Sparking - Moving you forward

Do you want to show up more creatively for your clients and your colleagues, your family, and your friends?

Do you want to default to thinking about opportunity versus focusing just on problems?

Discovering Hope is full of proactive steps you can take right now, to achieve a more positive mindset or to help maintain the positivity you already have

Getting Positive reveals that more optimism is close at hand

Buy Books by Stuart Parkin at Amazon
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Sparkin Blog

SPARKIN is an executive recruitment agency with a difference. We care more about your optimum fit than about making a placement! We are focused on aiding and abetting your career progression and optimization. Our primary target audience is strategic planners of all persuasion. We work with allies in key centers in the United States and around the globe. Our experience is based around the importance of relationships and becoming an expert at building them and through them attaining personal and career goals.

Shepley Parkin Award / Kings College London

Congratulations to Nikki Kerderagi Small, the inaugural winner of the Shepley Parkin Award,

for second year medical students at Kings College Hospital London.

For the last several years we at SPARKIN have focused on promoting empathetic ability

in the media business but understanding the perspective of others is key for allĀ areas of society,

one key example, medicine. To that end, we’re excited to announce a ten year commitment of

a thousand pounds per annum to promote the importance of empathy, by rewarding a medical

student that has provenĀ themselves not simply to be bright but truly effectiveĀ when it comes to

hearing/understanding others, so crucial for effective patient care. Read about the award and

recipient Nikki here.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/kings-student-wins-shepley-parkin-empathy-award

The biggest Threat to Agencies and Your Jobs

Planners and strategists, “Agencies are scrambling to attract talent amid shortage.” The article summarizes that talent shortages exist because:Ā https://bit.ly/37gVRkn
– Skills shortage – A lack of the right skills,
– Greater flexibility/virtual – ‘Talent’ wanting greater flexibility
– Burn out – employees wanting to get out of the business.
What the article doesn’t mention is the core reason for this talent shortage, a breakdown of the psychological contract,
a phrase coined decades past highlighting, ‘to maintain a positive employee-employer relationship employers pay particular attention to the ā€˜human sideā€™ of a working relationship, rather than the purely commercial or transactional side.ā€™
Yes, the problem for the business is short termism, which is why agencies increasingly use freelancers, treating people like commodities; Even when they are full time, (again due to short termism) there has been a chronic lack of willingness to train/invest in the next generation of strategists.
The good news – For any planner seeking their next career challenge, there are many great people in this business and some basic rules for identifying a great next career move for you, beyond that is, simply looking at the obvious names, this I’ll cover in my next newsletter.

Parkin Empathy Award Winner – Trevor Kroon

Congratulations to Trevor Kroon, ‘Derek Parkin Empathy Award’ recipient.
The ability to work seamlessly and effectively, starts with a determination and ability to effectively understand others. This learned ’empathetic’ ability is key for effective strategic problem solvers as it is for a functioning society!
It was a pleasure talking at length with all the students at the latest Miami Ad School Planning Bootcamp on Friday, and to announce the award winner.
Iā€™m very much looking forward to working with Trevor, who will receive $1500 and three one-hour coaching sessions.
This award is judged by the students on the course as well as the instructors, not by the school or SPARKIN.

Congratulations to all of them for all their effort and notably Manolo Garcia for making the course seamlessly happen.
Around a Fatherā€™s Day weekend it was also a great personal gift to be able to present this award, in honor of my/mjjx&c’s father.
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Rekha Yadav

Creative Pressures and Positivity

Creativity typically requires a positive mindset and that is tough, particularly when you’re paid to be creative! “getting Positive’ aims to bring more positivity about. gettingpositivenow.com

Many congratulations to Mariana Crespo, the newest Parkin ‘Empathy’ Award winner and the 27th recipient of $1500 cash prize $500 of coaching sessions, the first just just completed!
Gandhi exhorted, ‘be the change in the world you want to see.’ At SPARKIN, we would like to see many more empaths in the world. The ability to work seamlessly and effectively, starts with a determination and ability to effectively understand others. This ’empathetic’ gene is key for effective strategic problem solvers as it is for an effective society! Boy could our world use many more people suspending their beliefs and genuinely trying to put themselves in the shoes of others!
The award is judged by the students on the course and the lecturers, not the school and not by me.
Congratulations to all the students: Brett Crockett, Jake Wagner, Amanda-Victoria Gonzalez, Rebeka Carson, Madison Stout, Stacy Aiello, and Olivia Chase and
congratulations also to all those adjunct professors/guest lecturers, who seek to give back/make a difference: Marta Insua, Juan Isaza, Dania Aguayo, Alejandro Oszust, Eric Pakurar, Yvette Quaizon, Luis Miranda, Luisa Liriano, Luis Camano, Christopher Owens, Kelsey Damon, Chris Millichap, Bruno Cunha, Fabio Seidl, RP Kumar, Jen Clarke, Chris Kwak, and Patrick White.
A big thanks as ever to Enrique (Henry) Ahumada, for making the NY Strategic Planning bootcamp happen.
#parkinempathyaward#MiamiAdSchool#inclusiveeducation #careeroptimisation #careers#sparkinsearch#empathymatters #diversitymatters #inclusion

Career Effectiveness = Mindset Change

There’s no such thing as a career any more. Not quite true but certainly, rapidly changing times require a changed mindset. Think (whether employee or not) that you’re managing your own business: Reputation/time/problem solving expertise.
https://lnkd.in/dbw2-aM
#ownbusinessĀ #careerchangesĀ #mindsetmastery

Discovering Hope

Particularly in 2020, how often do you hear people talk about hope and being hopeful or not. We all want things to be better, to be normal again but while hope is key for all of us, being hopeful is far from a passive exercise.
Published December 9th, ‘Discovering Hope,’ is a small book, full of practical ideas and actions which we can all take both to rediscover and maintain a more hopeful outlook. Enjoy
www.discoveringhopebook.com
(Available in the UK from Amazon, Waterstones and other leading retailers and the U.S from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, amongst others.)
#discoveringhopebook #proactive #takingaction

More Learning, Money, Opportunity, Fun – What is Key?

Personal and organisational success is directly related to the extent of training, formal employee reviews and on-going developmental feedback. The cold stark reality, there is very little formal training, performance reviews often delayed if they happen at all, which makes the manager we have and their desire and ability to develop others, key for our progression. Yet, as Brian Souza’s ‘The Weekly Coaching Conversation’ highlights, sub-par employee peformance is due primarily due to a lack of coaching/developmental feedback.. Categorizing managers: ‘Micromanager’, ‘Do-it-all’ manager (don’t trust team) ‘Nice guy/lady’ manager (care more about being liked than constructively directing) and Coach manager, (the one you might want to pursue) seek for personal and/or professional reasons, to develop others.

If you want to grow, if you want to be considered for the best opportunities, then when looking for an internal move or pursuing a new job, seek out the ‘Coach boss.’ I think this is particularly true for those starting out in the business, with relatively less experience and definitely, if you have to work from home.

Parkin Empathy Prize Winner – Vicoria Aldecocea

The ability to work seamlessly with creatives or for that matter clients, (or consumers) starts with a ‘determinationā€™ and ability’ to effectively understand others. This ’empathetic’ gene is key for effective strategic problem solvers as it is for an effective society!
Many congratulations to ā€œVictoria Aldecocea,ā€ the newest (and 24th) Parkin ‘Empathy’ Award winner. ($1500 cash prize plus $500 coaching).
The award is judged by the students on the course as well as the strategists that teach the course; (Not the school; Not SPARKIN)
It was great to be able to individually zoom with each of the 15 students: Victoria Aldecocea, Blair Baker, Ben Berlin, Raphael Bussy, Leslie Collin, Jewelian Griffith, Anastasia Montoya, Dasha Ovsyannikova, John Pillsbury, Todd Reichman, Tierney Riccitelli, Marti Rosenberger, Nicholas Schneider, Vanessa Van Der Keyl and Emily Woodward. Thanks to all the teachers who also voted: Vanessa Cameron, Marta Insua, RP Kumar, Chris Kwak, Alejandro Oszust, Christopher Owens, Eric Pakurar, Carlos Roncajolo, Pete Scanlon and Patrick White. Finally, thanks to dynamic Manolo Garcia, Director of the San Francisco school.
#MiamiAdSchoolSanFranciscoAccountPlanningBootcamp #ParkinAward #CareerOptimisation #Careers #LifeSkills #SparkinSearch #Inclusive

Better Q’s = Better Answers

Basic facts are must haves, but better questions demand thought, from interviewor and interviewee alike and ‘often’ lead to better understanding. Try:
Don’t ask her how much she wants to make, ask her how she wants to grow
Don’t ask him where he wants to work, ask him what he wants to experience
Don’t ask them about a typical day, clarify which skills they want to focus on using
Don’t ask me what I’m looking for. Ask me what a dream scenario might be.
#BetterquestionsĀ +Ā #BasicFactsĀ =Ā #Cleardirection