Career

Criticism is as certain in life as oxygen is necessary for us to breathe, and in your professional life it is more important than ever. Not hearing any criticism about yourself could mean a couple of things. It could mean you are not conscious about what criticism sounds like or everyone is too scared of you to share what they really think. It does not mean you are perfect. Feedback on your professional activities, even as they relate to your relations in the office is important for the following reasons. It highlights the public’s perception of you. What you think about yourself as you give your reflection the power talk every morning is one thing, but the real deal is how everyone else views you. Use any deviance in what you wish to portray and what is shown to correct the image you are trying to create. It highlights areas that need improvement. Being the guru of everything is impossible, but the critical areas on which your company depends on you should be important if you want to succeed in that space. Find out what you are doing well and what areas you can improve on, do not wait until the yearly appraisal to get feedback. It forces you to re-examine your goals. You may really love what you do but if it is not adding value to your life, and maybe your pocket, it may be time to re-evaluate. Take into account all the positives and negatives you have gathered about your work and use it as a guide as to what your true calling may be. Don’t be afraid to receive feedback about yourself. Knowledge is power, and hearing the honest truth can go a far way in helping you improve and create the career you really deserve. […]

A few months ago LinkedIn allowed us the opportunity to thank our mentors and many of us took this opportunity to shout from the mountain tops the great work our mentors did and are doing in our lives. The Anti-Mentor We forgot to mention a very important set of people though – it would possibly be trouble if we shouted a bit too loudly how they literally may have pushed us through the door and on to better things. I am talking about the people who never offered guidance, encouragement, and possibly made your life hell – or something close to it. The Anti-Mentors! (Think Anti-Fairy-Godmother if this helps you to mentally channel the word.) Have you ever had one? – They are discouraging – They have no faith in what you can do – Even if they can, they never offer the opportunity to grow – They never offer positive criticism -They show you the door at every opportunity -They focus on how they would have done it instead of providing guidance and loudly complain after           Add alt text Why They Count You may think you don’t need these people in your lives – but you do. Well, in my experience I can say I appreciate it more now than at the moment. You build resilience You learn to improvise and discover new talents You learn to research and rely on hidden resources You lose some naivety – I hope You may just update your LinkedIn profile after a challenging day and be scouted for a better role.  Everyone you have met and every experience lived can be a resource for the future. Don’t discount this fact just yet.  

It is difficult to maintain positive relationships with everyone we come in contact with. Often times we may feel challenged in learning the complexities of the individuals we may have to interact with on a daily basis and as such may miss an opportunity to motivate or lead them in an efficient manner. Part of being a good leader is of course being emotionally intelligent and knowing when is the right time to speak or keep it shut. Keeping quiet in sensitive situations is not about being afraid to share your opinion, in fact, being smart is the correct way to stay politically neutral and not reduce your chance of career success. Reduce Conflict Nothing stirs up a bad situation like words taken out of context. In the midst of a particularly difficult situation try to not indicate favor for any of the parties involved. Try to move towards negotiation, if possible excluding yourself as the judge and strategically becoming the mediator instead. When this issue is finally solved you cannot be used as a scapegoat in case of any grouses on any side. If you don’t have anything good to say then don’t say anything at all. Protect your Image What is said to one person can be repeated. Unless you plan to deny, deny, deny – think carefully about anything you are about to say. Ensure if it is repeated, you won’t have to grab a box and empty out your locker. You cannot be right in all instances but you can be as correct as possible when making your opinions or findings known. Try to offer information that can be backed up by facts when it is called for and leave the opinionated ramble for hanging out at the bar with your friends. They say you can keep your […]

Only your best is good enough… Oracabessa Primary School Motto Sometimes you want to give up. Sometimes I want to give up. Sometimes I want to give only half of my potential as I fear the returns will not be worth it. Sometimes, despite the little voice in my head telling me that “they won’t appreciate what I am doing anyway”, I keep going. I am relentless, I am stubborn, I believe in giving my best. If you are like me, an ”all-or-nothinger”, then follow these tips when the will to go is at the lowest. Look at what you have already accomplished as a motivation. Look at what is left to do as a challenge. Imagine your grandma is watching you proudly from the sidelines. Promise yourself a treat like a massage or a new item of clothing. Practice not rewarding yourself for unfinished tasks. Don’t start anything you don’t like to do. Enjoyment is motivation in itself. Sometimes we pressure ourselves to finish in first. We can all be first, but we can all do our personal best. Do not give up of your dream, your hopes or your attempts to improve. Do your best. In the end, it is really all that counts.

People are temperamental. They change. Their moods, what they want, what they expect. Yet they do not expect the goals of the company to change or that they will have to work hard to align with them. If you as the manager ever require something more of them, you may hear complaints or whining and threats of resignations. The truth is, don’t expect the employee to bend over backwards for you, IF he/she doesn’t LOVE you and your company. The solution, make them love you, every single one of them! *Imagine villain doing evil laugh and rubbing hands together in a sinister fashion* How? Be truthful from the beginning. You don’t marry a woman telling her its OK if she doesn’t cook then expect three course meals 3 months later. You will be getting the same burnt chicken, instant noodles and take-out that she was feeding you during courtship. Similarly, if things will get a little tough in the following months, the employee has a right to know. Don’t set unrealistic expectations. It’s okay to fail sometimes (unless it’s mission critical robotic dinosaur heart replacement surgery), let your employee know this so that they will be willing to act creatively on your behalf. Creativity is often needed for one company to pull ahead of another in this market. Similarly don’t send your pot-bellied husband to the gym one day and expect him to come back with a six-pack that evening. Every Kiss begins with K. Well, commitment does not start with a ‘k’, but let your employee know you are committed to their success at your company. It’s not a matter of hiring them, placing them at a desk and expecting that they will work their hardest. Show commitment by tracking their progress and providing feedback along the way. Relationships take hard work or a […]

Trust is easier to gain than to regain. This is a simple fact borne from the “once bitten twice shy” mentality. It is therefore no surprise that losing trust in any individual or company can have a devastating effect on the relationship and thus lead to a severance in the same. If the aim of your company is to have your employees lose trust in you, here are some tips to get you going. Do Not Be Transparent Transparency is about providing information in a manner where it cannot be perceived that deception is taking place. To not be transparent, one of the simplest things you can do is not share information on a timely basis and instead have employees find out on their own accord. Also, a great way to not be transparent is to have no clear standards for promotion, raises and bonuses. Tip: Decide to not give a bonus this year. Do not give a reason. They don’t need one anyway. Make Ridiculous Commitments They work for you, you work with them. In essence the relationship should be symbiotic, working together for the good of all. Help your employees lose trust in you by making promises to the client that cannot possible be fulfilled. Better yet, do not tell the employee about them until it is almost the deadline. Tip: Approve a new feature to the client’s application one week before delivery. Of course the team can add easily if they are competent enough. Never be Available Every relationship is based on some form of communication. A business arrangement is no different. When an employee has grouses to discuss, be a good boss, and just disappear. Reschedule the meetings as much as required to annoy the employee, ignore emails, and repetitive calls. In fact, when you see the employee […]

A third employee in as many months has just exited your office. He did not come bearing good news. He is leaving. He is not the best, but after investing resources in him to get him to that part of the curve where he is actually earning his keep, financially it is disastrous. What can a company do in this case? Is this just a one-off thing or is the steady attrition a cause for concern? At this point, it may be too late for this particular employee but due diligence still needs to be taken to find out exactly what went wrong. It could be that there are better offers out there – of course. However, if there have been water-cooler gossip about some unease, or the grapevine has been particularly noisy then your employees may be disenchanted with your company. To slow the stream of resignations you have to engage your employees and find out exactly what is pushing/pulling them away. Do not wait until the exit interview. By this time the employee is already out and may happily give sugar-coated responses and not the truth. Here are some tips to reengage your employees before both feet are out the door. Engage Them on the First Day In this fast-paced economy, roles are sometimes so hard to fill we want to do it quickly and cheaply. So quickly, that once a candidate fits the criteria and can pass a few ‘technical’ tests, we jump to welcome them aboard. No one is taking the time to find out what the career aspirations of this person may be and if they want to be a part of your company to just meet ‘hot’ girls/guys. Maybe it is time to pull out the oft used “where do you see yourself in […]

The past weekend my new adopted country celebrated Mother’s Day – I know way behind the rest of the world, but still. It got me thinking about my roles at work and at home and how they intertwine. I am a mother. Not many people know this because I see fit to separate my home life from work as much as possible. That’s my way. If you choose to have a million photos in your cubicle, and every art project on your desk that’s your way (actually due to security constraints at my job that would be impossible). Without seeing any of these ‘clues’ though there are many ways to tell when there is a mother in the group. We exude a persona that no matter how hard we try, may just keep reminding colleagues of their own mother – hopefully, this is a good thing. So, let’s look at some of the benefits of having a mother in the office group. They Manage Risk Often-times I have to tell my kid, “if you eat all the cookies now, there won’t be any for later”. Simple, rational, truth. Similarly in the office our, ‘think about later’ mentality can help mitigate risk and help find a long term and not just a temporary solution for a problem.  It’s like seeing a child galloping like an antelope through the play park, hair flying and shoelaces untied. You may shout ‘hey slow down’ minutes before they fall – later through tears, they will tell you they didn’t even think they were going that fast! You can trust a mother’s judgement. Often times it comes from experiences and not just fear. They Resolve Conflicts Fighting over cookies at the park and battling for dominance in the office can seem like the same thing to a […]