Staying Sane in Stressful Times: Breakthrough Training Career Strategies that Work in Any Economy

Some say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. We’ve all heard that statement for our health, Have you thought of another activity equally important of eating a good diet? Relationship building; meeting just one person each week can keep you focused on your current career goals and improve your quality of life.

That is just what Greater Boston ASTD ordered. Elizabeth Freedman, award-winning speaker and author who runs a career management and communications firm helps employees look sharp, sound smart and succeed on the job.

Elizabeth's workshop was entitled, "Staying Sane in Stressful Times, breakthrough Training Career Strategies that work in Any Economy". No this wasn't a How to Network 101 crash course but instead explained why relationship building is not networking., Building relationships is what really works by having many conversations with as many people as possible. As one of Elizabeth's former managers said, "All I ask is you have lunch once a week". No, he wasn't advocating starvation on two meals a day, but instead suggested engaging and connecting with new people at least once a week for lunch or coffee or tea as an ongoing, career-building "must".

There are Three R's that help accomplish this:

• Build relationships, going beyond the first layer, keep "peeling back the layers of an onion" to learn more about your relationships, be that "gift" that keeps on giving, this will ensure you’ll stay on their radar screen.
• Develop your reputation, what are you capable of? You are the only person that can showcase those unique talents and show others; work hard to receive honest feedback, keep asking for it!
• Become a resource, how can you help others and showcase your expertise? Create 'output' so that you're not just telling people what you're capable of – you're showing them, too.

In addition to learning the Three R's, we worked in pairs to apply some of these techniques in the dialog process, we asked questions that drew our partner into our comfort zone. We had a chance to discuss what worked and how to improve our listening skills.

Elizabeth shared some examples of poor relationship building, one in particular, in her career as a marketing consultant at a large consulting firm, where she would receive calls from graduating MBA students to ask if there were any jobs or people she could recommend without any preparation, research on the company, or specific position. When Elizabeth had to say no (usually because the company was experiencing a hiring freeze) she could hear that dreaded "rejection silence on the other end of the phone", followed by the caller hanging up and never to be heard from again. The moral of the story? Stay on people's radar screens – don't disappear if they can't give you what you want at a particular moment in time.

Elizabeth concluded with two major themes: What is your main thing? What do you want to do next? The following quote by M.G Lord, a writer sums up the courage to succeed in very difficult economic times. "Show me who you envy and I’ll show you whom you ache to become. In determining what job a person would kill for, for instance, envy is far more accurate than any aptitude test."