Part Two

So where are you headed?

Before we embark on the journey we need to know the destination. We don’t just get in car and drive without knowing where we want to get to. So why do we begin a long career without a clear understanding of our goal.

What does an amazing career mean to you? Most people think a brilliant career is about getting to the top in your organisation and being the big cheese. Well not necessarily. A brilliant career is what you want not what you’re expected to want and say. A brilliant career is more than just the position. It’s about what you want to achieve, it’s about being respected, it’s about being able to look back and say “Yeah, I’m proud of that”.

A brilliant career is anything you want it to be.

Promotions

Career success is usually measured in terms of job title, salary and status and many times the age of the person. That’s the outsiders view when judging whether an individual is successful or not.

The questions I ask myself when reviewing the status of my career are:

• Am I progressing ?
• Am I being challenged every day ?
• Can I see opportunities for me that help me achieve my goal ?
• Am I being rewarded and recognised ?
• Am I making a difference in this organisation ?
• Am I learning and enriching my mind ?
• Do I feel respected ?
• Is this a great place to work with a great set of people ?

Hopefully you can see that this is a much deeper and more thorough career analysis than just asking yourself whether your job title and salary are at the right level – that doesn’t help you understand what to do or where to go and won’t make you happy.

A word on promotions

Most people think a promotion is to move to the next level in your organisation with an increase in salary. These occur every two to three years if you are lucky. This is a passive long term view. Think of promotions another way – a way that has helped me gain career progression every 18 months since I started work.

A promotion can actually be gaining more responsibility, gaining more profile in the organisation, being given interesting projects which will get you noticed or being asked to go on courses that develop new skills. All of these are promoting you and when you promote yourself in this way you will then get to the next level and get the job title, salary, company car and PA.

So think of a promotion as building blocks to your career goal – its these building blocks that you create, manage and make happen through your actions, your personality and your results. Throughout this course this is what you will learn and put into place.

Part Three

Career goals

We need to have clear and exciting career goals. We need to have a pretty good idea of where we are headed and why. All organisations have a mission, vision and strategy. Why? So that they know what to do, what not to do and to help them know when they go off track and need to change. It also allows them to seize opportunities when they arise. There is no excuse for you not knowing what you expect your career will look like in 5 years.

To illustrate this let me describe two different people who I have worked with.

Richard, had a clear goal of where he wanted to be in five years right down to how much he would be earning, what his job title would be, what he would be doing and the kind of people he would be interacting with.

The other person, John, never thought more than a month ahead – he would always say I don’t know where my career is heading – I’ll just take each opportunity as it comes.

For three to four years both individuals progressed through the organisation at the same pace and both were highlighted as high potential employees. Then one year their career paths took very different routes.

Richard’s career just took off – he got the opportunity to work on a big project for some senior people and impressed them. Then a month later when some internal job opportunities came up he was promoted with a huge increase in salary, job title and status. He was also now being groomed for some big promotions in the next two to three years.

At the same time, John’s career took a different turn. Due to a reorganisation in his department he had to apply for a new job and didn’t get it. He was given a lower level job and told that this is probably as far as he would go in the organisation.

Both Richard and John were good at their jobs and intellectually there was little to differentiate them.

The reason Richard has done so well is that he had a career goal, he had visualised it , he wanted it and he was prepared.

He could articulate what his ambition was, why and what he needed to do to get there. There was a clear reason for promoting him. John on the other hand came across as not caring and a bit laissez-faire as he had no career plans and goals. If someone has no plan or goal for themselves how much will they care about the organisation, its people and its goal.

So have a career goal – at least a vision for five years ahead.

Part Four

Make it happen

When you have career goal it is up to you to make it happen. John thought that if he turned up to work and did his job he would soon get promoted. Effectively he was waiting for an opportunity to come along and hoping he would get promoted. Richard came to work with a plan to achieve his career goal and he made sure he did things that got him closer and closer to the goal. He was proactive and was making it happen.

As a manager myself, these are the types of people I look for – the ones who are proactive about their careers, who want to make it happen and who go out and do it. The people who actively plan their careers and have a strategy will get on. This is why having a goal and then making sure that your actions and results each year move your forward to that goal is so important. This strategy actually helped me reach my first career goal three years ahead of plan.

Look again for a moment at this week’s “Thought of the Week”:

“Success is when opportunity meets preparation”

Preparation

To be prepared is so important. It’s about knowing where you are headed and what you want from your career. It’s also about making personal change so that you are ready. To get a promotion you generally have to be 75% able to do the next level job.

You also have to be 100% mentally prepared and have the right attitude. This is where most people let themselves down – they haven’t got the right mindset and attitude. Mindset and attitude can be seen by the way you work, by how you act and conduct yourself. In later modules we’ll explore your attitude. But to be prepared is to have a clear idea of your goal – what it looks like, what it feels like, how will you know when you’ve go there?

It means understanding what drives and motivates you – Money, power, influence.

Opportunity

How many times have you said “Isn’t he lucky” and then received the reply “You make your own luck”. A bit annoying but true.

You make your own luck by being prepared and when this happens opportunities don’t pass you by. They hit you right in your face! When you’re prepared its as if your engine has been reenergised and you start moving faster than you’ve ever done before. In your actions for the week at the end of the module you’ll get prepared and that’s a big achievement – that’s 50% of the way to your perfect destination.

You should be constantly looking for opportunities for career progression, to increase your profile, to learn new skills and to develop yourself. This is your responsibility and its up to you to create opportunities. If you wait until the next round of promotions or for when your boss moves on you’ll probably be waiting a long time.

Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York who successfully managed the City during and after the 9/11 atrocity says that one of the keys to his success is to “prepare relentlessly”. He prepared and over prepared for everything and so was in control when things didn’t go quite to plan. If your job takes up 8-9 hours a day for maybe 40 years maybe you spend some time preparing and understanding where you want to get to and what it means for you.

Part Five

Let’s define success for you

Success. It may mean a salary of £100,000 per year, it may mean being recognised by the important people in the organisation, it may mean being in charge of a big team or simply it may mean getting to the top. What does career success look like for you in the medium and long term?

Many people don’t articulate what career success and a brilliant career means for them. Many people I speak to limit themselves and their thinking and in so doing put the brakes on before they’ve even got going. They say “ I could never do that….” Or “he’s much better than me” . Do you think Richard Branson, Margaret Thatcher or Mother Theresa thought like that. They all had amazing careers in their own fields. They also eliminated their limiting beliefs and just went for it.

By defining what success means to you and then understanding how you need to change to achieve it you are 50% of the way to your goal and an amazing career. Well done.

Action!

Actions of the Week

So lets take the first actions on this exciting journey. By the end of the course you will have a clear concise idea of what a brilliant career is for you and what you will do to get there. You’ll also be well on the way to your brilliant career.

1. Your Career Drivers

What do you want to get out of work and your career? Why do you do it? What are the most important factors for you in a great career?

Take a clean sheet of A4 paper and title it ‘My career drivers’. Down the left side write this list of career drivers – things that drive you in your job – going down the page:

• money
• status
• influence
• power
• security
• a sense of belonging
• mental challenge
• feeling of worthiness
• place to meet people
• something to do
• personal growth

Rank each one with a score out of 10 based on how important each one is to you in terms of you career goals and what drives you in your job.

Next to each score write down why. The top two are your career drivers – what motivates you and what you need from a great career.

2. What do you want to achieve in your career?

If there was nothing to stop you and no obstacles in the way, what is it that when you looking back on your life that you want to say about your career to explain to others how brilliant it was?

To do this, close your eyes and imagine you are 70 years old, sitting in a rocking chair talking about your life and your career. Write down what you want to achieve. Visualise it in your mind. How much do you want to earn? What position do you want to get to? How will people treat you? What will your career look like? Be very specific.

You’ll know it’s the right thing when it gives you butterflies in your stomach.

3. Your best moment

On a piece of paper answer these questions

• What have you really been proud in your career to date?
• Why was this?
• How did you feel?
• Did that experience satisfy your career drivers and what you want to achieve in your career?
• If not go back and review your career drivers and ask yourself if that really is what motivates you?

4. Career Mission Statement

So what is you career mission statement? Based on questions 1-3 write down in only 30-40 words what a brilliant career means to you. Include all aspects of questions 1-3 but keep it brief – this is your mission statement which we will refine throughout the course.

5. Bit of spice

To spice it up a bit lets just think about what will happen and what you’ll feel like if you don’t achieve your career mission. How much will it bother you. What will be the consequences to you and your life if you don’t get there?

Write down 5 things that would happen or how you would feel like if you didn’t achieve your vision.

Congratulations. You should be really excited about what you’ve achieved and where you’re headed. Just by doing this first module and taking the actions above you are well on the way.

In the next module we’ll get some attitude.

Part Two

Self Belief

How much self belief do you currently have?

Self belief is when you hold yourself in the highest regard and when you back yourself 100%. Self belief isn’t knowing you’re right all the time – that’s arrogance. Self belief and self confidence are about really liking, respecting and trusting yourself. It’s about believing that you are important at work, irrespective of your current position. That’s because you totally believe you have the potential to reach your goals.

For example, it’s about not worrying what other people think about you.

How many times in a meeting have you wanted to ask something but didn’t because you thought it many be a silly question?
Lack of confidence does that to you.

When you are asked to do something new at work do you think “I can’t do this – what if I mess it up?”.
Thinking negatively like that is due to a lack of belief and confidence in your own abilities.

One of my previous managers used to say to me “I know my view is valuable”. He would always give his opinion and challenge other people because he had this belief that what he had to offer was always worth other people listening to. He had total belief in himself and his ability.

On the other hand I used to ask too many questions and seek reassurance before I did anything at work. I wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do and wouldn’t be challenged by anybody. This was lack of belief in myself and my ability – a lack of confidence. When I addressed this and eliminated it with my coach it made a significant difference to the way I was perceived at work.

I now have a belief that I’m an asset at work and will be missed if I am not there – this isn’t arrogance it’s just belief that I am good and will be successful.

Being positive

A strong self belief is largely about being positive.

It’s so easy to think of the negative consequences of doing something that it scares you and renders you motionless. A positive mind is an energised mind. Always looking on the positive side and being fearless is so important and you need to practice and practice it until it is just habit.

Think about people who make millions, lose millions, then make it again  – they do it because they are positive and every setback is just met with a “ well I’ll just try again”. They are tough and that’s what you’re going to be. Tough people get to the top –fast.

Being positive means you don’t fear failure.  You accept failure for what it is and accept that you will make mistakes but you will learn from them and so be a better person for it. When you accept failure you will try new things and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. When you do this and achieve something then it really does get noticed because it was something you were not expected to do. The results are magnified.

Fear of failure was the root of my lack of self belief until I sorted it out. In a bizarre way I positively embrace failure, not big failure, but anything that makes me stop, think and make  a little change to make me more effective.

Part Three

Get Noticed

You get noticed when you have self belief.

Think about a really confident person at work, someone who has 100% self belief. Do they stand out? When they are around do people notice them? How do they walk and talk? Why do they have so much self-belief? How do you compare to that person? Have you noticed they ask a lot of questions. That’s because they are not scared – they are tough and are happy to admit they don’t understand but want to learn.

You must want to get noticed. You must want to get involved in everything. I used to be scared of going to big meetings and it used to intimidate me. Now I just want the profile and want  to be around the senior people to get the exposure and prove my worth to them.

Limiting Beliefs

To get to a great level of self-belief you need to understand what’s holding you back now.

When you understand what  is holding you back and what the cost of that belief has been in the past you can then take action and do something about it. Visualising the benefit of eliminating the negative belief can be very powerful. For example if you are being held back because you are too quiet in meetings then look at the person who, at your level in the organisation, excels at this. Then think about the meetings where you were not vocal and the impact that had on you and your career.

What are your limiting beliefs about yourself both in and out of work that mean you don’t truly believe in yourself? Take a moment and think about what makes you proud about yourself and what frustrates you about you and your character.  What have you done about the things that frustrate you? Have you taken action to get rid of them?.

When the list of things that make you proud about yourself is two to three times as big as the list of things that frustrate you then you will start to see a new more confident you.

Beware of comparisons

You can totally undermine your confidence and self belief by comparing yourself negatively to other people.

Thinking other people are better than you and then beating yourself up over it will just drive your confidence away.  Also worrying what other people think about you can be energy sapping and obstructive. All you can do is focus on yourself whilst appreciating there are other people around you. But to worry about what everybody may think each time you do something will slow you down.

How many times have you compared yourself to less fortunate people than yourself. Very few times probably. Generally we compare ourselves to people who have more status, more money, a bigger house, who are younger but more successful than us and then instead of aspiring to be like that we beat ourselves up about being inferior.

Make a pact to stop it now. Never compare yourself to anybody. Your comparison should be how you are doing against your goal. By all means identify role models and seek out the positive traits that you like. That’s positive and will enhance your attitude.

Part Four

Expect success

Do you expect success?

If you are in control of your career and believe in yourself then you should expect the best. If you can visualise your goals then you are on the first path to building expectation in yourself. By being positive and recognising that you are a valuable asset and that you have the potential to get to where you want to get to, you are 50% there.

When you have the belief that success will come then you focus your energy and time in planning and taking the action and producing the results that will deliver the expectation. If you haven’t developed this then you spend more of your time worrying about whether you will get promoted, earn a higher salary or maybe be made redundant. It becomes a negative cycle you must break out of.

Be fearless

Don’t be scared of your career.

In today’s world and economy where redundancies are increasing, companies are relocating overseas and people are being asked to do more, travel more and so disrupt their family life or fear losing their job there is a pressure just to hold on to your job and be grateful for it. Don’t be a slave to your career as this fear  is a sure fire way to be shackled to your job.

You must manage your career. Be in control of it instead of it letting you control you. Don’t be scared of anything – yes the world moves on and at the moment the economy is down but you have a career goal to focus on that that’s what you should be thinking about. If you find yourself thinking “What if this happened, What if that happened” then you will fall into mediocrity and be paralysed by fear.

Drive your career and keep pushing it. If things happen just accept that you will deal with them when they materialise and anyway, they will be minor obstacles in your path to your goal. Have a fearless mind and be solution focussed.

Being in control

Are you in control of your career?

When you have the right attitude you will begin to be in total control.

Control is about you driving your career forward  as opposed to your work just taking over your life. You will see work and your career as more than just a job. It will be a tool with which you make a real difference. When you get to this state it is very powerful and rewarding. You will begin to prioritise effectively, you will make decisions more effectively and you will be able to take more work on without overloading yourself. You will become efficient and value adding.

When this happens the amazing career begins. People will begin to notice you. Your work will be noticed. You will be doing more but not working longer hours.  This leads to reward and recognition.

Part Five

High Achievement

John Noe, a noted author on people management, identified 10 questions that if answered from the heart can transform you into a high achiever. He also gave a warning – “High achievement is hazardous to your complacency”. It means you have to challenge you mindset and comfort zone and be ready for adventure.

The 10 questions:

1. Do you really want to become a high achiever?
Do you have the self discipline, the desire and willingness to invest some time and effort in yourself ( I would say yes given that you have decided to do this course)

2. Do you have a strong inner urge to reach out?
High achievers reach out to new situations and people without fear.

3. What matters most to you?
High achievers are not just interested in material items and status. They want to be remembered for what they have achieved also.

4. What are you willing to invest?
High achievers are willing to invest whatever it takes to reach their goal.

5. What are you willing to endure?
Noe says – “ When the going gets tough…. The achiever shifts gear and keeps going”

6. What are you willing to give up?
To achieve anything in life requires sacrifice – do you understand what you need to sacrifice or adjust to hit your goals?

7. How much responsibility can you handle?
While others complain when unexpected responsibility is thrust upon them a high achiever will embrace it and do their best. High achievement and responsibility go hand in hand.

8. Are you willing to start from where you are?
“You can always get to where you want to providing you are willing to start from where you are”
High achievers accept their current circumstances and then just look forward.

9. Are you willing to think for yourself?
Hard work is valuable but not without thought and planning.

10. Are you willing to settle for nothing less than your full potential?
Achievers are never complacent. They achieve, enjoy their achievement but then move forward again. They want to realise their potential by constantly challenging themselves.

Action!

Actions of the Week

1. Frustrations and Fulfillments

Make  a list of all the things that frustrate you about you and your career. Next to each one write down what impact it has had on your career to date and what, if anything you have done about it.

Make another list of all the things that make you proud about you and your career. How have they made a difference to your career?

For the next week choose one frustration and decide to do something about it to get it off the list. Take some action.

2. Positive Comparisons

Look around at work and find somebody that really impresses you. For the next week notice everything about them. Jot it down everyday – what is their attitude?

3. A positive attitude

The new attitude you have has to be a positive one. How positive are you?

Try this for the next 2 days. Take a clean sheet of paper and every time you think negatively write it down. Note how many times you were negative and why. How did it make you feel?

For the following two days you have to eliminate the number of negative thoughts by 100%!! Yes, none at all.

Try it and then try it again and again……until it becomes habit.

Part Two

Skills and Qualities

Do you know the skills and qualities you should be demonstrating at work in order to progress? Do you know what your manager judges you on? Is it solely on how much work you do? Is it also on how you do it – your attitude, the enthusiasm you exude, your professionalism for example? What are the valued qualities in your organisation?

For example at GE it is high energy, the edge to make decisions, ability to energise those around them and ability to execute decisions – they are called the 4 Es.

If you want a promotion what attributes would you need to demonstrate and how far away from achieving them are you?

This is what differentiates the people who achieve success and those that do not. The ones that excel have a clear idea of:

1. Where they stand now – their current position
2. What they need to be like to get to the next level – their future position
3. What they need to do to get from current position to the future

This is what managing your career is about.

From a personal note I’ve had an number of promotions (my goal is to gain a promotion every 18 months) and when I look back the reason I got them was that I was able to clearly articulate the three points above and demonstrate that I was in control of myself and my career. It also helps your manager to identify how they can help you, for example what training courses you may need, what extra experience would help you, any projects that may be useful in order to close the gap between your current and your future position.

Part Three

Feedback

Understanding where you are now is something you can do by yourself but it mustn’t end there. The best way to get a clear picture of yourself is to get feedback from other people. What do they think of you?

In most organisations the only feedback one gets is from a manager, maybe once per year when it’s time for pay reviews. Usually this is focussed on what you’ve achieved, the tasks you’ve completed and the ones you haven’t. What it lacks is a discussion about you as a total person. The total you is a combination of your skills and your personality.

Obtaining feedback can be difficult. Many people are uneasy about accepting feedback – usually the negative variety. How else are you going to improve if you don’t know where to focus? Negative feedback should never be seen as bad and something to avoid. Actually think of it as medicine – you know you won’t like but it will make you better!

Let me be so bold as to say that you should ask for one piece of feedback that highlights something you need to improve on. If you are prepared for this, it will actually make the person giving the feedback more uncomfortable than you! Explain that the reason you are asking them for the feedback is so that you can improve – not that you want to put them under pressure or start an argument.

One last point on feedback. It is important that you accept feedback as it is given. You must take on board everything that is said and not challenge it but understand it. A natural human reaction is to challenge back and argue against the feedback you’ve been given. A mature reaction is to take it on board and ask open questions to probe a little more.

• Ask for examples of when they saw you acting in such a way.
• Ask what you could have done differently.
• Really explore the feedback so that you have a clear understanding of how you can improve.

If you can do this effectively and consistently you really will transform yourself and your career.

Part Four

Your Personal Assessment

So what are some of the areas you should consider in your personal assessment? These are areas you need to consider in your current situation and for your future positions.

1. Technical Skills

• What technical skills and qualifications do you need to have or be good at? For example use of spreadsheets or computer systems. Specific knowledge about your organisation or industry?
• What knowledge or skills does your manager need to have to do their job?
• Is there any skill or knowledge that could give you an advantage over your peers.
• Is there any skill that is highly valued in your organisation that you must be great at?

2. Personal Qualities

Examples of qualities that you would need to consider are:

• Drive
  • How much ambition do you have?
  • How much do you want success for you and your organisation and how determined are you to get there?
  • How much do you want to make an impact where you work?
  • Do you make things happen at work or just do what you are told to do
  • How many ideas do you come up with?
  • Who is the most driven person you know. What do you need to do to be like them?
• Accountability
  • Are you accountable for your responsibilities?
  • Can you be trusted?
  • Do you get things done?
    This is a key attribute especially if you want to move to the next level.
• Maturity
  • Can you deal with all types of people, whatever their job, level and rank?
  • Are you confident in the way you speak whether it’s to the head of your organisation or someone who works for you.
  • Do people ask your advice?
• Impact
  • Do you have impact in the organisation?
  • Do people know who you are, what you do and what you do for them?
  • Do you go out and ensure you get noticed?
    You may get noticed through your personality or by your work.
• Influence
  • Do you have influence?
  • Do you have ideas that people listen to?
  • Can you influence decisions where you work?
• Business Awareness
  • Do you just focus on your job and your department or can you think about the whole organisation?
  • Do you understand what the business goals are and how you fit in and can make a difference?
  • In everything you do, do you think about how it impacts on the whole organisation?
• Energy
  • Do you have high energy levels at work?
  • Do you want to get things done?

To summarise, if you can develop yourself and create drive, an accountable and mature attitude, work with impact and influence with great business awareness and energy you have the attributes of a great leader.

This is a huge step on the way to a successful career and life

Part Five

Can I do my managers job?

A good attitude to have in constantly challenging yourself in your career is to ask yourself if you could do your bosses job today.

What if your boss didn’t come into work – could you step in? What if your boss was promoted –could you take over? Are you ready for that.  Obviously it would be a learning curve but would you be at least 75% ready to do it?

Do you think if your boss was away that you would be asked to stand in for a short period of time? That should be a clear goal if you really want to get on in your career. You need to get yourself ready – your skills, your qualities, your personality to be as good as your boss – that’s when you will show that you have great potential to do more.

A clever strategy to have, is to be so good in your current role that you start taking on some of your managers responsibilities. Yes, you should ask to take on some of the jobs your manager does. Your manager won’t say no if someone shows enthusiasm and takes some workload off them. You must demand extra responsibility. Go out and seek it and when you take it on and absorb it and get some more. Very soon you will get the recognition and the rewards you deserve.

It’s music to my ears when one on my team shows enthusiasm and wants to do something or get involved in something that is my responsibility. If they do it well it shows me that are beginning to step up and I give them a little more responsibility. Soon others around the organisation see that something I used to do is now being done by one of my team which creates a great impression for that person.

You just need to be brave and have a go. You’ve  got nothing to lose as you are stepping outside your normal comfort zone.

Part Six

The future position

Now you have your goal do you know what attributes are required to get there? If you want to be Head of Marketing in five years time what skills and attributes do you need?

You need to be thinking about them now and over the next couple of years go out and seek them. This is how you manage yourself to manage your career. Look at the Head of Marketing, study him or her and build a picture of what they have and what you need. Talk to people over time to understand whether you picture is the accurate one and how people such as your manager can help you build these skills and move to towards your goal.

Be the Best

I want to finish by sharing a personal philosophy of mine. My attitude and one I instil in my teams is that I strive to be the best of my team and my peer set. That doesn’t mean I’m not a team player or over competitive but it’s a standard I’ve set myself to fulfil my potential and rise above my peer set so that I am noticed. When the managers above me need a replacement they will  choose the best of the bunch below them.

Being the best means standing out, being the one your team turns to when wanting advice and guidance and more importantly the person above the others your managers seeks for advice, guidance and a deputy.

Action!

Actions of the Week

1. What are your pluses and minuses?

Write down some pluses and minuses that  would describe you. Do you exploit your pluses everyday? Do you work to improve your minuses?

Pick one minus and think about how to improve it.

2. Personal Characteristics

For each one of the characteristics describe rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being excellent.  Ask somebody at work such as your manager to review your answers and give his opinion. Ask for feedback and remember to ask for one price of negative feedback. Note down actions for improvement and take action on  one within the next two weeks.

3.What do you need to get to your future position?

Think about what you need to do to get to your future position to achieve your goal. What kind of person do you need to be? What can you do now to start to move to that new you?

Part Two

1. How you look – your appearance

When you go to work how do you dress? Whether your organisation has a uniform, requires smart dress or allows casual dress does your dress demonstrate that your are serious about your career?

Think of it another way. If you aspire to your boss’s job or even higher than that, do you dress as if you are in the role already?

Dressing the way you aspire to be sends a message that says this person is serious and focussed.

Your appearance also includes your hairstyle, your spectacles, jewellery you wear, even the pen you use. In saying this I don’t mean you should change yourself so much that it makes you uncomfortable or it isn’t the real you but a little care over your appearance makes a huge difference.

Think about the standards you set yourself when you go to a job interview. Well, these shouldn’t slip once you have the job. Everyday at work is a job interview. Your boss may not come in tomorrow and there may an important meeting. Would they ask you if you didn’t look the part?

So pay attention to detail. Look at the successful people around you. Notice what they wear. Notice their pen – it’s probably not chewed at the end. Notice their watch – it’s may be expensive but more importantly it’s smart. They probably have a nice filofax, diary or personal digital organiser. It send the message that they are serious and they care about their careers.

A chap who worked for me was  one of the most disorganised and scruffy people I had known. After a little coaching he bought a suit, got himself a nice diary and notepad, cleaned his desk and took a little more care over his appearance. This change actually brought out his intelligence and skill at the job. Because of his initial appearance nobody took his views or work seriously but a little change transformed him.

You don’t have to spend huge amounts of money – attention to detail goes long way.

Part Three

2. How you carry yourself

Together with your outward appearance how you carry yourself is important.

The way you talk for example. Are you professional? Do you listen when people are talking and take an interest? Are you confident around senior people? What is your body language like when your are talking to senior people? The words you use, how you say them and when you speak are very important and are what people remember you by – you can never undo something you say so it can have a huge positive or negative effect.

It’s as much about how people talk as what they say.

An friend of mine works as a City analyst and often has to meet Chief Executives of big corporations to discuss the organisations performance and future potential.

When he leaves meetings he says over 50% of his view is based not on the content of the conversation – the company performance, business strategy – but on the impact the Chief Executive had on him. Did he speak with confidence and authority. Did he inspire? Did his manner convey a true leader?

How you carry yourself is also about how your work. Is your desk tidy? Are you organised? Do you show that you are in control? If your manager asks you to do something can they trust you to get it done or do they have to ask you again? Do you reply to emails quickly?

Being organised and in control at work is so important and when you are not, people do notice. If you are not organised its highly unlikely you will be given more responsibility or extra tasks. Its so easy to get right but  many people don’t think of it as important. Yet as a manager myself I notice the people who are in control and they give me far more confidence than the ones with the cluttered desk, the unanswered email and to do lists as long as your arm.

Quite simply – get organised.

Part Four

3. The actions you take

How you work is so important and the attitude you have will set you apart from the rest. By this I mean doing a little more than is required. If people around you see that you are always doing that little bit extra you will stand out as someone good.

Doing that little bit extra may be coming up with new ideas, changing things that make the workplace or the job better, having a personal agenda for your job and the organisation.

What is a personal agenda?

Well it’s how you will leave a mark in your organisation. What do you want to achieve. Most things you will do will be dictated by your manger. But there should be three to four things that are your ideas that you want to do each year. This shows initiative and again sets you apart.

I have a list in my filofax of the one thing each month that I want to achieve at work that is over and above my day to day responsibilities.

At the end of the year if I can demonstrate 12 things that were over and above what I had to do and which improved the organisation and myself that will get me noticed and is something I can use to demonstrate that I am a candidate for a promotion.

In terms of how you work, do you get out of your comfort zone and do the scary things? Do you for example take the opportunities that scare you or do you always stick to the safe options? You never get noticed or respected by taking the safe option. What earns respect and recognition is when people put themselves out there and have a go. You need to be that kind of person.

What stops you at the moment is fear of failure.

You probably think that doing things that scare of may result in failure which could harm your career. Accept that failure is one of the best ways to learn and so long as you manage your risks – have your managers support when taking on something scary – then you will move faster in your career than if you take the small safe steps. You will grow as a person as well as gaining respect from those around you for having a go. Managers love that – people wanting to improve by taking risks is what we all want.

Give your opinion and your view. Many people I come across are just doers – they just perform tasks and then wonder why they don’t get on as fast. The people that get on usually have an opinion on everything. They challenge what they are doing and they ask questions of  others. They form a point of view on most things – this shows you have a mind and are more than just a performer of tasks. It also shows you are strong as you have a view and it may not be the one that everybody agrees with.

You probably have a lot of views and opinions outside of work – make sure you have them inside also.

Be a “to-do animal”. Actions speak louder than words so just get through a lot of stuff. Achieve a lot at work. Complete a lot of tasks so that you can say these are all the things I achieved. Try and do more than you did last week.

Do this but don’t overload yourself. If you do this you could end up  getting out of control and not achieving anything which would be worst case.

Part Five

4. What you can offer others at work

What makes you unique at work? Is there a skill you have, a particular expertise or role in  the organisation that makes you different? It may be a committee you are part of. It may be some training that you have received that only you have.

If there is something that you and only you in the organisation are known for then you automatically stand out and it gives you a point of difference. Having a point of difference is so important as it’s what people remember you by and what makes you different. It also gives you an edge, a competitive advantage over others where you are.

5. Values

There are certain values and principles that are admired in any organisation and when you demonstrate these day in and day out you can reach the top.

A study was conducted by Investors Business Daily in 2000 in the USA of top executives, leaders  and successful people from all walks of life to understand what set them apart and the principles they applied.

Most had 10 traits and values  that when combined can turn dreams into reality.

• How you think is everything
  Always think success and not failure – always have a positive mind
• Decide upon your true dreams and goals
  Write them down and read them everyday.
• Take action
  Don’t be afraid to get started – take action. Just do it. Initiate things. Be proactive instead of reactive.
• Never stop learning
  Get training. Acquire new skills. Read books. Keep learning.
• Be persistent and work hard
  Never give up. Success does not come overnight. Keep at and be resilient. Hard work does get rewarded.
• Learn to analyze details
  Get all the facts and details. Pay attention to detail. Learn from your mistakes.
• Focus your time
  Don’t let other people or things distract you. Be efficient with your time and get things done
• Don’t be afraid to Innovate. Be different
  Following the herd will just keep you mediocre.
• Communicate with people effectively
  
• Be honest and dependable.
  Take responsibility. Have integrity and discipline. Otherwise numbers 1-9 won’t make a difference.

I read these first thing in the morning everyday and constantly refer to them to keep me on track. Try it.

Part Six

6. Your personality

Points 1-5 highlight the areas where you may need to change in order to create the new, unique, successful you.

However, the most unique asset you have is your personality.

When we begin work we tend to lose our unique personality as we try and blend into our workplace and conform to those around us. We actually lose the thing that makes us different and probably got us to where we currently are.

There are aspects to your personality which will be a great asset to you and help you on the way to a tremendous career. They are probably buried under years of conformance and trying to fit in. You just need to dig deep and find out what the great things about your personality are and exploit them to the fullest. We don’t want to totally change your personality – we want to enhance it and bring out the most attractive elements of it.

These six steps require you to make some changes which if you are serious about your career you will appreciate. The new you will be someone that is trusted and respected in the workplace, that is identified as someone the organisation does not want to lose, that is rewarded for their effort and is valued for their opinion and is given the opportunities that someone with potential, drive and ambition deserves.

This is exciting stuff. To be such a person is not only rewarding, it also makes your career enjoyable and something you look forward to because you are around great people, you are doing great things and you are making a difference.

Action!

Actions of the Week

1. Think of one thing you can do over and above your day to day responsibilities

Do it in the next week

2. For one week read the 10 principles every morning

Make a commitment to apply them throughout the day.

3. Review your appearance.

Do you look the part. If not go out and make the changes straightaway.

4. Identify one thing that makes you nervous at work.

For example it may be giving a presentation. Make a pact to do something about it and put an action plan together with your manager and commit to action.

Part Two

Get rid of people from your network

It sounds drastic but you don’t want to be surrounded by negative people who will drag you down.

You will generally have a couple of moaners at work for whom nothing is right and the world is against them. You don’t need this negative attitude in your life. Soon you will end up with the same hard done by philosophy which will get you nowhere.

You need to be able to deal with negative people and negative attitudes. Don’t agree with them or discuss such issues. My philosophy has always been that when I find myself moaning I tell myself “either do something about it now or ignore it and move on”.

Part Three

Dealing with people

To build a network and to deal with people effectively you need great interpersonal skills.

Great leaders can deal with people effectively. This is the top skill to master because when you can deal with all sorts of people by influencing them, by motivating them, by bringing them around to your way of thinking then you really will be a master of your career. The people who get to the top have great brains but more importantly they have superb people skills.

How good are you at dealing with people? Do you enjoy talking to people? Not just people you know but total strangers. Can you pick the phone up and ask someone at work a question without feeling nervous and uneasy? Can you start a conversation and keep it going or are there periods of uneasy silence when you have conversations?

Become a great conversationalist. You need to be comfortable with people and be able to strike up a conversation with anybody. When you get good at this you will notice your presence and impact increase. You will get noticed even when you aren’t talking.

Dealing well with people earns you respect and that is a vital ingredient for a great career. Go out and earn the respect of everybody you meet.

That doesn’t mean you have to be nicey-nicey or agree with everything people say. It just means to treat each person with respect, honesty and integrity.

Part Four

How do you become good at dealing with people?

1. Learn to enjoy communicating.

Communication means talking and listening. You must be able to listen attentively in a conversation and show interest as well as talking. Practice.

2. Be interested in people

Showing an interest in people is a great way to make friends and build relationships. Everybody likes it when someone takes an interest in them. A simple question about the family, the weekend or a work topic you know someone is working on means a lot to people and over time is rewarded. If you show you are interested in people you generally get the same interest back and you form a relationship. You now have a strong relationship in your network.

An easy way to show you are interested in people is to use their name, it means a lot to people when someone says their name. Also let them talk more than you and encourage them to talk – this makes them feel important. Always say thank you – simple but easily forgotten in the workplace.

3. State your expectations clearly

At work you will invariably need to ask others do something for you or you will need to exert your opinion. Whichever it is and whatever the scenario – you may be asking for a day off, you may be giving your point of view on a task, learn to state you point of view clearly and concisely with all the facts.

For example if you are asking someone to complete a report for you, you may say:

“Could you complete this report for me please”

but this is wishy washy, doesn’t really inspire the other party to take action and generally you’ll get a response that suggests that it will be put in someone’s in tray until you next prompt them.

“ I need this report for a meeting with Mr. Jones next Tuesday. Can you complete it and have it ready for me by this Thursday at 12 o’clock so that I can review it before I see Mr. Jones”

This is clear and there can be no confusion why the report is needed and when it will be needed. This will generate action.

4. Conflict and Arguments

You can and have arguments and conflicts and still come out with greater respect. A skill to develop is to ensure you only have healthy debates at work and never let them become arguments. You should be forming opinions on subjects and this will mean that you disagree with some people in your organisation. Don’t be afraid of having differing opinions. Don’t be afraid to discuss.

However, discuss them with an open mind and do not become precious about them. It’s not about winning the argument but its about making the best decision for the organisation your are in. That’s what gets you noticed. So each time you enter into a debate remember:

1. Debate with a smile at all times – do not become aggressive
2. Listen to other party and then challenge what they are saying
3. Ask open questions to get them to your way of thinking
4. Feedback what they have just said to– let them hear for themselves what they are saying to you – this is the best way to convince people if their argument is flawed
5. Pick your battles – enter into the debates which are worth it and let others lie

5. Set high standards

The best way to influence people is by your actions. Have you ever tried asking your wife, husband, partner or child to do something and you just end up in an argument? For example I used to go on at my brother for not exercising and how he should spend some time on his health as well as his career. As you can imagine he told me where I could go! However, as I started exercising regularly and showing the benefits he then took action. He looked at my standards and wanted the same.

So have high standards and stick to them. Only measure people around you to your standards. Measuring them to any other standards is a sure fire way to alienate them. Always check and recheck your standards and ensure they are as high as can be.

Keep pushing them higher – this way you will be the best.

Action!

Actions of the Week

1. List everybody in your network

Now take five people off for the reasons mentioned earlier. Over the next month add five great people onto your network. Keep reviewing your network periodically.

2. Choose one book written by or about an inspirational person and read it within the next month

Make just five points from the book that you could implement in your life immediately.

3. Go out and communicate to people

Decide to be a great communicator and just do it.

Part Two

6. Initiate and take action

Act like a leader at work – this means initiate things. Arrange meetings. Call people to action. Don’t be reactive and wait for things to happen and for your manager to set tasks for you. A brilliant career requires you to take responsibility and this means taking the initiative.

7. Read – even if its newspaper

Keep learning. Be a reader. Read industry news – with the internet it is really easy to keep up to date. Read the quality newspapers such as the Financial Times where again you may learn about the world and current issues. A lot of industries and organisations have industry specific publications (my last company subscribed to Poultry World!). You should read these once per month as this will give you valuable information about your organisation. Turn yourself into an avid reader of items related to your work and career.

8. Relax time and have some downtime

Make sure you have downtime and relax. Your career is important but you need to ensure you can get away from it and do something else. This way you can stay refreshed. By relaxing I mean active relaxation. So get a hobby, play a sport –something where you have to use your mind and body but is less intense than work. It gives you a great release and you feel reenergised. Watching TV will not do this – get out and do something!

9. Walkabout at work

Make it a point at least once per day to just get up out of you chair and walk to another part of the office or building and just chat to people. It’s too easy to spend all day at your desk, immersed in your own to do list that you forget to network and build relationships. So take the opportunity to get up out of your chair and go and talk to another person in the office – you will actually learn a lot if you ask them about work or discuss the current business situation for example. By showing an interest in people you will build a great network.

10. Ideas, ideas, ideas!

Have a little book and populate it with all your ideas about work. You should aim to have new ideas all the time and you should store them all in one place to refer to and action when the time is right. If you can turn yourself into a person with great ideas and opinions who isn’t afraid of sharing them and implementing them then you will stand out as someone who cares about the organisation and who is also a self starter.

Part Three

11. Read your goals each morning

You should write down your career goals and read them each morning. Make your goals specific with a date in mind and write them in the present tense. Visualise the outcome of the goal as you read it each morning. This will keep you focussed as you will be energised and excited by achievement of the goal.

12. Get a success buddy or coach

Find someone in your organisation or outside of it who is ambitious and driven like you and meet once per month to share ideas and experiences. You can motivate each other, help each other out as problems arise and keep each other on track as both of you work to have an amazing career. Don’t try to do things in isolation – two heads are better than one.

13. Read the jobs pages

Even though you are not looking to change career you should now and again look at the jobs pages to see what kind of jobs are advertised. You should not be looking at the jobs that you can do now but the jobs you aspire to in 5 years. Read the job descriptions, look at the salary, review the skills and experience required. By doing this you are feeding your career aspiration and keeping it excited and alive. It’s also quite fun to do.

14. Know key facts

Know key facts about your business. It is quite impressive when someone can reel off a number of relevant facts about the business or the part of the business their job relates to. It may be performance figures for example. Whatever it is and whatever your role is know some key facts that senior people may be impressed that you are aware of.

15. Don’t get side-tracked

Quite simply stay focused. Focus on your goals at all times. You will have times when your motivation is low. This is when you need to stay focused and keep going. At these times it is good to call up your success buddy or coach.

Part Four

16. Give advice

At work try and give advice, coach and teach others. Spending time with other people helping them out will raise your profile immensely and you will be seen as a great team player. It earns you respect when you take time out for other people. Offer yourself when you see people are struggling with work or don’t understand, you don’t need to wait to be asked.

17. Set a leaving time; don’t let the day drag on

Try and set a realistic leaving time each day so that you can get away and enjoy the evening and refresh yourself for the next day. Many people work late and a lot of times it’s not because of workload – it’s because they haven’t planned the day or their workload and didn’t start the day off with an idea of when they were going to go home. Knowing when you will finish is important as it allows you to prioritise around the tasks you have. Also you’ll avoid idle chit chat in the evening – many people’s reason for ending up late at work.

18. Write down your mistakes

Each time you make a mistake, write it down and next to it write down what you learnt and what you would do differently.
Remember mistakes are good – learn from them.

19. Do what you hate doing

Each year pick one thing you hate doing such as giving presentations and set yourself the goals to do it. Instead of avoiding the things you hate, tackle them straight on. This will give you confidence and self belief and after you’ve done a couple you’ll be able to conquer anything.

20. Follow up people

Make sure you follow people up when you have asked them to do something or asked for something. This way they know you are serious and mean what you say. You will be treated with more respect when you hassle people.

Part Five

21. Monitor your chit chat

Be aware of how much idle chit chat you enter into at work. People don’t like gossip so don’t be part of it. Stay professional and focussed on your job. Chit chat will waste time and serves little purpose. It doesn’t build your network. So control it.

22. Don’t leave for the day until you’ve done what you set out to do

Try not to leave the day unfinished. Completing everything you set out to do will give you a great feeling of achievement. You will be in control of your job as everyday you can start fresh knowing yesterdays tasks have been completed.

23. Smile everyday

Yes remember to work with a smile. Remember this when the stress levels increase. Smiles are infectious and once you start so will everybody else. People want to be around happy people and as a manager I need to see smiles in my team to keep me motivated. It doesn’t take much but it will make you feel better.

24. Don’t be scared

You can achieve anything you want to so be fearless. Don’t be scared of failure and remember that the more you get out of your comfort zone the faster you will progress. So just go for it.

25. Your time is important – treat it like gold

Manage your time and don’t waste it. Be efficient at work, get things done and use your time well. Don’t let others waste it. Say no to things if you have to and if you require time to yourself just tell people not to disturb you politely.

Part Six

26. Focus on the task at hand not size of to do list

During the day focus on each task you have to do and not on the to do list. It’s better to get the task at hand completed well. If you are always worrying about your to do list you will paralyse your mind and will rush tasks and actually achieve little as you will spend more time worrying and less time doing.

27. Know when you are most effective

Some people are morning people others work better later in the day. Make sure you do the important or difficult things at the best time of the day for you. Use this time to its maximum effect and adjust your day accordingly. The high urgency, high importance things should be completed at the best time of the day for you.

28. Have time with your manager

Each month demand at least an hour of dedicated time with your manager. You should talk about how you are getting on, share feedback and discuss important issues. Aim to learn from your manager and take away actions that will help you in the next month in both doing your job and getting you closer to your goal.

29. What’s my opinion? If this were my business I would…..

Ensure that you give your opinion. Always ask yourself, what’s my opinion on this and then share it. Say it confidently and with conviction. Think of the organisation as if it were yours and what you would do if it were your money being spent in the workplace. This is a great way to challenge and formulate an opinion on any topic at work.

30. Enjoy

I purposely left this till last. But I would say its one of the most important points. Enjoy your career. It is important and serious but make sure you enjoy. You spend too much time for you not to be stimulated, energised and challenged by your career. So surround yourself with great people, focus on your goals, take action and celebrate every success and improvement you make. Savour every moment and you will enjoy it.

Action!

Actions of the Week

Pick at least 10 of the above and do them at work for the next two weeks. Give yourself a reward when you complete the two weeks.

Then pick another 10 and do the full 20 for another two weeks.

Then do the final 10 with the first 20 for the next two weeks.

So in six weeks you will put in place all 30 habits and maybe some more that are suitable for you.

Keep adding to the list above and take the responsibility to put them into action.

Remember when you are efficient, focused, effective and are working with energy and enjoyment you have planted the seeds of a brilliant, rewarding and fulfilling career.