Peppercorn.ai hosted a lively session with Joshua Encarnacion, moderated by Lirui Li on April 22, 2022.
Joshua is dedicated to activating people's FULL potential through the application of systems thinking, emotional intelligence, and a principle-centered approach to leadership development.
As a coach, consultant, and advisor, the central focus of his work is striking a balance between growing and helping others grow as healthy people and accomplished professionals responsible for organizations creating positive change.
Through experiences with big tech, SMB, and start-up companies, he’s successfully coached 5,000+ career professionals, designed/delivered 750+ pieces of training, and was directly involved in hiring, onboarding, and managing 4,000+ talented teammates. He uses these experiences as a foundation for supporting his clients at the individual, team, organizational, and executive levels.
On the weekends, he is busy with fam enjoying EXTRA LOUD karaoke or dancing bachata, OR BOTH! 🇩🇴 Peppercorn Parleys are conversations revolving around the journey to What's Next! Get the latest insights, tools, resources, and insights that can help you get clarity and confidence in your professional career. Hear from leaders, HR folks, hiring managers, recruiters, and even individuals on their own journey to What's Next.
What Joshua does now
Coaching | Consulting | Advising @ https://www.joshuaenc.com/
Work with individuals 1 on 1 level to upskill
Consulting - working with organizations to bring HR projects into the company.
Advisory - helping companies think about HR in a holistic way.
The common theme in his work is that he stays tied to his purpose and not a company so he can stay true to himself.
Values and How did you figure them out?
His value statement - grow and help others grow (in a circle tattooed on his right arm)
His values come from what drives him deep down. It is not easy to do.
For him - his background helped him figure out his values.
His mother was born in queens and his father was born in the Dominican. His father was deported very early in his life. His mother raised him as a single mom and she was a teacher. He's kind of first-generation but not really. Almost in between. In his career, he was a Black Hispanic man in HR. Very different from everyone else.
Always had a pyramid effect in his life. As he kept growing up.
School - 75% of people looked like him
High School - 50% of people looked like him
College - 25%
Career - No one really looked like him
Over time his own experiences helped him develop his purpose of helping others and growing himself.
Biases and how do you counteract them
Create a knowledge base around yourself in a language that is shared.
Intersectionality - understanding this helps you understand who you are.
Kimberly Crenshaw - coined the term intersectionality
Be proactive in your job search. Not reactive. Joshua himself has never sent out a resume to get a job.
Use a 2 pronged approach to finding a job
- Go ahead and apply online but also
- Reach out to people and tell them your story. Reach out as an individual and go beyond the ATS
Understand that biases are not meant to be malicious or international but sometimes they get created because it makes life easier but not because someone has something against you.
How do you stay different in your resume if you are supposed to be the same?
It's not all about the resume! Its a process beyond the resume.
Research companies, people, culture, etc to understand where you want to go
Be proactive in reaching out to people
Bring the human element or a personal connection into the process
Putting signals on your own bio so people know what you want to talk about
Email people directly
- Free Google search to find anyone's email (you will need to be signed up for discovery to get this link - www.peppercorn.ai/pdpd to sign up).
What are some practical tips when making a pivot in your career?
Get to know your values. (Don't know your own values - check out Values on Peppercorn Discovery. You will need to be signed up for discovery to get this link - www.peppercorn.ai/pdpd to sign up).
Get to know an organization before you even get to a company. Do the research. Move beyond the surface level. Once you know your values - check out Key Values that gives you insights into the values of companies. It's not perfect but its one of the data points you can look at.
Reverse engineer your own job description as it helps you really have a great conversation with a recruiter. Need some help reverse engineering your own job description - check out Discovery Ideal Position (You will need to be signed up for discovery to get this link - www.peppercorn.ai/pdpd to sign up).
Discovery Research resources (You will need to be signed up for discovery to get this link - www.peppercorn.ai/pdpd to sign up).
You need to be the protagonist of your own story. You need to write your own story. Be proactive and remember the whole world is not watching you. Everyone else is also busy.
Getting to people to have the right conversations
You will never get through all the people you could be talking to. Two lists that could help you.
Don't waste your energy in places that you are not celebrated
Remember the folks who do give you emotional support as you go through countless expectations, resumes, interviews (the hoops and hurdles of the job search journey).
No one's journey is really that easy. Everyone has different hoops and hurdles.
His own journey. He started in engineering and ended up in recruiting but didn't care about it. He wanted to be in training or L&D because of the influence of his mom being a teacher. He eventually got to an L&D position through his journey.
Notes about Rejection
Learn to accept rejection and not taking it personally. It's important to stay in a good space mentally and emotionally.
Have a support system of others who are also in the same journey to talk about the ups and downs, get accountability and be a sounding board beyond your friends and family.
It's good to find out about the places that you don't have a good fit and find the places that are the right fit for you.
Learn how to get comfortable with uncertainty. This is something that is learnt.
If you get many rejections, build up your emotional intelligence to learn that you are in an unhealthy place and then decide if you want to lay off the gas a little bit or if you are looking in the wrong places.
We set our own expectations. Therefore, its important to know what are your own boundaries and barriers for yourself.
Top tips and general lessons as you search for what's next!
Always add value. If you expect people to add value then add value yourself.
Reverse engineer things - Job search, what you are looking for.
Figuring out how to set healthy boundaries. Set expectations
We are experiencing information overload. It's important to take time to know the questions you want to ask so you can get the details that are important to you versus their perception of what is important.
How do you figure out how to ask what questions you should ask? You need to know who you are, where you are going, and what you offer.
Some books of interest
Humble Leadership - Edgar Schein (recommend by Joshua)
The second mountain by David Brooks (Recommened by Lirui)
Thank you Joshua for your amazing insights! Want the guidance and structure to help you tell your story and get closer to What's Next for you. Join Peppercorn Discovery and complete the program on your own or join our next cohort!
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