Thank you all for your encouraging feedback on the part 1 of this title. However, I have a confession to make. I was divided between doing this, or to move on to the next piece I have sketched and titled – Here Comes a ‘Millennial Baby Boomer’ – MBB. A personal story of reinvention, agility, and resilience inspired by the ‘Fisch Tales’. Then the feedback alerts started, messages like, “I hope you would write a book on this.” “When are we getting the remaining smart tips,” etc. The game changer feedback came in while I was reading around 2am Friday morning. It came in two forwarded messages from my Editor himself and it read, “Many thanks for this…very useful…waiting for the part 2.” Then, I knew the game was up and that I must perfect this piece you are reading and get it to the press before coming back to “Here Comes a Millennial Baby Boomer”. So, let’s wrap this up.
Pay attention to details. It matters. This career-enhancing smart tip has been with me like forever. Back in the days too like it is today, “it doesn’t matter” was a quick excuse for a shoddy job. The fiery response of the boss was always: “It matters!” Those familiar with my training sessions would have heard me repeatedly that apart from what your read and the company you keep, the next thing that defines you, and could make or mar your career is why and what you write, and how you write it. Growing up in the corporate world, one of the first skills we were taught to master is writing skill. We were told to read each sentence backward to be sure nothing is missing, to read it out aloud to be sure it passed grammatically, to do spell checks as if our lives depended on it, and so on. Somewhere along the line shorthand (not that one some of us went to school to study and qualified as secretaries), I mean the one ‘invented’ by the social media age, came in and distracted attention to the extent that students writing examinations and professionals writing memos now use such abominations in their writings. Help your career by not indulging officially in these ‘fast’ practices. Some have developed the mastery not to even try it unofficially or socially. Always, writing concisely and completely through whichever medium is good business. Read and go over your data, writing, PowerPoint, etc before you hit the send button, or you go public. You earn respect when you do due diligence on assignments.
Love and embrace the ideation process. This smart tip is coming from the saying that ideas rule the world. Generate as many ideas as possible. However before putting your ideation machinery in full gear, you would need to pause and consider others’ reactions when you eventually share those ideas. Please note that some would love them while others would love to shoot them down, viciously at times. That your ideas are not accepted is never enough reason for you to fold or surrender. Author Ed Evarts used the bell curve analogy, some on the negative side and others on the positive side, while some would just find your idea average. Do the worst-case scenario beforehand, consider all negative responses that may come, recruit your friends as the ‘devil advocates’ and prepare for push backs even to very good ideas. This helps in refining your ideas. When you are well prepared for both criticism and praises, you are more likely to make good progress.
This conversation is still very much about growing your career. This next smart tip is what I call kiddies’ playground. Children can ask questions. If you are a parent reading me right now and you indulge in trying to shut them up, you are a terrorist. Your career is enhanced when you ask questions, especially ‘the why questions’. He who knows the why, is the boss, so the saying goes. As author Simon Sinek puts it, “Why is not about money or profit — those are results. ‘Why’ is the thing that inspires us and inspires those around us. You may want to read his 2009 book, “Start With Why” (Penguin Group). When you do not ask questions, you are like someone groping around in the dark. Be the most curious person in the room. Ask questions before sharing an idea or giving an opinion. Asking questions before speaking gives you what I call ‘the atmospheric feel’. Asking questions is one of the best ways to discover more about what others think or know before you share yours. You are not in a race of ‘who speaks first wins.’ Calm down, and if possible, script your thoughts before speaking, you may come up with better conclusions and share better ideas.
However, though you ask questions, and you do all the above, if you are a poor listener, the benefits are eroded. Powerful questions lead to powerful answers, and the cycle continues. If you are not listening, you would miss the point. It is wisdom and career-enhancing to hone your ‘listen-ability’ skills and move on to the highest level in the ‘listen-ability’ continuum – the empathetic listening acumen. It is a core skill of emotional intelligence. Listen more. Those who wait will participate more effectively than those who go first, opined Ed Evarts.
My next choice of career-promoting smart tip is the people performance activity of feedback. Rick Tate said feedback is the breakfast of champions. The objective of this activity is to guide people to develop their careers while ensuring that the organisation benefits from the process. It used to be the familiar manager to the employee feedback loop, then we experimented with the two-way top-down, down-up style of feedback. To facilitate growth at both the personal and organisation levels, the 360° feedback and appraisal system came in as a game changer. I have personally benefitted from this mode of feedback – giving and receiving, as far back as 2006. Delivering feedback is a win-win activity. We learn from the various insights coming from the raters – line managers, peers, customers and vendors, direct reports, and team members, and then the self. Results improve because people are focused on the right things. If you are giving feedback, make it immediate and real time. If you are receiving feedback, be open minded and cut out the noise.
As I wrap up this piece, permit me to introduce a concluding combo of crucial smart tips for growing your career, the 4-in-1 emotional intelligence (EQ) skill of empathy, respect for others, self-respect with a tinge of vulnerability. Empathy as defined by Daniel Goleman is the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and treating people according to their emotional status. It is evidenced by an expertise in building and retaining talent, cross-cultural and cross-generational sensitivity, and service to clients and customers. As I wrote in my book “Growing People,” self-respect is a leg in the self-esteeming tripod of self-respect – a sense of being worthy of happiness. Self-efficacy – a sense of basic confidence no matter what. These two come from within. Respect for others – intentionally operationalising the golden rule – do unto others…and putting yourself in their shoes. Often, I recommend the Rotary’s 4-Way test: Is it the truth? Is it fair? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? And will it be beneficial to all concerned? Take a deep breathe, it is an ‘answer ALL questions’ test. Take it before ‘taking that jump’. The jump may be a seemingly innocent ‘forwarded many times’ WhatsApp message, it may be an ‘appropriate’ response to a colleague or a dirty slap for the house help or a ‘beating of his life’ for that recalcitrant child. Take the test first! Be strong in your inner being because when you are solid in your inner self, you wouldn’t find it difficult to humble yourself, admit an error and have a quickest recovery, admit to your fallibility, and respect the people around you.
Above all, we must practice intentionality – a deliberateness in managing self and spending time well. I do not say manage time, I would rather counsel, manage yourself. Time is such an irreplaceable commodity, but you can rejuvenate yourself, you can reinvent yourself. Be focused because a hunter who chases two rabbits at the same time catches none. Practice life-after-work every day. How have you used yourself today? What have you put into your twenty-four hours? Things like work, entrepreneurial exercise, sleep, spiritual exercise, bodily exercise, like walking and other gym exercises.
Till next time, keep winning. Cheers.
*Segun Mojeed is an alumnus of the prestigious Yale School of Management. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, and the Institute of Training & Development, respectively. He is a certified World Kirkpatrick Learning Effectiveness Evaluator, and an accredited Kolbe, MBTI, and Assessment Centre consultant. He is also an accredited Centre for Management Development (CMD) consultant. Segun is an author. His latest book: Growing People is on Amazon Kindle. He is the Executive Consultant/Group Head of Practice at BezaleelConsulting, the HR Company.
Acknowledgement/Sources of Resources for this article:
- Olusegun Mojeed: Growing People – Experiential Essays… Digitech Creative Publishers, 2019.
- Ed Evarts: Drive Your Career – 9 High-Impact Ways… Excellius Press/Page Two Books, 2020.
- People Matters: A compendium of Talent Management & People Skills Essays by Olusegun Mojeed. BezaleelConsulting Group’s Library bezaleelconsultingrw.com
- Simon Sinek: Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone… Penguin Group, 2009.
- Daniel Goleman: Working with Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books, 1998.