Gauri Chhabra
Have you wondered why some people taste success at everything they do, every initiative they take and every challenge they face. They seem to have the Midas Touch- of turning everything they touch into gold. Do you think they are born with it or is it some skill they have acquired over the years?
Success won’t just fall into your lap just like that. You have to earn it though hard work, dedication, and a great attitude. In order to succeed in your career, you’ll also need to develop the right set of habits.The very best people, in any walk of life, are those who are constantly challenging themselves and are setting themselves new targets. You need to extend beyond your own record day in and day out. And if you want to be one of those characters who are always looking to move forward and better themselves then you need to have the kind of working habits in place that will lead to success.
Your job description is just the beginning:
If you feel that you are doing everything that’s mentioned in your job description and still not succeeding, believe me, you won’t. You are just scraping through. You have to go both beyond and beneath.
Think of this- Are there any tasks that have been lingering on your boss’ to-do list for a few weeks? It can be as simple as the coffee machine needing a cleanup. A great way to get noticed is by taking on a project that no one wants to tackle, but that has to get done. I’ll never forget my last corporate job before becoming a career consultant. One of my employees went out of her way to make a chart of the deliverables, and it just made my heart surge. It was a job that needed to be done but I hadn’t set aside any time for it, so when she took the initiative and presented it to me, I felt she was indispensable.
When you want to stand out at work use your job description as a starting point, not an end point.
Break the ice:
People who get big things done are people who know people. Do not think that inter-office relationship building is too time-consuming and draining to be worthwhile. Every aspect of your professional life will improve if you get to know your colleagues and making them feel comfortable getting to know you. Once you’ve broken the ice, you won’t feel nearly as uncomfortable about initiating a conversation in the elevator. Great managers understand that they shouldn’t limit their professional relationship-building efforts to the people on their team. They also recognize that getting to know the people at the bottom of the ladder is just as important, if not more so than getting to know the people at the top. People who get big things done are people who know their resources, both inside and outside of the company. Remember, the best time to get to know someone is when you don’t need anything from him or her, so go ahead and set up an informal lunch and start building a friendly rapport.
Maturity first:
When it comes to mixing business with pleasure, learn to draw the line. I’ll never forget my company’s costume party, where a younger member of the team proudly showed up in an elaborately overdone get-up that was so tone-deaf and inappropriate. It distracted everyone else from enjoying the evening, and the mortified CEO “joked” that he’d never be able to take the employee seriously again.When it comes to office events, never put more effort into your social persona than you’re putting into your professional persona, and when in doubt, always gravitate towards maturity. The risk is low.Your bad costume decision should not show up in your bank account.
Get involved in top line activities:
Every organization has a bottom line, and if you’re bringing in new business opportunities, you will always be seen as an asset. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been hired for marketing; it’s all about contributing in a bigger way. This doesn’t mean you need to be a walking billboard for your employer, but you should maintain a keen awareness of the opportunities that surround you, whether you’re in a coffee line or a board meeting. Your CEO would respect that.
Chorus is as important as solo performance:
Sometimes you’re the star of the show, and sometimes you’re in the chorus. Being alert to your coworkers’ needs, and offering to help when their workload is overwhelming, is the best way to establish yourself as a team player.You don’t need to be a martyr of self-sacrifice by staying late every single night to do someone else’s work, but stepping up without expecting any personal benefit will never go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Cut the grapevine:
That’s the number one way to get noticed…and subsequently get fired. Your critiques may be spot-on and your impersonation of the boss might be the best in show, but don’t resort to gossip as a way of gaining popularity in the office.It’s a universal truth that the person doing the trash talking always looks worse than the person who is being trashed, even when the criticism is deserved. Stay above the fray at all costs.
Do not be scared to speak up:
At 21 years old, when I started my first job in Education sector, I was scared of speaking up as I sat in a sea of education stalwarts. The biggest shift in my career came when I took a quantum leap out of my comfort zone and started sharing my thoughts in staff meetings.
One day, they were trying to come up with a new approach for the Lesson Planning, I sat there, mentally poking holes in all of their ideas. After they’d exhausted their options, I finally just let loose with my suggestions. My input transformed the work we were doing, and my role on the team became more significant overnight.
It can be terrifying to put yourself out there, but the employee who’s still coming up with ideas long after the creativity fountain runs dry is a huge asset to any organization. Having a voice in the workforce is like a muscle that grows stronger with frequent use.
The standout employees are the ones who behave like leaders, even when their title is Intern. The irony is that when you’re more focused on the results than the promotion, your title will change faster than you can even imagine.
Develop your own brand:
This is a challenge for new managers, especially those tasked with overseeing older employees. It’s understandable that these managers want to be liked, but it’s disempowering to lead with that persona. The social self is the natural default setting: As children, we were fiercely taught the importance of likeability, and have been taught from a young age to seek approval. This identity has been refined and reinforced, and can be incredibly damaging when it shows up in the workplace. Ask yourself: “Do I want to be liked or respected?” Sometimes you can score both, but there are many times you will have to pick one. The ability to draw a distinction between your social self and professional self enables you to maintain an intentional career path with boundaries that support you. Creating a new workplace brand may feel unnatural, but making an intentional choice about who you want to be as a professional is more powerful than a natural default setting.
The onus is on you:
Even the best employee will disappoint you, defy you, or let you down at some point, and their screw-up doesn’t change the fact that you, as the manager, are responsible. It can be tempting to point fingers, especially when your boss is breathing down your neck, but throwing the wrongdoer under the bus is the quickest way to disempowering your team. It’s an amateur move that makes you look reactive, untrustworthy, and self-serving-especially to your superiors. You can swallow your pride, own up to the error, and turn it into a growth opportunity for everyone on the team, regardless of who was at fault. Take full responsibility for your actions, and by doing so, you impart the message to those around, that they need to do the same.
Compassion is key:
Your life at work revolves around satisfying whoever it is that stands as your boss, be it your client, your supervisor, or someone else. Rather than taking a by-the-book approach to management, look for ways to accommodate your teams’ talents and skill sets so that they’re inspired to put forth their best effort every time. Does the team accountant do her best from home? If possible, let her. Does the administrative assistant have a talent for graphic design that would be useful to a particular project? Let him make magic in your corner office while you cover his phone shift.
Next time you are in doldrums, you would have extra set of hands and eyes to help you.
Follow these simple practices and acquire the Midas Touch at workplace- your friends and finances would speak for you…
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