winning workplace strategies

Winning Workplace Strategies Vol. 1 A Personal Development Guide for Navigating Your Career Success

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Winning Workplace Strategies

A Personal Development Guide

For Navigating Career Success

Jackie Capers-Brown


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Copyright © 2013 Jackie Capers-Brown

All Rights Reserved

Feel free to email, tweet, blog and pass this e-book around

the web…but please do not alter any of its contents when

you do. Thanks!

Grow Forward & Flourish

@

jackiecapersbrownblog.com

http://jackiecapersbrownblog.com/


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Intro: First Off, Nothing Works Unless You Do

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. No

matter how much you might dream about your career success, dreaming

about it will not make it happen. You have to take actions that align with your

specific career goals to achieve the success that is possible for you.

The problem is that most of us do not take actions that match up with our

goals – we are not “congruent” with our goals and we continue to miss

opportunities to grow forward and flourish in our careers.

If you want to shave years off the time, it takes to get to your “stretch” goals

you need to do some stretching yourself. You know this already but you have

not been consistently making efforts to change it.

Let us talk about the reasons that you are not taking proactive steps to

“stretch” beyond your present position, skills, and responsibilities right now:

Fear and Distraction.

Fear. Taking decisive action towards your goals in the face of uncertainty can

be scary. You know what is even scarier, you living a life below your potential.

Straddling on the sidelines because you allowed a fear (false evidence

appearing real) to take you out of the game before you could learn what is

possible in your career.

Distraction. Yeah, you have a lot going on in your life. Have you considered

that you have too much going on and how that could be a reason, why you

have not been able to focus your energies in an effective manner to achieve

your career goals?

If you completed a time management worksheet, which documented your

actions for every work hour in the past 7 days, what values and priorities in

the workplace would it indicate by the manner in which you spend your time

at work?

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Time does not stop. Change is happening at a rapid pace. You have to decide

if the life experiences that will come because of your career success are worth

facing your fear and stretching yourself beyond what you presently believe to

be conceivable in your career. Your mama cannot do it for you. Your daddy

cannot do it for you. As much as I believe that you can do it, I cannot do it for

you. You have to create your career success.

In this short and to the point personal development guide, I share eight-career

success tips that I have personally practiced from the beginning of my work

life to prepare and position myself for professional opportunities.

These tips will provide you with a strong foundation of actionable steps that

can support your efforts in the achievement of your career success. Millions of

highly successful people from all occupations have utilized similar personal

development tips to broaden their skills and increase their capacity to play a

bigger game when it comes down to their career success. You are a part of

this great community of people. This is a FREE downloadable workbook so

spread the word by sharing it with others (I hope you will).

Second: Make the Best of the Hand You Have

If there was one bit of advice about life I heard from my parents on a

consistent basis it was this, “You’ve got to play the hand you’ve been dealt.”

Influenced by this mindset and approach to life, I witnessed my parents, time

after time; maintain a bulldog tenacity towards overcoming daunting

challenges.

My parent’s display of grit nurtured within me the belief that every challenge

is figure-out-able. They made it clear that faith attached to action was what

mattered most in making situations better. My parents did not spend a lot of

time wallowing in “spilled milk.”

There tenacity in the face of numerous challenges had little to do with rather

they felt like doing something or not, they wholeheartedly believed that

positive change could only come about as a result of focused action.

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This homegrown version of continuous improvement certainly plays a role in

my belief that challenges in life strengthen our resolve to be more and take

on more in life. That is, if we do not run from them.

Something for You to Think About as You Read this Guide

Anytime you play a card game, you hope for the best. You never know how

your hand will look until the last card is dealt. From that point on, to the end

of the game, you play your hand with the intention of winning.

There are several variables in the card game, your hand of cards, the other

player’s response to the cards that you play, the atmosphere etc…that can

certainly effect the result of your card playing experience. In spite of these

challenges, you continue to play with the belief that you can win. Moreover,

the more games you play the greater your odds of developing the intuition

and skills to win, repeatedly.

Apply the following winning workplace strategies with a similar attitude and

effort towards the progression of your career assignments, and you will

navigate a sustainable and successful career.


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Career Success Tip #1: Develop a Success Consciousness

There is a familiar saying, "it's not what happens to you, but the meaning you

attach to what happens to you that matters most." This is evident in many

families, as siblings experiencing the same home environment often interpret

their childhood experiences differently from one another. The difference in the

meanings associated with how each child perceived love, support, and

encouragement from their family circle plays a critical role in their

development of emotional and social intelligences necessary for healthy

relationships as a teen and into their adult life.

For many the use of family life dynamics as an example on the development

of your perspective towards life experiences hits a chord in your heart. That

was the intention, to get your attention.

The "meaning" we attach to all of our experiences influence what we believe

we can and cannot do. If we are to a success consciousness toward our life

and work experiences, we need to be conscious of the role that our life

experiences and social conditioning play on their development.

Reality supports this truth; we do not engage the world as it is, but as we are.

As a man or woman thinks, so is he or she. Therefore, developing and

maintaining a winning perspective towards experiences in the home,

workplace and in your communities (physical and online) benefits the overall

quality of your life.


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The Power of Your Assumptions

To develop a success consciousness towards life, first, you have to challenge

the assumptions you have had about what is possible in your life. Why is this

important?

Because your assumptions are the root of your perceptions, and your

perceptions are the lens by which you see yourself and the world. If your

assumptions about yourself and life are based on a limited, vision of what is

possible then you will approach your life, your career, and anything else that is

of importance to you with a limited or scarcity mentality.

If on the other hand, your assumptions about life and yourself are the result of

an expansive vision of what is possible in your life, you will approach life, your

career, and anything else that is important to you with an expansive,

abundant and success consciousness.

In his blog post, What Lies Beyond The Haze of Social Conditioning, Steve

Pavlina states," The most common way to shrink someone's perspective is to

put them into a state of fear. Make them feel their survival is threatened. Fear

shrinks perspective. Fearlessness expands it. Fearlessness can take the form

of unconditional love, service, transcendence, or even just curiosity."

Our social conditioning influences our assumptions about life. Unless we

challenge our assumptions, each of us could live our entire life based on

erroneous or outdated thinking influenced by other people. This is sad, but

true. It is imperative that you think about what you think about in order win in

life.

The Power of a Success Consciousness on Your Career

On May 5, 1985, I became employed as a housekeeper at the Columbia

Marriott Hotel. With no professional pedigree except my farmer’s work ethic,

a commitment to personal excellence, and a vision to provide an inspiring

future for my two children, I went to work with a tireless passion that fired up

my persistence and determination to overcome daunting odds. As a result, I

became an award-winning hourly employee, a “Best of the Best” department

manager at Marriott’s Columbia Courtyard NW property, and an award-

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/03/what-lies-beyond-the-haze-of-social-conditioning/


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winning business leader as the GM of Marriott’s Fairfield Inn property in

Wilmington, NC.

I could have easily accepted the notion that because I was “just” a

housekeeper that I had little- to no influence on the day-to-day operation of

the business. This was certainly an assumption held by several of my co-

workers. Instead, I chose to maintain a different outlook. Instead of waiting

and watching to see what the company was going to do for me, I pursued

opportunities to make a difference with each interaction I had with guests, co-

workers, department managers, and vendors. Day after day, I chose to act on

my belief that I had the power to contribute value to the business.

The success I experienced with Marriott came because of several factors, a

few of which were:

Despite its challenges, I am passionate about working with the public.

I have always believed that a large part of my life’s purpose would be

linked to inspiring others to believe and express their potential. Working

for Marriott provided me numerous opportunities to build up others.

I enjoyed working for a company that demonstrated a commitment to

values that are important to me as a female and African-American.

With this in mind, it was easier for me than maybe for others to align my

decisions and actions with the process of preparation that was required for

me to seize advancement opportunities within the company. I took full

responsibility and authority over my work life and made a commitment to

achieving the level of success I believed was possible with the company.

I did not allow the opinions of others affect my willingness to prepare myself

so that I could seize opportunities that would elevate the quality of life

experienced by my children. The decision to “take the lead” in my work life

and adapt my perspectives to succeed in places of employment based on

what was happening there vs. “how it was done at so and so” is a key reason

why I have been able to sustain a successful professional life.


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8 Reasons Why a Success Consciousness Adds Value to Your Career

Developing a winning attitude toward your experiences in the work place adds

value to your career in the following ways:

1). A success consciousness influences your attitudes and behaviors. Rather

or not your perspective has been influenced by "seeing" life with a scarcity or

abundant mentality, one thing is for sure, you think, feel and behave

according to your most dominant thought and emotional patterns.

2). A success consciousness helps you recognize when your outlook on a

situation is being influenced by a limited view of the circumstance.

3). A success consciousness winner’s enables you to establish personal

values based on principles that never change and are not subjective to

changing realities.

4). A success consciousness helps you recognize how the way you see a

problem can actually be the problem. Einstein stated, "The significant

problem we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at

when we created them."

5). A success consciousness allows you to hear and respect the perspectives

of others even when they differ from yours.

6). A success consciousness unleashes the divine potential within you. It aids

in your ability to challenge limitations as you enlarge the vision and territory

of your life.

7). A success consciousness empowers you to remain focused and

determined to achieve your goals, regardless of how many times you have to

regroup and move forward with a degree of uncertainty hovering over you. It

prevents you from accepting a temporary state as a permanent way of being

and living.

8). A success consciousness winner’s recognizes that lasting personal change

occurs first from the inside out. Often we pray and hope for a situation to

change. Normally it is a change in our outlook that sparks the necessary

actions to change the situation.


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In his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes, "if we

want to make significant quantum change, we need to work on our basic

paradigms." He goes on to say, "The more aware we are of our basic

paradigms, maps or assumptions, and the extent to which we have been

influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those

paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be

open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more

objective view."

When your assumptions are based on principles that are not subjective to

changing realities, they are sound. When your assumptions are subjective to

changing realities, then it is time you take a more proactive approach to

rewriting the narrative of your personal story to include the best life your

tenacity and hard work can muster.

Through the development of smart thinking and smart behavioral habits, you

can begin to release yourself from internal restraints that limit what is

possible in your life. You are much more capable, smarter, and stronger than

you give yourself credit.

Developing a winner’s perspective towards your life and career experiences

empower you to see, think, feel, and respond differently to various

circumstances. When you think different, you do different, and as a result, you

experience different.

As you embrace new and enriching experiences with an expansive view of life,

your career will embody greater possibilities. Henry Ford stated, “If you think

you can do a thing, or think you can’t do a thing you are right. Nurture the

belief within you that you can succeed in your career and you will.

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Personal Development Assignment:

Today, begin to think about the assumptions you have about yourself,

about others and about life in view of the previous list of how a success

consciousness adds value. Begin to challenge those assumptions, which

hold your best self in captivity because of fear, self-doubt, lack of

courage and confidence. “Limits, like fear are all an illusion,” says

Michael Jordan.

What have you learned about your strengths and weaknesses in the

workplace during the previous 3 to 6 months?

Have you been open to constructive feedback to improve your work

performance or have you allowed an assumption about your direct

supervisor prevent you from having an ear to hear and gain the

understanding that you need to play a bigger game?

Based on what you have learned about yourself through self-

assessment and constructive feedback from key professional

influencers in your life, what will be your area of focus for improvement

in your work performance for the next 30, 60 and 90 days.


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Career Success Tip #2 Set Your Mind and Keep It Set

The development of the courage to succeed in life is different for everyone. It

is a certainty that without courage the reservoir of potential dwelling within

you will go untapped. A common barrier to courage is the fear of the

unknown. In the book, Maverick Mindset, Doug Hall writes, “We want detailed

itineraries with clearly focused beginning, middles, and destination. Life

doesn’t work that way.”

Each of us experience fear and self-doubt. We have those moments in life in

which our doubt overshadows our faith in God and our ability to succeed in

the face of challenging circumstances. Moments like these are a part of our

journey.

As human beings, we are at our best when we are growing When we are

working towards the accomplishment of something that is meaningful to us

the tasks associated with manifesting whatever it maybe ignites our passion

and sense of purpose.

As you navigate your career path with the purpose of achieving goals relevant

to your desired career destinations, it is crucial that you develop a made up

http://www.amazon.com/The-Maverick-Mindset-Finding-Courage/dp/0684827018


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mind. You have to maintain a positive belief system at the core of your being

so that it anchors you in the face of challenges that will certainly happen.

Your thoughts are creating energy of emotions and behaviors that are like

magnets in your life. Dr. Caroline Leaf writes in Who Switched Off My Brain?

“A thought may seem harmless, but if it becomes toxic even just a thought

can become physically, emotionally, or spiritually dangerous.” She goes on to

say, “Thoughts are measurable and occupy mental “real estate,” thoughts are

active, they grow and change. Thoughts influence every decision, word, action,

and physical reaction we make.”


Get a mason jar and label it “My Courage in Action.”

On post it notes, write down moments in your life in which you have

displayed courage in the face of fear.

Use these notes as a reminder, in moments of fear and self-doubt, that

you have what it takes to succeed.

Oprah states in the booklet, The Best of Oprah's, What I Know for Sure, when

she is faced with a difficult decision, she asks herself: "What would I do if I

weren't afraid of making a mistake, feeling rejected, looking foolish, or being

alone? Remove the fear, and the answer comes into focus." Is it any wonder

why her life and work continues to expand? Do you think that it could have

something to do with the perspective she holds about herself, other people,

and her experiences? I believe so.

http://www.amazon.com/Who-Switched-Off-Brain-ebook/dp/B004GHNMSU/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Oprahs-What-Know/dp/B000CLRZ1E


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Career Success Tip #3: Are You A Carrot, Egg, Or Coffee?

Do you notice that in the midst of the change occurring in your workplace that

you are becoming increasingly frustrated? How much of your frustration is

dependent upon you clinging to assumptions, that “something should have

happen by now” maybe you can take the message from the following parable

and begin to apply your energy towards that which you have influence to

change, instead of ruminating over that which you have no control. It is

possible, that if you focus on what you can control the amount of frustration

that you experience about challenging circumstances will decrease.

You have lived long enough to recognize that life does not always go as you

might hope, plan or pray. One of the greatest lessons that I have learned is

that many times when I have been faced with unexpected challenges and

delays to achieving a goal the situation did not change until I changed my

outlook on it which influenced my approach to it. As I shifted my perspective

and challenged limiting assumptions related to what “should be, or could

have been,” my frustration decreased and I was able to gain the clarity

needed to proceed forward.


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A Parable: When Things Don’t Go As You Plan

There is an old parable about a boy who was so discouraged with failing in

school he told his grandfather he wanted to quit. His grandfather filled three

pots with water and placed each on the high fire. Soon the pots came to a

boil. In the first, he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last

he placed ground coffee. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In

about twenty minutes, he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and

placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then he ladled the coffee out into a bow. Turning to the boy, he asked, “Tell

me, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs and coffee, the boy replied. Then he

asked the boy to feel the carrots, which he did and noted they were soft and

mushy. His grandfather asked him to take an egg and break it. After pulling

off the shell, the boy observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked the boy to

sip the coffee. He smiled, as he tasted the coffee with its rich aroma. The boy

asked, “I don’t understand. What does this mean, if anything?”

His grandfather laughed and explained that each of these objects had faced

the same adversity – boiling water – but each reacted differently. “Which are

you?” the grandfather asked, “When adversity knocks on your door, how do

you respond? Are you a carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity,

becomes soft and loses strength? Are you the egg that appears not to change

but whose heart is hardened? Or, are you the coffee bean that changes the

hot water, the very circumstances that brings the pain. When the water gets

hot, it releases its fragrance and flavor. If you are like the coffee bean, when

things are at their worst, your very attitude will change your environment for

the better, making it sweet and palatable.” So which are you, the carrot, egg,

or coffee?

It is certain that as imperfect human beings we will not hit a home run each

time we face unexpected challenges. In our quest to grow forward and

flourish, we can strive to develop spiritual wisdom and emotional intelligence

skills, which will help, improve our ability to be like coffee when we face

adverse circumstances. It is possible that we can develop habits that enable

us to maintain a state of calm in the midst of our storms in life. True peace of

mind is not dependent on circumstances. It comes from developing a core of

inner strength that serves as an anchor in the midst of our storms. The ability

to maintain a peace of mind in the midst of difficulty enables you to gain the

clarity to determine what your next steps will be to move your forward.


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Career Success Tip #4: Stack the Odds in Your Favor

In the January 2011 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine, CEO, Earl G.

Graves, Jr. writes in his Executive Memo, "some(people) are waiting to wake

up from the nightmare (The Great Recession and sluggish recovery) hoping for

a return to an era when credit was readily available, jobs were plentiful, and

individuals spent freely. I am here to tell you those days are never coming

back. You need to fully embrace today's economic and financial realities."

In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins writes, "You absolutely cannot make a

series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts." Are you

leaving your career progress up to chance or happenstance? Without a clear

vision and the implementation of specific purpose-driven actions, you do not

have a compass by which to direct your focus and energies to achieve your

career goals. How do you expect to get to your desired career destinations

without a vision and a plan for implementing purpose driven actions?

Leave Nothing to Chance

Embrace what is happening NOW in your workplace. Complaining and

murmuring about change will not stop it from happening. Change is the one

constant in our lives. Individuals that are flexible and adaptable to it, adjust

http://www.blackenterprise.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others/dp/0066620996


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much better in the workplace than those who resist or attempt to deny its

reality. Instead of burying your head in the sand to a changing reality, be bold

and embrace it with a fresh outlook.

The change occurring within your organization is providing you with

opportunities for growth, development and career wins. You may not

recognize it at first, but that does not mean that it is not present. Embrace an

expansive view of the change that is occurring.

Pay attention to the focus and direction that your organization is taking NOW.

What are the challenges that your organization will be facing during this influx

of change? How can you become a “go-to” person for solutions that contribute

to its success? Your answers to these questions provide you with the starting

insights of what you need to begin to do to stack the odds in your favor for

career success within your organization.

As soon as you begin to feel comfortable in the consistency of your

performance in your present position, take the opportunity to volunteer for

jobs or tasks that increase your exposure to key executives and those who

would be responsible for making the hiring decision about your “next” desired

position with the company.

Be Ready to Play a Bigger Game

Proper preparation, peak performance execution and the proper positioning

of your knowledge and unique ability increase your promotional opportunities.

You cannot sit on your laurels after you have experienced a degree of success.

You have to demonstrate that at each level of your career progression that

you are able to stretch yourself and play a bigger game.

Own your audacity to believe that you can succeed. Your season for better, for

progress is NOW! It is up to you to maintain a state of unswerving faith in the

face of the brutal facts of your reality. Some people have had worse and done

better than you do; some people have had better and done worse than you do.

In each case, these results came down to the quality of decisions and actions

taken by each individual.

Therefore, your career success is dependent upon your capacity to get clear

about your desired career aspirations, make quality decisions, and take


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purpose-driven actions. Embrace the truth of the "new normal" within your

organization. Prepare and position yourself to create and seize professional

opportunities that build your portfolio of skills and experiences. Continue to

stack the odds in your favor for career success.


Creating a vision board or book will help you gain the clarity necessary to

navigate a career path that empowers your full potential. In her article, Seeing

is Believing: The Power of Visualization, Angie LeVan writes, “Brain studies

now reveal that thoughts produce the same mental instructions as actions.”

She goes on to say, “So the brain is getting trained for actual performance

(and experiences) during visualization. It’s been found that mental practices

can enhance motivation, increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor

performance, prime your brain for success, and increase states of flow – all

relevant to achieving your best life!”

Your task in the following weeks is to collect a collage of images that

reflect the experiences you want to manifest in your career. Gather

words and phrases, which reflect who you will have to be to do what you

have to do to achieve the level of career success you desire.

Place these images, words and phrases in a scrapbook or on a poster

board in a way that inspires you

Get a picture, or take one of yourself that you really like and paste it on

the cover of the scrapbook or in the center of the poster board. Write a positive affirming statement on the front of your scrapbook or

at the top of your poster board. For example, at the bottom of my vision

board I have this statement: “Opportunities abound for me to utilize my

gifts and talents to be a blessing and be blessed in life.” Place your vision board or scrapbook somewhere that it evokes you to

look at it every day. Spend at least 5 to 10 minutes in the morning and

evening using your imagination to stimulate positive emotional energy

towards having the courage to seize opportunities relevant to your

career goals. Do not underestimate the power of visualization.

Professional athletes, entertainers, and successful people in all

occupations engage the power of their brain to manifest the success

they want.


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Career Success Tip #5: Develop Your EQ

Emotional competence is the single most important personal quality that

each of us must develop and sustain to experience continuous success in life.

An emotionally competent person performs better under pressure."

Dave Lennick, Executive VP, American Express Financial Advisers stated:

“People don't care about what you know until they know how much you care.

Today's marketplace is much more demanding and fierce. Leaders in all

walks of life are redefining how they approach their staff and colleagues to

compete in the New Economy. Any organization that desires to survive and

thrive in the current economic landscape must begin a push towards the

development of its leadership and staff members "soft skills.”

Whatis.com defines soft skills as the personal attributes that enhance an

individual's interactions, job performance, and career prospects. Unlike hard

skills, which are about a person's skill set and ability to perform a certain type

of task or activity, soft skills are interpersonal and broadly applicable.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/


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Make a list of the top five people who have had the greatest impact on your

life. Without looking at your list, I am sure that the individuals listed

demonstrated a sincere concern for your well-being and success at some

point. Your feelings of high regard for these individuals are largely due to their

demonstration of "soft skills.” Their demonstration of care and concern

toward you, on a regular basis, left an impression on your heart and mind that

cannot be erased. Here is something for you to consider, whose life have you

affected in such a way that if they created a list of five people that made a

difference in their life, you would be on their list?

Individuals in a workplace who are able to make a connection with leaders,

co-workers, customers, and vendors improve their chance of enjoying a

satisfying workplace experience. Leaders who create a workplace culture, in

which individuals feel respected and valued, and believe that their

contributions make a difference to the success of the organization stand a

better chance of thriving in the New Economy.

In a businessweek.com article, Daniel Goleman writes, "Organizations need to

have leaders who inspire joy and engagement. Disengagement is one of the

huge problems in the global workforce. People do not feel any emotional

connection to their work. The job of the leader is to make work matter and

make it pleasurable. Great leaders do that."

The Single Predictor of Workplace Success

Peak performers understand the importance of working well to achieve the

common goals of a group. Daniel Goleman wrote in his book, Working with

Emotional Intelligence, "Emotional Intelligence is the largest single predictor

of success in the workplace.” He describes Emotional Intelligence as

"managing feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively

enabling people to work together smoothly towards their common goals".

"The good news" he writes, "is that the level of your Emotional Intelligence

can continue to grow, develop, and change as it is largely a learned area of

expertise.”

http://www.amazon.com/Working-Emotional-Intelligence-Daniel-Goleman/dp/0553378589

http://www.amazon.com/Working-Emotional-Intelligence-Daniel-Goleman/dp/0553378589


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According to Goleman the four major skills that make up emotional

intelligence are:

Self-Awareness: the ability to read one’s emotions and recognize their

impact on our interactions and decision-making.

Self-Management: involves controlling one’s emotions and impulses and

adapting as needed to changing circumstances.

Social Awareness: the ability to sense, understand and react to others

emotions while comprehending social networks.

Relationship Management: the ability to inspire, influence and develop

others while managing conflict.

Becoming a Person of Influence Requires Soft Skills

Developing your soft skills increases your capacity to become a person of

influence within your organization. Individuals who can improve the level of

employee engagement within their organization are able to inspire greater

levels of "discretionary effort" from individuals in workgroups.

Discretionary effort is often the result of the emotional connection an

employee feels towards a particular person of influence in the workplace. This

connection compels an individual to go that "extra-mile" to meet and exceed

the company and customer’s expectation. Individuals who can maximize the

performance of a work team stack the odds in their favor for leadership

success.

When You Care, They Care

Through the development of your Emotional Intelligence skills (EQ), you can

expand the emotional connection that you have with your team members.

Expanding your emotional connection with those in your workplace requires a

commitment on your part to take the lead.

The following tips will help you in the development of your soft skills:


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1. Look at yourself honestly and commit to ongoing personal and professional

development.

2. Reduce snap judgments of others by getting the facts about a situation.

3. Think before you speak.

4. Take responsibility for your team's results. Hold yourself accountable.

5. Walk your talk.

6. Express appreciation and compliments to others for specific performance.

7. Foster positive emotions towards others.

8. Respect diverse opinions. Agree to disagree.

9. Develop active listening skills.

10. Be respectful towards others at all times.

Your beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions influence your interactions with

each individual in your workplace. They persuade your approach to every

workplace experience. Make great effort to maintain a proper perspective on

a situation to avoid allowing your emotions get the best of you.

Developing your emotional intelligence equips you with an understanding of

how to better manage your emotions and remain aware of the emotions of

those in your sphere of influence. As a team member striving to navigate

career success, you want to demonstrate a positive and caring regard toward

others. Doing so increases your job satisfaction and workplace success.


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Career Success Tip #6: Lead from Any Position

John Quincy Adams stated, "If your actions inspire others to dream more,

learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” Leadership has

more to do with a person's character and personal habits versus a position,

title, money, or power. A position or title determines the level of authority and

influence given to a person by an organization. A leader's character

determines his or her overall effectiveness and capacity to achieve results.

Regardless of your position in your organization, you have the potential within

you to develop effective leadership skills. Your ability to take advantage of

your present work environment and stretch yourself beyond "just your

position" enables you to better prepare and position yourself to achieve

greater workplace success.

By stepping up your efforts to lead in your current position, you increase the

value of your contributions to your organization's customers while positioning

yourself for additional leadership responsibilities. Leadership skills are vital

for every position within an organization. Customers are demanding that there

concerns be addressed immediately with the person in front of them,

regardless of their position. Management is not for everyone but if you desire

to follow that track, the development of your leadership skills will certainly

position you for future growth and opportunity.


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The following is a list of character attributes required to increase leadership

effectiveness from front line staff members to executives:

1). Build strong alliances.

2). Persuade rather than coerce.

3). Subscribe to honesty and integrity.

4). Never respond with vengeance or spite.

5). Have the courage to handle unjust criticism.

6). Be decisive.

7). Lead by example.

8). Establish goals.

9). Be results oriented.

10). Encourage innovation.

11). Master the art of public speaking.

12). Communicate a vision and continue to reaffirm it with effective actions.

To have the greatest impact, your leadership has to be in service to someone

or a specific purpose larger than yourself to leave a legacy in the hearts and

mind of those you work with. A sense of purpose provides you with a meaning

that when attached to a passionate "why,” you feel compelled to persist in the

face of obstacles and roadblocks because of the compelling inner force of

your purpose.

Jim Collins wrote in his book, Good to Great, "Good is the enemy of great."

Do not accept the "status-quo" mindset that doing just enough is good

enough. It is no more painful to pursue excellence then to settle for

mediocrity.

Highly successful individuals understand the impact doing more than

expected has on the level of success that they achieve. They maintain a

personal sense of pride, regardless of the environment, which reflects in their

approach to and the quality of their work. They identify with being a peak

performer. They expect to perform at their best. For this reason, they continue

to create and seize opportunities to take the lead to do more great work.

When you model this behavior, you are in great company.


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Career Success Tip #7: How to Handle Your First Promotion

Congratulations, you just received your first promotion. Depending on your

organization, you will undergo the basic training necessary for you to achieve

reasonable success in your new position within an allotted period. It is

important that you make the most of your first 90 days in this new position.

Jay Abraham, Marketing Guru stated, "The people above you (bosses,

management and organization leaders) want one thing most of all - they want

solutions to problems. Solutions that make them look good and help them

achieve their goals. They want you to be a problem solver because a good

idea is a good idea regardless of where it comes from."

With your recent promotion, you can be sure that others will be observing your

behavior and approach to the day-to-day opportunities and challenges that

you will face. Your successful start in this new position will certainly show

those who signed off on your promotion that they did not make a mistake in

their choice of you for the position.


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It is important that you recognize the difference between being busy and

being effective. The latter produces tangible results, the first waste lots of

time.

The following tips will help you build momentum with effective approaches to

your tasks and responsibilities and a "can do" attitude toward achieving

results:

You have to take the lead in the development of your leadership capacity.

Your leadership growth and development is your responsibility. This means

you do not wait for someone to train you on what you need to know or

want to know to increase your performance; you take the initiative to make

sure that you receive the training. It is up to you to plan, prepare, and

pursue a path that leads to further leadership growth.

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Those that

have placed their faith in you do so partly because they believe you will

consistently perform and deliver results. There is no resting on your laurels

in business. Celebrate your achievements but understand that the

demands on your organization by the marketplace will require that you be

able to step up your effort from one level to the next level.

Walk your talk. One of the most common complaints on employee opinion

surveys is related to the question, "On a scale of 1-10, 10 being "very

much" and 1 "never,” how would you rate the level of trust you have with

your immediate supervisor or manager?" In most workplaces, employee’s

trust of their immediate supervisor has a tremendous effect on the

business bottom line. Your character influences how others in your

workplace perceive your leadership style. When you are transparent,

communicate honestly with others, and maintain a sense of humility you

demonstrate that you are a leader that can be trusted.

Maintain a high level of passion towards the work that is required of you. It

breeds enthusiasm in the work environment. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated,

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."


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Set up others to succeed. Beyond trust, nothing breeds loyalty from others

more so than working with a leader who they feel has their best interest in

mind. Give credit where credit is due. Praise often and when you have to

provide constructive feedback, do so in private. Always be on the lookout

for growth and development opportunities for those on your team. People

are hungry to develop their potential.

Communicate clearly the organization's expectations of responsibilities for

each member of your team. It frustrates team members when what they

think about their performance do not align with what their direct supervisor

thinks about it. Provide ongoing performance feedback, and you will

decrease or eliminate this frustration among team members.

Have fun. Do not take yourself so seriously that few people feel

comfortable being themselves around you. Develop and maintain an

approachable demeanor. It creates a level of comfort that creates a space

for open and honest communication to happen in your workgroup. People

prefer to be on the bus with people they like, even when they are not sure

where the bus is heading, according to Jim Collins.

Maintain a win-win attitude towards your new responsibilities, customers,

team members, and the management and leadership of your organization.

Over time, you will develop the credibility of someone who is trustworthy and

this will increase your influence in the workplace.


Identify individuals in your organization that can serve as mentors and

help you successfully navigate its corporate terrain.

Get involved with community causes that provide you opportunities to

network with like-minded individuals and build your leadership skills.

Develop your public speaking. As a former member of Toastmasters, I

encourage you to visit your local clubs to see how this inexpensive

program can help build your self-confidence in addition to your

communication and leadership skills.


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Career Success Tip #8: Increase Your Workplace Happiness

Research shows that our thoughts become our biochemistry as they flood our

thoughts with upper and downer hormones. Two University of Pittsburgh

psychologists, counted the ratio of good and bad thoughts in depressed and

happy people. Depressed people have one bad thought for every good one;

non-depressed people have two good thoughts for one bad thought.

In TheFeeling Good Handbook, David D. Burns, M.D. writes, “The more we

learn to counteract the negativity in our minds the more happiness we’ll find

room to bloom in our hearts.” A happy person it turns out is not a person with

a set of ideal circumstances, but rather a person who possess a certain set of

attitudes towards life.”

Here are eight tips that will improve your workplace attitude and happiness

on the job:

Get Out of Yourself: Choose to be generous towards others. Being good to

someone makes you feel good. Practice random acts of kindness towards

your boss and co-workers on a daily basis. Kindness fuels positive

http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Handbook-David-Burns/dp/0452281326


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emotions that can serve as the catalyst that will spark the positive change

that you desire to see on the job.

Practice the Duty of Delight: Relish your talents by sharing them with

others to help them succeed in the workplace. The sharing of what you

know has a way of challenging you to stretch yourself to know more and do

more so that you have more to share with others.

Engage in Aerobic Exercise: Numerous studies show how aerobic exercise

is a great mood elevator. Get outside on a regular basis and take a brisk

walk for 10 minutes. It can do wonders for helping you maintain a calm

composure and clarity of focus, especially on your most challenging days.

This small act will help you feel better and make it easier for others to

approach and work with you on the job.

Be On the Lookout for Good: Make a point of recognizing the good in your

workplace. There is always going to be individuals who focus their

attention only on the not so good, standout by magnifying the positive that

is happening in the workplace. Specific praise of other people’s work

encourages their heart and inspires them to continue to do the same or

better.

Find Your Tribe: Workplaces are very social environments. The individuals

on your job possess many talents and interests. By reaching out to others

and getting to know them, you will begin to identify those with similar

ideas and aspirations as you. Creating a support network on the job

continues to be a crucial factor in the sustainable success of highly

successful people.

Stretch Yourself: Increasing your capacity to utilize and grow your talents in

ways that contribute value to the success of your organization expands

your sense of purpose and satisfaction, as you “know” that your work is

making a difference.

Practice Gratefulness: Neuroscientists have proven that every time we

appreciate something, we flood our bodies with endorphins, which produce

a sense of wellbeing. As the Old Irish proverb states, “Count your joys

instead of your woes. Count your friends instead of your foes.” I have found


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that by telling people that “I appreciate you” or that “I appreciate

something specific that they have done” helps me to nurture positive and

supportive relationships.

Expand Your Notion of Work: Aristotle believed that a happy life was to be

found in creating genuine friendships. You will spend a great deal of your

time and life energy working. I think it is smart of you to enjoy it as much

as possible. A positive attitude towards your job reduces bad stress, adds

to your wellbeing, and can better position you for advancement

opportunities.

As you engage your power to be happy in your workplace be mindful that

there is a high probability that you will become like a contagion and everyone

that you interact with will become infected with happiness. You can be a

catalyst for positive change and increase the happiness and

success experienced by you and others in your workplace.


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Last Words

Everything on your job is not going to go the way that you hope, pray, or plan.

You are going to experience unexpected challenges and change. This is

inevitable. You have the freedom to choose your attitude toward the

circumstances that you face on the job.

You can choose a way of thinking that helps to solve problems and increase

the success of your work group or you can choose a way of thinking that

becomes a problem to your co-workers and bosses. You have the power to

choose your workplace attitude and in doing so you will either increase or

decrease your happiness and success on the job.

You can approach each day with the intention that you will make the most of

your time in your present position and workplace. You may not be where you

want to be, but that does not mean that you cannot gain valuable experience.

In everything that you do, there is always life lessons that can be learn to

prepare you for your next steps.

You do not have to be working on your dream job to make the most of your

present job. It comes down to shifting your perception, maintaining a sense of

gratitude for the job and contributing in meaningful ways to the success of the

organization and those that work in it so that you feel a sense of satisfaction.

The consistent application of the winning workplace strategies in this book

will certainly empower you to take charge of your professional development

and growth, which will over time support your efforts of navigating a

successful career path.

winning workplace strategies

Self Improvement