This Is Not The Career I Ordered™ Blog
Savvy Professional Career Wisdom by Caroline Dowd-Higgins
This is Not the Career I Ordered is read by thousands of careerists around the globe. With savvy tools, inspiration, and resources, this timeless book empowers you to enjoy your career, and love your life!
Slay Perfectionism with “Good Enough to Go” for Career Momentum
As a career development and executive coach, I work with many individuals who are focused on making changes to their careers to better align with professional values and strengths. But for some, their best plans often get stalled in analysis paralysis, which results in stagnation and a hard stop to all forward momentum. Brave, Not […]
Savor Your Success
We live in a world where achieving success is a moving target. Whether your organization is focused on sales goals, fundraising targets, billable hours, placements, or some other measurement to quantify success – it’s rare to celebrate hitting the goal before the bar is quickly raised to a new and higher level. I get the […]
Don’t Underestimate Holiday Hiring as You Plan Your Next Career Move
I have a client pursuing a career reinvention who recently said she was going to lay low until after the holidays because she didn’t think hiring would happen until the new year. I encouraged her and any job seeker to activate now since the career market has an urgency like never before to recruit and […]
Rest Is More Than Sleep: What You Need to Renew Your Energy
I am a firm believer in the power of sleep and do my best to get 8 hours every night to maintain my health and wellness. I thought I was honoring my need to rest but my mind was blown when I read a piece about Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith in Maria Shriver’s: The Sunday Paper […]
Pace Yourself This Holiday Season: Tips for Going the Distance
Over the past few years, a holiday creep has overtaken the days of autumn. The holiday roll-out in the U.S. has gotten earlier and earlier and with Thanksgiving behind us, it’s easy to become stressed about completing all the tasks required at work and in your personal life to enjoy the festive season. Here are […]
Gratitude at Work Spurs Empathy and Compassion
As 2021 draws to a close, the stresses of the pandemic journey continue. Ambiguity lingers and many are navigating hybrid work scenarios, or lamenting having to commute again after a year+ of working from home. The Great Resignation is happening before our eyes and the urgent demand for labor is impacting all industries causing palpable […]
Executive Presence Isn’t Just for Executives
Executive presence used to harken images of expensively attired corporate employees who walked the walk and talked the talk to inspire confidence and yield influence for success in lavish offices and board rooms. In COVID times, the world has destigmatized remote work and the hybrid work model will be the new norm for much of […]
Reframe Obstacles to Find Career Clarity
When it comes to our plans, life can often have other ideas. That scenario has certainly been playing out as the whole world has been turned upside down by the ongoing Covid pandemic journey. So often we have very specific ideas about how our lives are supposed to unfold – feeling like we have control […]
An Entrepreneurial Mindset is Essential for Leaders
In my work as an executive leadership coach, I often help candidates prepare for job interviews. Even seasoned leaders are asked to define their leadership philosophy and give examples of their management in action when vying for a new role. While every role will require nuanced experience and subject matter expertise relevant to the opportunity, […]
Design Your Career Destiny So It Doesn’t Happen by Default
While unemployment rates are deceptively low, job layoffs, company re-organizations, and downsizing are ubiquitous. Perhaps you are pursuing a new opportunity to align with a better work culture or a higher salary. As the Greek philosopher Herclitus said, “The only thing that is constant is change.” My question to you is, are you ready for […]
Focus on Strengths, Not Weaknesses to Find Career Alignment
We hear it often…it’s better to play to your strengths rather than trying to fix your weaknesses. While that may seem like a no-brainer, especially when it comes to work and career, it’s surprising how many continue to work against their own proverbial grain. We’ve all heard about the challenges of trying to fit square […]
Radical Candor: Getting Real with Developmental Feedback
Leaders often need to give feedback that can be hard to deliver, as well as hard for those on the receiving end to hear. In her book Radical Candor: How To Be A Great Boss And A Kick Ass Citizen, author, coach and former tech exec, Kim Scott, advises that the more straightforward and honest […]
How Time to Think Can Help You Do Your Best Work
The pandemic induced work style of back-to-back meetings without transition time and overworked and overwhelmed employees has dangerously normalized into the status quo. I hear from clients, friends, and colleagues that the daily meeting blitz leaves no time to do the work. Evenings and weekends are spent catching up on the mountain of email and […]
Brave Not Perfect: Taking Bolder Risks
With social media permeating our daily lives at every turn, things can seem pretty flipping perfect out there. In this Instagram world where photos are filtered and flawless, and family and friends seem to always be having the time of their lives, it’s easier than ever to fall into the “perfect” trap. In her book, […]
