I’ve been inundated with non-mail, and since no-one asked I’ll just let you that while the blogosphere apparently hasn’t missed me, I’ll offer an excuse anyway.

Newton I. Riess, August 15, 1920 - October 30, 2011

My Dad passed away at the end of October. I was 6,000 miles away from him at the time and quite frankly, I just haven’t felt like writing anything for a while.

I’ve mentioned my Dad several times in postings, both for his use iPads and iPhones at 91 and just because, he was my dad and influenced everything I wrote in some way.

He led a remarkable life as part of ‘The Greatest Generation,’ and in future posts I’ll tell you more, but for now I just wanted to let any faithful readers know where I’ve been and at least start down the road to more regular contributions again.

Thanks for your understanding and since I try to focus on management tips I will offer one bit of advice. If you are a manager and an employee loses someone close to them, keep in mind that the impact can last much longer than just the immediate aftermath of the funeral.

In some cases it can take years before productivity returns to normal.

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Now Dick says he’s too busy to continue with the seminars. He’s got 6 books to finish so he’s ended the sessions until he gets caught up.

But he has agreed to conduct some webinars, where you can hear his views on the current job market, simply by sitting at your computer. Use this link to sign up for the first event, January 13.

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You might think that, at 84, the internet or current events might have passed Bolles by, but his 2012 “What Color is My Parachute,’  is up-to date and filled with the same kind of useful information contained in the other 39 versions. In addition to the links I was particularly impressed with his comments about the Microsoft purchase of Skype and what it might mean for distance coaching.

You may not agree with everything he says or suggests, but he lays out sound guidance on everything from finding your mission to negotiating pay.

What you won’t find is any reference to parachutes or colors- a burden that Bolles has been saddled with, since the title of his book was first suggested. When I met Bolles recently he was careful to explain where the phrase came from – an offhand remark he once made about some Episcopal ministers who were going to be out of jobs soon – and that it really has no relationship to his lifelong work.

Bolles uses the tried and true techniques he discovered by accident 40 years ago and combines them now with web resources to create a modern tool for job hunting. His links and references, which are also available on his website, are well worth the price of the book.

They key component of his work is the self-inventory ‘Flower Exercise’ that he suggests everyone use to both define their job search and their skill set. The reality is that you don’t have to wait until you need to look for a job to use the exercise since  everyone should probably do this kind of self assessment on a regular basis.

Starting the search for a new job does not just occur when you are out of work but can happen any time.

Bolles writes in a simple, folksy style that is easy to understand  and very clear. There is no professional gibberish or double-speak that many professionals like to use. It’s just information, suggestions, strategies and real world common sense.

You may not use everything, but it can be a helpful foundation for self exploration as well as practical tips for interviewing and research. I have some issues with his suggestions for trying to research jobs by setting up informational interviews. I don’t think it’s as easy to do as he suggests but I would never suggest that you shouldn’t try.

Bolles, a former Episcopal minister, makes no secret of his faith and its role in his life and career. He makes no apologies, but tries to limit his faith-based approach to the ‘Pink Pages’ in the appendix but it doesn’t detract from his advice and the usefulness of the book.

Bolles also offers advice for career coaches. In fact it seems at times that his book is directed at coaches and not just the average job hunter. But in my mind that just makes it more useful. His suggestions for finding a coach are important no matter what side of the equation you are on.

One note: I bought the e-book version of the book and while it makes it much easier to get directly to the many links listed, it has made a mess of the charts and graphics. Having read other e-books I know this does not have to be the case, but it’s unfortunate. I hope it will corrected, but I plan to purchase a printed edition anyway.

In short, not matter what version you buy, read the book and you’ll be much closer to a successful career.

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I hurried back to the store figuring that as a journalist,  that would be ground zero for reaction. I’m not sure what I expected: some sort of dirge, employees in tears, I really didn’t know. I figured a business that was selling 24/7 connectivity would be abuzz.

But, what I found was a store exactly the same as I had left, 10 minutes earlier. The Geniuses were helping people with computer problems, a corporate photographer was still shooting promotional stills, and the sales people were still cheerfully helping people buy iPhones and iPads.

I stood silently for a minute until a blue-shirted sales rep came over and asked if I needed help. I told him I couldn’t believe how normal things were given that Steve Jobs had just died. He stared at me in disbelief and I realized why normalcy reigned.

No-one in the store had an active cellphone or was even casually browsing the internet. Their electronic eyes and ears were focused on the customers, not information.

“Really,” said the sales rep looking at me in disbelief. “Sorry to be the one to tell you but I thought everyone here would know,” I offered apologetically.

We walked over to an Macbook Air and he typed ‘Steve Jobs’ into Google. In seconds his worst fears were realized. He took out his iPhone and called up the headline and began silently  moving from employee to employee, just  holding up the phone. Their shock was evident.

One, trying to help a customer just a few feet away, started to talk to the bearer of bad news and then realized she she was supposed to be working. “Excuse me,” she told the customer, “I’m sorry.” Then she mumbled and as the customer began to ask a question. Then she just blurted out, “Steve jobs just died,’ which ended her training session. Luckily, the customer understood the significance.

The sales rep playing Paul Revere finally returned to where I was standing. Still in shock I asked if he ever met Mr. Jobs. “I was in his house, several times.” he said, “Before I worked here I was an art conservator and I helped him choose art work -Ansel Adams prints of the Sierra’s.” His voiced trailed off.

Another staffer stopped by and I asked the same question, “No I didn’t know him, but I used to live in Palo Alto and I would see him downtown, from time to time, buying  a drink  – at Starbucks.”

Suddenly, an alarm went off, piercing the air to alert everyone – incorrectly – that someone was trying to steal something. By the time they could get the key and find the switch to turn off the noise, Steve Jobs seemed to become yesterday’s news.

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Cellulitis is an inflammation or infection that can settle in a joint and cause severe discomfort until you convince it to leave. I had gradually increasing pain for three days, and couldn’t even walk for a few more, before my crack medical team figured out the problem.

The point is not my problem, but the pain. After just a few days of it, I found new insight into the observations made by Ms Thernstrom and while I would have recommended her book anyway, I would now suggest it as required reading.

If you have ever been in pain, have a friend pain, or think you may ever be in pain, I would suggest you read this book. It really focuses on chronic pain, which is anything older than 6 months, according to medical professionals, but it will  give you some insight into what’s going on. I have dealt with this kind of issue in past posts, but Ms Thernstrom does a much more thorough job.

It should also give you new empathy for folks, who have chronic back, knee, leg, neck or any other kind of pain but look perfectly healthy otherwise. Medical professionals know that pain is now recognized as it’s own disease and needs to be treated separately.

As Ms Thernstrom can attest, it can cause both physical and physiological changes that are extremely difficult to reverse. Ms Thernstrom’s book is a first hand account of her own chronic pain and her attempts to deal with it. It is also a well-researched history of how society, since the ancient Greeks, have tried to deal with the concept.

Like many books written by journalists, it is easy to read, clear and lays out the issues in a logical progression.

As we all age, and encounter more and more aches and pains, in places we never knew existed, we need to understand what’s happening both physically and psychologically. Ms Thernstrom does not have all the answers and sadly, she cannot say that she found a magic cure, but she tried a number of techniques and she can at least maintain a ‘normal’ life – something that I found hard to consider as I dealt with my short battle with pain.

The book recently became available in paperback or, of course, as an e-book.

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Speaking at a recent meeting of the East Bay Coaches Chapter, Bolles left no doubt he has plenty of new ideas and that his books are still relevant as United States suffers through the worst recession in 60 years.

In an hour-long presentation that ranged from the humble beginnings of his book and career, to comments on modern politics he offered lessons on attitude, re-framing and relevance. Proving that he deserves the honor of the nation’s career coach.

He urged members to understand their own needs and experiences as a way to empathize with their clients. “What else do we live for? he asked, “than to use our experiences to help others?”

He suggested that coaches need to point out to their clients, depressed about lengthening unemployment, that despite the monthly numbers, there are still 6 million people who change jobs every month. “It’s all about attitude,” he told the group. Pointing out that if you think you won’t get the job you probably won’t. “Your job is to help your client be one of those 6 million.”

“Looking for a new job is now a survival skill, and we have to look at it that way,” he says. “just like food, clothing, or shelter.”

He says that while times have changed the basic dichotomy of how people look for jobs and how employers look for employees has stayed the same. “Employers just want to avoid mistakes, but potential employees still think that sending out millions of resumes will get them noticed. It won’t.”

Bolles has updated his “Parachute” books every year, except 1975, since it was first published in 1970. He includes a coaches appendix in the back but insists that, “people need to keep up. they have to have read my current edition, if they want to be included.”

Bolles, who lives in Danville, California, also had some pointed words for politicians, who he sees as short sighted as they cut back on the support system that US job seekers need, but more importantly he bemoans the lack of empathy he sees in Washington.

“I can’t believe that politicians and their supporters are cheering at the thought of people without health care, or the number of executions in a state.” he notes. Bolles says he has voted for both democrats and republicans, but adds, “this GOP is not mine, their only goal is to make sure Obama is a one-term President, so they can get his job.”

Bolles has been proclaimed “America’s Top Career Expert” and his books have been called among the most important of the last 80 years. But he says he plans to continue writing, holding workshops, and lecturing. “I’ll be updating my books,” he says “until I’m forced to say goodbye to my lovely wife.”

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Since I’ve done my share of career counseling, I thought I would just chat with her for a few minutes and get some hard evidence that the suggestions I give people, really work.

I asked what skills she had that were transferable. Both of the jobs involve working with the public, but in much different ways. In her old job she was the office manager in a cemetery. In the new job she would be a public safety dispatcher. Other than dealing with people under stress I couldn’t find much in common.

Well, I suggested, maybe your networking paid off and you knew someone at the new company. “No,” she said, “I just saw the job advertised and applied. It was much closer to my home.”

Well, you must have certainly analyzed the job market and picked a field with opportunity. “No,” she reported, “I just wanted to do something different.” The fact that her new job is in the public sector, and was actually hiring, was a shock to both of us.

I continued to pepper her with questions about interview techniques, networking and the color of her parachute – all the sorts of questions I was sure would lead to some insight on how she used some valuable tidbit that would prove my techniques work.

Nice try Mr. Professional – this woman did  it her way and it worked. She saw the job in the help wanted section, thought it would be interesting, applied, interviewed and was hired. Call the President, his new jobs bill is working!!

She was as amazed as me. She was just the right person, at the right time and she got the job. I guess that’s all you really need. Congratulations.

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While she was rated exceptional in several areas, her supervisor said that her employees found her “curt, and abrasive”  and they felt unappreciated. She runs a group of about 20 in a facility with about 100 employees. They have a matrix organizational chart so each person may have responsibilities to several managers.

She said that she had asked her supervisor for specific examples he could not provide any.

To say she was perplexed was an understatement, especially since this was the first time in 4 years, she had gotten this kind of feedback.

At first, we discussed how managers are often not the best judges of their own performance, and then I asked if she could think of any instances that might have led to the criticism. She could only cite one fellow manager who she admitted she had “issues” with, but  said she had never heard any of her group even mumble anything about her management style. (NB: She holds weekly status meetings with the whole group and meets regularly with direct reports.)

She admitted she was very confident and could be blunt but she didn’t sense any problems.

We went through her daily and weekly routines. I tried to help her analyze her interpersonal contacts, and offered some suggestions about how she might make some changes, but I had to admit, I was a bit perplexed.

After spending a  number of hours with her, and reviewing how her department worked and her interactions, I couldn’t figure out what her boss was getting at either. She is direct, but after 4 years, with minimal turnover, employees usually come to understand a manager’s communication style and adapt to it.

We even spent some time exploring whether she was miscast as a mid-level manager and was more suited for another role outside the company.

As we talked, over several sessions, I could not find any patterns in her presentation that was anything but professional, knowledgeable, confident and caring. She didn’t strike me as the kind of pathological, egotistical boss that fills the pages of most management textbooks.

She wasn’t familiar with many of the terms of Emotional Intelligence, but she seemed to have a good sense of the tools and was already using some.

In the end, I tried to assure her that she was on the right track and while she could make some changes in listening and trying to be attuned to the needs of her staff, maybe the best option was to just assume her boss was basing his critique on bad information, or on a single example. Possibly, he was just wrong or more euphemistically, ‘ill-informed.’

Three weeks later, she learned he was being eased out of his position, so maybe, there was something else going on.

The lesson: I would never ignore what’s on your performance review, but if it doesn’t ring true, you may need to question some of the underlying assumptions and decide for yourself if changes are warranted.

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I just got back from my local bank. It’s the only branch, in what qualifies as ‘downtown,’ in my little community of 5,000.

I had a bunch of checks to deposit and since there was no one else in the building, I listed them on the deposit slip  and asked the teller to do the addition. While he was adding, I noticed his name looked Middle Eastern, and when he counted the checks in French I asked if he came from Northern Africa.

I guessed Morocco, but to my surprise he said, “Libya,” then added ,”It’s a good day to be Libyan.”

I couldn’t help but ask how felt about what was going on and it was clear that he was both proud of his native country and a bit worried. “I am very happy, not just for me, but for my father. He never thought he’d see the day…” His father is here with him but he admitted they were already thinking about when they could go back, at least to visit.

I asked what he thought would happen next and he offered,”It depends who takes control. If it’s a Muslim country – meaning the majority is of the Muslim faith, then it will not be a problem. But if the Islamists get a foothold and take over, it will be as if, a certain dictator never left.”

I asked about tribal conflict, which the Western press has been harping on, and he said, ‘The tribes are not a problem, It’s not like Iraq. The tribes are families, but they are all Libyan.” I wished him well and he offered his hand and a heartfelt,”thank you.”

You may think that international politics is far away, but to paraphrase Tip O’Neill “it’s all local.”

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The plot would take too long to explain but what I found most interesting was the characterization of the coach. So far it’s decidedly negative. Of course, by the end of the next few episodes that could change, but for now fans of the show probably won’t be calling to hire a personal coach.

There are probably other shows with a more positive spin on my profession but I guess I’ll have to do a search to find them.

You could argue that any publicity is good publicity, but I’m not sure that’s much of a consolation in this case. Stay tuned.

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