There are millions of brilliant people pursuing aggressive careers who have their sights set on great achievement. While their efforts are surely nothing short of genius, many lack the soft skills that could really put them over the top. These are the qualities that make good people great. Practical and time tested, mastering the following fundamentals will make if difficult for success to elude you.
1. Out of Box Thinking
Many dislike this term but the concept works. All it requires is thinking about problems through a different set of eyes, or different dimension. Sit back and try to solve the problem from the eyes of a 6 year old, turn things upside down, and absolutely challenge the norm. Go outside and sit in a subway station (or somewhere you generally don't sit to work) and think about why other solutions have not worked. What has worked?
Remember the best ideas come from people who are hands-on with their work. When everyone thinks and recommends a lackluster approach, lackluster results will follow. Change your surroundings, change your views, change your thought process and come up with a killer idea!
2. Taking Ownership
When no one is willing to own it, be the first to grab the opportunity. A process involving various stakeholders normally loses momentum and vision suffers. A process with a good leader, input from others, and true direction, has a much better chance of success. Be the person that jumps in and takes on a new project (just don't over-commit). An ability to own a task and work towards success is a skill which gives long lasting returns.
3. Eagerness to Learn
After a certain period, a job becomes monotonous and people become bored and eventually even lazy. They lose all the zeal to learn new things and although they won't admit this, their actions would make you believe they have thrown in the towel and are satisfied with a status quo life and career. If you really want to move ahead, don't get into this rut. Don't tune out.
Always remain eager to learn; you never know what knowledge or capability will push you up in your career. Remember, you need an open mindset and positive attitude to approach work. If you are constantly learning, it will be tough to be or appear to be interested in mediocrity.
4. Willingness to Help
Much of life is give and take. Work is no exception. If you are the person that is constantly stepping out of your comfort zone in order to help others, people (most) will return the favor when you ask. That's the key though, you have to be willing to help someone and not too proud to ask them for help when you need it.
5. Solution Seeking Mindset
People love to talk about problems. However, when you ask for their solutions, they aren't willing to go on record with sweeping changes. The majority of employees lack an attitude to solve issues and prefer to keep them burning. A positive mindset can send the right vibe and give you a lot of attention. Don't avoid complainers, listen to them just long enough to hear the problem, then try to come up with a solution.
6. Humility
Arrogance never attracts more people than humility. When you know your work and are humble about it, there is no reason that you would not be appreciated. Humility needs to be pitched with much care lest people take undue advantage of you. Strike the right balance and you will see its real magic.
It is a jungle out there.You not only need to survive but flourish too. Develop a killer attitude for success and no one will stop you.
19 comments:
Thank you very much for the great post. I definitely agree with "Eagerness to Learn" tip. Especially coming right after college, both the change in the lifestyle and the work routine easily make a person lazy and not willing to develop. I would also suggest reading more motivational books or constantly keeping in touch with people who are eager to learn.
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Hello Prof. Kurpis,
This is a great entry and the tips are very helpful, especially for college students who will soon be stepping into the workforce. I think these tips can definitely help to become successful at work. Those who follow these tips will stand out from the rest in a work setting. I feel that thinking out of the box is a challenge for a lot of people and I think that people who actually do think out of the box are quite creative because they are able to think of situations that are not so typical. I agree that one should always be eager to learn because if the willingness to learn new things is lost, a person will start disliking what they do because the job would become boring as it becomes repetitive over time. I like the concept of a solution seeking mindset because someone who thinks about the solutions instead of thinking about the problems only is a forward thinker. I think all these great tips are characteristics of a successful person and everyone should follow these if they want to be the one who stands out positively in an organization.
I hate that term, 'out of box thinking' but then again, that is why I don't do well in the group experiments we have in class. I usually pick the logical (what seems logical to me anyway) choice and that's that. However, I'm starting to welcome that idea as I progress through the semester. I think that brainstorming is a good start for thinking out of the box. One will have many alternatives to work with and maybe have something amazing as well.
I can definitely relate with the 'eagerness to learn' tip because when things becomes mundane, then I get really lazy in doing it. So to prevent this I'm always trying to learn something else/ new. For instance, I use to do the same things every day at my internship, but after talking to my manager ( who is very understanding), I now do many different tasks, which keeps me motivated and interested at the position.
Overall, I find this post to be very inspirational, but of course reading is one thing, it's putting what you've read into action that counts (I actually read your later blog, '5 Ways to Become More Intelligent" first).
There are millions of job seekers pursuing jobs, especially right now as unemployment is higher than 10%. There is no doubt that many of these people are intelligent as well. I belive that the third reason mentioned is the most important, as the constant willingness and eagarness to learn, and not allowing yourself to let your drive for success deteriorate, are the driving factors to one's personal success, in my opinion.
There is no doubt that the other mentioned points are important also. Just to name a few additional points, which may or may not be included in "brilliant" when describing the job seekers, such as the ability to pitch an idea and convince others of its vaildity, the ability to talk persuasively and confidently to subordinates as well as superiors, the ability to engage people and motivate them to crave success, and the ability to write effectively, professioanlly, and efficiently.
Great Post Prof. K.!
I love out of the box thinking. Although I probably don't apply it as much as I would like to. I believe that out of the box thinking is where all these innovations in the world come from. Being able to think of things far in advance of anyone else.
Sometimes taking ownership of something is also taking a risk. It would work if you are a risktaker, however if you're someone more conservative, you may not make that iniative.
An openmind set never fails I believe.
By helping others, you in return will receive help when it is needed. People notice who are nice to them and who helps them. People will act towards you how you act towards them.
I'm the type of person who always looks for a solution or reason when I feel is needed. Sometimes I simply just can't accept "just because" as an answer. There has to be a reason for your actions.
Arrogant people piss me off. I'm a strong believer of karma and at the end of it all it will just come back around and bite them where it hurts.
I think your posts are very valuable knowledge and it is definitely the quality people needs to have in order to become and successful person. Yet the theories seems easy enough, but sometimes people just can't stick with it. there are always something external that distracted their attention and people tend to forget this qualites. To me I think Eagaerness to learn, Helping others and Humility seems to be easiest to me. Other three tips are also helpful, but I think it requires more intelligence emtion from a person.
I think that the hardest one is eagerness to learn. Even while learning, there is no real eagerness to learn. I go to class, I sit and listen and I participate when I choose to, but that has become a pattern in itself. No matter now much you try to help with your class activities, becoming eager to learn is something that I become by myself.
Thinking outside the box is a very hard thing to do but I agree that it is very important because it requires creativity and really thinking hard about things in ways different of other people. By doing this I can take ownership of the situation and this can lead me to success because I am being original. Learning is most definitely very crucial and I believe people never stop learning, I find myself learning new things every day. Learning goes hand and hand with willingness to help others because by doing this I am better able to teach others my ideas and this in turn adds to their knowledge as well. Humility is definitely a biggie! Nobody likes to be talked down to or be lectured by cocky people. Your ideas could be great but a person attitude can make the difference between something being a success or a total failure. These are great tips and ones I will consider when pursuing my career.
These "6 tips to rock your career" are definitely going to be on my mind once I start my journey into MY PROFESSION. Coming from a man like you who has accomplished a lot in his career means a great deal to me. These tips should help students to thrive once they enter in their workforce. Your last quote, "It is a jungle out there. You not only need to survive but flourish too. Develop a killer attitude for success and no one will stop you," will be my new motto in thriving to become a GREAT PERSON.
This is a great part of your Blog Professor!! BUT I can't really understand the part of humility..
This is my second degree which means I have been in college for a long time... I know this is the perfect timeing to achive a goal for my life and school too. BUT it is always hard to even following up each classes.. Each semester goes so fast even before I try to enjoy this time.. This Blog was a good reminder what I should do on my last a year in the college life.
Out of box thinking is becoming more and more important in our life and career. When thinking of new products in the market, most of them come from “out of box thinking”. It is also like a type of innovation.
Taking ownership is a little bit hard for me. Because once we take the ownership, we have to be responsible to the task, especially the task that no one else wants to take. We have to take high risk, however, once we success, the profit will also be great.
These elements of successful career growth have made me think that most of us know the theory of success but unfortunately we do not know how to implement it at the right time and at the right place. We are often stuck with some problems, we feel like we have run out of ideas. Isn’t it a nice push for the out-of-box thinking? I agree that taking ownership is important as it demonstrates your commitment and initiative. Sometimes it is worth to say first “I will do it”, and then think about how you are going to do it. The over thinking process may discourage you from taking initiative and willing to accept the future obstacles. If we imagine that the problem is the prey and we are the hungry predators, what should we do? We’ll jump on the problem, hunt for the possible solutions until we feel some kind of satiation with our good job.
Rules that you have posted on the blog remind me sort of a code that gets posted in IBD (Investors Business Daily) which somewhat similar. Its all nice perfect when written on paper, but when life strikes in its not so easy sometime to keep it cool –er ;) It is important to be first and do what others don’t. Thinking outside of the box not only when given project but also during critical life situations – I found that by doing so sometimes it helps me dealing with stress better. One last thing… Helping others being sincere and just nice to everyone will defiantly help and can’t hurt anybody.
The problem I have most is definitely developing thicker skin, which I feel is crucial in anything you do especially in MY CAREER.
With that you wouldn't be apprehensive about anything as much. You would actually go for it. You would be able to take constructive criticism well. There's nothing wrong with having thick skin whatsoever.
Although, arrogance is probably one of the ugliest traits possible unless you're funny.
Great Post Professor Kurpis! I really liked the idea of Thinking outside the box. In this age of ultra competitive environment, it is imperative to have a thinking framework that goes beyond the analytical skills developed in school. Since if you think like everyone else, that doesn't really give you an advantage does it? Sir Ken Robinson asserted that school actually seeps our creativity as we grow up. As Picasso have said "All children are born artists, the problem is to remain one as we grow up."
i've interned every summer of my college years and have learned some insights about what will be really beneficial to me. definitely if you think outside the box, than you will go places because most people are very regimental in their thinking and do not think creatively. thats what managers are looking for in this day and age. they wannt to see someone whos fresh in their approach, who come up with an idea that they have never heard of before.
also, an eagerness to learn will make you visible on your supervisor's radar. people like to feel that they are smart and knowledgeable (i know it sounds bad but thats not how i mean it) and if they see that you are very itnerested in what they ahve to say, and make them feel important, then your good!
Dear Professor, you always give good tips in your blog. This one also give some ideas to extend my horizon to think about my career. I will print out all of your blog tips, I will carry them. Always keep that in mind like guide line :) thanks for great bolg again.
The competition in career is fierce. Professor give us some tips which are very pragmatic and useful.
Thank you for sharing this valuable experience.
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