Secrets of Success at Work

50 Techniques to Excel

Nigel Cumberland

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781473600249
• eBook ISBN: 9781473600263
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

- What do highly successful professionals know that the rest of us don't?
- Do they have a secret recipe for success?
- Is there a special alchemy at work? Secrets of Success at Work reveals the 50 things you need to know to achieve all your professional goals, whatever your ambition. Some will surprise you, and all will inspire you. Put these 50 simple strategies together and you have a recipe for success in the workplace, a proven formula that will unlock the secrets and uncover your potential.

Work with your dreams and passions

‘You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true.’

Richard Bach

‘There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive.’

Oprah Winfrey

‘The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.’

Pearl S. Buck

‘The only thing that stands between a man and what he really wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.’

Richard Devos

‘A musician must make his music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to ultimately be at peace with himself.’

Abraham Maslow

During our adult lives we normally spend over half of our day working – working in jobs that we may find boring, fun, difficult, stressful, tiring, exciting, monotonous or relaxing. I coach and train hundreds of people and rarely meet anybody who can tell me that they love their work and are being really successful in their job or career. When I do meet such a person, I like to explore why they feel so contented and successful. In all cases, almost without exception, such people tell me that their work involves things that they love to do, with many telling me that this is their dream job or that they have found their destiny or perfect career.

How can you hope to be truly happy and successful in your work if you are not doing something that you love and find meaningful? I have met accountants who hate numbers, chefs who do not enjoy food and even an airline pilot who has never really enjoyed flying. The pilot told me that, as a child, he dreamed of being a journalist and throughout his life he has enjoyed writing and keeping a diary. When asked why he chose to become a pilot, he shared that his father and uncle were pilots and they encouraged him to follow their career paths. He was not being very successful and ambitious as a pilot and in his airline he was the oldest pilot not to have yet become a captain. His heart was not in his flying but rather in his spare-time writing.

When we enjoy what we are doing, we are happy to learn and explore how to do our work better and we tend to receive more positive feedback and praise which, in turn, tends to make us even happier in our work. It is quite simply easier to succeed at something we enjoy doing than at something we do not – if only because we are more willing and motivated to invest the effort and hard work to do such work better. In your working life, what can you say that you really loved doing and were great at?

RECALL YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAMS

It might sound unusual or even a little corny, but the most contented adults I meet are those whose jobs are made up of activities and tasks that they loved doing as children. There is William who loved playing with guns and is now a Major in the British Army, or Yasmine who spent her youth writing stories and poems and today works for magazines. From a very young age I used to love exploring the area around my Yorkshire village and I have chosen careers which have involved me living and working in over 20 countries in as many years.

I am not suggesting that working in fields that link to your childhood activities and passions will make you totally happy as an adult, although I would always hope this would be possible. I am, rather, suggesting that, when there is some such alignment, you will find work and career choices more enjoyable, less stressful and more fulfilling. Hopefully you will be in what the famous psychologist Csikszentmihalyi calls ’in the flow’.

Can you remember your time as a child? In order to recall what may have been important for you, try answering the following questions and do seek your parents’ and siblings’ help if your memories are lacking.

• As a child, what did you enjoy doing? Making things? Writing? Playing outside? Does your current work include any of these activities?

• And what did you dream of becoming when you were an adult? How similar is your current work to those childhood dreams?

DECIDE WHAT YOU ENJOY AND FIND MEANINGFUL

Now that you have recalled your childhood dreams and favourite activities, look at yourself as an adult and ask yourself ‘What do I enjoy doing today?’ I would hope that your answers would overlap with your list of childhood dreams.

Why not spend some time alone or with your partner exploring what you love and enjoy doing? Make notes and map out questions and thoughts raised by the following questions. If it is...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• Title
• Contents 
• Introduction
• 1. Work with your dreams and passions
• 2. Know and fix your blind spots
• 3. Work with your strengths and weaknesses
• 4. Deliver on your promises and commitments
• 5. Work with trust and integrity
• 6. Work positively and have fun
• 7. Work patiently and persistently
• 8. Work smart
• 9. Work with empathy
• 10. Work with mentors
• 11. Coach and help others
• 12. Give others recognition and credit
• 13. Network and build relationships
• 14. Align with your employer’s mission and vision
• 15. Understand the working culture of your employer
• 16. Understand and work with office politics
• 17. Be an ambassador for your workplace
• 18. Accept and embrace change
• 19. Always do the right thing
• 20. Work beyond your job description
• 21. Work with grace and humility
• 22. Work quickly when necessary
• 23. Reduce your stress levels
• 24. Work on your career plan
• 25. Work on your judgement and discernment
• 26. Work on your body language and presence
• 27. Be a great learner
• 28. Become an avid listener
• 29. Ask questions and be inquisitive
• 30. Be assertive and take a stand
• 31. Deal with conflict well
• 32. Work on your email-writing skills
• 33. Create excellent meetings
• 34. Learn to accept
• 35. Manage your time well
• 36. Be creative and innovative
• 37. Be a skilled decision-maker
• 38. Work on your selling and presentation skills
• 39. Work well with your colleagues in teams
• 40. Work well with your boss
• 41. Work well with your own staff
• 42. Value diversity in all its forms
• 43. Actively seek feedback
• 44. Always manage your emotions
• 45. Have the courage to risk failing
• 46. Be resilient and do not give up
• 47. Build your own unique brand
• 48. Get a life outside work
• 49. Guide others on their career journeys
• 50. Leave a legacy in your workplace
• About the author
• Copyright