What I call professional elasticity is when you can stretch beyond your comfort zone, function well in a variety of situations and able to bounce back quickly from mistakes. Here are common ways your ‘elasticity’ can be tested and what you can do about it.
WORKING WITH A NEW BOSS: This usually brings anxiety because a new boss comes with their approaches, new priorities, different ways of working with people. It’s a time to study a new person all over again, to quickly adapt to new ways of doing things. But the arrival of a new boss could also be a time of opportunity. It might bring uncertainty but keep an open mind, be adaptable to change and as supportive as you can.
JOB DESCRIPTION KEEPS EVOLVING: Many job descriptions have a tagline ‘and any other duties that may be assigned from time to time’. A sweeping statement no doubt but the reality is your job is unlikely to stay the same for long. So don’t be so attached to your job description that you reject opportunities to step out and handle new assignments. Embrace any chance to have enriching experiences so that you’ll be ready to handle any tasks. The more versatile you are, the more stable your career will be.
PLACED WITH A TEAM OF HIGH ACHIEVERS: This can be daunting. Chances are that you have some unique skills to offer the team; be confident and use them. Also honestly and quickly assess where your gaps are and develop them. Don’t pretend to know what you do not know. Have a teachable attitude. Find a mentor if you feel you need one because it’s important to demonstrate that you intend to learn what you need to in order to do your best. Be upfront with your manager about help you need rather than wait for him or her to intervene due to underperformance.
HANDLING UNEXPECTED PROMOTION: Promotion is a good thing but can leave you on the back foot if you not well placed to make a success of it. If you have promotion thrust on you especially earlier than you were prepared for, first realize that you’ll probably be expected to work in a different way from what were doing so don’t expect to do more of the same at a higher level. Secondly, quickly develop a strategy to rapidly build higher level competencies. Thirdly focus on the right priorities, do work that matters in order to affirm the confidence placed in you.
LINE MANAGING SMART PEOPLE: Don’t panic thinking they will outshine you. Profit from their brilliance. Smart people are usually self motivated and need no hand holding. Don’t cramp their style by insisting on managing them if they don’t need it. Engage them in helping solve problems and doing what they are great at. Don’t let ego get in the way; you don’t have to be necessarily smarter than your people, but you definitely need to be a better manager of people and results.
Now take action: Identify three ways you can start to develop your versatility.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Manage your manager
Whether your boss is a tiger or a real sweetheart knowing how to manage them is a career saver. When you learn to understand how your boss operates, your life becomes easier. Here’s some thoughts on how to do this.
UNDERSTAND THEIR WORKING STYLE: To work well with your manager, you need to be on the same page with them. Know how your boss handles pressure, or behaves when their head is on the block. That’s when he or she’s most unforgiving. If you know they don’t cope well in certain circumstances, offer to help. Not all may be willing to accept help; offer it anyway. When the boss is moody or touchy or grouchy, try not to aggravate them.
DON'T TRY TO CHANGE HIM OR HER: It is tempting to try changing the way your boss works; such as tidying the desk of someone who prefers ‘organised’ chaos!. Be familiar with their management style, personal preferences, habits, and agendas so that you don’t get on their wrong side. Your number one priority is to support them by doing your job well, showing them respect and not undermining them. Develop an effective working relationship is what matters. So don’t get caught in trying to fix the little things that they do that bothers you but not them.
DON'T DELEGATE UP: When you do this you’re saying you can’t do the task- instead ask for guidance. If you’re too busy to do it, ask for more time . Don’t simply toss it up to the boss. Your job is to deliver solutions. Build confidence in your ability to do the job and to job when it should be done, not when you are ready. And if you’re the manager refuse to take it over even if it’ll be quicker to do it yourself than to wait much longer for someone else to do it.
MAKE THEM SHINE: This is easy to do when the boss is generally a fairly reasonable person. And if they are chronically hostile, guess what? the professional response is to still support them. Don’t upstage them bosses do not like to play second fiddle especially if their boss is around. What is your boss really good at? Help them become even better. Even better, if you have a strength that makes up for a weakness of theirs, roll it into action.
DON'T BE HIGH MAINTENANCE: The high maintenance person drains the manager’s energy and takes more than their fare share of his or her time. They often create so many problems and distractions for the boss to deal with such. Examples of such behaviour is when you take issue with too many of the boss’ decisions or are clueless about the politics surrounding an issue. A big ‘no no’ is going behind the boss back to further your own personal agenda. That you might not be able to live down so just don’t do it. Keep the boss informed but don’t go to them for every little decision.
UNDERSTAND THEIR WORKING STYLE: To work well with your manager, you need to be on the same page with them. Know how your boss handles pressure, or behaves when their head is on the block. That’s when he or she’s most unforgiving. If you know they don’t cope well in certain circumstances, offer to help. Not all may be willing to accept help; offer it anyway. When the boss is moody or touchy or grouchy, try not to aggravate them.
DON'T TRY TO CHANGE HIM OR HER: It is tempting to try changing the way your boss works; such as tidying the desk of someone who prefers ‘organised’ chaos!. Be familiar with their management style, personal preferences, habits, and agendas so that you don’t get on their wrong side. Your number one priority is to support them by doing your job well, showing them respect and not undermining them. Develop an effective working relationship is what matters. So don’t get caught in trying to fix the little things that they do that bothers you but not them.
DON'T DELEGATE UP: When you do this you’re saying you can’t do the task- instead ask for guidance. If you’re too busy to do it, ask for more time . Don’t simply toss it up to the boss. Your job is to deliver solutions. Build confidence in your ability to do the job and to job when it should be done, not when you are ready. And if you’re the manager refuse to take it over even if it’ll be quicker to do it yourself than to wait much longer for someone else to do it.
MAKE THEM SHINE: This is easy to do when the boss is generally a fairly reasonable person. And if they are chronically hostile, guess what? the professional response is to still support them. Don’t upstage them bosses do not like to play second fiddle especially if their boss is around. What is your boss really good at? Help them become even better. Even better, if you have a strength that makes up for a weakness of theirs, roll it into action.
DON'T BE HIGH MAINTENANCE: The high maintenance person drains the manager’s energy and takes more than their fare share of his or her time. They often create so many problems and distractions for the boss to deal with such. Examples of such behaviour is when you take issue with too many of the boss’ decisions or are clueless about the politics surrounding an issue. A big ‘no no’ is going behind the boss back to further your own personal agenda. That you might not be able to live down so just don’t do it. Keep the boss informed but don’t go to them for every little decision.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Beware self sabotage
There are many ways we sabotage ourselves without realising it. Here are some of the ways we shoot ourselves in the foot.
LACK OF SELF AWARENESS: When you are not self aware you are unable to play to your strengths, make up for your weak areas or show your best side. Worse, you might be oblivious to the negative impact you may be having on other people. Self awareness enables you to head in the right direction and to avoid making the same mistakes. People who know who they are, are better able to manage interactions and professional relationships more effectively.
NOT KEEPING SKILLS CURENT: When was the last time you read a book, a professional magazine?. What new knowledge have you gathered since your school days? Self learning is a quick, smart way to grow; don’t leave your personal and professional development to your employer. Be prepared to fund training you know will help you. To advance yourself don’t only depend only on the learning that happens ‘organically’. Read good material, shadow someone with the skills you need, volunteer to work on a project that will give you new experiences; that’s fast track learning at minimum cost.
IGNORING MENTORING MOMENTS: Everybody regardless of their status can learn something new. When you are not open to being mentored, you lose a first rate opportunity to develop some practical skills. Learn from whoever and wherever you can. Mentoring doesn’t have to be over a period. It can take a moment. For example observing how that person makes a presentation fun, the way a colleague turns a potentially volatile situation around; joining the team of that high achiever to stretch yourself are all mentoring moments that will teach you a lot. Look out for such opportunities.
UNDERESTIMATING YOURSELF: Why do people do this? lack of confidence, low self esteem? Perhaps. There’s always more that you can do or become. Don’t take yourself for granted. Time to upgrade! List a few areas where you have been truly successful in the past; retrace your steps and identify how you can apply what worked in the past. Do you still have the ‘knack’? you probably do. Let that give you confidence. Where your success is concerned, jump in with both feet. If you put a small value on yourself, no-one else is unlikely to lift you higher.
STAYING TOO LONG IN THE COMFORT ZONE: It’s nice to be doing something you love, are good at and comfortable with. But riding this wave too long could stall your career. If you are good at something, take it to the next level; for example by pulling together a ‘how to’, checklist, a short course on how to do that activity and teach it to others; that way you move from ‘doer’ to a teacher or coach. Choose to swim in bigger waters even if you have to swim against the tide occasionally!
Now take action: Reflect and write down 3 things you are really good at.
LACK OF SELF AWARENESS: When you are not self aware you are unable to play to your strengths, make up for your weak areas or show your best side. Worse, you might be oblivious to the negative impact you may be having on other people. Self awareness enables you to head in the right direction and to avoid making the same mistakes. People who know who they are, are better able to manage interactions and professional relationships more effectively.
NOT KEEPING SKILLS CURENT: When was the last time you read a book, a professional magazine?. What new knowledge have you gathered since your school days? Self learning is a quick, smart way to grow; don’t leave your personal and professional development to your employer. Be prepared to fund training you know will help you. To advance yourself don’t only depend only on the learning that happens ‘organically’. Read good material, shadow someone with the skills you need, volunteer to work on a project that will give you new experiences; that’s fast track learning at minimum cost.
IGNORING MENTORING MOMENTS: Everybody regardless of their status can learn something new. When you are not open to being mentored, you lose a first rate opportunity to develop some practical skills. Learn from whoever and wherever you can. Mentoring doesn’t have to be over a period. It can take a moment. For example observing how that person makes a presentation fun, the way a colleague turns a potentially volatile situation around; joining the team of that high achiever to stretch yourself are all mentoring moments that will teach you a lot. Look out for such opportunities.
UNDERESTIMATING YOURSELF: Why do people do this? lack of confidence, low self esteem? Perhaps. There’s always more that you can do or become. Don’t take yourself for granted. Time to upgrade! List a few areas where you have been truly successful in the past; retrace your steps and identify how you can apply what worked in the past. Do you still have the ‘knack’? you probably do. Let that give you confidence. Where your success is concerned, jump in with both feet. If you put a small value on yourself, no-one else is unlikely to lift you higher.
STAYING TOO LONG IN THE COMFORT ZONE: It’s nice to be doing something you love, are good at and comfortable with. But riding this wave too long could stall your career. If you are good at something, take it to the next level; for example by pulling together a ‘how to’, checklist, a short course on how to do that activity and teach it to others; that way you move from ‘doer’ to a teacher or coach. Choose to swim in bigger waters even if you have to swim against the tide occasionally!
Now take action: Reflect and write down 3 things you are really good at.
10 commandments for a manager
Leading a team can be difficult, but can be easier if you focus on treating your team right. Here are my 10 commandments on how to get people on board.
MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE PARTNERS: You are the boss but do not need to ‘play boss’. Express trust and confidence in your team. Give them honest feedback; give them a voice and chance to lead so that they feel they have a stake in what’s going on.
ENCOURAGE THEM TO ASPIRE: Widen their horizons and help they see a whole new world. For example, take junior colleagues to ‘big’ meetings where they get to meet people they would normally not meet. This will be good for their careers and for building their confidence.
DON'T BE A MICROSCOPE: By this I mean, don’t blow things up, escalate things or make them worse than they actually are. When people make mistakes, they usually know it; help them learn from them instead of rubbing it in their face.
JUDGE THEM ON POTENTIAL: Don’t be too busy to assess and nurture potential. Ask the right questions, challenge them to do more and to keep pushing toward their full potential. Give people opportunity and don’t run such a tight ship that there’s no room for genuine mistakes.
DON'T FIT ANYONE INTO A MOULD: You can only do this well if you genuinely listen to people and what they need. Give autonomy to those who can handle it and hold them accountable. For those who require supervision, give them that support.
MAKE REWARDS MEANINGFUL: Not all rewards have to cost money. For example, A colleague who completes a complex project successfully might appreciate being given a day or two off ‘on the house’. It adds weight to the ‘thank you’ you’d normally give.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO APOLOGISE: You won’t always get it right. But learning to apologise almost always makes it right. Admitting the mistake could earn you more respect rather than taking a ‘can do no wrong’ approach.
STABILISE THE MOOD SWINGS: Unfortunately, a lot of time wasting happens as employees try to manage their boss’ moods. When the secretary can’t enter your office because you are ‘mad’ about something, work gets delayed. When you leave your bad moods at the gate, everyone will be better off.
DON'T PASS THE BUCK: Don’t blame your team to your boss when things don’t work as planned; it says you’re stabbing the team in the back. And don’t tell your team your boss is the reason you’re not able do your job well. I call it being in the ‘wilderness’- manage it.
HAVE A CAREER GOAL: Please don’t create the impression that it’s a sin for others to aspire to be where you are. If you do your job well, you will move on to bigger things. However, if you intend to stay in your role for a long time, steer your bright sparks in new but interesting directions so that they don’t get bored.
Now take action: Think about 3 ways to make help your team feel like partners?
MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE PARTNERS: You are the boss but do not need to ‘play boss’. Express trust and confidence in your team. Give them honest feedback; give them a voice and chance to lead so that they feel they have a stake in what’s going on.
ENCOURAGE THEM TO ASPIRE: Widen their horizons and help they see a whole new world. For example, take junior colleagues to ‘big’ meetings where they get to meet people they would normally not meet. This will be good for their careers and for building their confidence.
DON'T BE A MICROSCOPE: By this I mean, don’t blow things up, escalate things or make them worse than they actually are. When people make mistakes, they usually know it; help them learn from them instead of rubbing it in their face.
JUDGE THEM ON POTENTIAL: Don’t be too busy to assess and nurture potential. Ask the right questions, challenge them to do more and to keep pushing toward their full potential. Give people opportunity and don’t run such a tight ship that there’s no room for genuine mistakes.
DON'T FIT ANYONE INTO A MOULD: You can only do this well if you genuinely listen to people and what they need. Give autonomy to those who can handle it and hold them accountable. For those who require supervision, give them that support.
MAKE REWARDS MEANINGFUL: Not all rewards have to cost money. For example, A colleague who completes a complex project successfully might appreciate being given a day or two off ‘on the house’. It adds weight to the ‘thank you’ you’d normally give.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO APOLOGISE: You won’t always get it right. But learning to apologise almost always makes it right. Admitting the mistake could earn you more respect rather than taking a ‘can do no wrong’ approach.
STABILISE THE MOOD SWINGS: Unfortunately, a lot of time wasting happens as employees try to manage their boss’ moods. When the secretary can’t enter your office because you are ‘mad’ about something, work gets delayed. When you leave your bad moods at the gate, everyone will be better off.
DON'T PASS THE BUCK: Don’t blame your team to your boss when things don’t work as planned; it says you’re stabbing the team in the back. And don’t tell your team your boss is the reason you’re not able do your job well. I call it being in the ‘wilderness’- manage it.
HAVE A CAREER GOAL: Please don’t create the impression that it’s a sin for others to aspire to be where you are. If you do your job well, you will move on to bigger things. However, if you intend to stay in your role for a long time, steer your bright sparks in new but interesting directions so that they don’t get bored.
Now take action: Think about 3 ways to make help your team feel like partners?
Productive or just busy?
Personal productivity in its basic form is the value or result you get from the effort you put into doing something. How much of your day would you say is productive? Not sure? Here are some tips on how to be more productive
PUT A VALUE ON YOUR TIME: We think of time as free but actually it’s the most expensive commodity and its perishable. So don’t just do task after task whether considering whether it’s worth your time, or needs doing at a particular time or can be postponed. Don’t be reactive, When you stop seeing time as free, you’ll invest it on the right things. So stop doing something!
TAKE A HELICOPTER VIEW: When you have a lot to do, don’t immediately put your head down and plough away. Take a few minutes first to assess the scope of work before you; what can you bundle together to save time; what you can delegate; what are the ‘must dos’ what will make the difference. Don’t just do, be purposeful, think and plan before you do. When you operate in a chaotic reactive mode, you waste a lot of time.
HAVE A 'PRIORITY' FILTER : I bet there are things you ‘routine’ things that you can shave off your schedule; You’ll be surprised how much that frees your mind to reflect on the things that are profitable. Ditch the ‘irrelevances’ or they will hamper your thinking. Don’t be tempted to stick with something because you’ve been doing it from time immemorial. Create systems and approaches so that you can work in more predictable ways. Be always finding ways to streamline your work.
THINK ABOUT THE END USER: Whatever work you do is not for your own use or benefit. Ask yourself; Who are the ‘consumers’ of each piece of work that I do? What are the specific needs of these people? Can you deliver what might be more useful or relevant to them? Is there a way to make your work more efficient? Own improving the outcomes of your work causes, not just delivering the work.
STOP SEEKING PERFECTION: Perfection is wanting everything to be 100% but that’s not effective use of time unless that’s the only thing you have on your plate. Even then you’re better off using the time to think. Rule of thumb is it is better to get 5 things done 80-90% well than 2 done 100%. However, Not needing to do 100% shouldn’t be excuse to do mediocre work. Perfection is worthy but getting more done of reasonable quality is even more impressive.
AVOID ‘INCOMPLETIONS’ There’s a cycle of completion for everything to get the required results. Sometimes we don’t complete things because we are not sure of the way forward, something else is more pressing or we just don’t feel we have the energy to deal with that difficult next phase. Do your best not to leave things hanging; if it’s important, make the time to complete it.
Now take action: If you had 10 hours a day (not 24) what would you prioritise?
PUT A VALUE ON YOUR TIME: We think of time as free but actually it’s the most expensive commodity and its perishable. So don’t just do task after task whether considering whether it’s worth your time, or needs doing at a particular time or can be postponed. Don’t be reactive, When you stop seeing time as free, you’ll invest it on the right things. So stop doing something!
TAKE A HELICOPTER VIEW: When you have a lot to do, don’t immediately put your head down and plough away. Take a few minutes first to assess the scope of work before you; what can you bundle together to save time; what you can delegate; what are the ‘must dos’ what will make the difference. Don’t just do, be purposeful, think and plan before you do. When you operate in a chaotic reactive mode, you waste a lot of time.
HAVE A 'PRIORITY' FILTER : I bet there are things you ‘routine’ things that you can shave off your schedule; You’ll be surprised how much that frees your mind to reflect on the things that are profitable. Ditch the ‘irrelevances’ or they will hamper your thinking. Don’t be tempted to stick with something because you’ve been doing it from time immemorial. Create systems and approaches so that you can work in more predictable ways. Be always finding ways to streamline your work.
THINK ABOUT THE END USER: Whatever work you do is not for your own use or benefit. Ask yourself; Who are the ‘consumers’ of each piece of work that I do? What are the specific needs of these people? Can you deliver what might be more useful or relevant to them? Is there a way to make your work more efficient? Own improving the outcomes of your work causes, not just delivering the work.
STOP SEEKING PERFECTION: Perfection is wanting everything to be 100% but that’s not effective use of time unless that’s the only thing you have on your plate. Even then you’re better off using the time to think. Rule of thumb is it is better to get 5 things done 80-90% well than 2 done 100%. However, Not needing to do 100% shouldn’t be excuse to do mediocre work. Perfection is worthy but getting more done of reasonable quality is even more impressive.
AVOID ‘INCOMPLETIONS’ There’s a cycle of completion for everything to get the required results. Sometimes we don’t complete things because we are not sure of the way forward, something else is more pressing or we just don’t feel we have the energy to deal with that difficult next phase. Do your best not to leave things hanging; if it’s important, make the time to complete it.
Now take action: If you had 10 hours a day (not 24) what would you prioritise?
Build a success circle
Achieving and maintaining success is not a one man show. Yes, you must be firmly in the driving seat but need a team to cheer you on. Here are some suggestions of people to enlist onto your team.
GOALS HELPER: Your goals helper should be someone who can and will ask you powerful questions to help you clarify what is most important, how big your goals could be and what investments you should be prepared to make. They might also help you realise what your future might look like if you continued on your current path. He or she will help you stay strong and focused and think more strategically. They should enable you look ahead to were you could be one year, five years and to set stretching goals.
LEARNING BUDDY: This is a person possibly on a similar path to yours, someone who believes in life long learning and willing to share resources with you, be available to brainstorm solutions with you, encourage you when you are facing challenges facing you. Choose someone who will not compete with you or envy you but will help you learn things that move you forward and pushes you to learn what will help you achieve your goals and keep rising.
PERFORMANCE COACH ; Will help you stay the course, build stamina and remain resilient when the going gets tough. They can help you identify what factors make the real difference to your performance and help you focus on those. They’ll help celebrate your wins, talk through any losses and broken commitments and challenges and how to bounce back from any steps that you take backwards. Make sure this person can provide an unbiased perspective be tough with you if necessary and provide you with the guidance and motivation to forge ahead.
ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER: When you set your goals, of course you have every intention of achieving them. But sometimes things come up, other priorities emerge and things get overwhelming. It’s good to pre-empt this by having someone who can help you avoid any traps, stay committed and eliminate excuses. Whoever you elect to this role must be someone who can help you reflect on your choices, even help you understand yourself better and how you handle situations; someone you respect and can’t afford to short change. The Accountability partner will also help you to avoid over commitment so that you can focus on key success areas.
ACCELERATION ALLY : This person takes you the extra mile, to the higher league; helps you re-define your talent so that you are able to leverage it more and to stop the things that slow you down or add no value. Helps you not to plateau and guides you on how best to channel your energies for maximum effect. This person helps you realize your full potential by offering practical guidance, thoughtful insights and useful advice. They enable you draw on all your qualities, values, passions and interests to excel and to navigate the stressful times.
Now take action: List potential success circle team members. Contact them.
GOALS HELPER: Your goals helper should be someone who can and will ask you powerful questions to help you clarify what is most important, how big your goals could be and what investments you should be prepared to make. They might also help you realise what your future might look like if you continued on your current path. He or she will help you stay strong and focused and think more strategically. They should enable you look ahead to were you could be one year, five years and to set stretching goals.
LEARNING BUDDY: This is a person possibly on a similar path to yours, someone who believes in life long learning and willing to share resources with you, be available to brainstorm solutions with you, encourage you when you are facing challenges facing you. Choose someone who will not compete with you or envy you but will help you learn things that move you forward and pushes you to learn what will help you achieve your goals and keep rising.
PERFORMANCE COACH ; Will help you stay the course, build stamina and remain resilient when the going gets tough. They can help you identify what factors make the real difference to your performance and help you focus on those. They’ll help celebrate your wins, talk through any losses and broken commitments and challenges and how to bounce back from any steps that you take backwards. Make sure this person can provide an unbiased perspective be tough with you if necessary and provide you with the guidance and motivation to forge ahead.
ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER: When you set your goals, of course you have every intention of achieving them. But sometimes things come up, other priorities emerge and things get overwhelming. It’s good to pre-empt this by having someone who can help you avoid any traps, stay committed and eliminate excuses. Whoever you elect to this role must be someone who can help you reflect on your choices, even help you understand yourself better and how you handle situations; someone you respect and can’t afford to short change. The Accountability partner will also help you to avoid over commitment so that you can focus on key success areas.
ACCELERATION ALLY : This person takes you the extra mile, to the higher league; helps you re-define your talent so that you are able to leverage it more and to stop the things that slow you down or add no value. Helps you not to plateau and guides you on how best to channel your energies for maximum effect. This person helps you realize your full potential by offering practical guidance, thoughtful insights and useful advice. They enable you draw on all your qualities, values, passions and interests to excel and to navigate the stressful times.
Now take action: List potential success circle team members. Contact them.
Tackle time and energy stealers
Time waits for no one. Solution? Find a way to use your time and energy on important tasks and eliminate time stealers. We all know the common time wasters. Here are a few less obvious ones and what to do about them.
JUST GOING WITH THE FLOW: If you don’t plan your day in some way that works for you might ending doing just the things you enjoy rather than the important things. Think through tasks on any given day and prioritize them. Start with the most difficult tasks when your energy is strongest. For big jobs, don’t just list it, break it down into specifics so that you don’t miss key steps or overlook something critical. When you have an end result in mind you are motivated to manage your priorities, time, and resources better.
NOT MANAGING DISTRACTIONS: Distractions come in all forms and you need to know how to minimise distractions effectively if your day is to be productive. For instance, turn off your Instant messenger off, put your phone on silent when you need to focus, or politely let people know if they're distracting you. Sometimes the distraction comes from your inability to concentrate because of mental clutter. In that case you may wish to switch to sometime less taxing mentally or low-energy work
PUTTING THINGS OFF: When you keep putting something off, its often because you find it difficult, not a priority or plain boring. In my experience, the more you procrastinate, the more you come to dread the tasks; eventually, everything piles up, overwhelms you and you end up with a huge backlog. One way round big tasks is not to assume that you need to complete it from start to finish. It’s okay to break it into manageable steps, so that you can complete it small portions at a time.
THRIVING ON 'BUSYNESS': Being busy is normal for most people. Getting into a habit of busyness, that is needing to be busy all the time is not. Rolling over deadlines, joining every team, endless emails, running frantically to never ending meetings gradually undermine ability to focus or to make time to think. Bottom line is unless you are supernaturally gifted your "addiction to busyness" will eventually lead to shoddy work in some cases as you juggle to stay on top of a ‘million’ things. Know your productivity and energy thresholds so that you can manage them.
ACTING ON IMPULSE: This includes for example responding to every email as soon as it comes in, or doing those things that can drain your energy for example having the difficult conversation when you are at a low ebb, reacting immediately to that not so positive feedback when you are still in a foul mood. You can make best use of your time by scheduling high-value work during your peak time, and routine tasks like returning phone calls, checking email during your "down" time.
Now take action: What can you do to get more out of each day?
JUST GOING WITH THE FLOW: If you don’t plan your day in some way that works for you might ending doing just the things you enjoy rather than the important things. Think through tasks on any given day and prioritize them. Start with the most difficult tasks when your energy is strongest. For big jobs, don’t just list it, break it down into specifics so that you don’t miss key steps or overlook something critical. When you have an end result in mind you are motivated to manage your priorities, time, and resources better.
NOT MANAGING DISTRACTIONS: Distractions come in all forms and you need to know how to minimise distractions effectively if your day is to be productive. For instance, turn off your Instant messenger off, put your phone on silent when you need to focus, or politely let people know if they're distracting you. Sometimes the distraction comes from your inability to concentrate because of mental clutter. In that case you may wish to switch to sometime less taxing mentally or low-energy work
PUTTING THINGS OFF: When you keep putting something off, its often because you find it difficult, not a priority or plain boring. In my experience, the more you procrastinate, the more you come to dread the tasks; eventually, everything piles up, overwhelms you and you end up with a huge backlog. One way round big tasks is not to assume that you need to complete it from start to finish. It’s okay to break it into manageable steps, so that you can complete it small portions at a time.
THRIVING ON 'BUSYNESS': Being busy is normal for most people. Getting into a habit of busyness, that is needing to be busy all the time is not. Rolling over deadlines, joining every team, endless emails, running frantically to never ending meetings gradually undermine ability to focus or to make time to think. Bottom line is unless you are supernaturally gifted your "addiction to busyness" will eventually lead to shoddy work in some cases as you juggle to stay on top of a ‘million’ things. Know your productivity and energy thresholds so that you can manage them.
ACTING ON IMPULSE: This includes for example responding to every email as soon as it comes in, or doing those things that can drain your energy for example having the difficult conversation when you are at a low ebb, reacting immediately to that not so positive feedback when you are still in a foul mood. You can make best use of your time by scheduling high-value work during your peak time, and routine tasks like returning phone calls, checking email during your "down" time.
Now take action: What can you do to get more out of each day?
How S.M.A.R.T are you?
Knowing your strong points and leveraging them is a winning strategy for a great career. Fact is you are more likely to succeed if you operate from a position of strength rather than trying to fix your weaknesses. Here’s my SMART matrix to help you identify your strengths profile and use it well.
SUBSTANCE: These are your strengths that can be multiplied or maximised. . What ‘substantial’ strengths do you have? What do you do better than anyone else? What do others say you are good at? Which of these strengths are you aware of, and which haven’t you considered strengths because they come naturally to you? Write up your identified strengths and put them into themes, for example, people skills, financial skills and use this profile to guide future actions, choices, and to push up your confidence during tough times.
MOTIVATIONS: Knowing what motivates and engages you helps you manage the peaks and troughs of your career. Motivations can be wanting to making difference, or successful or the best lawyer etc. Know what drives you so that you can keep yourself going in difficult times? How do you pick yourself up when you fall, how to accelerate your success to ready yourself for that next promotion? Knowing what motivates you helps you to be self-directed, to assess and focus what’s important to you, to try new pathways and opportunities?. Positive motivations enable you do the hard work necessary to shine so take the time to pin down your motivations.
ASSETS: Assets are usually not resources that are natural or intrinsic. What external resources can you access? These can be membership of a high profile network, connections with influential people; references of highly respected people, strategic mentors that give you advice and wisdom? What good habits do you have? Assets are valuable because they allow you to take some calculated risks knowing that should you fail, they will cushion you - such as a good education, expertise and other qualifications.
RESONANCE: Resonance is the extent to which your work benefits others beyond yourself. For example what barriers in your job are you breaking through in order to increase your output? Good performance doesn’t always stand on its own; so think beyond your own success as the ultimate goal. Connect the dots of your performance to the big picture goals. What tasks are critical to your resonance do you need to pay more attention to such as perhaps strengthening your internal networks? What additional roles could you play that will moves the organisation forward?.
TALENTS: What are your ‘stand out’ our personal characteristics; where do you consistently outperform others? What transferable skills do you have that makes it easy for you to participate in more than one strategic areas of your organisation or industry? What separates you from your peers? How are you expanding your talents? Where can you differentiate yourself from what is common? What unexpected extra do your talents allow you to offer?
Now take action: Put together your unique profile using the SMART matrix,
SUBSTANCE: These are your strengths that can be multiplied or maximised. . What ‘substantial’ strengths do you have? What do you do better than anyone else? What do others say you are good at? Which of these strengths are you aware of, and which haven’t you considered strengths because they come naturally to you? Write up your identified strengths and put them into themes, for example, people skills, financial skills and use this profile to guide future actions, choices, and to push up your confidence during tough times.
MOTIVATIONS: Knowing what motivates and engages you helps you manage the peaks and troughs of your career. Motivations can be wanting to making difference, or successful or the best lawyer etc. Know what drives you so that you can keep yourself going in difficult times? How do you pick yourself up when you fall, how to accelerate your success to ready yourself for that next promotion? Knowing what motivates you helps you to be self-directed, to assess and focus what’s important to you, to try new pathways and opportunities?. Positive motivations enable you do the hard work necessary to shine so take the time to pin down your motivations.
ASSETS: Assets are usually not resources that are natural or intrinsic. What external resources can you access? These can be membership of a high profile network, connections with influential people; references of highly respected people, strategic mentors that give you advice and wisdom? What good habits do you have? Assets are valuable because they allow you to take some calculated risks knowing that should you fail, they will cushion you - such as a good education, expertise and other qualifications.
RESONANCE: Resonance is the extent to which your work benefits others beyond yourself. For example what barriers in your job are you breaking through in order to increase your output? Good performance doesn’t always stand on its own; so think beyond your own success as the ultimate goal. Connect the dots of your performance to the big picture goals. What tasks are critical to your resonance do you need to pay more attention to such as perhaps strengthening your internal networks? What additional roles could you play that will moves the organisation forward?.
TALENTS: What are your ‘stand out’ our personal characteristics; where do you consistently outperform others? What transferable skills do you have that makes it easy for you to participate in more than one strategic areas of your organisation or industry? What separates you from your peers? How are you expanding your talents? Where can you differentiate yourself from what is common? What unexpected extra do your talents allow you to offer?
Now take action: Put together your unique profile using the SMART matrix,
Itching to cross the 'i's and 't's?
If you are manager micromanaging is something you must avoid at all costs. You can frustrate your team and their work if you see your role as telling them what to do and checking up on them every minute. How do you know if you are a micro-manager.
Here are some signs;
GETTING TOO MUCH INTO THE DETAILS: An eye for detail is important to be effective and knowing the critical detail enables you to support your team. But when you are obsessed with knowing EVERYTHING, you are micromanaging. Know how your team members prefer to work so that you can give them space to those who require it and coach those who need it. Focus on the key things, the expected results and ignore inconsequential bits.
NEEDING TO CONTROL EVERYTHING: Sometimes your issue might not be interest in the all the detail; rather a need to have everyone to do things a particular way. When you do that you undermine the team’s confidence and deny them opportunity to bring fresh and new insights to work at hand. Fostering team work should be a priority. When you push everyone around you disempower them; they stop thinking or leave.
SIDELINING THOSE YOU CONSIDER SMART: This is usually a sign that you feel threatened by them: If you have colleagues with exceptional ability don’t mess it up with nitpicking or ‘putting them on the bench’. Get work done using assets you have which includes such people. Facilitate their performance.. Don’t compete with them; rather lead them to accomplish work that everyone takes pride in.
Now you know what micromanaging looks like ; how do you stop it?
LET THE FREE SPIRITS BE: Suppress the need to constantly intervene. Set up those around you to succeed, help them take responsibility for their work and give them authority where appropriate to make their own decisions. Don’t hoard opportunities that will make them shine; a disempowered employee cannot be effective.
ACTIVELY SEEK CONTRIBUTION: Vow to ask for views and encourage other ways of doing things as long as they deliver results. If you have some creative people with huge potential, delegate big pieces of work to them. Know what keeps everyone engaged and what their strengths are so that you can tap into those.
WORK ON YOUR DELEGATION SKILLS: It can take time to learn to let go. Encourage them to take initiative and then trust them to deliver. If you are brave you might even be honest with them about your need to get better at not micro-managing so that they can respectfully hold you to account
MAKE EVERYONE'S GROWTH YOUR GOAL: If no one grows on the team including yourself you won’t be delivering much; so find a way to develop yourself and others. Promise yourself that no longer will only your view matter. Hone your coaching skills so that you can support the team. Regularly track how team members are growing.
Now take action: Are you micromanaging? Identify this week ways to help you stop.
Here are some signs;
GETTING TOO MUCH INTO THE DETAILS: An eye for detail is important to be effective and knowing the critical detail enables you to support your team. But when you are obsessed with knowing EVERYTHING, you are micromanaging. Know how your team members prefer to work so that you can give them space to those who require it and coach those who need it. Focus on the key things, the expected results and ignore inconsequential bits.
NEEDING TO CONTROL EVERYTHING: Sometimes your issue might not be interest in the all the detail; rather a need to have everyone to do things a particular way. When you do that you undermine the team’s confidence and deny them opportunity to bring fresh and new insights to work at hand. Fostering team work should be a priority. When you push everyone around you disempower them; they stop thinking or leave.
SIDELINING THOSE YOU CONSIDER SMART: This is usually a sign that you feel threatened by them: If you have colleagues with exceptional ability don’t mess it up with nitpicking or ‘putting them on the bench’. Get work done using assets you have which includes such people. Facilitate their performance.. Don’t compete with them; rather lead them to accomplish work that everyone takes pride in.
Now you know what micromanaging looks like ; how do you stop it?
LET THE FREE SPIRITS BE: Suppress the need to constantly intervene. Set up those around you to succeed, help them take responsibility for their work and give them authority where appropriate to make their own decisions. Don’t hoard opportunities that will make them shine; a disempowered employee cannot be effective.
ACTIVELY SEEK CONTRIBUTION: Vow to ask for views and encourage other ways of doing things as long as they deliver results. If you have some creative people with huge potential, delegate big pieces of work to them. Know what keeps everyone engaged and what their strengths are so that you can tap into those.
WORK ON YOUR DELEGATION SKILLS: It can take time to learn to let go. Encourage them to take initiative and then trust them to deliver. If you are brave you might even be honest with them about your need to get better at not micro-managing so that they can respectfully hold you to account
MAKE EVERYONE'S GROWTH YOUR GOAL: If no one grows on the team including yourself you won’t be delivering much; so find a way to develop yourself and others. Promise yourself that no longer will only your view matter. Hone your coaching skills so that you can support the team. Regularly track how team members are growing.
Now take action: Are you micromanaging? Identify this week ways to help you stop.
Take even the half chances
Opportunity. We look out for it all the time. But sometimes we get so fixed on what opportunity looks like that we miss the half chances that can give us a foot in the door. Here’s my list of half chances I urge you not to throw away.
AN ACTING POSITION: An acting position often is a higher position than your own and can get you scared or lacking confidence. But believe you were given the responsibility because you were deemed capable. Don’t go in there afraid to ‘touch’ anything because you are ‘only acting’. You are accountable for what happens during your stint so find out quickly what you need to do, identify a helping hand or short term mentor and DO THE JOB.
A TEMPORARY JOB: For many people, a temp job is not appealing. Don’t shun a temp job because it can bring benefits like helping you get industry knowledge and new skills quickly; keep your CV current if you are in between permanent jobs, provide more flexibility and a chance to sample different organisations and tasks. A permanent job brings stability but before you say no to that temp assignment think about how it can enrich you and your work experience.
TEACHING A NEWBIE: Working with someone who is learning their first steps in a role can feel frustrating but embrace it especially if it’s your first shot at supervising someone. It offers you the unique chance to learn and practice coaching, mentoring and line management skills. So rather than be grouchy, think about what you can teach this person, find out what they would like to learn and work out what the best way to teach. As you pass on skills you strengthen your own.
THROWN IN ON THE DEEP END: Ever been given a big task which set your head spinning? Sometimes superiors do this deliberately to see how well you can cope in a difficult situation where you have to hit the ground running. If this happens, first take a deep breath, don’t be afraid to ask questions to clarify what’s expected in terms of results, break down the task into manageable bits and look for help. When you succeed it could become a very long fluffy feather in your cap that serves you well. If you unfortunately flop learn from it.
WORKING WITH A TASKMASTER: This can be tough because task masters tend to be workaholics who expect the same of others. If you end up with one don’t spend your time ‘wishing him or her away’ or spend time resenting them for destroying your work life balance. Work out a way to negotiate less stringent working hours and impossible deadlines. Give quick honest feedback if you feel you are being treated like a workhouse. But also think about what you could gain such as developing resilience, capacity to work under pressure and with a difficult boss as well as ability to think on your feet.
Now take action: What half chances could you proactively look for in your job?
AN ACTING POSITION: An acting position often is a higher position than your own and can get you scared or lacking confidence. But believe you were given the responsibility because you were deemed capable. Don’t go in there afraid to ‘touch’ anything because you are ‘only acting’. You are accountable for what happens during your stint so find out quickly what you need to do, identify a helping hand or short term mentor and DO THE JOB.
A TEMPORARY JOB: For many people, a temp job is not appealing. Don’t shun a temp job because it can bring benefits like helping you get industry knowledge and new skills quickly; keep your CV current if you are in between permanent jobs, provide more flexibility and a chance to sample different organisations and tasks. A permanent job brings stability but before you say no to that temp assignment think about how it can enrich you and your work experience.
TEACHING A NEWBIE: Working with someone who is learning their first steps in a role can feel frustrating but embrace it especially if it’s your first shot at supervising someone. It offers you the unique chance to learn and practice coaching, mentoring and line management skills. So rather than be grouchy, think about what you can teach this person, find out what they would like to learn and work out what the best way to teach. As you pass on skills you strengthen your own.
THROWN IN ON THE DEEP END: Ever been given a big task which set your head spinning? Sometimes superiors do this deliberately to see how well you can cope in a difficult situation where you have to hit the ground running. If this happens, first take a deep breath, don’t be afraid to ask questions to clarify what’s expected in terms of results, break down the task into manageable bits and look for help. When you succeed it could become a very long fluffy feather in your cap that serves you well. If you unfortunately flop learn from it.
WORKING WITH A TASKMASTER: This can be tough because task masters tend to be workaholics who expect the same of others. If you end up with one don’t spend your time ‘wishing him or her away’ or spend time resenting them for destroying your work life balance. Work out a way to negotiate less stringent working hours and impossible deadlines. Give quick honest feedback if you feel you are being treated like a workhouse. But also think about what you could gain such as developing resilience, capacity to work under pressure and with a difficult boss as well as ability to think on your feet.
Now take action: What half chances could you proactively look for in your job?
Is your organisation good for your career?
A good organisation can be a springboard for career success depending on several factors; your strengths, how you like to work; your career goals. So what kind of organisation ’empowers’ you professionally? Here’s my view;, a good workplace;
TREATS PEOPLE RIGHT :An organisation that treasures people creates a environment that allows staff to try new things, take healthy risks, and unearth their potential. The progressive organisation’s philosophy is to have fulfilled employees who in turn commit to achieving the bottom line. Go with a workplace that appreciates your aspirations and offers an culture in which you can flourish.
DOES NOT PUT YOU IN A BOX: Don’t join an organisation just to go do as job! Show you want to do more and support the wider success of the company. Don’t leave it to the organisation to guess what your needs are so learn to speak up; A good company will listen and enable you to make a contribution and in return you get to develop yourself, your skills, hopefully chalk some achievements and enhance your career prospects.. A good organisation goes even further to helps you become more ambitious and to be open about such ambition
GIVES YOU INFLUENCE: Some organisations are like an heirloom. Working for them gives you ‘authority’, opens doors to opportunities you normally wouldn’t have and gives you influence in the market place because they are known and respected. That’s not to say you are on the back foot if your organisation is less known. My point is as far as is possible aim to be as strategic about the organisation you choose to work for as you would the job you go after.
IS CONSISTENTLY EVOLVING: And you get to evolve right alongside it because its always one step ahead, not stuck in maintaining the status quo. It gives people incentive to stay, takes personal development and feedback seriously and does not play power games with employees; It strikes a good balance between keeping its high achievers appreciated and helping those who are struggling to improve. Good organisations don’t expect staff to work round the clock to prove they are committed
ENCOURAGES HEALTHY COMPETITION: So that people feel energised to apply their skills, learn new ones and operate at a higher level. People are encouraged to be honest with themselves, to learn from others, celebrate when colleagues succeed and be a standard bearer. In such organizations you get to be open about your mistakes and not be afraid to analyse your shortcomings in order to plan how to improve.
HAS A CULTURE OF ACHIEVEMENT: An achieving organisation has a strong senor team that sets a clear direction and frees people to make it happen guided by agreed values. People know the organizations success is their success. There’s open communication and teams rally together. Pull him/her down syndrome is not entertained and group success treasured as much as individual achievement.
Now take action: How can you piggyback on your organisation’s ‘greatness’?
TREATS PEOPLE RIGHT :An organisation that treasures people creates a environment that allows staff to try new things, take healthy risks, and unearth their potential. The progressive organisation’s philosophy is to have fulfilled employees who in turn commit to achieving the bottom line. Go with a workplace that appreciates your aspirations and offers an culture in which you can flourish.
DOES NOT PUT YOU IN A BOX: Don’t join an organisation just to go do as job! Show you want to do more and support the wider success of the company. Don’t leave it to the organisation to guess what your needs are so learn to speak up; A good company will listen and enable you to make a contribution and in return you get to develop yourself, your skills, hopefully chalk some achievements and enhance your career prospects.. A good organisation goes even further to helps you become more ambitious and to be open about such ambition
GIVES YOU INFLUENCE: Some organisations are like an heirloom. Working for them gives you ‘authority’, opens doors to opportunities you normally wouldn’t have and gives you influence in the market place because they are known and respected. That’s not to say you are on the back foot if your organisation is less known. My point is as far as is possible aim to be as strategic about the organisation you choose to work for as you would the job you go after.
IS CONSISTENTLY EVOLVING: And you get to evolve right alongside it because its always one step ahead, not stuck in maintaining the status quo. It gives people incentive to stay, takes personal development and feedback seriously and does not play power games with employees; It strikes a good balance between keeping its high achievers appreciated and helping those who are struggling to improve. Good organisations don’t expect staff to work round the clock to prove they are committed
ENCOURAGES HEALTHY COMPETITION: So that people feel energised to apply their skills, learn new ones and operate at a higher level. People are encouraged to be honest with themselves, to learn from others, celebrate when colleagues succeed and be a standard bearer. In such organizations you get to be open about your mistakes and not be afraid to analyse your shortcomings in order to plan how to improve.
HAS A CULTURE OF ACHIEVEMENT: An achieving organisation has a strong senor team that sets a clear direction and frees people to make it happen guided by agreed values. People know the organizations success is their success. There’s open communication and teams rally together. Pull him/her down syndrome is not entertained and group success treasured as much as individual achievement.
Now take action: How can you piggyback on your organisation’s ‘greatness’?
Take a vow of integrity
Integrity is non-negotiable; it’s what earns trust from others, strengthens your credibility and gives you leverage beyond skill and talent. When you commit to integrity, you conduct yourself in an honest, trustworthy and ethical manner at all times. You ;
HONOUR YOUR OBLIGATIONS : Integrity is not a matter of convenience, it’s a contract first with yourself and with others. Obligations are agreements, keep them whether they are small like promising to return a phone call or big such as being loyal to your team. If something prevents you from keeping any agreements, communicate this as far as possible in advance. Walking the talk makes you a good role model
WALK AWAY FROM TOXIC ENVIRONMENTS : When you are in danger of becoming someone you don’t like you are definitely in the wrong place. You run the risk of sabotaging your chances of becoming better and being respected. Toxic environments can be any thing that brings out the worst in you or makes you party to unhealthy manoeuvrings and keeps you always in negative mode.
HAVE A STRONG WORK ETHIC: Develop a performance bond with yourself to always do your best. Don’t work on the basis of how much you are paid, neither withdraw your commitment when things don’t seem to be going your way. As a person of integrity you don’t settle for mediocrity; you don’t throw tantrums when you feel you are being treated unfairly- you talk about it. You don’t look for an excuse to be sloppy in your work but find whatever help you can get to do the best in the circumstances.
DON'T UNDERMINE OTHERS: There are many ways we undermine others. without realising that our integrity takes a knock;. badmouthing the boss, trashing other people’s ideas without reason, going above your boss without their knowledge; being obnoxiously competitive, telling on your colleagues; and setting a person up for failure Wanting something badly is no excuse to do any of these. Be above board, Know the unspoken rules and boundaries in your organisation you shouldn’t cross. It helps you stay on the right side.
DON'T JUMP SHIP IN TOUGH TIMES : A team or organisation needs to be able to count on the loyalty of its members. Don’t commit only when it’s convenient. Be professional and consistent and don’t duck at the first sign of challenging times. Pace yourself if you need to but don’t bail out completely. Try not to deal with several stressful issues at once. Stay constructive and don’t give reason to believe that you can’t be relied on.
AVOID SELF-SERVING BEHAVIOUR: Office politics takes many forms and allows people to justify all sorts of unacceptable behaviour in order to get ahead. Being excellent in your job and being a team player is by far the most effective method of achieving success ‘honourably’. It may take longer but is a more rooted, more transparent and easier to sustain for the long term.
Now take action: How can you demonstrate greater integrity in life and work?
HONOUR YOUR OBLIGATIONS : Integrity is not a matter of convenience, it’s a contract first with yourself and with others. Obligations are agreements, keep them whether they are small like promising to return a phone call or big such as being loyal to your team. If something prevents you from keeping any agreements, communicate this as far as possible in advance. Walking the talk makes you a good role model
WALK AWAY FROM TOXIC ENVIRONMENTS : When you are in danger of becoming someone you don’t like you are definitely in the wrong place. You run the risk of sabotaging your chances of becoming better and being respected. Toxic environments can be any thing that brings out the worst in you or makes you party to unhealthy manoeuvrings and keeps you always in negative mode.
HAVE A STRONG WORK ETHIC: Develop a performance bond with yourself to always do your best. Don’t work on the basis of how much you are paid, neither withdraw your commitment when things don’t seem to be going your way. As a person of integrity you don’t settle for mediocrity; you don’t throw tantrums when you feel you are being treated unfairly- you talk about it. You don’t look for an excuse to be sloppy in your work but find whatever help you can get to do the best in the circumstances.
DON'T UNDERMINE OTHERS: There are many ways we undermine others. without realising that our integrity takes a knock;. badmouthing the boss, trashing other people’s ideas without reason, going above your boss without their knowledge; being obnoxiously competitive, telling on your colleagues; and setting a person up for failure Wanting something badly is no excuse to do any of these. Be above board, Know the unspoken rules and boundaries in your organisation you shouldn’t cross. It helps you stay on the right side.
DON'T JUMP SHIP IN TOUGH TIMES : A team or organisation needs to be able to count on the loyalty of its members. Don’t commit only when it’s convenient. Be professional and consistent and don’t duck at the first sign of challenging times. Pace yourself if you need to but don’t bail out completely. Try not to deal with several stressful issues at once. Stay constructive and don’t give reason to believe that you can’t be relied on.
AVOID SELF-SERVING BEHAVIOUR: Office politics takes many forms and allows people to justify all sorts of unacceptable behaviour in order to get ahead. Being excellent in your job and being a team player is by far the most effective method of achieving success ‘honourably’. It may take longer but is a more rooted, more transparent and easier to sustain for the long term.
Now take action: How can you demonstrate greater integrity in life and work?
Don't be career lazy
When you say you want a successful career, what are you doing to make that happen? What are you taking charge of and what are you looking to others to help you with? Here are some suggestions to keep your career moving.
DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS: The people who contribute to your success will be many but only you must define what constitutes success. Is it a well paying job? a role where you get to do what interests you even if the pay is not great? Determine how you will measure success so that you can know how well you are doing.
FIRM UP CREDIBILITY EARLY: Successful careers are not built on fluff or one day wonders. It’s about creating confidence in your ability to do a job and actually doing it to the level required. It’s also about your character and your sense of integrity, how you handle difficult times and how consistent you are in producing great results.
DOCUMENT ACHIEVEMENTS: Most people only think of achievements when they are looking for a job; dig up their CV and frantically try to remember all their successes. Learn to write down your achievements as they happen so that you can leverage them. When you document your victories no matter how small, you show you are a person who has focus and demanding of yourself.
UPGRADE COMPETENCIES: When was the last time you read a book, took a course or identified a way to improve your abilities?. Improving yourself is primarily your responsibility. Your employer might help you develop some skills but not everything you need to succeed in your career. Determine the skills you need for the long term and make the necessary investments. Keep a training log to map your progress.
DEMONSTRATE VALUE: Guess what? A career is not a string of all the jobs you have held. It’s how they add up to give you profile, a track record that you can leverage further. Don’t just plod in the same job forever or hop from job to job in the hope something will turn out well. Seek to positively influence others with your Inspiration, wisdom, enthusiasm and creativity.
TAKE PRESSURE ON THE CHIN: Pressure comes in all forms and sooner than you think so be ever ready. You’ll have to prove your worth long before you get that big job, you may have to do a two week assignment in half the time or deliver that programme on a tight budget. Handle pressure by prioritising and focussing on finding solutions with what you resources you have.
HOLD SOMEONE'S HAND: As you rise you’ll get to be in charge of others and it no longer becomes about you only. Your performance starts being judged by what you’re enabling others to achieve. Even if you are not directly in charge of others, you can positively influence others with your Inspiration, wisdom, enthusiasm, Creativity. Learn to step back sometimes from centre stage and let others shine.
Now take action: Identify 3 steps you can you take to manage your career better
DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS: The people who contribute to your success will be many but only you must define what constitutes success. Is it a well paying job? a role where you get to do what interests you even if the pay is not great? Determine how you will measure success so that you can know how well you are doing.
FIRM UP CREDIBILITY EARLY: Successful careers are not built on fluff or one day wonders. It’s about creating confidence in your ability to do a job and actually doing it to the level required. It’s also about your character and your sense of integrity, how you handle difficult times and how consistent you are in producing great results.
DOCUMENT ACHIEVEMENTS: Most people only think of achievements when they are looking for a job; dig up their CV and frantically try to remember all their successes. Learn to write down your achievements as they happen so that you can leverage them. When you document your victories no matter how small, you show you are a person who has focus and demanding of yourself.
UPGRADE COMPETENCIES: When was the last time you read a book, took a course or identified a way to improve your abilities?. Improving yourself is primarily your responsibility. Your employer might help you develop some skills but not everything you need to succeed in your career. Determine the skills you need for the long term and make the necessary investments. Keep a training log to map your progress.
DEMONSTRATE VALUE: Guess what? A career is not a string of all the jobs you have held. It’s how they add up to give you profile, a track record that you can leverage further. Don’t just plod in the same job forever or hop from job to job in the hope something will turn out well. Seek to positively influence others with your Inspiration, wisdom, enthusiasm and creativity.
TAKE PRESSURE ON THE CHIN: Pressure comes in all forms and sooner than you think so be ever ready. You’ll have to prove your worth long before you get that big job, you may have to do a two week assignment in half the time or deliver that programme on a tight budget. Handle pressure by prioritising and focussing on finding solutions with what you resources you have.
HOLD SOMEONE'S HAND: As you rise you’ll get to be in charge of others and it no longer becomes about you only. Your performance starts being judged by what you’re enabling others to achieve. Even if you are not directly in charge of others, you can positively influence others with your Inspiration, wisdom, enthusiasm, Creativity. Learn to step back sometimes from centre stage and let others shine.
Now take action: Identify 3 steps you can you take to manage your career better
Tackling credit snatching
There are few things that ferment deflates morale more than credit snatching; claiming the credit that is due others. Most people expect to get the credit when they do a good job. So what can you do if you come up against a credit snatcher? Here are some suggestions;
UNDERSTAND HOW YOU ARE WIRED: Some people couldn’t care less if they get credit or not, others need recognition for every little thing they contribute. If you are the latter make your team appreciate that getting recognition for what you do is important to you; not so that you can demand it or have an excuse to sulk when you don’t get it but so that colleagues realise what motivates you. Don’t pretend you don’t care about receiving praise if you do; otherwise your resentment will show up soon enough; when you hardly expect it.
ASK IF IT'S WORTH FIGHTING FOR: Sometimes a job well done is its own reward. And you can go overboard with needy validation all the time. Learn to leave some of the credit on the ‘house’. Even occasionally allow others take it and don’t go saying ‘you did it but decided to let so and so get the credit’. For your own peace of mind, know what your contribution was but don’t insist on being singled out especially if it was a team activity .
WHAT IS YOURS IS YOURS: There are times when the credit is squarely yours. But if you don’t get it, self promote if you must but don’t be vociferous or obnoxious about it. A better way would actually be to have the ‘credit’ put on your performance record rather then publicly acknowledged. Better still keep your own achievement file so that you can encourage and cheer your self up with regularly. You can also draw examples from that file for example during job interviews.
LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY: Yes bosses can take the credit if they choose to knowing fully well they risk ending up with a disgruntled team member. If you honestly feel the boss has stolen your spotlight, best to let it go. Note your contributions though and during performance reviews. In the confines of your meeting he or she is unlikely to dispute that as long as you state these clearly and do not make any veiled reference to your view that he or she stole your thunder.
PUT THE HORSE BEFORE THE CART: If recognition is your vital motivator, have a plan that will ensure regular supply. Volunteer for high profile activities, work on the pet projects of your superiors, use a skill that is highly valued in your organisation, find the solution for a critical problem, Acknowledge your boss for the praise he or she cares to give you. You could say something like ‘Thanks for letting me lead on that piece of work. I did my best and much appreciated the credit you gave me’ for it.
Now take action: Give some long overdue praise to 3 people this week.
UNDERSTAND HOW YOU ARE WIRED: Some people couldn’t care less if they get credit or not, others need recognition for every little thing they contribute. If you are the latter make your team appreciate that getting recognition for what you do is important to you; not so that you can demand it or have an excuse to sulk when you don’t get it but so that colleagues realise what motivates you. Don’t pretend you don’t care about receiving praise if you do; otherwise your resentment will show up soon enough; when you hardly expect it.
ASK IF IT'S WORTH FIGHTING FOR: Sometimes a job well done is its own reward. And you can go overboard with needy validation all the time. Learn to leave some of the credit on the ‘house’. Even occasionally allow others take it and don’t go saying ‘you did it but decided to let so and so get the credit’. For your own peace of mind, know what your contribution was but don’t insist on being singled out especially if it was a team activity .
WHAT IS YOURS IS YOURS: There are times when the credit is squarely yours. But if you don’t get it, self promote if you must but don’t be vociferous or obnoxious about it. A better way would actually be to have the ‘credit’ put on your performance record rather then publicly acknowledged. Better still keep your own achievement file so that you can encourage and cheer your self up with regularly. You can also draw examples from that file for example during job interviews.
LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY: Yes bosses can take the credit if they choose to knowing fully well they risk ending up with a disgruntled team member. If you honestly feel the boss has stolen your spotlight, best to let it go. Note your contributions though and during performance reviews. In the confines of your meeting he or she is unlikely to dispute that as long as you state these clearly and do not make any veiled reference to your view that he or she stole your thunder.
PUT THE HORSE BEFORE THE CART: If recognition is your vital motivator, have a plan that will ensure regular supply. Volunteer for high profile activities, work on the pet projects of your superiors, use a skill that is highly valued in your organisation, find the solution for a critical problem, Acknowledge your boss for the praise he or she cares to give you. You could say something like ‘Thanks for letting me lead on that piece of work. I did my best and much appreciated the credit you gave me’ for it.
Now take action: Give some long overdue praise to 3 people this week.
Would you hire you?
Ever asked yourself that question? Putting yourself in the shoes of your employer might just be the perspective you need to raise your game. Here are some thoughts on attributes that gets you noticed and feeds your potential. A valued employee is;
RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE: When you are responsible you do not limit your thinking or role to what your job description is. You think about the company as a whole and what you can contribute to make it succeed. You demonstrate a sense of purpose and mission and aim to do your best. Your sense of accountability makes you see an assignments through to the end.
MORE THAN COMPETENT: Technical skills might get you the job but keeping it and becoming valuable takes more- the right attitude, ability to lead, a strong sense of collaboration, a desire to do more than is required, taking initiative Think about ways to become versatile and functional in more than one role. For example, if you are accountant but have facilitation skills, you can offer these during team building.
DO NO HARM : ‘Harm’ that an employee can inflict in the workplace includes demonstrating obnoxious behaviours such as back stabbing, stealing credit from others, spreading negative rumours, bullying people into getting what you want and undermining others including your boss or throwing tantrums. These attitudes poison the environment and make you highly dispensable.
HAS OBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVE : Being objective is being open-minded, learning to think past yourself, hearing other people out and not becoming saturated in your own opinion. You can learn to develop objectivity by getting away from your usual environment from time to time, collaborating with people who think differently from you and putting yourself in situations where your opinions are positively challenged.
SHOWS PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE: This means don’t theorise or try to show yourself as the ‘smartest in the room’ This is about asking questions, exploring ideas, learning from experiences and using them to improve work through practical application and common sense. Plug yourself into different situations and learn to function well. Come up with workable solutions you don’t easily become irrelevant.
IS AN AGENT OF CHANGE: A valued employee is not content to do the same thing day in day out with the same level of result. He or she is not happy to remain in their comfort zone but steps out to do more and better. They think about new idea, translate them into practical ideas, assemble who they need to execute and remain persistent in order to get results.
DOESN'T OPERATE ON TITLE ALONE: The committed employee is not status conscious or interested in getting a title before doing more They live by values and don’t reserve their best performance for when they become ‘boss’ They are proactive, lead by example and step up when things need doing or the tough decisions made. They act just lead and guess what, the title soon catches up with them
Now take action: Name 3 ways in which you give more value at work from now on.
RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE: When you are responsible you do not limit your thinking or role to what your job description is. You think about the company as a whole and what you can contribute to make it succeed. You demonstrate a sense of purpose and mission and aim to do your best. Your sense of accountability makes you see an assignments through to the end.
MORE THAN COMPETENT: Technical skills might get you the job but keeping it and becoming valuable takes more- the right attitude, ability to lead, a strong sense of collaboration, a desire to do more than is required, taking initiative Think about ways to become versatile and functional in more than one role. For example, if you are accountant but have facilitation skills, you can offer these during team building.
DO NO HARM : ‘Harm’ that an employee can inflict in the workplace includes demonstrating obnoxious behaviours such as back stabbing, stealing credit from others, spreading negative rumours, bullying people into getting what you want and undermining others including your boss or throwing tantrums. These attitudes poison the environment and make you highly dispensable.
HAS OBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVE : Being objective is being open-minded, learning to think past yourself, hearing other people out and not becoming saturated in your own opinion. You can learn to develop objectivity by getting away from your usual environment from time to time, collaborating with people who think differently from you and putting yourself in situations where your opinions are positively challenged.
SHOWS PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE: This means don’t theorise or try to show yourself as the ‘smartest in the room’ This is about asking questions, exploring ideas, learning from experiences and using them to improve work through practical application and common sense. Plug yourself into different situations and learn to function well. Come up with workable solutions you don’t easily become irrelevant.
IS AN AGENT OF CHANGE: A valued employee is not content to do the same thing day in day out with the same level of result. He or she is not happy to remain in their comfort zone but steps out to do more and better. They think about new idea, translate them into practical ideas, assemble who they need to execute and remain persistent in order to get results.
DOESN'T OPERATE ON TITLE ALONE: The committed employee is not status conscious or interested in getting a title before doing more They live by values and don’t reserve their best performance for when they become ‘boss’ They are proactive, lead by example and step up when things need doing or the tough decisions made. They act just lead and guess what, the title soon catches up with them
Now take action: Name 3 ways in which you give more value at work from now on.
Are you bullying without knowing?
What comes to mind when you hear the word bullying? Threats?, insults?, disrespect.? harassment; sure but bullying takes other seemingly ‘benign’ forms. Here’s how to tell when you are ‘bullying’ and what to do about them.
CHASTISING: Especially publicly. Do you feel the need to stamp your authority by correcting people publicly and angrily? People will make mistakes but nothing justifies ‘dressing them down’ in public. It humiliates them and makes you look unkind and out of control, not the sort of image you want to present especially in public. Tame your emotions so that you can correct with a clear head and to be heard. Better yet, do any corrections face to face and in private. That way it becomes a learning experience for the person rather than ‘the day the boss got MAD because of me’
TARGETING: This is when you decide for whatever reason that a particular person can do no right. They become your fall guy; when things don’t go well in the team, they’re the first person you feel is responsible; when they do a good job, you assume someone helped them. Whilst you might have some basis for your attitude, reminder your job is to be constructive and professional at all times; and that includes not judging negatively without basis or letting your personal feelings rule your management style. Teach and nurture, not crush the spirits of those who look up to you for guidance.
PATRONIZING: This can and often takes the form of ‘harmless’ jokes. When you patronize others you’re saying ‘I am superior to you’ my opinions are more important than yours. Of course depending on the context, if you have authority your opinions may count more than others’ but don’t trash those who care to share their views even if you don’t end up taking them on board. Your approach might be to make the case for the merits of your decision rather than on the basis that other views are no good.
LORDING : This is a tricky one because a boss’ legitimate action or response to a situation can be construed as ‘lording’ over people. The problem comes in when you feel the need to let people know that ‘you are the boss’. For example you may creating the impression that every thing you do for them is a favour you’re doing them. Wielding power this way is a weakness not a strength. Reflect on why you feel the need to act this way and what you stand to lose by leading this way?
BELITTLING: Some call it ‘cutting someone to size’. When you are okay with or even enjoy making others feel uncomfortable, you might belittle others without calling it by that name. For example when you totally ignore someone’s contribution in a meeting, you belittle them. Acknowledging people and what they have to say even if you don’t agree is the proper thing to do.
Now take action :Showing bullying behaviour? What will you do about it?
CHASTISING: Especially publicly. Do you feel the need to stamp your authority by correcting people publicly and angrily? People will make mistakes but nothing justifies ‘dressing them down’ in public. It humiliates them and makes you look unkind and out of control, not the sort of image you want to present especially in public. Tame your emotions so that you can correct with a clear head and to be heard. Better yet, do any corrections face to face and in private. That way it becomes a learning experience for the person rather than ‘the day the boss got MAD because of me’
TARGETING: This is when you decide for whatever reason that a particular person can do no right. They become your fall guy; when things don’t go well in the team, they’re the first person you feel is responsible; when they do a good job, you assume someone helped them. Whilst you might have some basis for your attitude, reminder your job is to be constructive and professional at all times; and that includes not judging negatively without basis or letting your personal feelings rule your management style. Teach and nurture, not crush the spirits of those who look up to you for guidance.
PATRONIZING: This can and often takes the form of ‘harmless’ jokes. When you patronize others you’re saying ‘I am superior to you’ my opinions are more important than yours. Of course depending on the context, if you have authority your opinions may count more than others’ but don’t trash those who care to share their views even if you don’t end up taking them on board. Your approach might be to make the case for the merits of your decision rather than on the basis that other views are no good.
LORDING : This is a tricky one because a boss’ legitimate action or response to a situation can be construed as ‘lording’ over people. The problem comes in when you feel the need to let people know that ‘you are the boss’. For example you may creating the impression that every thing you do for them is a favour you’re doing them. Wielding power this way is a weakness not a strength. Reflect on why you feel the need to act this way and what you stand to lose by leading this way?
BELITTLING: Some call it ‘cutting someone to size’. When you are okay with or even enjoy making others feel uncomfortable, you might belittle others without calling it by that name. For example when you totally ignore someone’s contribution in a meeting, you belittle them. Acknowledging people and what they have to say even if you don’t agree is the proper thing to do.
Now take action :Showing bullying behaviour? What will you do about it?
Who is rooting for you?
We are familiar with mentors and how they can help us. Advocates do more, they proactively promote you and increase your career prospects. They can be outside your organisation but preferably inside. Here’s what an advocate can do for you.
PUT YOU ON THE RADAR: It takes more than talent, hard work and skills to rise in an organisation. An advocate brings you to the attention of decision makers because they believe in you and your potential they speak on your behalf and even promote you to senior people in an organisation who are unlikely to see your work for themselves. You’ll need to be open to your advocate about your aspirations and professional goals so that s/he can help you achieve them.
NEGOTIATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU : An advocate does more than put you on the radar of the people who matter. They can create opportunities that would normally not exist. These give you the chance to prove yourself and back up any claims that your advocate has made about your potential for higher level roles. Since such opportunities are aimed at proving something to the bosses, they are likely to be top level assignments with access to the top brass
SHARES THE INSIDE SCOOP: When you know what’s important to the movers and shakers in your organisation or sector, you align your efforts and achievements accordingly. Your advocate normally has insider knowledge, good connections and will alert you to what you need to know without breaking any confidences. They may even steer you off certain things back onto the path that has potential to take you places.
LENDS YOU WISDOM: Change is common in organisations these days and there are times when even your advocate will not know for sure where ‘the dice will fall’. But they can guide your scenario planning in terms of what options might be available. If a post he or she was lobbying for you is disappearing, he or she will work with you to review your strategy for repositioning yourself.
SHOWS YOU THE FAST TRACK: The view from the top is often can different from the bottom up. From below you look at climbing rank by rank. From above, the boss knows you can do the ‘long jump’ if you can give enough evidence to show you can do the bigger job. Your advocate will give you suggestions on you need to ‘leap frog’ and support you to develop the highly competitive skills sets required. You must assure them that you are prepared to pay your dues.
WANTS TO DO IT RIGHT : A credible advocate will not want to be seen to be skipping the rules or playing favourites. So don’t be blinded by your ambition to cut corners. Make sure your advocate is well respected and trusted and don’t create the impression that your advocate is doing something underhand by helping you. Don’t get boastful or misrepresent any of them actions.
Now take action: Identify 3 people who can will make good advocates
PUT YOU ON THE RADAR: It takes more than talent, hard work and skills to rise in an organisation. An advocate brings you to the attention of decision makers because they believe in you and your potential they speak on your behalf and even promote you to senior people in an organisation who are unlikely to see your work for themselves. You’ll need to be open to your advocate about your aspirations and professional goals so that s/he can help you achieve them.
NEGOTIATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU : An advocate does more than put you on the radar of the people who matter. They can create opportunities that would normally not exist. These give you the chance to prove yourself and back up any claims that your advocate has made about your potential for higher level roles. Since such opportunities are aimed at proving something to the bosses, they are likely to be top level assignments with access to the top brass
SHARES THE INSIDE SCOOP: When you know what’s important to the movers and shakers in your organisation or sector, you align your efforts and achievements accordingly. Your advocate normally has insider knowledge, good connections and will alert you to what you need to know without breaking any confidences. They may even steer you off certain things back onto the path that has potential to take you places.
LENDS YOU WISDOM: Change is common in organisations these days and there are times when even your advocate will not know for sure where ‘the dice will fall’. But they can guide your scenario planning in terms of what options might be available. If a post he or she was lobbying for you is disappearing, he or she will work with you to review your strategy for repositioning yourself.
SHOWS YOU THE FAST TRACK: The view from the top is often can different from the bottom up. From below you look at climbing rank by rank. From above, the boss knows you can do the ‘long jump’ if you can give enough evidence to show you can do the bigger job. Your advocate will give you suggestions on you need to ‘leap frog’ and support you to develop the highly competitive skills sets required. You must assure them that you are prepared to pay your dues.
WANTS TO DO IT RIGHT : A credible advocate will not want to be seen to be skipping the rules or playing favourites. So don’t be blinded by your ambition to cut corners. Make sure your advocate is well respected and trusted and don’t create the impression that your advocate is doing something underhand by helping you. Don’t get boastful or misrepresent any of them actions.
Now take action: Identify 3 people who can will make good advocates
Do you know how to ask a question?
Questions are a great tool for learning. When properly crafted and used, questions generate rich ideas, bring clarity and produce new knowledge. So developing your art of questioning is a skill worth developing. Here’s some guidance. A skilful question;
DOES NOT DO MULTIPLE CHOICE: These are questions asked and immediately followed by ‘Do you think it’s because of XXX or YYY’. This might be an attempt to clarify the question further but often undermines what might have been an interesting or even profound response. ‘Multiple choice’ questions might be useful where there’s little time to get a full response or where when all you need is a short one. Otherwise, keep them open-ended and allow that to open up the conversation.
IS NOT A SPEECH IN DISGUISE: A person might ask a question and without waiting for an answer launch into a little speech about what they themselves think about the question they have asked. For example they would say ‘What do you XXX? My view is YYY’. Courteous practice is to get a response first and then share your opinion. After all you asked the question because you wanted to know more. If the question gets thrown back at you back as sometimes happens then of course, you may oblige. However, plan A must be to ask, stop and listen.
DOES NOT INTERROGATE: Most people are put of by questions that make feel interrogated or where they sense a hidden agenda. Avoid coming across as interrogating by not using a negative or aggressive tone. An example sounds like this- ‘Why are you not XXX? ‘ ‘Your earlier point didn’t make sense but…..’ rather than ‘I was a little confused by your earlier point, could you…..’ As a rule of thumb aim to use your questions to move ideas forward, enrich conversations and generate learning.
IS NOT AMBIGUOUS: A question need not be longwinded. Unfortunately some go are so long and in so many directions that in the end it’s unclear what the key question is. Make it easy for your question to be understood by being straightforward. Take a second to think about your question before you ask it so that it is not unnecessarily wordy or complicated. If it’s say 3 questions in one, ask them separately or state clearly that they three. For example, ‘I have 3 questions, the first is XXX…’ That way the person will not need to work this out themselves.
TRIGGERS REFLECTIVE CONVERSATION: Skilfil questions are thought provoking. They are not based on any pre-conceived assumptions and often generate new insights. Ask questions that are you can reasonably expect the person in question to be able to answer. And when you ask, show genuine interest in the responses. Ask questions that you believe in and not one that someone has asked you to put forward. This way if you are asked to clarify your question you can.
Now take action: Practice 5 questions this week with a friend in a role play.
DOES NOT DO MULTIPLE CHOICE: These are questions asked and immediately followed by ‘Do you think it’s because of XXX or YYY’. This might be an attempt to clarify the question further but often undermines what might have been an interesting or even profound response. ‘Multiple choice’ questions might be useful where there’s little time to get a full response or where when all you need is a short one. Otherwise, keep them open-ended and allow that to open up the conversation.
IS NOT A SPEECH IN DISGUISE: A person might ask a question and without waiting for an answer launch into a little speech about what they themselves think about the question they have asked. For example they would say ‘What do you XXX? My view is YYY’. Courteous practice is to get a response first and then share your opinion. After all you asked the question because you wanted to know more. If the question gets thrown back at you back as sometimes happens then of course, you may oblige. However, plan A must be to ask, stop and listen.
DOES NOT INTERROGATE: Most people are put of by questions that make feel interrogated or where they sense a hidden agenda. Avoid coming across as interrogating by not using a negative or aggressive tone. An example sounds like this- ‘Why are you not XXX? ‘ ‘Your earlier point didn’t make sense but…..’ rather than ‘I was a little confused by your earlier point, could you…..’ As a rule of thumb aim to use your questions to move ideas forward, enrich conversations and generate learning.
IS NOT AMBIGUOUS: A question need not be longwinded. Unfortunately some go are so long and in so many directions that in the end it’s unclear what the key question is. Make it easy for your question to be understood by being straightforward. Take a second to think about your question before you ask it so that it is not unnecessarily wordy or complicated. If it’s say 3 questions in one, ask them separately or state clearly that they three. For example, ‘I have 3 questions, the first is XXX…’ That way the person will not need to work this out themselves.
TRIGGERS REFLECTIVE CONVERSATION: Skilfil questions are thought provoking. They are not based on any pre-conceived assumptions and often generate new insights. Ask questions that are you can reasonably expect the person in question to be able to answer. And when you ask, show genuine interest in the responses. Ask questions that you believe in and not one that someone has asked you to put forward. This way if you are asked to clarify your question you can.
Now take action: Practice 5 questions this week with a friend in a role play.
create a personal board of directors
We all know how important a board of directors or trustees is to an organisation. They provide strategic direction and ensure good governance and management. You can benefit from a board too- a personal one to guide you, advice you, challenge you and support you. Here’s how to set up one
WHO TO INVITE – Make a list of about 12 names of potential candidates; people you admire and respect. Think about what you admire about them and what they could teach you. They need not be only people you personally Have the courage to include people who you consider ‘big league’ Ask people to suggest names and find out more about those who match your needs.
NARROW THE LIST DOWN: Select about 5-6 people representing a diversity of experience, skills sets and perspectives. Clarify what you will need from each of them and how their support together will give the total learning that you need . Don’t only go with people higher than you; for example if you want to emulate how someone brings values, standards and integrity to their work, candidates could come from any level.
INVITE THEM INDIVIDUALLY: Contact them and invite them indicating what you would like from them. Don’t just say ‘I want you to support me’. Explain broadly what you would like from them; follow up with a phone call to explain the specifics. Some of the support you could ask for is to be able to turn to them when you have difficult choices to make or dealing with ethical dilemmas
MEET ON SPECIFICS: Meet to work out details of how you’ll work together. You might need to be clear with them that you’d like to learn from their experience, perspectives, help you pick yourself when you ‘fail’, or make some bad judgement calls. Discuss how they would like you to contact them, when and how often, how to handle situations such as when you urgently need to consult with them at short notice.
KEEP IT GOING : Agree a structure of what you’ll regularly discuss- for example what’s been successful, some of your challenges, difficulties you have been able to overcome, opportunities coming your way. Always come prepared with some thoughts on the issues you want to discuss. Share your thoughts first before asking for their views
COMMIT TO STOCK TAKING : Report your progress to them regularly. At a minimum commit to producing a personal annual report to share with them. Your report can cover personal and professional goals with concrete examples of success. Report against any goals you set.
FIND OUT HOW TO RECIPROCATE- Make it worth their time; if you have contacts, networks that they might benefit from share them. You might offer to mentor someone else to pass on what you learn. Take an interest in what they do so that you can identify where you can help them.
Now take action: Create your Personal Board of directors in the next 4 weeks
WHO TO INVITE – Make a list of about 12 names of potential candidates; people you admire and respect. Think about what you admire about them and what they could teach you. They need not be only people you personally Have the courage to include people who you consider ‘big league’ Ask people to suggest names and find out more about those who match your needs.
NARROW THE LIST DOWN: Select about 5-6 people representing a diversity of experience, skills sets and perspectives. Clarify what you will need from each of them and how their support together will give the total learning that you need . Don’t only go with people higher than you; for example if you want to emulate how someone brings values, standards and integrity to their work, candidates could come from any level.
INVITE THEM INDIVIDUALLY: Contact them and invite them indicating what you would like from them. Don’t just say ‘I want you to support me’. Explain broadly what you would like from them; follow up with a phone call to explain the specifics. Some of the support you could ask for is to be able to turn to them when you have difficult choices to make or dealing with ethical dilemmas
MEET ON SPECIFICS: Meet to work out details of how you’ll work together. You might need to be clear with them that you’d like to learn from their experience, perspectives, help you pick yourself when you ‘fail’, or make some bad judgement calls. Discuss how they would like you to contact them, when and how often, how to handle situations such as when you urgently need to consult with them at short notice.
KEEP IT GOING : Agree a structure of what you’ll regularly discuss- for example what’s been successful, some of your challenges, difficulties you have been able to overcome, opportunities coming your way. Always come prepared with some thoughts on the issues you want to discuss. Share your thoughts first before asking for their views
COMMIT TO STOCK TAKING : Report your progress to them regularly. At a minimum commit to producing a personal annual report to share with them. Your report can cover personal and professional goals with concrete examples of success. Report against any goals you set.
FIND OUT HOW TO RECIPROCATE- Make it worth their time; if you have contacts, networks that they might benefit from share them. You might offer to mentor someone else to pass on what you learn. Take an interest in what they do so that you can identify where you can help them.
Now take action: Create your Personal Board of directors in the next 4 weeks
You can disagree with the boss
What do you do when you don’t quite agree with what someone is saying especially if that someone is your superior? Keep quiet? Complain to others? Challenging your boss is daunting but when properly done and supported by good points will be appreciated. Here are some tips to get you going.
RESPECT IS NON-NEGOTIABLE: In some organisations, when you challenge you may be seen as stirring conflict and labelled ‘troublesome’ A boss might even feel undermined, disrespected or take the challenge as an affront to his or her authority if the challenge is not handled properly. Even if your boss encourages you to challenge it does not make it any less uncomfortable for them when it happens so challenge with respect.
IDENTIFY THE SPECIFICS: Before you challenge identify the specific issue you want to explore. If it’s the whole ‘thing’ which is unlikely take care to explain your thinking and be able to support your position on the matter; what’s the main point you want to make? Is that the real issue or a symptom of a deeper one? What alternative suggestion do you propose? Paraphrase back what your boss is saying so that they know you understand what’s being said.
CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES: You don’t need to speak up about every little thing you disagree with. Challenging is an opportunity to shape things for the better so make sure your point adds value. Bide your time and don’t ‘jump in’ just because you feel like it. Know when to bite your tongue especially in high pressure situations. If the boss has to make a quick decision, that’s not the time to give a speech!. Your aim should be to contribute not undermine or make a point just for the sake of it.
USE COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE:. You may have a right to challenge but don’t be reckless in doing so. Be honest with your views by communicating them firmly but nicely. Disagreement does not have to turn into conflict. Build on what’s good and explain why you think other issues might be problematic. Avoid ‘rigid’ phrases like ‘this won’t work’ or ‘I don’t like this’. Don’t challenge when you are feeling emotional or unclear about the point you want to make.
DO IT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS: Challenge with the right motives. Not to ridicule, not to demonstrate how smart you are. Remember to challenge what’s being said, the issue- not the person. And challenge willingly because you believe in what you have to say not and because you want not to impress anyone. Be discreet and do any challenging of your boss in private as far as is possible.
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EEXERCISE RESTRAINT: To challenge takes courage. Sometimes you get your ‘fingers’ burnt.. But please don’t ‘retire’ from challenging again because one experience went wrong. It’s normal to feel afraid but if you feel you have something valuable to say, say so……with respect.
Now take action : Pick an issue; practice with a colleague how to challenge
RESPECT IS NON-NEGOTIABLE: In some organisations, when you challenge you may be seen as stirring conflict and labelled ‘troublesome’ A boss might even feel undermined, disrespected or take the challenge as an affront to his or her authority if the challenge is not handled properly. Even if your boss encourages you to challenge it does not make it any less uncomfortable for them when it happens so challenge with respect.
IDENTIFY THE SPECIFICS: Before you challenge identify the specific issue you want to explore. If it’s the whole ‘thing’ which is unlikely take care to explain your thinking and be able to support your position on the matter; what’s the main point you want to make? Is that the real issue or a symptom of a deeper one? What alternative suggestion do you propose? Paraphrase back what your boss is saying so that they know you understand what’s being said.
CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES: You don’t need to speak up about every little thing you disagree with. Challenging is an opportunity to shape things for the better so make sure your point adds value. Bide your time and don’t ‘jump in’ just because you feel like it. Know when to bite your tongue especially in high pressure situations. If the boss has to make a quick decision, that’s not the time to give a speech!. Your aim should be to contribute not undermine or make a point just for the sake of it.
USE COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE:. You may have a right to challenge but don’t be reckless in doing so. Be honest with your views by communicating them firmly but nicely. Disagreement does not have to turn into conflict. Build on what’s good and explain why you think other issues might be problematic. Avoid ‘rigid’ phrases like ‘this won’t work’ or ‘I don’t like this’. Don’t challenge when you are feeling emotional or unclear about the point you want to make.
DO IT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS: Challenge with the right motives. Not to ridicule, not to demonstrate how smart you are. Remember to challenge what’s being said, the issue- not the person. And challenge willingly because you believe in what you have to say not and because you want not to impress anyone. Be discreet and do any challenging of your boss in private as far as is possible.
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EEXERCISE RESTRAINT: To challenge takes courage. Sometimes you get your ‘fingers’ burnt.. But please don’t ‘retire’ from challenging again because one experience went wrong. It’s normal to feel afraid but if you feel you have something valuable to say, say so……with respect.
Now take action : Pick an issue; practice with a colleague how to challenge
Ditch the drama
Every organisation has its share of ‘drama’; office politics, managers with big egos, constantly complaining staff; fact is we each occasionally contribute to this ‘drama’. But to be seen consistently as a drama queen or trouble maker can hurt your career. Here are some typical ‘drama’ behaviours to avoid.
TOO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED: Engage with your organisation, your job and the ongoing priorities and important projects. When you are too invested, you take things too personally. Emotion is important to keep the workplace ‘human’ but so are logic and commonsense. Operate with a good balance of ‘head and heart’ so that you don’t you don’t feel let down or think the ‘system’ is being too hard hearted. Also to check that you are being over sensitive.
TOO FOCUSSED ON SELF: Whether you work alone or as part of a team aim to work well with others and consider the needs of others alongside your own. Sometimes you have to look out for yourself; and that’s fine especially if there are circumstances concerning you personally that you need redress for but as rule of thumb, make team work a priority.
QUICK TO BLAME OTHERS: When you point fingers for what’s going on( or not going on) with you, you create unnecessary tension. ‘Blamers’ often assign motives to what others do and often judge these motives negatively. You demonstrate your ‘drama’ when you feel you act like you are on the receiving end. Start looking at things objectively. It can be hard, commit to it, it’ll pay off.
INFLEXIBLE IN THE FACE OF SURPRISES: Unpleasant and inconvenient surprises come up all the time. The speed of change these days is such that to expect that your work day will go according to the way you have planned it is to set your self up to be frustrated. Learn to adapt and expect that up to some of what you set out to do on any given day might to be overtaken by other work. Being open to the unplanned makes it easier deal with it.
BEING A PROBLEM MONGER: Such people don’t seek to find solutions but can’t seem to help telling others about problems that exist including their own. There might not be anything inherently wrong with letting people know about problems if the intention is to generate answers. Otherwise, it raises stress levels unnecessarily. Discuss problems with those involved with the solutions or with friends( not everyone in the corridor) if your aim is to let off steam.
NOT TAMING THE EGO: The ego in full bloom wants approval, attention, applause, validation. And where these are not forthcoming, they sulk and are unhappy when others get attention. A healthy workplace would normally give appropriate praise and recognition where due but when you constantly seeks it you become ‘emotionally expensive’ for your employer; as peace loving colleagues spend time feeding that ego instead of getting work done.
Now take action: What negative or excessive behaviours do you need to drop?
TOO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED: Engage with your organisation, your job and the ongoing priorities and important projects. When you are too invested, you take things too personally. Emotion is important to keep the workplace ‘human’ but so are logic and commonsense. Operate with a good balance of ‘head and heart’ so that you don’t you don’t feel let down or think the ‘system’ is being too hard hearted. Also to check that you are being over sensitive.
TOO FOCUSSED ON SELF: Whether you work alone or as part of a team aim to work well with others and consider the needs of others alongside your own. Sometimes you have to look out for yourself; and that’s fine especially if there are circumstances concerning you personally that you need redress for but as rule of thumb, make team work a priority.
QUICK TO BLAME OTHERS: When you point fingers for what’s going on( or not going on) with you, you create unnecessary tension. ‘Blamers’ often assign motives to what others do and often judge these motives negatively. You demonstrate your ‘drama’ when you feel you act like you are on the receiving end. Start looking at things objectively. It can be hard, commit to it, it’ll pay off.
INFLEXIBLE IN THE FACE OF SURPRISES: Unpleasant and inconvenient surprises come up all the time. The speed of change these days is such that to expect that your work day will go according to the way you have planned it is to set your self up to be frustrated. Learn to adapt and expect that up to some of what you set out to do on any given day might to be overtaken by other work. Being open to the unplanned makes it easier deal with it.
BEING A PROBLEM MONGER: Such people don’t seek to find solutions but can’t seem to help telling others about problems that exist including their own. There might not be anything inherently wrong with letting people know about problems if the intention is to generate answers. Otherwise, it raises stress levels unnecessarily. Discuss problems with those involved with the solutions or with friends( not everyone in the corridor) if your aim is to let off steam.
NOT TAMING THE EGO: The ego in full bloom wants approval, attention, applause, validation. And where these are not forthcoming, they sulk and are unhappy when others get attention. A healthy workplace would normally give appropriate praise and recognition where due but when you constantly seeks it you become ‘emotionally expensive’ for your employer; as peace loving colleagues spend time feeding that ego instead of getting work done.
Now take action: What negative or excessive behaviours do you need to drop?
Getting into a rut?
‘Comfortable’ and ‘stable’ can be good but when you enjoy it too much you start to stagnate and eventually ‘you get stuck in a rut’ sometimes without even realising it. What are the signs that you are ‘in a ‘dry place’?
YOU ARE TOO COMFORTABLE AND ON AUTO-PILOT: This is ‘comfortable’ that does not do you any good. You feel you’re in your comfort zone, you feel settled to the point that you starting to get rusty and have no desire for a higher level achievement. You repeat behaviours unconsciously day in day out.
THINGS ARE FAMILIAR AND UNDEMANDING: When you are in a rut you don’t want any ‘hustle’; you are afraid to go into unchartered waters or try new things, you may even find opportunities that could change things for the better for you rather risky. When you have the chance to stretch you dodge it because you think it’ll be too taxing on you.
EVERYTHING IS UNINTERESTING AND A BOTHER: This can result from doing the same thing for so long so much so that you’re not even sure how to begin to try something else. You feel unfulfilled but lethargic and in no mood to shake things or to find ways to put your talents to use. Enthusiasm escapes you
YOU FEEL YOU HAVE 'ARRIVED’ : Success at a certain level has become your end point. You are motivated and even have a positive mental attitude but you are not channelling this energy towards doing more, reaching out more. Success has become a self gratification rather than of wider benefit to others..
So how do you get out of the rut?
UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE STUCK: When did you start feeling ‘trapped’?. What aspirations have ‘disappeared’ and what events can you remember that led to this. How are you able to tell that this is contrary to what you’d like to be? What purpose do you feel is being aborted by your lack of intentional
AVOID A LINEAR APPROACH: Learn to draw some order out of chaos, make connections between seemingly unconnected things, experiment with the unfamiliar. Wake up your brain by growing your mind so that it serves you well, helps you analyse, explore logic, inspire inspiration and keep you sane.
HAVE A VISION FOR YOUR DEVELOPMENT: Plan your growth upwards and laterally; find alternative routes to developing your career so that you don’t feel helpless when you hit a ‘roadblock’ or things falter. A plan helps you think ahead and can pre-empt some of the things that can derail your progress.
GET PURPOSELY CREATIVE : Don’t wait for ‘inspiration from above’ to find solutions to your situation. Think of ways you can expand your expertise in different situations. For example as an accountant, you can work as such, teach accountancy in an institution, provide private tuition. Be proactive,
Now take action: Where are you stagnating in your career? What will you do about it?
YOU ARE TOO COMFORTABLE AND ON AUTO-PILOT: This is ‘comfortable’ that does not do you any good. You feel you’re in your comfort zone, you feel settled to the point that you starting to get rusty and have no desire for a higher level achievement. You repeat behaviours unconsciously day in day out.
THINGS ARE FAMILIAR AND UNDEMANDING: When you are in a rut you don’t want any ‘hustle’; you are afraid to go into unchartered waters or try new things, you may even find opportunities that could change things for the better for you rather risky. When you have the chance to stretch you dodge it because you think it’ll be too taxing on you.
EVERYTHING IS UNINTERESTING AND A BOTHER: This can result from doing the same thing for so long so much so that you’re not even sure how to begin to try something else. You feel unfulfilled but lethargic and in no mood to shake things or to find ways to put your talents to use. Enthusiasm escapes you
YOU FEEL YOU HAVE 'ARRIVED’ : Success at a certain level has become your end point. You are motivated and even have a positive mental attitude but you are not channelling this energy towards doing more, reaching out more. Success has become a self gratification rather than of wider benefit to others..
So how do you get out of the rut?
UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE STUCK: When did you start feeling ‘trapped’?. What aspirations have ‘disappeared’ and what events can you remember that led to this. How are you able to tell that this is contrary to what you’d like to be? What purpose do you feel is being aborted by your lack of intentional
AVOID A LINEAR APPROACH: Learn to draw some order out of chaos, make connections between seemingly unconnected things, experiment with the unfamiliar. Wake up your brain by growing your mind so that it serves you well, helps you analyse, explore logic, inspire inspiration and keep you sane.
HAVE A VISION FOR YOUR DEVELOPMENT: Plan your growth upwards and laterally; find alternative routes to developing your career so that you don’t feel helpless when you hit a ‘roadblock’ or things falter. A plan helps you think ahead and can pre-empt some of the things that can derail your progress.
GET PURPOSELY CREATIVE : Don’t wait for ‘inspiration from above’ to find solutions to your situation. Think of ways you can expand your expertise in different situations. For example as an accountant, you can work as such, teach accountancy in an institution, provide private tuition. Be proactive,
Now take action: Where are you stagnating in your career? What will you do about it?
Feedback can be a gift
For many people feedback is synonymous with criticism. But feedback can be beneficial if received and mined for whatever good it might contain. Taking on board feedback even when it’s not so positive is one of the ‘tough’ things one has to do to grow, compete and succeed. When you have the opportunity to receive feedback, here’s what you can do;
NOTE WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING SAID : Most people’s first reaction to especially negative feedback is to be angry, feel offended or just ignore it. When the feedback is communicated in an insensitive way it can aggravate the situation. But do yourself a favour, choose not to reject it immediately and take sometime to ‘assess ’ what’s being said and reflect on what might be helpful to you.
ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOURCE : The source of the feedback is as important as the content if not more. Is the source someone qualified to say so? There are three sources of feedback that you should not ignore, - from the people who really wish you well, from those who know better and from your bosses’ especially your line manager- If the feedback seems unfair seek clarification and supply information regarding conclusions they might have formed on scanty evidence.
REFLECT ON VALIDITY OF WHAT'S BEING SAID: When the ‘feedback is not positive and hard for you to accept find your ‘validators’-people you respect or trust and who are in a position to ‘confirm’ what you are told. They might be able to give you additional insights and details on exactly how this feedback might be justified and perhaps provide you some examples on behaviors. Where feedback is based on perceptions rather than fact, it’s still worth doing something to correct it.
SEPARATE FEEDBACK FROM CRITICISM OR INSULT: Feedback should help you to move forward not bring you down. If a feedback session becomes an insult tirade or bullying respectfully point this out. Don’t forget that there are people who find it easier to criticize than praise so even with the best intention, feedback can degenerate quickly into criticism. Remember whoever wants or is required to give you feedback has no right to disrespect you in the process.
KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE: Wise people are able usually able to draw out from any situation what’s useful to them. When you get ‘unpleasant’ feedback try to focus on points that that will help you especially where you have heard similar feedback from other sources and seek to address them accordingly. Feedback is enlightening only when you choose to let it be so.
FEED IT FORWARD: Most feedback focuses on the past serving as a learning opportunity for what could be different or better in the immediate future. Where feedback is positive don’t sit on your laurels but use that as a foundation to achiever even greater performance.
Now take action: What feedback have you ignored that you might wish to reassess?
NOTE WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING SAID : Most people’s first reaction to especially negative feedback is to be angry, feel offended or just ignore it. When the feedback is communicated in an insensitive way it can aggravate the situation. But do yourself a favour, choose not to reject it immediately and take sometime to ‘assess ’ what’s being said and reflect on what might be helpful to you.
ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOURCE : The source of the feedback is as important as the content if not more. Is the source someone qualified to say so? There are three sources of feedback that you should not ignore, - from the people who really wish you well, from those who know better and from your bosses’ especially your line manager- If the feedback seems unfair seek clarification and supply information regarding conclusions they might have formed on scanty evidence.
REFLECT ON VALIDITY OF WHAT'S BEING SAID: When the ‘feedback is not positive and hard for you to accept find your ‘validators’-people you respect or trust and who are in a position to ‘confirm’ what you are told. They might be able to give you additional insights and details on exactly how this feedback might be justified and perhaps provide you some examples on behaviors. Where feedback is based on perceptions rather than fact, it’s still worth doing something to correct it.
SEPARATE FEEDBACK FROM CRITICISM OR INSULT: Feedback should help you to move forward not bring you down. If a feedback session becomes an insult tirade or bullying respectfully point this out. Don’t forget that there are people who find it easier to criticize than praise so even with the best intention, feedback can degenerate quickly into criticism. Remember whoever wants or is required to give you feedback has no right to disrespect you in the process.
KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE: Wise people are able usually able to draw out from any situation what’s useful to them. When you get ‘unpleasant’ feedback try to focus on points that that will help you especially where you have heard similar feedback from other sources and seek to address them accordingly. Feedback is enlightening only when you choose to let it be so.
FEED IT FORWARD: Most feedback focuses on the past serving as a learning opportunity for what could be different or better in the immediate future. Where feedback is positive don’t sit on your laurels but use that as a foundation to achiever even greater performance.
Now take action: What feedback have you ignored that you might wish to reassess?
Is rationalizing getting in the way?
One of the things that stops people from achieving their goals is ‘rationalizing’, finding reasons and convincing themselves that there are good reasons for not doing what they need to do to achieve what’s important to them. How do you know if you are caught in this trap of rationalization. Here are some signs;
COMPARING YOUR PROGRESS WITH OTHERS': When you rationalize you identify someone you’re clearly doing better than and say’ ‘I am not doing badly’ Yes you may be doing better compared to others but comparing where you are now to where you could be how would you say you doing? There’s always someone you’re better off than and so this is the wrong gauge for what you should be pursuing or not.
STICKING WITH PAST ACHIEVEMENTS: Everyone has a right to relive and treasure past achievements for as long as they wish. However, when reminiscing on the past stops you from reaching out to maximize your potential then you are unhealthily stuck in the past. Treasure your accomplishments but don’t be so wedded to past success that you inadvertently give up the chance to do more.
JUSTIFYING FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY: This happens when one starts having cold feet. You have the goal and the desire to act on it but rather than trusting yourself to commit and step out believing that you are capable of what you aspire for you start thinking that you are biting off more than you can chew and choose to stay put. But how will you know what you are capable of unless you try?
DECIDING IT'S SENSIBLE TO PLAY IT SAFE: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with settling for where you are if you don’t really care about the goals you set in the first place. What you shouldn’t do is to be emotionally dishonest about what really matters to you or backing down because you feel inadequate and not up to the taking action required to make it worth your while.
FEELING YOU HAVE TOO MUCH ON YOUR PLATE: Fair enough, but how much of what you are busy with is ‘must do’? Have you got your priorities right? Might it be appropriate and sensible to ‘prioritize within the priorities’ and determine whether your important goals need to feature further up. Point is don’t ditch the goals before you’ve had a chance to decide what deserves your attention and what not.
CONCLUDING 'IT'S TOO HARD'- Sometimes we make big goals when we are in ‘superman/woman’ mood- then reality sets in, the euphoria dies down and we might feel we have overplayed our hand. We are not sure we can commit the time, energy and other resources to making them happen. Before you give up on those seemingly ‘hard goals’, find out whether there support available to help you move ahead?
Now take action: What excuses are you using to abandon your goals?
COMPARING YOUR PROGRESS WITH OTHERS': When you rationalize you identify someone you’re clearly doing better than and say’ ‘I am not doing badly’ Yes you may be doing better compared to others but comparing where you are now to where you could be how would you say you doing? There’s always someone you’re better off than and so this is the wrong gauge for what you should be pursuing or not.
STICKING WITH PAST ACHIEVEMENTS: Everyone has a right to relive and treasure past achievements for as long as they wish. However, when reminiscing on the past stops you from reaching out to maximize your potential then you are unhealthily stuck in the past. Treasure your accomplishments but don’t be so wedded to past success that you inadvertently give up the chance to do more.
JUSTIFYING FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY: This happens when one starts having cold feet. You have the goal and the desire to act on it but rather than trusting yourself to commit and step out believing that you are capable of what you aspire for you start thinking that you are biting off more than you can chew and choose to stay put. But how will you know what you are capable of unless you try?
DECIDING IT'S SENSIBLE TO PLAY IT SAFE: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with settling for where you are if you don’t really care about the goals you set in the first place. What you shouldn’t do is to be emotionally dishonest about what really matters to you or backing down because you feel inadequate and not up to the taking action required to make it worth your while.
FEELING YOU HAVE TOO MUCH ON YOUR PLATE: Fair enough, but how much of what you are busy with is ‘must do’? Have you got your priorities right? Might it be appropriate and sensible to ‘prioritize within the priorities’ and determine whether your important goals need to feature further up. Point is don’t ditch the goals before you’ve had a chance to decide what deserves your attention and what not.
CONCLUDING 'IT'S TOO HARD'- Sometimes we make big goals when we are in ‘superman/woman’ mood- then reality sets in, the euphoria dies down and we might feel we have overplayed our hand. We are not sure we can commit the time, energy and other resources to making them happen. Before you give up on those seemingly ‘hard goals’, find out whether there support available to help you move ahead?
Now take action: What excuses are you using to abandon your goals?
g.a.m.e.p.l.a.n 2011!
Last week, we evaluated our 2010 performance. Let’s now turn our attention to developing a Gameplan for 2011’. I am calling it Gameplan, an acronym to help us focus on the process of accomplishing them rather than on crafting the goals themselves
GOAL: Set ambitious goals that will make a difference when achieved. Don’t settle for a particular goal because that’s what your friends are setting for themselves or because it’s the time of year when you are expected to do so. Choose goals that are important, that you are passionate about and that will will stretch you to do more than you feel you are capable of.
ACCOUNTABILITY: A goal without ‘ownership’ will go nowhere. You must be willing to be 100% responsible for your goals and develop an action plan with specific activities and success measures to keep you firmly on track. Make sure there’s a ‘rescue plan’ should a major unforeseen occurrence throw things off track.
MOMENTUM: This is critical to ensuring consistency and keeping your goals alive. We’ve all experienced a ‘fizzling out’ of enthusiasm for our resolutions especially when we have a lot to handle. Besides real powerful and worthy goals need energy to keep them alive. Establish a predictable routine around your goals to ensure that you are doing something daily to keep you steadfast and moving you forward
ENTHUSIASM: Enthusiasm is the ‘float’ that keeps your vision buoyant. Also when you are excited about what you are seeking to accomplish, it says ‘I believe in this’ and that makes others more willing to support you. So make sure your goals excite you so that you care enough about them to draw on all your inner resources to bring them to pass.
PROGRESS: Know in advance how you will measure progress. Having benchmarks from the start helps you set the bar right. When you have targets to meet it stops you from doing only the minimum you can when you can in the hope that ‘somehow’ things will come together. They wont unless you deliberately work for them to happen.
LEVERAGE: Draw on all the assets you have, your skills and knowledge, guidance from mentors, emotional support from friends, influential contacts, goodwill from colleagues, tenacity, integrity. Align these assets with your action plan in order to deploy them where they will be most effective.
ACHIEVE: What do you want to have achieved in 12 months time? What support do you need to increase your chances of succeeding? What is likely to undermine success? How will you prevent that from happening? What risks will you be prepared to take?.
NURTURE: Goals are not an end in themselves but are part of a bigger picture of our lives. Nurture what you achieve so that grows bigger and better. Regularly check whether your original goals are self-limiting in any way; after all goal-setting is rarely a ‘one time’ show.
Now take action: Write your GAMEPLAN for 2011 by 31 December.
GOAL: Set ambitious goals that will make a difference when achieved. Don’t settle for a particular goal because that’s what your friends are setting for themselves or because it’s the time of year when you are expected to do so. Choose goals that are important, that you are passionate about and that will will stretch you to do more than you feel you are capable of.
ACCOUNTABILITY: A goal without ‘ownership’ will go nowhere. You must be willing to be 100% responsible for your goals and develop an action plan with specific activities and success measures to keep you firmly on track. Make sure there’s a ‘rescue plan’ should a major unforeseen occurrence throw things off track.
MOMENTUM: This is critical to ensuring consistency and keeping your goals alive. We’ve all experienced a ‘fizzling out’ of enthusiasm for our resolutions especially when we have a lot to handle. Besides real powerful and worthy goals need energy to keep them alive. Establish a predictable routine around your goals to ensure that you are doing something daily to keep you steadfast and moving you forward
ENTHUSIASM: Enthusiasm is the ‘float’ that keeps your vision buoyant. Also when you are excited about what you are seeking to accomplish, it says ‘I believe in this’ and that makes others more willing to support you. So make sure your goals excite you so that you care enough about them to draw on all your inner resources to bring them to pass.
PROGRESS: Know in advance how you will measure progress. Having benchmarks from the start helps you set the bar right. When you have targets to meet it stops you from doing only the minimum you can when you can in the hope that ‘somehow’ things will come together. They wont unless you deliberately work for them to happen.
LEVERAGE: Draw on all the assets you have, your skills and knowledge, guidance from mentors, emotional support from friends, influential contacts, goodwill from colleagues, tenacity, integrity. Align these assets with your action plan in order to deploy them where they will be most effective.
ACHIEVE: What do you want to have achieved in 12 months time? What support do you need to increase your chances of succeeding? What is likely to undermine success? How will you prevent that from happening? What risks will you be prepared to take?.
NURTURE: Goals are not an end in themselves but are part of a bigger picture of our lives. Nurture what you achieve so that grows bigger and better. Regularly check whether your original goals are self-limiting in any way; after all goal-setting is rarely a ‘one time’ show.
Now take action: Write your GAMEPLAN for 2011 by 31 December.
How did you do in 2010?
As 2010 comes to an end we start to think about 2011 and what our resolutions and goals will be. What most of us don’t do is to assess our performance in the outgoing year and what to do better in the new year. So what does your annual report look like?. Here are some areas to consider as you reflect.
HOW BOLD WERE YOUR GOALS: If you set resolutions instead of goals you probably gave up on them by end January! If you set proper goals how many did you achieve? how easily did you achieve them? how many did you ignore because they were hard and unrealistic? What support did you get in the pursuit of these goals?
WHAT WERE YOUR SUCCESSES: What was your measure of success for the goals? If you did not specifically define these from the start think back to where you were 12 months ago and assess broadly what might represent progress; perhaps, a promotion, higher level responsibility at work, a performance award, new mentors? An interview for that bigger job?
WHAT CONSTRAINED YOU: Constraints are anything that stopped you from making progress and might be self-made such as poor habits or lack of focus. They could also have been things outside your control such as your manager’s decision that did not favour you or perhaps not getting that loan to pay for that course you wanted to do this year. How did you attempt to overcome these constraints?
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES CAME YOUR WAY: Opportunity isn’t always ‘glitz and glamour’; Often it’s what comes because of hard work and preparedness. What new interesting assignments did you get to work on?. What opportunities did you underutilise?. What did you miss out on because you were unprepared? What did you ignore that you shouldn’t have? What chances did you create yourself?
WHAT RISKS DID YOU TAKE: What ‘unusual’ actions did you take to achieve your goals? What paid off and what didn’t? How did you bounce back from any unanticipated obstacles? Did you make decisions and choices intentionally or just act ‘in the moment’? What were the consequences? Which of your assumptions did not hold? How did these impact on progress you made?
HOW BETTER HAVE YOU BECOME: To do better, you have become better; how have you improved as a person and professional, how better are your habits? What poor behaviours have you overcome? How has your mindset improved? How accountable are you to yourself and others? How consistently do you pursue what matters? How conscious have you become of your choices?
HOW FOCUSSED ON PROGRESS ARE YOU: Allocate a performance rating on the above on a scale of 1 to 10 for each area. Score yourself. What was your total? Where are you doing well, where do you need improve? What can you build on?
Now take your action: Write down 3 successes and 3 lessons you’ll take into 2011
HOW BOLD WERE YOUR GOALS: If you set resolutions instead of goals you probably gave up on them by end January! If you set proper goals how many did you achieve? how easily did you achieve them? how many did you ignore because they were hard and unrealistic? What support did you get in the pursuit of these goals?
WHAT WERE YOUR SUCCESSES: What was your measure of success for the goals? If you did not specifically define these from the start think back to where you were 12 months ago and assess broadly what might represent progress; perhaps, a promotion, higher level responsibility at work, a performance award, new mentors? An interview for that bigger job?
WHAT CONSTRAINED YOU: Constraints are anything that stopped you from making progress and might be self-made such as poor habits or lack of focus. They could also have been things outside your control such as your manager’s decision that did not favour you or perhaps not getting that loan to pay for that course you wanted to do this year. How did you attempt to overcome these constraints?
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES CAME YOUR WAY: Opportunity isn’t always ‘glitz and glamour’; Often it’s what comes because of hard work and preparedness. What new interesting assignments did you get to work on?. What opportunities did you underutilise?. What did you miss out on because you were unprepared? What did you ignore that you shouldn’t have? What chances did you create yourself?
WHAT RISKS DID YOU TAKE: What ‘unusual’ actions did you take to achieve your goals? What paid off and what didn’t? How did you bounce back from any unanticipated obstacles? Did you make decisions and choices intentionally or just act ‘in the moment’? What were the consequences? Which of your assumptions did not hold? How did these impact on progress you made?
HOW BETTER HAVE YOU BECOME: To do better, you have become better; how have you improved as a person and professional, how better are your habits? What poor behaviours have you overcome? How has your mindset improved? How accountable are you to yourself and others? How consistently do you pursue what matters? How conscious have you become of your choices?
HOW FOCUSSED ON PROGRESS ARE YOU: Allocate a performance rating on the above on a scale of 1 to 10 for each area. Score yourself. What was your total? Where are you doing well, where do you need improve? What can you build on?
Now take your action: Write down 3 successes and 3 lessons you’ll take into 2011
Assess your career journey
Stock tacking - organizations do them and so should you. Taking stock helps you to re-strategize for the future and to take the best of your past with you. Here are some areas to assess as you trace your success journey to date.
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT: This could be knowledge gained through new courses but also what you’ve learnt everyday on the job; through trial and error, watching others, mentoring others and unlearning what no longer works. Learning from all situations keeps you fresh so don’t shut yourself down by looking at learning only as that which you are taught in a conventional training session.
PRACTICAL SKILLS YOU HAVE ACQUIRED: Skills are important to your career and the more current they are, the better. What skills have you learnt? How did you learn them? How have you grown them?. Which ones came naturally to you, which required more practice?. Use these questions to identify the skills sets you can march forward with.
HOW YOU HAVE ENRICHED YOUR MIND: When did you last read a book or an article outside your ‘usual areas’? how many people unlike yourself have you interacted with? How open minded have you been?. If the mind is not exercised, it stagnates. Share your brain by helping to solve problems, pursue the creative and the thought provoking.
THE VARIETY OF YOUR EXPERIENCE: There’s nothing wrong with focusing on a given area of expertise or staying with the same job. But engaging with a variety of things and roles brings you new perspectives and can sharpen your capacity to handle what is different and unusual. It also stops you from being ‘put in a box’ of what you are or can become.
YOUR ENGAGEMENT OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE: How have you engaged with things different from anything you have known or experienced? What has `been stretching but rewarding? What did you find scary but did anyway? For example stepping out and chairing that high profile meeting? Offering to be part of the team that you feel is out of your league? If not go on take a chance!
WHAT YOU HAVE OUTGROWN: Unfortunately, sometimes we hang on to things that no longer works. You know you have outgrown your role for example when it no longer excites or challenges you and becomes really comfortable. If ‘comfortable’ is what you want fair enough but sticking with comfortable might flat line your future progress.
WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TRULY SUCCESSFUL AT: Whether you have had a goal oriented work life to date or not, having a definition of ‘successful’ is important. This is helpful for upping your game going forward. If you have approached your career day in day out without any milestones, it’s time to take a more strategic approach. For example what do you want to achieve in the next 12 months, 3 years?
Now take action: What have you been successful at to date? How can you enhance it?
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT: This could be knowledge gained through new courses but also what you’ve learnt everyday on the job; through trial and error, watching others, mentoring others and unlearning what no longer works. Learning from all situations keeps you fresh so don’t shut yourself down by looking at learning only as that which you are taught in a conventional training session.
PRACTICAL SKILLS YOU HAVE ACQUIRED: Skills are important to your career and the more current they are, the better. What skills have you learnt? How did you learn them? How have you grown them?. Which ones came naturally to you, which required more practice?. Use these questions to identify the skills sets you can march forward with.
HOW YOU HAVE ENRICHED YOUR MIND: When did you last read a book or an article outside your ‘usual areas’? how many people unlike yourself have you interacted with? How open minded have you been?. If the mind is not exercised, it stagnates. Share your brain by helping to solve problems, pursue the creative and the thought provoking.
THE VARIETY OF YOUR EXPERIENCE: There’s nothing wrong with focusing on a given area of expertise or staying with the same job. But engaging with a variety of things and roles brings you new perspectives and can sharpen your capacity to handle what is different and unusual. It also stops you from being ‘put in a box’ of what you are or can become.
YOUR ENGAGEMENT OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE: How have you engaged with things different from anything you have known or experienced? What has `been stretching but rewarding? What did you find scary but did anyway? For example stepping out and chairing that high profile meeting? Offering to be part of the team that you feel is out of your league? If not go on take a chance!
WHAT YOU HAVE OUTGROWN: Unfortunately, sometimes we hang on to things that no longer works. You know you have outgrown your role for example when it no longer excites or challenges you and becomes really comfortable. If ‘comfortable’ is what you want fair enough but sticking with comfortable might flat line your future progress.
WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TRULY SUCCESSFUL AT: Whether you have had a goal oriented work life to date or not, having a definition of ‘successful’ is important. This is helpful for upping your game going forward. If you have approached your career day in day out without any milestones, it’s time to take a more strategic approach. For example what do you want to achieve in the next 12 months, 3 years?
Now take action: What have you been successful at to date? How can you enhance it?
How relevant are you?
Relevance is a notch above just having skills and competencies. It’s combining them with the right attitude, mindset and application in a way that brings value to the role or organization, So how relevant are you? Try this quick relevance audit
WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT OTHERS CARE ABOUT? You must be clear what you offer but it’s more important to know what others think you bring. Sometimes the two may not the same and that’s ok as long as both are positive. Listen out for both formal and informal feedback from colleagues and others in order to know what they value in you.
HOW NIMBLE ARE YOUR PROFESSIONAL ASSETS? Most people have more skills than these use on their regular job. Relevance requires that you hone even the skills you don’t apply daily so that you are able to deploy them when needed. What assets have you put on the backburner? Keep it on low heat but be ready to turn up the heat when necessary.
CAN YOU ENGAGE INTELLIGENTLY IN MORE THAN ONE AREA? Organizations have to be agile and can’t afford employees who pigeonhole themselves. Of course you can’t be a ‘Jack of all trades’ and neither should you be a ‘one lane operator’. What else can you offer besides what your job description demands? Have a forte but choose to be diverse in what you can be counted on to do.
ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT MATTERS MOST IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT? Sometimes people insist on applying only what they know and can do and hope that it’ll enough. Very often it’s not so make it a point to keep abreast of how agendas are shifting in order to align accordingly and tune into making top priorities happen.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUR ROLE? This calls for appreciating the purpose of your role beyond the activities you do daily. For example if you are a customer service person, being pleasant is part of your job, but the wider purpose is to act to give customers a good experience of your organization so that they do more business with you.
ARE YOU ENSURING YOUR CAPACITY TO DELIVER? How do you demonstrate that you are capable and dependable? End any obsession with doing only what is convenient. If things move very fast in your workplace, chances are you can’t do only what’s convenient for you. It does not mean you take on more than you can handle. It means you learn to quickly drill down to the important.
HOW MUCH GIVE AND TAKE DO YOU PRACTICE? Work isn’t a one way street. It’s a team game. Give and take always yield quicker progress and fosters exchange of ideas enriching the end product. Remember your job isn’t just about getting tasks done, it’s also about drawing on all the positive contributions you can enlist to get the best result.
Now take action: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest, what did you score?
WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT OTHERS CARE ABOUT? You must be clear what you offer but it’s more important to know what others think you bring. Sometimes the two may not the same and that’s ok as long as both are positive. Listen out for both formal and informal feedback from colleagues and others in order to know what they value in you.
HOW NIMBLE ARE YOUR PROFESSIONAL ASSETS? Most people have more skills than these use on their regular job. Relevance requires that you hone even the skills you don’t apply daily so that you are able to deploy them when needed. What assets have you put on the backburner? Keep it on low heat but be ready to turn up the heat when necessary.
CAN YOU ENGAGE INTELLIGENTLY IN MORE THAN ONE AREA? Organizations have to be agile and can’t afford employees who pigeonhole themselves. Of course you can’t be a ‘Jack of all trades’ and neither should you be a ‘one lane operator’. What else can you offer besides what your job description demands? Have a forte but choose to be diverse in what you can be counted on to do.
ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT MATTERS MOST IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT? Sometimes people insist on applying only what they know and can do and hope that it’ll enough. Very often it’s not so make it a point to keep abreast of how agendas are shifting in order to align accordingly and tune into making top priorities happen.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUR ROLE? This calls for appreciating the purpose of your role beyond the activities you do daily. For example if you are a customer service person, being pleasant is part of your job, but the wider purpose is to act to give customers a good experience of your organization so that they do more business with you.
ARE YOU ENSURING YOUR CAPACITY TO DELIVER? How do you demonstrate that you are capable and dependable? End any obsession with doing only what is convenient. If things move very fast in your workplace, chances are you can’t do only what’s convenient for you. It does not mean you take on more than you can handle. It means you learn to quickly drill down to the important.
HOW MUCH GIVE AND TAKE DO YOU PRACTICE? Work isn’t a one way street. It’s a team game. Give and take always yield quicker progress and fosters exchange of ideas enriching the end product. Remember your job isn’t just about getting tasks done, it’s also about drawing on all the positive contributions you can enlist to get the best result.
Now take action: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest, what did you score?
Build your brand
What three words would you use to describe yourself, What makes you stand out among your peers? What would your colleagues say is your greatest strength? In other words what is your personal brand? A strong personal brand creates a distinct image in people’s mind about you, and helps you align with opportunities. Here are some tips on how to develop a personal brand.
BE PREPARED TO BE THE REAL YOU. Personal branding is not about creating a false, artificial or deceitful impression. It is differentiating yourself from the ‘competition’ and communicating your unique strengths in an ethical manner. It’s about developing the ‘you’ that you can be proud of, can sustain and grow.
DO SOME SOUL SEARCHING. There must be essence and substance to your brand. What drives you? What kinds of activities give you meaning? What do you love to do? These questions should help you articulate what comes naturally to you, what you have mastered and help you influence how you are perceived.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU DO BEST. Your brand has to shine a light on your ‘best’ self so think for example about what you are great at, how your passions meet with your skills and what abilities you have that consistently impress other people. Clarify what makes you different and where your true value lies. Look for opportunities to apply your unique skills, expertise or experience. Remember a strong brand helps you compete effectively and to reach your highest potential.
CONSISTENTLY COMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND. For example ask yourself what you do that’s truly remarkable, not just what your job description says. If you had the freedom to create your best job that speaks to your strengths, what ‘star’ competencies would you list. Be visible to your target audience through multiple opportunities; get involved in activities in your area of expertise, work with people who can mentor and sharpen you and on projects that build your reputation.
FIND WAYS TO USE YOUR BRAND. Show people how they can benefit from what you are good at. For example if you are focussed, a good listener and good with people, volunteer to lead a team. Deploy your skills in areas that can raise your profile. Don’t fall into the trap of wanting to be all things to all people or engaging in blatant self promotion.
BE COMFORTABLE WITH POWER: This is not power that is overbearing or position based. When you're operating like a brand you don't work on the basis of the organisational chart or authority accorded you. It's living like a leader and developing your personal and reputational power.
DEVELOP A PERSONAL BRANDING PLAN. You can’t just wing your way to a strong personal brand. Have a clearly thought out plan that allows you to put yourself before the right people, seek out new opportunities that move you towards your professional goals and to a higher goals.
Now take action: What are you ‘expert’ at? How can you use this expertise more?
BE PREPARED TO BE THE REAL YOU. Personal branding is not about creating a false, artificial or deceitful impression. It is differentiating yourself from the ‘competition’ and communicating your unique strengths in an ethical manner. It’s about developing the ‘you’ that you can be proud of, can sustain and grow.
DO SOME SOUL SEARCHING. There must be essence and substance to your brand. What drives you? What kinds of activities give you meaning? What do you love to do? These questions should help you articulate what comes naturally to you, what you have mastered and help you influence how you are perceived.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU DO BEST. Your brand has to shine a light on your ‘best’ self so think for example about what you are great at, how your passions meet with your skills and what abilities you have that consistently impress other people. Clarify what makes you different and where your true value lies. Look for opportunities to apply your unique skills, expertise or experience. Remember a strong brand helps you compete effectively and to reach your highest potential.
CONSISTENTLY COMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND. For example ask yourself what you do that’s truly remarkable, not just what your job description says. If you had the freedom to create your best job that speaks to your strengths, what ‘star’ competencies would you list. Be visible to your target audience through multiple opportunities; get involved in activities in your area of expertise, work with people who can mentor and sharpen you and on projects that build your reputation.
FIND WAYS TO USE YOUR BRAND. Show people how they can benefit from what you are good at. For example if you are focussed, a good listener and good with people, volunteer to lead a team. Deploy your skills in areas that can raise your profile. Don’t fall into the trap of wanting to be all things to all people or engaging in blatant self promotion.
BE COMFORTABLE WITH POWER: This is not power that is overbearing or position based. When you're operating like a brand you don't work on the basis of the organisational chart or authority accorded you. It's living like a leader and developing your personal and reputational power.
DEVELOP A PERSONAL BRANDING PLAN. You can’t just wing your way to a strong personal brand. Have a clearly thought out plan that allows you to put yourself before the right people, seek out new opportunities that move you towards your professional goals and to a higher goals.
Now take action: What are you ‘expert’ at? How can you use this expertise more?
Delegate don't dump
Delegation! It’s a core skill for everyone particularly managers. It allows you use the others strengths and to grow other people. Unfortunately, delegation is one of the most mis(applied) tools in the working place. Delegation is not;
DUMPING : Many see delegation as their chance to offload assignments that are boring, difficult and low profile onto others. And the manner in which the work is passed on says as much. Dumping rarely gets the job done properly and that reflects poorly on you.
MICROMANAGING : You do this when you hand over the task but check in every minute to see if it’s being done. OK, if the person doing it is inexperienced. Otherwise you might be saying by your actions ‘I don’t trust you to do this right’.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT: If you delegate only when your plate is overflowing or have other tasks overdue, you’re delegating crisis-style. Delegation is your opportunity to develop others and to free yourself to focus on only what you should.
To delegate
THINK WHY YOU ARE DELEGATING: The more critical the task the more cautious and clear you need to be about why you are delegating and the amount of freedom you give to the person you delegate to. Take care to decide whether a critical piece of work should be delegated at all and if so how to ensure it gets done well.
WHO TO DELEGATE TO: The more complicated the job the more experienced and reliable the person you delegate it to needs to be. If a particular person could benefit from working on the project, have them shadow you as you work on it. You could also divide up complex work and delegate parts of it with proper co-ordination.
COMMUNICATE EXPECTATIONS: As you delegate, explain what the task is, why you have chosen that individual to do it, what results you are looking for and by when Check that they understand what is required of them. Have them repeat back to you their understanding of the task and to reassure you that they feel able to do it.
BE AVAILABLE TO COACH: Delegation isn’t handing over the work and showing up by your deadline. Clarify what help the person assigned will need. Be sure to explain your role in the assignment and your availability to coach and support them. Ask them to give you feedback at agreed intervals so that you know how they are getting on.
SPARE THE USUAL SUSPECTS: There’s a saying, ‘if you want sometime done give it to a busy person’. True; but delegating to the same people all the time can overburden them, create a perception of favoritism. Granted if you need want something done urgently, that’s not a good time to give it to a learner; but if your deadlines aren’t too tight you might just be able to afford to give it to the not so experienced.
Now take action : Look at your workplan for the week. What one thing can you delegate?
DUMPING : Many see delegation as their chance to offload assignments that are boring, difficult and low profile onto others. And the manner in which the work is passed on says as much. Dumping rarely gets the job done properly and that reflects poorly on you.
MICROMANAGING : You do this when you hand over the task but check in every minute to see if it’s being done. OK, if the person doing it is inexperienced. Otherwise you might be saying by your actions ‘I don’t trust you to do this right’.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT: If you delegate only when your plate is overflowing or have other tasks overdue, you’re delegating crisis-style. Delegation is your opportunity to develop others and to free yourself to focus on only what you should.
To delegate
THINK WHY YOU ARE DELEGATING: The more critical the task the more cautious and clear you need to be about why you are delegating and the amount of freedom you give to the person you delegate to. Take care to decide whether a critical piece of work should be delegated at all and if so how to ensure it gets done well.
WHO TO DELEGATE TO: The more complicated the job the more experienced and reliable the person you delegate it to needs to be. If a particular person could benefit from working on the project, have them shadow you as you work on it. You could also divide up complex work and delegate parts of it with proper co-ordination.
COMMUNICATE EXPECTATIONS: As you delegate, explain what the task is, why you have chosen that individual to do it, what results you are looking for and by when Check that they understand what is required of them. Have them repeat back to you their understanding of the task and to reassure you that they feel able to do it.
BE AVAILABLE TO COACH: Delegation isn’t handing over the work and showing up by your deadline. Clarify what help the person assigned will need. Be sure to explain your role in the assignment and your availability to coach and support them. Ask them to give you feedback at agreed intervals so that you know how they are getting on.
SPARE THE USUAL SUSPECTS: There’s a saying, ‘if you want sometime done give it to a busy person’. True; but delegating to the same people all the time can overburden them, create a perception of favoritism. Granted if you need want something done urgently, that’s not a good time to give it to a learner; but if your deadlines aren’t too tight you might just be able to afford to give it to the not so experienced.
Now take action : Look at your workplan for the week. What one thing can you delegate?
Getting too 'me' focussed?
Focus is seen as the mark of people going places. But increasingly employees are being valued more for their ability to work with and through others than as even excellent lone rangers. So if you’ve been too tuned into ‘What’s In It For Me’ (WIIFM) mentality, it might be time to lower the dial. Here are some suggestions;
DONT GET TOO CAREERIST: When you look at everything through a ‘career promotion’ lens you’re on slippery ground because today’s workplace prefers team players, so climb your career ladder on the back of valuable contributions to the organizations and teams you work with.
EMBRACE COLLECTIVISM: Collectivism is believing that there’s a purpose bigger than yourself, that when you work together with others you achieve more than you would alone. To be ‘collective’ minded you’ll have to tame your need to be noticed or to be validated all the time.
LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE: Whatever your goals, they cannot be achieved in isolation. Think back to any interview you have attended and you’ll remember the questions had more to do with what you could an bring to the organization rather than what the job or organization will do for your career. Know what your role is and how it fits with others’ so that your performance connect with those of others.
DROP THE TRANSACTIONAL MINDSET: If you work for a good employer, there are probably a lot of ‘goodies’ you can negotiate – interesting assignments, mentoring, flexi-working; and be grateful for such. Don’t make work interactions too transactional; have clear boundaries of give and take where necessary but making everything quid pro quo sounds more like a marketplace philosophy.
BE CONTRIBUTION DRIVEN: I love the quote ‘its amazing what we can achieve if we don’t care who gets the credit’ Of course you should get the credit if you’ve deserve it. The point however is that if making a difference is more important to you than looking to ‘shine’ you will reap benefits; you become better, you grow, you break new ground, you are a sought after team player!
RECOGNISE YOU NEED OTHERS: Imagine what would happen if everyone did something only if they could see a benefit for themselves? The workplace would probably feel like a kindergarten or a lions den- everyone out for him/herself. But thankfully the modern workplace demands collaboration. So if you value your future hone your joint working skills and give more than is expected of you.
ACCEPT THAT INDIVIDUALISM IS WANING: ‘Believing in yourself’ should be non-negotiable and so should ‘working with others’ and embracing interdependence. Tune in to these and your career will be the better for it. Demonstrate your individual excellence regularly but do so in the context of making your team glow rather than to shine the torchlight on yourself.
Now take action : What’s going to be your free gift to your workplace this week?
DONT GET TOO CAREERIST: When you look at everything through a ‘career promotion’ lens you’re on slippery ground because today’s workplace prefers team players, so climb your career ladder on the back of valuable contributions to the organizations and teams you work with.
EMBRACE COLLECTIVISM: Collectivism is believing that there’s a purpose bigger than yourself, that when you work together with others you achieve more than you would alone. To be ‘collective’ minded you’ll have to tame your need to be noticed or to be validated all the time.
LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE: Whatever your goals, they cannot be achieved in isolation. Think back to any interview you have attended and you’ll remember the questions had more to do with what you could an bring to the organization rather than what the job or organization will do for your career. Know what your role is and how it fits with others’ so that your performance connect with those of others.
DROP THE TRANSACTIONAL MINDSET: If you work for a good employer, there are probably a lot of ‘goodies’ you can negotiate – interesting assignments, mentoring, flexi-working; and be grateful for such. Don’t make work interactions too transactional; have clear boundaries of give and take where necessary but making everything quid pro quo sounds more like a marketplace philosophy.
BE CONTRIBUTION DRIVEN: I love the quote ‘its amazing what we can achieve if we don’t care who gets the credit’ Of course you should get the credit if you’ve deserve it. The point however is that if making a difference is more important to you than looking to ‘shine’ you will reap benefits; you become better, you grow, you break new ground, you are a sought after team player!
RECOGNISE YOU NEED OTHERS: Imagine what would happen if everyone did something only if they could see a benefit for themselves? The workplace would probably feel like a kindergarten or a lions den- everyone out for him/herself. But thankfully the modern workplace demands collaboration. So if you value your future hone your joint working skills and give more than is expected of you.
ACCEPT THAT INDIVIDUALISM IS WANING: ‘Believing in yourself’ should be non-negotiable and so should ‘working with others’ and embracing interdependence. Tune in to these and your career will be the better for it. Demonstrate your individual excellence regularly but do so in the context of making your team glow rather than to shine the torchlight on yourself.
Now take action : What’s going to be your free gift to your workplace this week?
Groom your power of self
To be able to live your best self you need a good understanding of who you are, what makes you tick, how you can curb any negative excesses and how best to develop any elements that you may lack. Here are some ‘components’ of self that you must pay attention to in the process.
SELF AWARENESS : Know thyself. Being clear about who you are and what you want empowers you to consciously and actively take actions and decisions that support these goals. Without this you can get sidetracked and go on a ‘trial and error’ journey without any useful lessons. When you are self aware that self knowledge becomes a radar that guides you.
SELF MANAGEMENT: You have to know what you have in order to manage them well right?. Know your strengths and limitations, your talents and gaps as far as your goals are concerned. Proper self management entails taking care of yourself, so that you become dependable, professional and diligent in all that you do. Also develop your mind, your manners and ability to deal with stress.
SELF DISCIPLINE: This calls for self-restraint and might include simple things like not talking too much in meetings or regularly finishing assignments on time. Fact is; self discipline cannot come from the outside; you must teach yourself. Be accountable and accept responsibility for your own behavior. Have a good work ethic and show that you are worthy of being allowed to manage your own work.
SELF ESTEEM: No doubt a good dose of this is key to achieving success. We all feel down occasionally but what you cannot afford to do is to feel ‘worthless’. For example do you judge your worth by your job title? If you think that job is worth leaving your home to come to then be proud of it. Overall, be confident in who you are and what you can contribute no matter how small or ‘low level’ you think it is. You can stand on the ‘shoulders’ of even the little things done well to rise.
SELF EXPRESSION: Being a Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde’ will not build your career. Self-expression is about being who you are, not what you think others want you to be. It’s also about saying what you mean when you need to in way that does not disrespect anyone! Of course if your ‘true self’ isn’t exactly personable, you must address this because an obnoxious attitude can bring you down quickly.
SELF APPROVAL: Are you in a perpetual state of comparison? Do you often secretly envy others?. Do you feel slighted if you are not involved in everything? This is a self defeating pattern. The really nice things others tell us they vague in us is heartwarming However, you need to like something about you first. Keep stretching yourself and remember that perfect people are only in the movies.
Now take action: How well do you know yourself? Sit down and take stock.
SELF AWARENESS : Know thyself. Being clear about who you are and what you want empowers you to consciously and actively take actions and decisions that support these goals. Without this you can get sidetracked and go on a ‘trial and error’ journey without any useful lessons. When you are self aware that self knowledge becomes a radar that guides you.
SELF MANAGEMENT: You have to know what you have in order to manage them well right?. Know your strengths and limitations, your talents and gaps as far as your goals are concerned. Proper self management entails taking care of yourself, so that you become dependable, professional and diligent in all that you do. Also develop your mind, your manners and ability to deal with stress.
SELF DISCIPLINE: This calls for self-restraint and might include simple things like not talking too much in meetings or regularly finishing assignments on time. Fact is; self discipline cannot come from the outside; you must teach yourself. Be accountable and accept responsibility for your own behavior. Have a good work ethic and show that you are worthy of being allowed to manage your own work.
SELF ESTEEM: No doubt a good dose of this is key to achieving success. We all feel down occasionally but what you cannot afford to do is to feel ‘worthless’. For example do you judge your worth by your job title? If you think that job is worth leaving your home to come to then be proud of it. Overall, be confident in who you are and what you can contribute no matter how small or ‘low level’ you think it is. You can stand on the ‘shoulders’ of even the little things done well to rise.
SELF EXPRESSION: Being a Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde’ will not build your career. Self-expression is about being who you are, not what you think others want you to be. It’s also about saying what you mean when you need to in way that does not disrespect anyone! Of course if your ‘true self’ isn’t exactly personable, you must address this because an obnoxious attitude can bring you down quickly.
SELF APPROVAL: Are you in a perpetual state of comparison? Do you often secretly envy others?. Do you feel slighted if you are not involved in everything? This is a self defeating pattern. The really nice things others tell us they vague in us is heartwarming However, you need to like something about you first. Keep stretching yourself and remember that perfect people are only in the movies.
Now take action: How well do you know yourself? Sit down and take stock.
Be a LION not a BUM!
Ever been to a workshop where you were asked to think about what animal you would be if you lived in the animal kingdom? It’s always enlightening to compare what people think of themselves with the perceptions of others. Permit me to go with two species-the bug and the lion. When you are a Bug you are...
BLAMING : Do you always feel that you have no control over what happens to you? When you are a ‘blamer’ you see every mistake as someone else’s fault and you don’t hesitate to find the culprit in any situation. As a blamer you live your life in ‘reactionary’ mode and often on the receiving end rather than making things happen.
UNDRIVEN: Being too driven is sometimes seen as a negative. But the alternative- what I call ‘undriven’ brings apathy, stagnation and makes you ineffective. People like to collaborate with people, who are self-motivated, know what they are about and act on what they believe. Drive is possibly one of the most important characteristic of accomplishers so work to increase your inner motivation.
MOANING: We all complain from time to time but when it becomes a habit, you can start to irritate those around you. Moaners always look for the bad in situations to justify their attitude. Becoming a moaner can creep on you so start paying attention to your response to situations. Do you complain or work out what to do about it?
On the contrary to be a L.I.O.N is to;
LIVE WITH GRATITUDE: Wanting more from life is good but doing so without appreciating what you already smacks of greed. Find some daily reminders to help you focus on what to be grateful for; for example good team mates, a good working environment, skills and talents; even that tough boss who overloads you with work might be helping you build your ability to handle pressure. It’s all in the attitude.
INCITE POSITIVE ENERGY: ‘Being positive’ is freeing and its impact amazing. Unless you’re surrounded by people who have taken the ‘anti-positive’ vow most people respond warmly to ‘positiveness’ in others. Plus it helps you adapt well and manage problems with the right frame of mind.
ORGANISE CREATIVELY: We know about ‘creative thinking’ but do not really think organising can be creative. Some do this naturally but if you can’t you can learn. Creative organisation means you are able to shift ideas or get people to use ideas in a different way and to pull together seemingly unrelated things into a sensible whole.
NURTURE WITH PRIDE: Nurturing is a very noble responsibility powered by a conscious decision to enrich peoples lives. When you nurture, you listen and help others grow at a speed that takes them out of their comfort zone but not into the ditch. Everyone has something to give of themselves- find out what yours is and share.
Now take action: On a scale of 1-10 on the ‘Positiveness’ ladder, where are you?
BLAMING : Do you always feel that you have no control over what happens to you? When you are a ‘blamer’ you see every mistake as someone else’s fault and you don’t hesitate to find the culprit in any situation. As a blamer you live your life in ‘reactionary’ mode and often on the receiving end rather than making things happen.
UNDRIVEN: Being too driven is sometimes seen as a negative. But the alternative- what I call ‘undriven’ brings apathy, stagnation and makes you ineffective. People like to collaborate with people, who are self-motivated, know what they are about and act on what they believe. Drive is possibly one of the most important characteristic of accomplishers so work to increase your inner motivation.
MOANING: We all complain from time to time but when it becomes a habit, you can start to irritate those around you. Moaners always look for the bad in situations to justify their attitude. Becoming a moaner can creep on you so start paying attention to your response to situations. Do you complain or work out what to do about it?
On the contrary to be a L.I.O.N is to;
LIVE WITH GRATITUDE: Wanting more from life is good but doing so without appreciating what you already smacks of greed. Find some daily reminders to help you focus on what to be grateful for; for example good team mates, a good working environment, skills and talents; even that tough boss who overloads you with work might be helping you build your ability to handle pressure. It’s all in the attitude.
INCITE POSITIVE ENERGY: ‘Being positive’ is freeing and its impact amazing. Unless you’re surrounded by people who have taken the ‘anti-positive’ vow most people respond warmly to ‘positiveness’ in others. Plus it helps you adapt well and manage problems with the right frame of mind.
ORGANISE CREATIVELY: We know about ‘creative thinking’ but do not really think organising can be creative. Some do this naturally but if you can’t you can learn. Creative organisation means you are able to shift ideas or get people to use ideas in a different way and to pull together seemingly unrelated things into a sensible whole.
NURTURE WITH PRIDE: Nurturing is a very noble responsibility powered by a conscious decision to enrich peoples lives. When you nurture, you listen and help others grow at a speed that takes them out of their comfort zone but not into the ditch. Everyone has something to give of themselves- find out what yours is and share.
Now take action: On a scale of 1-10 on the ‘Positiveness’ ladder, where are you?
Don't lose the power in your point!
PowerPoint; a perfectly good tool has unfortunately earned a bad name because of the way it’s been used (or abused?) A good powerpoint presentation can be inspiring, a bad one can leave us listless. Here are some tips on how avoid the latter.
MAKE IT WORK: You may go with Power point because the workshop organiser demands it or because it’s easy to put together. Success lies in the preparation and the delivery in a manner that communicates a professional image and clarity of thought. And please don’t spoil it all by giving out the hand outs before you present?.
START WITH THE END IN MIND: Before you start working on your slides think about what you want your audience to take away. Take time to outline your presentation before you start to distil your key points. Doing so can save time and help you give a more clear and effective presentation. During delivery get to the main points quickly.
HAVE A CONNECTED MESSAGE: A logical approach often works if you can spice it up with interesting stories that support your points. If you wish to take a different approach be sure you don’t lose the key message or your audience in the process. And don’t try to show off your IT skills by going overboard with irrelevant imagery.
DON'T CROWD THE SLIDES: Your text is a cue for you rather than a message for the viewer. The audience is likely to switch off if they have to read from the screen when they expect to listen instead. Put together strong slides but practice the presentation beforehand so that your spoken remarks on the day are compelling.
DON'T READ WORD FOR WORD: Don’t make yourself redundant by reading the slides line by line. Put the key points on screen preferably as bullet points and amplify them as you talk. Speak confidently, pace your words; watch the body language of your listeners and be ready to switch gears if they look bored.
BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU'RE SAYING: Because content alone does not communicate this. Only your voice and body language can. Communicate energy by varying your intonations and maintaining a confident posture and eye contact as they speak. If you sound bored, your audience will too.
HANDLE QUESTIONS WITH TACT: In handling questions avoid a process that forces you to flip back and forth between slides; as it disrupts the flow. How about opening up for questions towards the end before your closing statement so that your key message is the last thing they hear from you?.
FINISH STRONG: The end is as important as the beginning especially if you had a poor start or mumbled through much of the presentation. As in the beginning remind yourself ‘why are these people here to listen to me?’ and repeat the most important information they need to take home.
Now take action: Take a topic that interests you; prepare& practice a presentation
MAKE IT WORK: You may go with Power point because the workshop organiser demands it or because it’s easy to put together. Success lies in the preparation and the delivery in a manner that communicates a professional image and clarity of thought. And please don’t spoil it all by giving out the hand outs before you present?.
START WITH THE END IN MIND: Before you start working on your slides think about what you want your audience to take away. Take time to outline your presentation before you start to distil your key points. Doing so can save time and help you give a more clear and effective presentation. During delivery get to the main points quickly.
HAVE A CONNECTED MESSAGE: A logical approach often works if you can spice it up with interesting stories that support your points. If you wish to take a different approach be sure you don’t lose the key message or your audience in the process. And don’t try to show off your IT skills by going overboard with irrelevant imagery.
DON'T CROWD THE SLIDES: Your text is a cue for you rather than a message for the viewer. The audience is likely to switch off if they have to read from the screen when they expect to listen instead. Put together strong slides but practice the presentation beforehand so that your spoken remarks on the day are compelling.
DON'T READ WORD FOR WORD: Don’t make yourself redundant by reading the slides line by line. Put the key points on screen preferably as bullet points and amplify them as you talk. Speak confidently, pace your words; watch the body language of your listeners and be ready to switch gears if they look bored.
BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU'RE SAYING: Because content alone does not communicate this. Only your voice and body language can. Communicate energy by varying your intonations and maintaining a confident posture and eye contact as they speak. If you sound bored, your audience will too.
HANDLE QUESTIONS WITH TACT: In handling questions avoid a process that forces you to flip back and forth between slides; as it disrupts the flow. How about opening up for questions towards the end before your closing statement so that your key message is the last thing they hear from you?.
FINISH STRONG: The end is as important as the beginning especially if you had a poor start or mumbled through much of the presentation. As in the beginning remind yourself ‘why are these people here to listen to me?’ and repeat the most important information they need to take home.
Now take action: Take a topic that interests you; prepare& practice a presentation
Go on...Sell those ideas!
You have an idea that you believe if implemented will make a positive impact in your organisation. You share it to get backing and it gets ‘shot down’. Is it because it’s no good? Not necessarily. It might be a question of how you sell it. Here are some tips.
BE CLEAR WHAT THE IDEA IS: We think is an idea but it might be just a fuzzy notion. Clarity means you can see what it’ll be like in practice; that you’re able to explain it simply even if the implementation of the idea itself might not be necessarily simple.
IDENTIFY THE KEY BENEFIT: Good idea have advantages such as saving costs and or time, making a process better, providing improved ways of implementing something. The more practical the benefit the more likely it is to be heard.
PRE-TEST THE IDEA: Outdooring your idea for the first time to the people who will decide whether it lives or dies is not a good plan. Get some bright minds together beforehand and use them as a sounding board and to polish up any ‘rough’ edges.
SELL IT ON THE AUDIEDNCE'S TERMS: You sell, but your audience is under no obligation to ‘buy’. Find out what you can about the person(s) you’re pitching to and what they need to know from you in order to make a decision so that you are on message.
BE READY FOR THE 'BUTS': No matter how good the idea, it’s unlikely to be accepted wholesale. Think ahead to where your audience is likely to challenge your argument and prepare responses. Receive feedback in good faith and use it to improve
DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY: Love your idea but determine not to be so attached to it you get offended at the least criticism. Be prepared to make a strong case but it’s important to allow the independent evaluation so that its merit is properly assessed.
BE PREPARED FOR ITERATIONS: An idea is never perfect from the beginning and might have to be reworked. So don’t be discouraged if it feels like your idea is being torn apart. Be clear what elements your audience think needs further work and get on it.
START THINKING AHEAD: Always think one step ahead of when you are. Start to think about next steps should your idea pass. This includes putting together a team to give the idea legs and momentum and to promote it to audiences critical to its success.
DON'T CHUCK IT IN THE BIN: You’ve given it your best shot and the idea still did not pass. Don’t tear up the file or feel ‘dumb’ for pushing the idea in the first place. It may be inappropriate timing. Park it; but be ready to give it ‘pop’ it out and give it a second chance when the time is right.
Now take action: What idea have not had shot down, how would you sell it now?
BE CLEAR WHAT THE IDEA IS: We think is an idea but it might be just a fuzzy notion. Clarity means you can see what it’ll be like in practice; that you’re able to explain it simply even if the implementation of the idea itself might not be necessarily simple.
IDENTIFY THE KEY BENEFIT: Good idea have advantages such as saving costs and or time, making a process better, providing improved ways of implementing something. The more practical the benefit the more likely it is to be heard.
PRE-TEST THE IDEA: Outdooring your idea for the first time to the people who will decide whether it lives or dies is not a good plan. Get some bright minds together beforehand and use them as a sounding board and to polish up any ‘rough’ edges.
SELL IT ON THE AUDIEDNCE'S TERMS: You sell, but your audience is under no obligation to ‘buy’. Find out what you can about the person(s) you’re pitching to and what they need to know from you in order to make a decision so that you are on message.
BE READY FOR THE 'BUTS': No matter how good the idea, it’s unlikely to be accepted wholesale. Think ahead to where your audience is likely to challenge your argument and prepare responses. Receive feedback in good faith and use it to improve
DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY: Love your idea but determine not to be so attached to it you get offended at the least criticism. Be prepared to make a strong case but it’s important to allow the independent evaluation so that its merit is properly assessed.
BE PREPARED FOR ITERATIONS: An idea is never perfect from the beginning and might have to be reworked. So don’t be discouraged if it feels like your idea is being torn apart. Be clear what elements your audience think needs further work and get on it.
START THINKING AHEAD: Always think one step ahead of when you are. Start to think about next steps should your idea pass. This includes putting together a team to give the idea legs and momentum and to promote it to audiences critical to its success.
DON'T CHUCK IT IN THE BIN: You’ve given it your best shot and the idea still did not pass. Don’t tear up the file or feel ‘dumb’ for pushing the idea in the first place. It may be inappropriate timing. Park it; but be ready to give it ‘pop’ it out and give it a second chance when the time is right.
Now take action: What idea have not had shot down, how would you sell it now?
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