So it’s “Round 2” of my promoting sales as a career. The first time I wrote about it was right after 9/11 when I self-published “The Job Nobody Dreams Of.” I sold a couple of copies, gave several speeches, and hopefully turned around a few lives. Now 20+ years later I am older, and certainly wiser so I feel I can deliver the message even better.
The new version of the book will be out in the spring, but for now, I wanted to share parts of an article I wrote 18 years ago on tips, strategies, thoughts, and ideas concerning how best to manage your career…even if it’s not sales.
1. Achieving success usually involves sacrifice. If it were always easy, everyone would have a million dollars.
2. Even if you work for a big company, you’re essentially on your own. Businesses offer career paths, training, and team-building, and they want to be fair, but they’re subject to impersonal market conditions like mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, and international competition; so anything can happen. That’s why your employer can’t be responsible for your career. You have to take charge of it yourself.
3. The workplace can be fun and challenging. It can also be difficult. It rewards effort, planning, and training, but it punishes indifference and lack of preparation. Those who don’t take charge of their own careers–who just let things happen–often end up in painful, dead-end jobs, feeling trapped in unhappy lifestyles.
4. People are very different. Certain people belong in certain kinds of careers. You have special gifts that fit you for some jobs and disqualify you from others. If you’re in the right place, you’ll skyrocket. If not, you’ll struggle. Take time to assess your skills, temperament, aptitudes, likes, dislikes, and natural gifts.
5. “People skills” are just as important as “technical skills”. Because even in highly technical jobs, you have to work with others. The better you get along with coworkers, the easier your job will be and the better you’ll perform. Average performers with strong people skills often last longer. It’s better to be a “people person” with average skills than to be an abrasive expert who wins at the expense of others.
6. Spend time with people you admire. Find a mentor. There’s no substitute for the wisdom of others. Pair up with someone who has the skills and insight you want or need. Take a risk to contact a person you’d like to meet.
7. Your friends–even distant friends–are your best allies in your life and in your career, especially in job hunting. No one will help you more than those who already know you. So make an extensive list of your business and personal contacts and stay in touch with them.
8. Your accomplishments are your calling card for the future. They will help to determine your marketability. In selling yourself, it’s results that count. Try to contribute something substantial and measurable every single day. And make sure you keep a written record of your results.
9. Be an expert. This often means being the one that others turn to for advice. Being able to learn and share that knowledge with others is something a manager wants to tap into. While you’re at it, teach others what you know. Formal or informal, working with a group or individual, the chance to teach others is often what gives some employees passion in their jobs.
10. Learn from your mistakes. Most of us will fail at some point in our careers. Some will get fired. Don’t despair. Be honest about your share of the blame and take away a few lessons. Create a list of lessons that you may have learned from situations where you failed.
Invest in understanding yourself better and developing your goals, plans, professional skills, knowledge, career management skills, and networks. The return on investing and improving yourself is astronomically higher than any financial investment you could make. From increased lifetime earning power and untold opportunities, managing yourself has enormous rewards.
Happy Selling!