Advice Tidbits
Be grateful for things that you already have. You might hope to have it all, but you don’t have to have it all at one time. Be grateful for what you have at this time period of your life. The more you appreciate your current circumstance, the healthier you will be overall. You are more likely to attract additional good things to your life if you show gratitude for what you have accomplished in your career so far.
Be dependable not only to yourself but also to others. Being dependable means that you follow through on your promises. If that promise is to yourself to take a few yours away to pamper yourself so that you can return to work more refreshed, then you must follow through. Being dependable to others is very important so that people can predict your behavior and rely on you to carry through on business.
Be on time. It shows that you respect whoever is waiting for you and it begins to show your dependable nature.
Stick to what you do best. Make sure you surround yourself with situations that rely more on your strengths than on your weaknesses. Your life will be much easier if you construct an environment that weighs more heavily on your stronger skills. Granted you can always learn new skills and adapt your nature to adjust to your environment, but true peace comes when you use the skills that are more natural to your personality.
Think twice before acting. Many people tend to want to act quickly to resolve a crisis situation and often don’t think thoroughly through all the various paths. This is the time when an employee has to be their best. They have to stay calm under fire and behave the same way in the eye of the hurricane, where the skies are blue and the wind calm, as they do in the midst of the storm.
Look at the bigger picture. To be an executive you need to look at the bigger picture of the business. You have to look outside your job title and your role and see how the company is going to achieve its success or failure. You have to understand the dynamics of the industry and be able to adapt quickly to changes in the environment. You have to understand the psychology of the teams you are working with and what motivates them. You have to understand the psychology of your business partners and create a win-win situation for them so that both of you can succeed. In many ways, you have to put your ego last, and understand that you are only as good as the team you are part of.
Develop your people skills. These are often difficult to describe because they are so complex. Take the time to understand the psychology and motivation behind the people that you deal with, whether it is a team member of a business partner. If you don’t understand the fundamentals of someone’s personality than it is difficult to inspire or motivate that individual to seek their own success or success on your behalf. Try to treat each person as an individual and work to customize a management or business development approach to their unique style. It is a lot easier to push a new plan through an organization if you get buy in from the managers who will be leading the teams. The closer you can get to appear as if your plan is their idea, the higher your chances of success. Of course this isn’t always easy and takes a lot of time.
Do something you love!
Remember that happiness is not a destination but a way of traveling.
Live by example, it will have much more impact that any words you could impart.
– Tiffany Bass Bukow
“At the end of your life you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.”
— Barbara Bush
“We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world, not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and to be loved.”
— Mother Teresa
You will notice as you progress in your career and have added life experiences that you will become more discontented with the status quo. As you mature you are more likely to start challenging commonly help perceptions and will aspire for a better way.
People get so caught up in the details of living that they forget to live. Once you make it to the top of the career ladder, you start to adapt this “I can do everything myself” – attitude. This can lead to loneliness if you don’t balance it with healthy and nurturing relationships. You don’t have to go it alone. Typically those who have made it to the top have had some sort of support system. Find out what yours is and use it when you need it.
There are many employees who are afraid to ask for help and even worse there are those who think they have all the answers when they don’t. A whole new crop of Executive Coaches has emerged to address these issues. They can be invaluable helping you look outside of your circumstances and see clarity in simplicity when you can not find it yourself. Executive coaches can help you think through some of the tough questions you are facing and facilitate the process to an answer. They don’t give you the answer, they just give you a flashlight to help you find it.
True leaders are not born they are made. Good leaders and executives learn from their mistakes and continue to grow as they acquire more experience. They look at obstacles as an opportunity to improve and then assimilate this information into their management “bag of tricks”.
Experience has taught me the difference between tenacity and stubbornness.
– Tiffany Bass Bukow
“Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.”
— Ann Landers
“I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.”
— Diane Sawyer.