The Bosses We Remember
An old quote says that you can tell the true nature of a person’s character by the way she/he treats subordinates. according to my experience, this is quite true - in good and bad cases.
Knowing that is hard to be a good leader and that there is a ton of things you can screw up, here are some thoughts about what counts in the long run - because as a leader or a boss you don’t run a business/department/team/… but influence people and their lives…
The bosses and managers you will remember for the rest of your life are the ones who…
- provided safe space to grow.
- showed us how.
- opened career doors.
- defended us when we needed it.
- developed us as professionals and persons.
- saw something in us we couldn’t see.
- inspired us to stretch even higher.
- lead by example.
- explained when asked and listened when needed.
- emphasized our future over the company’s present.
- ensured us that our work mattered.
- forgave us when we made mistakes.
Try your best to work for someone like this now and to become someone like this later…
Your m
to everyone with a big idea and little confidence
Things to do for your career…
A couple of weeks ago I tumbled over an article named “35 things you should do for your career by the time you turn 35″ by dailymuseblog / @dailymuse.
Annotation: You don’t need to check every box off this list by the time you’re 35. It is more a list of suggestions that, can have a big impact on your career.
Find the entire article with all point explained in detail (same numbering) here: http://mashable.com/2014/11/29/35-career-goals/
I felt free to highlight the items I personally believe to be the most important ones:
1. Really refine your elevator pitch
2. Know your superpower
3. Know your weakness
4. Learn how to delegate
5. Know your career non-negotiables
6. Do something you’re really, really proud of
7. Learn from something you’re not so proud of
8. Stretch your limits
9. Do something that really scares you
10. Get comfortable with getting feedback
11. Get comfortable with giving feedback
12. Get comfortable with saying no
13. Have a broad network of people you can trust
14. Have a couple of specific career advisors
15. Scrub your online presence
16. Perfect your LinkedIn profile
17. Have a portfolio of your best work
18. Know how to sell (yourself or something else)
19. Know how to negotiate
20. Know how to manage up
21. Know how to send a killer email
22. Master your handshake
23. Find a to-do list system that works for you
24. Know your energy levels — and use them
25. Know how much sleep you need and commit to getting it
26. Know how to manage stress
27. Stop over-apologizing
28. Get over impostor syndrome
29. Have a career emergency plan
30. Pick up a side project
31. Invest in your retirement
32. Invest in yourself
33. Invest in the world
34. Know what you don’t want
35. Give yourself permission to go after what you do
PS: In case you are over 35 already - please apply the same list and simply extend it to your needs and experiences ;-) Numbers don’t matter this time…
Still true.
Still worth sharing.
Still recommended.
Your m
7 Things Not To Apologize For
DON’T - neither in business nor in private:
- Setting priorities & making room for it
- Saying NO to something/someone
- Taking time to form your own opinion
- Closing a chapter (a bad job, a toxic relationship, etc.)
- Standing your ground
- Following your dreams & working on YOUR future
- Defending/protecting what matters to you
Best of luck.
Your m
An old but golden rule of entrepreneurship.
From my perspective, many startups focus way too much on investors, stake- and shareholders and themselves but not on what really matters: their customers.
As a friend and entrepreneur once said:
“The answer to all questions has nobody but the custormer.”
So true. At the end of the day, your customer is your boss.
He/She is paying your salary, not the investor.
Your m
The Reminder From The Past
A quick personal story:
I changed my job a while ago. I changed it for the better - in pretty much every way possible. I am truly happy with that decision and how things turned out.
But to be honest with you in daily business I often forget about all the positive changes and the advantages, I forget about the bad days I had in the old position and all the negative stuff I had to deal with day in and day out.
But every Thursday morning I receive a push notification on my phone saying:
“Input weekly report - 2pm”
… reminding me to hand in my content for the weekly report to my former manager. I had once set this alarm to make sure that I meet the deadline on this weekly doing… (btw: I felt no pleasure whatsoever going through project plans, spreadsheets and various calendars to put this stuff together) but today those lines create a moment of joy and gratefulness every single week.
The reminder that was intended to remind me now has a different meaning but still reminds me of something - something way more important.
For a weird reason, we are not grateful for what we have in life…
But chances are good that things might change immediately as soon as you put on the shoes you wore yesterday and think of what things were like back then.
That is what that alert does for me and why still keep it - as stupid as it probably is.
Your m
(Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook)
What this means - my 2 cents:
- It is NO straight path.
At some points, it might be necessary to take a step down, change the approach or switch sides to come closer to your the top. - Stretching, pulling and pushing yourself upwards, making weird moves, getting tired, asking for help or advice and always being afraid of falling hard - all of that is normal and naturally belongs to what we call CAREER.
- Hang in there, give it all you got and find your own way. You’ll be automatically ahead - as most of your competitors/colleagues believe it to be not only a ladder but a staircase!
Best of luck for your climb!
Your m
Problems As Wind
(This is an ad made by a beer brand - stating the message completely wrong. Alc is NO problem solver!! I just use the picture for illustration…!)
Why I share: this what we all do. This is what we actually get the money for. We are all problem solvers!
Responsibility in a job is nothing but the allowance to take on larger problems.
My personal recommendation:
Do join the problem solvers team! Always keep your eyes on the solution (not the challenge) and accept the fact that the problems you face are the reason you do have a job.
See them as the wind you need to sail.
And sail/solve.
your m
Career Hack #4: Shop A Boss
We do not only work for a brand or a company but also for a person: your boss. But for any reason most people (especially young professionals) choose a job, care for the salary, the desk, the company car, the new laptop, the business card - but not (too much) for the person they will interact most.
I recommend - especially if your are early in your career:
Follow someone you can learn from.
SHOP A BOSS.
This person will (most likely) influence your future career a lot more than the company or the brand or even your polished CV.
He/She will determine what challenges you face in your daily work, and how much you will be able to take away for tasks and positions to come.
Your m
found on the web (key message of an article inside the management section)
This quote wants to tell you that amateurs might be the better choice. Don’t fall for it.
Why:
Please correct me if I am wrong - but did the ark ever have to deal with any icebergs (as far as we know)?
What would you say would have happened?
I recommend:
Stick to professionals.
Speak to sharp minds and thought leaders.
Ask those doing that for hours every single day.
Keep to questioning what they say - and make up your own mind based on their information.
But there is one thing amateurs do have in their favor…
Their love for what they do.
Actually the word amateur comes from “amore” (Italian for love). It was the English term invented to separate those sportsmen who were paid (professional athletes) from those gentlemen just doing it for the sport itself (amateurs).
If you need someone who is driven by his/her passion and love - someone who is motivated intrinsically and loyal from the heart… then you might go for an amateur.
But beware of icebergs…
Your m
Every major corporation I have ever seen from the inside - in one single picture. #majorproblem
Your m
Steve Jobs, conductor of apple inc.
During a long discussion with a close friend of mine a few weeks ago (about career advancement by specialization) I remembered that one scene from the jobs movie…
Have you ever questioned the contribution of your CEO, GM or founder? Have you ever wondered what they actually do or why they are in that position and others aren’t?
If so you might think about the following for a second:
What was Steve Jobs’ contribution to the success of Apple?
Back in the days when the first Mac was made…
- … the designers created the famous design,
- … the coders coded the software,
- … the engineers developed the hardware,
- … the lawyers filed the patent,
- … the marketing team advertised and formed the brand
- …
So what was Steve’s job? (sorry for that cheap pun)
He couldn’t code, he wasn’t an expert in electronics or an experienced manager… He assembled all the pieces of the puzzle.
Or in a different picture: Instead of learning how to play the violin (and ending up being mediocre)… He played the orchestra - conducting, aligning, connecting all the individuals and their skills to one big structure.
That is the scene the quote is from:
Source: Steve Jobs movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs_(film)
Side question:
What do generals actually do -
… while the snipers shoot, the tanks drive, the spies spy, the pilots fly, …?
You see?!
Your m
The Deadline Game
There is secret process which automatically starts as soon as someone assigns an important deadline. A strange game that nobody talks about but everyone plays…
I try to illustrate it on the example of a normal hierarchical organization - but it works this way for any mid size or big structure driven by KPIs and deadlines.
Here is what everybody believes is happening:
Today is 3 March. The CEO needs a certain information or result in four weeks until let’s say the 31 March. He communicates this information and the team has time to work on the project until short before (e.g. 29 or 30 March).
What really happens:
CEO
He/She needs it until 31 March - but in order to save a tiny bit of buffer for own comments, feedback, changes or questions he/she communicates the 27 March to his senior management (here the Director of the relevant department)
Director
Thinking that he needs hand the result in on the 28 means he actually needs it by the 26. But to be absolutely sure to meet the deadline and have time to optimize etc. he adds three more days to this time frame and communicates the 23 March.
Project lead
The head of the project leading the team working on it does the same - silently adding another four days to the given timing before communicating the 18 March instead of 22 March.
Expert / Team
The guys actually working on the project know that they have to meet the deadline if they want to receive their bonus or get a raise etc. So they start planning the project, setting milestones and subdeadlines. The most important action concerning time though is making sure that the other team members and supporting agencies hand in their parts way before the final deadline. Therefore they communicate 15 March as deadline instead of the 22…
Agency / Supplier / team members / juniors / interns
As a result of all this the poor people researching, calculating, writing, … - working are told that this is extremely urgent. Only a few days (about 10 in our example) are left until the CEO of the company himself needs a perfect result. Often the words “super important, super urgent” are used to underline this.
The hidden truth is that they actually have a great deal longer - but they have no clue.
Whats the point about all this:
- the people on the low end of the chain experience tremendous stress and extreme pressure as they are told a unrealistic deadline.
This happens mainly because of the deadline game… - A great share of the time is not used to complete the task but as personal “so that I am save” buffer.
In our example this happens to 17 out of the 28 days. - Due to this game projects become ridiculously long - the CEO only get 11 days of work but waits 28. Or the other way round - one could achieve way better results in the same time by using more of it for actual work.
- AND: they were all part of a shity system… but as they all met their deadlines (this part is best case) everybody used the chance to shine and no one questions or shares the little trick.
According to my experience this process starts automatically and can not be denied. It gets worse with every additional level in between and with the importance of the project.