Arthur D. Rosenberg - 101 Ways to Stand Out at Work: How to Get the Recognition and Rewards You Deserve

101 WAY TO
STAND OUT
AT WORK

ARTHUR D. ROSENBERG

Copyright 2009 by Arthur D. Rosenberg
All rights reserved.
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ISBN 10: 1-59869-981-4
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-981-4
eISBN: 978-1-44052-061-7

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To Catherine, my partner in life.

Learning from ones own mistakes is a sign of some intelligence. Wisdomborn of intellect and experienceis about learning from the mistakes of others. For the countless mistakes I have been privileged to witness, enabling me to learn without the requirement of duplication (and to those who made them), I express my gratitude.

Contents

About the Author

Arthur Rosenberg is a consultant based in the New YorkNew Jersey area. He specializes in business analysis, project management, documentation, corporate communications, and training. He has influenced the career development of hundreds of individuals at more than forty of the top corporate and educational institutions. He also gives career-related seminars to professional and minority groups.

Introduction

Career choices are opportunities that grow from what we door fail to doand how we do it. External circumstances can damage a profession or industry, but your career will flourish or flounder as a direct result of your decisions and actions. Outside circumstances may inconvenience you, but the essence of your career is really up to you. As simple as that sounds, think about it. Im willing to bet that on occasion youve blamed someone or something else for problems at work: My boss has unrealistic expectations. My coworkers are lazy. The industry I work in is downtrending. While that may be true, you have the power to change your situation!

101 Ways to Stand Out at Work offers a logical, problem-solving approach to building and maintaining a successful career. I believe its necessary to identify and understand a challenge in order to arrive at a meaningful solution. Instead of offering airy pep talks (you can do it, go get em, and the like), or telling colorful stories about prominent people whose careers bear little relationship to yours, Ill recommend simple strategies and show you how to customize and apply them in your own situation.

Chapter 1
Choose a Career Wisely

Your career choice is one of the most important decisions youll ever make. To make a wise and thoughtful decision, you need to devote a fair amount of time and effort to enable you to pick the best way to spend the years of working hours that lie ahead of you. Career planning can be a complex process, unless youre one of those people who have always known what you wanted to do as an adult. Breaking the decision down into smaller parts can make it seem more manageable, and the tips in this chapter are designed to help you do just that.

1. Dream the possible dream.

Many career- and life-advice books enthusiastically suggest that anyone can achieve absolutely anything if they want it enough to focus their lives on achieving it. Believe in yourself, they promise, and you can get anything you want. The mind, some state emphatically, is such a powerful instrument, it can deliver to you literally everything you want.

Unfortunately, just believing is not enough to deliver you to the promised land, no matter how intense your conviction. Perhaps a valuable message lies within this concept, but too literal an interpretation is more likely to frustrate than reward your efforts. Lets try to put this into a realistic and practical perspective.

Myth: If you practice basketball really hard, youll make it to the NBA.

Reality: Unless you are among the gifted 1 percent who have the talent toplay professionally, practicing will only improve your game a little.

Myth: If you spend hours studying, you can become a brain surgeon.

Reality: Unless you excel at biology and premed classes, you probably wontmake it as a surgeon.

Myth: Believing in yourself can make anything possible.

Reality: Self-belief can help you achieve things you may have thought wereout of reach. It will not, however, make you bulletproof.

The message is not that you should limit yourself to what other people tell you about your abilities and limitations, or that you need not devote your best efforts to achieving your dreams. In fact, stretching and extending toward new achievements is an essential part of the growth process throughout your career and life.

Your author was told by his high school Spanish teacher that he would never be any good at languages. Having lived and worked in Europe and the Middle East for several years, he now speaks more than half a dozen languages (including fluent Spanish).

The bottom line: You can probably improve your skills and abilities in most areas if youre willing to spend the time and make the effort. However, not everyone is endowed with the same natural abilities across the board. Chemical engineering or finance might appear attractive to you at first glance, but be sure those fields match your particular skills and interests before committing your dreams and efforts in those directions.

Years of sweat and sleepless nights may turn you into a mediocre accountant or an above-average insurance salesperson, but think of how successful a systems analyst or graphic artist you might have been if one of these was actually your strongest suit... and how much happier!

Are the Hot Jobs Really So Hot?

Each and every year, the experts predict which industries and positions will be hot. Of course, it doesnt hurt to check them out to see if any of them look appealing, but dont allow these lists to dictate or limit your choices. While such predictions may be based on valid data, trends and dependencies have a way of changing unpredictably. Who knows if what is hot this season will have cooled off a few years from now?

Just because the outlook for a type of occupation seems full of promise doesnt mean its right for you. A better option is to evaluate your interests, skills, and values. Create a comprehensive career plan to map out your path: Start by choosing a career and finding a job, and then identifying and achieving your longer-term career goals.