Career Tips and So Much More

Out of a thousand ideas and changes, only one may be good. However, you may never know which one it is until you try it.

The idea of perfection can be conjured in the minds of men, but it is an illusive “something” which we never quite capture. Perhaps this is good, for it offers a challenge which few can resist accepting. So, the search for perfection never ends, and from this search comes an infinite stream of improvement and amendments. Such is progress.

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When you’ve got something on your mind you would like your boss to know, how do you get your message through? If your job is not going as well as you’d like, and you think you have a good idea for improving it, how do you tell your boss about it? Here are ten suggestions.
1. Be direct
A great drawback in any communication is lack of clarity. Neither party should have to guess at what the other is trying to say, or have to hope the other will get the point.
2. Be a good listener.
It pays to pick up on your reasons behind a boss’s decision. Doing this could give you a clue on how to modify proposals that are turned down.
3. Be natural and comfortable.
Effective communication is often stumped by nervousness on the part of one or both people involved. One good way to put an end to the jitters is to think through what you want to say in advance.
4. Get to know your boss.
Once you’ve conquered nervousness, focus on getting to know your boss better. Ask questions. Find out your boss’s likes and dislikes. Build in day-to-day informal communication within proprietary bounds. The boss will also know if you are “bootlicking.”
5. Let your boss know you.
Talk to your boss about your interests and goals. Don’t just assume he or she knows. Let your personality come through and highlight your accomplishments. If you think you have done a good job, there is nothing wrong with saying so.
6. Keep your boss informed.
Let your superior know about the progress of your work. If you are behind or anticipate a problem, tell your boss ahead of time. It’s possible he or she can help you. At any rate, if a problem does occur, at least the supervisor will have had a chance to think about it.
7. Ask questions.
It’s too easy for supervisors or managers to assume you know what they want and why you are working on a particular project. If you have a question about your job, speak up. Otherwise, if you end up making a mistake because of lack of information, the supervisor may only see it as poor performance on your part since he or she didn’t know you had questions.
8. Don’t go around your boss.
If you have a problem or question, take it to your immediate supervisor first. Sidestepping your boss on work-related problems only destroys trust and hampers communication.
9. Be thorough.
Try to present a complete and accurate set of details about any situation you discuss with your boss. You may not know everything, but getting only half the facts can cause serious problems and prove to be embarrassing to both you and your boss.
10. Be brief.
Air complaints, make suggestions, discuss goals—but in doing so, be as concise are possible. Supervisors and managers often have several people reporting to them and many activities to track. If your supervisor thinks every conversation with you will last an hour, you probably won’t have many conversations. Through planning, you can keep your talk brief and to the point.


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Today, as has always seemed to be the case, we are in dire need of competent leadership in any field or profession we are in. Few of us can boast of innate abilities and natural characteristics that make us competent leaders, without considerable effort. We must work at being leaders in our own rights, if we are to achieve success in any area.

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Sorting through piles of yellowing documents can be a daunting task—especially if you’re not sure what to chuck and what to save. Give the new year a fresh, clean start by following these guidelines.

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 When you hire a new worker for your business, you select him or her because of the special skill or ability he or she has which you feel you can use.

Whether you like it or not, you get the whole person, not just the employee’s skills and abilities. That includes the habits formed; you may not want these. That employee’s interests are his own and not necessarily like those of any others in your group. He may approach his job with little hidden fears and misgivings; and may be filled with a myriad of unanswered questions about the new environment.

You must answer the questions and, to a certain point, cater to his personal interests, and perhaps go so far as to help him mold a whole new set of habits. As a manager or supervisor, you must make him feel welcome and give him a feeling of being useful, desirable part of your group. What you do for this worker is a part of his induction for which you are responsible.

His ultimate value depends, to a large extent, upon how quickly and how well you help him adjust to his new, unfamiliar surroundings. This cannot be postponed; it must start the first time you meet the new worker and continue as long as he remains with you.


Instructing and Empowering your Worker

Teaching in some ways is not different from other work. You either like it or you so not. If you do not like to teach, you cannot do it successfully.

There is, in this, peculiar hidden truth not too often admitted. If teaching is an essential part of a supervisor’s job, the person who cannot teach successfully is not a truly effective supervisor. All those who define the job supervisor include instruction as an essential part of it. Therefore, you must do instruction if you are to do the whole of a supervisor’s job.

There is, though, a brighter side to the picture. You usually like to do the things you know how to do and learning to instruct is not too difficult. Once you begin to do it and like it, you will find that it can be one of the most interesting parts of your job. It is fascinating to watch people learn and grow. Knowing that you are part of that growth gives you a feeling of actually seeing a part of yourself grow along with the workers.

Good instruction, then, actually produces two very desirable results. First, your workers become more competent and, thus, are capable of doing a better job. Second, you have the personal satisfaction of knowing that through your efforts, each of your workers has improved.

Copyright © 11/28/2009 Athena Goodlight (Bizcovering)


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Why do some office executives – especially overworked businessmen—look prematurely old and die young? How can they avoid worry, hypertension, and an eventual stroke or heart attack?Here are a few practical tips taken straight from the firing line of day-to-day office experience:

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You’re at your desk even way beyond office hours every night, and you always volunteer to take on the extra grunt-work projects no one else wants to do. You are hoping that someday you boss will promote you – not necessarily.

Realize that your career can also suffer because you spend too much time on the extra projects leaving you without enough time to devote to your regular, more creative work.

The Pathetic Pushover, you are.
Throwing yourself into your job is great, but being the office “yes-man” or “yes-woman” will only get you a reputation as a wimpy worker bee. You’re acting like a slave, because you treat yourself like one. As a result, your boss and co-workers may end up exploiting you, and in order to feel OK about piling you up with work, they mentally move you down on the corporate ladder to devaluate you in their minds.




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