Almost anyone who moves swiftly up the ladder or seems to be succeeding rapidly is probably doing a little bit of this (strategically, of course). Think about a resume. Even if you’re not actively looking for a job now, it’s a great idea to keep your skills and accomplishments up to date. The purpose of your resume is to provide a positive picture of what you’ve done and what you could do for a potential employer.  You want to get in the door and talking yourself up a little doesn’t hurt your chances.

There can be a fine line between ‘confidence’ and ‘bragging’, but that bit of confidence can open doors to opportunities you might not otherwise see. To hold that confidence back and not ‘selling’ yourself can also close those same doors.

For me and many others, it can be somewhat uncomfortable talking about yourself in that way. Some people expect their work to speak for itself, but sometimes you need to speak up on behalf of your work. Not everyone is going to be familiar with what you do so why not let them know at the appropriate time what you’re about?  Who knows, you just might be opening up some new doors for yourself…

The most important thing we can do to excel and improve is to constantly and intentionally learn and experience. These are the raw materials for creation and innovation. The more we take in, the higher the quality of ideas that come out. Some people call it ‘Staying in School’, ‘Becoming a Student of Life’ or the famous Covey 7th Habit ‘Sharpening the Saw’. However you look at it, we all need to learn purposefully every day.

Time…

I have several things I do to stay on top of my fields of interest, but is there room for more study? Most say they can’t cram one more nanosecond into their day, but what about ‘hidden time’?. With technology today, we have almost instant access to anything we want: television, radio, MP3, podcasts, movies- you name it. We can take it with us wherever we go.

Like many people, I like to get a nice cup of coffee in the morning. I fly into the local Panera, get into the express line (bagels and coffee only please) and fly back out again to get on with my daily schedule of emails, conference calls and meetings. But as I wait in line for 3 minutes to get that coffee, I flip out my Samsung Katalyst and begin scanning the headlines on CNN, Washington Post and Reuters. I can read most of an article in that 3 minutes. 3 minutes a day comes out to be an hour a month.

Commute time offers an obvious advantage. I spend 20 minutes each way. That’s plenty of time to listen to industry related podcasts, business radio programs or books on CD or iPod. That comes out to be 13 hours a month in learning just by driving to work!

So you can see, we have hidden resources we can take advantage of each day to further expand our minds with ideas for innovation. Take a closer look at your day and see how you can propel yourself ahead of the competition.

There are those who still resist it and insist that things have always been done a certain way and they worked just fine. That is exactly the mindset that will get you into trouble as we move forward. Think about it- if you can’t use the Internet to your advantage, your competitor certainly will. If you don’t constantly upgrade the value you offer to customers, your competitor will. Or look at your own personal situation: with the phaseout of traditional pension plans, we are now responsible for preparing for our own retirements (because no one else will!). As your career progresses, these are things you need address.

I came across a booklet that outlines some of the pivotal issues that you should consider as you move forward in ‘managing’ your career (something our parents also didn’t have to worry about). It’s short and to the point, which illustrates what the future of corporate culture is fast becoming.

New Work Habits for a Radically Changing World is put out by Price Pritchett and can be read in 20 minutes. A few sections that really stood out to me:

Become a Quick Change Artist, Speed Up, Accept Ambiguity and Uncertainty, Add Value, Be A Fixer- not a Blamer.

Overall, the booklet stresses the need to focus on speed, outcome and quality while also taking full responsbility for what we do. Back in the day, your boss told you what to do. There wasn’t a whole lot of confusion about what you were doing or what was going to happen- you just did it. Those were the days when a manager gave instructions and you followed. In the new supernova of change we currently live in, you need to figure a whole lot out on your own- and fast!

One area that seems to be a common challenge is dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty. In the past, it was always fairly clear what was expected. In recent years, (and as we move up the corporate ladder) we take on projects and tasks with loose boundaries, vague expectations. We still need to accomplish the task itself, but we also have to come up with parameters and find a way to align it with corporate or divisional goals. This is fast becoming ‘the norm’.

I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but I want to stress the importance of learning to deal with change. Not only deal, but embrace it and use it to your advantage. In today’s marketplace, if you become a master at using change to create an advantage, there is no better job security.

New Work Habits for a Radically Changing World

Google was founded on the idea of ‘Don’t be Evil’- essentially, ‘Don’t become a Microsoft’. And Google has enjoyed several years of unabashed love from everyone.  However, now that Google has it’s hands in so many different areas (biomedical, alternative fuel sources, digital libraries, etc…) the power they can wield is too great to leave alone.  People are beginning to question their motives, wonder why they need access to so much information.  Some have even called Google ‘Big Brother’. 

I think the Google way is the new way of doing business.  When Google was founded, Sergei Brin and Larry Page didn’t have a great way to make money.  What they had was a great way to search for information on the web- with absolutely no idea of how the money would come.  They secured several million dollars in venture capital with just the idea of making the best web search tool available.  Obviously the investments paid off when a money making element was added- eventually.  The idea that we can focus mainly on the quality of the product or service rather than the profit point is refreshing.  If you think about it, almost no business out there is really about just making money- everyone provides a product or service that is traded for $.  However, we hear more about the cash investors want in the short term rather than how you can build a company that can pay off even bigger in the long term. 

I like the idea that a product or service provides maximum impact and becomes the main focus of our efforts.  If we take care of the goose, the golden eggs will surely come rolling in….