Throughout your working life you’ll meet people who influence you and who share nuggets of wisdom that will stay with you for the long run. It’s up to you to pass along what you’ve learned to others.
In this week’s newsletter I want to share the 5 most impactful career tips I received and how I’ve applied them in my life. I hope you’ll find these useful :-).
1 – Always Draw a Picture
In my first ever consulting project I felt completely out of my depth. One of my key responsibilities was requirements gathering and the most helpful advice I received early on was to always draw a picture. Why? Because it gives everyone around the table the chance to look at the same thing and agree on systems, tools and processes, rather than debating abstract concepts without ever finding common ground.
So next time you’re in a meeting and people disagree about how things work, get up and draw boxes and lines on a whiteboard, taking input from people until you have the complete picture. Chances are you’ll be able to clarify things, people will learn from each other and bottlenecks can more easily be figured out.
2 – Be Excellent
When you do things, do them properly and to the best of your ability. In short: be excellent. This does not mean fulfilling unrealistic expectations and burning the candle at both ends. Instead, it’s about committing to seeing things through and when you do a task, doing so until you can’t add any further value.
If you’re at the beginning of your career you may find it hard to come up with ways to show true excellence, but it’s not that difficult, I promise. You might underestimate how much people appreciate a well written document, clean formatting, spell checking and correct grammar. Deliver on those basic things and you’re a big part of the way there already.
3 – Learn to Manage Up
Over the past 12+ years, one thing I consistently did well in my jobs was to build a good relationship with my respective bosses, understanding how they work and what they need to be successful and then helping them achieve that. It’s a great feeling when you work with someone on a project or to drive change and you click. Like Batman and Robin – you’re a team.
It’s not about ass kissing or alienating the rest of the team. It’s about empathy, listening and truly understanding the needs of the people you’re working with, including your boss and others above you in the hierarchy. Appreciating how you can help them be successful and then delivering work accordingly will always pay off.
4 – Know the Value of People’s Time
Don’t be the person who just writes ‘Hi’ on Slack. Show others that you value their time by communicating well but also by involving them in the most efficient way.
In my consulting days we were all aware of the charge out rate of different people in the firm. The higher you go in the hierarchy, the more expensive your time. So those of us with the most affordable rates did the bulk of the work and we made sure that when we asked a senior manager or partner to contribute to a project or report, they wouldn’t find typos or calculation errors. They could focus on adding the value that only they could bring.
I’ve noticed more conversations popping up about the value of people’s time with respect to meetings and having reminders of the cost of a meeting before inviting an entire team for something that could be said in an email. That’s a good thing. Fewer meetings, clearer communication and allowing people to work without interruptions. And when it’s time to get together and socialise, everyone can do so knowing they’ve completed their tasks and don’t need to stay late.
5 – Stay True to Yourself
Have you ever been told to be more assertive? To show others who is boss? I have and I’m simply not the confrontational type. I’m diplomatic, even if that means things take longer. When I was told to be more assertive and to essentially assert my authority in a more cut throat way I felt stuck. Stuck, because I didn’t want to change who I was only to make people do things when they clearly had an issue with either the task or me (or both) – otherwise they would have done it already.
Thankfully another manager reminded me that it’s more important to stay true to myself and to find a way that’s authentically ‘me’ as a leader.
And that’s the final tip I want to share with you: whatever you do, stay true to yourself and your values. YOU are the person who needs to feel comfortable when you look in the mirror each morning. Comfortable that you’ve been making the right decisions, that you’ve treated people right and that you’ve acted with integrity.
I hope these resonate with you. Have a great week!
Eva