Word-Of-the-Week #890: Adaptable
August 26, 2021 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #890: Adaptable
Adaptable – able to adjust readily to different conditions.
How often and how fast do you see company changes? Do you respond to new circumstances and challenges with excitement or hesitation? How flexible are you when it comes to implementing changes?
This is Part 3 of the Baltimore Sun article by Jeff Haden Inc. Magazine “Path to Promotion: What one co-founder looks for when promoting employees.”
“One of the most common questions that ambitious employees ask their boss — along with “Can I get a raise?” — is “What can I do to get promoted?”
- Be self-aware, not selfish.
Self-aware people understand themselves and that helps them understand the people around them. They are more empathetic and accepting of the weaknesses of others because they know how it feels to fail.
They can lead with compassion and kindness because they know how it feels to be treated with disregard, disdain and scorn. They do everything they can to help others reach their goals, because they know how it feels to fall short.
Self-aware people solve for the team, the organization and the customer — not just for themselves. Every organization needs self-aware people in key roles. (What is a key role? Every role.)
- Be adaptable, not rigid.
Things constantly change in high-growth companies. Inflexible people grow uncomfortable with too much change and consciously or unconsciously try to slow things down.
Best practices are important. Methodology is important. Guidelines, procedures and policies all can help a business run smoothly.
But anyone can follow guidelines and procedures. Great employees are willing, even eager, to change. Great employees respond to new circumstances and challenges with excitement, not hesitation. Employees willing to adapt tend to advance more quickly because that is what every company needs.
- Be a teacher, not a truant officer.
The best people like to teach. They don’t hoard knowledge; they spread it and share what they know.
A truant officer’s job is to make sure people show up. A teacher’s job is to make sure people learn. A teacher helps other people gain experience, wisdom and insight. A teacher willingly and happily gives other people tools they can use.
In the process, a teacher builds teams. And a teacher advances, because a true team builder is a rare gem.”
This week’s focus is on being adaptable. How good are you in supporting your co-workers during times of change? How would you rate yourself on compassion and kindness for others? How willing are you to share information and be of help to the team?
I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.
Word-Of-the-Week #889: Long-term
August 19, 2021 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #889: Long-term
Long-term – seeing the big picture in the long run.
Do the managers and supervisors you work for inspire you? Do you follow their requests because you want to or because you have to? Are you in a position where you truly have influence over the success of the company?
This is Part 2 of the Baltimore Sun article by Jeff Haden Inc. Magazine “Path to Promotion: What one co-founder looks for when promoting employees.”
“One of the most common questions that ambitious employees ask their boss — along with “Can I get a raise?” — is “What can I do to get promoted?”
- Focus on execution.
Planning is important, but too many shelves are filled with strategies that were never implemented.
The best employees develop an idea, create a strategy, set up a basic operational plan, then execute, adapt, execute, revise, execute, refine and make great things happen based on what works in practice, not in theory.
Success starts with strategy but ends with execution. Employees who advance are certainly good at planning, but they are awesome at execution.
- Think long-term.
Real leadership isn’t short-lived. Real leaders are able to consistently inspire, motivate and make people feel better about themselves than they think they have a right to feel. Real leaders are people you follow not because you have to, but because you want to.
Other people will follow a real leader anywhere. And they’ll follow a real leader forever because she has a knack for making you feel you aren’t actually following — wherever you’re going, you feel like you’re going there together.
Creating that level of respect and trust and that type of bond takes time. Great employees consider not just the short-term but also the long-term, and then act accordingly.
In time, great employees are placed in positions where they can truly influence the success of their company.
- Be a volunteer, not a draftee.
The best employees are natural volunteers. They volunteer for extra tasks. They volunteer for responsibility before responsibility is delegated. They volunteer to train or mentor new employees. They offer to help people who need help, and even those who don’t.
Why is that important? Volunteering demonstrates leadership aptitude. Leaders are proactive, and proactive people don’t wait to be told what to do.
Successful employees earn promotions by working harder, just as successful businesses earn higher revenue by delivering greater value, and successful entrepreneurs earn bigger payoffs by working hard well before any potential return is in sight.
Draftees expect to be asked. Draftees expect to be compensated before they will even consider doing more.”
This week’s focus is on the long-term. How good are you at planning & execution? Do you have the respect and trust of your management team? How often do you volunteer to take on projects or help your co-workers? Where do you see yourself in the big picture?
I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.
Word-Of-the-Week #888: Promotion
August 12, 2021 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #888: Promotion
Promotion – being raised to a higher position.
Are you working for a company that you want to stay with? Is your ambition to move up to a higher position? What are you doing to achieve that?
This week is Part 1 of the Baltimore Sun article by Jeff Haden Inc. Magazine “Path to Promotion: What one co-founder looks for when promoting employees.”
One of the most common questions that ambitious employees ask their boss — along with “Can I get a raise?” — is “What can I do to get promoted?”
For some bosses, the answer to getting promoted is obvious:
Complete important tasks, gain a certain amount of experience or simply be the next in line. Other people, like HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah, take a different approach. When it comes to getting promoted, Shah focuses on the employee’s attitude.
His reasoning is simple. Attitude informs action. Attitude informs behavior. Attitude is the driving force behind every achievement, accomplishment and success.
Shah’s criteria have validity outside his company. Here’s what he wants to see employees do:
- Be a servant of others, not yourself.
People never accomplish anything worthwhile by themselves. That’s why great teammates make everyone around them better.
Great leaders provide the tools, training and culture to help their employees do their jobs better and achieve their own goals.
Great companies serve their customers first; they know that by serving their customers they ultimately serve the interests of their business.
The employee who’s only in it for himself will someday be by himself. The employee in it for others may not get all the limelight, but the right people definitely notice.
- Be humble, not arrogant.
Arrogant people think they know everything; humble people are always learning. Humble people ask questions. Humble people ask for help.
Humble people automatically share credit because they instinctively know that every effort, no matter how seemingly individual, is a team effort.
Humble people are willing to take on any job, no matter how menial, because no job is beneath them, and in the process they prove that no job is above them.
- Be optimistic, not pessimistic.
Optimists add energy; pessimists drain away energy. Optimists try more things and take more (intelligent) risks simply because they’re focused on what can go right. Pessimists never get started because they’re too busy thinking about what might go wrong.
Best of all, optimism is infectious.
This week’s focus is on promotion. Are you a good team player? Are you willing to take on any job? How would your teammates rate your energy and optimism level?
I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.
Word-Of-the-Week #887: Brighten
August 5, 2021 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #887: Brighten
Brighten – to make or become cheerful.
Do you know how easy it is to brighten someone’s day? How often do you smile at complete strangers? How often do you send a handwritten note?
This week is a follow up “Try These 30 Random Acts of Kindness to Brighten Someone’s Day” by Cecilia Meis.
“Acting generously not only heightens your happiness, it also releases nearly 50 percent more of oxytocin—the feel-good chemical in your brain—and boosts creativity, resilience and problem-solving skills. My month of kindness taught me that generosity doesn’t have to be a big production. Something as small as a conversation can boost your mood and spread good vibes to those around you.
Related: How 30 Days of Kindness Made Me a Better Person
Follow my happiness challenge using the examples below. Add your own generous acts and reflect on how it changes your mood and boosts positive emotions.
- Buy coffee for the person in line behind you.
- Start a conversation with a stranger.
- Make a meal for a friend who’s stressed.
- Donate your time to a local charity.
- Buy a hot meal for a homeless person.
- Compliment a stranger.
- Ask someone about their day and actively listen.
- Call up an old friend and reconnect.
- Bring a snack or dessert to share at the office.
- Compliment a friend.
- Write a letter to an extended family member.
- Give a copy of your favorite book to a stranger.
- Leave a handwritten thank-you note for the office cleaning staff.
- Offer to help an overwhelmed friend or co-worker.
- Baby-sit a friend’s children so they can have alone time or go on a date with their spouse.
- Introduce yourself to a new co-worker. Invite him or her to lunch.
- Sign up to read at a children’s reading hour at the library or a local bookstore.
- Put money in a stranger’s parking meter.
- Leave a random uplifting note on someone’s windshield.
- Offer to keep a friend company while they run errands.
- Leave a large tip for no reason.
- Take your supervisor out to lunch and thank them for what they do.
- Call your parents and have them share an old memory that makes them smile.
- Smile at everyone you encounter for a day.
- Reach out to your favorite childhood teacher. Thank them for their role in your life.
- Bring coffee or lunch to someone you don’t like. Make an effort to let go of your negative feelings.
- Donate blood.
- Have a conversation with a friend and focus on speaking less. Say, “Tell me more.”
- Make an anonymous donation to a local charity.
- Drop off dessert at your local law enforcement station.
This week’s focus is to brighten someone’s day. Have you ever done something kind and unexpected for someone? Did you feel a boost of happiness? Did you get any good new ideas to brighten someone’s day?
I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.