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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Navigate the modern world of work to find the job you've been dreaming about and thrive
What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career takes readers on a journey to find their next meaningful and fulfilling job—no matter where they are right now. Whether you're an industry veteran pivoting between fields, a stay-at-home parent just rejoining the workforce, or a college student trying to find their footing, this heartfelt, actionable, and authentic book covers everything you need to know about getting results in the modern world of work and is full of insightful, real-life stories of success that inspire the reader to take action in their own life.
Inspired by renowned executive coach, business advisor, and speaker Mary Olson-Menzel's highly effective MVP 360 Coaching program, this book delivers insight on topics like:
- Developing and telling your own highly individualistic story to get noticed and hired
- Getting results from LinkedIn, social media, and personal branding
- Rocking the interview, negotiating the offer, and landing the job
- Staying on a path to vibrant success in your first three months at a new job—and the rest of your life
What Lights You Up? is an essential guide and roadmap for everyone and anyone seeking direction in their career journey. Filled with highly effective tips, tricks, and strategies, this book will help readers transition from where they are now into a fulfilling and meaningful new career and beyond.
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Seitenzahl: 294
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction
MVP 360 Pivot Program
1 Identify Your Light
What the World Needs Now Is Your Special Light
Summary
2 Turn Your Light On
Getting Started
Create a Daily Light Log
Summary
3 Write Your Story
A Resume Tells; a Story Sells
Every Experience Has Led You to Where You Are Today
Start at the Beginning
Every Journey Has Twists and Turns
Make It Personal
Employment Experience
Summary
4 Build Your Toolbox
Your Resume
Your LinkedIn Profile
Summary
5 Follow Your Dream
Summary
6 Tap into Your Network
Offering to Help
Asking for Help
Working with Recruiters
Making Contact
Summary
7 Choose Joy
Summary
8 Develop Your Three Ps
The (Usual) Prospects
The Pivots
The Passions
Making Connections
Real-Life Examples
More Pivots and Passion Moves
Summary
9 Shine in the Interview and Land the Job
Preparing
Summary
10 Succeed Today
Summary
11 Create Forward Momentum
You’re in the Driver’s Seat of Your Own Destiny
Seven Tips to Continue to Support Your Growth
The Three Rs
Summary
12 Design a Framework for Success
Take a Leadership Inventory
Set a Framework for Success
Individual Goals
Team/Organizational Goals
Summary
13 Give Yourself Grace
The Side Hustle
Pivoting
The Importance of Self-Care
Humane Leadership
Focus on Gratitude and Goals
Summary
14 Practice Gratitude
Summary
Conclusion: Lights on for Life
Exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Prospects, Pivots, and Passions
Checklist for Interview Readiness
Behavioral-Based Interview Questions
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Flexibility
Creativity
Goal Setting and Accomplishments
Relationship Management
Problem-Solving
Project Management
Potential Interview Questions
Leadership Signature
Set a Framework for Success
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Notes
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 14
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction
Begin Reading
Conclusion: Lights on for Life
Exercises
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Notes
Index
Advertise
End User License Agreement
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“In What Lights You Up? Mary Olson-Menzel provides essential tools for navigating today’s job market with confidence and clarity. Her practical advice ensures that you’re not just choosing a job, but a career that genuinely excites and motivates you.
—Morag Barrett,Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Leadership Facilitator, author, and CEO of Skyeteam
“Whatever your age or professional journey, What Lights You Up? is the handbook for your favorite career future. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to identify their unique attributes for bigger success.”
—Michael Clinton,Former President and Publishing Director of Hearst Magazines and author of ROAR Into the Second Half of Life!
“What Lights You Up? is a masterclass in career transformation, showcasing Mary Olson-Menzel’s deep expertise and long-standing commitment to personal and professional development. With over 25 years of experience, Mary coaches clients to recognize and harness their ’inner light,’ offering not just a book but a powerful toolkit for anyone seeking to elevate their career. Her unique MVP 360 Pivot Program, distilled within these pages, provides practical exercises and insights that guide readers to uncover what truly motivates them and how to leverage these passions in the workplace. This work is a testament to Mary’s profound understanding of the job market’s evolving dynamics and the critical role of individuality in achieving professional success. It is an essential resource for anyone ready to enhance their career path with authenticity and purpose.”
—Camille Burns,CEO of Women Presidents’ Organization
“This book illuminates the path to a fulfilling career with actionable inspiration. Be what you were meant to be and can be.”
—Rishad Tobaccowala,Author of Restoring the Soul of Business and Re-Thinking Work
“In What Lights You Up?, Mary Olson-Menzel masterfully transforms the concept of career building into an inspiring journey of self-discovery. With a pragmatic and empathetic voice, Mary’s approach offers not just inspiration, but actionable steps to ensure that what lights you up guides you forward. Her blend of practical advice and personal reflection provides a structured roadmap to create a career you love. This book is a must-read for any professional looking to achieve fulfillment and find lasting passion in their work.”
—Marshall Goldsmith,Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
“Mary’s generous spirit and infectious light shine through in this book. Whether you’re looking to make a change or understand where you are, Mary’s tips will guide you to better knowing yourself and owning your future.”
—Erica Hill,CNN Anchor and National Correspondent
“Mary Olson-Menzel has devoted her life to helping her clients find jobs and careers that align with their passion and provide the purpose that so many of us seek from our work. With this book she is now sharing her well-established methods with a broader audience. Anyone looking to be more fulfilled and engaged at work should do themselves a favor and read this book immediately.”
—Chris Farrell,Former Chief Strategy Officer of Mattel, Inc.
“This book is about so much more than just finding a good job or even the right fit. It’s about finding meaningful and purposeful work that ‘lights you up’—that you were meant for. And that’s no easy task. But reading this book will set you on the right path.”
—Joshua Macht,President of the MassLive Media Group and former CEO of Harvard Business Publishing
“Whether you’re between jobs, just starting out, unhappy in your current role, or a seasoned professional, What Lights You Up? gives you critical tools to vastly improve your career path. Part workbook, part story, part reference guide, and part loving encouragement, this book will rekindle your hope and give you a winning edge to rise above the pack. With her unique mix of sunny optimism and practical advice, world-class business coach Mary Olson-Menzel walks you along her time-tested and proven path, showing you how to discover and land a job you love, or turn your current role into one that lights you up. This is the kind of book you’ll want to keep handy and reference at every phase of your career. As Mary says, ‘Don’t give up before the magic sets in.’ And to ignite that magic, all you need to do is pick up this book.”
—Victoria Labalme,Hall of Fame Speaker and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Risk Forward
“In her book, Mary Olson-Menzel offers a compelling and refreshing guide to unlocking personal and professional potential and finding the ultimate life balance. This book is a must-have for the seekers, the ambitious and even those in a rut, as she takes the reader through practical and entertaining stories, and offers highly useful exercises to help you realize your true calling.
This is a must-read for those who have a passion for life and work yet need some help getting to a better place. Mary Olson-Menzel has applied a mix of storytelling, business strategy, and advice you wish you’d gotten long ago to give readers a brilliantly useful path to success.”
—Diane Schwartz,CEO of Ragan Communications
MARY OLSON-MENZEL
WHAT LIGHTS YOU UP?
Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career
Copyright © 2025 by MVP Executive Search & Development, LLC. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Olson-Menzel, Mary, author.
Title: What lights you up? : illuminate your path and take the next big step in your career / Mary Olson-Menzel.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2024] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2024025054 (print) | LCCN 2024025055 (ebook) | ISBN 9781394267026 (hardback) | ISBN 9781394267040 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781394267033 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Job hunting. | Vocational guidance.
Classification: LCC HF5382.7 .O47 2024 (print) | LCC HF5382.7 (ebook) | DDC 650.14—dc23/eng/20240701
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024025054
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024025055
COVER DESIGN: PAUL MCCARTHY
COVER BACKGROUND: © GETTY IMAGES | PAKIN SONGMOR
This book is dedicated to my parents, Robert and Veronica, for teaching me how to love and encouraging me to follow my own light. To my son, Christopher, for reflecting that gift of light back to me, every single day. And to my husband, Dan, for holding down the fort through all of our adventures together. Also, to every client who has shared their journey with me. I am forever grateful.
Introduction
WHAT IF YOU could change your life for the better, simply by tapping into your own natural resources and being intentional about the direction you want to go now? I believe you can! Congratulations, you have just taken the first step towards a brighter future! Through the pages of this book, you will start looking at your life with fresh eyes. By tapping into your own “light source,” you can design and follow the path to your next job and a more fulfilling career.
You bought this book for a reason, and I hope it inspires you to act and create a career path that lights you up. Let this book be your guide to your best career. And, most importantly, I want you to allow it to ignite your mind, illuminate your spirit, and keep the lights on in your heart.
I’m an executive coach—helping people thrive is my business. When people walk into my office, they often say they need help finding a job or getting promoted or that they just want more from their career and want to feel fulfilled and happy. I am lucky enough to have coached and guided hundreds of executives into more fulfilling careers and so many others down a path of creating a life and doing work that they love.
What you’ll get in the pages of this book is, in part, what my coaching clients pay me top dollar for, and it lights me up to share it with you. I can’t wait for you to dive in!
First and most fundamental, discovering what lights you up is vital. You must learn how to identify and to recognize what this is before sharing it with a potential employer. Because if you can’t see it yourself, most likely neither can they. This is where your adventure begins.
Guiding people to see their own value and greatness is my passion and my dream for you. I know that when your light is on, you will:
Get hired faster
Get promoted faster
Make more money
Have a career that has meaning and brings you joy
If you were to hire me as your coach, the MVP 360 Pivot Program is what we would embark on together. This book is based on my proven methodology, but it’s important to keep in mind that when working one on one with someone, a lot of the process gets customized to meet the needs of the specific client. It’s an organic unfolding that leads us to places together that we might not have been able to imagine ourselves had we not worked together. I hope that the work you do throughout the pages of this book takes you on a journey to places you have always dreamed about and beyond!
MVP 360 Pivot Program
Go deep:
Who are you? The first step is taking the time to get to know yourself. We look at your life from a holistic perspective: financial, professional, and personal. We begin to help align your dreams with reality.
Personal brand:
What is it that makes you unique? Why should an organization hire you over someone else with the exact same experience? What are your strengths and how can you “sell” them? What is your elevator pitch?
Positioning:
What is your personal brand in the market? In addition to a strong resume, a robust, professional online profile is key.
Explore:
Where do you see yourself? We work with you to design a target list that we call the Three Ps of places you want to work. We encourage you to think strategically and to look at all potential options and ideas with a fresh lens.
Expand:
How can you tap your network? We help you think expansively about how to utilize the power of networking on all fronts. We encourage you to think outside of the box and go for it.
Opening doors:
How do you find the best fit for you? We help navigate through the confusion and noise and find the right approach to every unique opportunity.
Preparation and rehearsals:
How can you stand out from the rest? We work diligently to help you prepare for interviews and for every networking opportunity created. We want you to be prepared and put your best foot forward to “wow” the hiring managers.
Connection and support for success:
How can we best support you? We are with our clients every step of the way to help you navigate and foster relationships that will lead to your next opportunity. Throughout the entire process, we are by your side, as a resource and a coach. We are also here to help you navigate and negotiate an offer that is a win-win for you and the organization. We stay close to you even after you have accepted the new position. We stay connected and offer ongoing coaching to help you adjust and excel in your new role, creating lasting success for your future.
You will see this process as you move through the pages and the exercises of this book. The world continues to evolve and the way people work is changing rapidly, and this in turn creates tremendous opportunity. Many of us get to choose how and where we work. Gone are the days of working 9 to 5 and celebrating 25 years at one company with a gold watch. Our work lives look different now, and more often employees are calling the shots about what that looks like. What’s different now is that people have proven that they can be trusted to be even more productive, creative, and efficient when their needs are honored in a way that resonates with them.
People are standing up and saying, “I am valuable to this organization and I want to work on my own terms.” Companies have been forced into a new frontier where the employee experience matters more than ever.
You deserve to love what you do! Your life is too precious to work in a place or a profession doing something that doesn’t give you joy. Just remember, no job is perfect, but if you follow the 80/20 rule—80% good stuff and 20% stuff you don’t necessarily love to do—you will be off to a good (and realistic!) start.
When I was a little girl, my parents told me that I could do whatever I wanted to do in life. I still wonder whether they believed that for themselves. Their story is a big part of why I do what I do today, and why it is imperative that you keep your lights on in your work and your heart—for your sake, and for the sake of all those who love you.
When I started this book, quite a few years ago, it was a different world than what it is today, but one thing remains the same: doing what lights you up is of the utmost importance in your career. The world of work will keep changing but that timeless truth is evergreen. At times we are pivoting, sometimes growing, sometimes flowing, and now we are transforming. Welcome to your transformation.
Throughout this book, I will be sharing wisdom and knowledge through quotes and excerpts from others who have an undeniable light in their work, so I’d like to start you out with this one.
“The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.”
—Henry Ford
Enjoy the ride!
1Identify Your Light
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
—Harriet Tubman
THANK YOU FOR picking up this book! It is true that everyone needs a little help now and then—and even the most successful people understand that a coach makes them even better. My very first “coaches” were my parents, guiding the way through my childhood. As I was growing up, my parents were a fascinating balance of creativity and business savvy. This created a stable and happy childhood for me. When my parents were happy, I felt safe and loved.
My mother was 42 when she had me; she tells me that having my little sister and me later in her life has kept her young, but I disagree. Maybe that was part of it, but there is so much more. She was an artist, a dancer, and a force to be reckoned with. When I was growing up, she taught art to our local community and attended art fairs around the region, selling her original pieces to art collectors far and wide. She was happy. As I write this book, I know now that doing what she loved is what kept her young for so many years.
When she passed away at the age of 98 in March of 2024, as I was finishing this book, her body was not as strong as it once was, but when she smiled, she still had a beautiful sparkle in her eyes and her soul, especially when she was doing what she loved or with the people she loved. Her hands were shaky near the end and it was harder for her to do the fine art that she used to do, so later in her life she pivoted to doing collage and abstract watercolor. It’s gorgeous and it made her light up as she continued to create beautiful art right up until the days before she passed. I was continually amazed by her creativity, her spirit, and her grit and the way she would throw her hands up in the air to greet me with such love and enthusiasm, every time I walked in the door.
I remember Mom as beautiful; she always was. When I was a child, she would walk into a room and people would notice. She had short, dark, and very stylish hair. Her eyes sparkled even when she wasn’t smiling. She was filled with life, and she knew it, and so did everyone who met her. Even until her last day, she wore a flower in her hair and a twinkle in her eyes and people still noticed when she walked into a room at the retirement community where she lived. When I visited her in the days right before she died, she could still manage to throw her hands up in the air to greet me and do her dancing to the best of her abilities from her chair!
When I was in first grade, she came into my classroom to teach my classmates and me how to hula dance, the Hukilau, grass skirt, and all! I still remember it so vividly. My childhood friends constantly remind me how much fun she was when we were all growing up. At a recent Barrington High School reunion, a 50-something-year-old man (and my first-grade classmate) told me that learning the hula with my mom was one of the highlights of his entire first-grade experience. Even then, my mom’s light was shining brightly for all my classmates to see. This authentic and true inner light was noticed by all, both young and old. This created a memory that made a lot of people remember my mom many years later.
Your inner light is your secret sauce. It’s what makes you memorable and draws people to you. While the hope is that it will be seen and remembered by potential employers, the fortunate coincidence is that it will also be noticed by people in all areas of your life. Everyone around you will benefit from your inner light once you truly let it shine. Think about this. What is it that makes you memorable? How can you tap into that energy?
The world of work has forever changed and will continue to change. The good news is that what employers are looking for has changed, too, for the better. It’s no longer just about your skill set and what you know how to do. It’s also about who you are and what you bring to the team. You have an asset that you may have not even considered. It’s not your hard skills or technical knowledge per se, but your soft skills and human qualities. It’s what I call your light that gets those skills recognized front and center. And it’s your light that gets you hired.
We are moving into a new future of work and it’s exciting because it’s your work and your future!
What if where you are today, right this very minute, is the perfect place to start a new dream and create a new plan for your career? I say it is. And I will keep reminding you in the pages of this book that you can do this, no matter your starting point.
Start today and you can begin to act right now, with no more time spent on regrets or the mistakes of your past. Mistakes are just an opportunity for reflection and growth if we choose to see them that way.
As you read through the chapters of this book, you can begin again and again, creating a new path for your career and your life.
In the world of work, to stay relevant and successful, organizations and people have to reinvent themselves regularly, and that has never been truer than it is now. There is a sea change in the way that we work and do business. With this change, the geographic playing field has expanded and what were once limiting boundaries have gone away. There is more opportunity across the globe for us all if we choose to open our hearts and minds to see it. Technology has opened the doors—whether we are in the office or on our couches, we can talk and work with people all over the world.
This book is about lighting up your career and recognizing the possibilities right in front of you or maybe even just around the corner. It’s about opening up your heart and digging deeply into your passions and what you are uniquely gifted to do, just because it’s who you are.
Two hundred people can apply for the same VP of sales job. They can have excellent credentials, maybe even many from the same schools and companies, but what is it that makes that one person stand out and get hired? It is in identifying what it is that lights you up and then letting that unique light shine by being true to yourself in the interview. That is why you are here today, reading the pages in this book: to allow your inner light to shine in the workplace and to bring authenticity to work every day.
There is so much more to all of us than what we see on the outside or on a CV, and this book is for you—you as the whole person, all parts of you.
You get to play with your own shades of greatness here. As an example, I am a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mom, and a friend, but I am also a seasoned executive, an entrepreneur, a business owner, and an executive coach.
My father was a businessman and entrepreneur, with a big creative brain and a big heart. My earliest memories of my father, though, did not revolve around business. They were memories of being outdoors, boating, learning to fish, and camping in northern Wisconsin. He was much more subdued than my mom, quieter, with a quick wit and dry sense of humor. When my dad said something, it was usually substantial. He was constantly giving my siblings and me experiential history lessons by road-tripping with all of us in our wood-paneled Chrysler station wagon to all the state capitals. As a result, we not only knew all the capitals of the United States, but by the time we got to high school, we had visited most of them!
Dad wouldn’t ever be caught wearing a hula skirt or teaching my class the Hukilau, but he used his unique light, intellect, and creativity to teach me about life. He instilled a value system in me, a moral compass to help light my way as I matured.
The first time I had a sense of what my dad did for work I was probably around ten years old. He was on the phone with an advertiser or client, and I remember him talking about Dr. Pepper, reciting the company’s old slogan, “I’m a Pepper, you’re a Pepper, wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too?” I was drawn in, fascinated. The next call I heard was him talking about being in “good hands” with Allstate. Did he make that up?! Did he write the slogans for what I was seeing on TV? Wow, some of them he did, not the Dr Pepper ad, but apparently my dad was on the team that created the slogan “You’re in good hands with Allstate.” To this day, that slogan is still used over and over, through the decades since they created it. And every time I see an Allstate ad on TV, I smile and think of him.
Life with my parents and many siblings was always interesting. Our house was full of life, with lots of energy and personalities!
And then something happened that changed our lives forever. My father took over his father’s company, which meant stepping out of a career that he loved in advertising to take on the responsibility of the family business. We still had a lovely life but, as I got older, I started to realize that my father had given up his dreams and passions. He stepped out of his light to bear the burden of responsibility, running the family business for his father, taking care of his children (all six of us!), and even his siblings.
This new job was a change for my dad, and he went from creative executive (think Mad Men) to business operations. He had to walk away from his dream and learn how to run the business. It was a tough transition and it showed in his eyes, in his demeanor, and his attitude.
Then Dad asked Mom to stop doing what she loved to help him with the family business. I can only imagine that this might have been one of the hardest things he had ever done, asking my mom for help, especially as a man who prided himself on being the provider for our family. At that moment, I imagined my mom felt terrible, having to give up time with us as well as doing what she loved.
I now realize that it was at that point in my childhood that I witnessed both of my parents’ lights go out. Their dreams were interrupted by the weight of responsibility in carrying the family business. Working at the family business was not a good match for either of them at a soul level, but they both did it, out of deep responsibility to my father’s family and us. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was likely the beginning of the end of their marriage. They divorced many years later, and I sometimes think it was because they were both forced to give up doing what they loved.
Watching the lights in my parent’s eyes go out to keep the lights on in our home was hard to process intellectually at such a young age. I felt it deep in my heart and it was palpable in our home. This book will give you the tools to make sure that your light doesn’t dim the way my parents’ did.
This is a very real situation for so many, needing to provide for yourself and possibly your entire family. So how do you do so? What if a job cannot provide that for you and you feel trapped? Keep moving toward what it is that lights you up. You can also achieve this by starting a “side hustle” (with something you are passionate about—we will go much deeper into this in Chapter 13).
My experience as a child, is a big part of who I am today and the reason that I chose the path that I did. The early years, watching everything in my childhood home, shaped me so very much. Even at a fairly young age I knew that I wanted to chart my own course. I never wanted to lose my passion or my spirit like my parents did. And I know they didn’t want me to, either.
This is what drives me, following my path and creating a life that I love.
I don’t want you to shortchange your light for a job; it is your life, and your life is important. You matter.
You might be at a turning point or a fork in the road and wondering which way to go. You might be in your first job, or your fourth job, or even your tenth job. It doesn’t matter where you are. You want more; you know in your heart you’ve got more to give and more to do. Please recognize that doing what you love and what lights you up inside is your best chance of having a truly fulfilling career and life.
It is your real business, and your real responsibility, to follow a path that includes doing what you love using your unique skills and attending to the wants, needs, desires, and circumstances you are in right now. This book will help you discover what that unique path looks like for you.
