How to Handle Being Passed Over for a Promotion

That promotion was yours. You worked hard, all the signs were positive, and you thought it was a shoe-in.

But you didn't get it.

Outside of actually losing a job, being passed over is the worst professional experience you may face in your career, particularly for someone with an entrepreneurial mindset. It is a setback, and comes despite a slew of sacrifices, like missed birthdays, school concerts or vacations. You've given your life to your job. To say you're disappointed is a major understatement.

But you need to get over it. While there's value in talking it out with a loved one or even with a coach or therapist, the truth is, the best thing you can do is guide yourself through some self-healing steps. Doing so will help you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on.

Read on for a 6-step guide on how to move forward read more here.

4 Things Every Professional Should Learn From Entrepreneurs

Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. But entrepreneurs are known to possess certain qualities that make them successful, and every worker can take a page from their playbook to help advance their careers.

The latest government data might show the labor market is improving as the unemployment rate dropped to a five-year low in November, but competition for finding and keeping a job remains fierce. This means it’s more imperative than ever for employees to maintain their relevance--not only with their employers, but also within their industries.

Consider these four career tips that are at the core of many entrepreneurs’ spirit, to give you an edge on the competition:

1. Never get comfortable. The days of staying at the same company for your whole professional life are long gone. That’s something from our grandparents’ generation. If you get too comfortable in your job, you may find yourself unintentionally parting ways with your employer. Entrepreneurs know it's imperative to stay on your professional toes: Always work to grow your network and make sure you stay in touch with the key players in your industry. This allows you to always know who’s hiring, just like a successful entrepreneur is always up to date on the shifts in their marketplace. After all, you never know where an opportunity will arise.

2. Recognize that you (not your boss) determine your professional success. Sure, it’s true that your boss holds most of the cards for your career path within that organization, but that doesn’t mean you blindly have to accept his/her judgment. The truth is, your employer is nothing more than the equivalent of an entrepreneur's client or customer. There are always customers and clients looking to hire if you offer what they need. Spend some time taking stock in what you provide as an employee and make sure that matches up with what your boss or other companies need.

3. Accept that you are a brand. Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money establishing and cultivating their brand because they know the value of a strong brand in luring in customers and clients. A brand is nothing more than the way others see you. If you want to be seen as a viable candidate for a particular position or promotion, then it’s your job to think about how you are presenting yourself to your employer or to potential employers. 

4. Own your position. Entrepreneurs succeed when they give their all to their company. They live and breathe by their business, and know their main goal should always be to fulfill customers’ needs. Employees need to take a similar approach. All jobs are about one thing: filling a company’s needs. Change your mindset and own your position. Recognizing that your company is your customer and the work you apply to your job should be focused solely on meeting your organization’s needs and goals. Good things happen to employees who make decisions with the company’s needs in mind, rather than their own.

Written for FOXBusiness: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/12/18/4-things-every-professional-should-learn-from-entrepreneurs/

5 Signs You're Not Being Paid Enough

If you think you’re being underpaid at your job, you probably are.

With corporate costs on the rise, even the most profitable companies are keeping their budgets tight. And the first place many businesses pull the purse strings is with employee compensation. What’s more, as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, many enterprises trimmed their payrolls without expecting a drop in productivity, meaning they are essentially asking employees to do more for stagnant wages.

Being underpaid feels awful, especially for the most dedicated and hardworking employees. But how do you know that you are definitely underpaid, and what can you do about it?

Read more here.

10 Strategies for Overcoming Creativity Block

As an entrepreneur, I can tell you that starting, running and building a business goes well beyond skill, dedication and knowledge. Entrepreneurs and other business leaders must have tons of creativity for remaining relevant, for cultivating client relationships and for overcome obstacles. And when we get too close to the forest of our own enterprise, it’s often challenging to see the trees clearly. That’s when we could find ourselves stuck in a creativity slump.

But not to worry. There are some simple strategies for sparking your creative flame:

Read more here.

What’s More Important to Your Career: What or Who You Know?

We’ve all encountered (or even work for) bosses that have climbed to the top of the corporate ladder without really knowing what they are doing and have been left wondering if they were just in the right place at the right time or have a special connection that got them to the top spot.

Being promoted without merit should never be a career goal, but being a good networker and establishing the right connections is a vital component to unlocking career opportunities—whether it’s getting an interview or being put in charge.

Here are four reasons why who you know is so undeniably more important than what you know:

Read more here.

3 Ways to Stop the Fighting and Start Focusing on What Matters

It’s normal for the pressures of running a business to leave us feeling like the best way to succeed is to fight for our businesses and ourselves. This includes fighting against the competition, fighting our vendors, fighting our employees, fighting our investors, fighting our board members and even fighting against our own clients or customers.

Driven people are so focused on their goal, that fighting against anyone or anything in our way is second nature. But the one thing that some driven people forget is that among all that turmoil, their job is to provide for other people. Without employees, vendors, and investors, we couldn’t provide for our customers and without customers, we would have no one to provide for.

While it’s important for business owners and leaders to have a natural fire in their bellies and a drive to achieve at any cost, it’s equally important to take a few minutes on a regular basis for reflection. Perhaps you will make this part of your holiday or vacation routine or maybe you’ll do this for an hour one Sunday per month. To help you get started, consider incorporating the following 3 practices:

Read more here.