Skip to main content

How To Achieve Early Career Success

“By 2025, experts predict that Millennials and Generation Z will make up the majority of the world’s workforce. They are two of the most populous generations on earth, and they’re going to have to navigate a work world full of unprecedented challenges,” explains Mark Zides, author of the book, The #PACE Process For Early Career Success. 

He adds, “The career landscape is rockier than ever, and navigating it takes more than just a résumé to find a perfect job. The #PACE Process for Early Career Success book is designed to help readers unlock the mindset, traits, and techniques needed to Plan, Apply for, Commit to, and Explore an ideal career path.” 

“Whether you plan to enter the corporate world, join a startup, or start your own business, you will learn how to: 

  • build a network
  • master interviewing skills
  • leverage your personal brand
  • move on to your next opportunity when the timing is right 

Leveraging more than twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur, businessperson, and CEO, Zides teaches young adults the skills they need to get their feet in the door, climb the ladder, and not stop achieving until they find success. His playbook, guide and techniques incorporate real life examples, research, and a little tough love. 

Among the especially helpful sections in the book is the one on how to effectively interview via Zoom and similar video conferencing platforms, and also the section on creating a 90-day plan to ensure success in your new job. 

Mark Zides

Question: What special elements and approaches did you incorporate into the book to appeal to early career professionals? 

Zides: First, I don't believe in sugar coating anything, so there is definitely a tough love approach taken in, The #PACE Process for Early Career Success. What I've seen is that Millennials and Generation Z have been coddled and it's done them a disservice. I am part of the parental group that contributed to the way the younger generations behave and I believe the message in my book helps raise awareness and self-exploration, calling attention to the characteristics and traits that need to be developed moving forward. 

I deeply emphasize the importance of grit, charisma, perseverance, and emotional agility. If you focus on developing these skills, they will not only lead to success in your career, but in life. I believe in diving in, staying focused, and getting the job done, all while learning and growing in a position. 

Most of the approaches include an increase in communication, a positive and productive mindset, and following up on what you started. The #PACE process works not only for Millennials and Gen-Zers, but also for anyone looking to make a change in their professional career. The approach is about taking chances and getting outside of your comfort zone to accomplish great things. 

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How To Achieve Human Leadership

Human Leadership: The Courage To Face Ourselves And Each Other is Kristen Hadeed ’s newest book. It’s a raw, personal account of losing herself in service to others and the challenging work of finding her way back.   It’s a story of burnout, ambition, resentment, grief, reinvention, profound self-examination, and the courage it takes to share what you discover with the people around you. By learning to face herself, tell the truth, and take ownership of her choices, Hadeed became a more courageous, compassionate leader and built a life and business that would take care of her, too.   Hadeed’s journey shows that leadership doesn’t have to mean endless sacrifice or self-abandonment. Human Leadership offers a different path―one where courage, honesty, and humanity become the foundation of meaningful leadership and a meaningful life.   Part memoir, part invitation, Hadeed’s story will empower you to:   Recognize the values, fears, and limiting beliefs driving your lead...

The Playbook For CEOs To Lead Under Pressure

“Most CEOs spend years mastering strategy, finance, operations, and execution,” says author Andrea Petrone , “Far fewer spend time defining who they are as leaders.” He adds that all too often the leadership style that got a CEO to the top becomes the very thing holding them back.   More specifically, after more than two decades coaching CEOs and senior executives at Shell, Unilever, Takeda, EssilorLuxottica, and PwC, Petrone noticed a pattern: sustained pressure was pulling leaders away from who they were. Fortunately, in his latest book, Reinvention at the Top: The Playbook for CEOs to Lead Under Pressure , Petrone introduces the Throughline, an architecture that helps leaders align their identity, message, and presence so they can lead powerfully under pressure. Whether stepping into a new role, navigating a crisis, or reinventing an organization, Throughline offers CEOs a practical roadmap for leading without losing themselves.   As you read the book you will discover: ...

How To Build A High Performing Sales Team

  Based on Stephanie Friedman 's 20 years of sales experience, her new book, Built to Grow: A Handbook For High-Performance Sales Teams , is the perfect step-by-step, go-to-market field guide for startup founders.   Friedman offers readers a structured and repeatable methodology for building a high-performing sales function from a company’s earliest days. The book is divided into three phases of startup growth— Experiment, Build, and Scale.   Within each of the three phases, Friedman covers: Sales Playbook Hiring Revenue Management Customer Success Compensations Culture Internal Collaboration   Some of my favorite takeaway tips from the book include:   No matter how experienced your salespeople are, any high-performing sales organization should follow one simple but important rule: No call without an agenda. This helps reinforce the necessary discipline around call preparation and ensures your customers have the best possible experience when talking to your...

Thoughts From The Book, Decide

Two of my favorite observations made by author Steve McClatchy in his new book, Decide , are: Goals :  The reason so many people fail to achieve their goals is because they have not committed to defending a time in which they will work on their goals. Management vs. Leadership :  Management is keeping things the way they are today.   Management Maintenance .  Leadership is moving things forward from where they are today.  Leadership = Improvement . Steve McClatchy

The Five Traits Of An Effective Leader

I was recently asked, " What five most important traits must a leader have to be effective ?"  I could reply fairly quickly, but I did take a moment to remember that when I asked a similar question in a LinkedIn group discussion, group members offered up nearly 100 different adjectives to describe an effective leader. But, for me, I contend the five most important traits are : Good communicator . That means effectively communicating timely and consistent messages during good and bad times. And, knowing how and when to be a good listener. Communicating is critical. Employees must hear from their leaders. And, hearing from their leaders in person versus e-mail and written memos is even more effective. Being a servant leader . Put your employees and your company first. A top manager who makes decisions that are self-serving will lack followers and will bring the company down. Adaptable . Today, more than ever, a leader needs to adapt. That means adapting to c...

How To Be A Tough Enough Leader

    Tomorrow brings a compelling and timely book about how tough enough you need to be as a leader to lead your team to greatness without being a jerk. The book is Tough Enough , by leadership coaches John Baird and Matt Hunter .   The authors explain that building a high-performing team requires a new form of toughness―not based on bullying and bravado, but rather pushing for exceptional results in a way that is firm, fair, and respectful.   Drawing on decades of coaching top CEOs, elite founders, and ambitious leaders, Baird and Hunter break down seven specific habits that define the strongest, most effective leaders, from being clear about the company culture to strategically unleashing emotional thunder. They set the record straight on when to prioritize understanding and empathy, when it’s time to be direct―and, most importantly, how to do both at the same time. Their no-nonsense approach gives readers the tools to calibrate their toughness and compassion in a ...

How To Improve The Way Teams Think, Collaborate And Make Decisions Under Pressure

  “Great decisions don’t happen by accident—they happen by design,” shares Dr. Ricardo Valerdi , author of the new book, The Five-Tool Team: Bringing Out The Best In People To Make Better Decisions .  This book is not about finding perfect answers. It is about building a framework that allows you to make good decisions repeatedly, even when conditions are imperfect, information is incomplete, and outcomes are uncertain.  More specifically, Valerdi reveals a practical framework for improving the way individuals and teams think, collaborate, and make decisions under pressure.   Drawing on lessons from sports, business, engineering, and real-world experience, Valerdi shows how the most effective leaders build teams that question assumptions, analyze consequences, and make choices grounded in clarity rather than instinct or urgency.  “Writing this book has been a phenomenal journey that started in 2018 when I was a visiting professor at the United States Military Ac...

High-Performing Teams Are Made Of This

According to Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese, authors of the book,  The Collaboration Imperative , high-performing teams have the following characteristics: People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team's purpose--they feel free to express feelings and ideas. Everybody is working toward the same goals. Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks. Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected. Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute--even the introverts. Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed.  Criticism is constructive and is oriented toward problem solving and removing obstacles. The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement--in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or executiv...

Six Leadership Actions To Leverage Employees' Differences To Strengthen Teams

The new book, All The Difference: Six Leadership Actions To Bridge Perspectives, Strengthen Teams, and Create Value , teaches how leaders can turn their team's individual differences into deeper trust, greater creativity, and winning results.   “The greatest risk of unmanaged difference isn’t conflict: it lies in the ideas, insights, and opportunities that may never surface,” explain the book’s authors, Susan MacKenty Brady , Stuart D. Kliman , and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Leslie C. Smith .   They suggest that you look around your team to fully see people with different communication styles, perspectives, cultural norms, and capabilities. These differences are expressed in all kinds of ways, such as casual gestures in a meeting, a colleague's opinion on a current event, or an intense work style.   Often, those differences can lead to friction, even conflict. You may try to manage around them. But, for you and your organization to fully leverage the strengths of your team’s diffe...

3 Things To Avoid When You Give Your Next Speech

If you don't want to get your speech off to a bad start, the communications experts at Speechworks suggest you: Don't apologize (particularly about your anxiety or lack of preparation. Apologies put your audience on the defensive. Don't start by telling a joke (which may not be all that funny, or is irrelevant, or that may even be offensive to someone in your audience). Don't beat around the bush (including, don't list off a lot of people you want to thank. Don't waste your audience's valuable time) Instead: If you need to deal with your anxiety, practice like crazy . Rehearse particularly your first line over and over. Start your presentation by laying out for your audience a key issue that they are facing in their business . If you must thank someone, do it at the end, or thank your introducer briefly, pause, and then start right into the meat of your message .