Most people appreciate the importance of honing skills, working well with one’s manager, finding mentors, setting strong goals and getting the right experience in order to advance one’s career. However, there are other things that are equally vital. Here are a couple of critical questions to help you reflect on how to increase your chances of personal and career success.
WHAT WILL YOU STOP TOLERATING?: Some typical things not to tolerate are sloppiness, tardiness, toxic people, time wasters and mediocrity (in yourself and in others). You teach people how to treat you so don’t do anything that will give others the excuse to disrespect or treat you badly. Be friendly with everyone but who do you want to be associated with? Avoid office cliques because they generally do not have a good reputation; but there should be nothing stopping you from having a network of high performing colleagues in your workplace to learn from.
WHAT BAD HABITS WILL YOU DROP?: It takes courage to do this especially if you’ve had these habits for a long time. But it comes down to a simple choice, carry on as is or take action and free yourself to become better and do better. Have a ‘stop doing list’ which should include all the time wasting activities; for example being on social media endlessly on company time, keeping company with the complainers and office gossips or even keeping up what may seem like a harmless habit like wanting everything you do to be perfect. Procrastination is also one to ditch!
HOW WILL YOU PRE-EMPT YOUR STAGNATION?: Doing well in one’s career isn’t just climbing the corporate ladder. Growing your career can also involve gaining diverse experiences even if it means making lateral moves to stretch yourself and become more competitive. You can do this by using your strengths more, improving your time management so you can be involved in more things. Purposely put yourself in challenging situations, try new things, seek more stretch assignments and look for opportunities to work in not so familiar situations. Identify new skills you want to develop, how you will go about developing the skills and how you will know you have gained such skills.
WHAT BOUNDARIES WILL YOU CREATE AND ENFORCE?: Establish boundaries that can keep out unhealthy influences, stresses and negativity. Avoid in particular those who always create conflict, complain or are plain hostile. Enforce boundaries that help you maintain your sanity and be more accountable and meet your commitments. Boundaries that enable you focus attention on what is crucial. Do what helps you keep your sanity and takes unnecessary pressure off you. If a colleague oversteps the boundaries, have a constructive discussion about why you have set those boundaries and that you’d appreciate others respecting them.
Honestly answering these questions and any additional ones of your own will help you remove a lot of the toxicity and pitfalls that can stall your career or at worst flat out kill it.
Now take action: What one action will you do to avoid professional stagnation?
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Don't just be a job holder
What do you consider to be your purpose in your organisation? Many would say they are there to do a job. Fair enough but being a job holder is not good enough. When you act like just a jobholder, you get lost in the ‘average’ crowd and make it difficult for your superiors to entrust you with anything important. Don’t leave yourself behind; Play your ‘A’ game. Here are some ways to start.
MAKE YOUR WORK IMPORTANT: If you see your job as’ just a job’ and do it as such, you could end up on the margins of the organisation or even let go if the organisation is not getting what it needs from you. Don’t just hold the job, run with it, take pride in your work and give it your very best. Stay on your toes and ensure that your output contributes to what makes the organisation tick and perform well.
BE ESSENTIAL TO YOUR ORGANISATION: And not just in your job. There are two types of essential people in any organisation. The first group are those in positions considered critical and the second are those who become so by virtue of their contributions. When you are essential you don’t limit your assignment to that under your authority. You push yourself and let people know from your attitude and results that you will never let them down or get involved in triviality.
SHOW RANGE: You don’t have to be a jack of all trades but need to show versatility Have a body of work that includes everything you create, effect and impact positively. Your knowledge, experiences and accomplishments should tell the story that you are evolving and growing in terms of the depth and breadth of your contributions and increasing level of responsibility.
ALWAYS TRIUMPH: Triumph suggests difficulty, hurdles, even obstacles. You need to be seen as someone who can get the job done no matter what is happening around them or the challenges you face. Most people can do their job well where things are plain sailing but can you do as well when things are stacked against you? You must give confidence that you persevere and come through whatever difficulties you meet.
BE A THIUGHT LEADER: When an organisation does not generate enough new thinking to drive improvements it becomes stale. So consistent improvement should be your philosophy. You must always be aware of the challenges that your organisation or team is grappling with and engage with it. Keep up with trends so that you can add your insights. Set time aside to do some quality thinking and propose ideas worth listening to.
Now take action: What one new additional responsibility will you take on?
MAKE YOUR WORK IMPORTANT: If you see your job as’ just a job’ and do it as such, you could end up on the margins of the organisation or even let go if the organisation is not getting what it needs from you. Don’t just hold the job, run with it, take pride in your work and give it your very best. Stay on your toes and ensure that your output contributes to what makes the organisation tick and perform well.
BE ESSENTIAL TO YOUR ORGANISATION: And not just in your job. There are two types of essential people in any organisation. The first group are those in positions considered critical and the second are those who become so by virtue of their contributions. When you are essential you don’t limit your assignment to that under your authority. You push yourself and let people know from your attitude and results that you will never let them down or get involved in triviality.
SHOW RANGE: You don’t have to be a jack of all trades but need to show versatility Have a body of work that includes everything you create, effect and impact positively. Your knowledge, experiences and accomplishments should tell the story that you are evolving and growing in terms of the depth and breadth of your contributions and increasing level of responsibility.
ALWAYS TRIUMPH: Triumph suggests difficulty, hurdles, even obstacles. You need to be seen as someone who can get the job done no matter what is happening around them or the challenges you face. Most people can do their job well where things are plain sailing but can you do as well when things are stacked against you? You must give confidence that you persevere and come through whatever difficulties you meet.
BE A THIUGHT LEADER: When an organisation does not generate enough new thinking to drive improvements it becomes stale. So consistent improvement should be your philosophy. You must always be aware of the challenges that your organisation or team is grappling with and engage with it. Keep up with trends so that you can add your insights. Set time aside to do some quality thinking and propose ideas worth listening to.
Now take action: What one new additional responsibility will you take on?
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Get better at execution
Everyone agrees planning is important but ability to execute the plan well is equally important. A good plan gives you a headstart but good execution is your commitment and follow through to making important things happen. Here are my 7 ‘S’s of strong execution;
SET UP: First thing is to be clear what is the defined problem or issue you are trying to overcome or solve. This clarity helps you plan how to move forward. The key question to ask yourself is ‘’What am I aiming to tackle and what workplan is fit for that purpose?’’
STANDARD: Be clear what results you are committed that ideally exceeds expectations. Prioritise the right activities that will ensure the quality you desire. Keep an eye on even the small things and check that any tasks you delegate will be delivered to a high standard too. The key question to ask yourself is : What will be my best and most effective work I can and should do?’’
STORY: Take responsibility for understanding why you are doing what you are doing; (And don’t say it’s because your boss asked you to do it). When you know the purpose you approach the task with the end in mind and can think through what you have to do, what you will require for the purpose to be served. The key question to ask yourself is: ‘’Why is what I am doing important and worth doing well?’’
SPEED: Be clear when you need to do the work by. Define meaningful progress checkpoints so that you keep a good pace and keep on track. Build in some time slack for dealing with unforeseen events that might risk slowing things down. If you need other people’s involvement, get their commitment and involvement early. The Key question to ask yourself: ‘’When do I need to get this done by and how can I ensure I deliver on time?’’
SHOCKS: Plans don’t always go totally accordingly to plan. So anticipate potential obstacles and challenges and have a strategy for dealing with them. A Key question to ask yourself: ‘’What could derail or delay progress and how will I address those?’’
SUBSTANCE: Know from the start what is tangible evidence that you are implementing to a high standard and getting the right results. What will you measure and how? A Key question to ask yourself: ‘’How will I know I am doing this task well?’’
SMARTS: Take time to reflect on how things went, what you can learn in order to set even higher standards and do even better next time. A Key question to ask yourself: ‘’What new thing did I learn that I can apply next time to improve my execution?’’
Now take action: How can you execute your assignments better?
SET UP: First thing is to be clear what is the defined problem or issue you are trying to overcome or solve. This clarity helps you plan how to move forward. The key question to ask yourself is ‘’What am I aiming to tackle and what workplan is fit for that purpose?’’
STANDARD: Be clear what results you are committed that ideally exceeds expectations. Prioritise the right activities that will ensure the quality you desire. Keep an eye on even the small things and check that any tasks you delegate will be delivered to a high standard too. The key question to ask yourself is : What will be my best and most effective work I can and should do?’’
STORY: Take responsibility for understanding why you are doing what you are doing; (And don’t say it’s because your boss asked you to do it). When you know the purpose you approach the task with the end in mind and can think through what you have to do, what you will require for the purpose to be served. The key question to ask yourself is: ‘’Why is what I am doing important and worth doing well?’’
SPEED: Be clear when you need to do the work by. Define meaningful progress checkpoints so that you keep a good pace and keep on track. Build in some time slack for dealing with unforeseen events that might risk slowing things down. If you need other people’s involvement, get their commitment and involvement early. The Key question to ask yourself: ‘’When do I need to get this done by and how can I ensure I deliver on time?’’
SHOCKS: Plans don’t always go totally accordingly to plan. So anticipate potential obstacles and challenges and have a strategy for dealing with them. A Key question to ask yourself: ‘’What could derail or delay progress and how will I address those?’’
SUBSTANCE: Know from the start what is tangible evidence that you are implementing to a high standard and getting the right results. What will you measure and how? A Key question to ask yourself: ‘’How will I know I am doing this task well?’’
SMARTS: Take time to reflect on how things went, what you can learn in order to set even higher standards and do even better next time. A Key question to ask yourself: ‘’What new thing did I learn that I can apply next time to improve my execution?’’
Now take action: How can you execute your assignments better?
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Don't dwell in your normal
Stepping out of your normal way of doing things can be unsettling for some but you will cheat yourself out of your full potential if you with business as usual. So here are a few tips to stir things up and move towards more interesting professional experiences;
TRY SOMETHING NEW: What is it that scares you about doing something new? Are you afraid you’ll fail or not do it well? Manage your expectations and fears. After all, you will be trying something new and you shouldn’t expect the best of yourself immediately. Stepping out in your quest to be better is what matters and for that you must give yourself the treat of failing a few times!.
GO FOR A NEW LEVEL: Get outside your comfort zone, take those things you do regularly to a new level. The benefits can be hard to see through the tension and discomfort you might feel in the process. But you’ll start to learn things about yourself, do things at different levels and bring more meaning to your work. If a job becomes too comfortable, develop a professional interest you’re passionate about perhaps even outside your day job to keep you growing.
DEAL WITH THE AWKWARD: Because many times as you work through challenges you gain a richer work experience and personal growth. Believe that if you face the discomfort and survive; you’ll be well on your way to uncovering the talents, new perspectives, skills, and experiences waiting for you beyond your safe zone.
KEEP EXPERIMENTING: It’s easy to pack up as soon as you hit a wall. If what you’re trying doesn’t feel okay you can decide on something else till you get a good fit. The point is to make sure you are not getting stale doing old boring job. The important thing is to ensure you are not going through your work day in a blur.
Now take action: What one new thing you will do to shake your normal routine
TRY SOMETHING NEW: What is it that scares you about doing something new? Are you afraid you’ll fail or not do it well? Manage your expectations and fears. After all, you will be trying something new and you shouldn’t expect the best of yourself immediately. Stepping out in your quest to be better is what matters and for that you must give yourself the treat of failing a few times!.
GO FOR A NEW LEVEL: Get outside your comfort zone, take those things you do regularly to a new level. The benefits can be hard to see through the tension and discomfort you might feel in the process. But you’ll start to learn things about yourself, do things at different levels and bring more meaning to your work. If a job becomes too comfortable, develop a professional interest you’re passionate about perhaps even outside your day job to keep you growing.
DEAL WITH THE AWKWARD: Because many times as you work through challenges you gain a richer work experience and personal growth. Believe that if you face the discomfort and survive; you’ll be well on your way to uncovering the talents, new perspectives, skills, and experiences waiting for you beyond your safe zone.
KEEP EXPERIMENTING: It’s easy to pack up as soon as you hit a wall. If what you’re trying doesn’t feel okay you can decide on something else till you get a good fit. The point is to make sure you are not getting stale doing old boring job. The important thing is to ensure you are not going through your work day in a blur.
Now take action: What one new thing you will do to shake your normal routine
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Six questions you must ask yourself
From time to time it helps to take the time to check that you are your best path to where you wish to be career-wise. Here are some questions to help your reflections;
WHO ARE YOU AS A PROFESSIONAL?: What’s your work ethic and working style?; How do you contribute to a positive work environment, how do you balance your aspirations with those of your organisation? How do you establish and maintain important professional relationships? What are you known for in your professional circles? What are you like at your best?
WHAT’S YOUR CAREER STRATEGY?: What do you want to achieve and in what timeframe? How do you push yourself into more ambitious places? How are you proactively managing where you go from here? How do you assess what options are available regarding the direction you want to go in? How do you make an informed decision on whether you are on the right career path?
HOW DO YOU HANDLE OBSTACLES?: Which of your own behaviours are becoming barriers and sabotaging you? How do you distil lessons from your mistakes?. How do you navigate when you are outside of your comfort zone? How do you bounce back from setbacks? What do you need to develop to strengthen your resilience?
WHAT ALARM BELLS ARE YOU IGNORING?: How do you know when you’ve stopped growing? What excites you that you no longer make time to engage in? What lame reasons are you telling yourself for not doing what you know you ought to? What are you tolerating that’s hurting you or your prospects?
HOW DO YOU MANAGE SELF DIRECTION? How do you handle change? How do you adapt when you find yourself in a situation that is new to you? How do you handle uncertainty? How do you proceed when you have to handle an important responsibility without clear direction? What actions are you taking now that will prepare you better for challenges?
WHAT WILL PUT YOU IN THE TOP LEAGUE?: What are you doing or not doing that’s keeping you from making the top league? How are you building on your successes? Who are you intentionally learning from? How do you know when you are ready to compete at your next level?
Now take action: Based on your answers to the above, what do you need to get better at?
WHO ARE YOU AS A PROFESSIONAL?: What’s your work ethic and working style?; How do you contribute to a positive work environment, how do you balance your aspirations with those of your organisation? How do you establish and maintain important professional relationships? What are you known for in your professional circles? What are you like at your best?
WHAT’S YOUR CAREER STRATEGY?: What do you want to achieve and in what timeframe? How do you push yourself into more ambitious places? How are you proactively managing where you go from here? How do you assess what options are available regarding the direction you want to go in? How do you make an informed decision on whether you are on the right career path?
HOW DO YOU HANDLE OBSTACLES?: Which of your own behaviours are becoming barriers and sabotaging you? How do you distil lessons from your mistakes?. How do you navigate when you are outside of your comfort zone? How do you bounce back from setbacks? What do you need to develop to strengthen your resilience?
WHAT ALARM BELLS ARE YOU IGNORING?: How do you know when you’ve stopped growing? What excites you that you no longer make time to engage in? What lame reasons are you telling yourself for not doing what you know you ought to? What are you tolerating that’s hurting you or your prospects?
HOW DO YOU MANAGE SELF DIRECTION? How do you handle change? How do you adapt when you find yourself in a situation that is new to you? How do you handle uncertainty? How do you proceed when you have to handle an important responsibility without clear direction? What actions are you taking now that will prepare you better for challenges?
WHAT WILL PUT YOU IN THE TOP LEAGUE?: What are you doing or not doing that’s keeping you from making the top league? How are you building on your successes? Who are you intentionally learning from? How do you know when you are ready to compete at your next level?
Now take action: Based on your answers to the above, what do you need to get better at?
Saturday, June 1, 2013
What should you be willing to ignore?
Focus is such an important thing, it helps you pay put your attention on what really matters and to ignore other things of little consequence. But in the workplace there are several things that can distract you and stress you out. Here are some common occurrences things I suggest you learn to ignore;
IRRELEVANT WEAKNESSES: Most people are more concerned about fixing their weaknesses than building their strengths. If an area that you are weak in is not a critical competence for your job, minimise it otherwise whilst you spend time fixing your faults, your work is not getting done.
ADDICTION TO APPROVAL: A pat on the back will lift anyone’s mood but always needing a dose of validation from others in order to feel that you are doing something right is a false sense of security . Overcome your need to please everyone with the intention of getting approval. Don’t depend on others to feel good about yourself or the good work you do and don’t crumble if you don’t get a much deserved recognition or praise for something you have achieved.
OFFENSES AGAINST YOU: These will happen, a colleague will offend you or you may take offence at someone else sometimes even without the person knowing. When offences happen ignore them; if you can’t the deal with them promptly and then draw a line under them. Don’t hold grudges in the workplace. They drain your energy and can hold you hostage to yourself.
ADVICE THAT DOESN'T WORK: People mean well and especially in a nurturing environment people will volunteer free advice. Don’t reject it out of hand, reflect on it and feel free to ignore advice that you believe will not work for you and just plain inappropriate. Disagree with it without being disagreeable.
DRAMA AND MORE DRAMA: A thousand things can cause tension and drama in the workplace, personality problems, people who often find themselves in the midst of controversy, the rumour mill, gossip. Stay away from people with a negative attitude. When it comes to venting about your personal problems, set boundaries and avoid the urge to confront others over everything you are unhappy with.
Now take action: What little thing are you blowing out of proportion at work?
IRRELEVANT WEAKNESSES: Most people are more concerned about fixing their weaknesses than building their strengths. If an area that you are weak in is not a critical competence for your job, minimise it otherwise whilst you spend time fixing your faults, your work is not getting done.
ADDICTION TO APPROVAL: A pat on the back will lift anyone’s mood but always needing a dose of validation from others in order to feel that you are doing something right is a false sense of security . Overcome your need to please everyone with the intention of getting approval. Don’t depend on others to feel good about yourself or the good work you do and don’t crumble if you don’t get a much deserved recognition or praise for something you have achieved.
OFFENSES AGAINST YOU: These will happen, a colleague will offend you or you may take offence at someone else sometimes even without the person knowing. When offences happen ignore them; if you can’t the deal with them promptly and then draw a line under them. Don’t hold grudges in the workplace. They drain your energy and can hold you hostage to yourself.
ADVICE THAT DOESN'T WORK: People mean well and especially in a nurturing environment people will volunteer free advice. Don’t reject it out of hand, reflect on it and feel free to ignore advice that you believe will not work for you and just plain inappropriate. Disagree with it without being disagreeable.
DRAMA AND MORE DRAMA: A thousand things can cause tension and drama in the workplace, personality problems, people who often find themselves in the midst of controversy, the rumour mill, gossip. Stay away from people with a negative attitude. When it comes to venting about your personal problems, set boundaries and avoid the urge to confront others over everything you are unhappy with.
Now take action: What little thing are you blowing out of proportion at work?
Keep it REAL with your boss
Your boss has a responsibility to help you be productive; but this is a partnership that requires you to be proactive in ensuring an open, honest and mutually beneficial process that facilitates this. Get R.E.A.L by demonstrating;
RESPONSIBILITY: Don’t just do tasks; make proper choices, solve problems that emerge and do things when you say you will. Being responsible includes having a strong work ethic and keeping a positive attitude when the going gets tough and rough. Focus on the right priorities. If you work with the same boss for more than a year, ensure that you demonstrate increasing capability year on year to strengthen their confidence in you.
ENGAGEMENT: Keep a conversation going with your manager. Know what your boss’s full scope of work is so that you keep your bit in perspective. Don’t surprise them with bad news or leave important work undone. Don’t be so attached to the way you like to do things that you fail to adapt to a way that works for both your manager and you. Engaging with your manager regularly helps you identify what’s changing and what’s on the horizon. It also helps you be aware when he or she is extremely busy and will appreciate not coming to them with issues are not urgent or critically important at that time.
ACCOUNTABILITY: Personal accountability should be paramount, take responsibility for your own performance. Know the performance metrics your boss pays attention to. Don’t do anything that will let he or she or indeed others question your integrity. Don’t complain without making effort to improve things. Highlight potential problems quickly and indicate what you are going to do about it. Don’t put problems on the boss’ shoulders, if you need help be specific about what you need.
LEADERSHIP: Show you can operate different situations. Don’t get stuck in ‘how great your previous boss was’’ and hope your new boss becomes like them. Every boss is different and must deal with their own challenges in their own way. Don’t let all your discussions with your boss be about problems, show that in time of trouble you can fix things and in stable times you can fly higher and sail further. Let the mention of your name bring positive attributes to mind.
Now take action: What can you do to improve how you work with your boss?
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