The holidays can be the perfect time to boost your career, whether for your home business or your office. Between gift-giving and office parties, you have plenty of opportunities to show people who you are and where your career interests lie. Here are some  opportunities:

Office party. Many companies will hold still hold holiday parties this year despite the financial down-turn. They may more necessary than ever to boost company morale. If your office is holding a party, attend, (it may not be mandatory, but…-I’m just saying) remember these three things:

1. Don’t booze it up.
2. Don’t talk shop the entire time.
3. Don’t over- or under-dress.

If you are a home business owner, the same rules apply, perhaps more so.

Cards. Sending holiday cards is a great way to acknowledge those who’ve helped your career in the past year and to reconnect with business associates. If you’re uncertain about religious affiliations, send cards that eliminate any religious references. Choose cards with beautiful generic holiday graphics and state ”Happy Holiday”; send the cards out early in December. This may feel like a cop-out, but in the last few years, people seem to be more sensitive to who they are and the holidays they celebrate.  This is the one time you want to go ahead and follow the pc (politically correctly) bunch.  

If you are a home business owner, it is fine to send a holiday greeting as above. Your contact information should not be the focal point, but it should be on the card.

Gifts. A little caution is needed. Determine whom you want to give a gift to (clients, co-workers, bosses) but first make sure they’re allowed to receive gifts. (Some federal positions, for example, are banned from accepting gifts from groups or individuals that could constitute a conflict of interest.) Use your best judgment on getting an appropriate gift that serves as a token of appreciation. It does not need to be expensive, but it should show that some thought went into purchasing it. Do not expect a gift in return, this should be from the heart, not because you are hoping for a reciprocal gift. One year our office manager gave everyone paper weights. I still have mine.

If you have a home business, something from your business with a short note of thanks and appreciation would do nicely. If that is impossible, think of something that will help to say to your client or customer, “thank you for your business.”  You will have to make up your mind, will you give a holiday gift to everyone or your returning clients?  I do not give gifts to my Watkins customers, but I do acknowledge them on my Watkins turn-key site. See Watkins

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turn what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”  — Melody Beattie/

Like me, you may have heard this fable in your house of worship when you were young. You don’t always ‘get it’ when you are young. But as a business person it is something worth remembering at all times. However you heard this, the moral of the story is the same; be mindful of opportunities that come your way–they do not always come labled as such.

~Missed opportunies and a lesson learned~

A man was in his house and there was a really bad flood, houses were floating, cars were swept away. He was sitting on the roof of his house when he was spotted by a man in a boat, the man offered to take him to safety, but he refused. He said no thank you, God will save me. Soon after a helicopter spotted him and threw down a rope for him to climb to safety, the man gave the same answer, he had faith and he was waiting for God to save him.

The winds grew and the man was swept off his roof and drowned. When he opens his eyes, he is in heaven and angels around him. He asks to see God and is taken to him. When he sees God he asks what happened, why didn’t God save him, surely his belief was strong enough. God looks at him, shakes his head and says, I can’t explain it, I just don’t know what happened–I sent you boat and a helicopter.

As companies try to stay afloat in a choppy economy, employees are being pushed for new ideas. However, managers should note and consider the studies conducted by Teresa Amabile, professor at Harvard Business School and head of its Entrepreneurial Management Unit. She has explored creativity for nearly 30 years and her comprehensive research has uncovered some myths:

• Money and rewards does not inspire creativity
• Tight deadlines and pressure to produce don’t foster innovation
• Competition does not induce creativity
• Fear does not fuel creative breakthroughs

In order bring creativity to fruition, people must  be deeply engaged in and with their projects and skilled enough to accomplish the project without:

• unnecessary distractions
• office (or any) politics
• resource roadblocks
• unwarranted critical feedback

Teresa Amabile is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

It seems that truly creative people have certain characteristics which we can all put to work and use for ourselves, our careers and our home business.

After a friend and I spent a leisurely afternoon at Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey, I am a confirmed Edison groupie. The main building is amazing, not only are there glorious cubicles for his key engineers, there is a small corner with a single bed–Edison often slept there while working on projects. He held more than 1000 patents. OK, the man was a genius and he was creative, but you can sharpen your creative skills by strenthening a few traits.

• Curiosity. It should be obvious, however, it is often forgotten in the rush of daily routine. Stop and ask “Why?” about the issues and problems (and solutions) you encounter.

• Energy. Not running around in circles energy. Just put real effort into collecting facts and thinking about the problem you’re trying to solve.

• Focus and concentration. Take time to stop and focus on what’s in front of you, tune out distractions, annoyances and other actions and activities that are not relevant to the problem at hand.

• Make the connection. Look for links between elements; often ties that bind don’t appear related at first glance. Seek the connection by finding some order in the havoc. Break down ideas to discover what they have in common. Talk to a person to brainstorm. Anyone who has seen actor’s Rock Hudson and Thelma Ritter in the bar scene of the movie Pillow Talk will understand how a small connection can help.

• Playfulness. You work is serious, but you need to be able to stand back and adopt a naïve, even childlike attitude toward the world around you. This helps you ask questions and find connections in things everyone else takes for granted.

• Persistence. Even the great geniuses of our time don’t expect success overnight. Practice self-discipline, so you can stick to your idea until it’s successful. “I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.” Thomas A. Edison. If your persistence does not create gold, think positive; “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas A. Edison.

For more information on Thomas Alva Edison visit Save Americas Treasures Organization Keep in mind that this project has been completed, the Edison site and his home are open for visitors.