Some of our lives are meant to be a living example of spirituality. Some of us are meant to witness other people’s lives as a living spiritual example and learn from that. Either way, it takes an open heart and eyes to see how different people’s lives can impact ours.
I struggled finding a V author. I almost considered using an author who had a V in her name. Then I said a prayer at the beginning of the week asking God to guide me to who I was meant to write about and thus really learn from. For a couple of weeks I’ve had this book on my desk that I thought I was going to for a customer service training that I conducted last week. I didn’t use it and I didn’t put it away either. Yesterday I felt a nudge to pick it up and wouldn’t you know it, the author’s name is V.J. Smith. The book is called The Richest Man in Town published by Simple Truths.
As an affiliate for Simple Truths, I’ve seen this movie before and was touched by it. While I had bought the book, I hadn’t read it. I finished it this morning with tears streaming down my cheeks. Click here to watch the inspirational movie around it.Then I’ll share a few ways this story touched my heart.
It reminded me of the best-selling book Tuesdays with Morrie, with the life lessons learned from the student/mentor relationship. This time the student was the highly educated one Alumni Director at a college and the mentor, the Wal-mart cashier who lived in a trailer park.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer said that sometimes your life might be the only bible people read. Thus is the case with Marty in this story. It never mentions what and if Marty was religious. However, it is so obvious from reading this book that Marty’s life lived the religion of love. The second greatest commandment from the bible is to love our neighbors as ourselves. All other major religions preach a similar religion of love. Every day Marty went to work as a Wal-mart Cashier, he showed his love to each person he met, including kids, by making them feel important with a handshake and good cheer.
Lessons V.J. Smith learned from his time with Marty is that relationships matter most. You might only have 2 minutes to connect with someone, but that two minutes can leave a forever impression. He shares that “Few people can actually change the world. Marty showed me that you can change your world. Along the way, you have the opportunity to be a powerful influence on the lives of other people, no matter what your position in life.”
After seeing Marty in action and being wowed by his service, V.J. Smith did the thing that many of us often think of doing yet few rarely do. He wrote a letter to Marty’s management thanking him for his service. This letter binded the two of them in friendship, giving them further purpose to share in each other lives. V.J. learned more about Marty and started to speak about him during his speaking engagements. While Marty ended up receiving many accolades from his service, including being award Wal-Mart’s Hero award (1 in 100,000 sales associates would receive), one of the things he cherished most was the letter from V.J, reading it 70+ times!
So while Marty is the hero in V.J.’s story, we can’t forget V.J. is also a hero. His big heart and willingness to show appreciation by writing the letter and the book to share with us one of those heroes in action. The question all of us can consider is how can we be more of a Marty or V.J. today? For more inspiration on how, click here.
Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.
An important spiritual practice at work involves paying attention to when your personal agenda or ego gets in the way of making a relationship work smoothly. Way too many team conflicts and bad decisions happen due to egos and personal agendas. I like the corporate culture of Southwest Airlines that supports people taking their job seriously but not taking themselves too seriously. Pilots help handle baggage when they are in a pinch to leave on time.
It’s a fine walk to walk some times between asserting your expertise vs. butting heads. Careful discernment and awareness is often necessary to know when your ego or personal agenda gets in the way. Check in with yourself next time you find you are in a conflict with someone or you feel slighted in some way at work.
Early in my career I got an important insight regarding this issue. I have revisited it many times over the years. I kept getting frustrated at an intern I supervised because she did not listen to my advice or what I suggested she do. She was quite bright so I gave her a lot of running room. However, there were times when she wasn’t sure what to do and didn’t take my advice. I felt some obligation in my role to help mentor and guide her, but she would have none of it. I felt frustrated that I wasn’t fulfilling my role with the intern and also concerned about her work. I also took it as a personal insult that she wasn’t listening to me. That was my hook that kept getting pulled. She paid attention to my boss but ignored my input.
It wasn’t until the very end of her time with us that I realized how personally I was taking things. Rather than see it as her learning experience to get as much or little out of the internship as she could, I felt slighted and somewhat belittled by her. She triggered my button about not being taken seriously, and I reacted from that place. My insight was that you can’t teach people who aren’t open to learning. Once I got this insight, I backed off from trying to teach her anything. My boss noticed my change of behavior fairly quickly and asked about it. I told him that if the intern wasn’t open to learning from me it wasn’t worth my energy trying to make her learn. I could continue to be frustrated or just let her take from the internship what she wanted. It no longer was an ego thing for me, and therefore I didn’t continue the dance of one-ups-manship we had been doing. That was very freeing.
Now sometimes when I get really worked up over something, I remember that everyone is on their own journey. I try to re-focus on what is mine to do and do the best I can, leaving the rest to unfold as it will.
Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. The pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.
“I love the company, the culture, and the people. The problem is that I’m bored in my current job. Things are too predictable, and you’re not challenged in the way that you used to be. You’re thinking of looking elsewhere.”
Finding a new position within your organization may be easier than searching for a new job at another company. This is because your organization knows you – you have a proven track record and you know the organization with all its quirks. Companies also realize it’s much easier to train an insider than someone brand new. So before jumping ship, here are five things to do.
1. Assess your career goals. Before you rush into any decision, spend time thinking about your career goals and what you want to accomplish. This helps ensure that you’ll make a move that’s aligned with those goals. See Career Anchors and Career Personality to help you understand what truly inspires you in your career.
2. Create a transition plan. Write down the new responsibilities you’ll have in your new career. Identify the qualifications or skills that you’ll need, and create a plan to start acquiring them, ideally as part of your present job to give you experience.
3. Look for tasks or projects that will expand your skills. Even if you have to volunteer or work extra time, these new skills and achievements may help you make your move. Doing a Personal SWOT Analysis will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
4. Work with your boss. Your biggest obstacle might be your boss: he or she might not want to “lose you” to another department. If you’ve been successful in your current role, volunteer to become a mentor for your replacement. Then you can pass along your experience and help your replacement develop the necessary expertise.
5. Be patient. You might be challenged with a lack of job openings, especially if you work for a flat organization. Don’t give up – career change can take a while to make. Keep working on your transition plan, and continue acquiring the knowledge and skills that you’ll need in your new role.
Career Success Tip
There are benefits to changing careers within your organization, rather than looking for opportunities elsewhere. You already know the company, and you don’t have to leave a workplace that you already like. But changing careers may take time, and it helps to prepare beforehand. Consider the risks of the decision, and analyze the knowledge and skills you’ll need to be successful in your new role. If there are no opportunities right now, focus on relearning what you love about your current career, and find ways to add more challenge and purpose to your work.
Some of my favorite daily messages come the the Daily Word from Unity. Each day a spiritual message of hope shows up in my inbox to greet me with love and encouragement as I walk on my spiritual journey. Often times the message is exactly what I need to hear. A specific word will confirm a question that I’ve had in my heart. Other times I know that it’s the exact thing that someone else is going through in which I could help provide some emotional support with.
One thing that I appreciate about the messages is how they are written in the affirmative. It’s written as if it’s happening now and as if I am living this way now. We all know that this is how we should approach all those goals or challenges in our lives, as if we have accomplished or solved them already.
Here is a couple of recent example of their daily message for you to savor yourself. If these speak to your soul as they do mine, feel free to sign up for their daily email list. Your heart and soul will thank you. For more go to, http://www.dailyword.com/.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Self-Assurance
All things are possible through God’s spirit within me.
Any darkness of doubt about who I am, what I can do, and what I can be dissolves in the powerful light of Truth. I affirm the following with assurance: I believe in myself because I am an expression of God’s wisdom. I trust myself because I am a creation of God. I value myself because I am a demonstration of God’s love.
My higher self–my spiritual nature–is assured that all things are possible through God’s spirit within me. To have God-assurance is to have self-assurance. There is every reason to believe in, trust and value myself, because God’s spirit is within me. I know this for myself and for all others. I work with enthusiasm and purpose. I celebrate life with joy and thanksgiving.
For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.–Mark 10:27
Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.
Not everyone is motivated by the same thing. It really is different strokes for different folks.
Some people thrive on being creative and innovative whereas others prefer stability and continuity. Challenge and constant simulation may be important to one person, while creating a work/life balance is paramount to another.
So, what is important to you in your career?
What motivates you to do your best work? To help people answer this questions, Edgar Schein, a specialist in career dynamics, identified eight career anchors that impact career choice and career satisfaction. What are yours?
1. Technical / Functional Your primary concern is to exercise your talents and skills in your particular technical or functional area. You feel most successful when you are recognized as an expert and are given challenging work rather than being given promotions and raises, although these are important. 2. Managerial Your primary concern is to integrate the efforts of others and to be fully accountable for results and to tie together different functions in an organization. You welcome the opportunity to make decisions, to direct and coordinate work and to influence others. 3. Autonomy / Independence Your primary concern is with freeing yourself from organizational rules and restrictions in favor of determining the nature of your work without significant direction from others. You enjoy being on your won and setting your won pace, schedule, lifestyle and work habits. 4. Security / Stability Your primary concern is to stabilize your career so that you can feel safe and secure or that future events will be predictable. A long term career, geographic stability, good job benefits, basic job security and community involvement are very important to you. 5. Service / Dedication Your primary concern is to achieve some value (e.g. make the world a better place to live; improve harmony among people; help others, etc.). You tend to be more oriented to the value of your work than to the actual talents or areas of competence involved. 6. Pure Challenge Your primary concern is to solve unsolvable problems, to win out over tough opponents or to surmount difficult obstacles. The process of winning is most central to you rather than a particular field or skill area. 7. Life Style Integration Your primary concern is to make all the major sectors of your life work together into an integrated whole. You do not want to have to choose between family, career or self-development. You want a well-balanced life style. 8. Entrepreneurship Your primary concern is to create something new or different – product or service. You are willing to take risks without knowing the outcome. You have a desire for personal prominence in whatever is accomplished.
Career Success Tip:
Realize that different personal and professional situations bring forward different dominant anchors. For example, people early in their careers may want to develop an expertise and relate to the technical/functional anchor. Later on they may want to be in charge of a department or division and switch to a general managerial anchor. And if life priorities change, they may identify most closely with the lifestyle or service anchors.
I was fortunate enough to attend a program by Thich Nhat Hanh recently. He is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who has been teaching about mindfulness and peace for over 50 years. I was first influenced by his writing in the 80’s when I read his book, Being Peace. He writes that we must create peace in our own life, in our own small ways, to create peace in the world. Mindfulness is the path for such peace.
Peace is every step throughout our day. Peace is not a place outside us, it is within us. Your thoughts, words and deeds create peace or strife. Regardless of the work you accomplish, you bring your being-ness to each situation. Peace at work is created by your presence. How you show up at work is up to you.
Mindfulness of your breath, your walking, your talking all brings you back to your own state of being. You live in the now moment rather than in your to-do lists, worries, what ifs, or regrets. Mindfulness brings greater awareness, focus, and acceptance. It allows you to immerse yourself fully in life rather than deny, push away, or struggle against what is.
When you feel stressed, uncomfortable, overwhelmed, disappointed, simply bring your attention back to your breath. Be mindful of how you are feeling physically, mentally and emotionally and welcome that state of being. No struggle or judgment, just being. Simply notice what comes up for you and breath into any disharmony you feel.
Mindfulness Practice
When you are stopped at a red light driving to work, focus on your breath. Breathe in peace and harmony. Breathe out compassion and caring. Breathing-in harmony, breathing-out compassion…… ‘I am harmony, I am compassion’….. Do this three times every time you are stopped at a red light on your way to or from work. Do this meditation before you answer your phone today. Check-in with yourself throughout your day and pay attention to whatever comes up for you.
We create our world from the inside out. What world are you creating today?
Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. The pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.
He is referred to as the Peace Troubadour, who is passionate about spreading peace throughout the world. In fact just now he is in Assisi hoping to create a wave of peace from the little towns that Saint Francis found famous. He shared how the leaders of the major religions of the world are gathering here to share and offer their visions of peace. For more about this project go to:
This is a FREE online course based on of his book The Art of Spiritual Peacemaking. It is an inspirational course that I really appreciated. I really like how he describes what this course will cost you. “I want to give you something that WILL change your life – at NO COST. Hold on…let me say that in a different way. When I say no cost, I mean that you won’t have to pay any money to access this amazing information. On the other hand, it’s going to cost you more than you could ever imagine! If you’re brave enough to begin this journey, then you’ll be required to give up all the limiting beliefs that have kept you small.”
To sign up for this three-part course go to: https://qjr87734.infusionsoft.com/app/form/889749b262f881221887f680a108902b
Holy Bread Project
This holiday season, James is organizing a Holy Land Bread Project to encourage more peace and spiritual oneness throughout the world. The purpose of the Holy Land Bread Project is to gather together a massive community of people who are committed to “Being the Change.” Part of this project is to have a bread breaking ceremony and is looking for host to initiate this movement.
For more, go to his website: http://www.jamestwyman.com/
The Moses Code
While he’s written many books, the one that I’ve read is called The Moses Code: The Most Powerful Manifestation Tool in the History of the World. There is a DVD that accompanies the book, which I would highly recommend. The book is described here, http://www.jamestwyman.com/Books_The_Moses_Code.html
In fact, I wrote about a part of it with the blog that I did around claiming oneness. Go to:
Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.
Think about the impression each word makes in a different context. Hybrid corn is one thing, hybrid people another. Blend is a pretty unoffensive word; in fact, it makes one think of harmony.
“Why is that, do you think,” I ask my students, “we say blended instead of hybrid here?
Usually the first thing a teacher, an instructor, a professor or a trainer does is write the class a welcome letter. I have just had my second class with two classes in different locations. One class is urban and the other is suburban. Differences in audiences. Sure. We’re all different and every audience for those who don’t teach school is always different; that’s why we analyze our audience.
I am teaching a “blended” class. I asked my students why they thought it was called that and mentioned that in educational and training circles it was often referred to as “hybrid.”
It’s early yet, so I explained. Think about the impression each word makes in a different context. Hybrid corn is one thing, hybrid people another. Blend is a pretty unoffensive word; in fact, it makes one think of harmony. We like the idea of blended families–more a reality today than in years past, and a good thing. Would we call them a hybrid family? Again, it strikes a negative cord. You see, my class is about communication and I want to start it off right. I had never heard of “blended” courses–those that combined in classroom and online work; I had heard the courses referred to as “hybrid,” which it is by literal definition. Now, I can tell you it is much more to me personally.
I teach one night a week in a classroom filled with students, and spend the rest of the week online with them. We don’t spend as much physical time in a classroom, but we spend more quality one-on-one time even if it is online. It’s a different dynamic and I’m loving it for the ability to reach out personally to every student. Well, at least the opportunity is there, and I’m not jaded yet. It’s a different kind of teaching. You have make maximum use of the classroom and there is little room for the student who misses classes and only wants to take a final and pass the class. I don’t know many students in this environment that can work that way; manipulating the system is risky at best and you can easily be booted for missing two sessions. We are talking the equivalent of several classes in one session. So, it’s not one or two classes, it’s more like eight or ten. We grade our time spent online as well, and it is required. The classes will be eight weeks in my case and classroom time runs roughly three and half to four hours. I have heard other institutions that do ten weeks and shorten class time or six weeks and add to it and intensify the online. I don’t know what’s better, but it means teachers and trainers who will use this technique need to see the differences. My letter to my students below tells you why I’m a fan.
We will meet our objectives and at anytime you feel we are not, please come to me and we will see what we can do. It may be you don’t see the connection or in our adjusting the schedule to fit we may have left something out. I won’t short-change you.
“First, I want to tell you all that you’re terrific and I think we are going to get along fine–if last night’s class was any indication. We had latecomers, and that is understandable. I realize we also had people who were signed in late. No one loses for last night. You learned and gave of yourself; you braved giving a short speech and did fine.In the future, I would like your indulgence in making the best attempt to be on time–as I will. I understand life happens, but we need to be especially careful when it costs us money or worse, that simple disregard costs more in opportunity. It will kill you in a job. That is a reality. Believe it or not, school will have a bigger impact on anything you do, but your job is only an entry on your resume. Now, it you learn all the tools to make that resume entry gain attention, well, that’s another story.
“As I told you in class, you may ignore the activity entries that call for papers to be written and placed in the drop box. We will do some of those entries in class that are modified to fit. You will be organizing and doing much of what is there, and the result will be the same. As I told you in class, participation and attitude is everything. I want to see quality thought and substantive remarks in the threads. This is the trade off. I take for full responsibility for modifying the course accordingly. We will meet our objectives and at anytime you feel we are not, please come to me and we will see what we can do. It may be you don’t see the connection or in our adjusting the schedule to fit we may have left something out. I won’t short-change you.
“You have an opportunity to help yourself become a ‘master communicator.’ I know that sounded like I was joking, but if you say it enough, it begins to sink in. I want you to have control of this fantastic tool that will help you in life. Some of you may be farther along already, or you way of hiding unconsciously your nervousness makes you seem advanced. I see everyone as an individual and we will do all we can to be the best we can be. We may not all become confident speakers, but we will become better at organizing, knowing what we need to do to communicate effectively and knowing what makes it effective.
“I want everyone to make strides. And, I am there to help, every step of the way. If you are naturally shy, I want to help you become less shy. You will still be able to put on paper what you still have trouble putting in words in front of an audience. Your lack of skill will balance with what you know about the “how.” On the other hand, those of you who are more comfortable and need work on the organizing and the details, you’ll balance out, too. We all lack some skill; it’s important we always seek to be more than we are. I want to die having people remember who I was by that time, not my super single moment in high school or some where else a long time ago.
“I had a boss I absolutely could not seem to get to like me. I know it’s hard. She taught me a lot; she forced me to do things I hated because I had to do them for the job and because she was the boss–it had to be her way. In the end, I learned. Life is sometimes like that. It’s a balance toward who you want to be, and what you want to do and what you have to do. I know some of you made hard choices to be here. I did. I wish I had the choice to do it when it was most convenient and pleasant. I did not. Did I like it? No. Did I appreciate it? Yes. I still don’t care for her, but she did as she asked me to do. She stayed her course. She said, “Work with me,” and I had no choice, but I wish I had worked harder at it. There you have a mini-version or the start of a personal speech. We’ll talk more.
“I see challenges, but I have also seen the results. To me, a once very shy guy, I owe how I turned out–less shy to say the least–to a speech teacher who made me mad, who made me see the world’s reality beyond mine, who made me focus on what was important. Apply what you learn to your goals and your achieve–not always exactly what we set out to do, but you’ll have tools to change gears. That is the reality of this economy and who we are today. It may sound silly, but I’d love to be you. You are younger, enthusiastic, fearless in many ways, and you have time to deal with your baggage. Some people carry that baggage around for years, while you had the foresight to enroll in college and stick with it.
“Be sure to check out my second announcement and I will e-mail it to as well. Here I will explain the assignments I have modified, and my logic in leaving some things in for you to read or respond to.
“For now, I just wanted to say, ‘Thank you for being a part of my class.’ I sincerely hope you are not sorry already. Cheers.”
Here above is proof that students want to learn, that students see the importance of education and training, and that students matter. Some times in training we worry about the material we want to transmit; it is after all why we scheduled the training. There is an old saying in education: we don’t train subjects; we train students. It’s really no different in training.
I wanted to share with you, not the welcome letter, but the one I wrote after the first day (long day counts as a week). However, before I did that I needed to clue you in if you are not among those who have experienced this first hand. I’ve discovered a lot of institutions of higher education are doing classes this way, recognizing the need for some students to work, and that this is a fast-paced world we live in. And, things change like how life impacts how we get our education, and how the economy changes so we may have to work two jobs to support our family.
As a society we have grown technologically and we still have all the same wants and needs we always had. Change affected early education and training just as it’s doing now. A hundred years ago, we didn’t have Corporate Universities, we didn’t have online universities certainly. Our students weren’t engaged in social media or had access to knowledge in the same way we do now. With the advent of audio books, CDs, DVDs and e-books, libraries have had to change. Businesses change, marketing has changed. Universities and colleges change. The old prestigious ones are still there with more endowments, but they, too, have changed with times.
There are a lot of new majors no one ever thought of before. Some sound very exciting. I remember when computer science was what you had to take if you weren’t going to grad school. For grad school you took a foreign language, but to be practical, computer science was the way to go.
Today, computer science is an umbrella major for so many specialties (necessities to some that we need desperately). There seemed a time when we had too many computer programmers and analysts; I suppose that could be technically true, but we have replaced and added many related disciplines. So exciting to be a student today, but I’m sure my parents and grandparents would have thought the same when I went to school. Oh, the focus was on the way we dressed, talked and acted as another generation, but the basics stay the same. Learning.
That’s it for the murmurings of an instructor of public speaking, in this case. And believe it or not, all will be well and the students well educated. I do want it to be applicable in this life and career, and that is our job as teachers; just as it is the trainer’s job to make sure company training fits the person and the person is able to apply it to his or her work for the company. In my opinion, it all works best if we care to make it so.
Check out my website for more murmurings under What I Say. My approach to life and work–like a Cave Man looking to survive and thrive in an evolving world. Check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development, and you’ll see my basic and unique approach. I hope you like it. Happy training.
I subscribe to a wonderful little journal called Sacred Journey. In their winter 2010 edition, they published a “Charter for Compassion” that was developed in 2009 by religious leaders around the world. In reading it, I felt there were parts that could apply to our work. Many teams create team charters for how they will work with one another. Leadership groups often develop leadership principles by which they will base their decisions and actions. How would you work differently if you created a charter for aligning your spiritual principles with your work?
Here are some portions of the Charter for Compassion.
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exceptions, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others- even our enemies- is a denial of our common humanity……
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.
Who would you be if you committed to this charter? Sit with the ideas from this charter and see how it resonates with you. Find one thing different that you can do at work to align yourself with an idea expressed here. In doing so, you’ll bring about a shift in your work and yourself. Perhaps even your co-workers, clients and business partners will feel this shift as well.
Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. The pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website as pdf. The paperback version will be released by Balboa Press sometime before the end of the year. Stay tuned!
I do my job faithfully every day and I do it very well. Why is it then I’ve been in the same position for 3 years while others have been promoted?
This is a question from Sharon, a junior accountant at a financial service company. In growing my career and now coaching others, I know that getting that promotion isn’t just about doing what you’re paid to do. It’s not necessarily even about being the best you can be.
What It’s About?
Promotion is about showing that you are ready to take on new or additional responsibilities and also making yourself know to others who can promote you (as your boss) or bring you on board in their department or project. Here are 4 things you can do right now.
1. Look at the big picture. If you think small, you’ll stay small. But if you think big, as in big picture, if you understand the competitive landscape your company is in, then you’ll come up with ideas and you’ll get noticed. Very few “worker bees” do this…thinking that that’s management’s job. This is one way to stand out from all the other junior accountants and distinguish yourself.
2. Keep your eyes and ears open. If your company changes direction or your department has been tasked with a an extremely important project, go where the action is. Ask your boss to be on the task force or at least work on part of the project. This is a way to get noticed as well as build your network.
3. Ask for more responsibility. Notice tasks that are falling through the cracks or are overwhelming your boss who has too much on his or her plate. Point out problems you’ve noticed and possible solutions. Have a plan in mind if you boss says yes so you can quickly demonstrate success.
4. Communicate your desire. Does you boss know your career goals and what you want to achieve in the next year or two? Don’t wait for your annual review. Start now. Schedule a time to go over your work and how you can grow and develop. Start with skills that you can upgrade, add on, or improve. Ask about projects or positions that would help you professional development. Even ask for mentors.
Career Success Tip:
To prepare for promotion, increase your value to your boss and the company; take on more of the right responsibilities, expand your skill set, network within and outside your department and communicate your promotion goals to others diplomatically.
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Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer said that sometimes your life might be the only bible people read. Thus is the case with Marty in this story. It never mentions what and if Marty was religious. However, it is so obvious from reading this book that Marty’s life lived the religion of love. The second greatest commandment from the bible is to love our neighbors as ourselves. All other major religions preach a similar religion of love. Every day Marty went to work as a Wal-mart Cashier, he showed his love to each person he met, including kids, by making them feel important with a handshake and good cheer.
