Blog Archives
Millennials, here’s why it’s time to wake up!
Today I was on NPR sharing my perspective on millennials in the workplace. Here is what I shared during the “Perspectives” segment:
Here is a link to the audio file
Here is the transcript:
Imagine how I felt, three weeks into my first job out of college and facing the thing that strikes fear into the hearts of employees across the nation. It was time for my performance review.
I wasn’t scared though, I was excited. I was expecting that my boss would give me a big raise and promotion. I was stunned when the first words out of her mouth were, “Aaron, you seem like a bright young man, but I am not sure if you even know how to do your job.” I was crushed. I thought I was doing well at work, but in reality had no idea what the working world was like.
In fact, my misguided expectations were way off. I had expected that it would be like everything else I had done in my life; that I would be given an opportunity and then rewarded for being a part of the team.
My fellow millennials, it’s time for us to wake up. The working world is not like our homes were growing up. Our bosses won’t accommodate for us like our parents did and we won’t be recognized just for showing up. It’s time for us to take action instead of just waiting to be given the careers of our dreams.
Older employees complain about our lack of engagement and inability to take on responsibility and follow-through at work. I for one hate having this stigma associated with me and know that we are better than this reputation. We are creative, enthusiastic and agile, with exciting ideas and new ways of thinking.
We need to take ownership of our careers. No one is going to hand it to us on a silver platter. We will have to earn it with consistent hard work and results. We must be coachable, willing to listen and learn from advice coming from all angles. We must be more self-aware, understanding our natural sense of entitlement and impatience that cause us to give up when we face adversity or skip around between opportunities because we will only settle for the ideal situation. Instead, we must have perspective and realize that the lessons we learn now will help us when we do find our passion.
Don’t just wait for someone to hand you the career you want. Go out there and take it.
With a Perspective, I’m Aaron McDaniel.
Does anyone have their own perspective that they want to share?
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Presents aren’t the only thing the holidays bring
It’s that time of year again and you know what that means…
As we roll into December managers and employees across the country prepare for everyone’s “favorite” things, performance reviews!
While a performance review is less than fun (both for those having to put them together and for those who they are about), it is so crucial to your career. Performance reviews are one of the only things that gets officially recorded on your personnel file, illustrating what you accomplished this year and what your boss thinks of your performance (through her comments). Additionally, the score you receive is a generally accepted metric to compare how well you do your job versus your peers.
In order to put your best foot forward and maximize the score you receive, here are 4 best practices that successful people use:
- Compile your accomplishments: Each year it is important to keep record of the accomplishments you have. This comes in handy not only for performance reviews but when it comes to updating your resume or preparing for future job interviews. Moreover, often you boss is not aware (or does not have top of mind) all that you have accomplished this year. If she asks for a list of your accomplishments then great, but if not, be proactive and send it to her. It has been my experience that performance reviews are much more positive and complete when you have a hand in contributing to them.
- Fight for accuracy and the best score you can get: At many companies (especially large ones) your boss is not the only one that has influence in the performance rating you receive. Often a committee of your boss’ peers and your boss’ boss that determine everyone’s ratings. Many companies have an even distribution of scores so that not everyone receives top scores. If you feel you deserve a high score ensure that your boss is sticking up for you when you are discussed amongst the ranking committee. Additionally, fight for an accurate evaluation. In a previous position my boss asked that I do a self-evaluation to compare to her evaluation of me. When we compared them my scores were higher than hers. Instead of backing down we discussed the ratings and I was able to get her to admit that she was judging me more harshly than my peers because I had a track record of great performance and she held me to a higher standards. I pleaded that while it is fine that she is a harsh evaluator, it is not fair for me to be judged by a higher standard than my peers. Ultimately, I was able to get my performance rating improved. If something is inaccurate, fight for it to be fixed.
- Take advantage of any comments you can add: In my experience, a vast majority of the employees who worked for me left the section blank for their comments. This is a really bad move. When you think about it, every other part of the performance review is your boss’ opinion of you in her words. Your comment section (if you have one) is the only place to voice your opinion (either supporting your accomplishments or possibly offering a different take than your boss). – I have prepared many and most of my employees leave them blank. I urge everyone to take advantage of this
- Take note of the great things you accomplished: Besides compiling the performance review document and what’s in it, this time of year is a great opportunity to reflect on the hard work you put forth and the notable things you accomplished. Celebrate yourself. If you get in the habit of moving from year to year without giving yourself a pat on the back and an accurate assessment of what you have learned, then you won’t be able to accomplish your career goals as fast because of burnout or the likelihood that you would make the same mistakes multiple times.
Remember that you are your own biggest advocate (both with your boss and yourself). Take ownership of your performance reviews and ratings, fighting for what you think you deserve and admitting the areas that you need to improve in. In the end, it will pay off when you have a stronger and more accurate performance record and a better idea of how you can succeed every more at work.
I wish everyone a happy holidays, great performance reviews and fat bonuses!
What are some of your tips for getting a better performance review?
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Introducing The Young Professional’s Guide to the Working World
A couple weeks ago my book, The Young Professional’s Guide to the Working World: Savvy Strategies to Get In, Get Ahead and Rise to the Top hit both online and traditional bookstores. (Check it out @ Amazon and Barnes & Noble)
In the time leading up to the publication and since the launch I have received great feedback. From friends to family, Amazon reviews to affirmation from fellow business book authors. For all of this, I am grateful.
Since school doesn’t teach us how to be successful in the working world (there is no textbook that teaches us how to interact with a boss, and no course that teaches us how to position ourselves for a promotion or get buy-in for an idea from our colleagues), I feel this book was needed. It really fills a gap and offers both great anecdotes and concrete advice on what to do in your career.
For those interested, here is a brief breakdown of what the book is about and what makes it different than anything else out there:
What is the book about?
- It offers advice to young professionals (and really any working professional) on how to be successful in your career.
- In the book I talk about two archetypes, The STAR (someone who is Savvy, Tenacious, Adaptive and Resourceful) who we should strive to be like, and The DOPE (someone who Disses Opportunity Potential and Earnings) who we want to avoid
- I discuss the 25 attributes of a successful young professional, as it relates to building the foundation for a successful career.
- The book teaches you how to build a career blueprint and how to leverage mentoring to attain your career goals.
What makes this book different?
- While I am a fan and reader of many business books, a number of them explain the same concept over and over to the reader. Instead, I get right to the point and only say something once, trusting that the reader can grasp what I am explaining.
- For those with short attention spans (like me!) this book is great. Chapters are simple and easy to read (most only 4 or 5 pages) and have a clear format that tells you what you should expect to read in a chapter and recaps the lesson at the end.
- Online integration- Many books that discuss this topic are a static document and don’t offer much online integration. Besides a community for peer mentoring (more to come on this), throughout the book I ask readers to go to various assessments, tools and worksheets on the book’s website to be act on the advice in the book.
- By a millennial, for a millennial- Some books in this category are written by psychologists “studying” the millennial generation, and others are written by entrepreneurs who have no real corporate experience. In addition to being a millennial myself, I have worked in a number of different roles and functions (including managing people) at a Fortune 20 company, so I have real world experience that really shows through in the advice and tips I give.
Special thanks to my publisher Career Press, and my agent Zach Romano for making the publication process a smooth one.
For my readers, please share this with your friends and colleagues. Since we as millennials consume much of our information online and through social networks, anything you can do to spread the word would be really amazing in helping young professionals everyone learn how to build the foundation for a successful career.
I would love to hear anyone’s feedback on both the concept of the book (do you agree that it’s needed?) as well and specific feedback after you take a look at it.
I hope that you (and every young professional out there) get a chance to check it out!
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Is Taking It Easy a Good Thing?
As Ferris Bueller said in the 1986 movie, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This was true then and is even more true now. Over the Labor Day weekend, I took it’s purpose to heart and did some thinking.
Our lives as professionals (or otherwise) are full of meetings and emails, commitments and distractions. For many, striking the balance between work and play can be a hard line to walk and something that is never quite mastered.
For me, this is especially true. Besides a full time corporate job, writing books, and managing my entrepreneurial ventures, I want to make sure to spend time with friends, travel and volunteer in the community. In the process of having to take care of a lot of business, the byproduct is generally busyness. With spouses, kids, aging parents and more, there is not much time left for anything else.
Recently I was cleaning out some files at home when I came across an article that my godmother had sent to me a couple years ago. It was a brief prose by Alexander Green called In Praise of Idleness.
This essay really made me think.
Looking back, I have seen how busyness has adversely affected both my concentration and decision making ability. A couple years ago, I was balancing a full time job and running two businesses, not to mention a number of other personal and community involvements. I found that my mind constantly jumped from one commitment to the next. Because of the shear number of things on my mind I found that I was looking for fires to fight. I would prioritize the most important thing with the nearest deadline and would focus on completing it as soon as I could to go on to the next thing. This was good in terms of getting many things done fast, but it affected the quality of my work. My judgment was clouded and I made some decisions that, in hindsight, were pretty stupid. They led to some failures in my businesses.
I needed to remember what Green states, “downtime is an energizing force.” He continues to reference how “idleness leads to contemplation, creativity, and inventiveness.” Taking this time creates clarity.
While it is something that I do still struggle with, I have been able to see the benefit. Whether it is setting aside 15 minutes in the middle of the day to take a walk (or at least get away from my desk) or if it is keeping one weeknight or weekend day free from commitments to have some downtime, I continue to see benefits from this. Create that time, maybe not a siesta or afternoon tea but a break at some point during the day
As Green references, there are many examples of how down time is a good thing. From Churchill’s “economy of effort” to Mark Twain, even these successful people understand the benefit.
The second step in the right direction (after setting time aside regularly) is to simplify. Think about why you are doing something, and don’t just take on commitments for the sake of being busy. Focus on what is important, and be excellent at fewer things. Steve Jobs made Apple amazingly successful through simplicity.
So remember, it’s ok to be a “loafer,” “slacker” or “bum” every once in a while. This idleness can create the clarity you need to be to reach your goals.
;
When do you think being “idle” is a good thing? (if at all)
;
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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You Gotta Hit the Curveballs
As we reach the latter end of the dog days of summer, as a baseball fan, I think about the impending pennant races and excitement to come as the fall approaches.
Recently, I was at a baseball game and watched as one of the players from my home team (the San Francisco Giants) battled against the opposing team’s pitcher, fouling off 7 or 8 balls before getting a solid hit to left field. These types of at-bats happen all the time in the major leagues, but for some reason this one stuck with me.
I realized how the type of mentality this batter had was exactly the mentality of those who are successful in their careers (and I would venture to say, in their lives in general).
For those not familiar with baseball, hitting a moving ball thrown at you from a little over 60 feet away at speeds as fast at 100mph is not easy. In fact, it is considered by some to be one of the hardest things to do in all of sport. With something coming at you so quickly, it is important to anticipate.
Not all balls that pitchers throw are fastballs straight down the middle of the plate. Many are curveballs (that change directions on their way toward the batter) or are change-ups, that look like fastballs but are as much as 20mph slower than the same pitcher’s fastball. As a batter, if you use the same swing and believe that every ball thrown would be a fastball, then a large portion of the time you would be swinging and missing.
In our careers, things aren’t always straight forward (fastballs). Many times things quickly change (change-ups) or something unexpected happens that we have never experienced before (curveballs). To be successful, we can’t always assume that things will be straightforward. We can’t assume that we will always get the next promotion opportunity. We can’t assume that if we always consistently produce the best results that rewards will flow to us in-kind. To be successful, we must anticipate curveballs and expect the unexpected.
What good baseball players (and this particular batter from the game I recently watched) do is strategize and look for a specific pitch. Depending on the count (number of balls and strikes), the game situation and the pitcher, the batter will make a plan for the pitch he thinks will be thrown. He will prepare for a low or high ball, a ball thrown inside or outside. This is analogous to goals that we set and opportunities that we look for. Often, however, the pitch you guess is not the pitch thrown.
Good players not only make a strategy according to where they think the ball is going, but more importantly, they make sure that they have a way to make contact with the ball even when what they anticipate is wrong. In the game I watched, this batter defended against the unanticipated pitches by “fouling” them off (where he would make contact with the ball but would hit it off a sub-optimal part of the bat, making the ball land outside of the field area).
Pitch after pitch, he received balls that were either unexpected or not what he was looking for. Yet he kept his at-bat alive, waiting for the pitch he really wanted.
The career equivalent is patience and resiliency. We will all face adversity and obstacles (i.e. the unanticipated or undesirable pitches) and it is important that we are able to persevere and wait for the moments where we can be truly successful. Yet we must get through all the other obstacles before we are faced with the right opportunity. For this batter it took over 10 pitches for him to find the one he was looking for, and he still needed to foul-off the others to get to the right pitch.
Finally, the batter connected with the ball and got on base. Eventually the batter ended up scoring and represented the go-ahead run that won the game for his team.
Remember to strategize to determine the opportunities you want (the pitches you are looking for) and more importantly, be able to persevere and be patient through all the obstacles you face (the pitches that are hard to hit). Eventually if you keep your at-bat alive, you will find the pitch you are looking for and will get a hit that may very be the success that defines your career.
Do YOU think being able to hit the curve balls matters?
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Think Globally: Get outside of your “four walls”
Here is an article that was recently published on the Personal Branding Blog of which I am a contributor to…
With the Olympics in London underway, there is a wave of global consciousness that seems to run through many of us. Whether it is being inspired by the stories of the Olympians competing from all corners of the globe, or it’s being exposed to new cultures and ideas, a rare level of consciousness is in the air.
Besides being reminded of the diversity I have seen from the 30+ countries I have visited, and how it allows me to learn about new cultures to add to my list of future trips, this Olympic games has made me think about the scope of my thinking.
In our day-to-day lives, we have a tendency to think very locally. It’s only natural. We focus on our job, within the four walls of our office. We zero-in on a specific goal or project our boss gave us. After work, we go home and focus on what is happening within the four walls of our house or apartment. While we do use Facebook and other means to stay in touch with our friends, most of the connections we make are within the four walls of our social network.
When we strategize how to tackle a new obstacle in our career, we often rely primarily on what lies within the four walls of our past experiences as we tap into our successes and the mistakes we have made to determine the best path forward.
Unfortunately, the best answers often don’t lie within these four walls (of our experience, social network, job, home, and so on). It is crucial to think beyond these constricted four wall areas.
Having a global perspective does two things, (1) it exposes us to new perspectives and things we have never known, and (2) it takes us out of our comfort zones.
First, when you think globally, you gain new view points and information that can help you in the future (in ways you have no idea it would). When traveling in Asia a few years ago, I was exposed to how business was conducted there. It was new and different to me and I subsequently took an interest in learning more. I was glad I did because recently, as my company has involved me in projects that require interactions with Asian business leaders, I have been able to leverage these lessons to better relate to them. This is one of countless examples.
Second, this global perspective takes us out of our normal day to day routines and places us in a new and challenging territory where we don’t always have the answer. If you are safe within your normal, “culture” or day-to-day four wall routines, it is easy to be comfortable and lose the edge you need to be an effective leader and owners of our careers. You need to be on your toes. Having a global perspective takes you beyond the focus on your job, your company and your industry and it brings you on a quest where you meet new people and get exposed to new things. Leverage opportunities to get outside of these “local” communities and branch out into something new.
While I have been passionate about improving education for a long time, it never really came into play in my career. A few years ago, I joined a non-profit organization that focused on helping socially-conscious entrepreneurs that were tackling some of the biggest challenges in a certain industry. In the process I made many connections in this space and learned about a brand new world unrelated to my career. Recently, my job responsibilities have given me the opportunity to work directly with leaders in this market and because of my wiliness to get out of my comfort zone and focus on a new “market,” I have a great foundation to accomplish my work goals with the connections I have made over the last few years.
When stepping out of your comfort zone, take it at your own pace, but make sure to stretch yourself a couple steps further than you thought you could. Go to that extra event, read that extra article, make that extra personal connection. You never knew when it will come in handy later in your career.
This global perspective garners diversity. Diversity of not only what you see, but diversity in the experiences you have. I have worked in very diverse industries from technology to consumer goods and in business functions from sales to operations to marketing. This diversity of perspectives and experiences has been extremely valuable as I have progressed in my career.
While every couple years an Olympic games (either Summer or Winter) will attract the focus of the world (you included), don’t wait until these times to think outside of your various sets of four walls referenced before. Challenge yourself, step outside of your comfort zone, learn new things and most importantly, catalog these experiences, perspectives and important information. It all will most definitely make you a better leader and a more effective steward of your own career.
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Say “No” to Good, Say “Yes” to the Best
Here is an article that was recently published on the Personal Branding Blog of which I am a contributor to… http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/say-no-to-good-say-yes-to-the-best/
It seems that in our lives there is a constant tug of war going on between finding simplicity and all of the complexity that is thrown at us. From our jobs to the endless amount of information that is thrown at us each day, it can be hard to focus in on what is truly important.
The moment that we think we have everything organized and figured out, a change comes our way and we are forced to have to juggle one more ball with the many others we struggle to keep in the air. This “change” (aka an extra ball to juggle) can come in the form of unexpected and sad life events where you are thrown a load of new responsibility to opportunities to for new career or exciting adventure.
The desire to have a simple and targeted direction is a constant goal of mine. I find myself going through times where I take on new and exciting opportunities and others where I look to “cut the fat” and only focus what is important to me at the time.
The question naturally arises, which is better; to take on more things, give back more, contribute more, accomplish more (reticent of the whole notion that busy people get stuff done), or to focus on only one thing and be the best at it (and make it your brand)? This is the classic dichotomy between focusing and doing one or a small number of things right (ala Apple) or to cast a wide net and do many things, some successful and some a failure (ala Google).
I have concluded that the answer to this question comes in two pieces. One answer is that while simplicity is a good thing, “it depends.” The other answer is that you “have to do it this way,” (referring to going through complexity to get clarify), or in other words it’s always a process.
To address the first piece, it depends on personality. I am the type that probably could not do just one thing. I would get bored out of my mind. Success takes time, patience and a bunch of steps to get there. If I was doing only one thing, then as I would wait for each step to play out I would feel like I am wasting my time being idle. Whereas with numerous things going on, I can occupy my time with another project or commitment until the other one is ready. At the same time though, doing too many things means that important parts to each project can be overlooked and nothing gets your full attention and passion- which means that everything is less successful than it could be.
The other piece involves process. It is interesting to see how those that truly find their calling or passion go down a path that involves testing out many interests and opportunities, only to focus on what rises to the top (the “top” items either being what garners the best results or what you are most passionate about). It is almost as if you have to experience all the crap and distractions to find what truly inspires you.
In various strategy projects for work, I find myself going through a two-side reverse funnel. I start with a simple understanding in mind then dive into endless research and background (the more complexity the topic has, the dirtier this gets). At certain points, I think about how there can’t be a right answer since the question is too hard and there are too many details. Yet, when you push through this the answer then becomes obvious and you shift to a more focused and simpler conclusion. What really matter rises to the top and becomes clearer.
I am in the middle of that process right now. Over the last couple of years, I have become focused on a large number of activities, 10 to be exact. Besides my full time job, this includes entrepreneurial ventures, community service activities and other life commitments. Recently I hit that point where I felt there was no answer. I was doing too much and lacked focus. Most of my activities were successful but none singularly reached that top echelon of success that I strive for. I realized that it was time to narrow the funnel down more. 10 were too many.
In focusing and finding this simplicity some of the items were easy to knock off the list, I had less interest in them or the amount of time they took for the results created made getting rid of them obvious. But others were harder to get rid of. I enjoyed doing them and saw a benefit I got out of them (and with many of them I was able to help other people), but they distracted a bit.
Not long ago I had a mentoring discussion with a family friend who has been a successful executive in various tech industries, most recently spending the last 10 years as a VP at Apple. He seemed to encapsulate the right mentality to have in saying that other tech companies would kill for some of the products that Apple left on the cutting room floor over the years. He said that Steve Jobs focused everyone on saying “No” to good to say “Yes” to the best.
While you will need to go through a process and you will deal with a great deal of distractions as you do it, you will reach a place of simplicity where what you really want to do will become apparent. Remember, though, that like any process, this fight between complexity and simplicity will continue to come and go.
I am still in the process of “simplifying” and while I have a few more items to knock off the list, I find my mind clearer to be able to identify what the “best” really is. I have had to say “No” to a couple really good opportunities (which has been a bit against my nature), but I know that this will help me not only better identify the “best” when it comes along, but it will also help me be passionate and ready to put my whole self behind a select number of things once simplicity allows me to focus on them.
Remember that simplicity is a good thing, but it often takes going through a whole lot of complexity to get there. As a rule, remember to “say no to good to say yes to the best.”
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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The Key To Strong Personal Brand: Having No “Buts”
Here is an article that was recently published on the Personal Branding Blogof which I am a contributor to… http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/the-key-to-strong-personal-brand-having-no-buts/
About a year ago I received a promotion at work. The new position was an absolutely amazing opportunity and one that could teach me a lot and help me build many connections throughout my industry. It was also a position that I did not have all the ideal “qualifications” for. In other words, my boss took a bit of a risk in promoting me.
The key reason I was promoted
Through the interview process, I had to prove that I could handle the position by putting together analyses and conducting research on an area that I was not well versed in. While I did impress my new boss at each interviewing stage, he later explained to me that there was one key thing that led him to pull the trigger in hiring me.
Before giving me the offer he did his homework. To this day I am not sure who all he spoke with, but he asked numerous people throughout my company, who I had worked for and with, about me as a candidate. He noted that typically in the process a “reference” would taut the great qualities of a candidate only to transition into a negative statement saying something like, “he is great, but sometimes he is not responsive we I contact him,” or “he always meets deadlines, but is very disorganized.”
In his investigation of me, my boss said there were no “buts.” He continued to explain that because of this he was convinced that the reputation I had built through multiple positions in various departments was a strong one. He had wanted someone who had branded themselves as a leader that worked hard and was able to collaborate with others and maintain strong relationships.
While I took this as quite a compliment, prior to hearing his rationale I had never really thought about the power (both positive and negative) of the brand that others build for you in their own mind and how it can directly affect your career.
“Buts” can work both ways
Having or not having “buts,” however, can work both ways.
I once had a salesperson who worked for me that was one of the top salespeople in the company.
She always found a way to be at the top of the stack rankings, even through org changes and new product launches
As time went on, she desperately wanted to move up to work with larger enterprise customers, but time after time she failed to get hired into these position. In the midst of her frustration, she couldn’t see why she was constantly passed over. Despite her stellar results, she had too many “buts.”
Her strategies for being the best came at the expense of her relationships with her co-workers. She schemed, finding ways to get involved in other people’s deals, only to look for ways to steal them away. She would then use fear by threatening to go to human resources, claiming foul play, for anyone who threatened her position at the top.
Unbeknownst to her, the true intentions behind her actions were transparent to everyone. When potential hiring managers asked about what she was like to manage, I was upfront about her shortcomings (since I had my own reputation to uphold and didn’t want to lie to get her off my team, only to have her new manager find out about things I withheld). Ultimately, the brand she created of being a consistently top performing salesperson was tarnished by her “buts.”
The lesson here is simple. While building your reputation, remember that the brand you create is not just based on the good things that you do. There is a whole other side to the coin. It is important to minimize the negative traits people attribute to us. Focus on building healthy relationships with bosses, peers and direct reports because you never know how their feedback and recommendations (either positive or negative) will affect your career in the future.
Don’t give anyone a reason not to want to work with you; make sure the personal brand you build has no “buts.”
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Lessons From The Movies (Part 4)
This multi-part entry continues with some classics. Movies seem to be universal, so it is no surprise that we can pull many lessons from the characters we see on the screen. Hopefully the lessons resonate.
- The Apartment: “Normally, it takes years to work your way up to the twenty-seventh floor. But it only takes 30 seconds to be out on the street again. You dig?” — J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) explains to C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) during a conversation in which Baxter attempts to set his boss straight. In the quote from this 1960 film, cuts right to the core of a very important lesson. Reputations take a lifetime to build and can be ruined in the matter of moments (the same can be said about trust). There are countless examples of this from Tiger Woods to Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. Be mindful of how your actions and the words you say translate to people’s’ opinions about you, and when you do make it up to the 27th floor remember the long path it took to get there and protect the image you have built.
- Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope): “No reward is worth this!” — complains Han Solo (Harrison Ford), not long after he told Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher): “Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I’m not in it for you, princess. I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money.” I say this as George Lucas is re-releasing the whole series in 3D (who in my mind continually looks for ways to cash in on these films again and again and again… which is both smart and absurd). You will find people who are only in things for the money (reference Office Space) and will push to get as much as they can. At the same time, there is a certain value you bring to your company that you should be paid accordingly for. This is where the real money lies for you. Find ways to build your unique value for the group. Foster new relationships and get additional training which will be useful in reaching your goals. This equates to extra leverage when it comes time to negotiate your salary.
- Star Wars (Episode 5: Empire Strikes Back): “Do or do not, there is no try.” — the famous words of Yoda. This quote here is a HUGE one for my personally. There is no state of TRYing. You either do something or you do not. You either reach your goal or you fall short. Many people use the concept of TRYing to make themselves feel better about failing. Be real with yourself. Admit when you fail and celebrate when you succeed. If you allow yourself to “try” to accomplish something it strings the goal out over a longer period of time and can lead to inaction. Listen to Yoda, you must. Do, and succeed you will.
- Cool Runnings: “The driver has to work harder than anyone. He’s the first to show up, and the last to leave. When his buddies are all out drinking beer, he’s up in his room studying pictures of turns.” — says Coach Irv (John Candy) to the team. The driver is very similar to the role of a manager in the corporate world. The role is not always glamorous. Being a manager is not all about giving orders and kicking back. Even when someone is not doing their job, their manager must make sure the job gets done somehow and then they must document all the coaching they provided the underperforming employee (yeah for paperwork!). Plus as a manager pressure comes from two directions, not just one. Pressure comes from both the people they manage and their boss. The book One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey offers a great analogy of this. (include a URL reference)
- Miracle: ”You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.” — Coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) tells team USA before their game against the Russians. Team USA beating the Russians in the 1980 Winter Olympics was a pivotal moment, not only in the history of American sport but also in the Cold War. The lesson here is that skill alone will not lead to victory; desire is an essential ingredient. In my opinion, one valid definition of success is:
Passion x Skills = Success
Given that this is a multiplication equation, if either Passion or Skills is zero then Success would be zero. Skills without passion does not equal success. Although, if you have passion for something you will have the drive to build skill (which is the secret to this success equation). You don’t always have to be the best to succeed, hard work and determination is often the difference.
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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A nerdy professional guilty pleasure
Mar 5
Posted by Young Professional's Edge (YP Edge)
Everyone has their guilty pleasures. For some it’s chocolate, for others it’s trashy books. While most associate them with their personal lives, these guilty pleasures can creep over into your professional life as well. It can take the form of getting wrapped up in office gossip or even doing something around the office that you shouldn’t do (I’ll let your imaginations go with that one).
My professional guilty pleasure isn’t all that exciting; in fact, it’s downright nerdy. My secret professional love is work conferences.
I dig ‘em. Whether it’s a live webcast, or even better yet, in person, I crave the stuff.
Don’t get me wrong, a good amount of what happens at conferences is fluff. It can take the form of a ra-ra “repeat after me” chant initiated by a company executive. I have even seen my company hire singers who take a stupid template for a song that they throw three or four relevant references about my company into in order to make it sound like the song was written just for us.
Last week, I attended a multi-day leadership conference that my company put on and was reminded of the great things that in-person conferences offer. Here are 5 reasons why you should love conferences too:
So value the time spent at conferences. It’s better to take a conference call or shoot out a couple emails from the hallway outside the conference room than not go to the conference at all. Who knows, you might make a connecting that leads to your next job, or you may spark a big idea at the next conference you attend. Even a nerdy guilty pleasure like conferences can be a huge help to your career.
BE AWESOME!
-MR. BIZ
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Tags: Aaron McDaniel, Careers, Education, networking, Personal Development, Young Professionals