Posts Tagged ‘Professional’

For way too long, I was always the Martyr. Had the misplaced belief that, if I did my job with excellence, I’d be recognized for my work. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work that way. If you’re not also tooting your own horn, the world just passes you by. Some will love you, most won’t know enough to miss you when you’re gone.

This is also one of the beauties of contemporary social media. It gives everyone who care to pick it up, a bull horn to serve their own purposes. Even today I’m probably too conservative in self-aggrandizing activity, but I’m working at it.

The article triggering the thought, originally is courtesy of Chris Guillebeau discussing what Hustling is.

Joey Roth created the artwork and I think you’ll agree, no words are needed beyond the labels.

(photo credit: Joey Roth)

With so many people looking for work, seeking answers to win the next opportunity, this question is all too common.  At the same time, the suggested answers vary wildly but, for the most part seem to miss the crux of the issue.  Why should I hire you?

Consider these common responses:

I am:

• Accustomed to a fast pace and will hit the ground running
• Will be a valuable asset to your organization
• Able to handle stress and pressure
• Think quickly on my feet
• Am a team player

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I was catching up on blogs today…been away from my reading awhile…and saw one of Seth Godin’s dozens of philosophical questions.  The crux of his article was about doing indispensable work and cheating the clock.  We face more distractions, greater demands, more complex lives than ever before—nothing new there at all.  You also cannot work more than 24 hours in a day.  Too many folks work 10-12 hours a day, or, at least they’re ‘there’ that long.

One of his questions struck me as being worth discussing with my readers: What If…you were only allowed 5 hours a day to do your job?

Here are some suggestions:

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This week I participated in a discussion on what you need to do to strategically position yourself for moving into executive management.  There was a lot of input as you might expect, given the topic.

Distilling the comments, it came down to demonstrating:

• Acceptance of Increased Responsibility
• Courageousness – Make the hard decisions
• Vision and Leadership
• Ability to Influence colleagues at all levels
• Willingness to Move (to another company)

In my own experience the last two factors rise above the rest.

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In Seth’s latest book, Linchpin,  he spends a lot of time talking about maps and artists.  That being an artist means you create your own map, your own path.  And, that society is changing.  Rather than spending your life following a map someone else created, to be successful you’ll need to create your own map moving forward.

While I’ve not been an assembly line worker in a literal sense, it took me awhile (couple dozen reiterations) for what Seth was talking about to truly sink in…appreciating how much of it related to my own life.

Life was relatively easy, for a long time.  With a clear goal in front of me, I could move mountains to achieve it.  I would feel a sense of accomplishment, and life was grand.  So, for the first 3/4 of my life, this is how it worked.  Goal, after goal, after goal.  Going into the service, I bought a map out of the carousel, having chosen to go into aviation.  Once there, the Navy gave me a nice [flight] bag of additional maps to follow (exams, flight certifications, instructor certs, regular performance reviews, etc.).

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Ever wonder why customer service just plain sucks in so many cases?  Ever wonder why?   Perhaps you’ve been just so amazed, like ‘made your whole day’ amazed, when you actually receive good customer service?

A lot of it just plain comes down to a pure desire for the provider to care, passionately care, about the job they’re doing…for you.  After all, it isn’t about ‘where’ the service came from, or ‘who’ provided it, or ‘what’ they were providing it on.

Here in the U.S. it can be popular sport to gripe about the latest ‘terrible’ customer service experience.  All too often we blame it on some poor sap in India, sitting amidst 4 b’zillion other reps, that can’t speak ‘my’ language, and hasn’t gotten a clue.  Hey, I’ve been there, got the shirt, sure you do too.

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This is a topic I expect to revisit over time, likely more than once. Today’s trigger was a discussion with a friend considering a new leadership role.

Beyond the job description, she had already started looking at structural considerations, like compensation, reported corporate finances, and what she knew of the corporate culture. She just didn’t feel like she’d covered all the bases though. It helped I could relate some of my own lessons learned. There is a range of other, sometimes intangible, things to dig into.

Your personal network of colleagues, friends, and family, can provide invaluable feedback. In one past role, reaching out to folks in my LinkedIn network, I received a number of responses. Comments about past leadership successes, or failures, can arm you with poignant questions to ask hiring managers. Aside from making you look like you’re knowledgeable and prepared, it reminds them they need to sell themselves to you, as well.

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Sometimes we hide from it. Sometimes we do ‘other’ activities, instead. Sometimes we can put it off…for years. But eventually there comes a time where it’s necessary to face the cold, hard, brutal reality of a situation.

Normally it comes after reaching some kind of tipping point. For instance, the past couple months I’ve been dealing with a nagging problem on my laptop. When using some particular combination of applications, it ends up getting incredibly bogged down. Normally a reboot, or two, will alleviate the problem. Along the way, I’ve spent fifteen minutes here, thirty there, and so on, as I’ve tried to diagnose the problem.

And this is what so many do either personally, professionally, or both. Nursing things along, applying yet another band-aid to the current issue so it can live to get yet another band-aid tomorrow. The challenge is in being able to raise one’s head up, looking beyond the issues of the moment, and see a bigger picture. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so you have just read the title. You know what the article is about. Your expectations have been set. And, it has been pretty straight-forward thus far hasn’t it?

Over the past few months there have been a number of different articles debating whether we (in the US) are getting better or worse in our writing. The debate is often pretty black and white. One side cites examples of how Twittering (with its 140 character limits), SMS (phone texting with its 160 character limits), Instant Messaging, and the like are all promoting poor writing. The other side cites examples where people (particularly our younger generations) are incredibly effective at adjusting their messaging to suit the medium, and, how with all these new mediums—we are writing more than we ever have.

Regardless of Read the rest of this entry »

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to hear David Chinsky (David Chinsky & Associates) speak at this month’s CEO Connect. As a practitioner, and student of, effective business leadership I found his presentation very positive. His comments resonated strongly with me; enough so I wanted to expand on one topic:

“More than anything else, employees seek clarity from their leaders”

Call it what you will Read the rest of this entry »