Are You Failing to Master the Soft Skills?

What’s on your to-do list for the next 7 days? Is that too much to think about? Or do you have a schedule that’s packed tight? No matter what it looks like, it’s likely longer than you just drew up. As a high performer, you have responsibilities and a standard that you must maintain. Holding that standard is not done by just going out and burning through your to-do list. It is done thanks to the little things that keep you composed. 

When you’ve been doing anything long enough, there’s a part of you that considers yourself an expert. You may not outwardly think or say this but your ego will remind you of it from time to time. With anything you do, knowing the specifics of what goes into the role you play is important. But how many times have you said “that’s so easy, I don’t need to worry about it now” or even thought you were too above doing something?

This feeling is an impulse that comes with achievement, but achievements are just the start of a new road. To maintain and further expand, high performers must have a level of humility and awareness to do the small things that make a big difference. A lot of people believe confidence is something you’re born with. This couldn’t be further from the truth. True confidence, especially in a business environment, comes from knowing you’ve done the things you need to do.

Whether you’re a leader trying to make a difference or an employee trying to do the best job you can, the small things go a long way. There’s always time to strategize and set major goals, but here are some smaller goals you should reach first: 

Listen

Giving someone their space to speak is a sure way to build rapport that will carry on to future opportunities. Whether this is taking time to understand how to best go about a task you’re taking on or evaluating the needs of your team, it is a must. 

Be On-Time

Very straightforward yet fundamental to benefit the impact of your professional presence is being on time. This sends the message that you value the time of the people in your organization. If you’re someone who is regularly on time or even shows up early it’s important to understand why this is beneficial. Trust is everything when building relationships, not being late is a positive data point when someone (boss, co-worker, or client) decides whether or not to give you a shot. 

Problem Solving

Everyone can agree that life is a lot easier to navigate when everything is going well. But the true measure of someone’s character and competence is how they behave when faced with a crisis. Do they go back to healthy rituals that will allow them to address the situation accordingly? Or do they panic and perhaps make rash decisions? In leadership, problem-solving is essential, as an employee or subordinate, it will help advance your role within the team. 

Attitude

Going for a job interview? You want to make a good impression on the person offering the job, but how do you treat the receptionist? Your attitude is always on display and in a professional environment, everyone will be aware of it. It even goes beyond how people see you, it impacts how you handle situations and ultimately how you see yourself.

Conclusion

All actions, no matter how important you may classify them, serve a much bigger purpose in the broad spectrum of your day-to-day life. Yeah that assignment you’re working on is difficult, but the trash you left to take out later might be more stressful when you get home at the end of the day. If you deal with the small issues head-on, you can have far more time and energy to dominate the major sectors of your life.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

What Are You Working Towards?

Do you ever sit and question the meaning of everything you do? Reality can be overwhelming when you think of it in this context, but feeling anxious over what’s to come is to miss the point completely. Because it is the ‘right now’, the moment you’re living in, that matters. 

A lot of times we can get caught up in the process of reaching a goal that we miss the best part. The journey is what matters, whatever you’re a part of right now and will be a part of in the future, that is the gift. This concept can be confusing but it is largely responsible for the upswing of retired individuals looking to come back to the workforce.  

Most of us might see retirement as driving sports cars, mimosas every morning, and beaches, living off the fruits of our labour. A lot of the time, the reality is this; that life isn’t what you’re after. It may happen now and then but it isn’t the reason you’re studying or working. Instead of thinking about what you’re after, why not start thinking about how you can best impact what you’re doing now? The result of this will be an incredible reward down the line.

If you went to high school or college, consider the fact that the end goal is a piece of paper that says you were there. Now, does that piece of paper represent your experience in any way? Absolutely not, it’s the lessons you learn, the challenges you face, the people you meet, the pep rallies, the cool teacher or the witty professor. To neglect the process of doing takes all joy out of the reward. 

Imagine someone right now hands you a limitless supply of money. You’d have a lot of fun with it for a while but eventually, you’d hit a wall, and for some that wall would be a lack of purpose. This is not meant to be intimidating— this message is simply meant to give you insight into reality. Remember, what you do as a career will be where you spend the majority of your life. To maximize the value of this experience, take some of these points into consideration:

Recognize Your Value

Getting caught up in the “me mentality” will cloud your view of the value you could be providing others. Say for example you work a part-time job and have regular customers. While those people may just be part of your daily routine, you could be the interaction in their day that they look forward to the most. It’s hard to understand this when we’re caught up in our own lives, but a pivotal part of “the process” is how you affect others. 

Control What You Can 

You have a very finite amount of things going on that you can dictate the outcomes of. However, there will still be things outside this scope that cause you stress. Why would they cause you to stress if you can’t control them? Because most of us still choose to believe we can control them. But these things are black holes when it comes to focusing energy. If you take the time to pay attention solely to the issues you can control, you will be a lot more confident when dealing with problems.  

Define What You Want

Have you ever asked someone what their dream job is and it’s something radically different than what they’re currently doing? This is a result of not identifying what it is you want long term. Some things speak to us, fields of interest which we would do for free, never mind making it a career. That is passion, and if it’s something that benefits your happiness then why wouldn’t you want to keep it in your life? 

Unfortunately, the common saying is “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is”. But this statement is not true when it comes to planning your long-term goals. Believing it will keep you below your potential because if you commit enough effort to anything, you can succeed.

Set an Example

What’s more valuable than having a successful career that you enjoy? Imagine leaving a legacy that inspires the next generation, innovating the industry, or contributing something that will be relevant even after you’ve left it. We all have opinions on how things are done, but too often we talk about it rather than go out and implement what we know is right. 

Conclusion

Now, some people will read this and think “I remember when I used to believe anything was possible” or “yeah but this doesn’t apply to x, y or z in my life”. Thinking like that is what this idea is arguing against. Essentially, all action taken today whether in the workplace or not is directly correlated to a future result. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Trading Reward For Productivity

Our weeks can be a struggle when we’re plugging away with our work. There’s a lot of pressure to meet objectives which makes reaching them something to be proud of. Say, for example, you’re writing a book, you go through the long and testing process of writing it and eventually it gets published. An amazing feeling, without a doubt, deserves recognition. However, we can’t get complacent. There is now a decision to make because finishing one task never means you’re done chasing.

Productivity is a hard thing to maintain. It’s even harder to have it once you’ve spent too much time not being productive. The motivation and drive will not be the same and you could be limiting yourself immensely. You could exemplify this concept by the feeling that comes with going back to the office or the classroom after a vacation.

What’s the remedy for this? Well, there are numerous ways to keep this level of focus, but the most effective and straightforward one is to have disciplined roots that keep you chasing. For the example of the writer, this could be something as simple as reading a certain number of books before you plan to write your next one.

You should be proud of your accomplishments, and you should reward yourself after meeting a goal. But efficiency and opportunity are privileges, and it is entirely possible to lose your drive without maintaining tasks for yourself. 

So what can you do to mitigate this loss and improve your ability to get it done? Here are some ideas:

Avoid Multitasking

Whatever you’re doing, give it all of your attention. Some may think “well I have a million different things to do in a day” and that is exactly why you should stop dividing your attention. Break up your day, dedicate time to your tasks where you don’t think about anything else but what you have to do.

You might notice that you save time while doing this, and you absolutely will because you are using your time far more efficiently. However, it will require more focus, which may make the desire to continue doing it less appealing. This is where you need to choose to trade what demands less of you for an investment of your attention. You will find this much more rewarding down the line. 

Hold Others Accountable

In an organization, what you put out, you get back. If you are part of a team and make sure everyone is pulling their weight, they will return that energy. This is why mutual respect is important; you don’t want to boss people around and not do anything yourself (which we all know happens). 

One of the best ways to go about this is leading by example. If you are consistently putting in effort and making a point to collaborate with others, the team will be highly motivated. You want to utilize your surroundings for a boost. It’s important to know that nobody can rely on someone else to keep them accountable. People are good for a reminder or inspiration, but real determination comes from the self.

Keep it Simple

You can come up with all kinds of goals and timelines for yourself or for others, but if they aren’t clear, they’re useless. Obviously, in the workplace things happen fast, they require urgency, but they cannot be tended to with care if there is extrinsic pressure. If you’re a leader, clarify and check in with your people. If you are working for someone else, ensure you can come to them for help. 

There are many ways to “keep it simple”. One very effective way for a leader is to give information for short-term goals first. Then once that part is finished, you give more and continue breaking down the development process. This ensures you don’t overwhelm your team. This can also be applied to yourself— always focus on the closest step. 

Conclusion

Ultimately every action is a trade-off, something that gives you pleasure now may cost you pleasure later. It’s always your choice, but make sure you consider your long-term goals with every action you take.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!