"The Career Engineer," Randy Siegel helps clients electrify their careers and transform their lives by becoming high voltage communicators™. Through training, coaching, speaking, and writing, he encourages people to fearlessly stand in their power by becoming the full expression of all they are.

Randy has conducted hundreds of presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions for corporations, professional associations, nonprofit organizations, and marketing firms coast to coast. His areas of expertise include presentation and communications skills training, executive positioning, personal mission statement development, career transition, and interviewing techniques.

He also provides consulting services in marketing, internal communications, team building, and management.

Randy and his Dalmatian, Lucy, live in Asheville, North Carolina.

For more information, contact: Randy@PowerHouse Communications.com

18 Beaverbrook Road
Asheville, NC 28804
Phone: (828) 236-0045
Toll Free Phone: (888) 836-0045
Fax: (828) 350-9162

  

Postcard from Asheville, N.C.

I have just returned from my first international gig. I was teaching MBA students at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. What a beautiful city!

Thank you for your glowing comments about my new website http://www.powerhousecommunications.com. I am very proud of it. Some of you were curious about why I redesigned the site.

What's the expression: "The cobbler's kids have no shoes"? Too many friends were telling me, "I really don't know how to explain to other people what you do," and many past clients still associate me with presentation training. They are not aware that my business has evolved over the past seven years.

So here's my "elevator speech". "I work with businesspeople who are ready to take their careers to the next level by helping them package, present, and promote themselves for success. They may have their eye on a big promotion, want to make the best possible impression during an important interview, or want to find more meaning in their work and life."

That said, the majority of my clients are baby boomers seeking purpose, passion, and profit at midlife. Their motivations vary, but include a:

  • Tremendous sense of urgency to take advantage of their peak earning years. A decade ago, ages 35 to 44 were considered peak earning years; today "the power years" occur ten years later.
  • Longing for work that better reflects their core values, interests, skills, experience, and strengths. Many wish to find more balance in their lives, and want deeper, more intimate connections with others.
  • Curiosity about just how far they can take their careers.

Do you know of someone who could benefit from my services? If so, would you refer them to me? I would be delighted to provide a free twenty-minute consultation so that we can determine if we are a good match.

This month, we'll look at "the power of the funk".

The Power of the Funk

As hard as it is to admit it, I am in a funk. I have been for several weeks now, The first question well-meaning friends ask me is why. But the whys don't matter to me right now as much as accepting the "what is."

I have been writing about reclaiming authentic self for years. In fact, this mantra - or one similar to it - has appeared on my business cards and stationery since I founded PowerHouse Communications in 1999. Reclaiming authentic self is my mission and my passion, yet I have not been true to myself.

Nathaniel Branden has a chapter on living authentically in his book How to Raise Your Self-Esteem. In it, he writes, "The lies most devastating to our self-esteem are not so much the lies we tell as the lies we live. We live a lie when we misrepresent the reality of our experience or the truth of our being." When I wallpaper over my sadness and anger to appear positive and upbeat, I am living a lie, and while I may not be aware of it at the time, my self-esteem suffers.

I am over-invested in what I call my "golden boy image," a persona built in large part on being positive and upbeat at all times. Like so many personas, this image is rooted in childhood messages. Mine include:

  • No one wants to be around a gloomy cuss.
  • Smile and the whole world smiles with you.
  • Only weak people wear their emotions on their sleeves, and people will take advantage of you if they see that you are weak.

I am invested in this image because I want your respect. Branden reminds us, "...if we value belonging rather than being - we will not attain authenticity." As much as I want to belong and be admired and respected by you, at this stage in my life I want more to be authentic.

Branden recommends writing six to ten endings to the following sentences:

  • The hardest thing about being honest with myself about what I am feeling is...
  • The hardest thing about being honest with others about what I am feeling is...
  • If I were honest about feeling sad, hurt, angry, or upset...
  • If I were willing to experiment with being a little more authentic each day...

I will try the first one, "The hardest thing about being honest with myself about what I am feeling is..."

  • It hurts.
  • It goes against my self-image. Others will not like me.
  • I am afraid I will be overwhelmed by emotion.
  • I don't want to fall into hopelessness.
  • It feels self-indulgent and causes me guilt. I should focus on all the things I have to be grateful for.
  • My sadness is insignificant and petty compared to others' problems.

I see just how deep this issue is for me, and I commit to delve deeper.

Living authentically does not mean sharing every possible thought or feeling; it means accepting the "what is" and not wallpapering over feelings. It means speaking my truth, even on days when it's not so pretty and positive. And it means standing in my power.

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Copyright Randy Siegel 2006. All rights reserved.