‘The person who gets ahead is the one who does more than is necessary and keeps on doing it.’
- Richard Denny
‘Excuse me sir,’ the voice at the other end of the phone said, ‘I have just been relieved of my position.’
‘What?’ said I from the other end, ‘When? How? What happened?’
This was a conversation between me and one of my mentees, Jenny. Not her real name though. The timing of Jenny’s sack though caught me unawares it was however not surprising. Her imminent sack was always waiting to happen. I have always warned her about this. It was a matter of when and not if. In point of fact I had been encouraging her to look elsewhere for work.
You see Jenny was a Senior HR professional in her organization and had been having a running battle with her direct boss who was the Head of HR. So many times she had called me up to complain about one thing or the other. The picture she painted for me was a boss who was incompetent and consequently jealous of a subordinate who was a star (and was always questioning his actions especially the ones that she feel runs counter to her professional beliefs and ethics).
My advice to her had always been to get out of the organization fast before being sacked. For a start, her boss had the ears of the powers that be in the organization and whatsoever he told them they would listen to and do. Therefore considering the cat and mouse relationship, her sack was inevitable. So immediately the company started experiencing a downturn in its economic wellbeing and they had to down size, her name was included.
There are two morals to be learned from this story.
The first is pride and its converse humility. If you want to accomplish great things and acquire uncommon skills in your workplace, some amount of pride is necessary to push yourself forward. However, false pride can be a major stumbling block in achieving much in any organization.
Jenny was an accomplished HR professional. If I have to rank her against her peers, she would be in the top 20%. She has earned her right to offer advice and recommendations to her superior officer, however she should have been more diplomatic about it. The pride she had in her work however made her question certain wrong decisions her boss made. She therefore allowed false pride to halt her progress.
This is very common among most workers. When workers believe that their work is beyond reproach they allow this to damage their careers thinking they can no longer benefit from the knowledge of others who are more experienced and better. Therefore no matter how incompetent you might think your superior is, there are still some things you can learn from him or her. That is why he has gone that far in his career. Jenny therefore needs to imbibe humility. That is the confidence that follows the accomplishments in any workplace and not the pride that preceded her fall.
Now to the second moral in this story which is to avoidance of false pride which can prevent you from transcending from a good worker to a great worker. Great workers though confident in their work are devoid of false pride. They are the ones that are always coveted in most organizations. They drive organizations from ordinary to great organizations. Great workers make the problems that usually hamper and plague businesses at every stage of their development become easy to solve and consequently disappear. They make all the difference.
So what does Jenny need to do about her future as a HR professional? What does she (or any worker for that matter) need to do to propel herself from the good worker that she presently is to a great worker?
Here they are in these four easy steps:
1. Doing the work you love (What?): To be a great worker, you first need to love the work you are doing in any organization. How do you go about achieving this? By choosing a career or work that allows you to achieve your primary aim or purpose in life. You purpose in life is the reason why you are in existence. For example if your primary aim is to care for people, then your work should be in the area of medicine or social work. Any work that is not related to caring for people can never hold your attention. Jenny is doing the work she loved, no doubt about that.
2. Working where you love (Where?): A follow up to the first step is to carefully choose your place of work. The organization where you work must be one that will allow you achieve your primary aim in life not one that will hamper you. An organization whose mission and purpose differs from yours will never allow you to thrive. You will always be enthusiastic to work in an organization where work and working is made enjoyable. Here Jenny got it wrong. She was not working where she loved.
3. Working when you love (When?): There is an unwritten rule in most organizations that if you want to get ahead you must resume earlier and close later than the normal resumption and closing hours. At least one hour before resumption and after closing. When you put in more hours the better. Doing this shows that you care for your organization.
When you love what you are doing and where you are working, putting in extra hours will never be a problem. In point of fact whatever time you are called upon to work, you will never complain and will always love it.
4. Working with whom and those you love (Who?): This is about the most important step in the consideration of transcending from a good to a great worker. If you carefully choose the people you work with, you will be able to master the what, where and when of your working life. You can choose to do what you love, work where you love and even when you love, but working with people you do not love can make work and working hell for you. Here Jenny got it absolutely wrong. She was working with those she distrusted and was uncomfortable working with.
Great employees are the ones who make organizations successful. They are the ones who are tenacious and self motivated. They set the direction of any business.
Jenny was a good worker. A damn good one for that matter. However, she never allowed herself to become a great worker which she was destined to be. Reason being that she allowed false pride ruin her career. This she could have avoided if she had followed the four easy steps listed above. So sad.
Thank you for sharing your time with me in reading this post. Trust you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
The Investment Mistake That Taught Me More About Investment Than Any Book Ever Did
‘Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or for purposes for which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keeping.’
- George Samuel Clason – ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’
There is this common adage that says knowledge is power. I have however come to realize that it is not knowledge that is power. Instead it is applied knowledge that is power. This therefore is the subject of my discussion in this post.
Back in the year 2000 when I first read the book, ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ by George Samuel Clason, I was so overjoyed that I made it a duty to share the practical knowledge encapsulated therein with all my friends and acquaintances. I felt then that this was a book that provided all the practical answers that could fast track your journey financially from where you are to where you want to be. However this could only happen if the principles are diligently applied.
Come year 2007, I retired from paid employment and was paid a handsome gratuity running into millions of naira. Though this money was payment for my effort of almost two decades of work, I soon realized that easy money does not stick around. Think of those who have won lotteries and how have not been able to much save out of their winnings. You see the wealth that comes quickly often goes the same way if not properly handled.
The year 2006 to early 2008 was the time when investment in stocks was at its prime. Thinking I had acquired enough knowledge in stock trading I invested heavily in it. In point of fact the bulk of my gratuity went into the stock market. Then came the eventual recession and economic melt-down of the years mid 2008 to 2010 and the bubble busted. I lost my entire gratuity to unrestrained spending and unwise investment in stocks. Rather than diversifying my investment, I only concentrated on stock trading. Why? It was because I wanted quick and immediate profit. It was therefore my greed that brought about my financial ruin.
You see the worst thing that can happen to you in stock trading is to initially win big which I did. It made me think I was smart and knowledgeable in stock trading. It was the greed to win more that propelled me to invest more which consequently wiped off my gratuity and my other savings. My experience thereafter is a story for another day.
What therefore is the moral in this story?
The moral is that you should never invest in any business which you are not familiar!
Apart from this, I also learned from this my investment mistake several other lessons out of which I will like to pick out ten which will benefit you my readers today.
1. Your past failure or mistake has no bearing on your future.
2. Be cautious with the advice of financial experts when it comes to the issue of investments. Most of them are not competent. They are only interested in the gain they stand to gain.
3. Success in investments comes from intelligent investment judgments. That is the intelligent choices and decisions you make in your investments.
4. Intelligent judgments/decisions come from experience. Your experience on the other hand comes from bad choices/judgments made in the past and what you have learned from them.
5. There is benefit in the ‘Principle of Accelerated Failure’ (Mark Morgan Ford coined this in his book, ‘The Pledge’). That is, the faster you learn from critical mistakes, the sooner you will acquire the knowledge and wisdom to succeed. Put in another words, never fear to make mistakes or fail. You should seek it out and learn from it.
6. Hard work though necessary does not necessarily bring about prosperity.
7. Money is a means of exchange and wealth is a state of mind. Wealth grows whenever men exert energy in the pursuit of a worthy goal.
8. You invest not for building assets but to generate income for the rest of your life.
9. To become a successful investor you have to seek and learn the secrets. You must learn how to invest.
10. There are investment principles/laws which if applied would generate for you income for the rest of your life.
In spite of my mistake in this investment, have I really stopped investing in stocks? My answer is a resounding no! Rather I have made efforts to learn from this mistake. My judgments and decision making in investment have also become better and wiser. This has therefore brought me gains instead of pains.
In addition, I also learned something which is priceless. I have learned the benefit in portfolio diversification. This then led to do a little bit of research on the topic and thus far, Tony Robbins seems to have provided the best insight.
Portfolio diversification is what Tony Robbins referred to as Asset Allocation. In his video seminar titled, ‘Financial Freedom: 3 Steps to Creating the Wealth You Deserve’ Tony shared some practical financial and investment secrets which I have been putting into good use and have served me well till today. I belief if applied it will benefit you my readers and immensely too.
You see, the secret to good investment is proper asset allocation. This I did not do when I collected my gratuity. I only concentrated on stock trading which is only one form of income generating medium. Asset allocation is the single most important investment decision in your life. It is the only thing that can protect you against loss of your investments.
Asset allocation means creating three buckets into which your investments would go. So whatever amount of money you intend to invest goes into all three and not one. They are:
Security bucket: In this bucket you have the investment that gives you guaranteed rate of returns. It is the most secured against loss. Therefore your first investment has to go into this bucket. Examples of such investments are: bonds, insurance and of course your home.
Growth bucket: This kind of investment guarantees you greater returns on investment if successful. If you however screw up in your growth investment, you get zero returns. Examples are stocks and real estate. The two main strategies in this bucket of investment are the buy and hold strategy and the trading strategy (which is the strategy of the momentum players).
Dream bucket: These are the investment in your dreams. Examples are: travels, owning properties in choice part of the world, owning a boat, owning choice cars etc.
How do you then decide how to fill up your investment buckets? This will depend on your stage in life. The older you are, the more you will need to fill up your security bucket first. As an elderly person (in your 40s, 50s or 6os), you need to fill up your security bucket first since you have less time to make up for your investment mistakes. This practically is how I allocate my investments today and I have been the better for it.
However what do we have today when people want to invest? Most people tend to fill their dream buckets first. They want the best cars. They want to live in choice areas. They like to indulge in living big. You see you can only live big or indulge in your dreams when you are financially free and independent. That is when you consistently make money from your investments for the rest of your life and you never have to work again. Next they fill their growth bucket and finally the security bucket. This is wrong.
I want to thank Tony for providing me this insight.
I want to thank you too for taking your time to read this post. I hope you have benefited from reading it as much as I have enjoyed crafting it.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Mentoring: Using the Simple Art of Modeling to Create a Better You
‘He who walks with the lame learns how to walk.’
- Latin Proverb
Let me share with you a story I came across in a book I cherish so much. The story goes thus.
Many years ago a promising Greek artist named Timanthes was under the tutelage of a well known instructor who was serving both as his coach and mentor. After several years of tutelage, the young painter created an exquisite portrait. The young painter was so enamored with what he had created that he sat day and night gazing at his work. One morning however, he was horrified to discover that his teacher had deliberately ruined his painting. Angry and in tears, Timanthes ran to his mentor and asked why he had destroyed his cherished possession. The wise man replied him by saying ‘I did it for your own good. That painting was retarding your progress. It was an excellent piece of art no doubt, but it was not perfect. Start all over again and see if you can do better.’ The young artist took his mentor’s advice and produced a masterpiece called “Sacrifice of Iphigenia”, regarded by some as one of the finest paintings of antiquity.
What is the moral of this short story? It is that as an individual you do not know it all. No matter what you might have achieved in your field of endeavor, there are still some people better and more successful than you. To achieve more and become more successful therefore, you need to follow in the footsteps of someone who has done it before and will act as your guide. You need someone who will direct your steps when you are straying. Someone who has been there before and will help you avoid certain pitfalls that might befall you in your journey through life. This simply is what mentoring is all about.
Stretching this a bit further, if for example you want to learn how to climb the mountain, you need to watch and listen to someone who has done it before.
What therefore is mentoring?
The word mentor was derived from the character “Mentor” in Homer’s epic tale ‘The Odyssey’. Mentor was a trusted friend to Odysseus, the king of Ithaca in the tale. He was to later serve as a counsel and friend to Odysseus’ son Telemachus after the father’s death.
Mentoring however refers to ‘a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person.’ It therefore relates to a process for sharing knowledge relevant to work, career or professional development. By this is meant supporting and encouraging people to manage their own learning in order to maximize their potentials towards the accomplishment of their career goals. The relationship is therefore non-reporting and does not replace any of the organizational structure. Mentoring is supportive and the mentor guides the mentee through modeling of positive behaviors. Furthermore, the real impact of mentoring is made through consistent and ongoing relationship building.
Why mentoring?
Mentoring serves several benefits. It benefits the individual both as an employee or self employed. It benefits the organization where an employee serves. It also benefits the mentor and of course the profession of the mentee.
In the Workplace
1. You are provided with someone with greater knowledge and experience to turn to for advice.
2. You feel less isolated at work.
3. You are guided through problem solving.
4. You are provided with tips on career growth.
5. Employers enjoys greater productivity from the employees as a result of fewer mistakes
6. Employees enjoys greater job satisfaction
7. There is less employee turnover as a result of greater loyalty to the company.
8. Availability of mentorship program attracts new employees
Benefits to the Mentor
1. The opportunity to teach and advice mentees increases the confidence and job satisfaction of the mentor.
2. Listening to concerns of mentees help develop better understanding of employee issues and enhances stronger communication skills.
3. If the mentor is a supervisor or manager, it improves supervisory and management skills.
4. Through maintenance of professional connections it enhances reputation/connection.
Benefits to the Profession
1. Mentored employees value collaboration and sharing of information which makes the organization stronger.
2. In the workplace, it helps employees become more self directed and develop stronger communication and problem solving skills which allows business to become more creative on focused growth.
3. Mentored employees are apt to be involved in professional organizations which further their career and profession itself.
How do you go about mentoring?
The main purpose of mentoring is to create a better you! If this has been identified, how do you go about doing so? How do you find that mentor who will guide and support you all the way? Even when you have found that mentor, how do you build that enduring relationship that will benefit you?
Listed below are some action steps you could take to achieve your aim.
1. You must first understand the role of a mentor: Better still you must understand the kind of mentor that you desire. Is it a career/professional mentor or a spiritual mentor or a business mentor or academic mentor or a financial mentor? A good mentor must:
Be able to access your strengths and weaknesses
Help you understand the structure and organization of any topic
Introduce to you new perspectives and correct any wrong thinking you might possess
Boost your ability to make decisions
Help you familiarize yourself with the various tricks of your profession
Introduce you to important resources and useful references
Help in developing and creating a better and effective you
2. Think about the best ways of establishing communication and building a relationship with the mentor: Basically this is all about how to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the mentor. This requires certain action steps.
You must decide what specific role you want the mentor to provide, what you specifically want to learn from him or her. Further, you must decide what you are looking for from him and how often you will like to meet with him.
You must make a list of potential mentors according to your own personal criteria and desires for the relationship you are trying to build. Your mentor however must be someone who is well rounded and not one you admire in certain aspects alone.
You must think about what to say to convince him to be your mentor
Start approaching potential mentors on your list until you meet the one who will agree to be your mentor.
Make plans on where to meet.
3. Endeavor to keep the mentorship healthy: The relationship with your mentor has to be nurtured to make it enduring. To do this, you must:
Keep a schedule and keep to it.
Make the relationship with your mentor mutually beneficial
Show appreciation as at and when due
Keep the relationship strictly professional. Remove all forms of emotion from it.
4. Be accountable to yourself and others: That is you should avoid being selfish. You must share your hard work as well as your progress with others. Just like your mentor has done by sharing his.
Mentoring is therefore about modeling yourself after someone you have identified as worthy of emulation, a role model of some sort. Someone who is ready to support and guide you to become the kind of person you want to be. A mentor must be prepared to help you create a better you. Not a person who will be jealous of your achievements. The guidance and support must however be voluntary. It must not be pecuniary.
I hope you have benefited from reading this post as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I thank you for sharing your time with me. I really do.
- Latin Proverb
Let me share with you a story I came across in a book I cherish so much. The story goes thus.
Many years ago a promising Greek artist named Timanthes was under the tutelage of a well known instructor who was serving both as his coach and mentor. After several years of tutelage, the young painter created an exquisite portrait. The young painter was so enamored with what he had created that he sat day and night gazing at his work. One morning however, he was horrified to discover that his teacher had deliberately ruined his painting. Angry and in tears, Timanthes ran to his mentor and asked why he had destroyed his cherished possession. The wise man replied him by saying ‘I did it for your own good. That painting was retarding your progress. It was an excellent piece of art no doubt, but it was not perfect. Start all over again and see if you can do better.’ The young artist took his mentor’s advice and produced a masterpiece called “Sacrifice of Iphigenia”, regarded by some as one of the finest paintings of antiquity.
What is the moral of this short story? It is that as an individual you do not know it all. No matter what you might have achieved in your field of endeavor, there are still some people better and more successful than you. To achieve more and become more successful therefore, you need to follow in the footsteps of someone who has done it before and will act as your guide. You need someone who will direct your steps when you are straying. Someone who has been there before and will help you avoid certain pitfalls that might befall you in your journey through life. This simply is what mentoring is all about.
Stretching this a bit further, if for example you want to learn how to climb the mountain, you need to watch and listen to someone who has done it before.
What therefore is mentoring?
The word mentor was derived from the character “Mentor” in Homer’s epic tale ‘The Odyssey’. Mentor was a trusted friend to Odysseus, the king of Ithaca in the tale. He was to later serve as a counsel and friend to Odysseus’ son Telemachus after the father’s death.
Mentoring however refers to ‘a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person.’ It therefore relates to a process for sharing knowledge relevant to work, career or professional development. By this is meant supporting and encouraging people to manage their own learning in order to maximize their potentials towards the accomplishment of their career goals. The relationship is therefore non-reporting and does not replace any of the organizational structure. Mentoring is supportive and the mentor guides the mentee through modeling of positive behaviors. Furthermore, the real impact of mentoring is made through consistent and ongoing relationship building.
Why mentoring?
Mentoring serves several benefits. It benefits the individual both as an employee or self employed. It benefits the organization where an employee serves. It also benefits the mentor and of course the profession of the mentee.
In the Workplace
1. You are provided with someone with greater knowledge and experience to turn to for advice.
2. You feel less isolated at work.
3. You are guided through problem solving.
4. You are provided with tips on career growth.
5. Employers enjoys greater productivity from the employees as a result of fewer mistakes
6. Employees enjoys greater job satisfaction
7. There is less employee turnover as a result of greater loyalty to the company.
8. Availability of mentorship program attracts new employees
Benefits to the Mentor
1. The opportunity to teach and advice mentees increases the confidence and job satisfaction of the mentor.
2. Listening to concerns of mentees help develop better understanding of employee issues and enhances stronger communication skills.
3. If the mentor is a supervisor or manager, it improves supervisory and management skills.
4. Through maintenance of professional connections it enhances reputation/connection.
Benefits to the Profession
1. Mentored employees value collaboration and sharing of information which makes the organization stronger.
2. In the workplace, it helps employees become more self directed and develop stronger communication and problem solving skills which allows business to become more creative on focused growth.
3. Mentored employees are apt to be involved in professional organizations which further their career and profession itself.
How do you go about mentoring?
The main purpose of mentoring is to create a better you! If this has been identified, how do you go about doing so? How do you find that mentor who will guide and support you all the way? Even when you have found that mentor, how do you build that enduring relationship that will benefit you?
Listed below are some action steps you could take to achieve your aim.
1. You must first understand the role of a mentor: Better still you must understand the kind of mentor that you desire. Is it a career/professional mentor or a spiritual mentor or a business mentor or academic mentor or a financial mentor? A good mentor must:
Be able to access your strengths and weaknesses
Help you understand the structure and organization of any topic
Introduce to you new perspectives and correct any wrong thinking you might possess
Boost your ability to make decisions
Help you familiarize yourself with the various tricks of your profession
Introduce you to important resources and useful references
Help in developing and creating a better and effective you
2. Think about the best ways of establishing communication and building a relationship with the mentor: Basically this is all about how to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the mentor. This requires certain action steps.
You must decide what specific role you want the mentor to provide, what you specifically want to learn from him or her. Further, you must decide what you are looking for from him and how often you will like to meet with him.
You must make a list of potential mentors according to your own personal criteria and desires for the relationship you are trying to build. Your mentor however must be someone who is well rounded and not one you admire in certain aspects alone.
You must think about what to say to convince him to be your mentor
Start approaching potential mentors on your list until you meet the one who will agree to be your mentor.
Make plans on where to meet.
3. Endeavor to keep the mentorship healthy: The relationship with your mentor has to be nurtured to make it enduring. To do this, you must:
Keep a schedule and keep to it.
Make the relationship with your mentor mutually beneficial
Show appreciation as at and when due
Keep the relationship strictly professional. Remove all forms of emotion from it.
4. Be accountable to yourself and others: That is you should avoid being selfish. You must share your hard work as well as your progress with others. Just like your mentor has done by sharing his.
Mentoring is therefore about modeling yourself after someone you have identified as worthy of emulation, a role model of some sort. Someone who is ready to support and guide you to become the kind of person you want to be. A mentor must be prepared to help you create a better you. Not a person who will be jealous of your achievements. The guidance and support must however be voluntary. It must not be pecuniary.
I hope you have benefited from reading this post as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I thank you for sharing your time with me. I really do.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Tips on Dressing to Beat the Competition During Your Next Interview
Dr Frank Bernieri, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the Oregun State University in the United States once enthused that “Within the first ten seconds of meeting your interviewer, the person had decided whether you are fit for the job or not. Those who came across as being polished and appropriately dressed are deemed to be more likely to be fit for hire than those who put in less effort to do so.” What this means is that you need to make a conscious and deliberate effort to make your appearance not only appealing but seductive for your next job interview in order to create a lasting impression and enhance your employ-ability. Your dressing therefore plays a critical role in your success during the interview. If your appearance is appropriate and attractive enough it will set you apart from the crowd of other job seekers. What you wear will afford a prospective employer the clue to determine whether you can fit into their corporate culture or not.
What then repulses the hiring manager the most about a job seeker during any interview session? Why would a prospective employer suddenly develop a dislike for a prospective employee in the course of a job chat? Of course it is creating a sloppy first impression during the job chat. Your appearance is what communicates the first impression to the recruiter during the interview session. It can make or mar your interview. You see, immediate judgment is formed about you based on the way you dress, your warm smile, your hair style or hair cut and of course your conduct. Being sloppy about all these during a job chat is a potential danger to a successful interview. Your contact with the interviewer therefore contains some element of seduction. A neat and appropriate dressing therefore goes hand in hand with this.
Stretching this a bit further how do you then create a good and lasting first impression with your dressing during an interview? From my years of experience as a recruiter, the following tips although may or may not land you the job but will surely enhance your success during the interview.
1. Conducting proper and accurate research on the organization’s dress code: Do your homework on the dressing code of the organization putting the job on offer and consequently conducting the interview. Check the dress code of the organization on Google. You can even visit their office during office hours and check out the outfits of the better dressed employees. Endeavor to dress that way to convince the hiring manager that you can fit into their corporate culture.
2. Abiding by the interview attire golden rule: We interviewers expect a prospective job seeker to appear for a job chat in an outfit typical of the profession she is being interviewed. You will be credited for being appropriately dressed, however you will lose marks if not properly dressed for the interview. That is why you need to do your home work on the dressing code of a prospective employer well.
3. Choosing your outfit conservatively: When preparing for your next interview and in the course of taking decision on your dressing, endeavor to choose an outfit customary to your industry or sector and in particular your prospective organization. Younger job seekers often make the mistake of thinking that college dressing or night club dressing is appropriate for interview. This is far from the truth. Your image should portray professionalism. For conservation businesses (like banking or law) a man should wear suits (color black or navy blue with nice socks, white shirt or blue with matching tie, belt and pair of shoes while a woman on the other hand should wear a nice skirt or pant suit with pantyhose and closed shoes. Those in the internet and public relations industry or other less formal sector, could dress a little trendier by wearing button down shirts, a pair of slacks and nice pair of shoes. If however the interview is less formal, like in the software development sector where they are not particular about suits, the candidate should try and wear something nicer than what the others in the company are wearing.
4. Paying attention to the other accessories you wear: You should not pay attention to the dress you wear to an interview alone and forget the other accessories. They all go hand in hand. Endeavor to match the shoe you wear with the color of the belt. Make sure your shoes are polished well and fit.
5. Fragrance: Avoid using your favorite cologne, aftershave or perfume as part of your dressing when going for your next interview. Some interviewers are sensitive to smell and may not like the scent as much as you do. Such smell could therefore offend them and consequently count against you during the interview.
6. Avoid showing too much of your skin: The more of your skin you show during the interview, the more your credibility wanes. A common complaint by prospective employers is that most women wear clothes that are too revealing to work. You will therefore not want to prove them right. Do you?
7. Your jewelry, piercings and tattoos: The less the better. Overdoing it may count against you.
Dressing indicates commitment and seriousness on the part of you the job seeker and consequently endears you to the hiring manager. Further it indicates that you the prospective employee will fit into the culture of the organization. In the words of Samuel Johnson “Fine dressing are good only as they supply the want of other means of procuring respect.” Dressing appropriately for your next interview will therefore open all doors for you including that of the hiring manager. You see good dressing may not make the man, but it has certainly gotten many a good job.
Did you enjoy reading this article as much as I did in writing it? Your comments will be appreciated.
Thanks for sharing your time with me.
What then repulses the hiring manager the most about a job seeker during any interview session? Why would a prospective employer suddenly develop a dislike for a prospective employee in the course of a job chat? Of course it is creating a sloppy first impression during the job chat. Your appearance is what communicates the first impression to the recruiter during the interview session. It can make or mar your interview. You see, immediate judgment is formed about you based on the way you dress, your warm smile, your hair style or hair cut and of course your conduct. Being sloppy about all these during a job chat is a potential danger to a successful interview. Your contact with the interviewer therefore contains some element of seduction. A neat and appropriate dressing therefore goes hand in hand with this.
Stretching this a bit further how do you then create a good and lasting first impression with your dressing during an interview? From my years of experience as a recruiter, the following tips although may or may not land you the job but will surely enhance your success during the interview.
1. Conducting proper and accurate research on the organization’s dress code: Do your homework on the dressing code of the organization putting the job on offer and consequently conducting the interview. Check the dress code of the organization on Google. You can even visit their office during office hours and check out the outfits of the better dressed employees. Endeavor to dress that way to convince the hiring manager that you can fit into their corporate culture.
2. Abiding by the interview attire golden rule: We interviewers expect a prospective job seeker to appear for a job chat in an outfit typical of the profession she is being interviewed. You will be credited for being appropriately dressed, however you will lose marks if not properly dressed for the interview. That is why you need to do your home work on the dressing code of a prospective employer well.
3. Choosing your outfit conservatively: When preparing for your next interview and in the course of taking decision on your dressing, endeavor to choose an outfit customary to your industry or sector and in particular your prospective organization. Younger job seekers often make the mistake of thinking that college dressing or night club dressing is appropriate for interview. This is far from the truth. Your image should portray professionalism. For conservation businesses (like banking or law) a man should wear suits (color black or navy blue with nice socks, white shirt or blue with matching tie, belt and pair of shoes while a woman on the other hand should wear a nice skirt or pant suit with pantyhose and closed shoes. Those in the internet and public relations industry or other less formal sector, could dress a little trendier by wearing button down shirts, a pair of slacks and nice pair of shoes. If however the interview is less formal, like in the software development sector where they are not particular about suits, the candidate should try and wear something nicer than what the others in the company are wearing.
4. Paying attention to the other accessories you wear: You should not pay attention to the dress you wear to an interview alone and forget the other accessories. They all go hand in hand. Endeavor to match the shoe you wear with the color of the belt. Make sure your shoes are polished well and fit.
5. Fragrance: Avoid using your favorite cologne, aftershave or perfume as part of your dressing when going for your next interview. Some interviewers are sensitive to smell and may not like the scent as much as you do. Such smell could therefore offend them and consequently count against you during the interview.
6. Avoid showing too much of your skin: The more of your skin you show during the interview, the more your credibility wanes. A common complaint by prospective employers is that most women wear clothes that are too revealing to work. You will therefore not want to prove them right. Do you?
7. Your jewelry, piercings and tattoos: The less the better. Overdoing it may count against you.
Dressing indicates commitment and seriousness on the part of you the job seeker and consequently endears you to the hiring manager. Further it indicates that you the prospective employee will fit into the culture of the organization. In the words of Samuel Johnson “Fine dressing are good only as they supply the want of other means of procuring respect.” Dressing appropriately for your next interview will therefore open all doors for you including that of the hiring manager. You see good dressing may not make the man, but it has certainly gotten many a good job.
Did you enjoy reading this article as much as I did in writing it? Your comments will be appreciated.
Thanks for sharing your time with me.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Tips on How to Prepare for a Job Interview
Preparing for a job chat has always been found to enhance performance during interview sessions. It increases your confidence as a candidate during the assessment process thereby improving your chances of success. Further, with adequate preparation possibilities and opportunities that otherwise would have been unavailable are opened up. Problematic questions which could have been asked during interview sessions would have been practiced beforehand and probable answers prepared for them. With adequate preparation and practice the interview skills and abilities required during the assessment process would have been learnt and exhibited during the session. This write up is therefore prepared to offer tips on making adequate preparation to make a success of your next interview.
Consider this scenario. Daniel and Joshua were both shortlisted for the vacant position of Marketing Manager. Joahua spent over one hundred hours preparing for the interview, holding mock interviews, practicing probable questions and answers, working on his communication skills and others, researching into the company putting the job on offer etc. Daniel on the other hand did none of that. Instead he relied on his intelligence and talent to take him through. The most he spent on preparation was the few hours he took to arrange the things he thought he would need to take to the interview session. From the foregoing, who out of the two will perform better during the assessment session? Joshua will perform better of course. Practice they say makes one perfect. With adequate preparation and coupled with hours of practice, several opportunities and possibilities that will enhance chances of success during the interview session will open up. Intelligence and talent can only take you to a certain level. Maybe get you past the first level of the interview session. It is adequate preparation that will take you up the ladder of success in any endeavor and during the assessment session will help you outshine your competition.
As a job searcher desirous of performing well during any job chat and consequently enhancing your employability, you need to take certain positive actions. What are these actions?
1. Conducting research on the company putting job on offer: First among such actions is learning about the company advertising a job. Go online and learn as much as you can about the company. You need to learn about what industry it is in. What it produces or the service it renders. The size of the company in terms of sales and turnover and in terms of employees. What the company says about its products and services etc. Further, you need to learn about what other people are saying about the company. All these will put you in good stead during the chat.
2. Familiarizing yourself with the job on offer: You need to learn about the job being put on offer. Learn about what skills and attributes are required and try to match them with ones you possess. To do this, you need to conduct a sort of personal assessment and audit to identify your good points and attributes and match same with those required for the job. You should note one or two examples for each personal attributes that best illustrate your suitability for the job on offer. Familiarize yourself with these and put them to use in the event of being asked questions on your suitability for the job on offer.
3. Preparation on how to relate stories about your achievements and accomplishments: Another positive action is the ability to tell stories related to your work experience and accomplishments during the interview session. You should be able to draw on such experiences that demonstrate your skills and abilities. You should therefore practice telling your story perfectly well. Since the interview session is a marketing activity designed to sell a product which is you the candidate, you should make the most of it. You should be able to convince the interviewer that you are the ideal candidate and the benefits they stand to gain by your employment. The story telling practice is therefore an essential tool to assist you in creating a natural flow to your stories so that the interviewer can focus on your potential benefit to the company putting a job on offer.
4. Choosing the right outfit to wear to the interview session: Endeavor to choose an outfit that will agree perfectly with your interview session. Most times formal dressing is required. In point of fact interviewers allot some marks for dressing. You should therefore endeavor to choose your outfit carefully. Choose such outfit that will not be too neither loud nor shabby looking. Make sure you choose one that will show that you are a perfect candidate for the position on offer.
5. Practice frequently asked interview questions: As a job seeker, one is not endowed with the skill of knowing all the questions that are likely to be asked during a job chat. Even if you know some you cannot possibly know all. It therefore becomes pertinent to prepare beforehand with likely and frequently asked interview questions. There are several websites on the internet with such questions. Practicing them beforehand and learning the probable answers to them increases your chances of answering them well during actual interview sessions.
6. Practice proper communication of ideas: Interview is all about marketing of a product which is you the candidate. In marketing therefore communication plays a major role. If you know so much about your product and you are not able to convince the customer to buy it from you, what is the essence of selling? That is where proper communication comes in. With proper communication of the benefits and values of the product, selling it to the customer becomes easier. Same goes for the interview session. With proper communication of your skills, attributes and accomplishment to the interviewers convincing them that you are the perfect candidate for the job becomes easier. This will consequently enhance your employ-ability. Therefore practicing proper communication of ideas cannot be over emphasized.
7. Use “STAR” model (Situation or task, action and result) when answering interview questions: Another vital method of preparing for a job chat is by practicing beforehand how to use the STAR model in answering questions during interview session. The intention is to provide structure and focus to your answers. For example if asked during interview a particular situation when you have displayed a certain interview skill, the interviewer is looking for how you will respond via a specific example. Using the STAR model therefore, you will break your answer into: the description of the task, the action you took and the final measurable result. This enables the interviewer to visualize your behavioral response to specific events and consequently gain the best impression about your future performance. You should therefore endeavor to prepare one or two example for each of the attributes you must have listed in your resume.
8. Let others help you out: While preparing for your interview session, endeavor to seek the opinion of a second person regarding your performance. You do not know it all. Having probably a friend or a colleague to help watch how you perform in a mock interview session will assist in identifying lapses and sour points that might otherwise not have been discovered.
From the foregoing therefore, the idea of adequate preparation before a job chat cannot be over emphasized. This is because preparation increases your value as a job seeker and consequently your success during the interview. With adequate preparation your employ-ability as a job hunter is further enhanced. My experience as a recruiter has shown that a candidate who prepares well for a job interview will always outshine one who does not. Individual talent and brilliance is essential but it can only take the job seeker to a level. Only adequate preparation can take you all the way.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Consider this scenario. Daniel and Joshua were both shortlisted for the vacant position of Marketing Manager. Joahua spent over one hundred hours preparing for the interview, holding mock interviews, practicing probable questions and answers, working on his communication skills and others, researching into the company putting the job on offer etc. Daniel on the other hand did none of that. Instead he relied on his intelligence and talent to take him through. The most he spent on preparation was the few hours he took to arrange the things he thought he would need to take to the interview session. From the foregoing, who out of the two will perform better during the assessment session? Joshua will perform better of course. Practice they say makes one perfect. With adequate preparation and coupled with hours of practice, several opportunities and possibilities that will enhance chances of success during the interview session will open up. Intelligence and talent can only take you to a certain level. Maybe get you past the first level of the interview session. It is adequate preparation that will take you up the ladder of success in any endeavor and during the assessment session will help you outshine your competition.
As a job searcher desirous of performing well during any job chat and consequently enhancing your employability, you need to take certain positive actions. What are these actions?
1. Conducting research on the company putting job on offer: First among such actions is learning about the company advertising a job. Go online and learn as much as you can about the company. You need to learn about what industry it is in. What it produces or the service it renders. The size of the company in terms of sales and turnover and in terms of employees. What the company says about its products and services etc. Further, you need to learn about what other people are saying about the company. All these will put you in good stead during the chat.
2. Familiarizing yourself with the job on offer: You need to learn about the job being put on offer. Learn about what skills and attributes are required and try to match them with ones you possess. To do this, you need to conduct a sort of personal assessment and audit to identify your good points and attributes and match same with those required for the job. You should note one or two examples for each personal attributes that best illustrate your suitability for the job on offer. Familiarize yourself with these and put them to use in the event of being asked questions on your suitability for the job on offer.
3. Preparation on how to relate stories about your achievements and accomplishments: Another positive action is the ability to tell stories related to your work experience and accomplishments during the interview session. You should be able to draw on such experiences that demonstrate your skills and abilities. You should therefore practice telling your story perfectly well. Since the interview session is a marketing activity designed to sell a product which is you the candidate, you should make the most of it. You should be able to convince the interviewer that you are the ideal candidate and the benefits they stand to gain by your employment. The story telling practice is therefore an essential tool to assist you in creating a natural flow to your stories so that the interviewer can focus on your potential benefit to the company putting a job on offer.
4. Choosing the right outfit to wear to the interview session: Endeavor to choose an outfit that will agree perfectly with your interview session. Most times formal dressing is required. In point of fact interviewers allot some marks for dressing. You should therefore endeavor to choose your outfit carefully. Choose such outfit that will not be too neither loud nor shabby looking. Make sure you choose one that will show that you are a perfect candidate for the position on offer.
5. Practice frequently asked interview questions: As a job seeker, one is not endowed with the skill of knowing all the questions that are likely to be asked during a job chat. Even if you know some you cannot possibly know all. It therefore becomes pertinent to prepare beforehand with likely and frequently asked interview questions. There are several websites on the internet with such questions. Practicing them beforehand and learning the probable answers to them increases your chances of answering them well during actual interview sessions.
6. Practice proper communication of ideas: Interview is all about marketing of a product which is you the candidate. In marketing therefore communication plays a major role. If you know so much about your product and you are not able to convince the customer to buy it from you, what is the essence of selling? That is where proper communication comes in. With proper communication of the benefits and values of the product, selling it to the customer becomes easier. Same goes for the interview session. With proper communication of your skills, attributes and accomplishment to the interviewers convincing them that you are the perfect candidate for the job becomes easier. This will consequently enhance your employ-ability. Therefore practicing proper communication of ideas cannot be over emphasized.
7. Use “STAR” model (Situation or task, action and result) when answering interview questions: Another vital method of preparing for a job chat is by practicing beforehand how to use the STAR model in answering questions during interview session. The intention is to provide structure and focus to your answers. For example if asked during interview a particular situation when you have displayed a certain interview skill, the interviewer is looking for how you will respond via a specific example. Using the STAR model therefore, you will break your answer into: the description of the task, the action you took and the final measurable result. This enables the interviewer to visualize your behavioral response to specific events and consequently gain the best impression about your future performance. You should therefore endeavor to prepare one or two example for each of the attributes you must have listed in your resume.
8. Let others help you out: While preparing for your interview session, endeavor to seek the opinion of a second person regarding your performance. You do not know it all. Having probably a friend or a colleague to help watch how you perform in a mock interview session will assist in identifying lapses and sour points that might otherwise not have been discovered.
From the foregoing therefore, the idea of adequate preparation before a job chat cannot be over emphasized. This is because preparation increases your value as a job seeker and consequently your success during the interview. With adequate preparation your employ-ability as a job hunter is further enhanced. My experience as a recruiter has shown that a candidate who prepares well for a job interview will always outshine one who does not. Individual talent and brilliance is essential but it can only take the job seeker to a level. Only adequate preparation can take you all the way.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
The Truth about Reliability in Resume Writing
‘When you are honest and ethical and live with integrity, your rewards are guaranteed’.
- Zig Zigler.
In my over two decades as a human relations professional, I have had the privilege of coming across quite a number of so called ‘stars’ ruining their careers and consequently their lives as a result of being economical with the truth when crafting their resumes.
The other day, one of my mentees called me up to seek my opinion over an issue that had been boggling his mind. You see, he had been recommended for a top management role in a multinational company. He was then asked to submit a copy of his most recent resume. Being the one that helped him craft the resume he then wanted to seek my opinion on some issues in the resume which he claimed did not quite add up. He therefore wanted to seek my opinion on whether to re-craft the resume and straighten up the facts bearing in mind that he had at one time had his hands burnt and forced to resign over a similar matter or leave it the way it is.
Without mincing words, my straight answer was that he should re-craft his resume and present the facts the way they are. I then went on to relate the story of a certain John (not real name) a certain medical doctor who got hired as the resident doctor in the clinic of a textile company. During recruitment, the resume was properly polished and so professionally written that he was the first to be shortlisted for interview. Fortunately, he was able to match his claims with his performance during the interview and he was eventually employed. However, unknown to the employers, he was not a qualified medical doctor as claimed in the resume. He was a fake. It took the employment of a new Human Resource Manager to discover the truth. The new HRM while going through his file one day discovered some anomalies in his resume. He found out that some things did not match and therefore invited him for a chat to clear things up. It was then found out that he never qualified as a medical doctor. He lost his job and a battered image in tow. All these could have been avoided if he had presented a reliable resume, but he did not. He wanted to cut corners.
Whether you want it or not, prospective employers often do background checks after employment to determine the veracity of the claims of candidates in their resumes and during interviews. You see, your CV is a mirror of your personality to a prospective employer. It shows the hirer your real personality. Presenting a reliable resume to a prospective employer therefore presents the picture of a reliable prospective employee. The hirer will visualize a candidate that can be relied upon and can add real value to their organization if given the opportunity to serve and that says a lot about the individual. Further, presenting a reliable CV to a recruiter will present the picture of a candidate with integrity. It will present the picture of an honest candidate, dependable and a person of impeccable character.
If this is so, why then do most job seekers pack lies in their resumes? The answer is to achieve the objective of being shortlisted for an interview of course. By claiming to possess skills, attributes and achievements they do not actually possess in their CVs, they stand better chance of being shortlisted. However, the lie will not endure forever. The truth will come out anyway. If not discovered during scrutiny by recruiters, it would during actual interview. You see some things do not match so we experience recruiters often look for such inaccuracies in resumes. Sometimes when those lying in their CVs get employed, they usually do not match their claims with their performance. Also, the truth might be found out when employers contact the places of work or schools attended to verify their claims. So their untruths are eventually found out. Research has shown that candidates often lie about employment dates, job titles, gaps between employments and qualifications. In point of fact 86% of interviewers think that resumes and application forms are not wholly truthful.
Why Present a Reliable Resume?
1. A CV with a lie is an embarrassment or a dismissal waiting to happen in the future: 86% of recruiters have the belief that job seekers often lie in their CVs and do not present the facts as they truly are. Therefore when scrutinizing resumes, they always take the pain to separate the fake resumes from the reliable ones. An experienced recruiter cannot be fooled. It is easy to fool someone without experience but not so with an experienced HR practitioner who knows his onion in recruitment. We recruiters often look for that part of the CV that does not match. We most times look for inaccuracies, inconsistencies, distortions and omissions. Sometimes this is done during interview session if the candidate is successful in passing through the short listing. Therefore whatever doubts we might have we always try to clear up during the interview session. Chances are that if you are able to scale the short listing with a resume filled with half truths or untruths, you will have to clear these up during the interview session.
2. Truth will eventually be known: Lying in your CV is a very daft thing to do because the truth will eventually come out if not during interview sessions it could be after references might have been sent out to confirm the veracity of the claims in the CV. It is therefore sensible to present facts as they truly should be. After all the worst that could happen is not to be considered for short listing in one placement and that does not mean you will not be considered again. Research has shown that about 85% of employers seek references from at least a previous employer. Therefore if you have made any false claim in your CV about your achievements in your past employment, chances are that the lie might be found out.
3. Integrity and reputation are more important than qualification: Lying in your resume about qualification is a risky strategy therefore it is better to avoid the temptation. It is better to be proud of who you are and what you have. Positive emphasis and strong presentation about self is good but falsehoods are not.
From the foregoing therefore it is not good to present inaccuracies or distortions in your CV. Rather than cover your CV with deceits it is better to show recruiters what you have learned from your mistakes. That way you will gain the respect of your prospective employer as you will come out as one who can learn from mistakes and develop from it. These are the kind of candidates that can add value to organizations and not the deceitful ones. Reliability adds value to your personality and further enhances your chances of employability. This is because the recruiter scrutinizing your CV will see you as one capable of adding value to his organization. If you therefore want to have an edge over most other applicants, tell the truth. This is because integrity is considered a vital factor among all good quality employers.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
- Zig Zigler.
In my over two decades as a human relations professional, I have had the privilege of coming across quite a number of so called ‘stars’ ruining their careers and consequently their lives as a result of being economical with the truth when crafting their resumes.
The other day, one of my mentees called me up to seek my opinion over an issue that had been boggling his mind. You see, he had been recommended for a top management role in a multinational company. He was then asked to submit a copy of his most recent resume. Being the one that helped him craft the resume he then wanted to seek my opinion on some issues in the resume which he claimed did not quite add up. He therefore wanted to seek my opinion on whether to re-craft the resume and straighten up the facts bearing in mind that he had at one time had his hands burnt and forced to resign over a similar matter or leave it the way it is.
Without mincing words, my straight answer was that he should re-craft his resume and present the facts the way they are. I then went on to relate the story of a certain John (not real name) a certain medical doctor who got hired as the resident doctor in the clinic of a textile company. During recruitment, the resume was properly polished and so professionally written that he was the first to be shortlisted for interview. Fortunately, he was able to match his claims with his performance during the interview and he was eventually employed. However, unknown to the employers, he was not a qualified medical doctor as claimed in the resume. He was a fake. It took the employment of a new Human Resource Manager to discover the truth. The new HRM while going through his file one day discovered some anomalies in his resume. He found out that some things did not match and therefore invited him for a chat to clear things up. It was then found out that he never qualified as a medical doctor. He lost his job and a battered image in tow. All these could have been avoided if he had presented a reliable resume, but he did not. He wanted to cut corners.
Whether you want it or not, prospective employers often do background checks after employment to determine the veracity of the claims of candidates in their resumes and during interviews. You see, your CV is a mirror of your personality to a prospective employer. It shows the hirer your real personality. Presenting a reliable resume to a prospective employer therefore presents the picture of a reliable prospective employee. The hirer will visualize a candidate that can be relied upon and can add real value to their organization if given the opportunity to serve and that says a lot about the individual. Further, presenting a reliable CV to a recruiter will present the picture of a candidate with integrity. It will present the picture of an honest candidate, dependable and a person of impeccable character.
If this is so, why then do most job seekers pack lies in their resumes? The answer is to achieve the objective of being shortlisted for an interview of course. By claiming to possess skills, attributes and achievements they do not actually possess in their CVs, they stand better chance of being shortlisted. However, the lie will not endure forever. The truth will come out anyway. If not discovered during scrutiny by recruiters, it would during actual interview. You see some things do not match so we experience recruiters often look for such inaccuracies in resumes. Sometimes when those lying in their CVs get employed, they usually do not match their claims with their performance. Also, the truth might be found out when employers contact the places of work or schools attended to verify their claims. So their untruths are eventually found out. Research has shown that candidates often lie about employment dates, job titles, gaps between employments and qualifications. In point of fact 86% of interviewers think that resumes and application forms are not wholly truthful.
Why Present a Reliable Resume?
1. A CV with a lie is an embarrassment or a dismissal waiting to happen in the future: 86% of recruiters have the belief that job seekers often lie in their CVs and do not present the facts as they truly are. Therefore when scrutinizing resumes, they always take the pain to separate the fake resumes from the reliable ones. An experienced recruiter cannot be fooled. It is easy to fool someone without experience but not so with an experienced HR practitioner who knows his onion in recruitment. We recruiters often look for that part of the CV that does not match. We most times look for inaccuracies, inconsistencies, distortions and omissions. Sometimes this is done during interview session if the candidate is successful in passing through the short listing. Therefore whatever doubts we might have we always try to clear up during the interview session. Chances are that if you are able to scale the short listing with a resume filled with half truths or untruths, you will have to clear these up during the interview session.
2. Truth will eventually be known: Lying in your CV is a very daft thing to do because the truth will eventually come out if not during interview sessions it could be after references might have been sent out to confirm the veracity of the claims in the CV. It is therefore sensible to present facts as they truly should be. After all the worst that could happen is not to be considered for short listing in one placement and that does not mean you will not be considered again. Research has shown that about 85% of employers seek references from at least a previous employer. Therefore if you have made any false claim in your CV about your achievements in your past employment, chances are that the lie might be found out.
3. Integrity and reputation are more important than qualification: Lying in your resume about qualification is a risky strategy therefore it is better to avoid the temptation. It is better to be proud of who you are and what you have. Positive emphasis and strong presentation about self is good but falsehoods are not.
From the foregoing therefore it is not good to present inaccuracies or distortions in your CV. Rather than cover your CV with deceits it is better to show recruiters what you have learned from your mistakes. That way you will gain the respect of your prospective employer as you will come out as one who can learn from mistakes and develop from it. These are the kind of candidates that can add value to organizations and not the deceitful ones. Reliability adds value to your personality and further enhances your chances of employability. This is because the recruiter scrutinizing your CV will see you as one capable of adding value to his organization. If you therefore want to have an edge over most other applicants, tell the truth. This is because integrity is considered a vital factor among all good quality employers.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
How to Cure Your Goal Setting DIS-EASE
In 1963 at Yale University in the United States, only 3% of the musical students were said to have set goals and plan on how to accomplish them. 97% of the students did not. By the year 1973 (10 years later), those 3% have accomplished 97% of their set goals.
Why did the 97% that refused to set goals do so? You see in life we have an incredible amount of choices. Therefore we may decide to set goals or not.
Zig Zigler gave some reasons which I believe may be relevant:
1. Fear factor: Fear is ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’. These students have been taught to belief negatively that goal setting could not work for them.
2. They have a processed image/identity: We act in accordance with the image /identity of ourselves that we have created in our head.
3. They have never really been sold on the absolute necessity of setting goals. They do not know that goal setting could work for them.
4. They do not know how to set and reach their goals.
Elaborating a bit more on this, a study was conducted with a group of 100 men who start evenly at the age of 25 years. Imagine what will happen to them all by the time they are 65 years. For a start they will all believed that they would be successful. However by the time they were 65 years, only one was rich. Four out of the 65 were financially free. 41 were still working while 54 out of the 100 were broke. So much for all of the 100 men thinking they could all be successful.
So what is success?
Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. The only person who is therefore successful is that who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. That is one who pursues something worthy and realizes it. Success is a woman who wants to be a good mother and makes a good job of it. Success is a man who wants to become a software developer like Bill Gates and makes a damn good job of it. Success is a thing you do deliberately and accomplish it.
If this is therefore so, have you ever wondered why some people dream of doing something but never achieve it? Or wondered why some people dream of doing things and successfully accomplish them over and over again. The reason is goals!!! People with goals know where they are going. They know their destination.
What are goals?
Goals are dreams we are willing to take action on and it must have a deadline. Goals have a beginning and an end. We all have dreams. We dream of buying cars or building houses for example. Supposing you decide to buy your car by December 2015 or pack into your house by May 2016, the dream has crossed the threshold of dreams and crossed into that of goals. This is because a deadline has been attached to the completion. Without a dream you cannot have a goal. Without a goal you cannot take positive action on your dream. Without taking positive action on your dream, nothing can bring you closer to your dream. We therefore set goals to accomplish our dreams.
BE --------- DO---------HAVE
Stretching the discussion on goals setting a bit further, after several decades of knowledge acquisition and experience I have come to the realization that the strategy I am about to discourse on is the most appropriate in curing goal setting disease yet. The three words above are at the heart of this strategy.
Goals are the ‘have’ part of this strategy. Your goals include such things like having a lean and slim body, having a great relationship, having a latest car, having a nice mansion or having a million dollars.
Once you figure out what you want to have (your goal), you begin listing what you have ‘to do’ to have it. This is basically the reason why people have ‘to do lists’. Consequently you set your goal and then start ‘doing’. For example many people believe that if you buy stocks, bonds, real estate or mutual funds (the way the rich do) this will make you rich and wealthy. However, doing what the professional investor do does not guarantee financial success. By doing this, you are only focusing on what investors have to do to get rich and that is erroneous. Rather, you should first focus on ‘being’ before doing. To become rich therefore, you have to first acquire the mentality, beliefs, attitude and mindset of the rich about money. Without this you will only be doing to have which won’t get you far. Rather than working hard to grow rich, you should think hard to grow rich. Rather than working hard to pay bills therefore you should work hard to acquire assets.
The same could be applied to the person who wants to have a perfect body. Most focus on doing what those having perfect bodied do, which is dieting and exercising. However this does not last long before they revert to what they have always been doing (indiscipline in their diets and fitness).
Think of setting standards and you will think of goal setting. Standards serve as our measuring rod for our progress in life. If you want any lasting change and progress in life you must set standards and you must set goals. With your progress comes your happiness. Human beings are happiest when making progress. Progress however is not automatic. You have got to work on it by setting standards, by setting goals.
To cure yourself of your goal setting disease, you must first acquire the mindset, attitude and beliefs of who you want to ‘be’ which will increase your chances of doing what you have to ‘do’ which will ultimately increase your chances of having what you want to ‘have’ (your goals).
If you want to survive and prosper in this rat race called life, you must emulate the habit of setting goals. Educate yourself about it. Make genuine efforts to practice it and seize the opportunities that come along with the discipline of goal setting to avoid the pain of regret.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Why did the 97% that refused to set goals do so? You see in life we have an incredible amount of choices. Therefore we may decide to set goals or not.
Zig Zigler gave some reasons which I believe may be relevant:
1. Fear factor: Fear is ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’. These students have been taught to belief negatively that goal setting could not work for them.
2. They have a processed image/identity: We act in accordance with the image /identity of ourselves that we have created in our head.
3. They have never really been sold on the absolute necessity of setting goals. They do not know that goal setting could work for them.
4. They do not know how to set and reach their goals.
Elaborating a bit more on this, a study was conducted with a group of 100 men who start evenly at the age of 25 years. Imagine what will happen to them all by the time they are 65 years. For a start they will all believed that they would be successful. However by the time they were 65 years, only one was rich. Four out of the 65 were financially free. 41 were still working while 54 out of the 100 were broke. So much for all of the 100 men thinking they could all be successful.
So what is success?
Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. The only person who is therefore successful is that who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. That is one who pursues something worthy and realizes it. Success is a woman who wants to be a good mother and makes a good job of it. Success is a man who wants to become a software developer like Bill Gates and makes a damn good job of it. Success is a thing you do deliberately and accomplish it.
If this is therefore so, have you ever wondered why some people dream of doing something but never achieve it? Or wondered why some people dream of doing things and successfully accomplish them over and over again. The reason is goals!!! People with goals know where they are going. They know their destination.
What are goals?
Goals are dreams we are willing to take action on and it must have a deadline. Goals have a beginning and an end. We all have dreams. We dream of buying cars or building houses for example. Supposing you decide to buy your car by December 2015 or pack into your house by May 2016, the dream has crossed the threshold of dreams and crossed into that of goals. This is because a deadline has been attached to the completion. Without a dream you cannot have a goal. Without a goal you cannot take positive action on your dream. Without taking positive action on your dream, nothing can bring you closer to your dream. We therefore set goals to accomplish our dreams.
BE --------- DO---------HAVE
Stretching the discussion on goals setting a bit further, after several decades of knowledge acquisition and experience I have come to the realization that the strategy I am about to discourse on is the most appropriate in curing goal setting disease yet. The three words above are at the heart of this strategy.
Goals are the ‘have’ part of this strategy. Your goals include such things like having a lean and slim body, having a great relationship, having a latest car, having a nice mansion or having a million dollars.
Once you figure out what you want to have (your goal), you begin listing what you have ‘to do’ to have it. This is basically the reason why people have ‘to do lists’. Consequently you set your goal and then start ‘doing’. For example many people believe that if you buy stocks, bonds, real estate or mutual funds (the way the rich do) this will make you rich and wealthy. However, doing what the professional investor do does not guarantee financial success. By doing this, you are only focusing on what investors have to do to get rich and that is erroneous. Rather, you should first focus on ‘being’ before doing. To become rich therefore, you have to first acquire the mentality, beliefs, attitude and mindset of the rich about money. Without this you will only be doing to have which won’t get you far. Rather than working hard to grow rich, you should think hard to grow rich. Rather than working hard to pay bills therefore you should work hard to acquire assets.
The same could be applied to the person who wants to have a perfect body. Most focus on doing what those having perfect bodied do, which is dieting and exercising. However this does not last long before they revert to what they have always been doing (indiscipline in their diets and fitness).
Think of setting standards and you will think of goal setting. Standards serve as our measuring rod for our progress in life. If you want any lasting change and progress in life you must set standards and you must set goals. With your progress comes your happiness. Human beings are happiest when making progress. Progress however is not automatic. You have got to work on it by setting standards, by setting goals.
To cure yourself of your goal setting disease, you must first acquire the mindset, attitude and beliefs of who you want to ‘be’ which will increase your chances of doing what you have to ‘do’ which will ultimately increase your chances of having what you want to ‘have’ (your goals).
If you want to survive and prosper in this rat race called life, you must emulate the habit of setting goals. Educate yourself about it. Make genuine efforts to practice it and seize the opportunities that come along with the discipline of goal setting to avoid the pain of regret.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)