Get Attention & Get Noticed

Mindful digital communication in social networks, inspire impress & convince people, learn self-love impact charisma rhetoric & appearance to success

Simone Janson, Simone Janson, Simone Janson

• Publisher: Best of HR – Berufebilder.de®
• Year: 2024
• ISBN:
  9783965962835
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Psicologia
• Subtopic: Personalità in psicologia

In the 4th, completely revised edition of this groundbreaking guide, published by an award-winning publisher, renowned experts (overview in the book preview) combine their knowledge with interactive AI. This unique combination of decades of experience and state-of-the-art technology enables you to master challenges on a whole new level. Thanks to the innovative transfer of information, complemented by personal experiences of success, you can realize your goals and reach your full potential. Because many people want more attention, in their jobs as well as in their private lives. Unwanted solitude and social isolation affect many people of all ages, from the employee in a secluded office to the single person in a home office to the retiree without a family. This sounds absurd in an age of unimagined communication possibilities. The Internet can also only be recommended as a tool to a limited extent, because lonely people in particular can very well lose themselves here. In addition, lack of attention is the No. 1 career killer. But the solution to the problem starts with everyone themselves: Being open, approaching others, working on one's own communication skills, positive thinking and motivation help not least to improve one's own effect on other people and to break through the sometimes seemingly never-ending downward spiral of lack of contact, social isolation and depression. This applies both professionally and privately. This book shows you how to do that. For its concept "Information as Desired, " the publisher won the Global Business Award as Publisher of the Year and received government funding. It is also a partner of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany. The goal to give you the best possible content on topics such as career, finance, management, recruiting, or psychology goes far beyond the static nature of traditional books: The interactive AI Extended Books not only provide AI-optimized content in several languages based on data analysis but also allow you to ask individual questions and receive advice tailored to your personal interests. Each book contains detailed information and examples for your successful use of AI. You can utilize AI software for free, download e-courses, collaborate with workbooks, or engage with an active community. So you gain valuable resources that enhance your knowledge, stimulate creativity, and make your personal and professional goals achievable and tangible. Expertise and technical innovation go hand in hand, as we take the responsibility to deliver well-researched and informed content seriously, honoring the trust you place in us. Due to the unique combination of human expertise and innovation, we can publish works that meet your requirements in every aspect. And furthermore, we want to offer you the opportunity to make your journey towards personal growth and success even more unforgettable. We understand that true change occurs not just in the mind but primarily through personal experiences and application. Therefore, we've conceptualized special success journey experiences tailored to each book for you. Be inspired to elevate your life to an entirely new level. By purchasing the books, you can also do good: The publisher dedicates about 5 percent of book sales revenue to socially relevant or sustainable projects. We provide scholarships, support innovative ideas, and contribute to climate protection initiatives. Publisher Simone Janson is also a bestselling author and one of the top 10 influential German bloggers according to the Blogger Relevance Index. Additionally, she has been a columnist and author for renowned media outlets such as WELT, Wirtschaftswoche, or ZEIT - more about her can be found, among other places, on Wikipedia.

Working at the performance limit or more visibility in the company?
// By Simone Janson

Just down a gear, only half as much gas at work and so relaxed reach the goal, unfortunately, only the least of us. At the same time we have it in our own hands how much we work. Do not you believe? Then you should read on here.

Downshifting - only good, not perfect!

"Anything that is not one hundred and ten percent is not good!" Your secret credo? Is that right for you? You are not alone in this: for most perfectionists, good is not good enough. All that counts is outstanding performance.

With yourself - and also with others. This is great for your company - just not for your career and your life! So it's time to shift down a gear and let five be straight - downshifting.

The diligent bees of every company

Of course, every boss is happy about perfectionists: they are the hard-working bees of every company.

You don't really have to tell them that you should do your job well: you basically do more than you should - and usually until you sacrifice yourself. Because your yardstick for when performance is really high is pretty high.

Everything has to be perfect?

This attitude clearly speaks of a tendency to simplify. But think about it: there are certainly things in your life that are not XNUMX percent - and still good. For example, the colleague whose casual manner you sometimes get annoyed with? And aren't you having so much fun at work because he sees things a little more loosely?

Or the meeting last week: the boss actually wanted to discuss something completely different. But then some very good ideas came up spontaneously and in the end the distribution system was significantly improved. With a little thought, you will probably come up with many such examples, all of which are not XNUMX percent, but still good! Because: If you don't do something perfectly, it doesn't mean that you are doing it incorrectly or sloppyly. It depends on the right measure.

Work until you drop

Let's take a closer look at Irene's example: There is hardly an evening when she leaves the office before 22 p.m. Today is the important sales presentation for tomorrow's meeting. “It has to be perfect,” said the boss.

And Irene knows: If she makes even one small mistake, the boss will get mad. Therefore, Irene reads through the finished Power Point slides for the twentieth time: Perhaps blue stands out better from red than green in the graphics and maybe she should change the color again? And wouldn't a “however” at the beginning of a sentence be better than a “but”?

Just don't risk anything - the naked fear

There is no way she wants to risk her boss having another choleric attack. The last one is still in her bones. "But I deserved that too, after all, I was slouching there," Irene blames herself. Because Irene was annoyed with the boss. For years she'd worn herself out and worked till she dropped - and then she'd been passed over in a promotion.

The boss found that she was not qualified for a management position and that she was better suited for the current task. The department was headed by a colleague who, in Irene's eyes, is a babbler. “Then I don't need to exert myself any more,” she had thought angrily and was a very perfectionist black-and-white thinker, always wanting to give 110 percent from one extreme, to the other: files were left lying around, customers were not called back and Irene often came late in the morning or left early.

Selfishness or self-care?

The boss was very upset when he heard this: “Your behavior is anti-social. That's just not how good people behave, ”he roared angrily. He didn't even have to threaten a warning or dismissal, Irene was immediately afraid; she switched back to the usual perfectionism gear and even stepped up a gear: no one should have anything to complain about from now on, especially the boss. “I'll do everything I can to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again,” Irene promised.

Unfortunately, she completely ignored the fact that her body would not be able to cope with this in the long run. Only last week she fell asleep in the office, completely exhausted. And three days ago a colleague pointed out a big mistake that the overworked Irene had simply overlooked. “That would have caused trouble again. Under no circumstances should something like that happen again! " Irene takes on herself and wants to make even more effort in the future ...

Why the working bee does not become a queen

Do you recognize one or the other from your everyday work? Irene's story is typical of many perfectionists in companies: they do incredible things, work until they drop - and there is no recognition.

On the contrary, if you do make a mistake, you will be criticized immediately because bosses are not used to mistakes by their perfectionists. Unfair. Or? Unfortunately, these worker bees overlook some crucial factors that are far more important to performance than performance.

Career factor self-expression

First of all, there is self-expression. What do incredible workloads and top performances bring if the boss doesn't even notice it or has even gotten used to the fact that you are always so good?

Therefore, you should not only work until you drop, but also communicate it appropriately to the outside - like a company that cannot only invest in the development of a new product, in the hope that it will sell itself. Advertising is at least as important - even if that makes perfectionistic nature difficult to understand.

Productivity career factor

Another common misconception of many perfectionists: more effort equals more productivity. With their high standards, people like Irene then literally whip themselves to peak performance. This makes them extremely productive at first and may even work for a limited period of time. However, stress only makes you physically more productive, and only for a while, while it hinders clear thinking. However, you can probably confirm from your own everyday life that many mistakes happen in stressful situations.

Hasn't it already happened to you that you were nervous about an important meeting or presentation - and you promptly poured coffee on your pants? Or did you have to finish something quickly on the computer, press the wrong key in a hurry - and the whole file was gone? Some days everything even seems to go wrong. Please don't look for excuses like "wrong footed" now. Hustle and bustle and the associated inattention are very often to blame for such mishaps. Pay attention once!

Career factor leadership

If you want to advance, not only technical knowledge and motivation count, but also leadership skills. At least the boss who is supposed to promote you must be convinced that you have some. Irish boss, for example, is not convinced.

He notices that Irene achieves a lot, but also that she is mainly driven by the fear of making a mistake. The driving force behind their actions is not the joy of work, the positive, forward-looking “wanting to create something”, but pressure and fear. The problem, however, is that fearful people are given less competence, less respect for them, and less responsibility - which is why Irene was passed over in the promotion.

Career factor critical ability

But how is the boss supposed to have respect when Irene crouches anxiously in his chair in front of him during a critical discussion and demonstrates to him through her body language that she is not ready for managerial tasks?

It would be much better if Irene confidently dealt with the criticism and showed next time that she learned from it how to do it better. But perfectionists like Irene are so afraid of the criticism that if they do something wrong, they will do everything they can to make no mistakes. However, as Irene's example also shows, this noble goal can only be achieved in the rarest of cases. On the contrary, the pursuit of perfection often has an adverse effect.

Lower the bar

So it doesn't do much good for your career to always want to meet the highest demands. You can switch back a tooth with a clear conscience and lower your personal bar a little. Even if you may find it difficult at the beginning:

It doesn't always have to be 200 percent - often good or just average performances are completely sufficient. And for that, you, yes you yourself, should simply lower the bar for your performance.

I decide what is good enough!

But what is good? When do you know if a performance is good enough if nobody tells you that? The simple answer: You decide - all by yourself! Of course you will now object: "But the boss is putting pressure on me to achieve top performance." Let's be honest: If it were up to most bosses, you could work around the clock and rarely hear a word of praise. So don't wait for the boss to tell you that you can work less, but set the standard yourself.

Of course, you have a certain number of tasks to perform every day. But ultimately it is up to you how much time you spend on the individual work and how perfectly you do it. It's not about suddenly becoming sloppy, as happened to Irene at times; it is enough to lower your own bar just a few centimeters to still achieve good results with less effort.

Less performance: sounds simple, is complicated

But when you're a die-hard perfectionist, it's not that easy. So it is of little use to hear from others that you can leave one five straight. How often have you wiped such assurances off the table as pure lip service? “The colleague thinks it's okay? Pah, he's only happy when I make a mistake! "

And even if it was the supervisor who practically hammered into you that your work was absolutely great, you may have been highly creative in finding excuses to yourself as to why this statement cannot be true: “Maybe he Boss just have a particularly good day. Or he just says it so I have time to do other work. "

Accepting praise is difficult

Another reason why perfectionists find it difficult to accept praise is because they fear that they could become negligent and do something wrong. Since this means that they lack an important evaluation criterion for their work, many perfectionists find it difficult to find out what is the optimal measure for them. If they then come under pressure, which often happens in everyday work, some people experience panic attacks to do the required work as well as possible at all costs.

In such situations, calm reflection helps: is it really necessary to do this task XNUMX percent now? What fears do you feel when you think about it? Now ask yourself the question: What would realistically happen if you didn't do it perfectly now? What would happen if you simply had fewer demands on yourself in some respects? What would be the impact? Would fate strike? The following exercise is helpful.

Just think in peace: what if?

Write down everything that you think might happen. You can also use the following list as a guide; simply adopt the examples that you spontaneously agree with, add your own thoughts or reformulate examples. Important: Be sure to formulate your assumptions as a statement, not as a question, because then you can better deal with them.

1. My colleagues and superiors expect me to do my best.
2. I get bullied when I try less.
3. If I don't do this work, nobody does it.
4. It would not be morally acceptable.
5. It would be wrong to do it differently.
6. If I don't put pressure on myself, I will become unproductive and will not be able to do anything.
7. Today, of all times, the company boss could drop by the department.
8. I will never get another job like this unless I give at least 150 percent.
9. The customer will not recommend me and talk badly about me if I do not do it perfectly now.
10. The boss will give me bad references and I will never find a job again.
11. My department has to be the best.
12. I expect my employees to do their best - I can't just do less than them.
13. I could lose my job if I do less.
14. If I make a mistake now, I will not be promoted.

Convince yourself of the opposite

Perhaps, while writing down these assumptions, you have noticed how absurd some of the fears are. But as a true perfectionist that's not enough for you, you need facts to convince yourself.

To do this, make the three assumptions from the list that seem most important to you, that you are most likely to identify with, or that trigger the most feelings for you. You need paper - usually one page for every thought. Write your acceptance on the top of the page. How strongly are you convinced of this? Very strong, medium or weak? Below, write down the feeling you feel when you write the thought down, such as anger, fear, frustration, or stress. And also note whether the feeling is very strong, medium or rather weak. This division is important. Now draw a table with three columns. So that you have a lot of space, the table can go over an entire page. However, please leave some space at the end of the page, because here you write down your new assumption at the very end.

Example: Irene's table

Irene's assumption, which scares her spontaneously: If I try less, my boss becomes angry (I am strongly convinced)

Irish feeling: grief (strong), anger (rather medium), fainting (strong)

What proof is there that my assumption is true?	What evidence is there that my assumption is not true?	What would you say to other people in the same situation?
If I have done something well, I will be praised or at least there will be no criticism. The last time I made a mistake, my boss got mad. Some other colleagues have been fired for making mistakes. In my last job, I was fired for making mistakes.	My boss yelled at me because I was very sloppy; That does not have to be. The colleague who was fired had more responsibility than me and made a very serious mistake. I have sometimes tried very hard and have been criticized anyway. I was not promoted last time. Other colleagues make mistakes, but are not shouted at or fired. My last company cut jobs anyway. The new company, on the other hand, is expanding.	Maybe you made mistakes just because you tried to be perfect. Maybe your colleagues prefer you if you want to be less perfect. Responsible jobs also depend on personality and not just on perfect performance. Not being perfect is not a mistake There is no reasonable reason to assume anything like this.

Irene's new assumption:

If I make small mistakes now and then, that's not a problem. That happens. The boss is a...