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Moving Mount Rushmore

Are you successful? Do you know people you consider successful? When people think of success they often list characteristics successful people have. Do the words “hard work,” “talent,” “smart,” or “creative” come to mind? Those traits are absolutely true of many of the most successful people in business and humanities. Based on these characteristics, if you know a person with these characteristics, you would assume he is successful, but that is not always the case.
 
Do we know people with the same characteristics, but struggle to find success? The reality is people are in the way of themselves. Many people become like statues and the older people get the more like a statue they become. People are set in their ways. Changing their ways is the ultimate challenge. 
 
Workforce professionals are often trying to move statues. There are jobs seekers stuck in an unproductive manner and cannot move forward. Some job seekers become like Mount Rushmore, fixtures in workforce programs, always participating, but never achieving. Like Mount Rushmore, they overlook others coming and going from workforce centers and many times watching others achieve success.
 
 Moving Mount Rushmore involves strength and courage. To truly make a difference with a person, and to guide them past their defeating behaviors, you must not only identify the issue, but speak to the issue. This is the hard part.  There are many smart people not successful because they do not focus and organize themselves. There are others not incorporating new techniques into their practices.  Even the most talented musicians, must practice their craft. There are plenty of people working hard, but are not being resourceful and creative to solve problems and make life easier.
 
Being a workforce professional involves developing people for a workforce. It is not realistic to think this will happen overnight. Program benchmarks may be looking for markers of success within a preset amount of time, but often people need more time to overcome their internal barriers. Consistent follow up and keeping people on task are they key to moving Mount Rushmore.


~Karen Cirincione
kcirincione@gmail.com
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione
Twitter:@kcirincione

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