Tips for Becoming Significant
Moving from a success oriented career to one focused on significance starts with setting goals. Here are some ideas on how you can get started.
- Create a list of goals that you would like to achieve. For each goal, consider the value of the goal to others.
- There are no boundaries to this list. For example, you may still create a financial goal, as long as the stated goal brings value to others. “I will make a contribution of $5,000 to my favorite charity by the end of the year.”
- There are certain key words that might come in handy as you create your goals. Some ideas: Giving, Mentoring, Showing, Leading, Providing, Helping, etc.
- Write the goals down some place where you can view them every day. For some, that might mean writing them on 3”x5” index cards that you can read through daily. Or you could create a vision board, where each goal is represented by a picture. If you like social media, perhaps you could create several Pinterest boards illustrating your goals. Not only will you have fun with these tasks, but the goals will become more real when you’ve spent time writing them down.
- Check off the goals as you achieve them. Celebrate the fact that you have accomplished something!
What’s the end game here? To find significance in your life. But don’t wait until it’s too late. Starting now gives you time to enjoy even more wonders in your life. If you’re interested in engaging your entire staff or department, consider a one-day workshop on Professional and/or Personal Development. We’d love to discuss the possibilities with you. Give us a call at (301) 670-0051 or send us an email at leadership@lmja.com.
Can You Advance Without Becoming a Workaholic?
Your boss spends at least one day out of the weekend in the office. Or your boss is on the job till 7 pm most nights. Does this make you think, “I have to do the same if I’m going to succeed!” Maybe not everyone thinks that way, but I sure did! One of my bosses was in the office every Saturday. And nearly every evening, he was there when I left. I started to think that this was what was expected of me. But I had a family, and kids still at home, I wasn’t sure this was really what I wanted to do.
I decided to mention it to my boss. I wove it into the conversation when we were talking about someone junior to me. He mentioned that he didn’t think this particular employee was dedicated to his job. So I asked him to tell me what he meant when he said “dedicated to his job.” Did he expect overtime? Working on weekends? To my surprise, and relief, he told me that he didn’t expect long hours, and certainly not weekend job responsibilities. He did those things because his family lived in another city and it was easy for him to spend long hours at work. Instead, he wanted to see passion in his employees. He said,“people who work for this company should have a real desire for their work, and demonstrate value.”
So what is expected of most employees? How do you get ahead, without dedicating your life to your organization? Here are some tips from career coaches.
Be engaged. If you are engaged, you’re part of the solution. How can you help? Your attitude shows through and more people want to be around you.
Be a person who takes action. Have you ever been in a meeting where someone keeps telling you, “it won’t work.” It drives you crazy, doesn’t it? Instead of saying it won’t work, try coming up with a solution. You take ownership. Demonstrate the creative problem solving skills you have.
Work smarter. Long hours don’t necessarily mean you are more productive. Take a minute to think through your project and see if there are overlapping areas that aren’t necessary. That’s what business process re-engineering is all about. Companies and organizations start fresh. They look at a process and determine what activity is no longer productive. Working smarter means planning your time more effectively.
Focus on relationships. Advancement rarely happens in a silo. Instead, managers what to know that the relationships you’ve built are solid. It’s important that people who work for you think highly of you. And in building relationships, you never know what gems of knowledge you’re going to uncover.
Take on new challenges. Do you hide from new projects? Instead of thinking of the work that new projects entail, think about how, if done right, that new project might just help you learn new skills – skills that will be important to the business as you move forward.
Think Big. Instead of being mired in the details, think about how you can achieve more. If you’re going through a checklist, you’re probably thinking of tasks. Look at the big picture instead, and come up with ideas that might grow the business.
When it comes right down to it, the one thing that separates successful people from others is the smart decisions they’ve made – not the hours they’ve spent on the job.
More successful employees result in a more productive organization. Does your organization need help with career development? Leah M. Joppy & Associates provides training at all levels. Give us a call at 301-670-0051 and let’s discuss your needs.
What are the top things that successful people do well?
Successful people tend to think big – looking at the entire picture instead of their particular role. Here’s what they do well.
- They stick to ethics. Whether you are dealing with fellow employees, learning the game of golf or downloading a report, stick to ethical behavior. People will appreciate your professionalism.
- They are social. The most successful people know how to draw out others. They know what questions to ask and what compliments to extend. In the end, they put people at ease. The result is that people want to interact with you.
- They invest in people. Whether it’s someone working for you, or a peer, investing in their future is as important as investing in yourself. Successful people often mentor or coach. They realize that when everyone around them is happier and more successful, they will be too.
More successful employees result in a more productive organization. Does your organization need help with career development? We provide training at all levels. Give us a call at 301-670-0051 and let’s discuss your needs.
Decision-Making Skills of Leaders
The decision-making skills of leaders is often puzzling. And lately, more of these leaders find themselves in the news – and not for good reasons. Perhaps you’ve heard about the CEO who raised a drug price 4,000 percent – now he’s under arrest. Or the Virginia governor who is now pleading his case with the Supreme Court. Obviously, being a leader doesn’t automatically guarantee good decision making.
So how do leaders learn to make better decisions? In this article published by Fast Company, the author points out that good decision making is critical during all stages of your career. Most experts will tell you that good decisions are the result of three factors – knowledge, a gut feeling and careful consideration. Some people seem to have a knack for making good decisions. In this article, Fast Company interviewed some well-known CEOs to find out what their decision-making process entails.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Founders of Google. Setting a realistic timeframe to make major decisions is important for this company. Decisions aren’t stalled and business moves forward.
Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox. The first African-American woman to lead a company the size of Xerox takes into account the customer and innovation in her decision-making process. She asks, “what is the customer’s pain, and how can we use technology to solve the problem?”
Mark Parker, CEO of Nike. The research group at Nike is always looking at hundreds of new ideas. To make the right decision, Mark asks lots of questions so is team has to think thing through.
Dao Nguyen, Publisher of BuzzFeed. The company reaches 79 million people each month. To make decisions, Nguyen says she uses a combination of intuition, creativity and data – each of which are equally important.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook. Zuckerberg seems to move incrementally. Long term strategy is discussed and then broken up into smaller scale projects. His team credits his inquisitiveness, persistence, devotion and ability to deploy resources.
Malala Yousafzai, Founder of the Malala Fund. Yousafzai understands that she can’t know everything, so she asks questions. She has become an adept listener.
Most jobs come down to two factors: making decisions and executing on decisions. Your ability to make good decisions is key to your success. And sound decision making is a skill that can and should be developed, just like any other skill. In fact, your ability to succeed is dependent on the development of your decision-making skills.
Leah M. Joppy & Associates can help. We have multiple workshops that focus on building decision-making skills for leaders, teams and all employees.
5 Tips for Improving Your Decision-Making Skills
- Question Your Data. It’s OK to get data from another department or another colleague. But question what you are reading. Make sure you understand what the data is conveying. Then look at industry standards and research reports on the same information.
- Don’t Involve Your Emotions. When our emotions or egos get involved, we tend to make decisions for all the wrong reasons. Instead, put them aside. Focus on the facts and put the business need in the forefront.
- Don’t Delay your Decision. When a decision is big, we sometimes tend to delay our decision because it’s more difficult. Instead, put a block of time aside to do your research. Then consider the pros and cons of your decision.
- Understand The Consequences. As you come to your decision, consider the risks that can result. If the worst case scenario happens, what will be the outcome? If you know the possible outcomes, you may be able to mitigate the result. Thinking of them ahead of time will help you figure out possible solutions.
And what happens if the decision you make turns out to be wrong? First, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, review the decision-making process you employed and see if you can identify something that you missed. We’re not perfect, but if we can learn from our mistakes we can be wiser.
Career Growth – Who’s in Charge?
Think about when you took the job you have now. Did you have a vision of where this job would take you? Has the job lived up to your expectations? Whether you’re close to being in the position you envisioned, or not, you can still get there. Your vision can be realized if you have the commitment to learn. The more you know, the more you are respected. The more you expand your boundaries, the more valuable you are to those around you. You can even widen your career opportunities.
Think back over the last 5-10 years and realize how your job has changed. It’s amazing, isn’t it? The skills you’ve acquired, the technology you’ve come to appreciate, the resources available to you – all of these factors are good reminders of just how important continual learning is. Change, as they say, is constant. If you feel stuck in your present position or if your career is not expanding as rapidly as you would like, you have to find ways to get additional learning.
How do you find ways to learn when you’re already feeling overwhelmed? First off, you have technology on your side. And secondly, realize that learning can be done quickly – you don’t need that big block of time anymore. Lastly, use all available resources. Here are some fairly painless ways to learn on your own time.
- Go online. There are courses you can sign up for. Research you can have access to. Blog articles abound – follow your favorite blogger. And then there’s YouTube – what CAN’T you learn through this site!
- Schedule something special for your break! Take the time to view a video or listen to a podcast. Devote a few hours every week and pick up some new knowledge!
- Schedule a brown bag session. Sharing courses or topics benefits all and saves money.
- Get wiser about your commute. Whether you’re in a carpool, on the metro or driving yourself, there’s a way to get informed. Turn on a podcast or pop in a CD from your local library. Download it to your iphone for the metro or carpool. You can even add video – as long as you’re not driving!
- Find an hour on the weekend Plan to watch a video, do some online research or browse the library. Chances are, once you get started the time will fly by.
- Take a walk. With today’s technology, get your exercise and expand your career at the same time by downloading a bit of professional training to your mobile phone.
- Learn as you watch your kids practice. Are you a soccer mom? Do you drive your kids to the basketball game? Instead of being bored watching practice, consider plugging into an online learning opportunity.
- Exercise your rights to learn at the gym! Listening to a CD, podcast or video will not only increase your knowledge, but make the exercise routine less boring.
Make it a Plan. The idea here is that one year from now, your knowledge, skills and experience should be greater than it is today. Write out your plan to get there and review it monthly.
Happier Work Life
Going into the New Year we hear a lot of talk about getting in shape, eating healthily and making sure we exercise daily. Certainly that’s all well and good – especially after our indulgences of the holiday season. But maybe even more important is our mental well-being.
We are often defined by our work. Our work gives us structure and purpose. But what happens when you are sick of your job? Should you quit? While there comes a time when a job change is what we need, very often the fact that we are unhappy at work is the result of our own neglect. Perhaps it’s the routine of going to work every day. Or maybe it has to do with your long standing devotion to the work you do. It’s hard sometimes to shake the feeling of inadequate fulfillment at work.
What can we do? While there are all kinds of ways that you can make your job more interesting, or your attitude more positive (see our Tips for Being Happier at Work), our quest this month is to make that happier attitude a constant in your life.
Two things that are discussed frequently when it comes to work life satisfaction, include:
- Focusing on learning opportunities, and
- Reaching an intense state of focus.
According to a recent article by Fast Company, to achieve real happiness at work, we should focus on what we are learning in our job and building on that set of skills. There are a lot of ways we can go about building our knowledge base.
Research. Fortunately, we live in the internet era. You can find information online about any subject. Stick to known and reputable sites and you’ll likely find lots of information on the skill you are trying to build. And don’t forget to check out podcasts and videos. It’s amazing how much and how fast we can learn about a particular skill by listening to someone, rather than reading and re-reading articles and white papers.
Colleagues. Chances are, there’s someone in your business or association that has the skills you are interested in. Seek out mentors, colleagues and friends. Ask them to give you feedback and point you in the right direction. Having a few conversations can really help you hone in on the areas of development – and in the process, all that talk makes you more excited to learn.
Resources. There are lots of outside resources where you can take a seminar or workshop on a particular subject. These resources aggregate a lot on information, helping you make greater strides in a shorter amount of time.
The second tip for creating a happier work environment comes from a study done by the University of Chicago. The study examined peak performance and found that when individuals were able to reach an intense state of focus (often called “flow”) that they became completely engrossed in a project and free of external distractions.
The benefits of focus. This intense state of focus leads to a kind of euphoria – a mastery of the subject, if you will. The result is happiness, productivity and a new sense of learning. So how do we reach this intense state of focus?
Organization. The key to focus seems to be organizing your tasks and priorities with clear goals in mind that are reachable. As you meet and exceed these goals, focus increases, along with our confidence level. And as our confidence increases, so does our enjoyment of our work. We’ll even put more stress on ourselves to learn more, so desirable is this state.
Continuous enjoyment. There is evidence that we can continue this state of euphoria and focus by setting clear goals every day. Writing down our tasks, setting priorities and accomplishing these tasks are important to our enjoyment and focus.
If you or your organization needs help in the New Year with Individual Development Plans, give us a call. An IDP is critical and fast becoming mandatory in Federal Government for all employees. An IDP is a road map of mostly career goals (some personal goals) and contains a step-by step-action plan to achievement. Give LMJA a call at 301-670-0051, or email me at Leadership@lmja.com. Let’s put some time aside to discuss your needs.
Tip: 5 Tips for Being Happier at Work
No matter how challenging and invigorating your work, we can all use a few ideas to clear our heads or get us thinking more positively. Try these on for size.
- Read daily affirmations. At the end of a weekly networking meeting, someone always has a positive quote for us. It works. We realize our capabilities and self-worth and it helps us stay motivated.
- Talk it out. I think this one works especially well for women – but don’t let that be your excuse to pass on this tip. Having a quick conversation with a friend, or setting the time aside to get a cup of coffee with a friend helps us work out difficulties.
- Conquering the big project. Sometimes just thinking about what’s on your plate can be overwhelming. The trick is to slice it up into several servings. Take the time to go over the project, decide what is needed, and break it up into smaller tasks.
- Go on silent. This is one of my favorite tips. Sometimes I just want to work my way through projects without interruption. Closing my door, putting my phone on silent, NOT opening my email – all of these tactics taken together give me a sense of power and ownership. I come away fulfilled.
- Don’t go it alone. Reach out to colleagues or friends. Talking over a project with someone else is sometimes all you need to make it clear in your own mind. And chances are, the person you talk to will even give you other ideas to consider.
Do you have a tip that works for you? Send us your tip by email and we’ll share in an upcoming blog post.
LMJA works with organizations, helping them focus on various challenges. If you need help with training or would like information on developing Individual Development Plans (IDP) for all levels of employees, give us a call at 301-670-0051, or email me at Leadership@lmja.com.
Effective Leading Starts with Listening!
Remember when sales people used to push themselves on you? You’d go into a store and someone jumps right on top of you and starts telling you about the merchandise. It kind of makes you go wonky, doesn’t it? It’s very disconcerting and not very friendly. The first time I bought my own car it nearly rattled me. The sales person was mostly interested in getting a car off his lot than listening to me.
Thankfully, the better sales people have refined their trade. Instead of hanging all over you, they wait. They ask open ended questions. And they Listen.
The same holds true for leaders. Leaders who are interested in getting the work done understand that the key to success is enhancing the capacity and skills of those they work with. Leaders, in fact, coach. And in order to coach an employee to reach his/her highest potential, nothing is more important than how leaders listen, absorb what is said and give feedback.
Listening is a skill. It takes thought. We have to remind ourselves often to stop talking and just listen. Here are five rules to follow which will help develop the skill of listening effectively.
Listen with Interest. We’ve all had that occasion when we’re talking and yet clearly seeing that the person we’re talking to is not really listening to us. Instead, listen with the curiosity of someone who really is interested in what your employee is saying. Instead of thinking about what our feedback is going to be, stay focused on the topic. Keep interruptions to a minimum and move the conversation forward by keeping it on target.
Absorb what you hear. We can fake it sometimes. We can look like we’re interested but our minds are going elsewhere. Instead, take in what is being said. Register the emotion of the person who is talking to you. And be prepared to restate to the employee the discussion you’ve just had. If you do, you’ll stay in the conversation and not drift.
Restate the conversation accurately. Now, you’re showing the person that you really are listening. You not only demonstrate your commitment, but the person you’re talking to gets to “hear” how they sound. Is the message that was conveyed the message he/she really meant to convey?
Ask Questions. Asking questions promotes a fruitful dialogue. You’ve extended the conversation. And by asking open-ended questions, the person you are talking to might voice the answer you want to hear. In fact, you are empowering your employee to think it through. And you’re building their confidence.
Provide Feedback. Avoid preaching and bringing up past experiences. Instead, get clever. You want to be clear in your feedback, but you can also make it relevant and non-threatening. Make your feedback helpful and positive.
Are you a C1, C2, C3 or C4 communicator? LMJA can help your team self-identify their style and strengthen communication… and have fun! LMJA also help organizations with many common challenges – time management, project management, conflict management, strategic planning, to name a few. If you need help or would like to discuss your options, give us a call at 301-670-0051, or email me at Leadership@lmja.com.
Tips for Active Listening
We all have times when we’re distracted. Or our emotions get in the way. Instead of listening, we find ourselves preparing a rebuttal. Here are some good tips for active listening. Try them and let us know how they work for you!
- Know your own communication style. If you are well aware of your style of communication, you’ll know what you need to do to create a lasting impression with other.
- Concentration. If you find it very difficult to concentrate on what is being said, try repeating their words mentally as they say them. This will help reinforce their message and keep you focused.
- Disturbance. If there is a “side” conversation going on in the office, move. Try a quieter room or find a spot in another part of the room.
- Repetition. Use reflective words so that your interpretation of the conversation is correct. For example, use words such as: “What I’m hearing is. . .” and “Sounds like you are saying. . .”
- Emotional Distraction. If you find yourself reacting emotionally to what someone said, admit it. Ask for more information or for better clarity.
- Interruption. Finally, allow the person speaking to you to finish each question before you answer. Don’t interrupt.
LMJA works with organizational challenges. If you need help or would like to discuss your options, give us a call at 301-670-0051, or email me at Leadership@lmja.com.