To stand out in a competitive workplace, you have to do the workaday equivalent of juggling with fire—say, swooping in to save a crucial project just in the nick of time—while streamlining a dozen different processes and keeping your boss on schedule. Right? Actually, little things may make a disproportionately big impact.
“It’s not enough to have an opinion,” Pegasystems CEO Alan Trefler tells The New York Times. “It has to be an informed opinion.” Leaders and managers don’t want “yes” men; they want “thought leaders.”
When faced with a chance to meet someone who could change your future, don’t be afraid to show some chutzpah. That’s what Alison Pincus, founder of the online business One Kings Lane, did when she saw Martha Stewart at an antiques show.
What sort of motto or guideline helps you work ethically every day? Admins work in a reactive frame of mind most of the day, says Nan DeMars, author of You Want Me to Do What? “Basically, we have to react according to our instincts and trust our internal gyroscope.” DeMars recommends using this fast compass:
We certainly hope you’re not feeling forced to job hunt. But if you are, these social-networking tools can help:
The current job climate is driving many people to go back to school, with the number of 50- to 64-year-old students climbing fast. Even people with jobs are taking classes. Should you? Some great advice from SmartMoney magazine:
True or false: Networking is a task, like building your house. Accumulate the materials, do the necessary hammering, and bingo, you’ve got your house. “False,” say authors Bob Allard and Richard Banfield, who assert that networking greatness comes from giving, not accumulating.
Imagine you’re up for an award at work … for Best New Mistake. That might not sound too appealing, but at SurePayroll, the award is coveted. Why do they do it? To encourage employees to try new things—even if it means sometimes failing or making a mistake.
Set aside a few minutes each week to answer questions in the Q&A section of LinkedIn … Tack on your own comment at the top of any forwarded email messages to help the recipient understand why it’s landing in her inbox … Keep things from falling through the cracks with Boomerang for Gmail …
“One of the dumbest excuses for screwing up is ‘everyone else does it, it is industry standard,'” says Robert Sutton in his book Good Boss, Bad Boss. “Don’t mindlessly compare yourself to others … the people you imitate might be complete dolts,” he says.
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