SECRETS OF SUCCESS AT WORK- Richard Hal
About Book
For the last few years, the competition in the job market is increasing day by day. Most of the job applicants today have a good degree and other qualifications. That’s why it has become a bit difficult to make a successful career in today’s date. This summary will tell you 8 such secrets which will help you in your career and will increase your performance in office.
About the Author
Richard Hall is an experienced author, blogger and businessman. After graduating from Oxford University, Richard entered the world of business and since then he has held the post of Chairman and Director in several companies. In the year 2001, he became the creative head of Helogram and has been in the same post since then. Through his business, Hall publishes books and coaches business executives around the world.
Introduction
Do you have any goals that you want to achieve at the end of your career? Do you have any plan to reach that destination? Most of us just start our journey without any clear goal in mind and the result is that in the end we feel nothing except disappointment. At the starting point of your career, you have to take care of two things. First of all try to know yourself and find out what you want to do. In this book the secrets of success in work summary, you will be told some such methods by using which you can understand both these things. Even if you have started working, without understanding this, the real beginning of your career is incomplete.
You will also know about 3 skills which are necessary to survive in the job. This is learning, listening and responding. To remain competitive, you always have to keep learning new things. Apart from this, for a good business relationship, you also have to work on your listening power. To be successful, you must come to face every new challenge. You will learn to develop all these skills within yourself in this summary.
In the modern workplace, everything is done with teamwork, so you have to be a good team player so that you can prove to be an asset to your workplace. You should have such qualities that you can prove to be a good team leader when given the opportunity.
Being attractive is as important in the workplace as other things. How attractive you can become is in your hands or if you say like this it is in your control. This summary will teach you how to develop an attractive attitude and how to be an attractive communicator. In this you will know how to build a healthy relationship with your boss. This relationship is very important to boost your career.
A good career is one where there is growth as well as excitement. Where your whole personality is improved and where you are satisfied. This summary will tell you 8 such secrets which will help you in making a successful career.
Look in the mirror. That’s the real you… say hello and be amazed
How well do you know yourself? It sounds a bit strange to hear this question, but this question often comes in front of us. People who do not understand themselves well are often forced to do such jobs which they do not like. That’s why this question is very important. Same is the case with their marriage. Marrying a wrong person can do nothing except regret throughout life, so it is very important for everyone to know himself.
The first step to understanding yourself is to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Only you can understand what are your negative and positive points. So for this first take a paper and divide it into four parts.
The first part is for those things in which you are good but you do not like those things. In the second part, write about those things in which you are good as well as you like those things. Now the turn comes for the third part, so in this part you have to mention those things which you like but you are weak in them and in the fourth part those things will come in which neither you are good nor you like them.
Now you divide these skills according to these categories-
- Selling
- Coaching people
- Criticize people
- Working alone
- Data and maths
- Report generation
- Give a presentation
- Execute the job
- Assigning tasks and responsibilities to people
- Handling a crisis
- Be organized
- To be creative
- Stay away from the office
After sorting these skills, get 2-3 of your friends to check this list. They will help in improving the accuracy of your plan. While choosing a career for yourself, it is very important to divide your skills into categories in this way because it will give you the right guidance.
Another thing that you have to understand about yourself is your ego. There is a negative part of your ego which makes you arrogant due to which you start thinking that you are better or better than others.
But there is also a positive part of this ego. Our same ego also gives us confidence and self-esteem, only then you have faith in your ability and skills. If there is no self-esteem, then a person will never be able to create a separate identity for himself. He will always walk on the path made by others. This positive ego can take your career to new heights and negative ego can ruin it.
The next way to know yourself is to take a full length mirror. The purpose of this experiment is to know about your looks. First impression is very important, whether you are going for interview or first date, people will judge you by your appearance or looks. That’s why it is very important that we look impressive in the eyes of people.
Kenneth Clarke is a British politician. Apart from being very intelligent, he also has a strong personality. He has stood in the election for the leadership of the Conservative Party 3 times but Clarke always loses. One reason for this is the impression they make on people.
Clarke has all the makings to lead a party but his appearance suggests that he is very disorganised. Often his tie is twisted and his shoes look dirty and old. Although Clarke is a talented person and likes to be very simple, for him it does not matter much how he looks or how he dresses up. They think that it doesn’t matter to people but this is their biggest misconception. In the eyes of the public and the media, his image has become that of a busy person. It may be a small thing but it has had a deep impact on his political career. Perhaps this has also been a reason for his defeat.
To understand and know yourself, you have to take someone’s help. A mentor can help you a lot in this. Mentor is that advisor who has more experience than you and this experience can be useful for you. It has been proven by many studies that a mentor can go a long way in raising your career graph.
Well finding a good mentor is a bit difficult. One simple way is that you can take the help of internet. But it is not necessary that this method will always work. If you want, you can contact your local Chamber of Commerce. By the way, working with these organizations is sometimes difficult. The best way is to find your mentor through personal recommendation. Take help of your friends. Ask them for suggestions. If you want, you can take the help of HR or Learning and Developing Department of your company.
The final step to know yourself is to write your obituary or write a message that you want to be written on your grave after your death. This will give you an idea of how you want to be remembered. You can decide what people will think about you in your imagination. This will help you a lot in choosing your career and life path.
To be told “you really look as though you know where you are going” is high praise.
Many people do not follow any proper path in their career. He just waits for things to happen. But nothing is sure or fixed in life and it is not necessary that your plans will always be right. But this does not mean that planning is useless. If you know the destination, then you will also choose the path which leads to that destination. That is, making a career strategy in advance can save you from many problems. This means a simple plan of where you want to go and how you will reach there. The first part of your strategy is to figure out what you want to achieve. Generally people expect 4 things from their career. This is money, security, power and status. Now you have to decide which of these is most important to you.
Next, decide what are your interests and how to follow them. You have to decide how many different jobs you can try. In which sector do you want to go and which sector would you like to avoid. You can also consider some other factors related to your career. For example, how many times have you changed house because of job? Which milestones do you want to achieve? Do you want to continue your education now?
While planning your career, you may have difficulty in understanding what you have to do. If you ever feel like this, leave all the planning and just dream. Imagine that while doing which work you will be most happy. With this you will clearly understand what you really need. Maybe this will give a new direction to your life.
For example, suppose you are thinking of leaving your job and working for a charity. Your dream is to do charity but your lifestyle is hi-fi. Means you cannot do charity even if you want to because doing job is your need. So when you dream don’t think about such practical problems.
Maynard Keynes is a famous philosopher and economist. He once confessed in front of an audience that when circumstances change, he too changes his mind. Do not follow the plan just because you have made it. Sometimes unexpected plans also have to be made, so try to be flexible as much as possible. Sticking to the same plan when the situation has changed can fail you miserably.
Become a powerful learning machine
For a good career, you should keep learning something continuously because the world is changing everyday. Today every company will find some or the other competitor in every corner of the world. Employees can find and hire remote workers from different continents and you need to turn into a learning machine to stay one step ahead of your competitors. The purpose of learning is to improve your skills. Employers pay people to use their skills and when you have more than one skill, your chances of earning also increase and then you will probably be one step ahead of your competitors.
There are some skills that will come in handy in any workplace –
The first of these is stakeholder management. This is a skill that is in high demand in the business world. To stay ahead of your competitors, study it well now because it is going to be of great use to you. Harvard Business School has recently discovered the Value of Execution. They feel that this is a key factor in the success of any business. Speaking at a typical level, this skill is developed by working in project management.
Presentation skills are equally important not only in the office but also outside the office. The best way to become an expert in presenting anything is to give presentations again and again. You may fail in the initial few days but keep trying. Leaders are needed in every field and to get promotion in the job, leadership skills must be there. But even if you do not want to become a leader, it is important for you to learn leadership skills. This helps you to understand the behavior of managers.
These skills which we have mentioned above can be demonstrated by demo. By using them in your workplace, you can create a different identity for yourself. But just learning these skills will not be enough. You have to put them into practice as well. Here we are telling some such skills which will be useful for you to be successful.
The most important lesson in life is that we should not know how to speak. Often we are also forced to do those things which we do not want to do. That is because we do not know how to speak politely. But when you learn this skill, your boss will not mind and your career will not be harmed. Today the world is becoming more competitive and faster than ever before, so you also need to keep pace with the world. In many companies, speed is weighed against performance. Sometimes even skilled employees are unable to get promoted because of their slowness.
So the final skill that you have to learn is not actually a skill but it can be called a habit. Keep a record of everything you learn. For this, you can either use a notebook or your phone’s note pad app. Whatever may be the medium, it is important to keep a record of what you have learned or are learning so that it does not get lost.
Rediscover the lost art of listening
The success of your career mainly depends on two things. First is your skills related to the work you do and second is how you interact with others. Listening is a skill that improves your ability in both these fields. You might be wondering what is the biggest skill of listening. Well, it is because you are thinking that listening means just listening whereas the real meaning of listening is paying attention to what you are hearing and really understanding it.
Procter & Gamble is an American company which is famous for its marketing work. They have a special training process for their marketers. These employees are given training to talk to customers without taking notes. The interviews of these people were many times better than the interviews of those people who took notes because only customers can give you more accurate and valuable information. The advantage of this process is that the employees are able to understand the problems of the customers in a better way and find similar solutions for them. So listening is not something you have to work on for years and years. You can start practicing it from today and now. Pay attention to your next conversation. Listen carefully to what the other person has to say. Keep practicing this and in a few days this skill will develop in you that you will be able to remember exactly what someone said. Some people become so expert that they remember body language and facial expression too.
There are many advantages of this type of listening. One, it improves your memory for the long term. Along with this, it also improves your level of concentration. However, sometimes concentrating seems quite challenging. So an easy way to deal with this is to look into the eyes of the person in front of you while talking. This will make it easier for you to concentrate on your conversation. Along with this, you will also get their attention.
With such an attitude, you will never be able to learn anything from any conversation, nor will you be able to add anything valuable to any discussion. To become a good listener first fix your attitude. Think that every new conversation can teach you something new. In your career, your listening skills will be of maximum use in meetings and in the meeting itself you will get such opportunities where you can be noticed. By being useful to others, with a helpful attitude and by being attentive and responsive, you can take your career to greater heights.
There are some other steps that can make you smart during the meeting, such as keeping your papers read in advance. You should also know why the meeting has been organized so that you can stay on the main topic. Do not divert your attention in the process of correcting others. If you have ideas, share them during the meeting.
Help your boss and they will help you and your career
Your boss has the remote control of your career success in his hands. If they want, by promoting or recommending you, they can take your career graph up, or they can spoil your career by stopping your promotion or firing you from the job. This is a bitter truth that you have to accept, so it is very important to maintain a good relationship with your boss. For this, you have to prove your value in the eyes of your boss. They have to realize what a great asset you are to the company.
The best way to get noticed by your boss is to give them value. Exalt their achievements and never criticize them for their failures. Many people find it a difficult task to praise their boss. But there are other ways to develop a good relationship. The simplest way is to be helpful. If you do not want to praise the boss, then do not do it, but help him in his work in such a way that your ability is not hidden from him. For this, if you have to do something extra then do not hesitate. Find out which are the work-related problems that are troubling your boss. Find their solution and bring it. Try your best that you can be of some use to the boss.
Many times in some cases people are not able to help the boss much. But at least you can do that much so that they don’t get hurt because of you. Try to remain calm and happy in their presence but don’t become lazy in the process of appearing calm. Be energetic but without disturbing anyone. You can get a lot of information about the boss from the people working under the boss. As if his personal assistant would know everything about him. Treat the boss’s staff members with the same politely and respect because you can’t tell when someone will be of use to you. Your boss’s staff would know him better than you. Your boss can directly impact your career through promotion etc. Maintaining a good relationship with the boss can also indirectly benefit your career. That is because your boss can prove to be a valuable mentor for you.
Jack Welsh was the CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001. During this, he got a chance to work a lot with an employee named Jeff Immelt. Immelt and Welch had a very good professional relationship and Immelt also got a chance to learn a lot from Welch.
When Jack Welsh left the company, he suggested Jeff Immelt as the new CEO. On his recommendation, Jeff was made the new CEO of the company and took charge of the leadership of General Electric from 2001 to 2017. His leadership style was also inspired to a great extent by Welsh. The result was that Immlett, like Welsh, had a long and successful career. Well, not everyone gets a great boss like Jack Welsh. Some bosses are experts in their work but prove to be very bad bosses for the employees. Or simply say that they do not know how to handle employees. They never appreciate the qualities of their employees, rather they make them feel doubtful about their abilities. Such bosses never allow your talent to emerge, nor do they aim to remove your shortcomings. They just have to get work out of you somehow. Such a boss cannot be kept in the category of mentor. Such a boss is also behind breaking your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Some bosses are really good but they are not that talented. Working with such a boss can be satisfying but you don’t get to learn anything from them. Your career also does not get any benefit from this, nor are you able to progress much in your field.
If your boss inspires you, then he is a good boss. Good bosses are those with whom you learn a lot by working. It helps you to advance your career. But if you have got a bad or uninspiring boss who can hinder your career then immediately look for a new boss. Even if you have to change job for this.
Your good relationship with your boss should remain professional. Don’t try to make them personal even by mistake. It will be better if you keep your private life and work life separate. As far as possible, keep your relationship with the boss only till business matters.
Individuals contribute, but it’s teams that win
In your career, you will rarely get opportunities to work alone because nowadays work is done through team work in most workplaces. That’s why it is also necessary to be a good team player to be successful.
Every boss wants his team to perform well, so you have to be the one who can improve the performance of the team. This will make you look more valuable in the eyes of your boss. The best way to contribute to the team is to fulfill your responsibility. Everyone in the team has different abilities and skills. The combination of all these abilities makes the team more powerful than a single person.
The best team is the one where all the members can relate or connect with each other well. If you have been included in the team then it is your duty to know and understand your colleagues. Try to understand what their problem is and how you can help them. Working in a team is difficult but being a team leader is even more difficult. A team leader has 3 responsibilities, which are – You have to decide who will be in your team and who will not. You have to decide what your team will do and you have to run the team while your team members will complete their toss.
Keep diversity in mind while making the team. Researchers experimented with the capabilities of different teams to solve the problem. The team which had very smart but only white people, their performance was very bad, but the team which had average intelligence but people from different culture, their performance was excellent.
The experiences of people of different age, gender and race are also different. This experience of his gives him unique skills. The more unique skills are, the more will be the capacity to solve the problem. It doesn’t matter whether your team consists of only women or youngsters but if everyone is same then it will be a disadvantage.
Some people think that meeting is just a waste of time. But for a team to work properly, it is very important to have a meeting. This meeting is not necessary to be serious. You can also make it funny and informal. But it is also necessary that everyone’s opinion should be taken on important problems. About 8% of your working days should be dedicated to team meetings.
Just a short time ago, everything has started coming on the virtual space. But in reality, there is no such thing as a virtual team because physical interaction is necessary for the team to function properly. You should spend at least 20% of office hours together.
However, it is also a fact that the team cannot always bond while working in the office, so there should be occasional outdoor activities too, like playing cricket, flying kites or having dinner out together.
It is necessary for the team to work together. Every member should know how he can contribute. Being a leader, set a goal for your team at the very beginning of the project. Write a mission statement of your team which should be written in very clear and simple words.
Are you being served? Why responsiveness is so important
Every business runs on the strength of its customers. Your customers will be attracted and will stay connected with you only when you give them good service and for this responsiveness is required, that is, meeting the needs of the customers immediately and according to their wishes. In today’s date, the customers have become very worried about the poor service. That is because with the help of technology today we can access every company in the world. That’s why your responsiveness should be excellent to satisfy your customers.
There is a technique by using which you can make the customers feel that they are being given excellent service. Tell them what you can do and then deliver a little more than that. Like for example, the deadline of the project you have got is 7 days, then complete it in 6 days.
But you don’t have to over deliver. Do not set a deadline of 7 days for the work that you can do in 3 days. This will give the impression that you are not using your full potential. In most of the cases you just have to fulfill the demand of the customers and nothing else.
It is not always possible to deliver more. It is possible that many times you may underperform or you may miss the deadline. In such a case, it should be kept in mind that everyone should know this thing. Update your customers about the situation by notifying them that you will not be able to deliver on time.
Nothing is worse for a customer than an unpleasant surprise. Airlines are a good example of this. They inform in advance that their flight will be delayed by 40 minutes whereas they know that it may be delayed by an hour. Airlines try to keep the customer calm without giving complete or accurate information about the situation. But yes it is definitely that this has a bad effect on the quality of their service.
Everyone has to deal with such customers who keep on complaining. But by solving these problems successfully, you can make them your loyal customers.
Although only 10% of people have the habit of complaining, even if you do not solve their problems, 90% of your efforts to make them loyal will be missed. That’s why it is important that complaints are taken seriously. To see that there is no problem, keep an eye on your sales as well.
You don’t just have to respond to customers. Some people have a stock of such files which they would not have answered. That’s why it is necessary to respond to work related emails on time.
This is considered a sign of bad time management. Set aside an hour a day to answer your emails. The sooner you doze the answer, the more relaxed you will be. Also you will feel better in your job.
By the way, it is not necessary that every email should be answered immediately. In most cases, it is more important to respond correctly than fast response. Whenever you have any work related question, answer it very thoughtfully. Responding slowly creates a professional image of you.
Apart from answering the conversation, you also have to respond to the change. In today’s date, companies are discovering new business models everyday and employees should know how to adjust according to every new change.
Companies are constantly competing with each other. In order to be successful in such a situation, you will also have to answer the challenge of your competitors, a good way to stay ahead of others is to be prepared for potential risk beforehand. Keeping in view the challenges that are going to come in front of you, it will be better if you prepare yourself beforehand.
As an individual, you can increase your responsiveness by changing jobs. Continuing to do the same work in the same environment is not only boring but also stops the growth of your learning. Look for a job where you always get a chance to learn something new. You will have new experiences by meeting new people. If there is no challenge in your job, then understand that the time has come to find a new job.
The power to attract
It is often seen that attractive people are more successful. It is bitter to hear but this is true because if you want to move forward in the business world then you have to be interesting and attractive. We do not have much control over our facial looks, but there are many other ways by which you can make yourself more attractive.
First comes your Attitude which makes you attractive in the eyes of people, so always try to be positive and lively because people like smiling faces. No one likes to talk to those who cry day and night about their problems. If you remain in a relaxed and calm mood then only people would like to discuss new opportunities with you. Always remember that you can never move ahead in the business world with a negative attitude. Your Attitude is your biggest asset, so never take a decision in anger or emotions.
Another way to become attractive in the eyes of people is to remain energetic. Although it is very difficult to maintain your energy for a long time, but you can gradually improve it like you can speed up your gait. Apart from this, keep drinking a lot of water throughout the day. Sitting in front of the computer for a long time also reduces our energy, so it is also necessary to get up from your seat in between. If you want, you can walk for a few minutes in your office itself.
By the way, there is no fixed rule to look attractive. The meaning of being attractive is different in different cultures. But people who are good storytellers always seem attractive. Storytelling is very effective especially in the field of sales. By drawing people’s attention towards you, you can make your sales offer even more attractive.
Attractive communicators use powerful language. Avoid childish language like “whatever, kind of, like” while communicating. This type of language is appropriate only while talking to teenagers. To appear attractive to professionals, you must speak in a confident tone.
By the way, if seen, effective communication is the same where your point can be explained in less words. An example of this is to say or write your words in short sentences. It would also not be right to use more technical terms. Your job is to explain your complex idea as simply as possible and not to complicate it further. Your body language is an important part of communication. Always talk while making eye contact. Take care of your facial expression as well. Keep the body posture correct. Your shoulders should not be slouched while standing.
People think that physical appearance cannot be controlled, but in reality you can control it completely. Do regular exercise to stay in shape. Keep grooming yourself from time to time. Your nails and hair should be cut properly. Clothes should be neither too tight nor too loose. Your dress should always be neat and clean. Wear clothes that make you look smart. Dark suit and white shirt is a safe choice in which almost everyone looks good.
Conclusion
First of all you understood about knowing yourself. You have to identify your own strengths and weaknesses and improve your positive ego while reducing your negative ego. Of course, pay attention to your looks, but do not let the value of your abilities decrease because of your appearance.
The second thing you learned is how important it is to develop a career strategy. Decide what you want from your career, money, status, power or security? Which of these do you want to achieve? Decide which job you are interested in. Along with this, it is important to keep other factors like your home and education in mind. But always try to be flexible. Everything will not always go according to your plan but you should have the ability to adjust.
Third, you understood the importance of learning. There are 4 such skills that you must learn. This is Leadership, Execution, Communication and Presentation. Apart from these skills, it is also important to know how to do your work fast. Along with this, you should also know not to speak politely, which is very important for your smooth career. Keep taking notes of whatever you are learning.
Forth you learned about the benefits of listening. Being a good listener is a great quality that will also improve the rest of the skills you will need during your career. It also helps a lot in your memory and concentration. Also, it helps you to look good during the meeting. If you have difficulty in hearing or lack of patience, then look into the eyes of the person with whom you are talking, this will help you in improving your concentration.
Fifth, you also know how important it is for your career to maintain a good relationship with your boss. Believe me, your seniors practically control your career, so to impress your boss, you have to make them look good. If you cannot do this, then at least keep a calm and happy mood in front of them. Show them that their presence motivates you. Remember, a good boss also proves to be a good mentor. A good boss is one who inspires you.
Sixth you learned what is the importance of the team. In most offices, work does not work without teamwork, so a supportive and capable team has a big hand in making you a valuable employee. If you are a team leader then try to make a divers team. Call the team for regular meetings. Organize fun team activities to develop friendship in the team.
Seventh, you have come to know how responsiveness works in your career. Your performance in the job depends on how well you respond to the customers. Responding to your co-workers makes you capable. The quality of your response matters more than the speed. If you respond slowly then you will be considered more professional.
In the last, you came to know what is the value of being attractive. It is generally seen that attractive people are more successful than others. So you too can become attractive by developing a positive attitude. Stay energetic and develop your storytelling skills. Learn to communicate using simple yet powerful language. Everyone wants to make a successful career but success is not so easy. Success is a goal for which you have to work hard. You have to market yourself. You have to prove and show your value in comparison to your competitors. The 8 simple secrets given in this summary will help you achieve this.