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Category Archive: Success

Feb 16

Story Of Dani Johnson From Broke & Homeless to Millionaire In 2 Years

We are limited by the beliefs we set in our mind, history shows that successful people are able to break these shackles and unleash their potential. The difference is the “ T ” between Can Do and Can’t Do. The “ T ” is your Thought.
Dani Johnson 1

In an episode of Sex and the City, the lead character Carrie Bradshaw, once poignantly concluded, “Maybe the past is like an anchor holding us back. Maybe, you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be.”

In extraordinarily different circumstances, in a far cry from the glamorous lives portrayed on SATC, a 21-year-old homeless woman named Dani Johnson, came to roughly the same conclusion, though perhaps, through a more excruciating journey.

She made a meager living as a cocktail waitress in Hawaii, and was living out of her car with just two dollars and three cents to her name and $37,000 in debt. Haunted by a childhood filled with brutal and systematic physical and sexual abuse, she attempted suicide following a cocaine binge – but in that moment, ironically, her life changed forever.

How she went on to make her first million despite a tortured past and despite being homeless, is the stuff of entrepreneurial legend.

This is Dani Johnson’s story ,It was Christmas Eve, 1990.

“I was stoned out of my mind for two months – sleeping with eight different guys. I got to eat only by dating all these people. I realized that I had become worse than the family I grew up in and that was devastating. My mom and dad were drug addicts and I had never seen my parents sober. My childhood was filled with threats and getting beaten daily; week in, week out. My whole life was filled with horror and terror and lies and I vowed that I would never be like my family. And there I was doing cocaine…”

She hated cocaine ‘with a passion’ and recalls that when coke was introduced into the home by her parents when she was a teenager, the violence had intensified and the emotional instability was ‘horrifying’. “They would say one thing and then another thing after 15 minutes.”

That Christmas Eve, she joined other waitresses at the beach on a drink and drug binge.

“I was sweating as I was constantly dancing. I see the coke and I leaned down and I did a line. I remember waking up at 10 the next morning on my beach mat and I am asking everyone for coke. I was walking around saying, ‘Where do I get more of that stuff?’

That day, I would have given my body – I would have become a prostitute for coke and that’s how low I became. I hated everything about myself. I knew my future would never be good. I was suicidal from the age of six. My life was not worth living. There was no chance to turn it into anything better. I was disgusting. I hated how my parents raised us. My life was filled with broken promises and lies and people stealing and people beating me and people hating me and me hating myself even more…”

Fueled by the after-effects of the drug, in an almost catatonic state that morning, Dani decided she was going to end it all. “I started walking towards the ocean and dived underneath the wave.”

A few more moments under, and her life would have ended there – not an unsurprising demise given her circumstances, the coroner and police chief would have quietly concluded.

But as it happened, in that instant, her life changed forever.

‘Almost a Miracle’

“I heard a voice say, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’’

It felt almost like a miracle to her.

“The feeling of coke left instantly – I wasn’t wanting it anymore. I rolled up my beach mat, turned around and hiked a mile that I needed to in order to get back to my car. I drove 45 minutes to the beach where I was living. And the whole time I was driving, it was as if the left side of my mind was saying, ‘This is not what is intended for your life, you shouldn’t be drinking. There is more to life,’ and the right side was saying, ‘You’re a failure, you’re a loser, you’re filthy; worse than your parents. Drive this car into the ocean.’ This was like a war inside my mind with these voices and I was literally in a trance.

And I have no idea why I chose to listen to that first voice.”

So Dani began to ask herself: What can I do? What do I need to do to get myself out this situation?

“As a cocktail waitress, I was not making enough, so I had to figure out my options.”

She needed $4,500 to be able to afford an apartment but with a small income derived mostly from tips coupled with the island’s high rents, it would take her four months to save enough money.

“I didn’t want to be homeless for another four months. Rent in Hawaii was outrageously expensive and I couldn’t afford plane tickets back to California. I knew no one. I was terrified I would be raped or beaten or kidnapped because there wasn’t any shelter. I was a kid who, between the ages of three to 16, was abused and molested. The emotions were still there. You try to push this back but when you’re homeless, it is at the forefront of your mind all the time and it was terrifying to me.”

That night she fell asleep in her car without any answers but the following day, the proverbial light bulb went off.

“I get this idea. Everything I ever owned was in the backseat of my car. And there was this weight loss program I had purchased long before I was homeless, lying in the back seat. I had used it for a week. I never paid attention to it before. And it just caught the corner of my eye in the sun. It was warped from the humidity. But it was as if this device was talking to me. I picked it up and it was as if this thing was saying, ‘I’m your answer.’ And my first thought was, ‘No, I’m not going to peddle a weight loss program! No way I’m going to do this!’

As if it was beneath me. As if it was sinking to a new depth. And you know, sometimes you have that feeling that you need to do something you don’t want to do?

I turned the box around, saw the manufacturer’s details and called them from the payphone.

I started asking them the question: What is it going to take to carry the product in Hawaii? As it turned out, it would require me to have licensing – and money, that I didn’t have.”

And this is when Dani – given her very scant means – decided to get resourceful.

“I handwrote a flyer [for the weight loss program] but I needed a phone number to advertise so people could contact me – and I didn’t have one. So I picked up the Yellow Pages in the phone booth. You know cocktail waitresses always have coins! So I looked through the Yellow Pages and called a small telecommunications company. And I chatted with this guy for some time, trying to build a relationship. I asked him what the cost of their voice mail service was.

He said to me, ‘Don’t drive all the way to pay for this. Send me a check for $15. Here’s your new number…!’

Dani, of course, was elated – down to her last quarter for that week, she got the break she needed.

“I put up the flyer at the Post Office where everyone in this town went to, and three hours later, not thinking I would get any messages – it was filled with 25 messages. I didn’t know what to do with them!

Long story short, I ended up with 40 checks, totaling $4,000 dollars from people I didn’t even know – that first month!

I called up the manufacturer with an order but they wanted a physical address to send the product and I didn’t have one. So I talked the local liquor store into letting me use their address.”

Dani made a quarter of a million dollars that first year just by selling the weight loss program, was a millionaire by the second year and went on to open up 18 weight loss centers around the country. She sold the business in 1996 – a multi-millionaire.

Today Dani Johnson is a multi-millionaire many times over, runs five companies and spends her time jetting around the world, giving back through her various charities.

 

This article appears on Forbes.com and is written by Maseena Ziegler .Maseena writes about entrepreneurs and high performers from Singapore to Silicon Valley – what gives them the edge, the secrets to their success and their tips for you. She can be reached at [email protected]

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Oct 21

How To Build a Successful Career Even if You aren’t from an Ivy League School

One of my favorite leaders, a guy who is enormously successful and likable, has built thriving businesses, and is deeply ‘followable,’ revealed to me some years ago that he had been a C student at a small local college, and had never been considered very bright as a kid. He then went on to say that he was only able to begin his rise to success when he stopped beating himself up about his lack of educational credentials and “IQ points” (his words), and focused on building his other capabilities.

As it turned out, his other capabilities were extraordinary.  He has enormous emotional intelligence: he’s great at building real relationships with a wide variety of people and involving them in the enterprise’s success.  He’s also very far-sighted: he’s been able to identify industry trends and important big ideas way ahead of most of his peers. Finally, he’s deeply curious – always wanting to find out more, go deeper, understand better.  He asks a lot of questions, but they never feel interrogative – you can tell he just really wants to learn.

He has figured out (and continues to figure out) how to make use of what he has and who he is.

In the past, certain things were key to success, especially success as a leader: a degree from a prestigious university, a high IQ, an upper class childhood, being a man, being white.  These old requirements are starting to break down, thank goodness – but we can limit ourselves by believing that they still hold us back.

Now, please understand:  it’s – sadly – still true that if you’re a white, upper class, Ivy-league-educated man with a high IQ, you’re going to be given a lot of free passes, especially early in your career.

BUT you also have more opportunity to succeed than ever before, even if none of those thing are true of you, as long as you identify your own key strengths, play to those strengths, and support your own success internally.

Identify your key strengths:

OK, so you didn’t go to Harvard.  Let it go. What do you have going for you instead?  Are you the person others want to have on their project team because you’re so amazingly good at pulling together a plan?  Do you often see the dynamics at play in a group when no one else has a clue? Are you able to motivate people to achieve a goal that others think is impossible?  Figure out what you’re uniquely good at and how that’s valuable to your organization (or any organization of which you’re a part.)

Play to those strengths: 

Once you figure out what you’re best at, find ways to put those things in play and to keep building on them. Once my C-student CEO had figured out that he really understood and could connect with lots of different kinds of people (and loved it), he realized that was a foundation he could build upon to become a really good manager and leader – which he did.  So for instance, if you’re the amazingly-good-at-planning-person, maybe you can build a career in project management. If you’re the one who sees the human dynamics, maybe you can work in HR or become a group facilitator.

Support your own success internally: 

This is the most important element. Not being white, rich, male, or highly educated is less of an impediment to your success than the story you tell yourself about how those things are an impediment to your success.  I’ve talked about self-talk often here, so those of you who read my posts regularly will know what’s coming next. Recognizing what you’re saying in your head about yourself and changing your monologue to be more accurate and hopeful is probably the single most powerful thing you can do to support your own success.

Here’s an example.  Let’s say two people, equally qualified, are candidates for a job.  Let’s say they’re both Minority women who attended community college.

One of these women says to herself as she goes into her interview, “There’s no way they’re going to think I’m qualified for this. I’m sure they’ll give the job to some guy with his newly-minted MBA from Stanford, all preppy and talking about his yacht.  They’ll take one look at me and cross me off their list.”

The other says to herself: “The competition for this job is going to be stiff, for sure.  But I’ve got exactly the experience they need, and my recommendations are stellar.  And I’m really good at getting a feel for the person I’m talking to – I bet I’ll be able to connect with the interviewer.”

How do you think these two women will behave in the interview? Which one do you predict will be more likely to get the job?  Exactly.

So, as you think about your professional future and how to succeed, rather than focusing on what you’re missing, figure out what you have and who you are.  And go with that.

This article is written by Erika Andersen and appears on Forbes.com. Erika’s new book, Leading So People Will Follow, has been selected by Amazon as one of the 10 Best Business Books for October.

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

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Oct 18

Are You Effective at Work

 

Once a quarter or so, I find it valuable to step back and ask: How am I doing?
Otherwise, you can end up consumed by work for years at a time and not be really happy, or not be really getting anywhere. So it’s helpful to take some time to step back and check in with yourself.

Here are three (3) questions for success:

Question 1: Am I delivering on or ahead of expectations?

Judge yourself. Don’t wait for a performance review. I spent 23 years reporting to managers — and I did my own performance review 17 of those years.

Once you confirm that you are indeed delivering great results, then check:

  • Are you clear about the business value your work provides?
  • Could you be working in a way to add even more value?

One of the reasons people get stuck is that they think delivering on their job description is enough to get ahead. It’s not. That lets you keep the job you have now.

To get ahead you need to do more than what’s in your job description.

You need to figure out what else to do and then you need to do it. Don’t wait for your manager or someone else to tell you that you need to do this.

Don’t be held hostage by your job description.

If your job description is defined in a small and narrow way, then it’s up to you to figure out how to add more value. Also, you need to figure out how to get your job done without using up all your time and energy. You need to make room to do the extra stuff.

Question 2: What am I known-for at work?

Another big reason some people get stuck (while others get ahead), is that they forget to think about how they are showing up at work. Once you are convinced that you are contributing work that the business values, you need to ask yourself, “Can anyone see it?”

The most successful people find ways to create visibility for their work and for themselves and their teams.

I have been having this conversation lately with people from new college grads, to executives trying to step into CEO positions, and pretty much everyone in between.

  • You have a personal brand whether you know or it not.
  • Find out what people think of you — or find out if you are invisible.
  • Then, plot a course to manage what you are known for on purpose.

The challenge is that the work itself will take up all of your time and energy if you let it. And managing your reputation does not seem like your day job. So it’s helpful to think about building your credibility as part of your day job. And it’s true because high credibility makes your more effective in your work.

People with high credibility and strong personal brands get more done.

They are trusted. They are faced with fewer challenges and fewer stupid questions about, ”Why did you choose that? Why does this cost so much? Did you evaluate that other thing? How do you know this will work?”

People with high credibility get to go faster. They don’t need to spend so much time defending their honor (and their budget). They are permitted to just GO, without justifying every expense and every decision.

You can’t build credibility if you are invisible.

It’s the difference between getting the work done, and showing yourself as leading the effort, communicating effectively, and connecting with your peers in a meaningful way. What more can you be doing to show up as personally leading strategy and making a difference. What do you want to be known for?

Some people call this political and think it’s a waste of time, so they opt out. They expect their reputation to thrive and grow on their results alone. Some people even feel that it’s much more important to NOT call attention to themselves. That is fine, but if you choose the invisible path, don’t be discouraged or upset if you get passed over.

Showing up is not about bragging, it’s about leading – you can be humble, and still show up as having a strong personal brand — and the stronger you show up, the better you’ll be at your job.

Question 3: Is what I’m doing setting me up for where I want to go?

First, ask yourself if you know where you want to go. What do you want all this work to amount to? What kind of role? What level? Geography? Business area?

Once you decide what it is you want, you need to consider the following:

  • Is the work I am doing getting me the experience I need to get to the job I ultimately want? It’s up to you to make sure you are getting the experiences which will get you access to the kind of roles you want in the future. This is what career development is really about — deciding what you want to do next, then getting experience in that job before you are in it. You also need to pay attention to how you are perceived relative to the role you want.
  • Am I someone who is known for being a good fit for kind of job that I want? If not, you’ve got some work to do. This gets back to the question of how you are showing up. In addition to getting the right experience, you need to make sure that you are getting known as someone
    who is a good fit for the kind of job you want.

Find experiences beyond your current job, and then make connections with people in the places you want to be later. Make sure they can see you doing the new work.

Succeed on purpose

Most people who succeed do not do so by accident. They don’t just work hard and rely on their results to be admired, and expect to be “discovered” and ushered into the next big thing. They get there by managing how they invest their time and managing what they are known for.

This was originally published on Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. Her latest book is Rise: How to be Really Successful at Work and LIKE Your Life.

Patty Azzarello is the founder and CEO of Azzarello Group Azzarello Group. She’s also an executive, best-selling author, speaker and CEO/business advisor. She became the youngest general manager at HP at the age of 33, ran a billion dollar software business at 35, and became a CEO for the first time at 38 (all without turning into a self-centered, miserable jerk). You can find her at [email protected] . 

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

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Oct 17

5 Reasons People Fail & What Can You Do To Be Successful

SuccessfulWhy do some people achieve their goals while others fail? I believe it’s because successful people manage to overcome five barriers that, in many cases, guarantee failure. Here are those barriers and how to overcome them:

1. Uninspiring Goals

When most people set goals, they envision a “thing,” such as a particular amount of money, an object (like a new car), or a specific achievement (like writing a book). Unfortunately, these “things I’m gonna get or do” goals don’t appeal to the core of what motivates you, because they miss the point that what you’re actually seeking in life and work is the POSITIVE EMOTIONS that you believe those things will produce.

Fix: Rather than envisioning a “thing” as your goal, envision–with all the strength in your imagination–how you will feel when you achieve the goal. That way, you’ll be inspired to do whatever it takes (within legal and ethical bounds) to achieve that goal.

2. Fear of Failure

If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t take the necessary risks required to achieve your goal. For example, you won’t make that important phone call, because you’re afraid that you’ll be rebuffed. Or you won’t quit your dead-end job and start your own business because you’re afraid that you might end up without any money.

Fix: Decide–right now!–that failure, for you, is a strictly temporary condition. If things don’t go the way you’d like, it’s only a setback that, at most, delays your eventual success. In other words, accept the fact that you’ll sometimes fail, but treat that failure as an unavoidable (yet vital) component in your quest.

3. Fear of Success

In many ways, this fear is even more debilitating than the fear of failure. Suppose you achieved something spectacular, like enormous wealth. What if it didn’t make you happy? What then? What if you ended up losing all of it? What then? Would your friends start acting weird? Would your family be envious? Such thoughts (and they’re common) can cause even a highly motivated person to self-sabotage.

Fix: Decide that you’re going to be happy and grateful today and happy and grateful in the future, no matter what happens. Rather than focus on possible problems, envision how wonderful it would be to be able to help your friends and family achieve THEIR goals. (Hint: Watch the last season of the TV series Entourage!)

4. An Unrealistic Timetable

Most people vastly overestimate what they can do in a week and vastly underestimate what they can do in a year. Because of this, most people try to cram too many action items into the short term rather than spacing out activities over the long term. The inability to get all the short-term steps accomplished creates discouragement and the impression that the final goal is slipping away.

Fix: As you list the activities and steps required to achieve a goal, schedule only the 20% of the activities that will produce 80% of your results. (I explain more about this in the post The Secret of Time Management.) Beyond that, set ambitious long-term timetables, but always leave some “wiggle room” when you plan short term.

5. Worrying About “Dry Spots”

It’s easy to get discouraged when you reach a point at which nothing you do seems to advance you toward your goal. For example, suppose you’re trying to master a certain skill. You make swift progress at first but then, after a while, it seems as if you’re not doing any better, or maybe a little worse. Some people use these “plateaus” or “dry spots” as an excuse to give up and therefore fail.

Fix: Whenever you reach a plateau or dry spot, it’s time to celebrate rather than give up. A plateau is almost always a sign that you’re on the brink of a major breakthrough, if you just have the patience to stick with it and trust that you’ll eventually achieve your goal.

 

This Post  appears on Inc.com and is written by Geoffrey James .Geoffrey writes the Sales Source column on Inc.com, the world’s most-visited sales-oriented blog. 

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

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Sep 18

How To Be Successful Like Richard Branson

Richard Branson founded Virgin in 1970 at the age of 20, and he hasn’t looked back.

He’s the only entrepreneur to have built eight separate billion-dollar companies in eight different industries — and he did it all without a degree in business.

“Had I pursued my education long enough to learn all the conventional dos and don’ts of starting a business I often wonder how different my life and career might have been,” he writes in his new book, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School.

We’ve compiled some of the best tips from his book here.

Don’t do it if you don’t enjoy it.

Running a business takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and caffeine). But at the end of the day, you should be building something you will be proud of.

Branson says, “When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn’t set out to build a business empire … For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.”

Be visible.

Branson received some timeless advice when building Virgin Airlines from Sir Freddie Laker, a British airline “tycoon.”

“Make sure you appear on the front page and not the back pages,” said Laker. “You are going to have to get out there and sell yourself. Make a fool of yourself, whatever it takes. Otherwise you won’t survive”.

Branson always makes a point of traveling often and meeting as many people as he can. This, he says, is how he came by some of the best suggestions and ideas for his business.

Choose your name wisely.

The unique name and brand that Virgin employs is one of the things that has made the company a success. Branson makes sure that the name ‘Virgin’ represents added value, improved service, and a fresh, sexy approach.

Branson says that he is asked all the time about the origin of the Virgin name, back when Virgin was just starting. “One night, I was chatting with a group of sixteen-year-old girls over a few drinks about a name for the record store,” he says. “A bunch of ideas were bounced around, then, as we were all new to business, someone suggested Virgin. It smacked of new and fresh and at the time the word was still slightly risqué, so, thinking it would be an attention-grabber, we went with it.”

You can’t run a business without taking risks.

Branson thinks of one of his favorite sayings when advising about taking business risks: “‘The brave may not live forever—but the cautious do not live at all!’”

Every business involves risks. Be prepared to get knocked down, says Branson, but success rarely comes from playing it safe. You may fail, but Branson also dares to point out that “there’s no such thing as a total failure.”

The first impression is everything. So is the second.

The first impression you make on customers will probably be when you acquire them. The first impression is extremely important, says Branson, but the second is equally as important.

The second time a customer usually contacts Virgin, it’s because he or she is having problems with the product or service. How you present yourself and your brand in these situations says a lot about how your brand maintains good customer relationships and handles obstacles.

Perfection is unattainable.

“There’s an inherent danger in letting people think that they have perfected something,” says Branson. “When they believe they’ve ‘nailed it’, most people tend to sit back and rest on their laurels while countless others will be labouring furiously to better their work!”

For this reason, Branson never gives anyone a 100% perfect review of their work. He believes that no matter how “brilliantly conceived” something is, there is always room for improvement.

The customer is always right, most of the time.

The customer is always right… unless they’re wrong. After all, they’re only human too. Your customers’ opinions are important, but “you should not build your customer service system on the premise that your organisation will never question the whims of your clients,” says Branson.

Branson warns that many entrepreneurs think if they provide ‘the-customer-is-always-right’ service that it will improve their businesses. This is only sometimes true. Beware not to damage relationships with customers or staff with your customer service policies.

Define your brand.

When it comes to defining your brand, Branson advises entrepreneurs to do the opposite of what he did with Virgin, which is spreading out all over the place. And while it’s true that Virgin branches into many different industries, Branson says the company is actually quite focused on one thing: “finding new ways to help people have a good time.”

Stick to what you know. Underpromise and overdeliver. Because if you don’t define your brand, your competitors will.

Explore uncharted territory.

Branson compares exploring new territory in business to exploring new territory in science or geography.

“We will find new species and better understand the make-up of the deep-level waters,” says Branson.

Business translation: There are still many things out there that haven’t been discovered, invented, achieved. Exploring little- or uncharted areas can spark new ideas and innovations.

Beware the “us vs. them” environment.

A workplace should be one in which the boss and his or her employees communicate well and work together toward the same goal. “If employees aren’t associating themselves with their company by using ‘we’, it is a sign that people up and down the chain of command aren’t communicating,” says Branson.

If you think there might be discrepancies or tension between employees and management, Branson advises to check with the middle management first to try to uncover the source of the problem and address it head-on.

Build a corporate comfort zone.

Employees must feel free and encouraged to openly express themselves without rigid confines so they can do better work and make good, impactful decisions.

“This may sound like a truism,” begins Branson, “But it has to be said: It takes an engaged, motivated and committed workforce to deliver a first-class product or service and build a successful, sustainable enterprise.”

Not everyone is suited to be CEO.

A manager needs to be someone who “brings out the best in people,” someone who communicates well with others and helps an employee learn from a mistake instead of criticizing them for it.

Not everyone does this well, and that’s okay.  The founder can but doesn’t have to be the CEO; if the fit isn’t right, he or she should know when the role is meant for someone else.

Seek a second opinion. Seek a third.

Branson says you must learn to be a good listener in order to succeed, and that means bouncing “every idea you have off numerous people before finally saying, ‘We’ll give this one a miss,’ or ‘Let’s do it.’”

That means being thorough and deliberate before executing any decisions. In business, seeking a variety of opinions “can save you a lot of time and money,” says Branson. “Don’t tell people about others’ suggestions until you’ve heard what they have to say. In the end you may decide that the best advice is to walk away—and later find out it was the very best solution.”

Cut ties without burning bridges.

Business ventures with another person, be it a friend or a partner, don’t always work out. If this is the case, successful entrepreneurs know when to part ways.

But just because you decide to go in another direction doesn’t mean things have to end badly, especially with a friend, says Branson. Handle any problems quickly and head-on, and end the relationship as amicably as possible.

Pick up the phone.

It’s great to be tech-savvy, but don’t text or email when you should be calling. “The quality of business communications has become poorer in recent years as people avoid phone calls and face-to-face meetings, I can only assume, in some misguided quest for efficiency,” Branson says.

Problems are more difficult to solve by text or email, and “there is nothing efficient about allowing a small problem to escalate,” says Branson, when it could have been easily addressed with a phone call.

Change shouldn’t be feared, but it should be managed.

“Companies aren’t future-proof,” says Branson, and nothing lasts forever. An entrepreneur should be prepared to adapt, and avoid being nostalgic about the company itself.

“Sometimes you have to take your company in a new direction because circumstances and opportunities have changed.” If this is the case, Branson advises that you should “find ways to inspire all employees to think like entrepreneurs … so the more responsibility you give people the better they will perform.”

When it comes to making mistakes, bounce back, don’t fall down.

Your decision will not always be the best decision. Everyone makes mistakes, but the best thing you can do in the face of a mistake is own up to it.

Honesty isn’t just the best policy, it’s the only policy, notes Branson. When a mistake is made, don’t let it consume you. Uncover the problem and get to work fixing it.

Be a leader, not a boss.

Branson sees the classic image of “the boss” as an anachronism. Being bossy is not a desirable trait in a manager, he says. A boss orders while a leader organizes.

“Perhaps, therefore, it is odd that if there is any one phrase that is guaranteed to set me off it’s when someone says to me, ‘Okay, fine. You’re the boss!’” says Branson. “What irks me is that in 90 percent of such instances what that person is really saying is ‘Okay, then, I don’t agree with you but I’ll roll over and do it because you’re telling me to. But if it doesn’t work out I’ll be the first to remind everyone that it wasn’t my idea.’”

A good corporate leader is someone who doesn’t just execute his or her own ideas, but also inspires others to come forth with their own.

Source: “Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School.”This article is written by Melissa Stanger and appears on inc.com

Thanks
Jappreet Sethi

 

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Aug 30

10 Business Clichés That Prove You’re Lazy

Recognize any of the platitudes on this list? Here’s why you should stop using them–now. Whipping out a platitude isn’t just annoying. Using some platitudes also shows you’re lazy–and not just in words but in actions:Human Resources Blog, communication tips

“Work smarter, not harder.”

What happens when you say that to me?

One: You imply I’m stupid. Two: You imply whatever I’m doing should take a lot less time and effort than it does. And three: After you say it, I kinda hate you.

If you know I could be more efficient, tell me how. If you know there’s a better way, show me how. If you think there’s a better way but don’t know what it is, say so. Admit you don’t have the answer. Then ask me to help you figure it out. And, most important, recognize that sometimes the only thing to do is to work harder. So get off your butt and help me.

“There is no I in team.”

Sure there is. There are as many I’s as team members. Those individuals, the more “individual” the better, serve to make the team stronger. The best teams are often a funky blend of the members’ individual talents, perspectives, and goals.

If you want a team to work hard and achieve more, make sure each person feels she can not only achieve the team’s goal but also one of her own goals. Spend time figuring out how each individual on the team can do both, instead of taking the lazy way out by simply repressing individuality in the pursuit of the collective.

“It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Fate had nothing to do with it. Something went wrong. Figure out what went wrong and learn from it.

“Oh, it wasn’t meant to be” is not just lazy but also places responsibility elsewhere. “Let’s figure out what we can do next time” is empowering and places the responsibility where it should be: on you.

“That’s probably not what you want to hear.”

It sucks to hear bad news, no doubt. But when you say that something isn’t what I want to hear, you shift the issue over to my side of the table. Somehow it’s become my problem.

Don’t shift. Explain why you made a decision. Explain the logic. Explain your reasoning.I still may not want to hear it, but that way the focus remains on the issue and not on me.

“Perception is reality.”

Yeah, yeah, I know: How I perceive something is my version of reality, no matter how wrong my perception may be. But if other people perceive a reality differently than you, work to change that perception. Make reality the reality. Besides, perceptions are fleeting and constantly changing. Reality lasts forever, or at least until a new reality comes along to replace it.

“We want your feedback.”

You see and hear a similar line everywhere: websites, signs, meetings.

Don’t be passive if you truly want feedback. Don’t just make it easy for people to provide. Go get it. Be active. Ask, People who really want feedback take responsibility for getting that feedback–they don’t wait to receive it

“Do it now and apologize later.”

You’re not a bold, daring risk taker; you’re lazy and self-indulgent. Good ideas are rarely stifled. People like better; if they don’t like your idea, the problem usually isn’t them: It’s you.

Don’t take the easy way out. Describe what you want to do. Prove it makes sense. Get people behind you. Then whatever you do has a much better chance of succeeding.

“Failure is not an option.”

This one is often used by a leader who gets frustrated and wants to shut down questions about a debatable decision or a seemingly impossible goal: “Listen, folks, failure is simply not an option.” (Strikes table or podium with fist.)

Failure is always a possibility. Just because you say it isn’t doesn’t make it so. Don’t reach for a platitude. Justify your decision. Answer the hard questions. If you can’t, maybe your decision isn’t so wise after all.

“Let’s not reinvent the wheel.”

Because hey, your wheel might turn out to be a better wheel, which means my wheel wasn’t so great. And we can’t have that.

“It is what it is.”

Here’s another shutdown statement. “It is what it is” really means, “I’m too lazy to try to make it different, so for gosh sakes stop talking about it.” “It is what it is” is only true if you take the easy way out by letting “it” remain “it.”

This article appeared on Inc.com and is written by Jeff Haden. Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. You can follow him on twitter @jeff_haden

 
Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

The author uses life stories to demystify the day -to -day Human Resources Challenges we face at work. His HR Blog – Human Resources Blog endeavours to simplify the HR jargon.

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Aug 26

Neil Armstrong – 5 Lessons From His Life

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind.”Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong has finished his current inning on Earth for the time being; he is and will remain a legend for generations to come. How did the small boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio make it big in life? Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio and was the first of three children of Stephen and Viola Armstrong. He married his college sweetheart, Janet Shearon, in 1956. Janet Shearon and Neil Armstrong got divorced in 1994. Neil Armstrong married Carol Knight after his divorce.

Neil Armstrong Did What He Loved & Loved What He Did

Neil Armstrong loved everything about aviation from childhood. He began making model planes as child. So much was his love for aviation that he picked up odd jobs at the local airport. The money from these odd jobs paid for his flying lessons. Neil Armstrong obtained his pilot’s license at the young age of 15; this was even before he had a car license.

Take Control of Your Dream – It Is In Your Hands

As a kid at 15 he loved aviation, and knew it would be difficult for his parents to pay for the flying lessons. He took up odd jobs to save money for the flying lessons. He dreamed big and worked hard to make his dream come true. Neil Armstrong by the age of 17 had flown two long-distance solo flights and had done his paperwork to start classes at Purdue to pursue a program in aeronautical engineering.

I think we’re going to the moon because it’s in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It’s by the nature of his deep inner soul… we’re required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream – Neil Armstrong.

Things Will Go Wrong; Don’t Panic – Do Your Best

Neil Armstrong was known for not panicking when things go wrong. Neil Armstrong took two trips into space; his first journey was in 1966 as the commander of Gemini 8 mission, which was about to end in a disaster. Neil Armstrong kept his cool and brought the spacecraft home safe after a thruster rocket malfunctioned and caused it to spin out of control.

During the last stages of Apollo 11 the team realized that the Eagle lunar module’s auto-pilot was preparing to land the crew on the slope of a huge moon crater. Neil Armstrong said “The computer showed us where it intended to land, and it was a very bad location, on the side of a large crater about 100-150m in diameter with very steep slopes covered with very large boulders — not a good place to land at all.” Neil Armstrong took charge and overrode the automatic pilot to avoid landing in the big rocky crater. The landing was full of danger; the lander had only about 30 seconds of fuel left when Armstrong put it down on Moon. After landing he calmly radioed back to Mission Control on Earth, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

You’ve got to expect some of these things are going to go wrong, and we always need to prepare ourselves for handling the unexpected. And you just hope those unexpected things aren’t something that you can’t cope with. – Neil Armstrong

Throw Fear Out of Window

As a U.S. Navy pilot, Armstrong flew 78 combat missions during the Korean War. In his stint at NASA he tested many high-speed aircraft, including the X-15, which could reach a top speed of 4,000 miles per hour. He gave his best and won three medals in Korean War. Armstrong had several arial accidents and some were a close shave. The accidents did not make him fearful of flying; it just emboldened him. He kept on dreaming bigger and bigger.

There can be no great accomplishment without risk – Neil Armstrong

Don’t Let Success Get to Your Head

Space Foundation survey in 2011 ranked Neil Armstrong as the #1 most popular space hero. Throughout the world there are places named in his honor. Neil Armstrong was once asked on how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon’s surface for thousands of years. “I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up,” he said.

While many people are quick to cash in on their 15 minutes of fame, Armstrong avoided the public spotlight and chose to lead a quiet, private life with his wife, children and grandchildren. He remained humble throughout his life and said he was just doing his job. He would even feel frustrated with the publicity he would attract.

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.” – Statement released by Neil’s family after his death.

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

The author uses life stories to demystify the day -to -day Human Resources Challenges we face at work. His HR Blog – Human Resources Blog endeavours to simplify the HR jargon.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Jappreet Sethi

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Aug 24

What Successful People Do In The 1st Hour Of Their Work Day

How much does the first hour of every day matter? As it turns out, a lot. It can be the hour you see everything clearly, get one real thing done, and focus on the human side of work rather than your task list.

What Successful People Do

Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too.

The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they’ll tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list.

Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Seriously. Stop That.

Tumblr founder David Karp will “try hard” not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m., according to an Inc. profile of him. “Reading e-mails at home never feels good or productive,” Karp said. “If something urgently needs my attention, someone will call or text me.”

Not all of us can roll into the office whenever our Vespa happens to get us there, but most of us with jobs that don’t require constant on-call awareness can trade e-mail for organization and single-focus work. It’s an idea that serves as the title of Julie Morgenstern’s work management book Never Check Email In The Morning, and it’s a fine strategy for leaving the office with the feeling that, even on the most over-booked days, you got at least one real thing done.

If you need to make sure the most important messages from select people come through instantly, AwayFind can monitor your inbox and get your attention when something notable arrives. Otherwise, it’s a gradual but rewarding process of training interruptors and coworkers not to expect instantaneous morning response to anything they send in your off-hours.

Gain Awareness, Be Grateful

One smart, simple question on curated Q & A site Quora asked “How do the most successful people start their day?”. The most popular response came from a devotee of Tony Robbins, the self-help guru who pitched the power of mindful first-hour rituals long before we all had little computers next to our beds.

Robbins suggests setting up an “Hour of Power,” “30 Minutes to Thrive,” or at least “Fifteen Minutes to Fulfillment.” Part of it involves light exercise, part of it involves motivational incantations, but the most accessible piece involves 10 minutes of thinking of everything you’re grateful for: in yourself, among your family and friends, in your career, and the like. After that, visualize “everything you want in your life as if you had it today.”

Robbins offers the “Hour of Power” segment of his Ultimate Edge series as a free audio stream (here’s the direct MP3 download). Blogger Mike McGrath also wrote a concise summary of the Hour of Power). You can be sure that at least some of the more driven people you’ve met in your career are working on Robbins’ plan.

Do the Big, Shoulder-Sagging Stuff First

Brian Tracy’s classic time-management book Eat That Frog gets its title from a Mark Twain saying that, if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you’ve got it behind you for the rest of the day, and nothing else looks so bad. Gina Trapani explained it well in a video for her Work Smart series). Combine that with the concept of getting one thing done before you wade into email, and you’ve got a day-to-day system in place. Here’s how to force yourself to stick to it:

Choose Your Frog

“Choose your frog, and write it down on a piece of paper that you’ll see when you arrive back at your desk in the morning, Tripani advises.“If you can, gather together the material you’ll need to get it done and have that out, too.”

One benefit to tackling that terrible, weighty thing you don’t want to do first thing in the morning is that you get some space from the other people involved in that thing–the people who often make the thing more complicated and frustrating. Without their literal or figurative eyes over your shoulder, the terrible thing often feels less complex, and you can get more done.

Ask Yourself If You’re Doing What You Want to Do

Feeling unfulfilled at work shouldn’t be something you realize months too late, or even years. Consider making an earnest attempt every morning at what the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs told a graduating class at Stanford to do:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

“Customer Service” (or Your Own Equivalent)

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark answered the first hour question succinctly: “Customer service.” He went on to explain (or expand) that he also worked on current projects, services for military families and veterans, and protecting voting rights. But customer service is what Newmark does every single day at Craigslist, responding to user complaints and smiting scammers and spammers. He almost certainly has bigger fish he could pitch in on every day, but Newmark says customers service “anchors me to reality.”

Your own version of customer service might be keeping in touch with contacts from year-ago projects, checking in with coworkers you don’t regularly interact with, asking questions of mentors, and just generally handling the human side of work that quickly gets lost between task list items. But do your customer service on the regular, and you’ll have a more reliable roster of helpers when the time comes.

What do you with the first hour of your workday to increase productivity and reduce stress? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This article is written By Kevin Purdy and appears on Fastcompany.com

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

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Aug 19

Justin Bieber is in You – Believe It !

Justin Bieber is in You Believe itJustin Bieber, Justin Bieber, Justin Bieber, Justin Bieber echoes in the hall where he makes an appearance. Justin Bieber has 43 million Facebook fans, 22 million twitter followers and 2.9 billion YouTube view and has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. Recently, for a show in Dublin, Beliebers snapped up 28,000 gig tickets in 30 minutes. Mega star Bieber never forgets his fans and recently Google reported that Justin Bieber was the most searched celeb online.

The story of Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber is a story of a commoner who believed in himself. His belief in himself made him become from no one to the highest paid celebrity of 2012. Bieber believed in sheer hard work and doing what he is good at. He found his true love- Music and pursued it passionately; He did what he loved and loved what he did.

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994 and raised in Stratford, Ontario. Bieber’s mother, Patricia Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant. Mallette is a single mother and had a series of low-paying office jobs. Justin Bieber grew up in a low-income housing In Stratford with her.

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself. As he grew up he started doing what he loved, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. Bieber never learned how to play instruments formally as his single mother could not afford the expensive tutorials.

Bieber asked for help, and it is said that the local church got him his first set of instruments; God helps those who help themselves. All you need to do is to ask for help and believe in yourself and the almighty god, and it’s done.

Justin Bieber at the young age of 12, he sang the song “So Sick” by Ne-Yo, at a local singing competition and came second. He was brimming with confidence; he made the best use of what he had and did not worry about what others had!

It did not matter to Justin Bieber if he could not get the expensive music training classes, it did not matter to him, if he did not have access to elite clubs to stage the performance. He made the best use of what he had – Friends and family, he would audition and play for them. His mother used to record all his video programs and post it on YouTube. Many people watched these videos, and they loved it.

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive clicked on one of Bieber’s 2007 videos by chance. He loved it and traced Justin Bieber’s house, contacted his family and wanted to be his manager. Bieber was only 13 years old that time. Justin traveled with Brown to Atlanta and did his first big performance “U got it bad.” Thereafter, Brown became his manager and signed his first contract with Raymond Braun Media Group, A JV between famous songwriter Raymond Usher and Scooter Brown. In 2008, Usher signed Justin to Island Records and after that; there was no looking back for Justin and his mother.

Justin Bieber has a personal motto, and that is very touching and heartwarming. It’s “Family First.”

Lessons from Justin Bieber’s storyJustin Bieber is in you Believe it

 

  • Believe in the almighty – everything happens for good.
  • Do what you love & love what you do.
  • Believe in yourself and shape your destiny.
  • Make the best use of what you have, stop worrying about what you don’t have.
  • Family & Friends come first.
  • Stay connected with your audience – love them, and they will love you more.
  • Never give up, Never give up, Never give up.
  • Find a mentor

The discography of Justin Bieber consists of three studio albums, one extended play, eleven singles, twenty-one music videos and three promotional singles. Justin Bieber has released his latest album Believe recently, and you can follow him on Twitter @justinbieber

You were born to be some body, maybe a vet, maybe a hero, maybe a care giver. What ever it is you were born to be some thing special and if you believe you can achieve  – Justin Bieber

What is holding you back from discovering the Justin Bieber in you, can you look at what you have and make to best use it rather than wasting time on what is not yours and sulking about it. Take control and shape your life or else one fine day you will discover that you merely exist and don’t live!

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

The author uses real life stories to demystify the day to day Human Resources Challenges we face at work. His HR Blog – Human Resources Blog endeavours to simplify the HR jargon.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Jappreet Sethi

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Aug 01

Got A New Boss Again: What To Do?

It is a well-known fact that established teams experience “transition pains” under the leadership of newly appointed managers. The stress levels go up, and both the parties use moves and countermoves to outwit each other. New managers, insecure in their roles, often seek absolute compliance to orders from their subordinates, particularly in their early days.

I’ve always found that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team – Lee Iacocca

In fact, most of the new managers struggle in their new roles initially along with their team members. Is there a way out? , yes of course if you want, you can turn it into a win – win situation for you and your manager.

Some of the common concerns of the team members are:

  • Will I get along with my new manager?
  • How do I make sure that my new manager recognizes the contributions I made before he/she arrived?
  • Will my work style clash with that of my new manager?
  • What new processes or procedures will my new manager put into place?
  • Will my performance and development suffer with this change?What changes will my new manager make to the team, my role, and my projects?
  • How can I build a positive relationship with my new manager?
  • How can I make sure my new manager recognizes my strengths?

Some of the common concerns of the newly joined managers are:

  • How can I establish my authority as manager without alienating my new team?
  • Will I get along with my new team?
  • Will my work style clash with that of my direct reports?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of my new team?
  • How can I build positive relationships with my direct reports?
  • What projects should be our top priority?
  • Who are the key players, and what are the unspoken rules of my new role?
  • What are the political “land mines” of my new job?
  • How do I quickly prove that I deserved this role?

If both sides keep on operating from fear and caution time shall pass, and one of the parties will win at the expense of other, more often than not it is the manager that wins, unless you are very strongly glued to your system, and any amount of pestering does not bother you.  And always remember the saying – If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn’t have a job if he was any smarter.

Most of the times the senior management will support the newly appointed manager. They promise him/her the autonomy & authority to shape the team. I am not sure if this is the best way, and if it works against the interest of everyone. Nevertheless, your new manager has the backing and ears of the higher ups. Make no mistakes about this and the higher ups may give you an occasional ear to let off the steam without any long-term benefits.

So it’s in your best interest to help your new manager succeed because when managers struggle, so do their team members. You don’t need to do a lot to help your manager. The challenge for both the parties is to nurture a strong sense of common commitment to shared goals – rather than one of the blind allegiance to each other’s dictates. By having an open dialogue around your concerns you can change the dynamics. Some of the things which you can do make this a win –win transition are.

  • Be adaptable
  • Be open to change
  • Give feedback on ideas
  • Help your new manager learn responsibilities of new job.
  • Help your new manager  learn teams shared objectives
  • Help your new manager  learn team’s work methods/ processes
  • Share your strengths and weaknesses.
  • Share the top challenges which you are facing
  • Share what is the support that you are expecting from your new manager.

It’s helpful if you remain open for new ideas and be adaptable. However, that’s not enough. You’ll have a bigger impact if you also provide your new manager with insight into your strengths and weaknesses & offer timely feedback. How about writing a Welcome Letter to your new manager?

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

The author uses real life stories to demystify the day to day Human Resources Challenges we face at work. His HR Blog – Human Resources Blog endeavours to simplify the HR jargon.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Jappreet Sethi

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Jul 28

How Becoming a Leader Can Help You Get a Promotion

Many companies today are looking for leaders, not just managers, to take on greater roles within the organization. As a result, competition for higher-level positions can be fierce. Leaders have the ability to inspire others and foster teamwork, which leads to achieving results. No matter what your current position is, becoming a leader can help you stand out and increase your chances of securing a promotion.

Qualities of Workplace Leadership

A leader is someone who motivates, unites and guides others towards a common goal. Leaders are usually highly effective communicators who are competent, trustworthy and organized. They are also often charismatic and inspirational. In order to be recognized as a leader in your workplace, you should seek to exhibit the following:

  • Honesty – this builds trust with your co-workers and superiors
  • Passion – enthusiasm and excitement are positive and contagious, which draws others to you
  • Commitment – a strong work ethic and discipline make you highly productive and can create a favorable impression of you in others
  • Goals – by setting and working toward goals you show others that you are able to strategize and execute work to accomplish something meaningful
  • Humility – giving credit where it’s due and emphasizing the team’s efforts instead of just your own makes people more inclined to work with you and go the extra mile

In addition to the traits listed above, leaders are also adept at planning, strategizing, managing change, solving problems and creatively addressing opportunities and difficulties.

How to Show Your Leadership Skills

Most jobs offer opportunities to exhibit leadership qualities, no matter what the level or job title is. Below are a few key opportunities that you can use to demonstrate leadership skills and set yourself on the path to promotion:

Day-to-Day Work: By developing and maintaining a high standard of quality and productivity in your own work, you show that you’re ready to take on more responsibility. The absence of a good job performance will likely mean that you will be passed over for other opportunities to develop and display true leadership qualities.

Take on a Project: Projects can be one of the best ways to show leadership skills. You can volunteer to participate on projects or create your own opportunities by looking for steps you can take to improve a process or output. No matter what your role is on the project team, you should seek to exceed expectations. Meet or beat deadlines, show yourself to be a team player by giving credit to others when appropriate and offering a helping hand when needed, and produce work or results with excellence.

Assume a Formal or Informal Leadership Role:

If you’re in a supervisory capacity, your leadership quality may be judged mostly on your team’s productivity and quality. By helping your team set and achieve goals, prioritize work and maintain or improve quality, you can show that you’re ready for higher levels of responsibility. Even if your current position isn’t supervisory, you can still exhibit leadership qualities, which can positively influence co-workers and position you as a role model.

By implementing these suggestions, you can develop and demonstrate the leadership qualities that will help set you apart from other employees and can get you noticed when an opportunity for career advancement arises.

This guest post was provided by Jessica Edmondson who discusses online education in the business leadership and management industry.  

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

 

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Jul 15

5 Ways To Increase Your Productivity

All of face the brunt of higher demands on productivity, most of us have been working regular schedules and the only way to increase productivity is to work extra hours. That’s not a good solution as it will make you a work zombie who will do nothing more than work. Don’t get disheartened there is good news; you can use these 5 simple and highly effective ways to increase your productivity.

As Paul J. Mayer said “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”

Break down your work into tasks and sub tasks

Most of the successful projects have a common theme; all of them would have been broken down into activities and tasks with owners and resources assigned against each one of them. Ask yourself these questions.

  • What do you need to achieve?
  • How will you know if your task is successful – what’s the measurement?
  • What’s the timeline?
  • What resources do you need? – People, budget, tools, support etc.
  • How many of these resources are under your control?

Devil lies in the detail – chart out the process

You have a plan, so what? The next step is break down each of the tasks into process through which they will get accomplished. When a problem is large or complex, and the optimal solution is unclear, charting a process allows you to begin making progress towards a solution even though you can’t visualize the entire path at the first instance.

It will be a good idea to buy flow charting software to help you see the work progress sequentially. Use the software output to communicate your plan to others. Detailing the tasks improves your chances of success and Increases your productivity. A word of caution- Detailing the process is tiring.

Set up a monitoring mechanism

Once you have set your goals and the plan has been broken down into tasks with process steps, the next move is to set up traffic signals and lights to know your progress status. You should know how much time it would take to finish the plan, raise the red flag early by giving progress feedback to all your stakeholders. Deliver all good news / bad news in advance, senior management team hates surprises. Knowing where you stand is a very important aspect of increasing productivity.

Avoid the Activity trap and be focused

Research shows that effective managers focus of one or two key tasks derived from the organizational priorities.They tend to keep away from distractors and allied activities which generally fill up most up of our time. Don’t confuse being productive with being busy, most of the managers take on one or another task to fill the time.Always being busy can make you rigid and narrow-minded. Create free time or have quick breaks in between to get those creative, productive juices going again. If you have spare time go read a book rather than carrying someone else’s monkey on your back.

Manage your time

Plan your time and manage it against a spend plan, in case you have not been valuing your time start doing it now. Time will not come back and this life is only for once. Make the best use of it.

I read somewhere that 85 percent of the things you do account for only 15% of your results, and vice-versa. I think that’s a pretty important observation to increase your productivity. Figure out your largest time wasters and eliminate them to increase your productivity. Time management is the key to increasing productivity. Taking time to plan and set priorities for your life actually frees up more time rather than diving into the muddle of activities.

These five tips will help you in increasing your productivity by accurately scoping out your work and using efficient processes to deliver them. As Shia LaBeouf said “There’s a tendency to mistake preparation for productivity. You can prepare all you want, but if you never roll the dice you’ll never be successful.”

Thanks and be happy !

Jappreet Sethi

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Jappreet Sethi

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Jun 20

Want to stay on track with your New Year resolutions?

Last week I met up with a former client who I had not seen for some time. He was disappointed with himself because, although he had set himself some career goals for the New Year, everyday stuff had taken over and he had done absolutely nothing about them.  I persuade him that all was not lost.

Does this sound familiar?  This scenario is commonplace for many of us at some time or another when reaching out for something new and challenging.  I have learned that the first thing is not to “beat yourself up”. You did go to the trouble to set goals in the first place and, funnily enough, your disappointment shows that you still care and have commitment. Just take a bit of time to review the goals and recall the benefits they will bring.  Of course, if, on reflection, you find that the benefits no longer apply or aren’t sufficient then move onto something else. If other pressures are stopping you moving forward you should think about de-cluttering and creating some space in your life.

Be selfish and say “no” to some people and some commitments. Most of all give yourself credit for what you have achieved and recognise your strengths. If you believe in yourself, so will others. Enjoy the journey one step at a time.

In the best tradition of project management my former client went away to adapt his plan and set revised completion dates whilst keeping to the goals!

So, here’s the thing…………

  • Write your goals down and keep them in a place where you will be reminded of them every day.
  • Plan! Plan! Plan!
  • Get rid of some other unnecessary activities to create time and space for your new goals.
  • Say “no” to things that are not really important.
  • Regularly view your goals and remind yourself of the benefits that achievement will bring.
  • Revise your plans and re-energise the project as and when you feel your energy slipping away.
  • Recognise your achievements and give yourself proper credit.
  • Enjoy the journey!

This article is contributed by Dave Partridge and Michaela Partridge  from  Work’s A Dream

www.WorksADream.com

Thanks

Jappreet Sethi

 

 

 

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Apr 14

How To Delegate Effectively?

The biggest limiting factor which hinders growth of successful young managers to middle management is their inability to delegate effectively. There are only so many working hours in a day and you can do only so much all alone. It’s time that you used the power of cloud computing by leveraging the resources available in your network. Understanding how to delegate effectively is certainly one of the most important skills a manager needs to master as he/ she moves up in an organization.

Malcolm Stevenson Forbes said “If you don’t know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk stick a dozen colleague’s initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route.”

Why Should You Delegate Effectively?

The majority of managers are caught in a never ending list of tasks with their bosses on their heels. They work extended hours on weekends, time is never enough. This is a result of doing too much on their own without using their power to delegate effectively.

Learning to delegate effectively is a key career transition skill which the new managers need to imbibe as they grow in their career from being an individual contributor to a team manager.  Delegation is a means of achieving results through the actions of others. Effective delegation is a great tool for developing your people and increasing employee engagement.

Managers who delegate tasks create free time and use it to propel their career by picking up additional tasks beyond their normal duties.  This portrays them in positive light in the eyes of management as they have the “Bandwidth “to take on critical assignments if needed.

How To Delegate Effectively?

This is the most difficult part of learning to delegate and most of the mangers don’t delegate as they taste failure when they delegate for the first time. It’s the once bitten twice shy syndrome. The 10 mantra’s to delegate successfully are.

  1. Set SMART goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound for the tasks you plan to delegate.
  2. People need to know what you are expecting from them and by when for the tasks you plan to delegate. People cannot read your mind so don’t assume.
  3. People need to know how you will measure success of the tasks that you plan to delegate.
  4. What are the resources people will get if they work on the tasks that you plan to delegate
  5. Define the checkpoints that you will monitor for the tasks you plan to delegate. Give timely feedback and praise.
  6. People need to understand the bigger picture for the tasks they are working on, this motivates them.
  7. Delegate to the people who can do the job and those who can almost do it, your success depends on the success of the task. Delegate only to people who are ready to handle the challenge and are motivated by the task.
  8. Give people more time than what you would take to complete the task if you delegate it to them – don’t set time lines on your capability.
  9. Be available for help; however desist the urge to do the task. Don’t carry their burden. The goal is to help delegatees proceed from dependence to independence by expanding their comfort zones and potential.
  10. Use people’s strength in allocating tasks which you plan to delegate . Don’t delegate tasks which will expose their weakness and set them and your task for failure.

What Stops You From Delegating Effectively?

Are you an individual contributor in the guise of a team manager, you prefer to do everything yourself because no one else will be able to match the quality you deliver.

  • Do you have unrealistic expectations from your team members and they have to be better than you?
  • Are you a perfectionist and a rare commodity which comes at a personal price which you pay willingly?
  • You cannot take the blame for your team member’s performance.
  • Are you insecure about your role and position and want to keep all the tricks of the trade to yourself and don’t want any of your team members to climb up.
  • You are sometimes more comfortable “doing” than “managing.

If you fit these descriptors maybe you need to rethink if you want to be in the management and team managers role.

As Marshall Goldsmith says -Always remember to “Delegate more effectively — don’t just Delegate more frequently.”

Delegation is one of the most difficult skills to excel in because it is a developmental process for the person delegating the task and the person to whom the task is being delegated.  Delegation is founded on trust and developing the ability to ‘let go’.  So what will you do to multiply your effectiveness by delegating effectively.

Jappreet Sethi

 

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Apr 06

Myth of Work-Life Balance

Work- Life Balance is one of the most debated topic in today’s world. Some believe that this is not being looked at holistically and may not be doable. Jack Welch, former GE CEO says that -“There’s no such thing as Work- Life Balance . There are work- life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”

On the other side a majority of staff continue to express dissatisfaction on this count leading to lower employee morale. SHRM ( Society of Human Resource Management) conducted a study of American Work Life Balance which revealed some interesting statistics

  • Among the 89 percent of Americans who say Work- Life Balance is a problem, 54 percent called it a “significant” problem.
  • 51 percent of workers say their Work- Life Balance has not changed because of the recession.

BlueSteps.com, the executive career management service of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), surveyed over 800 senior executives worldwide to discover the latest attitudes to Work- Life Balance .

  • 73% are often required to work between 6pm and 9pm and 63% are often required to work weekends.
  • 70% believe that a modern lifestyle (e.g. blackberry and Internet) has decreased their leisure time.
  • Only 35% of executives take advantage of their allotted paid time off every year.

Over the years I have done hundreds of exit interviews and Work- Life Balance invariably comes as one of the most often cited reason for exit.  The employee engagement scores continue to be at an all-time low with more than 60 % of the staff in organizations ready to jump ship at the drop of pin. The pertinent question to ask is that will Work Life Balance issue vanish from their life after the staff changes the employer – the probable answer is “NO”

The problem with Work- Life Balance is that it suggests there is a trade-off—that one side must be “up” and the other one “down” like a weight scale that has two sides to it. Using the word “balance” suggests that the two aspects are completely separate from one another. The new world reality is that Work and Life are completed integrated .You can’t segregate work from other parts of your life. Our personal lives and professional lives aren’t separate “Buckets” as defined by Work- Life Balance.

The way to look at Work- Life Balance is not from a tradeoff point but from a point of “Choices You Make”. Work and life stressors will keep on growing and increased expectations and choices around us push us to lead a “good life “It’s time that we move from Work Life Balance to Work- Life Integration.

Work- Life Integration is an outcome of people exercising control and choice in their life to meet life’s challenges. This can be in terms of managing work responsibilities alongside their personal and family needs. The areas of a person’s life which require integration will change based on the individual’s life stages – it is very dynamic.

  1. A young college graduate may be ready to do a 60 hour week in the first few years of his career to learn new skills.
  2.  A new mom/ dad may need time off to take care of child.
  3. A highly successful mid age executive may request for a job sharing program to start a family.
  4. Mid age employees may want to practice some of their hobbies which they could not do in earlier years. –  Theatre and music classes for some colleagues.
  5. Some employees may want to do an 80 hour week – a scientist who may be working on a new drug molecule which has potential to save thousands of lives a year.
  6. People close to retirement may want to spend additional time with graduates to teach them life navigation skills.
  7. A C level executive may want to do a 70 hour work week – there may not be an option and he has to meet the clients and pull the company out of the crisis.
  8. An employee may want to do extra hours as he needs to save additional money for a family requirement.

What can you do for Work- Life Integration?

In my work with the C- Suite executives, I often hear “My job makes me be that way and I don’t have any time on hand.” .The hard reality of Senior Executives is that there are some jobs that make it very difficult to achieve integration.

Try to answer these questions to help you.

  • Do you want to keep work / personal life separate or you are fine with mingling both of them.
  • What is your focus for the next five years – Career / Family / Society
  • What de-stresses you fastest and gives you a big high, can you get a dose of it every day or at least twice a week.
  • What do you want to be remembered for when you die?

The Work -Life Balance  issue is not around the number of hours you work but around the fact – Do you feel being taken for granted and how do you recharge your battery after all this. You need to do things which give you maximum happiness and there are many ways to getting it, ranging from gardening to exercise or by simply talking to your loved ones. You need to figure out your sweet spot and hit it every week. The brain needs to release the happy hormones to keep you going at the same pace.

Instead of blaming someone else for your plight, take control of your life and make choices around it – thereafter own the consequences. Be happy, this life is only for once!

Jappreet Sethi

 

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Apr 04

Accepting Oneself – Boost Self Confidence

Accepting oneself is the beginning of leading a wholesome life, look around and you will find many fellow beings constantly struggling with who they are? Their life remains a constant process of adjusting to everyone’s feedback. They keep on doing this hoping to be perfect – they suppress their originality and may be never reach the worldly desired self. You will also find these individuals immersed in self-help books looking for Harry Potter’s wand.

All of us have innumerable attitudes, likes and dislikes which we will be better off without. Judgment is made and while one likes one’s good parts, one dislikes the others negative parts. With that comes suppression of those aspects of oneself that one is not pleased with. One doesn’t want to know about them and doesn’t acknowledge them. Absence of accepting oneself leads to numerous denials and a problem trap. Denials further lead to anxiety and negativity.

The answer lies in learning to accept the Ying- Yang of ourselves, being comfortable in holding the good and not so good parts of you. In simple words it means agreeing to the complete you while not necessarily agreeing to the parts of you. As a sum total you are the best! – start accepting oneself.

What I am telling you is opposite to what you may have been hearing day in day out from your bosses and members of the management teams– become perfect before one starts accepting oneself.

What does Accepting oneself mean?

Accepting oneself means being comfortable with whatever you are; it is an innate pose of being at peace with yourself. It is very difficult to accept ourselves when we are wishing that that we be different. Acceptance allows you to “BE” rather than repenting for “NOT BEING”.

Accepting oneself means looking at you without colored glasses or making judgments about oneself. You take a hard look at yourself – the reality of you the real you. Accepting yourself doesn’t mean you can’t change anything about yourself, it means recognizing who and what you are, and then making the most of it.

How to do it

Take a sheet of paper and fold it into two halves, label one side as things that I like about myself and the other side as thing that I don’t like about myself.  Honestly fill up both the columns with thoughts as they come to you, don’t sugar coat or be afraid or pen it down. I have done this exercise with dozens of individuals, mostly the list of things which you don’t like about yourself run into two pages. This is due to the inherent flaw in the current societal and organizational system wherein every time you are reminded about what you don’t have and not what you have.

If I were to ask you to choose between head and tail of a coin and tell me which is better than the other, you will not have an answer. A coin has two sides- both sides co-exist. Your strengths bring their counter weakness in you – eg. if you believe you are patient – the flip side is some people will see you as slow. Try to visualize the relationship between the two sides of you – the light side and the dark side. The light side is which we portray to the outer world and the dark side is hidden and kept to our inner dungeons only. Day leads to night and night leads to day – both lead to and into each other – can they be separated?

Remember that you cannot be perfect and it will be equally true to say that you cannot be a perfect failure either.Start accepting oneself.

How does accepting oneself help ?

Accepting and loving you for being yourself is the beginning of a larger journey, it opens you to adapt and accept others for what they are without any caveats. It allows you to relate to others wholeheartedly. You would have realized by now that you do not need to change in order to accept yourself. It’s time to get out of this rat race of constantly chasing what you are not rather than enjoying yourself for what you are. Once you discover who you are you can use your goodness to shape the roles you choose to dawn—both now and in future.

You may have more to gain by developing your gifts and leveraging good parts rather working on weak areas. This will allow you to tap into your known and unknown strengths.

Your friends and partner will accept you for what you are if you are at peace with your real self. I quote this in most of my self-growth workshops; “Accepting oneself is about carrying your weakness with pride and strengths with humility”. Let go of the shame and guilt the world pours on you because you invite it.  You deserve to be happy!

Jappreet Sethi

 

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Mar 23

Managing e-mail Overload – 10 Tips for Success

One of the common challenge employees face is how to manage e-mails, not be managed by it. Time is a zero sum game. You can spend your precious time on an e-mail or spend it on doing something else.  As on date e-mail is the most heavily used mode of business communication. As per a research corporate e-mail users on average receive 126 e-mails per day (excluding spam) and spend more than 41% of their time managing e-mail.

Most of the corporate staff is drowning in email tsunamis; they are just overwhelmed with the load.What can you do? These ten tips will help you in managing e-mail overload.

Take time to draft the subject line in e-mail

The subject line of an e-mail should summarize the message; it has to be specific and crisp. Use the subject field to briefly summarize the content of the e-mail. This allows the recipient to prioritize e-mails and to find them later when they are archived. You can change the subject line as the subject of the e-mail thread changes.  As you send each e-mail, ask yourself, “Does the subject line accurately summarize the message?”

In today’s world most of the business people use handhelds to look at e-mail, the screens are short and 50 words subject would be a sure shot disaster to view.

Be clear and concise in e-mail

You should be clear as to why you are writing the e-mail so that the reader gets to the crux fast.

  • Give the reader the full context and main idea in the beginning of the e-mail. This allows the recipient to respond and prioritize more easily, and saves them from having to scroll through numerous previous messages.
  • Keep the message in the e-mail short and to the point.  Keep in mind the time constraints of your co-workers.
  • Limit yourself to one issue per e-mail.  This encourages each topic to be addressed separately and helps in sorting and prioritizing.
  • Avoid using irony and hints in your e-mail.  It is more difficult to discern subtleties in text.  Avoid misinterpretation by writing clearly.
  • If no reply is necessary, say so.  This eliminates confusion, saves the recipient time, and decreases overall volume of e-mail.

e-mail Layout

Reading on a screen is different form reading a print out. Try to keep the paragraphs short and do leave a space in between to increase visual clarity in an e-mail. Some pointer to keep in mind

  • Avoid using Capital letters in an e-mail, it is considered to be very rude.
  • Don’t go overboard with exclamation marks! in an e-mail , save them for an occasional congratulations
  • Try avoiding fancy and artistic fonts in e-mail, they are hard to read
  • Stick to black font color in an e-mail  – blue is the standard when you are responding to an email
  • Avoid using emoticons and abbreviations in business e-mail – reserve them for FB chat

Try to close the loop in e-mail

E-mails often have several action items and queries. Make sure you address all the items in your response. Failure to do so will result in an e-mail ping pong and it will cost you time and energy. In case you don’t have the answer, be forthright about it.

Include the Message in e-mail

While replying to the e-mail it is best to choose the Reply button, if you click the new mail option, the e-mail thread will not be included. Including the thread gives the recipient background to the email.

Read twice before sending

In most of the countries an e-mail is considered to be a piece of evidence in the court of law. Whatever you write can be held against you. Desist writing an emotionally charged e-mail. It will be on record and the other party may use it against you in the future.  If sending a stern and direct e-mail is important- a good way is to first send it yourself and then read it before sending it again to the intended recipient. This five minute activity works wonders when you are boiling in anger.

TO & CC dilemma

When you are sending an e-mail to multiple people, address your expectations and needs to each person. You should State your expectations. Be clear on what the recipient(s) is expected to do, and how and when you would like their response.

  • “To” should be used for the primary recipients.
  • “cc” (carbon copy) should be used when you want to keep someone informed regarding a particular issue, but do not require the person to act upon your e-mail. Before you cc a person, ask yourself, “Is the purpose to keep someone generally informed of what you are doing?”  If so, send a separate single status report rather than a large volume of cc e-mails.  A directed e-mail is more efficient and more likely to get attention from the recipient.
  • “bcc” (blind carbon copy) should not be used.  Information relevant to the copied person should be sent separately.

Managing Attachments in e-mail

You don’t want to send heavy attachments vide e-mail; it consumes a lot of bandwidth. While you may want to share the photos of an office party with all your colleagues, imagine if your entire office was downloading the entire 20 MB file at one time. The system can come to a grinding halt and you may miss on important emails. It’s best to use a share drive or upload it to Picasa.

In case you have an Attachment in the e-mail, Call attention to the attachment in the message, explain why you included it, and make clear what you expect the reader to do with it.

Managing e-mails

Most of the people have difficulty reigning in the impulse of constantly responding to e-mails. This perpetual multitasking reduces effectiveness, unless your role is to reply to email’s only (Helpdesk/ escalation point).

  • If possible designate an e-mail time.Check your e-mail at predetermined times and alert your co-workers as to your timing. When you do check your in-box, sort and prioritize the new e-mails, and decide if the e-mail should be handled immediately or later.
  • The “Auto-Check” function should be turned off at all times.Remove visible and audio notifications as they often prove distracting.
  • Use flags to mark e-mails to address later. Decide which colour is most important to separate the “to do” e-mails.
  • Research indicates that more than 53% of the e-mail you receive is not a high priority to you. However we still tend to read and respond to these “easy” or low priority e-mail first. These unimportant e-mail distract you and take your time and focus away from the e-mail that are really important and awaiting your immediate attention – Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize!

How to use FYI

FYI (For Your Information) should be used in the subject row when a message is forwarded to colleagues.  This makes it faster and easier to prioritize messages in the inbox and to apply rules for incoming messages.

It is in our hands to be a slave to the technology or use it to increase our productivity;an e-mail is one of such great tools. If you do not tame it early on you will spend a lifetime catching up with e-mail overload. E-mail is simultaneously the most used business application and the number one killer of productivity.The choice is in your hands.

Jappreet Sethi

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Mar 20

What Are Your Needs In Life?

Needs are a very personal part of our makeup, ranging from a deep desire to be recognized or to be independent.

We do not consciously choose our needs, they emancipate from our unconscious deep within us. Once needs surface they are not optional – they need to be satisfied for us to function best. Wants are choices we make on the basis of what we believe is important in our life to function at peak.

Understanding ones needs is very important as it governs our energy cycle. The amount of energy we have at our disposal is directly proportional to the needs we have satisfied. Keeping your energy high means knowing what your needs are.

How to identify needs?

Let me help you with a simple yet powerful way to identify your needs. Look back into your past and ask yourself what needs were being met when you were at your best. Write down four instances when you really felt on top of the world and elated.

Now that you have identified four instances, concentrate on one at a time and think of a need that was being met. Let your unconscious take over and put down whatever comes to mind. Don’t look for correctness.

When you have compiled a list of your needs, check them against the following question – is this true need for me or do I want it because it looks fashionable. Thereafter freeze your list.

With all this data now you can paint a portrait of your needs. Now plan the actions that you are going to take. For this activity it will be good to work with a friend. Discuss your thoughts and actions with your friend. Your thoughts can be bizarre, serious or outlandish. Don’t worry put a plan to it and make sure to ask your friend to keep on reminding you about your plan.

Now you need to align your goals and objectives to fulfill your needs. Prioritize your needs, start with the top four or five and put a plan which is in your control to meet them. It is important that you take control of your life and do things to change it the way you want. It is stupid to blame others for having unmet needs – take charge of your needs and don’t be a victim of someone else’s design.

What are the benefits of having satisfied needs?

As you satisfy your needs the original wants become less and less important .When your needs are met you will have extremely high confidence, you no longer see others as a benchmark. Your desire to compete is about raising your standards and improving your personal best, rather than being a part of the rat race. The more you love yourself for who you are the more you will love other people and accept them for what they are in their life. You will start seeing wonderfulness in people around you; you will become an elixir of positivity and happiness.

By knowing and accepting what you are and being in the present – not in past or future you discover the joy of life. You have a real high because you see your own goodness and the goodness around you. It’s blissful!

Jappreet Sethi

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Dec 30

Redefine Your Limits – Live to your Full Potential

We are limited by the beliefs we set in our mind, history shows that successful people are able to break these shackles and unleash their potential. The difference is the “ T ” between Can Do and Can’t Do. The “ T ” is your Thought.

Achieving your Potential 

Steve Jobs was one of the best examples of breaking free of boundaries set by human mind; he questioned the traditional thoughts and his failure and unleashed his potential to create history.

Steve Jobs said in his autobiography:

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. [...] Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did .We limit our growth by putting limitations and glass ceiling on them and tell ourselves that I cannot go any further.

Where do these Self Limiting Beliefs come from?

These beliefs may have a represented a valid limit in the past, like your inability to write a speech when you were a toddler. As you grow you learn / unlearn skills and progress in life, it would have been logical to move beyond the original limitations set by you. Incidentally for some of us, this does not happen and we continue to hold on to them.

Failures are building blocks of success and not meant to be chains of trauma which will never let you live that way you wanted to live. Life will throw brickbats at you and it may be a different one each time, don’t accumulate all of them in note book, some of them may not repeat. Like Steve Jobs you can make your greatest failure into your greatest success.

Thoughts which ground you to do the same things day in day out and blame destiny for it will never allow you to live fullest to your potential.

The Flea Experiment

Put Fleas in an open transparent jar ,they can jump extremely high and are fully capable of jumping right out of the jar. Then if you put a clear lid on the jar, the fleas jump and bump their heads on the lid feeling the pain. The fleas eventually realize that they are unable to escape the confinement of the jar . Over the next hour or so the fleas give up  and only jumps to the brim of the jar. Its a very Intelligent way to adapt to situation and avoid pain.

Later on when the lid is removed the fleas will not jump any higher. It continues to believe that it cannot get out of the jar and stops trying. The barrier has vanished physically but mentally it still present and hard coded.

And further more each flea is totally convinced that it is trying to escape just as hard as they can. But they are wrong! There was a barrier, but it’s no longer there!

So what are your Self Limiting Beliefs?

It is difficult to think outside the set beliefs. We use our beliefs to predict the future as connection is old data and experiences. You must look at things differently, Try to identify your self-limiting beliefs and see how you can break free of them.

How long have you been jumping just to the height that keeps everybody happy, without taking the risk of trying that little bit harder? Occasionally it may be worthwhile to bang your head against the limit; you may discover that the barrier is no longer there.

We all have our self-limiting beliefs, look at things you would want to do but have a coding that you cannot do it. Then re-look at the environment and your resources. Maybe you have acquired new abilities that will make you succeed this time. Knock the ” T ” off.

Jappreet Sethi

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Dec 17

Tips to Make Your Career Development Plan Work

Career Development is a favourite topic on the agenda of employees and their managers. Career development plans are created at the start of the year and then put on back burner till the year end or next formal performance appraisal. What can you do to avoid getting into this trap and use it to propel career growth and pay raise.

The following tips are provided to help you ensure that your career development plans are relevant and reflect the skills and capabilities you want or need to build in a world where change is the only constant!

Does the Career Development Plan work for you?

At the end of the day, it’s your development and your career. You are responsible for proactively ensuring that your development is in line with your own performance expectations or career aspirations.

Prepare in advance

Most of the employees feel that they are in grip of their career and walk in unprepared for the career plan review meetings with their manger. The discussions are generally vague with a lot of feel good factor and no solid action. Knowing your manager very well cannot be the excuse for not having prepared for the meeting.

Is the Career Development Plan still relevant?

The world economy is undergoing major changes and global cycles are shorter and deeper, it may make sense to validate some of your goals against the economic reality, industry needs and your current job responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, it does not mean changing the goals every six months; however it may need alteration for maximum career benefit.

Is the Career Development Plan achievable in time frame set by you?

It is your career and you set the pace for your developmental goals with a timeline, what is the fun in setting goals which are not achievable in a set time and giving yourself a too big a stretch every time. Take a tough look at the time-lines, You can increase the pace over a period of time. My advice would be to start slow and build momentum on the way, A great career is marathon and not a sprint race.

Does it incorporate recent developmental feedback?

You may have gained new insights in your working style which helps you see your strengths and limitations in a better way. In case the recent feedback is important for you to grow in career, make sure you incorporate it in the career development plan.

Do you have a new Manger?

In case you have a new manager it may be good to run your career development plan with him, make sure you tell the current plan has been set in consultation with your old manager and you would review the progress with him quarterly. After a six month period your new manger would have settled down and you should sit review the plan with him intensely. You need to align the thoughts / goals of your manger’s role with the plan.

Make optimum usage of resources at hand

Both time and money are scarce resources in the modern corporate world. Take the time to review your manager’s coaching efforts to date, and see if they are aligned with your career developmental  plan. If you wish to make changes to your development plan, you should be prepared to discuss how your manager can best help you achieve any new goals

Make sure that your career plan balances current performance expectations with future career aspirations and challenges you to build on your strengths . Always remember that there will be resources which you want and never get, maybe due to economic factors or your mangers visible or unstated constraints. Make best use of what you have readily available and not what you continue to fight for. Successful people make career out of what they have on hand and seldom squander energy on what they cannot have.

Jappreet Sethi

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Dec 13

How To Set Your Goals This Year

George Harrison said it all when he sang “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”…

Goal setting is about fine-tuning the direction in which you want to go in a pre-determined period. In a very important way, it is about taking the locus of control over your life in your hands rather than resigning yourself to fate or destiny. We all know people who blame the destiny for what is happening to them. The idea behind goal setting is not to be one of them.

How To Set Your Goals

Setting goals is one of the easiest things to do. However, most of us don’t do it on time, or limit ourselves to the notoriously failure-prone concept of New Year resolutions. Here are the basic steps to effective goal setting:

  • Determine what do you want

You should be able to describe to yourself precisely what kind of results you want. Your also need to be clear on how they will impact your life and the lives of people around you. Once you have these points clear in your mind, close your eyes and visualize how you would feel about this success.

  • Be clear on the implications

Choose your goals freely, but be aware of how much and what kind of efforts are required to attain them. Picture this effort on a day-to-day basis – what can you keep of your present lifestyle, and what will you have to let go? While the destination may be tempting, you need to know what the journey will be like. No matter how desirable the goal is, you don’t want to miss out on the things that are very important to you. Life is a precious, limited commodity and must be experienced in the here and now.

For example – if you want to move on to a fast-track career and adopt a lifestyle that involves responding to all emails in 90 seconds (fastest finger first on Blackberry), be aware that you will be sacrificing sleep, personal space and family time. If your goal is a high-powered, swanky title y, be ready to deal with the stress that comes with it. There are no free lunches.

  • Determine a time-frame

Things seldom get done if you don’t put a deadline to them. If you are a chronic procrastinator, break your goals down into milestones, set up mini-deadlines and establish the necessary time metrics for their achievement.

To illustrate, many of us are haunted by the feeling that we did not do enough in the last few years of our lives. With such a demon dogging our heels, we will be tempted to hit the dirt track at full speed and try to achieve everything in a year. The chances of burnout are very high in such a situation. Remember that the journey has to enjoyable. Spread your goals out in a way that allow you to have fun while you achieve them.

  • Map the journey

Rome was not built in a day and not by one person alone, though Caesar gets most of the credit for it. Achieving ambitious career goals is always about leveraging one’s network and garnering support. If your goal is your mission, then you are a missionary – and no missionary achieves his mission without external resources. Your network of resources will amplify your efforts to achieve what you want.

Ensure that the resources you require are available to you, and that they are not based on assumptions. Accept your limitations and know that it is foolhardy to try to do everything yourself. Collaborating with others is the key. Concentrate on things you are really good at and use others’ strengths to support you in your weaker areas.

  • Are you getting paid for it?

You will often experience frustration and resentment at not recognized if you are not paid enough for the work you do. These negative feelings will hamper you in reaching your goals. If you don’t get paid enough for the goals you seek to achieve, you need to determine if achieving the goal is worthwhile even without the benefit of commensurate monetary compensation.

If you feel that you deserve appropriate compensation for the extra efforts involved in achieving your goals, discuss with your manager what the rewards would be if your hit the target. Of course, this depends on whether the company would see value on you achieving your goals. Your goal achievement would need to be quantifiable if you want to a fair shake for your success.

  • Measure the success of your goals

Success means different things to different people – there is no one-size-fits-all approach. If you want to sustain the drive to achieve, your goals must be in harmony with your values. This involves summing up what you feel is important in life and checking your goals against these values regularly:

Establish:

  1. What makes you up (what are your values )
  2. What do you want out of this life
  3. What you don’t want to be known for
  4. What do you want to be remembered for after this life is over.

Keep the faith!

Jappreet Sethi

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011-2013 Jappreet Sethi

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Dec 10

The Principles Of Personal Success

Knowing what the ingredients of a successful life are is important in terms of our social, professional and personal lives. Taking these principles to heart will also ensure that we reach obtain the maximum benefit from all relationships that we forge on these three levels.

productivity-increaseHere are some of the principles that drive successful people:

  • Successful people know how to optimize what they have

They fully understand what their strong points are and the value these have in terms of their careers or business success. They know how important it is to develop their skills and leverage their strengths in their growth and development.

  • They know how to manage their energy levels

Successful people monitor and prudently ration out their energy. They do not depend on stimulants like coffee to get them going or depressants like alcohol to help them wind down.

  • They are firmly rooted in reality

Successful people spend their time and energy in things that can be controlled, like the present and the future. They know how to avoid impulses that relate to things they cannot control. In other words, they do not allow themselves to become resentful, complain, blame or engage in wishful thinking. They accept the difficult and harsh realities of life and know how to deal with challenging situations.

  • Successful people take responsibility

They understand that what happens in their lives is based on their own choices, not those of others. This means that they take responsibility for what has happened, is happening and will happen in their lives.

  • Successful people are consistent in their interactions with people

They know their weaknesses and strengths of character, and this helps them to change how they think, feel and behave with others. This allows people to feel safe and grounded in their presence.

  • They have a clear vision of the future

They know what they want and what they need to do to achieve it. They identify their goals, determine how to attain those goals and act accordingly.

  • Successful people know they have personal freedom of choice

They take this fact as a constant given, and not something that they need to earn. At the same time, they fully accept the responsibility that is part and parcel of this freedom. In other words, they feel free to make their own choices but are also completely willing to accept responsibility for the results of these choices.

  • They have developed the fine art of prioritization

At all stages and in all situations, successful people either know instinctively or reason out what is most important, what comes after that and what should come last.

  • They have inquisitive minds

Successful people are not satisfied with garden-variety or popular answers to certain questions. They have the ability to see beyond the obvious, discern the intricacies of a given problem and apply lateral thinking in finding solutions.

  • They are capable of change if the situation requires it

At the same time, they are also capable of remaining firm according to what a given situation requires. This means that they can admit that they are wrong and correct an erroneous course if required. At the same time, it also means that they have the strength of character to stand by their convictions if they know that they are right.

In short, personal success is based on self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-responsibility. A success-oriented mind-set requires great discipline and constant reinforcements. Because of this, you will invariably find success-oriented people attending whatever trainings, seminars, coaching opportunities and counselling sessions to maintain their focus and forward momentum.

Use the above as a check-list to determine if you are on the path of success. If you feel you are not, remember that it is never too late to change course and set sails in the right direction. All the best on your success journey!

Keep the faith!

Jappreet Sethi

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Jappreet Sethi

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