Five Not-Obvious Keys to Success on the Job

In yet another attempt to reduce books of advice into a short article, my PsychologyToday.com article today is on five not-obvious keys to success on the job. HERE is the link.

Three Career Questions I'm Often Asked

Here are my answers to three of questions that readers and callers to my show have asked:

What should I major in? 

Of course, it varies with the individual but here are a couple of my not-widely-held beliefs:

If the person really is a science/math/computer whiz, it may make sense to choose a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) major. But more often, I recommend not majoring in those. They're hard, not that interesting to most people, and these majors contain some very smart, hard-working students bringing down the curve. Also, if you end up switching majors, you'll find most of what you learned irrelevant to life or career. Most important, not withstanding what politicians say, there's already an oversupply.

A major I consider underrated and of wide benefit to one's career and life is theatre/dramatic arts. Studying and being involved in plays (whether as reader, actor, student director, stage manager, whatever) gets you exposed, again and again, to pieces of literature that focus on life's key issues. That repeated exposure is required for it to be transformative for you. A theatre major is more likely than most to make you a wiser human being. And if you spend some time on stage, you'll gain poise, an important and underrated attribute. Most people also find the theatre major fun.

What's the best career?

Again, of course, it depends on the person but I do have a few favorites.

One is optometrist. It offers prestige, a six-figure income, low stress, you succeed with nearly every patient, and there are few emergency calls. Optometry is not offshoreable and you won't get replaced by a robot. The training time isn't inordinate: four years after your bachelor's degree, or at some colleges, you can get a bachelor's degree and your Doctor of Optometry degree in seven.

Haircutter scores near the top of most job satisfaction surveys. Again, you succeed with nearly every customer and you're dealing with something positive--appearance. Plus, you get the chance to develop ongoing relationships with customers: After all, you get to chat with them every month or two. Haircutting is another career that won't get offshored or automated.

Clergy. You get to do unmitigated do-gooding and have a very varied workweek: from counseling the unhappy to preparing and delivering a sermon to planning for the church/synagogue's future. Yes, hours can be long and irregular. Pay often is bad but not always. This is another career that won't the offshored or automated.Tip: Prioritize nuance and true fairness over dogma.

How do you get promoted or at least reduce your risk of getting laid off?

• Try to get to work for a boss who's ethical and a star or up-and-comer. You'll both learn a lot and such a boss is likely to get increasing responsibility, which could create new opportunities for you. 
• Try to make your boss's life easier. You might even periodically ask your boss that explicitly: "How could I make your life easier?"  
• Keep your antennae out for priority areas in the organization and in your field and get more skilled in one of those. 
• You can't overtly brag but subtly try to get it known that you're a person who has good ideas and does fine work. For example, instead of just giving your best idea to the boss, you might bring it up in an email to others "for feedback." 
• Try to be low-maintenance and well-liked by most people. 
• Sometimes, your organization really has too little opportunity for advancement. If so, resist the temptation to stay put and, at least, subtly, confidentially, put feelers out.

Come to a Talk I'm Giving: Career Success in Tough Times

The Oakland Public Library has asked me to give another talk: Career success in tough times.  Sorry I'm posting this last-minute but I forgot to do so earlier. It's tomorrow, Weds, Mar 20 at 6 PM at the main branch: 125 14 St.  Admission is free.

I'll try to share a lot of non-obvious but important nuggets. I'll also take questions.

For more info about it, HERE is an article about it in The Examiner.

And here's the handout I'll distribute:

SUCCEEDING ON THE JOB IN TOUGH TIMES

Presentation, Oakland Public Library, Mar. 20, 2013

by Marty Nemko

Up is the not the only way!

Make it fun if possible, but being productive is its own reward. Your life's value may indeed be determined less by how much fun you've had as by how productive you've been. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

That said, it's often possible to make a task more fun. If you do it the most arduous way, the benefit is usually outweighed by your tending to procrastinate the tasks and overall less contentment with your work life. As you decide what to do and how to do it, keep asking yourself, "What's the fun way?" Usually, you'll find the work gets done faster and, ironically, often better.

Is this a good use of my time? Both what activities to do, and how time-consumingly you're doing a task

Laser focus on being world-class in both goal and project. That IS possible in many if not most pursuits.

Re goal: Be the go-to-guy/gal on something key to your organization: CRM software, on-boarding new employees, selling to Latino teens, whatever. Maybe write an article on that for a trade publication—higher-ups love to see their organization touted externally.

Re  project: remember, my example of Jeffrie at the Children's Hospital talent show.

Think probabilistically: If that doesn't come naturally to you, develop the habit: When you have to make a significant decision, for each of your options, write the chance (from 0 percent to 100 percent) of each of the major positive and negative outcomes occurring. For example, you're deciding whether to accept a new job:

Pros: Higher salary (100 percent), better boss (70 percent,) more learning opportunities (90 percent).

Cons: Longer commute (100 percent), the job is more difficult and thus you could fail (50 percent), management's ethics may be iffy (50 percent).

Then, after considering all that, make your decision on gut feeling.

Of course, no technique will lead to always making correct decisions but  your batting average will improve as will your ability to explain your reasoning. And as time goes on, you'll get better at doing cost-benefit/risk-reward analysis, often on-the-fly.

Keep growing: read articles, webinars, find mentors. Keep a nugget file. Every time you derive an insight that would abet your thinking or thinking skills , keep it in a word-processing file. Review it frequently.

Be trustworthy. That goes well beyond keeping your word. It mainly means that when you get an assignment, it will be done, on time, and well—all the time. Your boss may not balk when you mumble your excuse but your unreliability will remain in memory.

Show initiative. Much more is under your control than you may think. Instead of complaining about a problem, fix it, asking permission only if necessary.

Go beyond. Provide something unexpected that will please your higher-ups. Let's say your boss is all about the bottom line. Write a report for improving it.

Sweat the details. Big-picture thinkers are a dime a dozen and their proposals usually make more work for people. What's mainly needed are people who can execute the boss's vision without much hand-holding.

Be positive. Every workgroup benefits from having one person who focuses on the problems. As Andy Grove, former Intel chairman and CEO, has said, "Only the paranoid survive." But generally, the yes-butter is regarded as a necessary evil rather than an up-and-comer. Unless your boss makes a truly unreasonable demand, be a person who makes it happen. And no bashing the company. If it's really worth bashing, shouldn't you be looking for another job?

Be likeable. It's hard to get ahead if many co-workers, bosses, and customers dislike you. In addition to having a positive bias, look for ways to make your co-workers and customers' lives better. For example, make them look good, help them get ahead, or when someone seems frazzled, ask if there's anything you can do to help. Take something off their plate or simply listen to them vent. The most potent question you can ask, especially of your boss: "Anything I can do to make your life easier?" 

Make lots of moving-toward statements, few moving-away behavior. You may not realize how big a price you make when you make a moving-away behavior: disagreeing, one-upping, shunning. Focus on moving-toward statements: agreement, amplification, anything that makes them feel good about themselves. 

Be low-maintenance. You pay a big price for being high-maintenance. No matter how competent you are, especially in today's busy times, your boss and co-workers are probably on max, so your complaint or even your new idea may not be welcome. If your boss or workgroup's plate is already full, they simply may not be open to adding something else or changing gears. Even asking too many questions can be annoying. Of course the workplace and indeed society would be better if all that weren't true, but alas, it is. In most workplaces, even if you're the boss, it's safest to simply keep on keeping on with a pleasant look on your face. That's true even in your personal life. 

Be a storyteller. Most people are more affected by story than by statistics. Story appeals to the emotion, which is what motivates most people's behavior change. That's why so many articles start with, "Mary Johnson..." and only after the audience is hooked, do they mention statistics, facts, etc. So, have three anecdotes ready to tell at any networking event or even for water-cooler convo. And certainly, pepper your talks with anecdotes, whether it's a two-minute presentation at a meeting, a keynote address, or even a toast at your friend's wedding. 

Never look back. My father, a Holocaust survivor, rarely talked about the experience. When asked why, he said, "The Nazis took five years from my life. I won't give them one minute more. Never look back, always take the next step forward."

Winning at Office Politics Without Selling Your Soul

Here's my latest AOL article: Winning at Office Politics Without Selling Your Soul.  

Step-by-step, it points out how to create an plan for becoming well-liked at work and for getting ahead...and what to do if your unrandom acts of kindness fail--for example, if someone's trying to sabotage you so they can get your job or a desired promotion, or simply because they're jealous of you.

The New Rules for Getting Promoted...Or At Least Staying Employed

This is the third in a series of five posts, each of which distills one of the presentations I made at the Commonwealth Club this month.

The rules for succeeding in today's workplace have changed. For example, a few years ago, I would have confidently suggested that key to success is asking lots of questions and suggesting new ideas. Now, that could get you fired, oops, "laid off."

Being Low-Maintenance
 
Of course, inveterate complainers and naysayers are high-maintenance and so disproportionately find themselves on a layoff list. But there are more subtle ways you can be high-maintenance:

• To appear enthusiastic and to avoid errors, many new employees ask lots of questions but too often, bosses resent the time it takes to answer them. (That happened to me when I was working at a radio station.)

• Similarly, many employees figure they add value by suggesting lots of new ideas. But each new idea requires time to implement and if the boss doesn't like the idea, s/he thinks less of you. Plus s/he has the uncomfortable chore of explaining why s/he's turning you down.  

In today's trying times, bosses usually don't need  more ideas; they need more doers. So in many of today's workplaces, it is wise to look for opportunities to make life easier for your boss and coworkers. If you have some bandwidth, you might ask boss and coworkers something like, "I have a little room on my plate. Is there anything I can do to make your life easier?" 

Are you valuing work enough? 

If you think you don't have any bandwidth left, you might ask yourself if that's true or if you're insufficiently valuing work? Too many employees still try to get away with doing as little as possible. That's ironic in that it not only makes them layoff-prone, they're likely to feel their life is less meaningful. Over the 4,000 career coaching clients I've worked with plus my friends and colleagues, it's clear to me that, on average, people who work long hours, for whom productivity at work is key to their identity, are more content with how they're living their life than are people who try to get away with doing the minimum.

Become a Go-To Guy/Girl.  It's fun to dabble--to learn a little about lots of things, but in today's workplace, those ubiquitous Jacks and Jills of all trades, masters of none are more likely to be on the layoff list. Pick something key to your employer and stay focused on mastering it so you become the invaluable go-to guy or girl.

Are you a procrastinator? 

In school you could get away with waiting until the last second and still get a good grade, but there's less grade inflation in many of today's workplaces. Shoddy work is a fast track to the layoff list. I've written a lot on overcoming procrastination. (Click on "procrastination" in the label cloud on the right side of this blog.) Here I'll simply remind you of the cliched but potent advice: If you're overwhelmed by the prospect of doing a task, remember it doesn't need to be perfect and break it down into baby steps. Don't know how? Ask someone.

Ask for a pay cut?

A few years ago, I helped many of my clients strategize for a pay raise. But today, with good jobs few and job seekers many, and with employers more carefully evaluating employees' cost-benefit versus an automated solution or hiring a worker in a low-cost country, it's often wise to not push for a raise. It may even be wise to ask for a pay cut so in that next "reorg," you don't stick out as expensive.

Fire quickly; hire slowly

If you're a manager, your employability can hinge as much on your supervisees' performance as on your own. And generally, remediating your weak employees is a poor use of your time--It's hard even for a psychotherapist working with a low-performing client for years to fundamentally change him or her So, if brief efforts to remediate a weak employee fail, cut your losses and try to counsel him or her out: "I think you'd be a better fit with X sort of job. I'll try to help you find it." Iff that doesn't work, if possible, terminate the employee.

When hiring, don't rely on ads. Too many job seekers are using all manner of subterfuge to make themselves appear better than they are. It's wiser to tell everyone you respect that you're looking to hire an excellent person for (insert job description.) They'll more validly screen applicants. In job interviews, mainly put candidates in simulations of the work they'll be doing rather than asking coachable questions such as, "Tell me about a challenge you faced."

A Gallup poll of 60,000 top managers found that they generally do follow that rule: fire quickly; hire slowly.

Beg for honest feedback
In these stressful times, bosses are more reluctant than ever to give negative feedback--They figure it will just demotivate you. So they just shine you on and include you on the next layoff list.

But lack of feedback can be a career killer. So ask your boss and perhaps others for candid feedback. Try something like, "As any good professional, I want to keep growing. So might I ask for some candid feedback on what you see as my strengths and areas for growth?" Don't want to ask directly? Talent Checkup enables you to ask questions of 3 to 8 people. To preserve their anonymity, you'll receive an email only of the aggregated results.

It hurts me to be issuing all this tough love but I'd rather see you work a little harder and smarter than face the daunting search for a new job.

Career Advice: What I said to a panel of student interviewers

A group of broadcast journalism students did a series of six six-minute interviews with me. Most of the questions were on how to be a career success in these tough times. Here are those interviews.

Note: The first minute is pre-interview fooling around. And the following minute or so has a few audio squeaks--they are student engineers. But the other 33 minutes are okay.

How to Get Promoted...But is the Effort Worth It?

Dan Schwabel, a biggie in the personal branding arena sent me these questions for an article he's writing for Details magazine. Here were my answers. At the end, I wrote something that surprised me and may be worthy of your reading.

What does it take to get a promotion at work right now?
One or more of these, the more the merrier: a better job offer, demonstrated greater value added compared with peers, promise of doing a better job than the person currently in the desired position, an industry award, a bold proposal, sleeping with the boss.

What is the most unique strategy you would recommend for current workers who are looking to get ahead in this economy?
Write a proposal for an initiative that, while consistent with the culture and mission of the organization, would be an exciting yet realistic quantum leap ahead for the organization. Send it, in advance, to the attendees of an important meeting. Get their input. Get permission to present the revised version at the meeting. Make that presentation with CEO-like crispness.(Watch C-Span, CNBC, and YouTube to see CEO types in action.)

What is your take on going the extra mile at work and helping out other teams if you have those skills?
Working s generally more rewarding, both financially and in accomplishment, than going home, watching TV, playing golf, and/or drinking or doing drugs.

What do you think about transparency at work? Should all workers be that honest?
It's not realistic. Especially in tough times, inside knowledge can be very helpful. It's all well and good to say "Share for the common good," but in the end, most people act in their self-interest--they want to get ahead or at least don't want to be a victim of the next round of layoffs.

How important is it to be connected to your colleagues through social networks? I know you think it's key. I think it's usually overrated---Most people spend more time at it than the benefits they derive (e.g., participating in the discussions on LinkedIn.) I do like Guy Kawasaki's YouTube video 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn and his article Ten Twitter Tips.

Do you believe that growing your brand outside of your company can help you inside?
Yes. Give speeches at conferences, get articles written about you in trade publications.

But Dan, frankly, having had a zillion clients play these games to "get ahead," it feels a little sickening, kind of like the movie, They Shoot Horses Don't They, in which everyone's pitted against each other to see who can dance the longest. All but the winner collapse and even the winner is exhausted. Trouble is, I don't know what the answer is. Socialism is probably, net, worse.