Back in November of 2009 my friend Janelle invited me to a fashion show. It was a kick off party/fundraiser her sister  was putting on for  the grand opening showcase of her store “The Little Black Dress Store” on Main Street.

It was held at a church with an amazing buffet, very cool musical performances, a wicked DJ, and a room full of beautiful fearless women of all ages, shape and sizes. Their husbands, boyfriends, children, and friends were all awaiting in the audience ladies from sizes 0-16 sauntered down the runway in the multifaceted display of little black dresses. There were even two toddlers in velvet little black dresses that got everyone going “Awwwww!”.

It was Mary’s vision to have everyday women walk the runway, and bringing affordable fashion to the everyday.  Her store is simply fabulous, modern and a great place to go shopping by yourself or with friends.  Her purses usually cost no more than $30, shoes no higher than $50, and most clothing items under $100!  Her staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and passionate about fashion.  You can find them at  
2838 Main St
Vancouver, BC V5T
Neighbourhood : Mount Pleasant
(604) 569-2585

www.thelbdstore.com/home.html

This book is a God send, a bestseller from China about a young girl’s climb of the corporate ladder in an American company to the position of HR manager.  She begins her career out of University in retail sales for a national car manufacturing factory, quit after 3 months when her boss started sexually harassing her playing footsie.
Like any good drama, there were mishaps, challenges, romance, politics, and backstabbing. Adding gas to fire is violation of privacy, stalking, and even corporate fraud.
Every step of the way, La La is hardworking, witty, optimistic, loyal, and changes her tactics whenever she runs into a wall.  For example, when all her hard work is ignored or unnoticed by management,  Lala begins writing regular progress reports to demonstrate the scope and challenge of her work and the results she has brought the company.  When communicating with upper management, she kept it short and succinct in order to avoid any mis-communication in emails. This was perceived by her management that she is reliable and trustworthy of bigger responsibilities.
At the end of the book, La La met a guy on her flight who is a job seeker, she did an in depth analysis for him and made some suggestions for his career path that are useful for most:
    1.    Finding a good job requires you find a good company (a good company has growth potential, market position with products, has a very professional /smart/ competent/ experienced/ practical upper management, insists on hiring great staff/ has very strict financial control system, strong control over projections, expenses, profit and investments.  A company who is customer oriented, market oriented, results oriented, and operational.  A company that has a thoroughly professionally regulated operational system and procedures, a system that supports progressive sales and is essentially a competitive and profitable company.
    2.    You have to find a good direction for your career path, what is a good direction?  Never remove too far from the nuclear revenue stream.  You need to see clearly which stage of the cycle is connected closest to the profit margin?  Sometimes it is sales, sometimes it’s market strategy, sometimes it’s Research and Development, sometimes it’s production, it really depends on your industry, and thus it’s varies.
    3.    You have to follow a good boss.  There are many types of good bosses: they are willing to teach you, be nice to you, don’t limit you, give you generous bonuses, etc.  However if you want a good future, the key is you need to follow a boss who has a good position within the company.  If he/she is strong, your career will climb.  If he/she is weak, your future might stall accordingly.
    4.    What do you need in order to obtain a good job?  Who is considered an excellent job candidate in the eye of a HR recruiter?
-To your superior: 1) you need to be on the same page, know what he/she feels is important, you should feel it’s relevancy.  If he/she feels it’s urgent, you should feel it too and act accordingly.  Your performance is really decided by your immediate superior, so what he/she says counts as final. 
2) You need to receive the support and resources from your superior. If you work yourself to death, and your boss don’t bother to notice, you don’t have what it got to be an excellent job candidate. 
-To your staff:
1) Clearly and efficiently delegate tasks according to SMART principles.
2) Competently manage internal conflict among your team
3) Fairly and logically distribute resources among your team
4) Have the desire and ability to develop, inspire, and mentor your staff
5) Give recognition, encouragement, and compliment your team members when appropriate
6) Respect different ideas you may encounter, share knowledge, experience and information. Use that to build team spirit based on mutual trust.
-To your internal and external clients:
1) Willing to provide support and value added service
2) Be eager to listen to understand client’s needs and wants.
3) Provide reliable product information and customer service in timely fashion
4) Understand the organizational structure, and it’s influence.  Create client rapport as soon as possible with potential clients, and turn it into sales results.
Become responsible for your own job performance:
1) Clearly understand your own position and responsibilities – know who to report to, what decisions are yours to make.
2) Results oriented – set high goals, do what you promise, responsible and accountable.  Attention to quality, speed, and duration is a must. Be proactive, avoid the need for superior to follow up with you. Furthermore never over promise something that you are unsure you can deliver.
3) Clearly set revenue projections and effectively carry out the execution.
4) Learning ability- You need to want to learn and adapt to changes by staying current on market trends and competition, technology updates, and apply these changes immediately.
5) Ability to handle pressure – You need to be consistently productive under extreme stress. The ability to be resourceful obtaining resources, support, information by using your partners is essential to achieving results that surpass original target.
6) Adaptability – Become adjustable in facing multiple demands. Working conditions may change, so an adjustment of ones own behavior and style based on the  demands an individual or group will become necessary. You job description may change, people may leave for other opportunities, or your clientele may change. Try to understand others style and way of doing things and adjust accordingly.

Smart Principle:
        Specific
        Measurable
        Attainable
        Relevant
        Time-bounding