take our clothes off. If you look at magazine covers, the women are usually uncovered. We wear clothes when we rock. We find it helps people listen to the music.

What would you say to women who claim not to like punk? Do you have a “starter kit” of punk songs to introduce people to the genre?

I think women like punk a lot. Between Joan Jett and Blondie, the love affair between women and punk was secured in the 70s and 80s. If there*is* a reason, maybe it’s because the women championed in the music industry are singing auto-tuned dance music, soft hits, or country and that’s what the public is exposed to. We have about four or five songs on our new album that women will love that lean strongly to punk. Punk music has some of the most hilarious and sarcastic lyrics in it. Punk can be a truly enjoyable experience down to your bone marrow, but I do think some of women equate it to people jumping up and down in a mosh pit with people sweating on you. Our music is more like putting on your tiara and then flipping off the man.

How do you balance The Juliettes with your day job?

Each of us is in different stages of school, day job and non-day job. Two of us have kids. Honestly, the gender inequity rears it’s ugly head here the most. We’ve been conditioned to sit around and consider what our “work/life balance” is supposed to look like, what our kids are supposed to expect from us as women (to give our lives over to raising them without other interests), what our partners should expect from us (to give our lives over to caring for them with everything else second), what our jobs should expect (money is the most important thing you need because the cost of living is expensive).

The answer is this: there is no balance. We make time for this because we must. What kind of parent or partner are we if we suppress our dreams and passions? My job in life is to pursue that which makes me happy and model that for my children and my community.

Men are rarely, if ever, asked about their work/life balance. In this band, we are professional musicians. If there were any justice in this world, the band would our day job. I keep crossing my fingers and working my butt off in the expectation that one day, some savvy and well-connected badass will see the potential in this band and partner with us – then there will be no need of a day job at all.

What advice would you give women who are interested in starting bands of their own?

Do it. Be very, very careful about choosing bandmates. Being in a band – essentially an artistic business partnership – with the wrong people is a fiery hell. Speak from the heart. Serve yourself, your vision, your message. Work hard, be prepared and respectful. Don’t take no for an answer. Swing for the fences. Love freely and openly. Be safe with your person.

Can you give our readers some suggestions for incorporating rocker style into their work wardrobes?

Yes. First, get rid of everything in your wardrobe that makes you look (and therefore feel) dowdy or frumpy. If you own it, you will be tempted to wear it. Get rid of your safe haircut. Lean into eyeliner and brighter lips. Then, buy more boots. Don’t be afraid of red. The thing that will make you have more rocker style than anything in your wardrobe is to look people in the eye, walk with purpose, and not give a flying eff what anyone thinks of you.

I am a journalism major at the University of North Carolina with magazine aspirations. Experience is my only potential safeguard against postgraduate poverty, and so for every season there is an internship. In my quest to fill summer, I lined up a phone interview with an Important New York editor at an Important New York magazine for three o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon.

When he didn’t call, as Important people are prone to not doing, I was unconcerned. Ever eager interns, after all, will always reschedule; the Romney brothers might not. So, I shot my would-be interviewer an email telling him I was still interested in the position and that I would be happy to speak with him another time.

Three days and two unresponded-to-emails later, I finally got an apologetic reply, in which the editor asked if I would be available to speak that afternoon. Under normal circumstances, I would have immediately, enthusiastically agreed. But it just so happened that I received this editor’s email as I was en route to my current internship at NEXT for Women.

The intern, or the internship candidate, schedules her life around companies not the other way around. She does not turn down the interviewer’s preferred interview time, but she also does not use her employer’s time for personal phone calls. As I pulled into NEXT, I was stuck. How does the responsible intern divide her loyalties when she is also an internship candidate?

Fortunately, I have an understanding boss who also happens to be a fountain of career advice (it is NEXT for Women, after all!), and could bounce my query off her. I was quickly assured that she had no problem with my taking a quick phone call, but talking about it lead us to a larger question: what is the etiquette on finding a new job while still employed elsewhere?

To answer my inquiry about how to handle one of job-searching’s stickiest subjects, I turned to Annie Favreau of Inside Jobs. As the managing editor of a website dedicated to maximizing career potential, Annie has answered countless questions about the tangled workplace web we all weave. Her advice on this one was, as expected, spot-on:

In this economy, it can make a lot of sense to look for a new job before leaving your old one. But it can be tricky business.

The most important rule? Don’t look for a new job on your current company’s time or technology. Create a private email address so you can keep any communications with potential employers separate from the rest of your work life. (This applies to any other people who are helping your search too, like references or informational interviews.) Also, don’t share your plans with any of your current colleagues.

While there are certainly exceptions to every rule, keeping your job hunt separate from your current work means you’ll burn many fewer bridges.

Clearly, I had followed exactly none of Annie’s advice by asking my current boss whether I should take a phone call from a potential boss. As I spoke with Annie, I felt myself grow increasingly grateful for the tolerance of my own employer. So, for all of your out their with bosses less patient than mine, let my faux pas be a lesson to you. Save yourself the awkwardness and burned bridges, and keep that extracurricular job search on the down low.

LinkedIn can be a great way to contact people for informational interviews, there are many people who are willing to help a young, ambitious, job seeker. However check out this exchange between our CEO and a someone seeking a informational interview.

Info Interview Seeker (IIS): May I have five minutes of your time for an informational interview? I’m currently looking for the perfect career path and I’d love to hear your story. Thank you in advance.
CEO:  I am happy to connect. Where are you located? I assume we can do this via phone? The 18th is flexible for me so we can speak then. Please email me directly at CEO@NEXTforWomen.com.

IIS: You got it, CEO!

CEO (a week later): I didn’t hear from you so perhaps if you are still interested in connecting you can me me some dates and times in the next 2 weeks and I will check with my schedule. Thanks.

IIS: Hi CEO, I apologize for the delayed response. I suddenly received a large amount of emails contacting me for interviews! (hooray!) I would love to connect with you as soon as everything is settled. Thank you in advance for your time. I truly appreciate your generosity. Have a wonderful week.

This is the last time she has contacted our CEO and after an off-putting email such as that one, she may have alienated herself from a potential contact. While the effort was there, the correct method was not. Ross Wade is the Career Counselor for Elon University’s School of Communication and a LinkedIn expert. Here are some of his Do’s and Don’ts so you can avoid a disastrous  interaction like the example above.

DO

• Market self as professional not a student: If under your information you still have student listed people will still think of you as a student. Market yourself as who you are aspiring to be. Ever heard of visualizing something to make it come true? Well this is kind of the same thing only this time, other people will be able to help you achieve your goals.

• Join groups and contribute to discussion boards: Along those lines, don’t create an account just to have an account. You have to make sure that you are using it to it’s fullest potential. posting in groups and boards gets your name out there and proves to potential employers that you know what you are talking about and could be a real asset to their company.  Don’t wait for things to happen, go out there and make sure people know who you are and what you are capable of.

• Add personal notes to invitations: Whether you are requesting to connect or asking for a recommendation, always include a personal note. The generic one that LinkedIn sets up for you isn’t enough. By adding just a quick personal note shows a level of added interest and attention.  It demonstrates that you have a vested interest in this connection and you aren’t just attempting to get 500+ under your connections.

• Connect with professionals and network building: While IIS’s intentions were in the right place the execution was horrible. Her failed attempt shouldn’t dissuade you from contacting others. You can and should use LinkedIn to help build up your network and contacts within your desired field.  Only when you do, make sure that you have the time to actually contact them. These professionals are taking the time out of their day to help you and when you blow them off it can be very telling. Often times the field in which you want to work is a small one. You never know who their friends may be. That informational interview you ditched could be the best friend with your dream boss of your dream job.

DON’T

• Connect with those your don’t know: While it is ok to reach out, you should have some type of connection with them.  See who they are connected with if you have any second degree connections. Then ask that connection to introduce you. It legitimizes you and if someone else vouches for you it will make him or her more likely to help you out. If you feel uncomfortable asking your shared connection to introduce you, you probably shouldn’t connect with that person.

• Forget to update your skills and interest: Some people think that having work experience on LinkedIn is enough. But it is not. Make sure have every part of the profile is filled out and completed. There is a reason why LinkedIn requests that you have this information up there. You never know who will be looking at your profile and what they are looking for.

If you follow these simple tips and really utilize LinkedIn, you may land your next or first dream job! For this NEXTer, using LinkedIn to it’s fullest potential has lead to a few interviews and (fingers crossed) a career.

Ambika Nigam could have been a number cruncher. After she graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in economics, she accepted a prestigious financial analyst position at Oppenheimer Funds, where she made the kinds of complicated mathematical models that would make Einstein blush. But, as she sat at her computer manipulating money, Ambika increasingly found herself lusting after Oppenheimer’s sexier, more social marketing division.

Through hard work and networking savvy, Ambika successfully navigated the switch from finance to marketing and became the company’s marketing manager. Now, after a stint at OgilvyOne and a Master’s degree in strategic communications from Columbia, Ambika has strayed even further from finance as a business designer at one of the industry’s hottest design firms, IDEO. But, despite its differences from her original plans, Ambika says that working at IDEO has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of her career. Read on to find out how you too can live your professional passion – whether it was in your plans or not!

Q: What did you study in college and why?

A: I studied econ at the University of Michigan. I wanted to study something that would give me a strong foundation in analytical skills, but also something that offered some versatility.

Q: You started as a financial analyst at Oppenheimer Funds and then became a marketing manager. What steps did you take to earn that promotion?

A: As an analyst, I was in charge of financial models, new products and for acting as a liaison with other departments. In that position, I was able to build strong relationships and trust with my colleagues in other departments, and the head of the marketing group became my mentor.

I naturally gravitated towards marketing because it was more gregarious and required more of a team structure than my financial analyst position. I though, if I really like marketing, how can I apply it more in my job? That’s why I began to look at other departments.

Q: Why did you decide to pursue a Master’s at Columbia?

A: I started thinking about what I was really passionate about. I loved marketing, so I wanted to really hone the craft. The Master’s program at Columbia was a really great way to do that.

I wanted to do a program that would help me answer questions about myself: what do I want to do? What am I passionate about? It was great to get exposure to different people and learn about different facets of marketing because it forced me to be more introspective about what I was really excited about.

Q: How has the Master’s helped you reach your career goals? Do you feel like you’ve learned more from that program or from real world experience?

A: I use skills from both my job and my Master’s program. The Master’s really helped me develop my point of view. It helped me clarify my goals.

Q: You’ve been a financial analyst, a marketing manager and an associate director of marketing strategy. Now you’re a business designer. How did you know when it was time to make a career change?

A: I knew it was time for a change when the challenges became too familiar. I wanted to stretch myself more. It’s that bittersweet feeling of enjoying being comfortable and confident in a job but needing to grow.

Q: How did you find the confidence to make those big changes?

A: I was surrounded by great people. My mentors nudged me to make changes when I was ready and helped give me the confidence to make those changes. And I’ve relied on my husband and my family for support.

Q: Were your skills transferable from job-to-job, or did you have to start from the beginning after every switch?

A: There were definitely aspects that were transferable, like defining my style of work and the structure I was most comfortable working in. I learned what good habits to pick up and also saw habits not to pick up.

I’ve become more comfortable in my own style and with having fun with my job. I’ve learned I like a certain amount of structure, but that I don’t like working to feel overly engineered, which is why I moved away from finance.

Q: What’s the most exciting part of working for IDEO, one of New York’s hottest design firms?

A: Everything is exciting about IDEO! If I had to pick one thing, though, it would be the people, who keep it fresh and fun. IDEO has a culture of helping each other produce the best work possible. I feel so lucky to work there – I pinch myself everyday!

Q: What is a typical day like at IDEO?

A: There isn’t a typical day at IDEO! You never know what’s going to happen. We try to have some consistencies to spark inspiration. We bring in a lot of entrepreneurs and other designers to get inspired. There’s lots of music-playing, and we have these Nerf toys, called Finger Blasters, we play with. We like to mix fun and focus!

Q: Business design sounds like it requires a very different kind of creativity from your past roles in finance and marketing. How did you develop a designer sensibility?

A: I developed it through going out in the field, making observations, looking for patterns. I read a lot of design blogs and started following designers on Twitter. I developed a sense of what people want and got really interested in the intersection of media and technology in design.

Q: How do you generate ideas? What do you do when you’re stumped?

A: When we’re stumped, we go outside. We go to some kind of analogous place to the one we’re designing for and hope it will spark something. Other times, we’ll just go for a walk, or to a movie, or to get ice cream.

Q: What projects are you currently working on?

A: I’m working on a great project for a big hospitality chain, but I can’t say which one yet!

Q: What work project are you proudest of?

A: I don’t know if I can choose just one. I’m really excited about our current project. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done as a team. That’s the most interesting thing about projects: the way people work together as a team.

Q: What would you like to improve upon or develop about yourself professionally?

A: I want to focus on the craft of being a really good business designer. I want to be a good project leader.

Rachel Allen is a sophomore journalism major at the University of North Carolina. As an editorial intern at NEXT for Women, she loves helping women live their professional dreams.