Remain ahead & be successful

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your life is a race, if you stay ahead of others at work, you win. If you perform like a ‘my horse also ran’ type, you do not succeed in the true sense of the word. Staying ahead of others not only implies acquitting yourself well at work, but also directing your gung ho gains.

What should you do to handle your competitive edge over others? You should be serious about your career and conduct periodic appraisal to make certain that everything remains on course. Three things that you should not lose sight of are:

·   You must regard your career as big business:  You may not be the owner of the setup where you work, but you should consider yourself as one. Today, with economic slowdowns looming on the horizon, retrenchments, reorganizations and realignments have become quite common in the corporate world. Under such circumstances, it is you and you alone who should remain in command of your career. Your company can of course help you to a limited extent. Therefore, it is essential that you think that you are managing a single-man run business or regard yourself as a self-employed baron. Your designation is of no consequence; what is important is your contributions at work. Accordingly, you ought to do some serious introspection and ask yourself the following harsh questions to help you steer your career well:

ü  What precisely am I doing?

ü  What is your end-product?

ü  Who is interested in what I do and achieve?

ü  Am I cognizant of my actual merit and value?

·   You must upgrade your qualifications:  How trained are you to take on the challenges of work? Your name may be towing a line of qualifications, but the question is whether they are relevant to your current work or not? To be able to brace up for the contests that plague workplaces, you need to every so often check your folder. You should evaluate your position vis-à-vis others in the context of your qualifications – knowledge and expertise. Such an evaluation therefore, compulsorily entails concluding if you have improved your skills over the years so that you can gear up for the daunting future. In case you find that you need to do something more, put together a plan for the same. You should always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Being content with being better than others is good, but not adequate; you should try to be better than yourself. It is all about becoming a better version of you.

·   You must promote yourself at work:  Your workplace will continue to change and you will have to adapt yourself to altered conditions. While the game per se will not change, the rules will. You will thus be required to be enterprising, remain on the scene and refrain from any sort of rigidity. Those days are gone when you could remain in your chamber attending to routine work. Remember that unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. You will now have to make additional contributions and also focus on what your boss wants or what your colleagues do. You will have to make yourself central to all activities, including decision-making. You will find the results of your endeavours encouraging which, should be used for the projection of your image. Assignments that make you known to all, inter alia include raising a new team and taking it to excellence; superintendence of a project that involves new expertise; and jobs that entail developing external contacts and utilizing them for organizational benefit.

To sum up, you have to learn the rules of the game and having done so, play better than anyone else. Do not impose any restrictions on yourself. There are many people who do that and fail to go further than what their mind thinks. Essentially, you have to remain ahead of others.

Release frustration from your career & life

Your life is like a butterfly...you go through changes before you become something beautiful.

Do you feel that your career holds out nothing? Is a feeling of disappointment overtaking you? Are you upset at your career? Are you disappointed at not having been able to achieve something that you set out for? If the answer to two or more of these questions is in the affirmative, you are a frustrated person – frustrated with your career.

In today’s world where there are intense competitions and extreme work pressures, frustration is not unusual. And you simply cannot point a finger at anyone for it. Imagine this – one fine evening you return home after a hard day’s work. You contributed your bit and everybody seemed to be happy. The next day was different. You were asked to relocate elsewhere or put up your papers. Well, that is what life and work is all about. But you do not seem to like this; and ponder over how perturbed and discouraged you are. What is the degree of dissatisfaction you are afflicted with? Has frustration subjugated you?   

There is always hostility to change. People resent it purely because they do not appreciate whatever they are experiencing. Such feelings of resentment impair you. You lose sleep and waste time mulling over unnecessary issues; you could well direct your efforts to plan for your future instead. You are unable to alter whatever has happened but want things to change so that the frustration that you are suffering from gets neutralized.

How do you neutralize frustration and make certain that you and your life are in sync? Here is how:

·   Recognize that you are upset:  Despite the feelings of frustration, do you occasionally believe that you need not be afflicted by it? If you recognize the fact that you are frustrated, you no longer are subdued. The cat is out of the bag and there is every possibility that you will attempt to reason things out and free your self of frustration. However, you cannot deny the reality that you have been disturbed and wounded. You wish that things return to normal as hitherto fore. If you feel that way, you stand to gain but, if you keep your feelings bottled up inside you, you will be vanquished forever. Recognizing that you are upset will help you address your frustration. 

·   Come to terms with altered conditions:  You need to identify specific feelings that are overtaking you. Evidently, they will be pertaining to what you have been dispossessed of, what you have not been able to get your hands on and also your accomplishments that have not paid you dividends. You and your feelings are supposedly synonymous; and hence the feelings influence all your actions and achievements. Extraneous factors, to be certain have no role to play. Therefore, if you concentrate on positive aspects, the outcome will be positive also. Musing over downbeat matters invariably result in downbeat developments. Considering the foregoing, you have to decide how you want your career and everything associated with it to unfold for you. Remember that coming to terms with whatever you have and the alterations that you have been subjected to will infuse positive feelings in you. Consequently, you will be better equipped to deal with your career.

·   Contribute to the change:  You never know that the next moment may catapult you into a better situation. You may not know where you are going, but that does not imply that better situations are not lined up for you. Therefore, you should not regard changes as thorny affairs; on the contrary, you should hold on to them. Remember what Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” You must act; and this entails charting a roadmap to ensure that you progress. There is no point in brooding over the past; you should look ahead.

·   Regard the adversity as temporary:  You generally remain in work for about four decades and an adverse development constitutes a very miniscule portion of that. Your career will have alternating periods of good and bad. There will always be a light at the end of a tunnel.

To sum up, you should not let the shark eat out of your plate. You should make certain that your past is rendered incapable to define your present; on the contrary, you should utilize it for the creation of a better tomorrow.

Getting a promotion

“Plenty of men can do good work for a spurt and with immediate promotion in mind, but for promotion you want a man in whom good work has become a habit.”

------ Henry Doherty

A promotion opens the door to increased income, career advancement and experience. With rising costs of living and difficulties in meeting various expenditures, a promotion is a welcome development. But it is not easy to get; you have to be inspired to work and strong-minded in your approach.

How do you go about in getting that coveted elevation in your organization? Here are some tips:

·   Make your value known:  A promotion is just not possible without the endorsement of your boss. You have to create a favourable impression on him and convince him about your adeptness and sincerity. This can be done if you work hard and complete all assignments to the satisfaction of all and in best organizational interests. You could do this by working behind the curtain also, but it is necessary to get noticed and let your knack stand out. If your boss is witness to your hard work, he will definitely be impressed. And to impress him properly, besides being systematic in your approach, you need to also delegate responsibilities to juniors. All this may turn out to be nerve-racking, but you should be able to work under stress and strain as well. You have to establish your credibility and make your value known to be rewarded.

·   Boost the boss’ image as well:  You should not restrict your efforts in boosting your image only. You need to do so for the boss as well. This can be done if you apply yourself diligently to your work and adopt a positive attitude towards it. During routine conversations, he can be also spoken about for his abilities and that it is a great working experience to be part of his team. If an opportunity is afforded, you could team up with him for a special assignment. The crux of the matter is to endeavour to provide your best output; if you are noticed, your boss will feel good and will be more than willing to recommend a rise for you.

·   Be candid to ask for a promotion:  There is no harm in making your demand for a promotion known. You can seek an appointment with your boss and convince him that you have been working hard and to the satisfaction of all; and hence deserve a promotion. Remember that the reasons that you offer should be accurate, truthful and based on corroborated by factual information. You have to be persuasive and perceptive at the same time; the other person should also recognize your zeal to improve your skills. Normally, promotions are announced in bulk, but if you ask for one, you may get one subject to your boss being appreciative of you.

·   Project your image:  The best way to be included in a promotion list is by exerting yourself and giving more than the usual to your company. You need to go beyond your assigned charter of responsibilities to be acknowledged as a good employee. You have to work your way up and demonstrate that you really deserve a promotion. You could volunteer for additional responsibilities and even ask your boss if you could be of any assistance in his work. Of course, helping out your colleagues will always help you in getting recognized. There is no harm in occasionally staying after office hours once in a while to help others; but the most important aspect is to be punctual at all times.

A promotion is invariably accorded to those who toil the maximum and create for the company with what it requires to grow. And if your efforts help in generating profits, the better chance you have to be acknowledged and get a promotion.

You should not forget that your enthusiasm will always be the engine of your success. Remember that you were taken in by your company because you met their expectations; you need to surpass them to deserve a promotion.

What should my maiden job be?

A job does not imply an obligation for the next four decades. You should wait until you know all facts before forming an opinion about any possible career option. A truthful self-evaluation should also be conducted; besides helping you to generate a credible resume, it will prepare you to lever situations when you apply for jobs and during interviews. Therefore, it is essential that you:

·   Research and be aware about the assortment of career paths existing. 

·   Appreciate your capabilities, inadequacies and aspirations.

·   Have the ability to go with your handiness vis-à-vis the prospects ahead of you.

·   Be sentient to your prevailing state of affairs, domestic influences and liabilities. 

A plush job to start with is not possible. But you have to start somewhere down below, notwithstanding that you may have a string of degrees or diplomas attached to your name. You will have to gear up progressively to attain a position that you may be aspiring for. If this be so, you should always be on the lookout for occasions to talk with friends and associates; and in the process, get to know the plethora of openings that may exist.

To be able to get a toehold, your experience, albeit short or temporary will definitely count. Moreover, such experience will never be a restraining factor for you to shift elsewhere. Your prospective employer would see it as a manifestation of your drive and determination.

You should keep your wits about and try to find out about job openings; and evaluate your suitability for them. To know more about what various qualitative requirements that prospective employers may be looking for, you must maintain regular liaison with your network or administrative department in case you are in a contractual appointment. Remember that even a temporary job can be transformed into a permanent one. Therefore, you should create the right impact because even if you are not there, your organization would surely recall your name whenever a post falls vacant.   

Sooner or later, you should be able to identify a field of work or type of organization that strikes a chord with you. Thereafter, you should embark upon a job hunt. Here again, success may evade you initially, but your efforts will be rewarding in themselves even if you are able to shoot out letters to prospective employers to solicit information about unpublicized positions.   

The crux of the matter is that you can be selective about the company you join. The factors that should prompt you towards this could well be its proprietorship, workforce strength, work ethics, administrative configuration and training facilities provided. Different people have different preferences; so you ought to decide what you want. While on job hunt, you should peruse each want ad carefully and weigh each prospective employer in the light of the following aspects so that you are able to perceive their good and bad points:

·   Details:  Does the advertisement talk explicitly about your charter or does it simply give a broad brush to what you would be expected to do? A good company would provide all possible details about it and your definite responsibilities.     

·   Exclusions:  You should be able to make out gaps in the information provided; they could be deliberate or inadvertent. It is a known fact that companies do not elucidate details in recruitment adverts. Therefore, you should ascertain all organizational information from the internet and through interaction with friends and acquaintances.

·   Approach:  Just as you want to be captured through your resume, so should be the company’s aim through any advertisement. Does its advertisement strike your consideration? You should be able to discern the seriousness of the organization, both in the projection of its image and recruitment of the best talent. 

·   Periodicity: If companies advertise frequently for recruitment, it is likely that they either suffer from a high rate of staff desertion because of poor management. Organizations like these are best avoided.

Windows of opportunity abound in the job market; all you need to do is identify one that is most suited for you and take a plunge. Your decision to do so has to be upbeat and hence you should refrain from accepting just any job.