Be Different or be dead

October 28, 2019

5 secrets I wish I knew before my career started

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5 secrets I wish I knew before my career started.

I’m often asked what lessons I learned over my career that I wish I would have known when I started out.

If I could take what I learned over my formal 33+ year career and was able to apply it when I started my journey there is no question I would have had an easier time.

I would have been able to avoid some common pitfalls I encountered, I would have been more productive and a better leader. I would have been able to add more value to the organization than I did.

In no particular order, I wish I knew these 5 things when I started out.

1. Education matters less than you think

A slight overstatement, perhaps, but I wish I knew then that there is too much fuss made about one’s academic pedigree and the belief that the MBA (or whatever) would guarantee success.

So of course everyone who wanted to aspire to greatness rushed out to take as many courses as they could to get another piece of paper with the mistaken belief that the more you knew, the higher up the ladder you would go.

I learned that it’s hogwash. Yes, you need a good (not great) academic background to even be in the game of advancing your career, but the thirst for more knowledge with the papyrus to prove it is an ineffective use of one’s time and resources.

There are other things that matter more in terms of influencing whether one succeeds or not.

2. Non-compliance breeds success

This is a tough one, because schooling teaches us to comply; to follow the instructions we are given and if we do a real good job at following the rules we just may get rewarded with an “A”.

I wish I knew then that compliance is not the formula for success; it makes you the same as everyone else; you are buried in the herd of people who all look alike and who are all aspiring to be the best copycats there are.

If I had understood that the opposite is actually a better determinant of success — i.e. not conforming with best practices and the standard ways of doing things.

You see the thing is, if you decide to be a conformist, you’ll likely never be noticed. Why would anyone spot you when you look like the person next to you in every way?

It took me a while to figure this out, but once I did I always asked myself the question when confronted with a challenge: “How can I do this differently?”

Not understanding this truism probably cost me at least 5 years if progression in the early part of my career.

3. The perfect anything doesn’t exist

From the first day on the job day we are told that we must produce the perfect plan; that the studies that we are asked to do are complete and accurate — a.k.a. perfect.

Well guess what? I wish I knew then that no plan, strategy or study ever produces the results that are intended (they teach you the opposite at school). At best they produce variations on the theme because the underlying assumptions don’t pan out in the real world.

The problem is that we end up spending a disproportionate amount of time getting the plan or study right rather than getting it just about right and trying it out in the real world of fickle customers and hungry competitors.

I learned that trying an imperfect ANYTHING (and modifying it as you go) gets results. It led me to make more tries than my peers, make more mistakes than their conservative bent and beat them to the top.

4. Reacting is more productive than anticipating

I wish I knew then that with unpredictability and uncertainty the new normal in world affairs, winning in the market was more about what one’s organization did in reaction to unexpected events that shocked them than it was on sticking to their original plan.

That the real objective of trying to maximize the chances of success was to be as good as you can at anticipating future events, but be GREAT at reacting when the future doesn’t unfold as it should.

We wasted time and suffered market position by having to rethink our plan when it suffered a blow due to the unexpected, instead of having a backup contingency waiting in the wings to perform in the moment things went south on us.

5. It’s what you DO not what you know

I wish I knew then to spend more of my time and energy on accomplishing things — actually getting things done — rather than in trying to improve the intellectual quality of my business plans and proposals.

In retrospect, I wasted precious time and energy trying to fancy-up my proposals by more analysis using sophisticated tools to predict specific outcomes rather than on cutting short my up-front analysis and getting to implementation sooner.

I learned that people succeed on the basis of what they produce not on the level of their academic competence.  Theories and principles are fine, but unless they are accompanied by passion, energy and perseverance nothing gets done and no one is rewarded.

There is no reason people have to learn the hard way when others have already absorbed the pain and found out what works.

I hope my 5 secrets will help you avoid common pitfalls that befall everyone in every career path.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 10.28.19 at 04:34 am by Roy Osing
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October 26, 2019

Why success doesn’t necessarily come from working really hard

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Why success doesn’t necessarily come from working really hard.

Many people think that spending most of their time and effort working for the company is enough for a promotion. However, they always find themselves getting bypassed when promotion time comes. As a result, they end up tired and feeling unappreciated for all the hard work they put in.
Let’s say you’re starting as a financial consultant, how can you excel in your chosen career? There are various ways of obtaining that promotion you richly deserved.

Aside from working hard, you should also consider:

Increasing your influence

Working long hours leave you little time for other career-enhancing activities. Instead of focusing on the quantity, consider boosting the quality of your work. For example, think of ways on how to accomplish your daily task in the least amount of time. By doing so, management will undoubtedly notice your efficiency for getting things done.

Often, it’s not possible to finish all your work within an 8-hour workday. However, if you’re aiming for a higher position, you’ll need to develop time-saving solutions.
If you’re heading a team, make efficient use of your members to accomplish more. With more time on your hands, you can then connect with other groups or departments where you can offer your help or expertise. 

Meeting the right people

Getting buried in paperwork will deprive you of making a personal connection with other people in the company. Yes, it’s essential to finish your work. However, you should also devote some time to attending company social functions or talking to your colleagues.
These meeting and communications are usually vital for any promotional aspirations aside from doing meaningful work.

Adopting a positive personality

Many people mistakenly believed that working hard can compensate for their poor personality. Unfortunately, a boorish attitude won’t help you elicit goodwill from your co-workers and superiors. Without their cooperation, attaining your promotion goals is next to impossible. After all, companies value teamwork and collaboration among co-workers.

It’s unlikely that you’ll achieve recognition for being a lone wolf no matter how hard you work. You should instead make an effort to become a highly contributing team player.

Finding helpful insights into your work

There’s a misconception that executives and senior management attain their positions by working harder than others. While it’s true that hard work plays an integral part in their success, intelligence is also essential. Since time and physical effort is a limited quantity, resourcefulness can also help you accomplish more.

Helping other people succeed

Helping other people succeed may seem counter-intuitive for many people. Shouldn’t you focus on your own career? Besides they may also be your rivals for the top position you’re aiming for.
The truth is, putting people down to advance your career will rarely work and may even backfire. However, by helping people succeed, you may be paving your upward rise.

Consider the following situations:
— Helping supervisors to achieve their goals can enhance your suitability for higher roles in the company
— Promoting your teammate, can result in your group attaining a well-deserved recognition.

If you’re just starting your career consider the following in addition to a work hard ethic:

Create your career vision (write it in a journal)

A career in the financial industry will require plenty of hard work. However, your efforts won’t matter if you haven’t set a career vision. While your goals may change over time, it’s vital to lay out a personal plan and not somebody else’s.

Take an entry-level job but don’t stay there

When your funds are short, and your dream job is not yet available, consider taking any job even if it’s a low paying one. However, you have no reason to get stuck with that work. Instead, consider submiting your CV to recruitment sites and continue improving your skills and looking for your dream job. It’s important to keep your options open in case a recruiter presents your dream job. 

Make your own career decisions

Ultimately, you choose your career path. Don’t rely on the words of others when it comes to your career. If there is little progress of getting promoted in your current company, it’s probably better to look for greener pastures.

Never take a job because of generous salary or perks

It’s tempting to accept a job offer that comes with a fancy title or big salary. Even so, it’s challenging to stay in a company where you don’t like or trust your co-workers.
So when a job offer seems too good to be true, exercise caution before accepting.

Time is a precious resource, spend it wisely

Life is temporary, and so is your job, giving you little time to waste. You have to advocate for your career even if you have to face plenty of doubters and haters. You should also consider when it’s time to leave a situation that’s no longer a suitable for you.

You won’t succeed in your career by trying to please everyone. You have to stand up and speak your mind. Such action may get you fired, but it sticking to your conviction makes you stronger. You can’t succeed in your career by merely playing safe or strictly adhering to the job description. 

Conclusion

Many people think that hard work alone is enough for getting promoted. However, such is not the case. Numerous factors can help you attain the position you want. Aside from completing your daily tasks, you need to socialise and make friends or connections.
Also, you need to exercise and exhibit personal traits that will prove to the company that you have the ‘right stuff’ for the top position. 

— Lauren Walker is the marketing administrator for Stellar Select, a financial services recruitment agency. The company provides the best match of mortgage and financial service candidates with employers who need their talents. Ever since its formation in 2005, candidates have been relying on Stellar Select as a trusted agency. Meanwhile, clients value them as a valuable source of professional talent.

• Posted 10.26.19 at 06:53 am by Roy Osing
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October 21, 2019

Why a boilerplate is absolutely the worst thing ever

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Why a boilerplate is absolutely the worst thing ever.

How many people go to Google to find a template to follow for something? It could be for a résumé, a business plan, a job application or a flowchart for anything.

Any common requirement that can be programmed and replicated ends up in some sort of template format and made available for everyone to use.

Boilerplates make it easy for the person using it — follow the format; don’t think; stay within the lines — and for the person receiving it (content is presented in one way; common elements are covered).

Boilerplates have a dark side; they are obscene when you consider 5 serious problems they cause:

1. They rob creativity

Boilerplates rob the creativity in people — no creativity is needed to complete a template on any topic (other than selecting the template appropriate to the application you have in mind).
You don’t have to think through your own approach to any challenge you are facing, in fact most people choose the the template that is easiest to complete.

Want to create a résumé? Download one of the many templates from the internet and have a go; it’s that easy.
The problem is that for the sake of easiness, you sacrifice the opportunity to express your individuality; to do something that is uniquely you.

Successful people are remarkable because they create their own personal art, something that is special to them and that conveys their uniqueness.
Template thinking is clearly counter to that and in fact represents a force that stultifies personal art forms.

2. They force compliance

Boilerplates encourage a “fill in the blanks” mentality — rather than considering why the blanks are there and filling them in with a plan or strategy in mind, you just mindlessly fill them in.

You are willing to accept an approach that someone else has conceived and trust that it will work for you.
This unfortunately leads to just doing what your told without thinking for yourself; complying with the rules set by others rather than questioning what you’re being asked to do and doing it your own way.

The ultimate consequence of this behaviour is a population that simply follows the intellectual perspective of other pundits or experts and is therefore unable to adapt to changes required to survive and thrive in a changing world.

3. They spawn copycats

Boilerplates reinforce and perpetuate the copying phenomenon — if one thousand people use the same résumé template, for example, a crowd of 1000 look-alike candidates for any job opportunity is created.

I’ve sat across the table interviewing candidates for a VP Marketing leadership position and have almost been ‘put to sleep’ because the value propositions offered by virtually everyone of them were the same and were the product of a template they all used. Originality was missing in action; individuality was masked by crowd mentality.

As a writer and practitioner of being different, I find the best practices and benchmarking completely of touch with what it takes to achieve personal and organizational growth and success.

Copying anything simply increases the common herd by one; no additional value is created; no actual progress is achieved.

4. They cause laziness

Boilerplates make people lazy — it takes zero energy (other than finding a template you need) to exist in the world of boilerplates.
The process of completing a template is well defined and predictable, so with a minimum amount of effort you can produce the expected result.

Many would argue that this is a good thing, that achieving something with minimal effort is a sign of being highly productive.
And, in certain instances, I would agree. But in this case the zero effort experience raises the expectations that all challenges will be successfully met with little effort — I call it the boilerplate syndrome.

What ever happened to the premise that anything worth doing is worth working hard for? My grandkids’ schooling makes extensive use of templates and they actually think they will achieve greatness by using them. Nope.

The boilerplate syndrome enables the inertia of taking what is perceived as the easy way.

5. They make things boring

Boilerplates are boring — they all produce the same information in the same form; they are totally predictable. Any time a predictable result is consistently produced by anything, it’s boring.

They say variety is the spice of life, and it’s particularly true when it comes to the applications of templates. Where are the spicy résumés, the spicy marketing plans and the spicy flowcharts?

It’s time to mix things up if you want to get noticed. Sure, use a résumé boilerplate as a guide, but apply your own personal twist to introduce variety and attract the attention of your intended audience.

The suppliers of boilerplates market their similar solutions to people who aren’t creative, who love to comply with the views of others, who are comfortable with being a copycat, and who are ok with producing something that is boring.

And unfortunately there are too many people out there to buy what they offer.

Let’s change that.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 10.21.19 at 04:31 am by Roy Osing
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October 14, 2019

10 daring things that will make sure you bomb your job interview

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10 daring things that will make sure you bomb your job interview.

Your interview is with a reputable organization and there are significant opportunities for advancement if you are the successful candidate out of the crowd of other applicants.

If you fall into these 10 pitfalls, disaster awaits you. You will be unprepared, you will look like every other person applying for the job and your chances of getting recruited are close to zero.

#1 — Have a skin-deep, superficial understanding of the organization; don’t spend much time researching their current performance and the critical issues they currently face in the markets they serve.

This is an effective way to communicate that they’re really not all that important to you and that whatever their challenges are, your education, skills and experience will save the day.

Make it about you not them.

#2 — Mention that they are only one of many organizations vying for your talents. You are in high demand so it’s no big deal if they want you or not. Remember, it’s on them if they fail to see your value and not bring you into their organization.

#3 — Stress your planning skills and the strategies you have developed in previous positions. If you have no practical experience creating business plans, promote the business courses you have taken as the primary tools of strategy success.

Point out that the strategy development process is, after all, an academic exercise. Wax on about the importance of spending as much time on the plan as needed to enhance the probability of success. Never mention the importance of plan execution; it’s messy and definitely not a “sexy” thing to talk about.

#4 — Focus on the importance of being perfect; emphasize that your education has taught you to seek perfection regardless of the amount of time it takes. Declare that you’re proud to be a perfectionist and your high marks prove that you are pretty close to achieving that status.

Argue that you are relentlessly focused on achieving perfect solutions to the challenges you are given and that your personal values cannot accept imperfection in anything.

#5 — Be very general when answering the question “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” It’s very important to be as vague as you can. You don’t want to be pinned down with anything specific as you could be pressed for specific achievements.

For strengths, use phrases like “strong interpersonal skills”, “a good team player” and “effective communicator”. For weaknesses, “I take on too much” or “I haven’t solved the work-life balance issue yet; I work too much” are good responses.

#6 — Don’t ask the interviewer tough and penetrating questions. Reinforce the fact that you chose not to spend a lot of time preparing for the interview.

Lob gentle questions that enable the interviewer to feel smart about his or her answers so they feel superior to you. This is critical for not standing out.
You don’t want the interviewer to feel that you are interviewing them to determine if your interests are best served by their organization.

#7 — Wear standard boring business attire. It’s important to not display any imagination or willingness to be contrarian.

In fact you must leave the strong impression that you are motivated to fit in with everyone else around you and that you believe it is important to conform with acceptable norms.

#8 — Play down your ambition. You will certainly be asked where you would like to be in five years. Don’t make it appear that you have bold aspirations to advance. Avoid being specific.

Possible answers to consider are “If I do a good job I would like to get a promotion at some point” or avoid the matter completely by answering “I don’t really know. I just want to make a solid contribution and trust that my efforts would be duly recognized.”

It’s important that you convey the message that you are happy to have the organization look after you and determine your future.

#9 — Never show you have a backbone. Run from tough pointed questions; obfuscate wherever possible. Avoid sticking your chin out with anything that could be construed as controversial.

#10 — Be ready for the “Why should I hire you as opposed to one of the other applicants?” question. Your answer to this is critical if you don’t want to be viewed as remarkable and unique. The key is to actually ignore the intent of the question.

Talk about what you think are your strengths and ignore the fact that everyone else has them. Paint yourself into the crowd of people who generally have the skills and experience you have. You can’t afford to stand out from the crowd.

Follow these steps and you will likely have a difficult interview experience, and will be one of many unsuccessful candidates.

But if you think about these 10 pitfalls and have a plan to avoid them, you will not only have an amazing interview where you establish yourself as someone who stands out from the crowd you will also leave the other candidates in your dust.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 10.14.19 at 04:40 am by Roy Osing
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