Filed under: Career, Development, Life, Management, Personal Development, Work
Good nuggets from a well written post
You’ll always find yourself in situations where you’re never “paid back” for what you give. But even in those cases, I find a surprising result – there’s usually a positive payback, but it’s really indirect.
I can associate very well to this, as in my current NGPA project, I am not well rewarded with respect to money. However, I go beyond my specified duties and make/made sure people using it had no blocking issues / concerns and that earned me a very nice name and trust in the organization.
So, if you can help someone out without disadvantaging yourself, do it. That means sharing ideas, making connections, and doing little tasks that don’t eat up tons of your time and energy. Don’t worry about the return – if you do it often enough and with enough quality and value, the return will take care of itself.
More than anything in return it makes you a better person. Relevant comment …
I believe, aside from the paybacks, that habitually helping other people helps you by making you a better person. When you help others you become more patient, generous and selfless. When you only look out for yourself you tend to become narcissistic. People who are completely focused on themselves tend to self-destruct, sooner or later.
I’d want to go back 50 years. I’d tell myself: “Think very very carefully about the choices you make. Write down what you want when you’re my current age. (Hint: You didn’t get it because of those choices.) And, remember that in the future, the “Shouldas, wouldas, and couldas” will really annoy the ever loving out of you. Looking back you’ll say SWC!”
Success for the current generation IMHO is: (1) ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt; (2) a life long interest in learning — education — a degree — they can’t take it away from you; (3) a white collar job in order to save big bucks; (4) a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber; (5) one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open; (6) a free time hobby that generates income; and (7) a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you.
Work exceptionally hard and step up from day one, despite being junior. In the first three to four months that you’re in a job, you can create positive or negative momentum. I got to Merrill already hungry to prove myself and exceeded expectations; from that point on I got staffed on the better assignments and was given the opportunity to move to London. Hank’s advice has always stayed with me. It’s key to starting any new job because you have a few months to make a first impression, and a finite window of time to create professional momentum and start building a brand for yourself. – Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
The advice that sticks out I got from John Doerr, who in 2001 said, "My advice to you is to have a coach." The coach he said I should have is Bill Campbell. I initially resented the advice, because after all, I was a CEO. I was pretty experienced. Why would I need a coach? Am I doing something wrong? My argument was, How could a coach advise me if I’m the best person in the world at this? But that’s not what a coach does. The coach doesn’t have to play the sport as well as you do. They have to watch you and get you to be your best. In the business context a coach is not a repetitious coach. A coach is somebody who looks at something with another set of eyes, describes it to you in [his] words, and discusses how to approach the problem. — Eric Schmidt
There was a brand-new second lieutenant who was very ambitious and wanted to be a general. So one night at the officer’s club the young officer spotted this old general sitting at the bar. So he went up and said, "How do I become a general?" And the old general answered, "Son, you’ve got to work like a dog. You’ve got to have moral and physical courage. There may be days you’re tired, but you must never show fatigue. You’ll be afraid, but you can never show fear. You must always be the leader." The young officer was so excited by this advice. "Thank you, sir," he said, "so is this how I become a general?" "No," said the general, "that’s how you become a first lieutenant, and then you keep doing it over and over and over." Throughout my career, I’ve always tried to do my best today, think about tomorrow, and maybe dream a bit about the future. But doing your best in the present has to be the rule. You won’t become a general unless you become a good first lieutenant. — Colin Powell
If you are really effective at what you do, 95% of the things said about you will be negative. Keep your head on straight, don’t get emotional, take the heat, and just make sure your clients are smiling. – Scott Boras
TV pitchman Billy Mays died. Money explores some of his selling techniques
When Mays and Sullivan are debating whether to shill for a product, their mental checklist could easily be a decision tree for a new product launch at a major corporation. "First, it’s got to have mass appeal," says Mays. "If you can connect to a broader audience, there’s just a better shot of making it work. Second, the product needs to solve a common problem. I need to be able to show that it makes one’s life easier. And also it gives instant gratification, hits you on an emotional level." Both Mays and Sullivan swear that believing in the product is essential to being able to sell it.
Once they find a product they believe in, they move the merchandise with a three-step process that harks back to the carny tradition: "bally the tip," "nod them in," and "chill ‘em down."
The hardest part of making a sale is stopping people, whether they’re wandering by a booth or flipping channels. In carny lingo, "ballying the tip" means drawing a crowd – and once one begins to gather, it feeds on itself. For Billy his volume, energy, hand gestures, and faux authority ("Hi, Billy Mays here for …") are all tactics to bally the tip. To keep the crowd you use humor and make the presentation interactive.
The next step is convincing potential customers that buying your product is totally reasonable. "Wouldn’t you like to eat more fresh vegetables?" Yes, of course you would. A good pitchman will literally nod in answer to his own question to get the crowd nodding along. "If there were a device that made it easy, was a snap to clean, and I could sell it to you for less than half what it cost in stores, wouldn’t you want to buy it?" Yes, yes, and yes!
But the trickiest part of any sale is being able to transform good will into cold, hard cash – the chill-down. Rather than politely ask if anyone would like to buy something, the pitchman often starts the process for potential buyers by counting it off. "Who are going to be my first ten customers? You, sir, you’re No. 1!"
Good one:
Lloyd Blankfein: Empower a subordinate
Age: 54
Chairman and CEO, Goldman SachsWhen I was put in charge of sales and trading at Goldman’s commodities unit [in 1984], it was a big deal for me. My first month on the job, things started going badly in the P&L. When I went in to my boss for help, he asked, "What do you think we should do here?" I wanted to sound totally in control, so I went right into this Chuck Yeager voice — you know, The Right Stuff. I used my most fake-confident voice, and I gave it my best shot. He said, "Okay, that’s a good idea." It was smart of him to ask my opinion instead of telling me what to do. He knew that if my plan worked, I’d feel more confident. If it didn’t work, the pressure on me would ease because he had endorsed my idea. Just as I was walking out of his office, he said, "Oh, just one more thing. Why don’t you walk to the men’s room and throw cold water on your face? You’re looking green." So I learned two things: First, it’s good to solicit your people’s opinions before you give them yours. And second, your people will be very influenced by how you carry yourself under stress.
Trent provides an excellent topic on Transferrable skills, which everyone should keep an eye and always take a step to improve them. The best part some some comment on the article. One pointed that Integrity is very important, other saying, the best you learn from school (esp science majors) is that “How to learn”, which i felt was very thoughtful (see below for the specific comment)
When I was in college, the vast majority of my classes were effectively training for a career in research and scientific data management. Seven years after graduation, though, I find myself drawing instead on the transferrable skills I picked up in other classes: public speaking, writing, leadership, information management, and so on. To put it simply, transferrable skills are those things that you can utilize no matter what specific career path you find yourself on.
Transferrable skills are often left by the wayside in competitive college majors. In order for a computer science major to get a leg up in the post-graduation workplace, for example, it’s often preferable to jam in another programming or algorithms class than it is to insert another public speaking class. Even if the program does require classes on transferrable skills, those classes are often looked down upon as “blow off” classes – ones that have to be finished in order to get down to the real classes within the major.
I believe this is a mistake. As change in this world accelerates, people are spending less and less of their life strapped to one particular career. They have the freedom to choose other avenues – starting a new career, starting their own businesses, and so on. In that environment, transferrable skills become more and more valuable. In fact, a well-polished transferrable skill makes for brilliant resume fodder no matter what your job – communication skills and leadership experience are a plus for almost any post-college job you might apply for.
Obviously, course loads often aren’t very flexible in a college environment, so my recommendation would be for college students to seek out other sources for picking up and mastering transferrable skills – extracurricular activities, internships, and other sources. Beyond college, transferrable skills are useful for everyone to work on at any stage in one’s career
Here are six significant areas of transferrable skill well worth working on, both to improve yourself and to prepare for your future.
Leadership Can you actually lead a team? Can you herd a group of people towards a greater purpose? Are you self-motivated enough to do this? Can you set goals and actually achieve them? Can you plan large projects and push them forward?
How can I get it? Join a community or student organization and take charge of a large project. Later, run for a leadership position within that group. The best way to learn leadership skills is to learn them in the laboratory of life, and organizations provide the perfect opportunity.
Administrative skills Are you able to prioritize the tasks in front of you? Can you analyze information and then describe it in layman’s terms for others to understand? Can you interpret rules and use them effectively?
How can I get it? Get involved in the planning of as many large projects as you can. Project planning teaches you many of the administrative skills you’ll need in life. If there is a large project, volunteer to help with the planning – if there’s already a planner in place, learn everything you can from that planner.
Information management Can you actually research a topic? Can you take a pile of research and use it to answer worthwhile questions? Can you communicate those facts to others? Can you manage a budget and handle financial records? Can you use a wide variety of computer programs?
How can I get it? If there are opportunities to present anywhere around you, take them, even if you aren’t familiar with the topic. Of particular use are topic areas where you’ll have to do some research in order to get the presentation right. Another great avenue is to volunteer to be the secretary or (particularly) the treasurer for a group. Such activities will require you to carefully manage a large amount of information on behalf of a large group.
Creativity Can you come up with interesting ideas of all kinds? Are you good at coming up with marketing ideas? Are you good at formulating the next step in a process? Are you good at creating visually appealing layouts?
How can I get it? Create some websites for groups – and learn how to do it along the way. Whenever there’s an opportunity for brainstorming, get involved and throw out ideas. Creativity is something that is best learned by practice – so practice it.
Interpersonal communications Are you willing to speak in public? Can you communicate your ideas well in writing? Can you lead a conversation? When you communicate with others, do they understand your ideas?
How can I get it? Participate in conversations and meetings instead of just sitting there. Volunteer for any and all public speaking opportunities that come your way. Volunteer for difficult and arduous tasks of documentation – that’s the best way possible to practice writing to communicate information.
Personal development Can you use the experiences in your life as a source for growth and personal change? Do you have a personal moral code that you actually follow? Can you effectively and honestly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of others (both people and things)? Can you deal with stress?
How can I get it? Don’t shy away from challenges – step up to big projects. Keep a journal and use it to explore what you really think about things, particularly the people around you.
Every moment you spend learning the above skills is a valuable moment. You’ll find yourself returning to these skills time and time again throughout your life – and they’ll provide a surprisingly strong backbone for your career and personal success.
One comment that I liked so much:
Great topic, and some good insights. In my experience, though – and I was also a science major – there are plenty of transferrable skills to be learned in science classes. You just need to realize that you’re learning them.
For example, a lot of science students take organic chemistry, and most of them hate it. The reason they hate it is because they’re doing it wrong. They treat the course material as hundreds of independent facts to be memorized, when in fact it’s nearly impossible to do well in the class using that approach. What you’re really supposed to do is to organize and store all that information in your brain in a way that makes sense – to identify patterns among all the different molecules and reactions, and to develop an intuitive feel for the way organic chemicals behave. The people who do well are the ones who figure this out. And once you figure it out, it’s a skill you can use in other areas too.
For another example, at the end of my first year in grad school, my classmates and I had to take a mammoth three-day exam, with problems drawing on topics that we’d never had to use before or since. It was expected that we’d spend the whole summer studying. Doesn’t that sound pointless? But I was talking with one of my professors about it, and she said, “The reason we make you do this is so that you’ll feel comfortable identifying the gaps in your knowledge and seeking out the information to fill them in on your own, rather than waiting to be taught in a classroom.” And of course, that’s a great skill to have too.
In short, when you study science in college (and in grad school), you really learn how to *learn*, which is perhaps the most powerful transferrable skill of all.
Nice career advice article from a long time reader of FMF, Mike Hunt
Many have received a good education from a reputable school in a field that can be applied in their first corporate job. In my career I have come across many highly impressive business leaders who did not go to college or even finish high school. A surprising number of these individuals possessed very strong leadership and analytical skills and have worked their way up through their career making it easy to connect with all levels of employees. The drawback is that they will have trouble changing jobs because some company cultures require higher education to be considered for a senior level position. So for that reason it’s worthwhile to get an undergrad degree as well as some higher level education. FMF has written so much about this and there is a strong correlation with an advanced degree earning more income over a career. I hold a BS & a Masters from two good engineering schools (Johns Hopkins and University of Virginia) and this has helped my in my career. That said, I’ve seen a lot of people with many degrees from top universities who are completely clueless about life, have no common sense, and / or have the socials skills of Mr. Bean. So it stands to say that intelligence, higher education and good skills on the job are slightly correlated at best.
The reason I start this post with education is that when starting a career, the school name, degree and reputation along with the GPA is the first thing an employer will screen for and if you can pass this test you will get an interview. As long as you come across well in the interview, you will likely get the job. In this market jobs are so tight there will be little room to negotiate unless special circumstances are present. So your best bet is to interview in many places and have several offers of which to make a choice.
One important thing you have to realize in starting your career is that when you start working for a company, particularly a big company, the company is losing money on you. You heard that right — you are a negative generator of value. The reason being is that it takes time to train people to use the company systems (email, procurement, intranet or whatever) and for several months you are getting up to speed to learn the products and players in the organization. Unless you are in a very narrow specialist role this is usually the case and was with me when I started working.
For this reason you should do all you can to soak up knowledge like a sponge and do your best to come up to speed quickly. Also take advantage of this to learn additional knowledge so that you can pick up some transferable skills while being paid to learn this. Let me give one personal example- when I first started working as a Project Engineer, I had some down time and took out a library book to teach myself to touch type without looking at my hands. Before this I henpecked with two fingers from each hand. At first it was slow and awkward to learn touch typing but within 2 weeks I had it down and was flying through typing emails. To date, it was the single best return on investment for personal productivity.
The reason you should learn as much as you can is the reason the company is so generous to hire and train you is because while you are overpaid when you start working, after a few years you will be underpaid by the same employer. Unless, that is, you are able to make some quick career advancements (how to do this will be covered in another post.) So a second key to keep in mind early in your career is how can you learn more that you can make yourself valuable to another employer. Learning skills is one thing, but you also need to contribute to the company and make an achievement that is tangible and measurable and can be expressed in business terms. For example, you improved the procurement system by changing a paper system to electronic saving $43K per year. It’s important to measure your achievements this way as that is the key to find another job.
The last important thing to look at when starting your career is to plan your first job such that it will progress you to your second job. When I graduated school I got an offer from the Naval Surface Warfare center in NE Virginia to design the guidance system on a cruise missile. The drawback is it would take 18 months to get the top secret security clearance and during that time I’d be pushing paper. 18 months is an eternity for someone who just got out of school! I ended up working for AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) as a Project Engineer, a decision that turned out to be great in hindsight. The reason is that at AlliedSignal I got trained and certified in Six Sigma and picked up some great project management skills. Also they had very good training programs – this was under Larry Bossidy who was ex-GE. They were such a well respected company that working for them is still a great feather in the cap even though 10 years have passed since I left! If you can, pick a company like this as your first job. You won’t go wrong.
Two other pieces of advice — all things being equal, take the job that pays the most money, even if the location is less desirable. It’s worth it to get the highest base salary early in your career that will only compound provided you manage your career well. And lastly, even if it pays well, don’t pursue a job that produces something against your values. For example, I could never work for the tobacco industry because I don’t feel good about getting people addicted to nicotine. Money is nice but there is more to life.
That’s not all, there is a second part to it, which in my opinion is the best summary I have come across. Best thought and laid out. In my experience I completely agree with each and every word on the below list.
I’d like to list some tips on how to advance your career based on my personal experience, presented in no particular order:
1. Approach your work and projects with the mindset that you want to do the best you can to help the company. This can mean to improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue, or it could mean looking to minimize scrap or waste to help in delivering company profitably. It is important to understand the linkages of each business objective and metric into the top company objectives (assuming you are working for a for-profit institution) of revenue, profit and cash flow. If you are unclear about the linkages you need to ask and find these out.
By focusing your effort and communicating on why you are doing this, you will increased the value of your personal brand within the company.
2. Always make your boss look successful and do everything you can to make his or her life easier. This can be counter intuitive to many people as there are many bad bosses in this world. But even with a ‘bad boss’ your objective should not stray. In a healthy environment when you succeed your boss succeeds as well and in turn your department reflects that success. If your boss is observant he will be delighted with your performance and will look to reward you and grow your career. If your boss is mature he or she would be open to having you grow within the company in another role although they will try hard not to let you go- which is not a bad thing.
The way to do this is to understand the way your boss is measured and make sure you go the extra mile to ensure that your contributions deliver results for your boss. Also you may find that your manager isn’t aware of some risk items or opportunities in your department and that you would be willing to help. This attitude is not about kissing up to your boss as that isn’t the point- it’s about making sure your function is running effectively.
If you can’t stand your boss try to transfer or find another job. Many people try to sabotage their boss to get them thrown out. Doing this will most certainly backfire and take you both down. All bad bosses have qualities you can learn from, even if you become aware of behaviors you can’t stand you can use this to ensure you never copy these behaviors in your career.
3. When you complete an activity let the results speak for themselves. Nobody likes credit stealers or people who trumpet their horn but if your activity or project delivers results by all means communicate the data and result. This can be done via email or normal summary reports but should definitely be written up in your appraisal.
4. Be friendly with the office receptionist, executive secretary and office manager. These people often are aware of general information or happenings in the office and are often close to people who are influential in the organization. If they find you as a friend they can be a powerful ally. This is more the case in informal / matrixed organizations where the organizational structure is not clear. Often being polite, respectful and friendly with these people can pay big dividends. Those who act rude or superior to these functions do so at their own risk.
5. Find a mentor if you can in the organization. This may be your direct manager or it may not but should be someone who is more senior than you and has a lot of experience in the organization. It is often good to find someone who is slightly outside your job area so you don’t step on any toes. The idea is to use someone to help you in your career development and can provide general coaching on your development. A lot of this is informal and is done through meeting for lunch or coffee and talking about things outside of work. Make the time fun for the mentor and respect this persons time.
6. If you have subordinates make sure you coach and develop them. The goal is to have your subordinates skilled enough so they can take over for your job. Otherwise if there is an opportunity for an internal promotion you may not get it because you are too critical to stay in your position. There is always a slight risk that you will be made redundant if your subordinate can do your job and there is a downturn in the company with not enough work to do. However that is a risk you should take as most good company leaders will become more aware of your potential and want to keep you in the company. If you are made redundant your skills in developing people will make you more attractive in a new company.
Typically when you first start your career your success or failure depends on the results you can deliver by your own efforts or ideas. This was particularly true for me as I started out as an Engineer. However, as you progress in the organization your success now rides on how well you can manage people to deliver results for your organization or department. People really are the biggest asset in every company!
7. Be a team player. That means maintain respect for other people, regardless of their level. Everyone has a job to do in the company and it is important for you to respect people for who they are and what they can deliver for the company. That doesn’t mean you have to like everybody, but you should be able to work with people you don’t like from time to time. If you take the time to get to know people and approach them with an attitude of mutual respect you will find that we are all not so different. Everyone has strong and weak points and having a positive attitude will set you apart from the pack.
8. Be a continuous learner. This may manifest itself in the form of learning a new product line, a new corporate system or learning a new technology. Today the world is so dynamic that you need to adopt an attitude of being open to learning new things otherwise you will be passed by. Once you have a few of these chapters under your belt your confidence will improve and you won’t hesitate to take on a new challenge. It actually gets easier the more you do it. As a personal example, I moved to Southeast Asia 3 years ago and took the effort to speak, read and write Thai. It was very tough at first and by no means am I an expert. However the act of doing this has opened doors to other job opportunities and given me more credibility with the locals. It’s also was quite fun and has helped to keep my brain active and mind fresh.
9. Lastly, be passionate but remember when it comes to working it is based on a business relationship. You are there because it’s mutually beneficial to you and your employer and this should be the case over the duration of your career. If this changes for a length of time then it is ok for you or your employer to initiate a change (either within the company or to move on somewhere else) and this isn’t meant to be personal. Keep some perspective and have fun during your career.
