Many executives I talk to ask me, “What do successful professionals you interview have in common?”
Despite always answering that when it comes to someone’s career there’s no right or wrong, or success formulas, there’s is something I think successful professionals have in common.
If competence is a combination of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSA) part of the answer lies in this concept. The philosopher Ralph Emerson once said, “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
And I truly believe in what Emerson was saying. In essence your career success depends on your attitudes, but it’s also built upon how your attitudes are perceived by others.
And it’s no use thinking, “I don’t care about what others think of me,” or yet, “I’m not here to make friends but to do my job,” because your most important personal marketing is actually done by others, and in this sense it’s possible to say that perception equals reality.
Having a successful career is closely related to how others assess you, so each work day and each step you take in your career is a chapter you write about it, which others will read and tell as stories.
You can’t dissociate one from the other. Your career will be what you make of it. There’s no use blaming it on your boss or company; it’s in your hands.
Yes, I know your company is not perfect, that your boss isn’t nice, that your team is difficult, that nobody sees the world like you do, and that sometimes it REALLY feels impossible, but as Michael Jackson used to sing, it’s about “...starting with the man in the mirror...”
GOOD LUCK!!
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
3/7/11
What’s does a successful career mean?
Dictionary.com defines career as “a course, especially a swift one” or “speed, especially full speed” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/career).
It seems that the definition is very close to what all of us constantly hear, i.e., in order to be successful one has to work hard, keep oneself updated, and if one doesn’t do it fast one might fail since the course of success is narrow. Right?
Right. But I also like to interpret this “full speed” and high competitiveness differently: your biggest “competitor” for the highest place in the success podium is yourself.
The reason for this is that a successful career is something relative and you’re responsible for developing its conception.
Being the CEO of a company, for instance, can represent success. But are you sure you want to be the CEO of your company? Or do you only want the “good” part of being a CEO (high pay, visibility, power, etc …)?
Think about it. Everything in life has a price, even you! (check out this post).
Having a successful career is hard work because you always have to give up some things for others. But if this is really what you want here’s a tip.
Before anything else, develop your conception of successful career. The idea is to come up with a spreadsheet that includes all the elements about your successful career: salary, decision power, hours, pressure, family time, your health (remember, you only have one), how much you like what you do, and how much you like the industry you work in, the possibilities of growing in the business, etc…
You can assign a value to each element which should all total 100. Then you can grade each item based on your current job or professional activity. Multiply the grades by the values you assigned and compare the scores.
This may help you think if you really want to change jobs or work in a different industry.
You may even ask, “Is this spreadsheet the solution to my problems?” Of course, not. To think about your career only based on a spreadsheet is to oversimplify a very important part of your life.
But the exercise of going through the values you assign to each one of the things that impact your career may be a great opportunity to find out what a successful career means according to your conception of it.
If you’re far away from your goal you can now start to create your path to success, which doesn’t necessarily mean working more and making more money (but may also be!!).
You can even be surprised and find out that actually you do have a career that’s more successful than those of many professionals you used to covet!
GOOD LUCK!!
It seems that the definition is very close to what all of us constantly hear, i.e., in order to be successful one has to work hard, keep oneself updated, and if one doesn’t do it fast one might fail since the course of success is narrow. Right?
Right. But I also like to interpret this “full speed” and high competitiveness differently: your biggest “competitor” for the highest place in the success podium is yourself.
The reason for this is that a successful career is something relative and you’re responsible for developing its conception.
Being the CEO of a company, for instance, can represent success. But are you sure you want to be the CEO of your company? Or do you only want the “good” part of being a CEO (high pay, visibility, power, etc …)?
Think about it. Everything in life has a price, even you! (check out this post).
Having a successful career is hard work because you always have to give up some things for others. But if this is really what you want here’s a tip.
Before anything else, develop your conception of successful career. The idea is to come up with a spreadsheet that includes all the elements about your successful career: salary, decision power, hours, pressure, family time, your health (remember, you only have one), how much you like what you do, and how much you like the industry you work in, the possibilities of growing in the business, etc…
You can assign a value to each element which should all total 100. Then you can grade each item based on your current job or professional activity. Multiply the grades by the values you assigned and compare the scores.
This may help you think if you really want to change jobs or work in a different industry.
You may even ask, “Is this spreadsheet the solution to my problems?” Of course, not. To think about your career only based on a spreadsheet is to oversimplify a very important part of your life.
But the exercise of going through the values you assign to each one of the things that impact your career may be a great opportunity to find out what a successful career means according to your conception of it.
If you’re far away from your goal you can now start to create your path to success, which doesn’t necessarily mean working more and making more money (but may also be!!).
You can even be surprised and find out that actually you do have a career that’s more successful than those of many professionals you used to covet!
GOOD LUCK!!
12/27/10
From innovation to success
Doing something original or new can set you apart from others; win you praise and a feeling of success achieved.
I use the word feeling because this might be the only thing that you will experience if you’re not prepared for the trial phase which your original idea goes through in order to become successful.
This is doesn’t mean I don’t want people to be successful. This is what happens naturally when success is what you seek from innovation.
When your idea/innovation is appreciated for the first time its success among a small audience—the first people who understood the innovation and praised you for it—might give you a false perception that you’re ready to present it to the Large Audience. Be careful, this is the first major risk.
If you were complimented in a small environment such as a small business, or even inside a department, you’ll have to consider some adaptations before taking it further to a larger setting.
And when making changes you run a second major risk—of losing the initial originality and eureka moment which led you to your first success.
If you have an original or innovative idea you should be ready for criticism when presenting it—be it at the company, college or your community. And the larger the audience the harsher and more diverse the criticisms will be.
To be successful when implementing an original/innovative idea, consider the following process:
1) Learn and maintain the essence of your idea. When considering further changes the essence should not vanish and lose its proposed innovation;
2) Make tons of mistakes—as long as they’re new mistakes. This is part of the creative and improvement process.
3) Consider the largest and most diverse number of opinions when testing the application of your idea, in a way mirroring the existing variety among the population targeted by your conception;
4) Resilience should be a major consideration. Introducing new ways of doing things always makes other people feel uncomfortable and anxious. You should always be ready to face them.
Even after following all different sorts of guidance and surrounding yourself by the best experts you’ll fail. Not always, but many times. Daring and innovating has a price. Ask yourself—before you set out—if you’re really willing to pay for it.
And if you are, you might achieve great success. There are countless examples of innovative professionals who have been through tough times even before reaping the rewards of their boldness and innovation. Even the famous Eike Batista has failed a few times (an off-road car manufacturing plant, a cosmetic company, an express shipping business...) before becoming a reference in the business world.
If you have an idea that you think is promising, go ahead! Apply it! Be it in your area, the company you work for, or even in your own business—have you considered opening your own business? No matter how old you are or what you’ve done in the past. Paraphrasing the late Chico Xavier* , although no one can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start now and create a new ending.
*Chico Xavier (April 2, 1910 - June 30, 2002) was a popular medium in Brazil's Spiritism movement who wrote 412 books, ostensibly using a process known as "psychography.” His work helped to establish Kardecist Spiritism as one of the religions professed in Brazil (see more)
I use the word feeling because this might be the only thing that you will experience if you’re not prepared for the trial phase which your original idea goes through in order to become successful.
This is doesn’t mean I don’t want people to be successful. This is what happens naturally when success is what you seek from innovation.
When your idea/innovation is appreciated for the first time its success among a small audience—the first people who understood the innovation and praised you for it—might give you a false perception that you’re ready to present it to the Large Audience. Be careful, this is the first major risk.
If you were complimented in a small environment such as a small business, or even inside a department, you’ll have to consider some adaptations before taking it further to a larger setting.
And when making changes you run a second major risk—of losing the initial originality and eureka moment which led you to your first success.
If you have an original or innovative idea you should be ready for criticism when presenting it—be it at the company, college or your community. And the larger the audience the harsher and more diverse the criticisms will be.
To be successful when implementing an original/innovative idea, consider the following process:
1) Learn and maintain the essence of your idea. When considering further changes the essence should not vanish and lose its proposed innovation;
2) Make tons of mistakes—as long as they’re new mistakes. This is part of the creative and improvement process.
3) Consider the largest and most diverse number of opinions when testing the application of your idea, in a way mirroring the existing variety among the population targeted by your conception;
4) Resilience should be a major consideration. Introducing new ways of doing things always makes other people feel uncomfortable and anxious. You should always be ready to face them.
Even after following all different sorts of guidance and surrounding yourself by the best experts you’ll fail. Not always, but many times. Daring and innovating has a price. Ask yourself—before you set out—if you’re really willing to pay for it.
And if you are, you might achieve great success. There are countless examples of innovative professionals who have been through tough times even before reaping the rewards of their boldness and innovation. Even the famous Eike Batista has failed a few times (an off-road car manufacturing plant, a cosmetic company, an express shipping business...) before becoming a reference in the business world.
If you have an idea that you think is promising, go ahead! Apply it! Be it in your area, the company you work for, or even in your own business—have you considered opening your own business? No matter how old you are or what you’ve done in the past. Paraphrasing the late Chico Xavier* , although no one can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start now and create a new ending.
*Chico Xavier (April 2, 1910 - June 30, 2002) was a popular medium in Brazil's Spiritism movement who wrote 412 books, ostensibly using a process known as "psychography.” His work helped to establish Kardecist Spiritism as one of the religions professed in Brazil (see more)
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