Tag: career

There is no reason to re-create the wheel. There are a million ways that you could modify a wheel, but in the end, the best rolling structure will still be circular, this I can promise you.

I’m going to kick this off with my favorite and most painful example. When I started my first job, I was asked to complete a client status tracker. This was an excel document that we would share with the client each week that listed each project, a detailed timeline, and all the details that surrounded each and every project. I thought that it was the silliest part of my job. I was fresh out of college and I couldn’t figure out why we needed to have so much dang info in this document.

Every single day, I had to take at least an hour to update everything that changed that day. I crossed off things that had been done, highlighted anything that was behind schedule in red, added in all our new projects, and made changes to all the project details. It took freaking forever and I couldn’t wrap my head around why I had to spend so much time keeping this document updated. When we met with the client, the only thing she really cared about is if we were on schedule and what she owed us.

I worked for this company for five years. For five years I maintained this document with this “crazy” level of detail. Then when I took my next job and I was in a similar role and they didn’t have any type of document like this. It immediately became painfully obvious why it was needed, not only was it needed but required.

Everyone in the company ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Everyone answered questions about the details of the projects differently and projects were way behind schedule (and they didn’t even know they were behind schedule).

The first thing I did when I started in this role was to develop a process that included meeting with the full team every day to review all the project details. Confusion cleared up, projects were completed on time, the clients were thrilled, and I stopped getting constant emails with questions because everyone knew where they could look for the answers. What I’m getting at is sometimes even when things seem so silly, they can be so incredibly important, and you won’t understand the magnitude of the processes unless they are removed.

As you learn about your roles and responsibilities you should try to ensure that everything you do has a purpose and that you aren’t just doing something because it’s always been done or been done a certain way. Understand the process at a deeper level.

When I have come into new roles, I have tried to make sure that I understand what I am doing and the why behind it. There are a lot of times when people do a certain job for a long time that they might do something a certain way and not necessarily have a good rationale for how and why they do it. If you feel like a task isn’t valuable, make sure to discuss the purpose of the task.

If someone asks you why you are doing something you should have a clear answer and everyone should be on the same page.

There is a reason that processes and procedures are created. It’s to provide a universal structure that works for all parties involved. Companies spend a lot of time testing out processes and developing the best methods that work for them. As you progress throughout your career, you will see that there will be times where it will be obvious that implementing a new process would be beneficial. Be assertive and bring it up. The structure is usually a good thing.

If a structure already exists, avoid changing it unless you have a good reason. I have seen so many people come into a new role and without having a total understanding of the system they try to make changes to processes because they think they can do it better only to learn that the process in place was set up in the best possible manner once they were a little deeper into their role. My personal rule is that I like to be in my role observing for at least two months before you start questioning process and I try to avoid making major changes until I’ve been in my role for six months. Usually, the first year in a new role is just getting up to speed and really understanding your purpose. Don’t be the person who comes in and light the world on fire on day one.

There is always room for improvement, but you should strive to improve and not re-do.

Being a leader can be difficult if you don’t have a clear direction. What are your goals? How do you want to be viewed? There are three key pillars that I think are important to establish right off the bat.

Lead from Behind.

If you look at some of the very best leaders in the industry, the most respected leaders – they are often the ones that understand that you need to “lead from behind”. Full disclosure, I did not come up with the term “leading from behind”. I’ve heard quite a few folks use the term in a variety of ways.

Here is what I mean when I say leading from behind… it’s important to show that you are there for your employees and not the other way around. Without them, your business you wouldn’t be able to run your business. Without you, they wouldn’t have a good leader. Make sure that you are one with the team. Stand in line with them (and not always at the front), stay in the same style hotel room, park in the same parking lot.

I completely understand that you have worked hard to get where you are and there are certain things that you are entitled to because you are successful but don’t forget that at the end of the day you are just as human as every one of your employees. Additionally, there are a lot of employees that are also working really hard (in some cases just as hard as you) to gain the success that you have. Showing them that no matter how successful you become being a good person is so crucial to how you are perceived as a leader. For your employees to respect and trust you they must feel like you are on their level and not some kind of demi-god.

Manage Down.

We’ve all heard the term “managing up” and while it’s important to make your boss’s life easier (I have a whole bunch of content dedicated to that) it’s also important to make those who work under you feel at ease in their roles. It’s important to outline roles and responsibilities and be very clear upfront.

Don’t focus so much on making your manager’s life easy that you forget to be a good leader. The first time that I led a team, my goal was to teach and mentor each of my teammates in a way that they would become smarter and better at the job than I was. Think about that. If every person taught the person that would then fill their role to do the job better than they could – how amazingly successful, what amazing growth we would see. Your job as a manager isn’t just to guide – it’s to foster growth (and lots of it).

If every time you had spare time you jumped into the foxhole and helped out one of your teammates, think about how much would get done. Instead of everyone panicking about workload, you could have a short happy hour at the end of the week to celebrate your success.

Collaborate Across 

If your in an industry that has multiple job functions, try to learn as much as you can about all of them. Become the auxiliary contact. Make sure all the teams are talking, saying the same thing, and moving in the same direction. Being a leader with a cross-functional background makes it so much easier for you to talk the same language as other teams you are working with and collaborate with. The most successful projects that I have ever worked on are the ones where everyone is collaborating and it’s not a painful process. One team. One Dream.

Being a leader can be hard but if you remember these three key pillars you are off to a good start.

Something that I found really refreshing when I started working at my current company was that they asked their managers to have a “yes first” approach. This meant that if someone came to you and asked for permission, you should always TRY to give them approval unless the request would create business challenges. Wait? WHAT?! A company that actually trusts its employees? Is this real life?

You bet it is, and it’s a really great life!

Typically, people don’t ask for things that they don’t need, and a good employee won’t try to use the system their advantage. Let that sink in. GOOD EMPLOYEES DON’T ASK FOR THINGS THEY DON’T ACTUALLY NEED.

When I became part of this culture it was apparent that people didn’t just feel like worker bees but felt like they were a valued part of the company. They felt trusted. There are obviously always office politics, but having a culture that values trust is so incredibly important.

I want to work with people that I can be myself with. I want to work with people that understand my legitimate concerns about my family and my life. It goes without saying that some things remain private and I don’t want to share with everyone but knowing that I can talk to my colleagues about my personal life challenges so that they understand why one day I might be in a superstar mood and another day I might want everyone to leave me alone is very helpful in a collaborative office environment.

I recommend that you allow your employees to be human. To support them in their personal and professional endeavors. It will change your entire team dynamic. Trust that they will get their work done and if anything comes up that poses a threat, they will elevate it to you as a concern before it actually becomes an issue.

Try to change up your routine and start allowing your employees to do a little more, be a little more flexible. It might be allowing them to try their hand at a project they have been really interested in. It might be working from home one day a week. It might be a shift in office seating. It might be adding in a weekly pot luck. Regardless, letting your employees feel valued can create an immeasurable shift in office culture.

When you say yes, it doesn’t have to be a blanket statement. It should always come with expectations. For example, if you have an employee that asks to join the new business team because it’s something, they are passionate about perhaps you set up an arrangement where they can sit in on a few team meetings, and then you will continue to check-in. If they are still passionate about it, then give them a little more. If they get all their day to day tasks completed on time, there isn’t any reason that you should hold them back from perusing something they are passionate about and potentially good at. Passion fuels performance.

Saying yes can also help to break free from routine. Saying no is easy. It means that nothing is going to change. When you say yes, it means that there will be a shift from what is currently happening. That can be scary and intimidating. Don’t get me wrong, a routine is important but sometimes routine can be detrimental to success. Let me share an example. On an average day, I get anywhere from 75-200 emails. When I am in the office at my desk, I respond to 20 or 30 emails because I have constant visitors stopping by my desk asking me questions. When I work from home, I can usually get back to almost all the emails. Additionally, I work for about an hour and a half away from my home. This means that I spend about three hours a day driving. Imagine how much I could get done in three hours. If my daycare wasn’t right next to the office it would make working from home much easier but knowing that if I have a grandparent that can watch my kid and my boss is comfortable with me working from home if I need time to just knock stuff out makes me feel empowered and comfortable talking to her about anything work-related.

Give your employees the benefit of the doubt and see if productivity increases and attitudes improve.

Ohhhhh, public speaking… you glorious and terrible bundle of joy.

Public speaking is one of the most important skills you need to learn that tends to get overlooked. I’ve seen so many of my coworkers that can rock a presentation deck, know the numbers by heart and then get up to speak in front of a large group and their lack of speaking skills makes it look like they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

In order to get comfortable with your public speaking skills, you are going to have to get really uncomfortable. I think the reason that public speaking is so hard for so many people is that they are uncomfortable with themselves. Most of the time, the people watching you are too concerned with their own thoughts and lives to realize if you make a mistake. Most of my tips and tricks are going to put you way outside of your comfort zone but that’s okay because when you practice – you’re the only one in your comfort zone – which means the only person that will make fun of you is you – and last I checked we don’t make fun of ourselves when we are working on improving ourselves. So, let’s make a promise. If it feels awkward and things real weird – we aren’t going to let it bother us.

Now that we are in agreement, let’s get started!

Here are some tips and tricks that will help you improve your public speaking skills:

• Practice makes perfect.
• Record yourself and as painstaking as it is, listen to the whole recording. Once you have gotten your vocals where they need to be move on to video.
• Take a video of yourself as you present. How you look is just as important and what you say. Watch yourself in a mirror a few times first to get out all the wiggles. Then, take a video of the whole presentation and you guessed it…watch the whole damn thing. I promise each time you record yourself and then watch it and then do it again you will get better.
• Slow down. Most people don’t get slower when they present, they speed up. Put marks into your notes for when you start to jumble all your words. I like to use bold X marks.
• Memorize when possible. You don’t have to memorize your whole presentation, but have an idea of how it should sound
• Do the presentation in your head and make it look incredible. Make it the best presentation you have ever given. Some of the very best athletes use visualization to improve their game-day skills. It sounds crazy but it works. Trick your brain into believing you are going to give the most stellar presentation ever.
• Articulate and annunciate. Highlight words you stumble over and practice saying them slowly.
• Look up. Some people say that making eye contact is important but most of the time if you have a larger audience they can’t tell if you are looking at them or if you are looking at the back wall (this is even more true if you are standing on an elevated stage). Find the exit sign and then make it your bitch. Eye contact with the audience can be scary and derail your presentation. If you are talking about something that isn’t universally agreed upon or a controversial subject it can be even worse. It can throw you way off your game if you seek approval. Don’t seek eye contact as a means of approval of a good presentation.
• You do, however, need to add audience gut checks into your presentation. You are not looking for them to approve of your content. It’s your presentation – not theirs. You are looking to them to see if they are engaged. If they are falling asleep, have prepared responses that will get them re-engaged. Ask for a volunteer to answer a question and randomly select someone. Have everyone stand up and engage in some way. You are just looking to make sure that you aren’t sending everyone off to snoozeville.
• Your notes should not just be words on a page. You should have cues to yourself for when to speed up, slow down, articulate. Highlight words, make X’s. Add little pictures if it helps. The only person that needs to understand what your notes mean is you.
• Learn what makes a good presentation. Put less words on a page and focused. Don’t talk in circles.
• Before you start your presentation do something that makes you the most uncomfortable you will be throughout the entire presentation. Get a quick laugh at your expense. Once you know you have embarrassed yourself, it can’t get much worse. Tell a story about something silly you did, point out a little coffee stain on your shirt… level with your audience, and prove you are normal.

Now that you feel good about your presentation, practice in front of a good friend. Ask them for feedback. Sometimes, it can be hard to hear but getting good feedback is the only way to grow.

What are your favorite tips and tricks?