They can because they think they can.

‘They can because they think they can’.  The power of positive thinking can never be underestimated.  Someone very close to me secured the role of her dreams this week.  That was the happy ending, before the ending came the beginning.  A beginning of uncertainty and a lack of confidence, people telling you that you should settle for mediocre as you will not get anything better.

positive-thinkingI accept life is not easy, but belief is the root of every success. It is easy to say positive things, but actually having belief in what you say is a different matter.  We all know someone who is always negative and wants to play it safe.  Over time this can grind you down.

As I mentioned at the start of this blog someone very close to me lacked the confidence to shoot for the stars as she was scared of coming up short.  It was obvious to me that she had immense talent and she had been worn down by people telling her to play it safe rather than telling her to just believe in herself and give it a go.  It took time but she finally started appreciating her own talent and then started getting rave reviews at interviews and her confidence grew.  This week she got herself a significant pay rise and an opportunity of a lifetime that I know she will grab with both hands.   She now thanks me for helping her.  In truth I did absolutely nothing.  She was always the unbelievable character that her new employers have been enthusing about.  She just needed to find a way of unlocking that person.

You may be at the beginning of that same journey or you may know someone who is.  Just remember ‘They can because they think they can’.  Believe in yourself and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Be realistic but create the hype and then be that hype.

 

Written by,

Sunjay Patel

Senior Media Sales Recruitment Consultant @LiptonFleming

Fear is the only thing holding you back…..

Recently I read an article on ‘fear’, which stated the 12 top types of fear and what/where they generally stem from. An example of this would be “Fear of failure – This type of fear has its roots in the misconception that everything you do has to be 100% successful.”

Fear I object to fear for the most part, anything thought in this vein is an excuse.

Now you may think A) that’s quite brash and B) very general, but if you remove your objections for one moment and look at the title of this piece you may begin to understand where I am coming from. I feel personally that fear is the only thing capable of holding you back from achievement because within reason (physical / mental / monetary) there is nothing that can hold you back.

Let’s put this all into perspective – if you fear ‘failure’ you may not allow yourself to make a mistake by taking a step, which may or may not enable you to go further, working on the proviso that either way ‘the step’ is in the right direction, you eliminate the fear! If you succeed you step forward, if you fail you have the knowledge of what to avoid when stepping forward and have the ability to try again.

As my MD always says ‘we are human’ no one is perfect, which is so true. Now I’m not saying you should lower your standards or work half-heartedly but you should equip yourself with the knowledge that ‘fear is the only thing holding you back’, remove the fear and enable the dream. The best remedy to remove fear is to take action, whenever you feel you’re in a situation and fearful of the outcome, remember the statement ‘fear is the only thing holding you back’. Then logically evaluate the situation by remembering the Dr Pepper strap line and asking the question “what’s the worst that can happen?” I guarantee that 9 times out of 10, if you think laterally you will be able to move forward, progress and go on to achieve.

Don’t let the fear that holds you back, be the fear that keeps you on track. Treat this like a reverse Jim Carey ‘Yes Man’ situation and say no to fear every time. Try it for a month and see if it doesn’t start to change the world you live in.

Good luck, god speed and go without fear….

Written by,

Richard Ward

Social Media and Marketing Executive @LiptonFleming

Representation of a Reputation

I’m the current newbie here at Lipton Fleming and the other evening, whilst sharing a few civilised drinks and a game of Trivial Pursuit in the local, I was grilled by my friends about my new job. After the usual platitudes the conversation evolved into the way people perceive recruitment consultants. I doubt it will come as much as a surprise to hear that we aren’t regarded very highly.

Recruitment consultants, on the whole, have a pretty bad reputation. I think it is unlikely that my friends differ much from the general population in their opinion which ranks us somewhere between lawyers and estate agents. The general consensus was that, as a profession, we are irksome, but without exception each one of my friends had, at one time or another, had a very positive experience with a recruitment consultant.

So what makes the difference between a positive experience and a negative one? Yes, there is a lot to be said about the values and ethics of the consultancy, but the key to success seems to be, that what you get out of the relationship depends very much on what you put into it.

Make sure you know what it is that you are looking for, are you after more money, do you want to take the next step on the career ladder, or are you just looking for a change? Making sure you have a goal will make it easier to find the right consultant and ultimately the right role.

If you are serious about your next career move, then choose your consultancy carefully. I recently found myself in the market for a new role and for me, the key to success, was making sure I was working with the right consultancy. For me it was important that I found a consultancy that listened to what I wanted, and I can honestly say my recruitment consultant knocked it out of the park with Lipton Fleming. Within 10 minutes of walking into the interview, I knew I wanted to work here.

The positive attitude and enthusiasm of our MD, Emy was obvious from the instant I met her. Lipton Fleming’s approach to the recruitment process is all about ‘placing people first’. It’s not about fitting job specs with CVs, or ‘bums on seats’, as is the case with so many consultancies, it’s about providing career advice, market knowledge and specialist consultants who know their markets. If all recruitment consultancies worked in this way I think that our reputations would be drastically different.

My advice would be to speak to as many recruitment consultancies as you can, especially the ones that specialise in your field. Grill the consultants; ask them about their clients, their market knowledge and their previous successes. If they can’t talk to you eloquently about what they do and who they do it for, move on. Ultimately, the key to being successful is communication. Be honest, be open and be determined, and when you find a good consultant, keep hold of them and tell your friends about them. We aren’t all as bad as our reputation makes out.

Written by,

Clare Puttick

Digital Recruitment Consultant @ Lipton Fleming

 

 

Empowering Others

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson

Last Thursday evening, team Lipton Fleming headed down to London Bridge to a charity quiz hosted by Eaves. Eaves are a London-based charity that provides housing, advice and support to vulnerable women. They are a fantastic organisation that give a voice to the most excluded women in society and provide innovative services to support, empower and aid them to control their own destiny.

empowerment

A good night was had by all, but on a serious note, Eaves’ mission and philosophy left me truly inspired and made me think about the need for women to feel empowered and to empower others.

When looking for powerful female role models, people typically imagine high profile characters such as Margaret Thatcher, The Queen, JK Rowling, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Within a media setting, names like Justine Roberts – founder of Mumsnet, Sly Bailey – Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror and Claudine Collins – Managing Director at Mediacom may spring to mind.

However, when I think of the powerful female figures that have inspired me and have encouraged me to have self belief, I also think of my Mum, my Gran and my colleagues – after all Lipton Fleming was founded by two women and our current Managing Director is also female. In addition to this, I have found tremendous inspiration from hearing about many of the women, who, with encouragement from Eaves have secured for themselves brighter futures.

Not only did I leave the quiz very conscious of the need to feel empowered, I was also left acutely aware of the need to quiz ourselves and to ensure that our own actions and behaviours empower others. It is worth posing questions to yourself such as how can I inspire others in the work-place and at home? How can I assist people and display behaviours that encourage people to have better self-confidence? Ultimately, how can I empower those that come into contact with me?

Like the quote at the top of this page says, we are unable to change the past but what we can do is control our attitude to what happens to ourselves and others in the future. We are all able to take the bull by the horns and direct our future where we want it to go and we can all assist, motivate and empower others to do the same.

 

Written by,

Emma Lodge

 

Accountability – The Anchor of Success

Anchoring SuccesOver the last few months we have seen some recurring themes with some of our pivotal clients.  There is a massive struggle to secure the best of the best in the market – everyone wants the same thing – and this is summed up simply, “People with emotional intelligence who want to work hard, have fun whilst doing so and get great results whilst building a business/business unit”.

To think that in the late 90’s early noughties there were masses of jobs and multiple candidates and matches seemed to be far easier to secure – it was a recruiter’s dream and money was somewhat easier to make. Roll forward to 2012 and at Lipton Fleming we take on a minimum of 40 new jobs a week across the media landscape of Planners/Buyers, Sales Managers, Group Directors, Digital Managers, SEO and PPC gurus, Research Directors, Qualitative Research Manager/Directors etc.  We can blatantly see there is no dip in our clients’ desire to satiate their business needs!  Everyone wants the elixir of employability – People who give a damn!

It would seem that over the last few years our society seems to have become complacent with its drive and desire. A level of apathy has settled on the mass majority and it acts a little like Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility – shrouding the real get up and go that we once harboured. We only have to visit our local supermarkets to see the total resentment some of the cashiers have for their customers. There are little to no pleasantries such as, “Hello”, “How are you today?”, “Can I help you with your packing?”. Even eye contact is avoided. Perhaps the pain of working hard and not yielding the desired outcome of more money is too painful a push and month in month out the passion dwindles and the respect and pride for their job dissipates.

We’ve all been there when some days it’s a beast when your alarm goes off at 5am/6am and you drag yourself out of bed, walk like a zombie to the shower sometimes dreading the day ahead. These are all choices we actively make.  Each one of us owes it to ourselves to milk the hell out of each day, each emotion, each success and every sorrow – feeling is great – it’s what makes us aware that we are really living. Enjoy the small things in life! Treat yourself well and be kind to yourself. What makes any of us think that we deserve to be miserable, demotivated, unhappy, and undesirable? We are victims of our own environments. Be a creator of your career, a creator of your own passion and happiness.

Own your future. We all have periods of feeling as if we are at the mercy of the market, our bosses, our partners, our families or our friends. The empowering part comes when we realise whilst we can’t control anybody around us – we can control our own desires and we can strive to ensure our dreams and aspirations become a reality. If we don’t ask for things then we will never get them. Let’s make our future one that we know we can control – you can engineer your future. Let today be the first day of owning your life and your happiness.  If you don’t like things – change them, or change how you feel about things.  A wise guy once told me, “You can’t change the pitch you play on – it’s the constant, all you can do is adapt your style to ensure the game is a success.” Let the game begin.

Written by,

Emy Rumble-Mettle

Do you celebrate your successes?

I am completely the wrong person to be writing this blog as I never celebrate any successes and instead think about ‘what’s next’, but I hear celebrating is supposed to be a good thing.  So here goes with my hypocritical blog.

In all seriousness I can see the value in taking stock of one’s achievements. In this day and age where all we hear is negativity it can be difficult to actually get a grasp of your achievements as nothing ever seems to be good enough.  I always feel that it is almost a sign of weakness and that it is important for me to stay focused and drive myself forward.  When does it end? What will ever be good enough? In my case I am afraid nothing will as I will always want more.  However I am starting to realise that I can celebrate in my own way and not limit my hunger.

Each day brings a new challenge and with it that doom and gloom that we are force fed by the media. If we do not take positives no matter how large or small from each day we will eventually succumb and only ever see failure.

If you have read any of my previous blogs or you are anything like me you are probably thinking he’s gone soft? Surely if you are driven to succeed you will never succumb to failure? True, but if we ‘driven’ people can find a way to make ourselves even more formidable then why not give it a go?

After all, we all want success, that’s why we work so hard and push ourselves to the limit.  So at the end of today have a think about what went right and enjoy it, taste the success and make sure it is something you never let go of, let it drive you rather than scare you as a weakness. Don’t just think what went wrong (you can think about this after and make it right tomorrow).

I probably haven’t completely convinced myself, so it is unlikely I have convinced you. Either way let’s both give it a go, let’s live for success rather than die thinking our successes were failures.

Written by,

Sunjay Patel.

 

How Media Draws You In.

Working in the media industry, it is important that I remain aware of it’s ever evolving landscape and the thing that stands out the most is the speed with which social media can make an impact. Whether it’s something with a ‘#’ before it or a much ‘liked’ Facebook status, we’re all switched on, all plugged in, all paying attention.

A recent example of this is the latest iPhone app doing the rounds. My Facebook home page became littered with people referring to their new obsession for Draw Something, whatever that meant. Suddenly it’s trending on Twitter and there is a buzz around me as people are showing each other their phones and laughing at the attempts to draw on this modern iPictionary sensation.

 

Sucked in by all the excitement everywhere I looked, I simply had to have a go. The power of social media had done it’s job. I found a friend with an iPhone and the app. I had a go. I got very upset when I had to give the iPhone back.

The power to reach people is at everyone’s fingertips now and the proof of that is very simply the fact that you are reading this blog. My thoughts on something put online and out there for everyone to see.

What will be the next thing to cause a stir, make the headlines or start trending?

#thanksforreading

Written by,

Marc Conway

 


Recruiters need to become more Pinteresting.

I am a Social Media and Marketing Exec and I work for a recruitment company called Lipton Fleming (LF). Here at LF we try to change with the ever adapting media landscape, not only by being a recruitment consultancy that “Places people first” (our slogan and for all intents and purposes our mission statement but) by moving with the times.LF Pinterested

This does not mean jumping on the bandwagon and following the latest trend if it has absolutely nothing to do with us but we have to remember this is all down to perception and thankfully at LF my peers feel the same. We don’t follow fashion; we adapt to our landscape and are fortunate enough to recruit in media, where the vast majority of our candidates are using mediums such as Facebook, Twitter and the new kid on the block Pinterest, amongst other heavy hitters.

This leads me on to my point, I went to a conference recently and heard something which almost made me convulse!! A speaker basically said “As recruiters we have no business using new fads like Pinterest”.  Ok, so maybe convulse is a bit of an over statement, but I look around at the vast majority of recruiters in our market who either do not use social media or do and just push messages to their audience. I’m biased but I know that at LF social is a way to; A) Meet our candidates and clients in a relevant space to them, B) Engage, share information and be relevant to both them and us.

An example would be how we are using Pinterest; we share relevant information, engage with other members on the site and then syndicate our content for our clients and candidates on some of our relevant social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. Please don’t misunderstand, I am not saying we are pioneers but what I think is the most important take home aspect of this is, that we will always look for a way to engage with our clients and candidates by meeting them in areas that are relevant to them and sharing relevant content to them.

Please feel free to check us out on the profiles in question:

So the question I ask is “Do you think recruiters / recruiting brands need to become more relevant and interesting to stay in touch with their market?”

Written by,

Richard Ward.

Competition Alert:

TWEET YOURSELF to a GIANT Easter Egg, Just re-tweet our tweet to enter & follow @LiptonFleming to stay up-to-date. #LFLovesEaster

Stay Employable, Up-skill.

In life you continue learning new skills and there is always something you can learn to make an everyday life task simpler/easier, so why not transfer this in to your professional life. As we all work in ever changing markets and the competition for jobs is continually heating up, most people ask themselves what can they do to stay relevant and how can they get that new job or pay rise.

Well the answer to this question is up-skilling. It gives you all the ammunition you need for your professional / personal growth; up-skilling is a great way to increase your own motivation and results in new doors opening for professional development and allows for flexibility within the working environment.

When up-skilling you need think objectively and decide what exactly you are aiming to achieve, make sure that you are timely and relevant with your decisions.

Key signs it’s time to up-skill;

  • You haven’t had a pay rise in the last year
  • You weren’t satisfied with your last pay increase
  • Your role is not challenging you enough or starting to feel stagnant
  • You have changed job function
  • You are feeling left behind in the market place

So don’t sell yourself short, up-skill soon and start on your journey to greater personal development and self enablement, which will hold you in good stead to compete in today’s job market. Remember up-skilling and career development is not only about moving forward but it can also involve lateral progressions, so be ready to embrace all opportunity; big, small, obvious and subtle.

 

Written by,

Richard Ward.

International Women’s Day?

I don’t know if I agree with this day and wish to celebrate it, or if our drive for equality is becoming a bit too over the top and are we trying to gain supremacy as opposed to equality?

I have grown up in a stereotypical “Daddy goes to work and Mummy stays at home to look after the children and cook, clean, wash and iron etc etc  etc” environment and roll on a fair few years and I  am now a working mum of two children, working quite hard and then rushing back for dinner, bath-time and stories.

According to the constant news articles women have a raw deal – but do we? Or do we simply want our cake and to eat it? I am definitely one of the latter. I want to have a good job, with a happy family and a level of financial security. Yes, I miss out on the morning school runs and sleepy mid afternoon snuggles but when I am there its 100 miles per hour of fun, hugs and laughter.  Being a working mum is rewarding and I know that my children’s perception of women is far different to many of their peers.  A fair few times I have gone to do the school pick up on a day off and seen the disdain and over familiarity that some children have towards their parents. The, “where were you – you were late,” aggression and my children have never had that attitude.  I hope they will grow up and enjoy their femininity and know that you can have a balance of both worlds.

Is there equality? Well I don’t know if I want it – I think chivalry is still important and I am under no illusion that there are many things my husband can do that I am massively inept at. I enjoy having the door held open for me and I enjoy old fashioned values – I want my children to see these values at work too.

A large portion of our candidate database is compiled of strong independent women. Some with children and working, others with no desire to have a family but their drive for success is no different to any other entrepreneur or business person. They do not accept anything other than the best for themselves and it’s commendable. Fierce women working a fierce economy is never a bad thing.

There have been a fair few articles about “Women with University educations being wasted working as stay at home mums.”  What I love about our society is it is increasingly apparent that choice is King.  Free will for men and women to choose what suits their circumstances best. A happy man or woman is the main aim regardless of the choices made.

 

Written by,

Emy Rumble-Mettle