Making Every Day in the Workplace Worthwhile - Part 1
If you’re sitting at your desk reading this blog, please take a moment to reflect on your performance today. I’ll hazard a guess you’re pretty good at your job. Sometimes, when you have to focus very hard, you’re output could reach the magical 110% mark.
But, in all honesty, you may at times do your job on autopilot. In the words of the great attorney, educator and visionary Hugh B. Brown: ‘if you have a desire to be mediocre, you will probably find that you have already achieved your ambition’. Ask yourself this – do you enjoy what you do and could you improve on the situation to realise your vision?
We all go through phases in our jobs where we enjoy it thoroughly and when it can be a bit of a chore, a necessity, or a routine. If you’re experiencing the latter three phases, I want to try and help you improve by following the steps outlined below. The aim: to make each working day truly worthwhile.
Firstly, let’s look at how we make connections – key to succeeding personally and professionally in life. Good connectors keep in regular contact with loved ones and work colleagues. The networkers. My advice is make that effort to keep in touch with your peer group, as you’ll need their help and advice at some point soon.
It’s an obvious one, but aim to think positively. Park the ‘what if’ mentality and shift it to the ‘what I can do’ mantra. A positive outlook across life’s rich pageant will truly determine the difference between life and death, success or failure and happiness or despair.
Next up, try to live with a strong sense of purpose. This helps us move forward in life – or not if you choose to tick the ‘no purpose’ box. Spend time defining your fundamental purpose in life – drawing on work and personal matters. This could be to help others, or to strive for the best you can do in life. Give it a go. It’s harder than you think, but ultimately very rewarding.
Embrace vision. The most accomplished people I know have a vision for their lives. Fear not if you haven’t developed this yet, it can be done at any time, but I’d advise you to do this sooner rather than later. Your plan – with its vision – should have an executive summary detailing who you are and what you want out of life. This guide doesn’t have to be written down, as long it’s easy to recall from the old grey matter.
Finally, in life don’t be afraid to the point that you limit what you want to achieve. It’s important to acknowledge fear, discover where it comes from, then confront it and move on with your head held high.
So there you have it – your initial pointers to achieve workplace and personal harmony. Now don’t forget that you’ve got an important role to play in your corporate career. Next time we’ll look at the next five aims; until then, go forth and spread the ‘work can be worthwhile everyday’ gospel! Thanks, as always, for your time.
The CIO could be the next CEO
In today’s society, IT and technology careers are very much in vogue. For example, David Cameron and Boris Johnson have both championed Silicon Roundabout in East London as one way to boost our flagging economy. The future, it seems, is tech-shaped.
Linked to this potential rise in IT careers is a myth that I’d like to shatter. It’s simply not the case that you must know programming and hold a computing degree to succeed. Yes, of course, the aforementioned skill is required, but technical programming skills are only one part of what IT can offer as a career choice.
IT is no longer about sitting in a basement working alone. It’s about collaboration, solving problems and how you market and manage your start up or enterprise. The tech community comprising creators, designers and sales people all play their part in changing the business and consumer world.
The most amazing thing about technology is that we have no idea what revolutionary things it will enable us to do over the next few years. What we do know is that all of these innovations - present and future - will need thousands of people who understand how technology and business work, if they are to be successful.
Understanding this technology and more importantly how your staff and customers tick, can offer tech staff a path to the boardroom. In fact, if you’re a CIO reading this right now, I bet you could be CEO if you’re prepare to put in the time and commitment to your enterprise.
A great example of this type of career rise is the story of Philip Clarke, Tesco’s current CEO. Philip started at the company as a humble part-time assistant, aged 14. He worked his way up, thanks to management training, to hold the Head of IT role.
Today, Tesco has promoted Philip to CEO and promoted current IT director Mike McNamara to the post of CIO. Clarke’s rise to the top has been seen as vindication of the importance of IT in businesses such as Tesco.
The story of Tesco highlights that such a transition from the tech to the sales target world is possible. Key to making this career leap is having transferable skills. For example, project management is deemed the most in demand in business, according to a recent CompTIA skills report. You may have this under your belt even if you’re not from an IT background.
So if you’re a programmer currently sipping a skinny latte near Silicon Roundabout dreaming of a management role, please believe that it can be achieved. On a positive note, you’re probably in small start-up, where your influence will take you up the ladder faster than the Tesco story.
Alternatively, if you’re a strong leader, have good business skills but you’re not from an IT background, believe you too can succeed. It just takes motivation, perseverance and the ability to manage and predict how technology will develop in the future. See you near the Roundabout soon. I’ll have an Espresso.