in this issue Featured Article Mov'in On Rising Star Pacesetters Notes and Quotes Grins and Giggles Alert! Need to Know!!!!! Closing comments

Make sure you read the "Alert! Need to Know" column. This is my personal experience. It could have been devastating. It can happen to you.

Featured Article

Karen C. Battoe, CPC is a certified Professional Coach and President and Founder of Personal Success Systems, Inc., a corporate and individual coaching and consulting firm in Orlando, Florida. Her clients are individuals, who want to break through barriers and clear the path to consistent peak performance, set and achieve higher stretch goals, and move to the next level in their career, business and personal lives. Ms. Battoe specializes in working with business owners, executives, managers and is an experienced seminar facilitator, workshop leader and speaker.

Before founding Personal Success Systems, Karen was an executive for several multinational corporations. As a former Sales/Marketing executive and consultant to Fortune 500 companies, Ms. Battoe coached senior management and their teams on innovative business practices, managing change and career development. Additionally, Ms. Battoe has over 10 years working with organizations and executives going through downsizing and restructuring.

Along with her coaching practice, Ms. Battoe has been featured in the Orlando Sentinel and written articles for the National Business Employment Weekly and Wall Street Journal. Karen conducts nationwide public seminars and workshops on topics related to career management, performance and leadership. Ms. Battoe is Past President of the Central Florida Chapter of the International Coach Federation, a member of the National Association of Female Executives and serves on the executive board for several companies.

Find out more....

	Mov'in On
This section will focus on tips for individuals who are thinking about a career change and or doing a job search. Time For A Change! Every seminar this question comes up. "Why don't I get an answer from the search firms I send my resume to. They make their money off of candidates." First of all lets define Search Firms. There are two types of search firms. Contingency and Retained. Retained search firms work exclusively on behalf of the companies, not the applicant. Their client is the company searching for the job applicant rather than the job applicant. Search firms specialize in finding executives at the supervisory, middle management and senior management levels. Salaries range from a low of $50,000 up to $400,000 and more for positions in the C suite. Don't expect too much from a search firm unless you fit a current assignment that they are trying to fill. Contact and correspond with as many search firms as you think might help you. A favorite source of mine is the Kennedy Director of Executive Recruiters. It is updated yearly, lists recruiters alphabetically by industry, job function and geography. If you are interested in the Kennedy Book, go to my web site and click on products, scroll down and click on the red book.   Here are five pointers for working with search firms: 1. Don't visit or call. Unlike employment agencies, do not try to schedule an appointment or worse yet, don't just stop by. You are wasting time and it's inappropriate. Chances are you will alienate the very person you need. Do not call unless you are returning their call. It is simple. If they don't call you, they are not interested. 2. Be visible. The best way to be discovered by a recruiter is to stand out. Successful headhunters have a knack for gathering information and having a great network. If you are hot, a shining star in your field, they will find you. 3. Keep in touch. Many search firms clean their files out every 90 days or so. As long as you are building a career, employed or unemployed, it pays to keep them apprised of your qualifications by writing to them about your accomplishments. 4. Don't expect an acknowledgment of your correspondence. Don't take it personally. They receive a minimum of 100 resumes a day. They neither have the staff or time to respond to every letter they receive. 5. Find a contact. Find someone who works with or knows the local headhunters. Just like everything else, sometimes it is easier to go in the back door. Last but not least. Make sure your resume is in the correct format. Headhunters do not have the time nor do they want to look for the information they need. It has to jump off the page. Use soundbites. Good Luck!     Take your Career Quiz and learn more about a FREE Coaching Session »

	Rising Star
This section focuses on tips for individuals who are "Movin and Shakin" and are ready to take the next step in their career path or climb up to the next rung on the corporate ladder. I receive questions every day through my column "Ask the Coach". You can find it on my web site www.PersonalSuccessSystemsInc.com. Each month I will pick one of the topics and cover it in this space. Promotions take forever. At least it seems that way today. Has the so-called "slow economy" had an impact on your personal promotion timetable? How can individuals know if their careers are still skyrocketing or if they are fizzling? Here are five questions that can give you the answer. 1. How long did the previous manager who held your position stay in the job before he or she was promoted? (If that person left the company out of frustration, it's a bad sign.) 2. Is their upward mobility in other areas for qualified employees, or has the current economic situation frozen everyone in place? 3. Do you have a mentor guiding your career? 4. Has the company been recruiting from outside for a higher position that you feel you are qualified for? 5. Are people with less tenure being promoted and leaving you behind? If the answer is "yes" to 3 out of 5, quick take action and get your career back on track. What can you do to get your career back on track??? 1. See and be seen. Stop look around you. Who do you need to attract? Identify the people who can help you open doors. Second, be seen. Volunteer for projects. Make sure you acknowledge the right people. Go where the senior management team is. Put yourself in the limelight and shine. Make sure they know your name, who you are and what you do. 2. Get a mentor! Identify someone who has already blazed the trail. A must for women. It will cut your promotion timetable in half! 3. Go to your boss or mentor and tell them about the position you would like to have and ask advice on how to go about earning it. Expect one of several reactions. 4. The mentor may suggest a list of accomplishments that must be done before receiving consideration, or may suggest that you choose another goal. 5. Go on about doing the things the mentor suggested and report back on each accomplishment. 6. Your mentor will be your cheerleader. He or she will tell their peers and before you know it, you will be known. Everyone will take an interest in how you are doing and your accomplishments. Senior management admires ambition. How do you think they got where they are?       Design your career path with a FREE coaching session »

	Pacesetters
Pacesetters are people who set the pace for others to follow. He or she is a trailblazer, a leader and not a follower. Pacesetters know emotional intelligence is more important than IQ in their success. Beliefs create potential. Potential enables action. Action produces results. The worst beliefs you can have are self- limiting. These exist whenever you believe yourself to be limited in some way. The fact is that no one is better than you are and no one is smarter than you are. If they are doing better it is because they have developed their natural talents, skills and abilities more than you have. Pacesetters in the business world possess a number of skills, characteristics and traits. Each issue of the newsletter will focus on a skill, characteristic and trait. This issue focuses on the skill of listening. Every pacesetter I know has great listening skills. They know how to listen. He or she has mastered the art of listening, can resist interjecting their opinion and keep an open mind to what is being said. They are a Level 3 listener. Ask yourself " What level listener am I?" Did you know there are three major levels of listening? Select the level that applies to you. Most people are Level 1. Level 1 listeners are someone who listens to a person, acknowledging them by saying, yes, yes, or "uh huh", but at the same time is thinking about something else. They end up retaining very little of the conversation. Level 2 listeners are someone who begins listening but then starts interjecting himself or herself in the conversation. For example someone starts telling you about a trip they took. You are listening and then as soon as you hear the name of the city you realize you have been in the same location. Immediately, you cut into the conversation and interject your experience. The focus of the conversation goes from the person to you. Level 3 listening is when you are completely focused on what the individual is saying. You show a genuine interest in the person. You are connected mentally and visually. While you are listening a cell phone could ring or a noise occurs in the same room and you do not hear it. The other person knows he or she has your undivided attention. Here is an exercise you will find interesting. Track your conversations for a day. Start at home with your husband and kids. During the course of the day write down the people with whom you converse. Write just their first name and nothing about the conversation. At the end of the day, get out your list and go back over each name. Next to the name write down the details of the conversation. Are you a Level 3 listener?       Learn how to Build an Optimal Organization. For a FREE coaching session »

	Notes and Quotes
I thought this would be appropriate for the month of July. Graduations are taking place in high schools and colleges all over the nation. Congratulations to all the graduates! Keep this in mind as you begin your journey. BALANCE In a university commencement address several years ago, the CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one's other commitments: "Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit -and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. However, the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life." How? Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them, as they are your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life. Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. This fragile thread binds us each together. Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings. Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going. Don't forget a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is a journey to be savored, each step of the way. Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift: that's why we call it The Present. I think the above, are truly words to live by. "Excellence exists in many dimensions - ideas, actions, inventions, leadership, moral awareness. No one is or can be excellent in all of these dimensions but everyone should strive to be excellent in some - Your aim the sky, your goal the star." Lester C. Thurow Massachusetts Institute of Technology

	Grins and Giggles
Just a Little Work I'm tired. For a couple years I've been blaming it on iron poor blood, lack of vitamins, dieting and a dozen other maladies. But now I found out it isn't that. I'm tired because I'm overworked. The population of this country is 237 million. 104 million are retired. That leaves 133 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school, which leave 48 million to do the work. Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government. This leaves 19 million to do the work. Four million are in the Armed Forces, which leaves 15 million to do the work. Take from the total the 14,800,000 people who work for State and City Government and that leaves 200,000 to do the work. There are 188,000 in hospitals, so that leaves 12,000 to do the work. Now, there are11,998 people in Prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. Boy Oh Boy! And you're sitting there reading this. No wonder I'm tired, I'm the only one working I received this today and thought it was appropriate since Martha is in the news. Martha Stewart Says: If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix me up." Real Women Say: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too damn bad. Please recite with me the "Real Women's" motto: "I made it and you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes." Martha Stewart Says: Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away. Real Women Say: Take a lime, mix it with tequila, etc., chill and drink. You might still have the headache, but who cares? Martha Stewart Says: Stuff marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips. Real Women Say: Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake. You are probably lying on the couch, with your feet up, eating it anyway. Martha Stewart Says: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes. Real Women Say: Buy Hungry Jack potato mix. It keeps in the pantry for up to a year. Martha Stewart Says: When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake. Real Women Say: Go to the bakery. They will even decorate it for you. Martha Stewart Says: If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy. Real Women Say: Go ask the very cute neighbor to do it. And finally, the most important tip: Martha Stewart Says: Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces. Real Women Say: Leftover wine?

	Alert! Need to Know!!!!!
I never thought it could happen to me, it did and it can happen to you "Identity Theft." On May 26th, Memorial Day, at 6:30 P.M., I received a call from a computer supply company. He asked me if I had just placed an order for $215.00. I asked him if he would repeat the question. He did and added someone has your credit card. He was very helpful and suggested I call my credit card company. I did just that! Memorial Day night, and there is a customer service rep at my bank. She asked me all the questions used to identify you and then said, "Ms. Battoe, your account has been flagged for fraud." Since it was a holiday, someone from their Fraud Division would call me Tuesday morning. She also told me that the charges started coming through on Saturday. I was glad to hear it was the policy of this company, to shut the account down after 10 charges. They did on Saturday, again on Sunday and if I had not called, he was at number 7 on Monday night. Tuesday morning, I went to the Police Department and filed a report. Tuesday afternoon, I notified my bank and closed all my accounts. On Tuesday, the Fraud Dept. from my bank called and said they would be working the case. I asked her if he had charged any more to my account. She said yes. It seems our perpetrator likes BMW's and had ordered $3,700.00 worth of auto parts and they were being shipped to Los Angeles. I was very fortunate. My credit card company is one that does not hold the consumer responsible for fraudulent charges. I was told to notify the three major credit bureaus, the social security department, and all my charge cards. When I called the credit bureau's I learned they were not on the side of the consumer. They are on the side of the businesses that pay them. This was the beginning of my nightmare. Unlike victims of other crimes, who generally are treated with respect, identity theft victims often find themselves having to prove they are the victims, not deadbeats trying to get out of paying bad debts. The police in Los Angeles shared some good information with me. I spent one week filling out paperwork, forms and answering a lot of questions. The credit bureaus have put fraud alerts on my file. He can't get credit, but neither can I. It has been a hassle. The only good thing about this experience is that I learned there is a great site if you think you have been a victim of identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission working with other government agencies and organizations has produced a 45-page booklet to help you guard against and recover from identity theft. I recommend that everyone go to the website and download this PDF file and it is FREE! http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ I will keep you updated on my case. In case you are wondering how identity thieves get your personal information keep reading. He got me on #7. I was informed by the FBI that I was hacked by someone in Israel. And, the story goes on. TOP 10 Ways Identity Thieves Get Your Personal Information (Compiled by the FTC) They steal wallets and purses containing your identification and credit and bankcards.   They steal your mail, including your bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, new checks and tax information.   They complete a "change of address form" to divert your mail to another location.   They rummage through your trash, or the trash of businesses, for personal data in a practice known as "dumpster diving."   They fraudulently obtain your credit report by posing as a landlord, employer, or someone else who may have a legitimate need for, and legal right to the information.   They find personal information in your home.   They use personal information you share on the Internet.   They scam you, often through email, by posing as legitimate companies or government agencies you do business with.   They get your information from the workplace in a practice known as "business record theft" by: stealing files out of offices where you are a customer, employee, patient or student; bribing an employee who has access to your files; or "hacking" into electronic files.   They get your social security number and they can build a complete new identity. You don't have to give a business your SSN just because they ask for it.

	Closing comments
I hope you have a great July/August and remember, the past is history, we can't change it or redo it, the future is yet to be, but the present is ours to enjoy and make count. Goals that you have in the future must be worked on today. Don't waste one moment of this beautiful day. When it's over, it is gone. You can't relive or change it. Have a great day and enjoy your present! The next issue of Career Movers and Shakers Connection will be sent to you September 8th. Don't forget to offer feedback and suggestions. In the next issue, we will be hearing from different readers. We want you as a contributor! From across the miles, Karen C. Battoe, CPC Personal Success Systems Feel free to pass this newsletter on. The only request is please pass it on in its entirety. Karen C. Battoe, CPC is available for individual and group coaching. If you are ready and I mean really ready to make a change in your career, business or personal life and want to live a life that is more fulfilling, rewarding and fun, consider using a coach! To schedule a free evaluation and coaching session, please email kcbattoe@personalsuccesssystemsinc.com or call our office 1-407-332-0554.

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