Tag Archives: millennials

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v34

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Are you ready for Fall? This time of the year gets me excited – Summer is coming to a close, the start of a school year and the lead up to the crazy of a Presidential year! I wonder if I will ever tire of this kind of excitement? It is a mental game – knowing that there’s still a lot to do and trying to best use the time to get everything done because even though it seems like a lot of time, it really isn’t! I’m getting ready for one last escape and upon my return, it will be managed chaos to get to September 30th. I hope you’re enjoying the remaining days of sun and fun! If you haven’t used all of your vacation time, get on it!!

Here’s Tuesday Truths!

  • Finding your power stance and projecting authority – it’s got to do with your limbs and eye contact. A friend of mine told me that my wardrobe is my armor. I have a certain aesthetic that I project when I put on my work attire and my friend is certainly correct in that assessment. I’m often in heels because I stand differently when I’m elevated and as a result, most people think of me as being a certain height. When walking into a room, I square my shoulders and remember to stand straight and walk a little taller. I gesticulate when I speak – official photos of me speaking on a panel or making remarks document my hand gestures. When I look at other principals, I see how they hold themselves and I remind myself that I’m a peer who conveys the same authority. You gotta just remind yourself to OWN IT!
  • There was a time when I was the youngest person in the room. I skipped a grade as a child and therefore graduated early and therefore, started my career a bit earlier. I have the good fortune of my momma’s genes and as a result have always skewed youngish in looks. There was a time when I couldn’t wait to turn 30 so that people could take me seriously! With these factors in mind, I had to work with lots of people who were more experienced and older than me and lead them through many of an election. We’ve got some tips to get through that experience. Remember how you did this as a young person because when you get to be middle aged and older, you’ll want the next generation to do the same for you! I really think it’s about acknowledging respect and getting input. People’s life experiences are meaningful and having institutional knowledge helps in making more educated decisions. However as the leader of a team, you’re ultimately responsible for its product so take the heat if something doesn’t work out and share the credit when it does.
  • Science proves that there are optimal times to get things accomplished. Want a raise? Ask in the morning. Need to make a difficult decision? Be sure that you’ve eaten. Make the most of your day! I am a morning person (if you follow me on twitter @madalenemielke you’ll find that I’m most enthusiastic about my morning routine of going to the gym at the crack of dawn) and I tend to get a lot of work out of the way right afterwards.
  • Isn’t this the time when people do their fantasy football leagues? I have vaguely seen my friends post about it on FB but my equally exciting version of that has been outlined by the New York Times graph of all the different staffers working on the presidential campaigns. Yes, I’m a #politicalgeek.
  • I don’t have to write often in my professional life. My life is usually spent on emails so they tend to be short and sweet. If you are interested in writing, here are 5 ways you can improve your writing. Concise and compelling seem to be the goals.
  • This is so critical in establishing and maintaining communication with your manager. Deciphering their behavior and how they absorb information will help you in keeping them in the loop. My staff has learned to anticipate my questions because they get accustomed to how my brain works and how I process the bajillion things we’re juggling. The more you understand their patterns, the better you’ll be in figuring out your own responsibilities.
  • I’m doing my best to have better work life balance. I decreased my work load so that I could incorporate other activities of interest to me. That’s definitely a privilege that most people don’t have but it’s also a conscious decision to change habits so that I can accommodate the other things in my life that are important. So although I may venture to far flung places, I probably won’t be shopping as much 😉 Here are a few habits from people who have achieved a manageable work life balance. Most people know that my Sunday evenings are spent with my immediate and extended family so I rarely accept any external invitations, unless completely necessary (work travel, friends’ celebrations). If I can’t make it on a Sunday then I also try to schedule a time during the week that I can at least see my mom. If it’s important to you, then you need to make the time for it!

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— Madalene

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v30

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Last week for the House to get it together before they recess until after Labor Day!! Lots of things to do but first and foremost on my list — a BIG thank you to all of the readers/sharers/subscribers!!! Thank you for continuing to be a part of this community as we learn how to create a more well rounded society, professionally and personally. I enjoy reading the articles with you and hearing from you as you share your experiences (feel free to comment – we all benefit from them!). Knowing that you think the blog is timely in your own lives means a lot to me and I hope that I can be there for you as you create a life that you want to live! So, thank you for creating this community!

Tuesday Truths are ready to go!

  • I recently had a discussion about dressing for success and recognizing that each industry has their standard “uniform”. Although I work in politics and government, I don’t work directly in those fields where my de rigeur attire is a charcoal/black/pick your dark shade conservative suit. My professional attire is bit outside of the box so I have more flexibility in what I choose to wear. I also have the benefit of age and although I may not initially appear to be my age, my demeanor and attitude carries beyond what is considered “age-appropriate”. One of my best friends used to work in the House leadership and we could always spot her in a crowd on C-SPAN because she shunned the usual colors for more vibrant ones when she worked the House floor. She has also taken this attitude with her on her move to the west coast in a work place where she’s below the average age and everyone seems to own at least 10 pairs of khakis. She has no qualms in being herself and letting her work be on display even when she’s wearing a print dress.  There are times when we want to blend in – I remember the days when I was an intern on the Hill and worked for a Democratic member in leadership. At the time, the standard practice was to wear white hosiery (!!) and skirt suits. Yes, I complied and yes, I questioned my ability to find my own voice. As actresses fight for more substantive questions on the red carpet beyond “Who are you wearing”, it’s important to not take yourself too seriously when you express yourself in a professional environment. So I’m glad to see that Silicon Valley female executives are ripping up the play book about what to wear! What would you most want to get rid of out of your work closet?
  • Do you need to learn how to overcome the awkwardness that sometimes comes with networking and/or talking with strangers? Hate to tell you, but the only way to overcome it is to practice! Here are a few techniques that you can use along the way!
  • Millennials have become the largest demographic cohort, surpassing the Baby Boomers and as my fellow Generation Xers take the helm of management, this article shares a few ideas of how Millennials can get promoted. I’d enjoy hearing what Millennials have to say about these suggestions. Knowing that this is a broad generalization is a given but also acknowledging that there are differences in work style and how on a generational level, we value them can help us better understand each other’s motivations.
  • I only started fundraising in the AAPI community 11 years ago so although that seems like a long time, it really isn’t in the history of identity politics. As a Democrat, I didn’t necessarily identify with my constituency when I started working in politics nearly 20 years ago. My first and last name don’t identify my AAPI origins, if anything it identifies my German ancestry and only when I started doing AAPI fundraising, did I add my Vietnamese middle name so that people could see that with my email signature, you were probably communicating with an AAPI. This Roll Call article by Stuart Rothenberg analyzes the struggles that Republicans have with identity politics while National Journal columnist Josh Kraushaar writes about how diversity can be just as messy for the Democrats.
  • I recently met up with a former colleague who was a feeling a bit stagnant. Being that she is over a decade younger then me, I told her to relish in a less chaotic schedule. My friends and I would be even a bit jelly of her free time! I’ve come to realize that my life can be overly scheduled and a lot less spontaneous, but that’s not really the point – the point is that every thing that we do, no matter how mundane can lead to success. Taking the time to see opportunities and “recognizing the good” will ultimately pay off. This article was really interesting to me as it also taught me the “Seinfeld Solution” – have you heard it of it and yes, it’s named after the comedian Jerry Seinfeld!

Thanks for reading/sharing/subscribing – Don’t forget to drop me your comments!

— Madalene

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v29

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This has been an intense weekend of America’ Opportunity Fund (AOF) training (9 hours straight just on Saturday!!) while watching the next generation of leaders drop knowledge of best practices and how to succeed in the fundraising profession. Training/teaching is always fulfilling in seeing how participants connect with the basics of what we’re teaching and creating a more informed corps of professionals. I also had a great time talking with the participants of a brown bag lunch series on fundraising through Democratic GAIN. New faces who stay in the business = a flowing pipeline. To cap it all off, I hosted a Women’s Information Network (WIN) dinner at my home for a program that we have called Linking Leaders. Members get a chance to network with one another while connecting with an Advisory Board member on topics that the Members get to choose. A thrilling few days and I’ve got a lunch fundraiser on deck so let’s get to Tuesday Truths!

  • One of the topics we discussed at last night’s dinner was how to gain more leadership/management skills if you don’t have a lot of opportunity to showcase them in your work environment, perhaps due to the work culture. This led to more discussion about personal branding and how to differentiate yourself from others. From wardrobe selection to work product to finding a mentor, it was a conversation that really broke down the components necessary to be successful in your career (basic career building) and how you can help others in the process. Here are a few things you can do so that you can be taken seriously as a young leader.
  • Working in campaigns, I know that there are way more things on the to do list than staff who can do them all. As a result, we rely on a team of volunteers to help us knock through the tasks. Obviously, the staff tends to work on the bigger strategic items while the volunteers help us with the items that help us in making those strategic decisions. You’ll find that you have a group of dedicated volunteers who have demonstrated consistency and straight up street smarts so delegate to them more responsibility so that you can get even more things done. The same applies to your office team! If you can’t delegate tasks, you’ll find that you’re not working as a efficiently as a team. It doesn’t mean giving up control, it means taking the time to teach your team how it should be done. It’s not going to be 100% the 1st time but the investment will create more dividends in the future. For those who are being managed, see how you can help your supervisors. It’s a matter of trust – the more I trust in myself as a manager and how I teach in addition to the person I know I’m delegating the task, I’m going to give you bigger projects. Mutual trust.
  • This is a bit of a longer read but well worth your time! There are times when you are unconsciously paralyzing your success. Recognize them and ask yourself if you can create an environment where you can overcome these obstacles.
  • I certainly take the personal branding lessons that Iris Apfel teaches seriously – with 93 years of experience, she knows how to create and maintain a brand! You don’t get to be a fashion icon without knowing how you want others to see you.
  • I got a question last night about how to better network and one of those ways is to be an active listener. You really need to be present in the conversations with the people you’re networking with because it provides for a deeper relationship. We take those types of conversations seriously when we’re talking with prospects and donors because the more people remember the short term conversation, the probability of making a connection is stronger and what is networking really about? Creating relationships! Here are ways that you can network more effectively. You’ll find that listening is the author’s first tip!
  • The power of introverts unite! Part of the dinner discussion was also how to introverts better network? As a combination extrovert/heavy introvert, I really do my best where I can prepare and know when I need to exert “more”. So if you’re in a work environment where you’re surrounded with extroverts, here are tips on how you can best navigate work situations to your advantage.

Thanks for reading/sharing/subscribing! Drop me your comments below!

–Madalene

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v28

It’s Bastille Day and it also would have been my dad’s 86th birthday! Although he passed away when I was a teenager, my dad heavily influenced my life. I have him to thank for my adventurous palate, my healthy sense of wanting to gather friends/family for impromptu occasions (my mom was quick on her feet in pulling dinners together when my dad would bring home a party!), and he gave me a tremendous amount of confidence being an only child growing up in a multicultural family – yay for German and Vietnamese roots! I hope your week is going well and let’s get to reading!

  • Working in the rather unconventional industry of politics, I know a few things about not having supportive friends/family in my career choice (fortunately, all the people who really matter to me have all been very supportive of my decisions). It’s challenging everyday under the best circumstances so don’t let the naysayers influence your attitude or your actions.
  • Ever since I moderated a panel discussing how to work across generations, I’ve been intrigued about the dynamic between the Gen Xer and the Millennial. I work with a lot of Millennials and every year that has passed since I became a manager and have gotten older, I feel like I’m turning into the cranky neighbor, “Get off my lawn!”. There are a lot of discussions about how to attract the Millennial workforce and yet, I wonder how do we educate Millennials about the the already existing infrastructure and how to best adapt. So for those of you who fall in between the 13-34 age range, here’s how you can work with the Gen X demographic (all within the context that speaking for a group is considered widely general).
  • I often tell people that they need to have a communicative relationship with their manager/supervisor (this sounds a lot like the way millennials like to interact). Why? In my experience, my supervisors were able to see things about myself that I never saw. They were able to assess my potential and envision the things I could do as well as behaviors that I needed to strengthen. Although I’m very hands off (my staff may have a differing opinion), I’m always probing to see what my staff thinks they’re missing from their skill set as well as informing them of what I’m thinking they’re missing. This kind of feedback creates a more well rounded visual of your portfolio and it’s one of the steps that you can use to become a better version of yourself.
  • Even I need reminders that it’s never too late! I take a bit of issue on the article because success doesn’t necessarily mean that every thing you do is equated to monetary success but I get that the gist of the article is meant to inspire you. With that as an aside, remember that there are a lot of other attributes that will propel you along when you don’t have connections, training or wealth (one of them being talent!). Age ain’t nothing but a number!

Thanks for reading/sharing!

— Madalene

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v21

It’s a district work period for the House and Senate and we’re gearing up for a pretty event heavy June with the 2nd quarter fast approaching. Sometimes I look at the past posts and realize that I could be commenting on some kind of sports game when I’m talking quarters.  My colleagues in the fundraising profession and I have “trained” donors to recognize short term gratification by creating an environment where deadlines are just ways to get to your contribution faster (thank you FEC!). I hear so often that people are tired of the barrage of email solicitations that come with the end of the quarter that it just turns into white noise and we’re still looking for innovative ways to capture people’s attention. Engaging with people in a way that makes them comfortable so that they can decide to click on the contribute button (that’s part of what I do for a living!).

Let’s get going with Tuesday Truths!

When you need to focus on convincing an individual or a group on making change or investing into a project, here are ways to win over their hearts or their minds. Great article that really translates well to campaign style too.

The original post was intended to help those who are hiring millennials but after reading the questions, I realized that it would be good to tweak them when it comes time for an employee review. I greatly believe in investing in staff – having managers who can recognize talent in the ranks and nurturing it because sometimes individuals don’t recognize their own talent unless someone sees it first and taking the time to see if people believe in themselves enough to have people push them further than they envisioned for themselves. These questions may bring broad strokes to who a person is (it is after all, a list of questions for when you hire) but these questions can be re-visited later to see if people have the ability to change their perceptions of themselves as they continue in their professional careers.

Authenticity and sincerity are the keys to making people aware of your accomplishments as well as your weaknesses. So even though we discussed humble bragging in last week’s post, there seems to be a scientific way to talk about yourself that highlights your strengths. Interesting article, indeed!

3 life lessons that can help you become a better leader. I’m still working on getting better on each aspect. Everyday I remind myself that each small step moving forward is still progress.

A really great post on the types of people that can help you as you build your career. It seems so elementary but yet so very true to maintaining a network. It’s especially important if you’re considering ever running for an elected office.

I like that is article is about listening and the techniques you use to show that you’re actively listening to someone. It will certainly make you memorable and people will want to have your ear. Which leads me to best practices for more effective communication. Campaign professionals talk about campaigns as a conversation between the voter and the candidate – a communications model. This ultimately is a back and forth so that we can get feedback. These techniques can be helpful for when you’re communicating with your peers, supervisors or with anyone who can help get your ideas across.

Thanks for reading/sharing and if you haven’t subscribed, please sign up!

— Madalene

 

 

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v8

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We’re in full swing! Congress has returned from their district work period and I’ve got multiple fundraisers on the same day. #politicscanbefun

This week, I’m a Sponsor for the Women’s Information Network’s (WIN) Young Women of Achievement awards. I’m honored to be an Advisory Board member as well as a past member of the organization so if you would like to see your support well invested in helping young pro-choice professional women succeed then please consider contributing to this great group! I appreciate them for all of their support of my work (thanks for reading/sharing) and know that the future is bright with these women evolving into true leaders.

Let’s get to reading!

  • NYFW concluded last week and they’ve got a few suggestions for work attire. If you’ve got the budget, here are 4 suggestions that can up your office wardrobe.
  • These qualities are definitely what I’m looking for when I’m in need of an associate or an intern and I hope that I exhibited this kind of behavior when I worked for my previous employers. A great standard when thinking about how you become an invaluable resource to the team.
  • As a bonafide Gen Xer, I’m always looking for ways to communicate with the Boomers and the Millennials. As the workforce continues to evolve, everyone needs to find ways to effectively express the values and vision of their organization. We’re not so different after all.
  • For those individuals who wonder if the only route to becoming a Hill staffer is to intern, here’s some solid advice whether you can skip that step.
  • I’ve experienced burnout (when I was 25, I took time off from politics to run my own catering company and work at a James Beard winning restaurant as a manager) so I know the feeling of waking up in the morning and realizing that you don’t want to go to work. I also remember the elation I felt when I worked at another job, waking up so early because I was so excited to get to work. BIG DIFFERENCE. Here how’s to tell the difference between being in a rut and feeling burned out so that you can decode work stress.

Thanks for reading/sharing! Don’t forget to subscribe and leave me your comments!

– Madalene

 

Tuesday Truths

effort

In the past few weeks since the election, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been doing informational interviews for those interested in getting into politics or at the very least, political fundraising. We’ve got a lot of people who have come off of losing campaigns, the Hill where their members of Congress lost their re-elections, and just overall job fatigue. So it got me to thinking about how we make New Year’s resolutions to improve our job skills or to take a fresh perspective on how to wrangle the time we spend at work. I’ve taken a step back from my own fundraising firm to brew up a little something different (still under wraps but soon to be revealed) so I totally get wanting to be challenged in the work front. So it’s just not the millennials who get a little antsy about job satisfaction!

In the meantime, let’s get to a short exercise and to reading!

I am

  • When I first saw this on Pinterest, I thought about how I would finish this sentence so here’s my first draft:

I am wickedly strategic in finding ways to expend my energy.

This was never going to be about a job title but more of a mantra. What say you? Drop me your I am ______ in the comments section!

  • In the vein of doing informational interviews, here’s a Millennial’s take on how to get the job you want. I’m also going to include that a majority of the points apply to those who don’t fall into that age category.
  • I’m a HUGE believer in knowing as much as possible about my prospects and knowing the pressure points for how to create rapport. How does that apply to when you have to charge your way through the masses to get a cover letter written to accompany your resume? Start thinking about it as a pain letter vs a cover letter.
  • I’ve been a mentor for a few years and I’ve always come into the relationship with the realization that I’m a reference point for those who are asking me questions. If you’re looking for a mentor, you should be looking to create this type of environment and mentors can also learn quite a few things from you too.
  • So you’ve got the job you want and now you gotta make an impression. Here are ways you can learn on the job so that you can get the job done!

Got any comments? Let me know!

Thanks for reading/sharing. Feel free to subscribe so that you don’t miss out on a post!

— Madalene