Jobs @ Career Consulting Limited

Return to career-consulting-limited.com
Managing
People
Managing Your Career
CV Examples
Coaching
Cover Letter Examples
Pre-Employment Tests


5 Steps to Standing Out Above the Crowd at Work


Do you feel like one in a million at work - and not in a good way? When you run into your boss in the hallway, do you get the impression she isn't sure who you are? Are the juicy projects always going to someone else?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you need to raise your work profile. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Listen more than you talk. If you offer an opinion, suggestion, comment or question at every opportunity, soon people will run away when they see you coming. Remember when you were in college and there was always one smart-aleck who, when the class was asked, "Are there any more questions?" would shoot his hand in the air and hold the class up? Don't be that student in the boardroom. If you listen carefully and confine yourself to intelligent and to the-point remarks, you'll end up looking smarter than most of the people in the room. And when you do have something to say, everyone will listen.

2. Meetings aren't for airing dirty laundry. If you have a problem or gripe with someone, bring it to his or her attention privately. When you point fingers or air departmental problems in a group setting, you (a) blindside the person you're complaining about, and (b) have just about ruined your chances for a peaceful resolution. Besides, the next time you make a mistake, that person will fall all over himself to make sure to bring it up in a large meeting just to watch you squirm.

3. Try to catch people doing something right. Whether boss, co-worker or subordinate, people love to be told they're doing a good job. You don't have to turn into Eddie Haskell to be aware of opportunities to compliment someone. Keep it short, low-key and honest. It's even better if you can pass the compliment to someone else. "Hey, boss, Jim was a huge help to us on the Acme project - he made some suggestions that should save us $20,000." What are the chances that the boss is going to mention it to Jim the next time he sees him? Pretty good.

4. Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Pick your battles. If you've made the best case you can for doing something a certain way and the boss decides to do it Sally's way, smile and go along (unless doing it Sally's way is going to send you to jail). If your way really is better, people will remember that when Sally folds like a cheap card table. When you do decide to keep fighting to do it your way, make sure it's something worth fighting for and not just because you can't stand to lose. If you only start a war when the stakes are high you have a better chance of coming out on top than if you try to fight every low-level skirmish like Sherman going through Atlanta.

5. Don't hide your mistakes. As soon as it becomes apparent that something has gone wrong, take it to your boss and be upfront about what happened. Have a plan laid out to correct the problem and limit the fallout. You should be able to tell the boss that you've already put the recovery in motion and exactly what the final outcome will be. The key here is to accept the blame without hand wringing or whining and pointing fingers at your subordinates or other departments. You take the responsibility, and then you take the lead in fixing it.

Looking for more career advice?

Joan Schramm is a career, executive and personal coach with twenty years experience in management, training and coaching. Joan can work with you to figure out exactly what you want from your life and your career, and how to get there without a lot of detours.

For more information about Joan, or to talk about what's going on in your career, e-mail coach@achieve-momentum.com, or go to http://www.achieve-momentum.com - Sign up for a free monthly newsletter, "Angular Momentum" and take a free Job Satisfaction Assessment.


MORE RESOURCES:
Careers  Oaktree Capital



Careers | Career Opportunities  West Virginia University

Corporate  Lowe's





Jobs  City of Rochester (.gov)


Careers at TWU  Texas Woman's University



Careers at Willamette  my.willamette.edu




City of Tampa Careers  City of Tampa

Careers at VA  VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs

Job Seekers  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign


Careers  BASF


MPP Employment Data  USC Sol Price School of Public Policy

Nursing jobs  VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs


Jobs at BCA  Minnesota Department of Public Safety



Careers  West Virginia Department of Education

Careers  Washington State University

Employment Services  American Mathematical Society





Working for ICE  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Newsroom

Work at DHS: Career Opportunities  Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Employment Statistics  Columbia SIPA


UF Health Careers  UF Health - University of Florida Health


Employment benefits  VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs



Careers at Prairie View A&M University  Prairie View A&M University

Job Search Results  UnitedHealth Group

UN COMMON CAREERS  VCU Health

Work With Us  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Career Opportunities  Gilead Sciences


Careers  S&P Global


Careers  Medline





Job Opportunities  Bellevue School District

How to Apply  FEMA

Job Opportunities  Southwest Minnesota State University



Careers  Micron


Careers at Discovery Education  Discovery Education





Join our team  FHI 360

Careers  KPMG


Early Career  GlobalFoundries

Certified Direct Care Professional (CDCP)  Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Careers  The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation

Internship Opportunities | Careers  Boston Consulting Group




Careers in  A&O Shearman

Careers  UNICEF USA

Students and graduates  JPMorgan Chase

Work At Chess.com  Chess.com


Highest-Paying Engineering Careers in 2024  University of North Dakota







Mental health at work  World Health Organization







Need More Information?
Site Home | Site Map | Links | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
© Career Consulting Limited.com 2011

tumblr visit counter