In order to climb the success ladder, one needs to understand the importance of setting goals and being a true professional.
Some essentials that can lead you to the right path.
The only successful beings in any field, including living itself, are those who have a professional viewpoint and make themselves and ‘are’ professionals.
- L Ron Hubbard
In simple words, the above quote would mean ‘to be successful, it’s important to be professional’. So what is professionalism? How does one become a professional? Is it some rocket science? Can one find the answer to these questions in some fat book that speaks about imbibing such skills? Certainly not! Being a professional means conducting yourself appropriately in a corporate set-up. It is a passive force that keeps you in the limelight.
For e.g., let’s consider this example shared by Jasmeet, an erstwhile telesales executive. She says, “For a particular member of our team, the steep daily targets were a cakewalk, unlike all others who barely could make a mark. It is not like no one tried, but she had a professional vision and lot of focus that helped her achieve what others could not.” read more »
Being an expert in political science and even statesmanship, Chanakya emphasised the importance of discipline in a governance system. However, he also knew that the ministers and bureaucrats would have to follow the rules themselves.
Therefore, Chanakya had said:
The Administrator and the magistrates should first keep in check the heads of departments and their subordinates.
Let us see why this is necessary and how it applies in our offices and organizations:
Discipline Starts From Top
If you are the boss, you are the sole rule-maker. But then you should be the first follower of any rule. One cannot set policies and just insist that others follow it. Discipline starts with you.
When you become self-disciplined, others also get disciplined automatically. read more »
Office politics is not optional. It exists everywhere, right from the bottom of a government babu unit to the top of an MNC. Read on to learn how to protect yourself.
Observe How Things Get Done
Look around and have a clear idea of how things are done in your organisation. You must know what the chain of command is like and who in office reports to whom. Know the companys culture by keeping a track of what actions are encouraged and the ones that are not seen in good light. Ask some basic questions like "How are decisions made?", "How much risk is tolerated?" and "Who makes the key decisions during crisis situations?". If you know the answers, it will be far easier for you to protect yourself from any possible propaganda.
Stay Away from Groupism
If your office is sporadically divided into different camps, there’s bound to be pressure to join one of them. However, as much as possible, try not to focus your loyalty towards any one group. If your office colleagues think of you as someone who’s constantly sitting on the fence, be it. One alliance may have more hold and power in the office decisions at one point of time. However, that does not mean that it will stay on like that. Organizations are constantly under change. New leadership and new people joining the organization change and mould the environment in their own way. Who knows, after a few months another alliance might have a stronger hold.
If you align with any particular group, you often end up burning bridges with other groups. If you are planning for a long-term career with the company, stay out of alliances. read more »
Receiving feedback gracefully at work is a career enhancing skill that will allow you achieve your dreams. Arva Shikari helps you begin on a positive note
Whether it is the annual performance review, a new project, handling a difficult customer or socialising at work- receiving feedback on our work and/ or personality has never been easy. Typically, we all have a contrived self image.When this comes in direct conflict with how others perceive us, an intense internal strife takes place and almost everybody responds defensively, creating a negative atmosphere at work.
Contrary to this popular corporate phenemenon, professionals today need to gracefully receive constructive feedback from others.To begin with one needs to change the way they feel about receiving feedback.
Receiving Feedback
Negative feedback makes one feel victimised and let down. But one needs to first analyse the origin of the feedback before taking it too seriously. In cases of deliberate criticism make it your goal to remain unaffected and work towards improving the situation. For example, if you hear something you don’t agree with, simply say, “That’s interesting!” and ask questions to clarify what you did was wrong. Acknowledge what is true, but stand firm on your position. Prior to taking any action, take some time to think it over. Check with others to determine the reliability of the feedback. If only one person believes it about you, it may be that person, not you.To control your defensiveness, practice stress management techniques like taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly; understand the feedback by questioning or summarising it, which defuses hostile feelings; confront, only when your emotions are under control. read more »
Hang in there. iMahatma would like to announce a few rennovations like a fresh Logo, New Blog Template & a New Photo Blog happening over a next few days at the bakend workshop.
Apologies for it being so unbearably slow for so long.
