SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

By
Long Yun Siang

 

http://www.career-success-for-newbies.com

 

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide
Copyright © 2006 Long Yun Siang, http://www.career-success-for-newbies.com

 

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide © 2006 Long Yun Siang. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Long as he is popularly known - went through a period of disillusionment many moons ago. ‘A slap and a kick’ from a good-hearted cousin then woke him. He

found himself graduating and having a good career. In his free time he runs http://www.career-success-for-newbies.com with his wife Dorena as their way of
paying it forward. Download these free eBooks - Career Success Recipe for
Newbies and SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide - at this website (your site’s URL) now.

The author also grants full permission to republish excerpts provided it remains in the proper context and is accompanied by an attribution link back to http://www.career-success-for-newbies.com as the originating source.

DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this mini eBook was complied in accordance with the observations and experiences of the author. It is an opinion based rather than fact based mini eBook. The author makes no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents of this mini eBook. The author accepts no liability of any kind for any losses or damages caused or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, from the use of information contained in this mini eBook.

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

Dedicated to:

Ng Wan Hoon, Ian Tan, Jessica Koh, Yee Hui Tsin, Cassandra Lee, Cindy Lim, Jessey Chew, Alvin Ng, Desiree Tan, Renay Pu, Irene Kuan, Angie Ng, Teo Shen Rhen, Terence Leong, Zahir Mazlan, Hussin Yusof, Wong Yee Thong, Toh Saw Gin, Alyssa Chew, Joanna Kong, Alex Goh

It is an honor to work with you guys!

 

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

Table of Contents Page

Part 1. How to SHINE and Gain the Promotion You Want 4-5 Serious
Hardworking
Indispensable
Nice
Enthusiasm
SHINE at Work

Part 2. Career Enhancement Tips for First Jobbers 6-7 Self-discipline
Success
Sincerity

Part 3. Career Advancement Tips for Freshies 8-9 Heart
Heed
Hunger
Hindrance
Humor

Part 4. Positive Work Behaviors 10-11 Ideas
Impact
Impeccable
Independent
Ignite
Interest
Intangible
Integrity

Part 5. Career Success Factors 12-14 Now
Next Steps
Notice
Nice
Network

Part 6. Career Booster: 5 Attitudes in the Workplace
to Get You Ahead 14-16 Enthusiastic
Efficient
Excellence
Early
Easy

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

Part 1. How to SHINE and Gain the Promotion You Want

You landed that first job and you have been at it for about a year or two. And you're looking for career promotion advice to move up the ladder, successfully. Obviously, there are no hard and fast rules to this. However, there are guidelines that can help increase your chances of promotion.

In my years at work, I have had the opportunity to practice some of these advices and observed some of it being practiced too. I have also had the opportunity to give this career promotion advice to my staff. Many have gone on to greener pastures and they have told me these are some of the career promotion advice that works for them even now.

It is patent that to get promoted, you need to shine. But what do you have to do to shine to gain promotion? Here are some guidelines you can follow:

S erious
Be serious at work and be serious with your work. What does this mean? Being serious with your work does not mean that you cannot have fun at work. Neither does it means you cannot enjoy your work. It just means that you need to focus on your work.

Be focused and never let anything detract you from what needs to be done on time with speed and consistency. No bosses like people who are not mindful of their job. When you are serious at work you minimize silly mistakes. Bosses and colleagues can feel your commitment. This career promotion advice does not stop you from having fun at work. Being serious at work means being focused and yet still being able to enjoy your work.

H ardworking
This is one career promotion advice that many career newbies find difficult to take. After all, they feel shouldn’t there be some form of short cuts? Being hardworking probably sounds laborious to many. And many would expect that a career promotion advice would talk more about working smart than working hard. Well, not this career promotion advice.

You see, no matter how much you work smart and no matter how many ‘tricks’ you know to work smart, you still need to work. You still need to be hardworking in order for the results to show. Any short cut that does not require being hardworking will not bear fruits!

I ndispensable
Isn’t it true that no one is indispensable in this world? Well, it is true. But you should strive to make yourself indispensable in the unit you work in. To gain

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

promotion and to shine at work, make "being indispensable" part of your career goals.

Strive to be a key competitive advantage to your bosses and your unit. When you do that you are making yourself indispensable. Being indispensable means taking initiatives, do what needs to be done on time. And take the initiative to do what is beyond the call of duty. When you take this career promotion advice to heart you increase your chances to gain promotion.

N ice
The advice of being hardworking in order to shine to gain that promotion is toughest to swallow for some. This career promotion advice then should be the easiest to accept - being nice at work. Being nice at work is to be a delight and pleasing to work with. It means to be polite and being able to handle your frustration and anger. It also means being able to lower your stress levels.

You would probably ask, why would being nice increase your chances to gain promotion? The answer is simple, when you are nice – polite, pleasing and able handle your emotions well; you demonstrate professional decorum. One who does that is more professional and shines at work more than one who does not.

E nthusiasm
If you want to gain promotion be enthusiastic at work. Put passion behind every task that is given to you to complete. Let that enthusiasm rub off on your colleagues. This career promotion advice works because when you put enthusiasm into every task, work becomes easier and lighter. You complete it with more accuracy and speed.

Enthusiasm doesn’t just fuel you alone. That feeling of passion is also easily transferred to fellow teammates. It then fuels them to work harder for that common goal. When you work that way you naturally shine at work.

SHINE At Work
To shine at work remember to practice these attributes. It will help you increase the chances to gain promotion. Be Serious, Hardworking, strive to be Indispensable, Nice and Enthusiastic.

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

Part 2. The Key Ingredients For Your Career Success

You found your first job and you feel a little anxious. You think to yourself – “How am I going to survive through all these?” With the right attitude and guidance, you will soon look forward to doing your best.

Like any other career enhancement tips, there are no guarantees for success. However, if you bring the right attitude and decide to take action then you are half way there. Nothing will stop a first jobber like you from shining at your workplace.

1. Self-discipline
The value of self-discipline in a first jobber is often underestimated. Now that you are in the working world you think to yourself, “Is self-discipline overrated?” I will tell you, no. It is not overrated. I have often found new staff with good self-discipline doing better than those who are poor in it.

Let me use a simple example to demonstrate this, assuming it’s a Friday and the rest of the department is planning to go out for a fun night. You have an important document to be completed for the coming Monday. What do you do? Give the fun night a pass and complete the work? Or join the fun and hope that you will find time to finish it over the weekend thus leaving you little chance to perfect it before submission?

Part of self-discipline is also about sacrifice. When you have strong selfdiscipline, it is inevitable that you would need to sacrifice some fun time to focus on your goals. If you are interested in advancing your career you may take some courses, or even read books to increase your knowledge. All these activities come with an opportunity cost. It could very well mean less time for leisure activities.

2. Success
You're probably thinking, “Success as part of these practical career enhancement tips is funny.” Let me assure you it is not. What I want to explain here is this – if you want to enhance your career, define what success is to you. Once you know what success is to you then you can plan towards that goal. Spend some time thinking what success is to you. Crystallize this in your mind. Assuming you know what success is to you, the next step is to be single-minded in the pursuit of your goal.

Being single-minded means to be focused on your goals. When you focus your energy on your goal, you get more out of your effort. You inch closer to your goals. When you are single-minded other things do not distract you. You know what you want and you power yourself towards it as best as you can so you can clearly see what you want.

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

Knowing your goal and your personal definition of success is an important element amongst these career enhancement tips for first jobbers. Equally important is to know your own strengths and your skills. If you want to enhance your career, play up on your strengths and improve on your skills required for your job. What are you good at? What are the skills sets you do not have that are required for the job? Build up on those skills.

The career enhancement tips in this sub-section basically means this – when you define what is success to you, you then pursue it single-mindedly knowing your strengths and the skills required to attain that success.

3. Sincerity
Sincerity in your career means a lot of things. For me, as a first jobber you should look at doing your work sincerely and joyfully. Meaning, do not treat your work as a drag. If you feel that your work is a drag, then start by asking yourself. Why is it so, before blaming anyone else – be it the company, your boss or your colleagues. So, be sincere with yourself. What is your core challenge in not being able to do your work sincerely?

Being sincere at your work means doing it with your level best. It means playing your part and taking personal responsibility for your work. It also means to share your learning and knowledge. When you share what you know about a certain task, you become an asset to your unit and this inevitably enhances your career. Many people think, the more they hoard what they know the more advantage they have. However, in my experience this is not true. I find that the more you share the more others are willing to share with you and the more you know.

In summary, the practical career enhancement tips you can start now is – developing self-discipline, learning to sacrifice, define what success means to you, be single-minded in pursuit of your goals by knowing your strengths and skills, and doing your work with sincerity and have sharing as a work value.

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

Part 3. Career Advancement Tips for Freshies

These career advancement tips are not instant solutions to your career challenges. They are work values you can practice to help you advance in your career.

You have just left college and started on your first job. Although you know what your role is at your work place, you are also eager to make an impression. Remember that when you practice these career advancement tips, the results are not immediate. You will only begin to see their values when you start to internalize and act upon them naturally.

1. Heart
If you want career advancement, then do everything fueled by the heart. While your brain provides the knowledge, your hands and legs provides the skills, and your heart provides the passion. Fuel every task with passion. When you work full heartedly, your quality shows. Someone who has the skills and knowledge but do not have the heart to complete the given task can only do a good job. To do a great job, you not only need skills and knowledge, you need heart. Perfection comes when passion meets skills and knowledge. Approach your work with all your heart and you will advance in your career, successfully.

2. Heed
Many freshies I have come across and worked with are very excited to demonstrate what they know and learned in school. However, they forget that sometimes experience is needed to complement what is learned in the academic world. As a freshie in the workplace, you need to take heed of what your seniors and bosses advice you. Pay careful attention to what they are trying to tell you. Some things only experience can teach you. The finer points of any industry can only be learned when you take heed of advice from elders in the industry.

3. Hunger
Have the hunger to know more and learn more. Have the hunger to want to go further and do more. If you want to advance in your career, always be hungry for relevant skills and knowledge. Always be hungry for excellence in your work. One of my ex-bosses used to tell me, when you do a good job, you earn your salary and your current position. When you do an excellent job, you give me reasons to give you an increment and a promotion.

The hunger to want to do more and do better quite naturally makes you a competitive advantage in your unit. People will notice your constant pursuit of excellence and that will make them want you to work for them and keep you

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

on the team. You increase your value to the company. This is one of the career advancement tips I continue to practice till today.

4. Hindrance
As a freshie, you lack experience at work and you will find a lot hindrances. These hindrances coupled with your eagerness to demonstrate your prowess at work will frustrate you. Some challenges and obstacles are real. It could be related to your lack of skills and knowledge to complete a task.

You may perceive yourself to know how to do the task but in reality you may not be equipped to do so. When faced with hindrances, seek help. Do not be egoistic to not do so. No one knows everything. When you seek help you learn a new skill.

Some hindrances are more people oriented. They can be difficult colleagues simply testing your patience. When I was a freshie, how I approached this hindrance was to see it as a rites of passage. They want me to give them a reason for respecting my input and my work. When faced with such colleagues, practice patience. In extreme cases, you can seek help from your immediate boss. As cliché as it sounds, hindrances only serves to make you learn more if you view them positively.

5. Humor
To balance off the career advancement tips of heed, hunger and hindrance is humor. I can still remember some of my personal experiences related to these career advancement tips. Imagine how stressful it can be when they all happen together.

Imagine the stress of having to deal with this situation - You are supposed to take heed of advice and remember it, especially when it is due to a mistake. You need to be hungry for excellence. You get hindrances from colleagues because you are new. In addition, hindrance to complete some tasks due to the lack of experience. How do you deal with it?

One of the best ways to deal with all these is to have a sense of humor. Laugh at yourself a little. When the going gets tough, laugh. While you need to be serious with your work to increase your chances of career advancement, it doesn’t mean you cannot relax. Sometimes you have to say - it’s only work. Having a sense of humor allows you to minimise the stress at work.

These are the 5 quick yet important career advancement tips a freshie can practice at work immediately. With constant practice, you can make it a habit and it would seem effortless before you know it.

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

 

Part 4. Positive Work Behaviors

Positive work behaviors are by far one of the most straightforward tips I can give you when it comes to moving up the corporate ladder. Do you sometimes feel that whenever people speak about moving up the corporate ladder, it almost always has a cunning undertone?

For career newbies especially, my recommendation is to always focus on positive work behaviors that you can start practicing now. When the time comes, moving up the corporate ladder will seem effortless. This is because you do what is right and focus on the positive. Bosses will notice and when the right time comes, the promotion you want is just a natural next step.
So what are the 8 straightforward positive work behaviors for moving up the corporate ladder?

1. Ideas
Regardless of how junior you are in an organization, you can have ideas that positively affect the company. Do not be contented with just doing your own work. Do not be shy or embarrassed about sharing them either. What’s the worst that can happen? They laugh at it and reject the idea? Well, then you turn it into something positive. Ask why can’t it work, and you would have learned something new. That information can be used to come out with better ideas.

2. Impact
Be smart enough to choose some projects in a year that are considered a challenge for your level of experience. Be hardworking enough to see it through. But have the wisdom to cross check with your bosses to make sure it is a challenge and not impossible for your experience. That way you can create an impact in the company. This positive work behavior ensures that you aren’t just the average worker clocking in and clocking out without making an impression.

3. Impeccable
This positive work behavior is to be flawless in your language and dressing. Know that you are judged at all times. First impression or not, people judge you on how you talk and what you wear. You are lucky if you work in a company with dress codes, then just dress up or down accordingly. Being impeccable when it comes to dressing doesn’t mean expensive clothes. It simply means to dress well. Being impeccable with your language doesn’t mean using bombastic words. Quite simply, it means abstaining from vulgarity.

SHINE At Work: Your 30-Minute Guide

4. Independent
Learn to work independently. In the age of empowerment, most employees are given the freedom to fail. Even if this culture is not practiced in your company, learn to work with minimal supervision. When you can work independently, it allows your boss to concentrate on other things. But remember to always update your boss on what and how you are doing. Working independently as part of positive work behaviors will help you in moving up the corporate ladder.

5. Ignite
Be an ignition of your company. Take the initiative to start something. It does not always have to be work oriented. It can be something fun or informal. For example, if you know some of your colleagues enjoy exploring different restaurants, why not start a group that does it after work Fridays? When you are a positive ignition, you can move up the corporate ladder quickly.

6. Interest
Show interest in your company’s initiatives. Be an interested party in things involving your department. Some career newbies I know come across as being cynical with initiatives that are being carried out by the company. As part of positive work behaviors, show interest in these initiatives. Give it a chance and support them. Do not send signals that your bosses see you as being merely contented as being a passenger of the company. That doesn’t help in your plan of moving up the corporate ladder.

7. Intangible
Do not always focus on the tangible benefits when working. There are a lot of values in doing things that at the moment does not seem to benefit you. For example, helping a colleague on a project. Volunteering to cover for someone who’s sick. Taking on an extra project when your boss seems inundated with work. Positive work behaviors like these may not have immediate tangible benefits but in the long run, helps you in moving up the corporate ladder.

8. Integrity
This positive work behavior means to have a sound moral character. Practiced at its most basic level for a career newbies, it can be as simple as not talking bad about a colleague and gossiping. Do not be drawn into wrong doings like cutting corners. Be honest in your dealings with colleagues, clients, business partners and suppliers.

These positive work behaviors are