Getting your foundations right.
What the blog shows us is how quickly ideas and techniques may change. And that’s no surprise seeing as how the typical person in a large corporation stays in a job role for an average of only 3 years. That means a new job, different targets, a changing set of standards and unfamilar colleagues every 3 years.
So does that mean you are ‘starting over’ every 3 years. No. That’s the perception we wanted to change. As a training organisation working in this new world our methods had to shift. We needed to focus on the fundamentals instead. The core learning, the key behaviours of successful people, the cornerstones, the things that don’t change.
If we could deliver that then people would have a solid platform onto which different jobs could be laid.
So that’s what we did. Working in conjunction with HSBC we’re building ‘The Platform’ – our most comprehensive training package ever. It’s designed for leaders and their teams. It’s a training manifesto that contains only the most powerful advice and tools. No filler. If you follow the advice we’d expect to see a lift in performance of 20%.
Below is a video trailer for The Platform.
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 28, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Ramon Greenwood
4 Tactics To Accelerate Your Career
By
Ramon Greenwood
It’s surprising how often ambitious men and women fail to employ four basic tactics in their pursuit of career success. They are easy to apply; they are common sense in action. There are just two requirements. One, you are sincere in your feelings. Two, you must dampen your ego.
Job Tips:
1. Admit Mistakes
Everybody makes mistakes. Those who step up to take responsibility for their mistakes and learn from them turn their errors into pluses on their career path. Those who deny their mistakes and let others take the blame lose.
The sooner mistakes are admitted the better chance there is to correct them.
Mistakes have a way of emerging and coming to rest at the feet of those who make them and then try to dodge the bullet.
(Hopefully, mistakes don’t occur too often.)
2. Say “thank you”
“Thank you” is a power-packed message. Everyone likes to help those who show their appreciation. But this simple act is too often overlooked in the rush of day-to-day activities.
A “thank you” doesn’t have to be a big deal. Those two words spoken or conveyed with sincerity in a short note are enough.
Make a practice of expressing appreciation to at least one person each day. Thanks for sharing a bit of knowledge. Thanks for speaking up to support an idea. Thanks stopping a rumor before it gains traction. Thanks for being a good teammate. And, yes, thanks for holding the elevator or carrying a package.
3. Ask For Help
Contrary to popular belief, to ask for help is not a sign of weakness or lack of know-how. In fact, it is a show of strength and confidence. A request for help is a compliment to whom the request is made. It is the rare person who doesn’t like to be asked for assistance. Obviously, getting help from others is a great way to improve one’s base of knowledge and set of skills that lead to career success.
4. Share Credit For Success
Success with a single project or an entire career is seldom, if ever, a one-man show. Success is usually a team effort and there is always plenty of credit to be shared. No one likes or respects the “glory hot”.
When you achieve success be sure to go public with credit to those who participated.
If you have any doubt about the power of these actions just think about your own experiences. How do you react when you are exposed to any one of these positive forces?
Career Tip: The fact that these tactics are often overlooked creates an opportunity for those who put them to good use.
Go ahead. Put a damper on your ego. Put these the tactics to work with sincerity and confidence. You’ll reap career rewards.
—
To subscribe to Ramon Greenwood’s free semi-monthly newsletter and blog please go to http://www.commonsenseatwork.com> His advice comes from a world of experience, including serving as Senior Vice President of American Express, an entrepreneur, professional director, career coach and author.
February 18, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Ramon Greenwood
Here’s a career tip you bank on.
Understanding what your boss, your direct reports and your peers expect from you and meeting those expectations is essential to your career success.
That’s the word from Bill Neale, a founding partner of Denison Consulting, a firm dedicated to studying the link between organizational culture and leadership to bottom line results.
Here’s a quick summary of research conducted by Denison:
1. The boss expects you to set and achieve strategy and objectives that support the long-term mission of the organization. “You can be the greatest team player in the world, or a wonderful ‘people person,’ but if you ignore the mission of your organization you’ll never satisfy the boss,” declares Neale, a leadership development expert.
2. Your direct reports expect you to promote teamwork, delegate authority and responsibility, as well as encourage personal development. Therefore, getting your direct reports involved, motivated and committed is crucial. “If you don’t truly engage the folks who work for you, you won’t win a vote of confidence from them, and you’re not likely to fully leverage their energies and talents,” according to Neale.
3. Peers expect you to be adaptable and consistent, and committed to the organization’s principles and values. Organizational peers are a difficult group to satisfy. “They may have less information about you, or view you as a competitor,” Neale says. “Peers, however, do place a high value on flexibility, the ability to surmount organizational boundaries and constraints, and to push alignment in the workplace.”
The point is if you’re serious about succeeding the first step is to become familiar with the various expectations—both spoken and unspoken—of your boss, those who report to you and your peers.
—
To subscribe to Ramon Greenwood’s free semi-monthly newsletter and blog please go to http://www.commonsenseatwork.com> His advice comes from a world of experience, including serving as Senior Vice President of American Express, an entrepreneur, professional director, career coach and author.