Career Coaching

You Have Potential to Be Great At Something. Don’t Waste Another Moment Operating Without Personal Clarity, Self-Awareness and Confidence.

Man Looking at His Watch

Bert Was On A Mission

He was a personal friend. He came to my office for a visit.  Sitting in one of the guest chairs positioned in front of my desk, Bert asked if I’d ever taken a CliftonStrengths™ Assessment?

Yes, Maybe, I think so, was my answer.  Well, did you or did you not take the assessment Bert asked? I think I have the results hidden somewhere in a drawer of my desk. Get them out please, I’ll wait, Bert said. At this point I knew that Bert was on a mission. I just didn’t know why.

I’m about to share my top strengths. Why my strengths? Because it wouldn’t be right for me to openly share any of my client’s private information. If I choose to share my own, that’s different.

FUTURISTIC®

Bert was serious about my assessment results. I did not know back in 2012 what the big deal was surrounding my assessment results, but I sure do now.  Bert began to explain what to me was simply black ink on white paper.  He showed me that I was Futuristic. Futuristic® is a CliftonStrengths™ term that means Visionary.

STRATEGIC®

Wow, the Futuristic® piece of information alone helped me to understand a lifetime of seeing possibilities down the road that others didn’t see. Then Bert explained my Strategic® gift.  He explained that this particular gift is one that a person either has or they don’t have. It cannot be taught. Bert explained how my Strategic enabled me to see the Big Picture as well as paths to get to a future destination that others can’t always see. I quickly began to understand why situations I’d encountered in the past worked out the way they did.

ACTIVATOR®

Bert got to my third Trait called Activator®. He explained how I had a built-in “GO BUTTON” that most people don’t have. To be specific, out of 34 possible Traits, Activator® comes in at number 29 in overall frequency. Only 11% of people out of more than 18 million people who have now taken the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment worldwide have Activator® in their top 5 traits.

MAXIMIZER®

Bert continued on to tell me about my Maximizer®. It was love at first sight when I began to understand that it was in my DNA to not just push good to great but to push for excellence. Once again, I quickly began to understand why I had operated they way I had up to the point when Bert sat in my office, but with no clarity of purpose.

 RELATOR®

Next, Bert talked to me about my Relator®. This Trait as he explained is a very powerful relationship building trait. Most of my relationships are deep, authentic, and trusting. I’ve never been a social butterfly. Now I understood why.

COMMAND®

Bert couldn’t resist telling me about my next Trait. It’s called Command®.  Out of 34 Traits, Command® comes in at number 34 in frequency. Very few people possess this leadership trait.

DEVELOPING STRENGTHS

We went on through my top 12 Traits as I recall. The further we went, the more I understood why Bert had chosen this particular assessment to drive his coaching practice.  This wasn’t the last time Bert and I would meet to discuss my Traits. Bert wanted to see me develop my Traits into full-blown Strengths.

According to the late Don Clifton, the author of the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment, a true Strength is the ability to consistently provide a near-perfect performance in a specific task. When I wrapped my head around this definition, I have to admit that my Maximizer got excited.

Most people who take a CliftonStrengths™ Assessment only learn what their potential strengths could be. They never do what it takes to turn a raw Trait into a full-blown, polished, Strength.

For the next 12 months, I mentored under Bert because it quickly became clear to me that the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment had a strategic place in my own coaching practice. Adopting this tool in my coaching practice was one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

GAME-CHANGING, LIFE-CHANGING, PARADIGM-SHIFTING, TRANSFORMATIONAL, CONFIDENCE-BUILDING

My Career Coaching clients have been achieving life-changing results as a result of the work I do with the CliftonStrenghts™ Assessment and the EQ-I 2.0 Emotional Intelligence Assessment.

If you’d like to learn how my clients are benefiting from the year I invested to mentor under Bert, and the 5+ years I’ve invested into developing my coaching services beyond Bert’s involvement,  I invite you to visit my Career Coaching / Strengths Coaching page on the Jeff Snyder Coaching website.

My clients tell me that the work I’ve been doing with them is “Game-Changing, Life-Changing, Paradigm-Shifting, Transformational, and Confidence-Building”. I’ve never done work that is more important in my life!

 

Jeff Snyder’s, Self-Awareness, Self-Confidence, Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

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Outside In or Inside Out…Which Career Development Approach is Better?

Career Development

Outside In or Inside Out?

Most people I’ve met over nearly three decades of recruiting seem to choose a profession and a career path to follow before they determine exactly who they are, how they’re built and how they are uniquely gifted. I’ll call this Self-Awareness. Self-Awareness leads to Clarity.

When a career path decision is made correctly, a person is positioned to deliver the best possible version of themselves to everyone around them.

When this decision is not made correctly, people are promoted to levels where the technical skills that got them to a certain level of engineering or architectural accomplishment are no longer enough to achieve the same level of success as they continue to rise in an organization.

As promotions occur, and as promotions are achieved, required skills change. These new roles require people skills, exceptional communication skills, soft skills, influencing, empathy, humility, negotiating, persuasion, collaboration, partnering skills, and more.

Outside In

For those who chose or stumbled into what is now Cybersecurity, early on, it was like stepping into the “Wild West”. Judging from the multitude of Cybersecurity job descriptions I see on a daily basis, the “Wild West” analogy fits quite well.

Employers rarely know what they're doing when hiring Cybersecurity talent. Cybersecurity professionals deliver communication to their audience that does not align with the way their audience communicates.

By jumping into the water and catching a fast-rising wave, many brilliant Cybersecurity technologists were promoted to Manager, Director, Vice President, and CISO titles. While this might appear to be a great accomplishment on the surface, it might not be such a great accomplishment after all.

The high-IQ driven, cognitive intelligence, analytical, linear thinking skills that cause a person to be great at addressing hardcore cyber technology issues are not the skills generally required for success at the Manager, Director, Vice President or CISO levels.

Inside Out

A better approach to choosing a career path begins with gaining a clear picture of who you are and what your unique giftedness translates into. Are you gifted to lead, guide, manage, mentor, and influence others? If you are, you may have what it takes to be someone’s outstanding boss. For most people, these skills don't come naturally but they can be developed.

On the other hand, if your unique giftedness is made of strategic thinking skills that reside in your head where nobody else can see them or experience them, you’re most likely gifted to be a great technologist or technology architect.

Finding out how you are uniquely wired is the key to knowing whether you should go straight, turn left or turn right at a various point in your career path.

Peter Principle

“The Peter Principle is a concept in management theory formulated by educator Laurence J. Peter and was published in 1969. It states that the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence".

The Peter Principle runs wild in the “Wild West” of Cybersecurity. You owe it to yourself to discover what you are naturally built to be great at. You’ll appreciate what you can accomplish when you align your natural giftedness with your chosen work and so will those around you.

Change Your Life Today

Cybersecurity professionals come to me on a daily basis with questions. It seems that in many cases, they don’t know when to go straight, when to turn left or when to turn right.

Nothing is more satisfying to me than to help a person who sincerely wants to know, to determine how they are uniquely gifted so I can map their unique giftedness towards the right career path.

Choosing the right career path has potential to result in greater job satisfaction, higher earning potential, improved productivity, improved relationships, and lower stress.

Who wouldn’t want a better job fit, more income, a greater sense of accomplishment, more quality working relationships and all with less stress?

Use this link to schedule a strategy call with me so I can get you started on the road to Clarity and Discovery.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Career Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

 

 

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Encouragement: Something A Person Can Never Receive Too Much Of

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ENCOURAGEMENT

I try very hard to load my Monday morning schedule with calls that will get my week started off with a bang!  This past Monday was no exception.  Yes, this is a testimonial from one of my coaching clients but in reverse, what my coaching client delivered to me was encouragement on a silver platter. 

When was the last time you passed on encouragement to someone else on a silver platter?  Do you have any idea how much your actions or words of encouragement might mean to someone else? 

“Just spent my first hour on the phone with Jeff Snyder Coaching - motivational, inspirational, eye opening, validating, humbling, and completely NOT what I was anticipating for a first call!  It was SO MUCH more!  I came away with insights and pragmatic, practical, tools I can put into action in my work/relationships starting as early as today! 

IF you are willing to go there, Jeff will provide you with the “code” and he’ll help you crack open the door to possibilities and the journey that lies ahead of you.  BUT, ultimately, it’s up to you, to take that first step and then follow through with a commitment to taking action on the insights, resources, materials, and strategy that Jeff will place at your fingertips.

Jeff, Thanks for the investments you are making in people lives.

PS: If like me, you’re 50 plus with some insights on life, Jeff’s coaching will give you a whole new edge on leading the upcoming generation. We can all learn a thing or two.”
— Mark Scoular, Executive Director

This testimonial came to me by way of me digging as deep as I possibly could to deliver value to this coaching client. This is the same value I strive to deliver to each and every one of my coaching clients.

I can’t wait to tackle next Monday’s loaded schedule!

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

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The Limitations of an Executive Leadership Coach

Stop Sign

Coaches who are gifted and talented to deliver the services they deliver can help their clients to take quantum leaps forward.

However, even the world’s most gifted coaches have a limitation 100% of the time. Dr. Marshall Goldsmith who wrote the book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” is one of my mentors.  On more than one occasion, I have heard Dr. Goldsmith suggest that unless someone wants to change and is willing to do what is required to change, there is no coach in the world that can make that person change. 

Dr. Goldsmith’s advice when a coach meets someone who isn’t willing to get out of their own way to face change is to walk away and to walk away quickly. If someone doesn’t see their need to change or they see the need but they don’t want to devote energy and efforts towards making change occur in their life, they are not coachable.

I always ask prospective new clients if they are teachable and coachable and then listen very carefully to their response.  If they’re not teachable and coachable, it doesn’t matter how large my results pile is, this person will not achieve the same results as my previous clients.

A while back, I received a call from someone who found me on LinkedIn. His introductory statement was a question. 

“Am I correct to believe that you do both recruiting and coaching? Please understand that I am not interested in any of the coaching services you offer that come with a fee attached.”

As I sat at my desk looking at this individual’s average resume, I had to bite my tongue and I remembered the advice from Dr. Goldsmith.  I was deeply challenged to not say a word when I already knew what the caller’s new resume could look like and I knew how much more effective his new resume would be in opening interview doors if he would simply trust me to guide him.

If you ever consider the idea of working with a coach, first ask yourself if you are ready to do what it takes to achieve positive change.  If you are not, there is no reason to invest your hard earned money with a coach. 

If on the other hand, you're ready to move forward and you're just not sure what that means and you're ready to be teachable and coachable, the right coach can help you to take quantam leaps forward that you might not have been able to achieve on your own.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

 

 

 

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Can a Career Road Map be Strategically Planned?

Not long ago, a really bright converged security professional came to me for resume writing help.  After sharing a phone call with this person, I was convinced that he/she was extremely articulate.  After a short amount of time on the phone, I saw a serious disconnect between the person portrayed on the resume that was in front of me and the person I was listening to on the phone.  This happens all the time by the way.

There was no doubt at all that this caller needed help from a professional resume writer but that’s not all they needed. I sensed that I was listening to a Security Rock Star who didn’t know they had a future as a Security Rock Star.

My caller needed clarity, confidence and a clear career road map.  I suggested that they consider my Strengths Coaching program. 

Here’s how it works and here’s what my clients can expect in terms of results after the coaching program is has been completed.

1.      The beginning of the program focuses on learning.  After my clients take a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, our first two phone calls focus on me helping my client to understand what their unique talents are, how they operate, how they come across to other people and what the powerful edge and potential pitfalls are that are connected to each of their unique talents.

2.      In the second phase of this program, my clients begin to understand their unique talents.  At this point they can claim what is naturally theirs and they can choose to own the gifts they have.

3.      Once my client decides to claim and own their gifts, then I’m in a position to help them to properly aim their gifts.  What this means is that some people are gifted to be the most brilliant architects and engineers in the building.  Other people are naturally gifted to manage people and some people are naturally gifted to learn how to lead. At this point, I can step in with my 26+ years of experience in recruiting and I turn to my top strengths. My Futuristic strength combined with my Strategic strength and my experience all work together in helping my clients to build unique strategic career road maps that align with their unique giftedness.

A Strength as defined by the Clifton StrengthsFinder is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task. 

The good news is that every human being has talents that can be turned into strengths. All of our talents are different; making us unique individuals.  Once talents become strengths, the sky is the limit when an individual can deliver a near-perfect performance over and over and over again.

 Jeff Snyder Coaching, Strengths Coaching, 719.686.8810

 

 

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Is the Belief Talent one of your top Talents or Strengths?

Belief

People who are strong in the Clifton StrengthsFinder Belief talent have sound, unchanging core values that produce a well-defined purpose for their lives. People with strong Belief talents know where they stand and they know what they stand for. 

Belief people are frequently purpose driven, mission driven, people driven and values driven.  The consistency by which they live enables people who are gifted with the Belief talent to provide a strong foundation for their relationships.

People who are high in the Belief talent are people you can depend on.  You’ll always know where they stand.  They can often raise the ethical standards of those around them.

You can find out how you're uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of  talents into strengths!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

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Is the Responsibility talent high on your list of talents / strengths?

Responsibility

The Clifton StrengthsFinder suggests that people who have the Responsibility talent high on their list of talents take ownership for what they say they will do. 

People with high Responsibility talent hold values such as honesty and loyalty highly. These people tend to connect their words and their actions. They keep promises and honor commitments. They are people you can count on. Responsibility people are frequently trust builders.

You can find out how you’re uniquely wired and you can learn how to leverage your unique set of talents into strengths that show up in your personal performance.

Career Coaching from Jeff Snyder Coaching

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I Just Joined the LinkedIn Police Force

Police

No, I didn’t really do that.  I don’t know if there is such a police force. It just seems to me that there are a lot of people who are deciding for other people what is and is not okay to post on LinkedIn. Do people really have that much time on their hands?

I post Cybersecurity News and Cybersecurity Vulnerability and Patch Reports every week.  I also post information to help others to understand Strengths and Emotional Intelligence.  These are two topics I coach my clients around with great results.  

Next, I post articles that I write for LinkedIn on topics such as Leadership, Hiring, Talent, Emotional Intelligence, Strengths, Career Development, Career Coaching, etc.

I'm also guilty of sharing what are generally really good security jobs for people who want to advance their careers.  

My intention with everything I post on LinkedIn is to bring value to people who are kind enough to follow my content.  Will everyone like everything that I post?  I suspect not.  In fact, I know that not everyone likes what I post because I lose a follower or two every week.

On the other hand, I’m picking up several followers every week so I’ll continue to share what I share for those who seem to appreciate what I share.

If there is a LinkedIn Police Force as I suggested above, I don’t have time to joint it so don’t worry.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching, Security Recruiter Blog, 719.686.8810

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Jeff, Are You a Career Coach, Life Coach, Executive Coach or Something Else?

Jeff Snyder

Recently a technology professional came to me asking me what kind of coach I am.  That’s a great question and one I’m happy to answer.   I'm a coach who has a track record of success of helping my clients get from where they are to where they want to go.  

For some people, I’ve been a technology career coach.  For others, I’ve been a security career coach.  For some people I’ve served them as a Resume Coach or a LinkedIn Coach.  For others, I’ve helped them as a Strengths Coach and an Emotional Intelligence Coach.

For the most part, I’m skilled, trained and certified in multiple ways to help my clients get from where they are to where they want to go.  When I built my coaching programs from the ground up, I started with the end in mind.

I went to business leaders and asked them what they needed in people coming up behind them.  I went to the subordinates of business leaders to find out exactly and precisely what they wanted, needed and expected in someone they would submit to and follow as a leader.’

With this information in hand, I either got busy creating methodologies attached to solutions to solve the problems I already knew how to solve or I surveyed the marketplace to find what I consider to be “best in class” tools and assessments to assist me in helping myclients. 

More than training and certification, many of my coaching clients would tell you that I am “gifted” to coach.  Here’s specifically what a few of them have shared on www.JeffSnyderCoaching.com.

Coaching Gift
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There are two things I'll guarantee to any of my coaching clients.

  1. I will do everything in my power to lead my coaching clients to their desired results.
  2. I will never take on a coaching assignment where I do not have the expertise to provide value.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

 

 

 

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Look Outside Your Current Comfort Zone For a Different Point Of View

Visionary

Many years ago I stopped consuming training from recruiter trainers.  Not because I know everything or because they were bad trainers but because they were presenting the same material I was trained on in the prior decade.  All they did was to package old material in a new 2.0 fancy package.

Alternatively, to stretch and grow myself, I sought and still seek training and coaching from some of the world’s top executive coaches.  Some of my training has come from brilliant Internet Marketers.  Other training has come from some of the world’s top PHD holding psychologists.  Finally, since I’m a sales professional more than anything else, I’ve taken training from some of the world’s top sales trainers.

My point here is that people outside of the recruiting profession have brought me perspectives and ideas that people in the paradigm of recruiting likely would not have offered.

“I Can Get That from My HR Department”

After hearing me speak to a CISO group, a CISO approached me to talk about coaching.  I explained my services and the results my current and previous clients were achieving.  The CISO responded by telling me that he could get the same coaching from his HR group.

I immediately wondered why he hadn’t already pursued this coaching if it was available to him. I also wondered if anyone in his company’s HR department had my experience, gifting, training and insights into the CISO profession. I wondered who in his HR department had gone to the business as I had to find out what the business wants needs and expects in a CISO.

“I have already taken a lot of the tests you refer to (Myers Briggs) with TSA coaching services”

This comment came to me from someone who is trying to elevate his career above and beyond his current TSA role.  In order to move above and beyond where you are, you very likely won’t find your upwardly mobile advice and guidance to facilitate your change by getting advice from people who see the world the same way you do.

In this particular case, I don’t use the Myers Briggs assessment and even if I did, there is a 100% chance that my interpretation of the data and the guidance I would give my coaching client would be different than the advice he has received or will receive from anyone connected to TSA Coaching Services.  Nobody in the TSA Coaching Services group has my experience, training, certifications and results to offer this individual who wants to elevate his career beyond TSA. 

Conclusion

If you want to get from where you are to where you want to go, odds are very high that you’ll get to where you want to go much faster if you don’t take all of your advice from people who operate in your current paradigm.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

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What to Do When Your IQ Alone Will No Longer Carry You

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Coaching

This mattered to one technology executive so maybe it will matter to you too. 

StrengthsFinder

This technology leader (I’ll call him John) had taken a Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment years ago but like most people who don’t receive coaching around their StrengthsFinder results, he put the report in a drawer and it never again saw the light of day.

Strengths

That was until someone asked John if he knew his unique personal Strengths.  He dug out the report and made time to read about his unique Traits and Strengths.  At this point in his life he wanted to know more.  He went to Google and searched for Strengths Coaches and found Jeff Snyder.

A Colleague Suggested

It was also suggested to John that he might want to look into emotional intelligence coaching along with gaining an understanding of what his StrengthsFinder report stated.  While he was in a searching mood, he searched Google for Certified Emotional Intelligence Coaches and again he found Jeff Snyder.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

When he arrived at JeffSnyderCoaching.com, he discovered that he’d found a one stop shop for everything that matters to his personal branding in addition to the other coaching he set out to find.  Specifically, he found Resume Coaching and LinkedIn Coaching services.  Then John explored the Leadership Coaching Services that were built for people precisely like him that include StrengthsFinder Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching.

A Career Crossroads

What this means is that John had progressed to his current role pretty much based on his intelligence.  We’ll call this his IQ.  Now that he was working at the Director level, he discovered that the IQ that got him to where he was would not necessarily push him to the next level.  He really wanted to be a “C” level technology leader and he didn't know what to do to get there.

Career Progression

It was a discussion that John shared with one of his colleagues that caused John to seek out a career coach who could help him to understand his unique strengths and his emotional intelligence.  John invested in himself and he has never looked back. 

He is now a “C” level executive and he has measurable and quantifiable results connected to the coaching he invested in to go along with his easy-to-see career progression.  He achieved exactly what his colleague suggested he might achieve if he were to find the right coach.

Jeff Snyder Coaching found at www.jeffsnydercoaching.com

 

 

 

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