Sunday, February 27, 2011

Entrepeneur or Management freedom?

Do you believe that when you are your own boss that you don't have to work for someone else anymore? If you do that you should think again. Every entrepeneur is working for their customers. If the customers don't buy the products or services anymore there is no business. You might have more freedom with some of your decisions but you need your customers.
As a Manager (on whatever level) you work for whoever owns the company or the next level above you. In that case you might be less concerned with customers but you still have someone you are working for.
This will be the case for 99% of the population. Instead of fighting or denying this fact it is better to actively search situations where you can work for someone because you share the same values most of the time.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Relying on yourself

Isn't it amazing to look at all the business books that come out and give recommendations regarding change? I mean do all these people really have so much experience concerning change? Some authors are really great and worth listening to but many authors are less convincing and are basically a waste of time. While I think it is good to get as much information as possible from a number of different resources I think we also have to start relying on our own judgement again. Before you can and should rely on your own judgement you have to put in some serious effort like learning as much as possible about the topic at hand and you have to accept that you will never know everything about a topic. It can be tough when you think there is always someone out there with something better (e.g. education, judgement, success, connections, skills etc.). While in many cases there might be someone out there with something better that shouldn't stop you, after careful preparation, to rely on yourself.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Change is hard but rewarding

Who said change is easy? It is not! Have you ever tried to stop smoking or known someone who has tried? It is tough and many people fail! People want to stop but in many cases it is simply not working.
This applies to most big changes (e.g. move to a new place, start your first big project, start a new job) in your personal life as well as to big changes in your professional life. If these big changes would be so easy then everyone could do it easily.
One way to get through big changes is to decide upfront how strongly you want to achieve a goal and if your discipline is strong enough to actually do it. You really have to want that change and be ready to go the whole nine yards to achieve it. If you try to change without a real good reason and without much conviction you've already lost.  Once you successfully mastered a big change it is very rewarding but you have to be willing to but in the effort to get there.

Monday, February 21, 2011

The difference between pleasing your boss and achieving results

If you just watch out to please your boss/manager then I hope for you that you have a really strong and well connected boss. If he/she knows exactly what to do and where to go, is a trustworthy person and he/she takes you along for the ride then your career might be ok. Since that is not always the case you have to keep thinking for yourself. Don't get me wrong here you work for that person and you better make sure he/she is satisfied with the work that you do but that is not all. It does not end here!  Be active in your career development and think what you can do to address challenges in your work environment. What could you do today that would make a difference? It doesn't have to be some pie in the sky or boil the ocean change but it should be something that helps to improve something. A little help on a daily basis goes a long way. Instead of just following directions think for yourself, address issues, communicate them effectively to the decision makers and don't give up.  Make your ideas count !

Friday, February 18, 2011

Relationship building

If you like it or not relationship building is probably the most important skill to progress at work. Most people want to know who they work with. A certain knowledge in the hiring area is also important but the key point will be that the hiring manager trusts you to perform the job based on his ideas. This obvioulsy works best when you already know the people that you want to hire. In most cases they probably also want a network of people confirming that what they see is correct. Keep this in mind as you progress in your career.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Success measures

Who is measuring if you are doing a good job? How do you measure if your team is doing a good job? In order to determine that you have to agree on some meaningful goals ahead of time. In some cases you might set the goals in some other cases the goals are set for you. All this is pretty basic HR stuff that most people are very familiar with. In any case it is important to discuss your business goals ahead of time because they will, most likely, influence your career. Are these goals something you really want to do? Is it something that you are truly passionate about or is it just some "stuff" that you have to do? I think we all have some goals that we have to do and that we are not passionate about but since we just have one life I would love to spend the majority of my time on things that I really care about.  If that is the case your career is on the right track. If it isn't than you have to do some work to get your career back on track.
If you can't agree to many of your business goals then you should start thinking about how you can change the goals or if that is not possible about leaving the team. If you want to or have to stay with the team then you should focus your energy on your goals. Have a successful career by that measure until something else comes up.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Enthusiasm needed

If you are really excited and curious about the things that you do on a daily basis you have a chance to become really good at them and to be happy and successful. Focus on what you like and don't measure it only in Dollars or recognition. You might end up doing what you do only because of the money or the respect but not because you love doing it. Is that how you want to spend the rest of your life? In order to be successful for yourself you have to be able to spend your time in a way that you enjoy! You have only one life so spend it wisely. There are many ways to be successful in almost any way of life. If you are a roofer or a dean at a university or a CEO, everyone can be successful finacially and personally. It's up to you to focus on your strenghts because you don't think about your pay check all day long, right?

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Working from home

More and more jobs allow you to work from home, at least partially. I think there are some jobs where you can do that well and others where that is not really a good option. For Retail or Service oriented jobs it is pretty obvious that you can't work from home but for other jobs like for example consulting or professional training it is not always that obvious.If you do it right it can be very efficient and convenient. The most important aspect you need to consider, beside finding an employer that let's you work from home, is that you have enough self discipline to schedule your day as if you are in the office. Start the day like you would start a regular office day and dress as if you would go to the office. If you can do this then you can work more effectively from home as when you're in the office because you have less interruptions.
To work from home all the time, like a teleworker, requires a very high level of discipline and is definetely not the right option for everyone. In my experience many people can work from home effectively for 1-2 days a weeks but they struggle to do it all the time.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Selling yourself

You should be prepared at any time to explain quickly and simply what you do. Why is that? Because if people don't understand what you do they will not appreciate what you achieve. To say this very bluntly is you will get stuck in your career because people (managers, peers, direct reports) don't know what you can help them with. To make sure that people understand what you do you have to take some time to think about it and then tell them without jargon or long winded explanations. In short you have to sell yourself on a regular basis and in a non-intrusive manner. Just make sure that the people that most influence your career understand why it is good to have you on their team.
Here is an example: If I tell you (as my manager) that I'm working to optimize Sales Processes and Tools in the High Tech Industry does that mean anything to you? This is so generic that it is useless. It has to be something more specific like I'm working on the quoting process for my company to make sure that our quotes get faster to the customer (e.g. within x hours) and by ensuring we do that with less money and effort (e.g. cut our current costs by 20%)  by June 2011. 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Tips, Tips and more Tips

I love to read business books (e.g. High Tech, Sales techniques, Time Management, Self Improvement etc) since I always look for ways how I can improve. On average I probably read 1-2 business books a month. Since I'm chronically short on time I want to make sure when I read a business book it is worth the time and money. This is not always easy because many books claim to provide something new and unexpected but most books really don't deliver on that promise.
When I read a book these days that is recommending that companies should allow employee's to dedicate 20% of their time to any improvement project (like Google) I really start to yawn. Even though it is a worthwhile idea it is not new. Right now many business books focus on "value" and even though some are really good (e.g. Bury my heart at conference room b from Stan Slap) many just seem stale. I know that Nordstrom, South West Airlines, Google and a handful of companies are always named as great examples. The really interesting books are the ones that make you think, some that have something useful and unexpected. Check out the business book authors in Podcasts and on blogs before you buy any book to make sure they have something to say that is worth your time and money!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Recognition

Are you happy with the recognition that you experience in your business and personal life? Does your partner or family tell you that you do the right things or how important you are for them? Does your management team tell you that you are doing a good job? But this is not a oneway street. Do you tell your partner or family how much you need and appreciate them? Do you tell your team how good they are and how much you appreciate them?
These things are very important because as social beings we want some recognition from others and we should recognize others. This is what makes life good. We want to feel good about ourselves and our environment and we want others to feel good. When we feel good we are much more willing to give more and do more and that benefits everyone in our business and personal life.
Tell at least one person every day what you appreciate about them. Small steps make a big difference over time.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Your Career

Is your career where you want it to be? Do you know exactly where you want to be career-wise? If you have a clear goal, would it really make you happy if you achieved that career goal? How do you know if it would make you happy to achieve that career goal? I know these are many questions but it makes sense to take your time and find an answer for them before you pursue or change any career. Also keep in mind that you should enjoy the time while you pursue that goal because you will spend most of your waking hours working to reach that goal and not celebrating the goal itself. It is great to reach a goal but that is just one point in time. We all spend so much of our time at work that it should be well worth our time to think about what we want to do with that time. Think about it because it is your life!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Judging yourself

Judge your accomplishments by your own standards and not anyone else's! This doesn't mean that you have to set the bar low! Quite the opposite, set the bar as high a possible and maybe a little higher. What it means is that you should make peace with yourself instead of allowing others to make you feel miserable. If you allow others to measure you by their standards that is a recipe for dissatisfaction.
Let's look at an example: I'm a sales process and tool specialist and work on a project with a finance controller. My finance skills are sufficient for my area but I'm by no means a financial specialist. If I allow the controller to measure my financial skills by his standards I have lost. I'm in this project because of my sales skills and NOT because of my finance skills. Keep this in mind the next time you judge yourself too hard or allow someone else to judge you too hard.