We've covered the importance of having money and skills. Next is a concept I was never good at. Diplomacy. Kissing butt. My contract with Apple was just about to end but it just got extended.
Here are the keys to keeping your job:
1) Do exactly what is asked of you. Your boss needs to know that you will do everything he asks. This is tough to understand. You might be smarter than he is, or more talented at the skill you were hired for, but ultimately he has to go in a room with his boss (and HIS boss, etc) and is being held accountable for what he SAID that YOU will achieve. He must know that your #1 objective is to keep him happy. Also, your bosses boss can't get anything done if there is a weak link in the chain of command, so you must do what you are asked.
2) Quickly get up to speed on the crappy, mediocre tasks. The devil is in the details. Chances are, if you get in trouble at work, it will be triggered by some silly mistake on some seemingly redundant, mundane assignment. Excel at these tasks by putting the extra effort in.
3) Give credit where it's due. You should learn to recognize the skills of your teammates and remind them of what THEY are good at. I used to have this big, fat friend and he could never attract women, but everyone loved him because he had a special talent. He would tell you what YOU were great at. He made everyone else a star in his presence. But it must be sincere. You're not handing out second place trophies, you're getting people to do what they are natural good at, and this is the key to managing a team.
4) Work on your reputation. Ultimately someone needs to sign off and say you are the authority on a certain subject. Own your subject so they can declare you the leader in that genre. This means delivering on what you say you will deliver on. It means saying things in advance that later prove true. That requires hard work at your particular skills.
5) Become invaluable. Given a chance, you can learn secrets and skills that nobody else in the company has. That means that they can ask you a question that you can answer in a minute which would take someone else a week, and you'll do a better job in 1 minute. This requires your skill, hard work and diplomacy to have others trust in you enough to master key operations. Be someone they need and they will think twice about parting ways.
6) Be punctual. Missing a meeting or being late causes the whole team to wait. This is a terrible thing to do. Always be punctual to the exact minute.
I hope this helps you avoid carrying your poor cats through 12 states in 12 years like I had to in order to figure this out. Rest assured fluffy and peaches are fine.
Here are the keys to keeping your job:
1) Do exactly what is asked of you. Your boss needs to know that you will do everything he asks. This is tough to understand. You might be smarter than he is, or more talented at the skill you were hired for, but ultimately he has to go in a room with his boss (and HIS boss, etc) and is being held accountable for what he SAID that YOU will achieve. He must know that your #1 objective is to keep him happy. Also, your bosses boss can't get anything done if there is a weak link in the chain of command, so you must do what you are asked.
2) Quickly get up to speed on the crappy, mediocre tasks. The devil is in the details. Chances are, if you get in trouble at work, it will be triggered by some silly mistake on some seemingly redundant, mundane assignment. Excel at these tasks by putting the extra effort in.
3) Give credit where it's due. You should learn to recognize the skills of your teammates and remind them of what THEY are good at. I used to have this big, fat friend and he could never attract women, but everyone loved him because he had a special talent. He would tell you what YOU were great at. He made everyone else a star in his presence. But it must be sincere. You're not handing out second place trophies, you're getting people to do what they are natural good at, and this is the key to managing a team.
4) Work on your reputation. Ultimately someone needs to sign off and say you are the authority on a certain subject. Own your subject so they can declare you the leader in that genre. This means delivering on what you say you will deliver on. It means saying things in advance that later prove true. That requires hard work at your particular skills.
5) Become invaluable. Given a chance, you can learn secrets and skills that nobody else in the company has. That means that they can ask you a question that you can answer in a minute which would take someone else a week, and you'll do a better job in 1 minute. This requires your skill, hard work and diplomacy to have others trust in you enough to master key operations. Be someone they need and they will think twice about parting ways.
6) Be punctual. Missing a meeting or being late causes the whole team to wait. This is a terrible thing to do. Always be punctual to the exact minute.
I hope this helps you avoid carrying your poor cats through 12 states in 12 years like I had to in order to figure this out. Rest assured fluffy and peaches are fine.
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