Take Control

Sometime it feels like everything is out of control. The subway is having mechanical problems, it's raining, it's taxi change over time, you can't find an Uber, some man spills his coffee on you getting off the bus, and you have that important 9am meeting.

Even though you are having a terrible morning where unpredictable circumstances leave you off centered, you still have control of what happens the rest of the day. It's hard to feel that way in the moment, but you still have many choices on what happens next. Let's explore.

Option 1- You walk into your meeting clearly frustrated and disheveled. You apologize for being late and jump right into your presentation feeling unnerved.

Option 2- You contact the people who are in your meeting, let them know about the unfortunate coffee spill and tell them you need an extra hour to stop home and change.

Option 3- You pull a shirt off the sample rack (this is a fashion industry blog, so it's likely there are samples around) quickly change in the bathroom, enter your meeting a couple minutes late with the now entertaining morning you've just had.

There are probably 10 more things you could choose to do in the moment. What sounds like the best option? The point, there are always options.

Things happen that are out of your control: the boss that hired you leaves the company, your company gets sold to a private equity firm, your division is being moved to New Jersey, or your partner on a key project just took all the credit on the work you did. It's how you react to those situations that will stall your career or keep you moving forward.

First, decide what you want out of your career. What type of leader or teammate do you want to be?

Then, think about your situation carefully. What options do you have? There are usually two obvious ones, but there are generally several others that aren't so easy to see at first.

Finally, make a decision and take control. How will you reflect back upon the decisions you are about to make? How will you be perceived based on your planned reaction?

If you believe things are out of control and you are powerless in a situation, you are powerless. If something happens that's out of your control and you make a decision on what happens next, you have control. The decision is yours.

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

Time to Think

There are lots of things that go into being a great leader. There are all the standard, yet important components of being a great leader like listening to your team, developing people, the ability to make decisions, clear communication, building and sharing a vision, the list goes on and on. What you don't hear a lot about is how a leader can accomplish these things.

Being a great leader means making time to be a great leader. It means not filling every single second of every single day with meetings or tasks. Balancing the time to give your team what they need, and taking time for yourself to think will enhance your abilities as a leader. How much time do you make to really think?

Thinking time is critical to building your vision and innovating as a leader, but it can easily be pushed to the side for more tactical pursuits. Time contemplating gives you the ability to take what you've heard from your team and synthesize the information into actions and decisions. Thinking helps you understand the market landscape and to see the bigger picture, or "see the forest through the trees" as they say. While it seems as though you are making a trade off between crossing that meeting off your list, getting home to your family an hour earlier or and taking time to think, you can almost guarantee that time reserved to think will save you time in the long term.

When do you usually make time to think? How do you find time to think? Where is your favorite spot to focus your thoughts?

Working with a career coach can help you carve out time to focus on your refining your leadership. To learn more, go to www.katekibler.com

Get a second opinion

If you are like me, your career is important to you. Deciding whether or not to apply for a job, sending a resume, going on an interview, or making a decision whether or nor to accept a job are all big decisions. The choices you make could lead nowhere or they could change your entire life. 

When considering a career move, find someone whose opinion you trust to be your sounding board. Make sure this person understands your goals and helps to keep you focused. Before making a move, consider the following:

How come you decided to update your resume? What made you decide to interview for this role at that company? How come you are considering leaving your current position? How does this new job fit with your current life? How does this new job fit into the life you want?

The closer you are to an actual job offer, the more that's at stake and the more your judgement could be clouded. Write down the answers to the questions above. Talk to your 'second opinion' about your answers. When it comes to decision time, you should have a clear path. 

What's the hardest career decision you've ever made? Who do you trust to be your sounding board? 

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com 

Think about your reference

Building relationships are critical to business success; sometimes even more so in the apparel industry. A referral means more to most hiring managers than your degree and sometimes even your experience. Likewise, the referee carries more weight if it is someone the hiring manager knows, trusts and respects. Before picking your references, think through all the details. Talk with a recruiter you worked with to find out what type of referrals may carry more weight. Scour LinkedIn before your interview to see if there are any connections to anyone you are meeting with. If there are, reach out to your connection before the interview to see how they know the person you are meeting. Ask how their relationship with the interviewer is (I know you will be shocked to hear that not everyone in the fashion industry likes each other.) A liked common connection could put you on top of a large pile of resumes.

What are some other ways you could use this common connection to secure the job? If you were the hiring manager, how much would that connection mean to you?

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

High performing team

Understanding what you are good at can help you excel in your role. Not only can you accentuate the positive, but you can hire and surround yourself with people who have different skills. It is easy when hiring to look for people you relate to… someone who shares your skills. In reality, you should be looking for a team to complement your skills. At first, this makes getting things done harder. Everyone on the team has a different point of view and as I mentioned, different skills. This usually means individuals will approach and work to solve problems differently. The good news: if you are patient, listen to all points of view and the team trusts each other, the outcome will be optimal as more solutions have been considered and reviewed. Once the team gets into a rhythm and develops this ‘muscle’, you have yourself a high performing team.

What do you do better than anyone else? What aren't you good at? Who do you know who does it really well? How can you respect other points of view? When do you listen to new ideas? What frustrates you about a diverse team?

Preparing for an interview

I recently participated in a panel discussion at my Alma Mater to talk about life in the fashion industry. A student mentioned she had an upcoming interview. She asked me how she could stand out as a candidate. My answer: research. You’ve heard it from me before, but it is worth repeating. Research, research, research.

First, what do you know about the company vs what do you think you know about the company? Many interviewees assume they know about a company from what they see in stores and also from what they heard from friends. What you see and hear is usually about the present and past. What this doesn’t tell you is where the company wants to go. How can you find out this information?  Read recent articles about the company. If you can’t find any articles, 10k filings or earning reports are great sources of information. While they may be somewhat boring at times, the read and preparation is often worth it. An interviewee who says “I read in your 10k filing that you are planning to expand your women’s business. Your women’s line is high quality with great colors, but I think increasing the assortment to include sweaters and knits could really capture additional market share in the women’s space.” will stand apart from many candidates who will say “your women’s line looks great. I love the dress collection from this season.” Having the knowledge is important, but as you can see from the above statements, you also need to use your critical thinking skills to help you stand apart.

Secondly, who are you interviewing with? Don’t be shy to ask the recruiter for a list of names. Have you Googled them? Have you checked them out on LinkedIn? It is always smart to know who your audience is. With today’s technology, it is easy to find out about people. Not only does it help you to understand how you can direct the conversation, but it can also help you not stick your foot in your mouth about a prior company your interviewer may have worked at in the past.

Believe it or not, hardly any candidates do this level of research. I have had candidates interview for a job in the retail division of the corporate office who ask me how many stores we have. This is one of the easiest things to find out had they cared enough about the interview to do the research. I immediately cross them off the list of potentials. If they don’t take the time to research for the interview, they are not the type of employee I’m looking for.

How can you better prepare for an upcoming interview? What research have you already done? What else can you do to stand out as a candidate?

For more information on career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

A boss who limits your career

While the ideal would be a boss who is open and excited to have you move up in the corporation, there are those bosses out there who become offended or annoyed that you may want to make a move. How can you open the door to the conversation without putting your current job in jeopardy? Obviously, you need to understand your boss’ mindset. If you have a boss who is limiting your career it may seem risky to start that conversation with him/her, but the reality is you could be doing significant damage to your career by stagnating in a role. Sometimes people find it easier to look outside of their current company for a new position rather than pushing to advance their career from within. Before doing something drastic, think about it. How could you in a new role add value to your boss or your boss’ career?

What would be a good strategy for dealing with a boss who doesn’t get it? How could you in a new role add value to your boss or your boss’ career? Once you make that determination, there will be many more opportunities at your feet.

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

Your Internet Image - What is it Rated?

We have had more than one candidate be edited from the interview process because prospective employers found photos and information on social media space that they felt were inappropriate.  There are so many places to build profiles.  LinkedIn most people recognize as a career based networking site.  Prospective employers will also search Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and any other information they can find on candidates.

Here are some guidelines to keep your social media space from costing you career opportunities.  In the most simplistic advice it should be rated PG in content. 

Things to avoid:

Excessive party pictures.

Bad language.

Inappropriate Dress.  

Extreme political views.

Extreme personal drama.

Violent content.

Sexual content.

Negative dialog about employers, co- workers and work in general.

Even if you set your Facebook photos as private they can show up in other places.  Do a Google search on yourself and see what comes up.    If I Google my husband’s name photos show up from a wedding we were at in California.   We did not post these pictures.  You can see when we attend community meetings, minutes from meetings of organizations we belong to, you can find that we are runners and have raised money for certain charities.    Much information can be found on line.  Protect your internet image carefully. 

What do you find when you Google your own name?  Does it represent who you are professionally?

Getting where you want to go

I recently had a client talk about switching careers. Not a dramatic switch, just a small switch in function. Her goal was to obtain the position she wanted within two years. Switching roles can be harder than you think in the retail industry. Of course my client and I worked on associating her current skills to the job she wanted and targeting her resume (see Kari’s post from 6.3.13 for more about targeted resumes). We were also able to work with her current employer on a title change in order to line my client up better for the future job she wanted. The question remained… what else could my client do to get the career she wanted?

We landed on: act like you have that job now. Just start adding responsibilities of the job you want to your current role. Immerse yourself in the role you want. It’s pretty rare that an employer is going to get upset about you doing additional work. Coworkers usually like the additional help. That was a good solve for inside the office, but what about outside the office? What could my client do to start building a solid reputation? 

After some intense research, my client is starting a blog. She knows she is going to remain with her current company and in her current position for another two years. Her blog will give her a voice into the industry where she can showcase her skills in the role she wants. It will give her exposure and an edge on other recruits when the time comes to make a move.

How much time have you spent looking forward to your future career? What have you done to prepare yourself for the next phase in your career? How could you establish yourself as an authority in your field? How could a career coach help position you for the future?

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

Never look for a job when you are unhappy

Never look for a job when you are unhappy. It was some of the best career advice I have ever received. At first it sounds counter-intuitive, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Although I had this advice in hand, I once decided to interview while unhappy in a past job. It didn’t go so well. I had a hard time articulating in interviews why I was looking for a new job while staying positive. I tried my hand at another interview and was tempted to accept a position that would not have been right for me. When people are unhappy, they tend to make bad decisions. With the words ‘never look for a job while you are unhappy’ echoing in my head, I quickly decided to hold off on my job search. Instead, I spent that energy trying to make my job at the time work.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I did make that job work. I re-dedicated my time and energy to building my career where I was. After spending another four years at that company, I moved on. When I made the change, it wasn’t because I was sad with my old job; it was because I was excited for a new challenge.

How can you decide if it is time to look for a new job? How would you classify your current career happiness? What can you do to boost your career in your current company? What are the reasons you would consider moving to a new company? Are you running away from something or running towards something? Would the job you are interviewing for be attractive if you were happy in your current position?

To learn more about career coach Kate Kibler, go to www.katekibler.com

Delaying decisions

I once worked for the president of a company who never made decisions. You could go to this guy with an incredible amount of data, a clear point of view and a solid strategy. Still, he wouldn't make a decision. Eventually, he was ousted from the company. I have since recognized this as a pattern in many senior leaders. The slow decision making can be frustrating for an employee waiting to bring a project to conclusion. What is the cause of the slow decision making?

There can be many reasons a leader is delaying decision making. In my experience, a leader would like as much information possible to make sure they are making an informed choice. Often, time alone can help confirm the quality of data. Other times, that leader wants to gain support from corporate partners or clients before resolving the issue. I have also seen a leader delay moving a project forward because they do not want to be accountable for the outcome. Fear can be very powerful.

In the end, if you are waiting for a decision on a project you want to move forward, think about how you can help your leader. What is their hesitation on finalizing the decision? Where can you alleviate some remaining concerns around the project? How can you help them gain support from corporate partners or clients? How can you ‘manage up’?

If you want to learn more about career coaching go to www.katekibler.com

Stop waiting

I recently had a client who was disappointed in her boss. We have all been there at one point or another. My client needed her boss to make a decision in order to move forward with a project. Her boss was not making that decision. My client was frustrated and angry. She wasn't sure how to make her boss realize the cost of delaying the project. During our coaching call, my client realized that her boss had other priorities and the decision wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Although this was a disappointing moment, my client soon understood that she could move the project forward in another way. She identified her boss' reason for delaying the project and brainstormed a solution to help both her and her boss. The project quickly moved forward after my client removed the obstacle she identified.

It happens all too frequently that we let something stand in the way of our progress. Maybe the budget was cut for the project you were working on, or you are not getting the support you need from a peer to complete your task for the day, or maybe you are even waiting for your boss to make a decision. What can you do to push closer towards your goals? How can you take back control of a lost cause? What are you waiting for?

Learn more about Career Coach Kate Kibler at http://www.katekibler.com

Building towards a vision

If you have ever worked for someone who is a visionary, you know how inspiring they can be. Unlike a strategy, a vision is meant to stimulate emotion. I actually picked up and moved my life across the country after a couple of meetings because I was drawn to the vision one person painted. What I didn't know at the time was that it was just a vision. Having a vision essential for building a brand and a business, but it's not enough on it's own. This is a common problem in the fashion industry. There are some very talented visionaries in the field, but very few with the skills and foresight to execute on a vision.

In my opinion a great strategy starts with a vision. Who do you want to be to your customers? What are people saying about your brand? What does it feel like? How are your customers shopping? Why did they choose your brand? How does your brand inspire its customers? These are some of the many intangible things you think of when creating a vision. Once you have a vision established, how can you build towards it? What is your strategy? What are the activities you create in order to construct your strategy? While I stated earlier that a great strategy starts with a great vision, a vision is nothing without a great strategy. A vision will never go anywhere unless you commit to it and build a strategy to support it.

Learn more about the fashion industry from Career Coach Kate Kibler at www.katekibler.com.

Saying yes

There have been many books and blogs written about saying yes to everything. I even think there was a movie about saying yes. It sounds fun and adventurous until you think about the reality of doing so. It would simply be overwhelming to say yes to everything. I am way too pragmatic to make the sweeping decision of yes, but have realized that saying no shuts a door. I decided to say yes more often than not. I know that doesn't sound exotic or exciting, but it has helped me with my career.  

Whether you are looking for a job or happy in your current role, overwhelmed or content in your workload, I have found saying yes can have positive repercussions. When a recruiter calls about an open position, I have always taken the call even if I am not interested. Why would I waste my time? I found it is not a waste of time to make connections. I will listen to hear about the role and happily refer someone who may be a great fit. When I had a recent period of unemployment, I found those relationships I had built with recruiters over the years invaluable.

How else could saying yes help your career? There was a period of time when I was leading a design team during the day and completing my MBA at night. At work, I was asked to take on additional responsibilities outside the scope of my job. The new duties seemed like a strange request given my role at the time. I was already overworked but decided to say yes. Because I performed well in these additional responsibilities, I was able to make a much desired career shift into merchandising. I didn't sleep much during that time, but the short-term pain lead to long-term gains.

Although saying yes to everything could lead nowhere, I recommend you think before you close the door by saying no. What have you said no to that you regret? Where is there an opportunity to say yes right now in your career? How can you identify what you should stay open to?

Learn more about the fashion industry from Career Coach Kate Kibler at http://www.katekibler.com. 

Omni-channel

There has been so much talk of omni-channel retail, but what does it really mean? The idea behind omni-channel is simple and makes sense. Basically, the idea is a seamless experience for your brand’s customer. For example, if you are an Apple customer and you see an iPad online, you will be able to shop that same product at the same price wherever iPads are sold. You would find the same model and price from Apple branded retail stores to Best Buy to any other retailer who carries Apple.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been frustrated as a customer by price and product differences in channels. Sometimes I see something online, but I’d like to check it out in person before purchasing and I can’t find it in stores. Often it’s worse when I see an item in a store, and decide to purchase later online. For me, this mainly happens when I am traveling.  I was visiting a large city and saw a great pair of boots that first, I did not want to lug around the city, and second, would not fit in my luggage. I made a note and attempted to order online later.  No luck. I was disappointed and that brand lost a sale.

Omni-channel was conceived to prevent that frustration and increase profitability. It’s a simple and easy idea that takes some serious time and financial investment to implement. Most companies think if they use the words omni-channel and rearrange their staffs, they are an omni-channel brand. That is simply not the case. First, you can have one merchant and planning team responsible for multiple channels, but often times there will be a General Manager (GM) or Business head with P&L accountability for each separate channel. One GM determines they need to run a sale and the other is selling well at full price, so they do what is best for their channel. That’s not omni-channel. Since companies have been focused on individual channel growth for so long, systems have been implemented to support that. For example, a retailer who has their own stores and ecommerce site often manages separate inventories for each channel. Combining inventory sounds easy until you face the IT hurdles. Sharing inventory, creating the same assortment or controlling pricing becomes even more difficult for a company that sells wholesale, retail and ecommerce. It’s not even legal to impose restrictions like that on a wholesale partner unless perhaps you work on a consignment model.

So what is the future of omni-channel? I do not know. I think the idea is amazing, but a company will need to commit more than just words in order to make it happen. Companies who have made this leap in a serious way are reaping the rewards; just look at Nordstrom.

What do you think of omni-channel retailing? Where have you seen it succeed? If you have seen failure, what was the cause? Would omni-channel retailing be right for your business? What would you need to do to ensure its success?

Learn more about the fashion industry from Career Coach Kate Kibler at http://www.katekibler.com. 

Professional References - Choose Wisely

References play a critical part of the candidate evaluation process.   At Apparel Resource we complete references checks for employers when they have a sincere interest in our candidates.  After speaking with a candidate’s reference,  we present a write up.  This happens after an onsite interview but prior to an offer being extended.   The references are usually reviewed by all of the people who will have a vote in whether to extend an offer or not.  Often, it is the last document they review before deciding to extend an offer.  We have seen excellent references have a positive impact on the decision to hire and sometimes even salary.  Unfortunately if references are not strong they can have a negative impact on a candidate.

If you are asked for references you need to think very carefully about who you select.  We typically look for a blend of references:  someone who you have reported to, someone who has reported to you, a peer and a cross functional colleague.  Your references need to be able to speak SPECIFICALLY  about your contributions on the job. 

We have had candidates select references from the work place that they spend time with socially….the reference loves the candidate personally and can’t say enough about what a great person they are but often can’t speak specifically to job performance.  This does not give the hiring manager material to support extending an offer.

Make sure you select a reference who will take the time to really speak to your abilities.  Sometimes we get a reference on the phone who gives one word answers and to draw out any more is like pulling teeth.  For example….one of our questions is:  "Is Amy able to meet deadlines and produce quality work under intense workloads?"   A good reference will not only say YES but will back up the answer with examples.

When you ask someone to be your reference make sure they understand this means they will be getting at least one call that will last 20 to 40 minutes.  It does not reflect well on you as a candidate when your references seem to not have time to visit.   Make sure you select someone who sincerely WANTS to be your advocate.   Select references who will return calls, emails promptly and who ideally would be able to schedule a call to complete the reference within 24 hours of being contacted.

Select colleagues who are well spoken, professional and stay on topic.   You should also select references that you have worked with in the past 5 years.  If it was longer than that, they rarely are able to remember specifics.

Do you have current references that you are comfortable with?   Have you ever been asked to be a reference?  Think about the questions you were asked and who would be able to speak to your performance.  What is the best reference question you have heard?

For information on our current opportunities contact me at kari@apparel-resource.com

Building a strategy

Not to sound like an arrogant character from a 1990’s movie, but I have had a problem with strategy in the fashion world since I completed my MBA. Most executives in fashion do not know the difference between a tactic and a strategy. It is an essential responsibility of any executive, merchant, or sourcing role to build and execute a solid strategy.

I admit to sometimes interchanging the words inappropriately myself on occasion. When building a strategy however, it’s a good idea to be clear on the difference between the two. I could write more on the subject, but would rather point you to a person  I would consider the expert. I strongly encourage you to read Michael Porter’s “What is Strategy?”.  Here is the link to purchase: http://hbr.org/product/what-is-strategy/an/96608-PDF-ENG. You could also Google it and find it for free, but I do not want to support piracy. It’s worth the $7.00.

If you have followed my advice and read “What is Strategy?”, how as it changed your view of strategy? What can you do to build a strategy with supporting tactics? How successful have you been in building strategies in the past? Who have you worked with in the fashion industry who builds and implements successful strategies? What has made those strategies successful?

Learn more about the fashion industry from Career Coach Kate Kibler at http://www.katekibler.com.