I have always held firmly to the belief that every aspect of our lives has two sides. In the end and on final analysis of our experiences, there can only be one side we settle for. The positive or otherwise. It is this choice that forms the basis of what life’s hand gives us. Progress or stagnation. Misery or joy.
The line of thought above has immense application in our careers as much as it does in all other facets of our life. Based on the experience that has come with my few years in the Zambian workplace, I have gathered some insights both directly and through observation of other people’s experience. This forms the ingredients for the lessons that follow. My expectation is that these tips will add value to someone’s work life and a host of others will relate to them as well.
It’s a list you may choose to also add to because lessons abound in this arena! I know a couple of years from now, I may have to revisit this list with more insights!
So what are these priceless pearls I have picked thus far?
1. Know your stuff-whatever role you serve in, ensure you grasp its fit in the whole organisation’s picture. What responsibility does the role place on you and what are you accountable for? This will also entail that you are always “on top of things” with information relating to your role on your fingertips at all times. This empowers you and sets you on the path of competence and confidence in your abilities, knowledge and contribution. This also aids in determining the value you add.
2. You won’t always get credit- don’t do your work with expectation that someone will give you a pat on the back all the time. The motivation must always be you offering the best you have at all times. This will ensure you are not thrown off when the credit does not come your way. Always let your work speak for you and the rest will follow. Most importantly, with or without the credit, your drive will be fuelled by something totally different, sustainable, and fulfilling.
So many a time, deflation sets in when you believe you have done a lot but there is no commendation to follow. However, when you also have the opportunity to lead a team, remember the effect of not getting a pat or feedback when you have applied yourself and made strides. The way you have felt is likely to be the same for your team too when you don’t give the credit where it is due!
3. Humans will always be human- sounds simple and that is just the way it is. At some point in life, we expect people to meet our standards or the ideals we subscribe to. This means you will get people whose focus is on trivia, egos and subjectivity. Ever wonder why we have people in offices that just will not warm to other colleagues? Not liking how they talk, walk or have done their hair! So you will not like some things that happen in the office but as long as humans are in those offices, expect all such to occur. The cardinal thing is for you to not drown in the trivia but rather keeping a level head and playing professional by all means.
4. Politics will happen- regardless of your ideals, politics will be a part of the office. Some discussions, decisions and actions will bewilder you as exchanges flow from constructive (and good for the business) to plain insane. You will have people that will go out of their way to impress so as to make their way up or withhold information for fear that others will “shine” and only they have to be the stars. Similarly, you will have the lot that will pose questions to show their knowledge and intelligence or to expose others. However, no matter how deep this trend is, it does not endorse you playing along.
Be smart, uphold your principles and keep the focus on the real issues and progress. It is an unfortunate fact that there are people that have stayed in organizations because of their confrontational approach, backbiting and false impressions to hoodwink others (especially superiors) into believing they are performers when in the actual sense, they are mere mindless and blind loyalists.
5. Justify your decisions- it is one thing to follow a course of action and yet another to justify the rationale behind it (if at all there was one in the first place!). Always know why you have decided on a particular course especially for critical decisions. Follow logic always and in some out of the ordinary situations your gut. Then take responsibility for what you have decided and this is regardless of whether it goes your way or not. The most cardinal thing is that you learn from the experience when you do get it wrong.
This is a lesson I picked in the first two of my jobs. In my first job in a parastatal organization, we had to make a trip for a case hearing in a town two hours from Lusaka. When we arrived, the case could not take off as the person we were to sit with had fallen critically ill. My decision was to travel back with the reasoning that this would save money on accommodation and associated expenses. However, my supervisor’s boss somehow took it up and queried the decision to travel to the town in the first place only to travel back. Fortunately, my immediate boss had full information and supported my rationale.
The second lesson came in my second job in an FMCG company where we had a sales challenge relating to two of our substitute products. One was a popular buy among customers while the other was slow moving. This meant that when both were available for purchase at the same time, the substitute slow mover would be on the shelf for a while. I figured that I would artificially create a “drought” in the market to reduce the mountain in the distributor’s warehouse.
This was questioned at some point by our MD on his visit to my territory but eventually, it proved to be the best way to offload the slow moving stock and the warehouse was cleared through that intervention.
For critical decisions, always know what you are doing and let logic prevail and defend you.
6. Self-assessment and continuous improvement- always put yourself under microscope. What are you getting right and need to maintain? What are you getting wrong and need to curtail? What are you lax on that you need to improve? Learn from lapses, also from solicited and unsolicited feedback.
Do not bank on someone to come to your desk to offer you the feedback or wait for the annual assessment. Where you can, do find someone you trust that has sufficient knowledge of what you do. Let this be a person that openly unveils areas in your career that need energising, improvement and attention. This also calls for maturity as feedback will either be positive or negative……..you must be able to stomach criticism to progress!
Feedback is apparently and unfortunately an elusive commodity in the workplace either because of familiarity reasons or cultural inhibitions that make us believe it is only polite to offer positive feedback. Anything else comes with the risk of jeopardizing a friendship and association. This is why it becomes imperative to create a network that will assist you in assessing your progress or lack of it.
7. Be there for your team- everyone wins when you sail together. This by no means suggests you develop silos that will only take care of what is in front of them. Rather, it calls for unity and support wherever it is required to build the business. Even more critically, it will mean when the team is off the mark, don’t join in and tear them apart in public. Teach them and let the experience bring a lesson to the fore.
I have been in a situation before where a relationship is not so warm with the MD but even with the senior management team knowing the expatriate boss was “bullying”, I was exposed and stood alone. Eventually, when I left the organization to pursue another opportunity, the whole team offered their opinions about how I should not have resigned on account of the MD’s approach. When it mattered most, they had no voice.
The saddest bit has been that this is a trend I have seen repeat itself years later. When the heat is on and the “powers that be” exert pressure on a team, even the senior managers that should stand for their team retreat in shells. It is so disappointing when you will have supervisors, managers or even directors deny knowledge of issues or challenges to save their skin and instead expose their team members.
This, foolishly, is even followed with a mellowed and disguised apology after the pressure subsides. This must never be the case as it throws trust off the tracks. The most vivid exemplary conduct I have of this is how being there for your team builds supervisor-subordinate respect and trust. The first supervisor I had stood by me against his supervisor in a full meeting when it was clear the latter was merely politicking and attempting to bully me!!
8. Be yourself- explore yourself, get to know yourself and as you stroll on in your career, play to your ability and nature. Uphold your principles, know what makes you different and exploit opportunities to learn more about yourself. However, this by no means suggests you even entertain ill traits you may have picked along the way on account of being yourself.
Do not transform yourself into an island or dinosaur. This will also help to guide you against unhealthy compromises such as bootlicking to make it through the hierarchy. Sometimes it will pay to stand as you are rather than fit in for the sake of “progress up the ladder”. Other times, you will have people that will rise or “tick” because of their compromised tact to advance themselves. However, I believe the biggest difference is that you will be at peace with yourself after all is said and done rather than demean yourself to fit in.
9. Be professional at all times- this should never be a seasonal jacket you pull out when you need it. Always let your professional self shine. This will manifest in how you treat simple things such as responses to e-mails and calls, how you venture your opinions and input when required. It will also assist you in managing the chronic “corporate flu”- office gossip! Always strive to keep the focus, objectivity and conduct yourself as though you are still on your probation!
10. Don’t take things personal- accept that bad will happen, you will be unfairly treated at some point and even your opinions will not always be agreed with by a receptive audience. Pick your pieces and keep your eyes on the prize. There was a time I would take things badly if my views were drowned out and not taken, thinking this was a direct hit at me and a smash at my competence. But with time, I came to learn that some “battles” will not go your way. As such, it taught me how to review situations that culminated in such episodes so I could polish any areas that were exposed and could be improved.
11. Accountability vs. the blame game- never be in the forefront to take credit when things go well and melt away when they don’t. Instead, show ownership all the way. Many a time organisations are faced with symptoms such as analysis paralysis, delayed decision making and defective choices. These will usually arise from people submitting to the fear of making wrong decisions or making decisions with someone to blame in mind should it backfire. Company leaders must guard against feeding this insatiable cancer through “managing by fear”. Terrifying their teams into cowardice, silence and detachment.
Work experience and career growth is hugely driven via learning curves so the office must be a huge, healthy and rich classroom, where a brilliant breed is groomed and not extinguished.
People must be accorded an opportunity to learn from experience. Let them feel free to take accountability for the tasks they handle and drive initiatives and decisions without fear of reprisal and even embarrassment. It is soon discovered that this offers an even healthier environment for progress than instilling fear in employees which evidently stifles creativity, independence and accountability.
12. Lead from the front/know your team- many a time I have witnessed situations where decisions about teams are made without their interests at the core. This usually will occur because the team is represented by someone that is not fully in touch with the team or is not confident enough to be the team’s front person. Similarly, some managers and even executives have at some point made poor decisions about their team members based on what they have been fed with and common corridor hearsay. This should never be the case.
A leader must stand for his team and ensure that a call made is seen with merit, resplendent with objectivity and impartiality.
This becomes paramount especially in the event of lobbying for resources to support a team’s activities. This is because the point man representing the team will know what challenges the team faces, what they need to get optimal performance and the motivation required to make the team thrive. Therefore, a leader must push to sort out the controllables and manage the uncontrollable upwards. This builds confidence in the leader and enables him/her to “walk the talk”. Where the leader has not traversed the path of his team to fully appreciate their journey, there is no harm at all in learning and asking the team to enlighten him/her on the areas requiring awareness.
13. Exhibit your strengths- always find and seize opportunities that will showcase your strengths effectively. It is a settled matter that your superiors will not always find time to teach you and likewise take note of what you are made of. If you find a supervisor that will, lucky are you. No one owes you any favours to guarantee your progress or push your visibility. That remains your responsibility, therefore always seize the moment as best as possible, professionally and without pomposity. You may find yourself in situations where some are protected based on who they know and are familiar with. This may leave you out and should thus point you in the direction of you needing to craft your own path on the visibility route.
14. Kill fear, insecurity and low confidence- this combination is a very potent force that stands in the way of progress in the corporate world. Because of the office politics, a culture of fear, dominant personalities and impaired self awareness, many succumb to these elements and hence do not get anywhere near their potential.
These have to be managed for them to be defeated. This can only happen if and when you are aware of them and are determined enough to do something about it. I still remember myself years back struggling with my fear of public speaking, even worse when it required me to stand in front of people. Over the years, I have been shoved into such situations on account of the nature of the job and my role. There are ounces of this fear every so often but the fact that I am sharing this means I never died when I had to speak, so you will not too.
The challenges could be varied. It could be questioning your own competence hence opting for silence. It could be the dominance and confidence of other people that makes you feel inadequate or it could just be a lack of exposure. Whatever it is, face it and start on the course of correcting it before your potential is overshadowed and suffocated.
15. Kill prejudice- the workplace may not be a counselling platform or a psychology lab to dissect and design a manual on people. However, it is important to note that people will be different and have varying personalities, work ethics and styles. This means we should not succumb to prejudice and stereotyping people. This is rife in the corporate world where decisions and assumptions are made about people on the basis of how they talk, how loud they are and what jokes they laugh at. This poses a challenge and risk of sidelining people that can add value and elevating those that are all noise. The converse is also a possibility. Silence does not mean intelligence.
The point is and must be that “you can’t tell by looking”. We all must embrace diversity and the uniqueness of individuals accepting that no two people are ever the same. Therefore, to get the best out of an individual, take them as they are, assess their strengths and determine the best fit in the organisation for effective input and maximum output.
16. Be objectivity and maintain integrity- these are silent overlooked but very potent qualities. These outlive your professional career. Most of us do not see things beyond our noses hence we do not care about our conduct professionally and what legacy we will leave when we move on tomorrow.
This is a lesson I have learnt running into people that knew or worked with my father professionally. Most still remember him for his credibility and integrity. That is years after his active service. Similarly, this lesson has come to me through my own lapses that have had the potential to dent my reputation if the errors were sustained.
However, situations have forced me to learn from such momentary slip ups and emerge stronger. I have seen people walk away on a job with harsh words, confrontation or a track record they would not be proud of if they saw it from the eyes of those around them. What will your professional legacy be when you have moved on? Were you credible? Did you have a positive work ethic or were you one that brought more harm than good to those around you and the business in general?
How many times have we encountered people in privileged positions that employ others on the basis of familiarity and not merit? Why do we get to see ills such as favouritism, gossip and acceptable mediocrity for the chosen few? This is all because we let the lack of objectivity and integrity dictate our course of action. It may sound harsh and unrealistic but I have told myself over the years that even if my sister needed employment, I would only get her in, if I had the chance, with confidence that she is a performer, quick learner and will deliver in her own right. Not on account of a relationship with me and this is the same hard rule for friends and colleagues alike. No degree of bonds, relationships or history must shoot a hole through one’s professionalism, objectivity and integrity.
17. Have a plan- what is your daily motivation? What is your blueprint for your role? This is the compass in our careers. When we are in certain roles, no matter how “simple or basic”, we must know where we are going and therefore determine how we can get there. In some instances, we will be lucky to have superiors that will help us along the way and help craft our plan. But the most important plan is the one we have for ourselves. This is not a sophisticated Power Point with so many slides.
All you have is where you are, where you want to be and how to get there over a defined time frame. This is both with regard to you as an individual and also your role. In both instances what you want and need is value creation that will help you grow and be an integral part in shaping and delivering progress in the work place. For most of us, we have had to learn this the hard way but that should not be the case. We are in a community driven society that catalyses the sharing of experiences, learnings and ideas. One does not therefore need to make the same mistakes already made to learn. Just remain open minded and alive to all the lessons on your career journey.
My experience and that of others has me keeping an active notepad now that captures some of my thoughts on what I want to do, where I need to improve and any other things that make me appreciate my role and contribution.
18. Compete with yourself- when you aim for others in your career journey, your energies are in the wrong place. This is because all you want to focus on is being ahead of your “rival”. This will be a totally different picture if instead your energy is on improving, continuously building your capabilities, knowledge base and being an effective part of the team that is working together to achieve a common goal. Competing against others is what leads to situations where people withhold information so they may be the “stars”, where one elevates him/herself above the team and wants to claim the glory single-handedly thus creating silos and destroying the team ethic through this cancerous conduct.
19. Don’t be naïve or trust easily- we all want to assume the best of others. But the reality is that the work place, just like our life, is a jungle. There will always be those elements that can use what you say to get themselves ahead and tarnish your reputation. Others just suffer from a chronic ailment that does not allow them to keep their mouths shut. This therefore calls for you to err on the side of caution as you are safer with your thoughts, opinions and sentiments kept to yourself than let out to anyone or those you “trust”.
The work place is full of ulterior motives and vultures (predators too) that may not be as genuine as you are so exercise caution. Gossips especially expose you to this and you end up stating things only for them to move to the next person to share what you said or speak ill of you like they just did about another person with you!! Be professional but remember not all smiles are a sign of trust and friendship.
20. Leave your private life and problems at home- this by no means suggests that you stop being human. When a critical thing requires your mind, it is only humane and fair that you share especially with your supervisor as necessary so that you are assisted. This reduces the impact and duration of having you in non-productive mode.
However, what needs to be avoided is the habit some people are forced into where there is a new domestic problem every week. They are either unwell, a relative is or have fought with someone and unleash their moods on every one else. It is important to note that we all have different ways to assess others. Some use the formal appraisals, others use observation as they screen you performing tasks assigned to you while still others simply study your attitude to determine whether you have what they need to be a part of the team.
I still remember a lady I once worked with and my silent assessment of her based on her behavior. I will cite the two prominent incidents. One was her reaction to some of her items being moved by the cleaners and admin staff. What could have been sorted via an offline chat instead degenerated into an exchange via e-mail with several people in copy.
The last incident was something simple that said a lot about her character. She took leave and upon her return, she asked to take an afternoon off because she wanted to sort out a personal errand she had not done whilst on leave. It’s all in the little things and how personal issues and behaviours can jeopardize our image at work.
21. Dreams cost nothing- when you are in a role, do not limit yourself when it comes to what you think, want or dream about. Dream, put a plan together, present it and live with what comes after that. You after all will not lose anything. If it works, it is to your fulfilment and a notch on your experience belt. If it is thrown out, you can still get satisfaction that you tried and who knows someone in future could still pick it.
Fine, it is not a good feeling to have your idea thrown out as it makes you batter your competence but then again, the work place has never guaranteed 100% success rate of ideas!
Most of the time, what keeps us from dreaming is the environmental conditioning around us through other workmates or precedence that deflates us and consigns us to the corner of “untried” ideas.
We decide and accept that there are no resources for such ideas or the idea is similar to the previous one that your colleague submitted and it was rejected. Stop the speculation and confirm by doing it!!!
I recall in my first marketing role operating on a shoestring budget that initially also constricted my “dreaming” capabilities. With time, I figured I was not helping myself deciding on behalf of my boss what could fly or not. When I presented a plan for a promotion with other businesses as partners to offer prizes etc, he accepted it. What followed was our first national promotion which saw our grand winner flown to a national park on a “weekend for two” prize!! After that, we went from a subdued state to an exciting phase with billboards, print advertising, radio programmes and experiential/road/trade shows which contributed to customer growth and building the brand. So dream on……what are you waiting for?
22. Sing the song and believe the lyrics- there is one odd trend I have seen in the workplace. When there is a new leader, it is amazing how the common phrases he uses become the standard reference points used by almost everyone! Whether it is a statement to acknowledge the new leader’s philosophy or a blind statement to show immediate loyalty, I do not know.
The one certain thing is that this change is usually accompanied with an air of insecurity and jostling to be in the face of the new leader perhaps to devise a way to win favour and therefore security.
Following a leader’s philosophy or direction is not a bad thing in itself. My firm belief though is that one must not just sing a song because everyone else is or as a shallow show of loyalty to secure a job. Rather, there must be belief in the lyrics and steps taken in one’s path to apply that philosophy and just be oneself. After all, when you have value and know what you are doing, where you stand and your abilities, you will not need to impress by blind “sing along” type loyalty.
23. Apply, learn and apply- all the above lessons are things I have picked in my career. Some may be relevant, others not. The aim is not for them to be “true or false”. Rather, they are meant to simply convey a message that we all learn a lot of valuable and priceless lessons as we progress in life and our careers.
It is of extreme importance that we take time to stop and digest what we have learnt, what to keep and what to discard on the path of personal development and growth.
So apply, learn and APPLY!!!!
All the best.
Express It Now! 