In this article, you’ll learn a strategy that can help you build a winning image and start your career on a winning streak.

Build Your Winning Image

Have you ever wondered how some people just keep winning…
and winning… and winning?

They always manage to land on their feet, while other equally talented people stumble again and again.

This seemingly magical ability is the result of the Halo Effect.

The Halo Effect, first described by Dr. Edward Thorndike in 1920, is the impression people have of you. This impression significantly impacts how they judge everything else you do.

When people view you as a winner, they give you even more opportunities to win — higher visibility projects, more support, and more resources to work with.

When people view you as a winner, they give you the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes they even make excuses for you like, “He must be having a bad day,” or, “You can’t expect her to do everything perfectly all the time.”

Rising Stars pay close attention to developing a positive halo. They know that having the right image can put them on a winning streak and make their future careers easier and ultimately more successful.

While your physical appearance plays some role in your “halo,” it’s not the most important thing. Far more important is the impression people get from what you say and what you do.

One of the most important things you can do to build a winning image is to add value to your company’s bottom-line.

The way to do that is to:

1. Figure out how your company earns a profit
2. Understand how your job contributes to that process
3. Take action to increase the bottom-line value of what you do
4. Make sure that the people who matter most know about the
   value you deliver.

Jack Welch used this very principle to put his career on the fast-track at General Electric and set himself up as a Rising Star. In his book, “Winning,” he relates how he constantly looked for opportunities to make himself stand out, or, in his words, “get out of the pile.”

As a brash young chemical engineer, 5 feet 8 inches tall, already balding and with a heavy Boston accent, he hardly fit the image of a future corporate chief. Yet even in his first job, he was anxious to be seen as a winner.

His first job at GE was as a chemical engineer responsible for developing a new plastic. One of his early tasks was to update a visiting company vice-president on the status of a new product Jack’s lab was developing.

Jack prepared the report his boss requested; however, he didn’t stop there. He researched and reported on the competing plastics and their position in the marketplace. And, most importantly, he included in his presentation several ideas for how GE’s new plastic could be positioned to gain a competitive advantage.

Jack’s boss and the Vice President were bowled over!

When the first round of promotions and bonuses were handed out, Jack was disappointed that he only got the standard raise. But when he decided to leave for a job that promised more money, his boss intervened. He recognized Jack’s value to the company and got him the money and career opportunities he wanted –

all because the young engineer took the initiative to develop his winning image.

You can do the same in your career.

Take time now to consider how you can structure your work to have a greater impact on your company’s bottom-line.

While it may mean some extra effort in the short-term, this approach will pay long-term dividends as you find yourself magnetically attracting the kinds of opportunities that accelerate your career.

Yet these devices represent a larger threat to your career success than any economic slowdown, company setback, or aggressive new competitor.  

The problem is not with the technology, of course. Having the ability to work on collaborative projects while on the go, and access to information wherever you are is a real advantage. 

The problem is with how you manage it.

The very existence of mobile messaging devices - like pagers before them - implies that the messages they carry demand an immediate response.

It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or what else you are doing. A text message, like an email or cell-phone call, can make something seem urgent when it’s not. It can also distract your attention from more important things, whether it’s the project you’re completing, the conversation you’re having, or even the road you’re driving on.

If you’re not suffering from the symptoms of a “Blackberry Addict” who can’t seem to attend a child’s school play, eat a family dinner, or sit through a meeting without acknowledging and responding to messages, you may think you’re OK. But think again.

While rudeness to companions and the inability to ever slow down and relax may be cause to limit your messaging, the major compelling reason is what messaging does to your productivity.

A study by researchers at London’s Kings College found that workers distracted by email and phone calls suffered an IQ drop of 10 points. While the effect was temporary, it was more than double the IQ drop of people under the influence of marijuana.

To many people these findings are astounding, however to psychologists, they are no surprise. Whenever you engage in multiple tasks, like text-messaging while having a conversation, or driving while talking on a cell-phone, whether you realize it or not, you decrease your ability to perform well in either one.

Switching back and forth between activities isn’t much better. It takes time for your brain to shut down one function or thought process and start up on another.

So what can you do to avoid the dark side?

• Know Your Goals - Decide what matters most in every area of your life. When you know what’s really important, you can decide what to respond to right away and what to defer. Everything isn’t critical!

• Chunk Your Activities - Set aside a block of time to work on writing that report. After a brief break, review and respond to emails. Schedule another time for phone calls, etc. You’ll increase your productivity and your efficiency when your brain doesn’t have to constantly switch tasks.

• Keep Yourself Focused - Be proactive, not reactive. Set clear priorities in advance. Ask yourself, “what’s the most valuable thing I can do with my time right now.” Schedule that task first, then the next most important and so on. Focus in one thing at a time. Shut down message alerts and direct all calls to voicemail until your next scheduled time to check messages.

There’s no denying the advantage of technological tools, but keep in mind their dark side as well. Concentration is the key to productive efficiency. You can’t afford to let every incoming message or call break your focus. Make sure you stay in control.

As Tom Peters said, in today’s business environment you need to be distinct, or you’ll be extinct. Today promotions, raises, and important career-accelerating assignments often go to the most visible people - not necessarily to those who are most “deserving.”

In this post we share 7 steps you can take to develop a strong career identity and position yourself as someone to watch.

____________

Do you have a strategy to distinguish yourself in your career and stand out from the crowd?

In today’s competitive career environment, distinguishing yourself from everyone else isn’t optional – it’s essential.

Fair or unfair, in business today, perceptions are reality. Advancing rapidly in your career depends more on having others perceive you as a unique high performer, than it does on your qualifications, knowledge, or experience.

The good news is there are many things you can do to stand out from the crowd and position yourself as a winner. Here are some ideas you can get started on today!

1. Become an Expert - There’s no question that, in every field, specialists earn more than generalists. To stand out from the crowd, and increase your value to your company, you need to identify yourself as an expert in a specific area.Instead of continuing to build broad knowledge in your field, focus on finding a narrow niche that’s important to your company, and develop your expertise a mile deep. Read everything you can on your subject. Attend conferences. Get to know the established experts. Become the obvious person to turn to in your company when it comes to your chosen subject. 

2. Innovate!- You don’t have to be in R&D to innovate. In today’s business environment, innovations can come from anywhere. Develop a new spreadsheet, checklist, or quality improvement plan that makes your work easier or your results better. When higher-ups compliment you on your productivity, talk about your innovation and offer to share it with others.
   
3. Become a Customer Expert - Regardless what your job is, go out of your way to get in contact with customers and find out what they want. While it’s often easier and more comfortable to deal with internal functions, personal relationships with customers set you apart from the crowd and make you more valuable to your company.Find out what customers like and don’t like about your current products. What problems do they think your company should correct? What are their ideas for new products or services? Put your findings in writing, and make sure to get them in front of the people who count. 

4. Increase Your Visibility Within Your Company - Promotions, raises, and coveted assignments frequently go to the most visible people. Increase your visibility by speaking at company or industry meetings. Write articles for the company newsletter or industry trade journal. Look for opportunities to become known to people in the power structure who can help you advance rapidly.
5. Branch Out - Get involved in community or association projects. Volunteer for a leadership position in a professional or volunteer organization. These groups often offer you opportunities to expand your network of influence, both inside and outside your industry.
6. Create Your Own Opportunities - While doing what’s expected in your job may earn you some praise, going the extra mile to identify ways to contribute to your company will make your superiors really sit up and take notice.Pay attention to what’s going on around you. Stay alert to the needs and challenges of your company and your industry. When you see an overlooked area, or an emerging market, create your own opportunity by writing up a proposal and description of your ideas. 

7. Develop Your Communication Skills - In business, meetings and presentations are the primary stage on which you perform. Seize opportunities to speak in front of others, particularly senior managers. There’s nothing like being a powerful, effective and willing speaker to label you as someone to watch.

Standing out from the crowd doesn’t depend on luck or talent. It requires strategic planning and persistence, but the results - in the form of promotions, raises, and important career-accelerating assignments - make the effort well worth it.

National Boss Day was first registered in October 16, 1958 as a day for workers to officially acknowledge their bosses.

But how to celebrate?

Giving flowers, cards or gifts is traditional, but probably won’t help in getting that promotion you’re after. However, there is a way to both show appreciation to your boss and accelerate your career at the same time. This National Boss Day, in addition to your tangible tokens of appreciation, why not give a gift that will keep on giving. Learn how to Manage Your Boss.

Managing your boss effectively isn’t a matter of being a “yes man” or playing politics. It involves working together to generate the best solutions for you, your boss, and your company.

Here are some action steps you can take RIGHT NOW to build a more productive and rewarding relationship with your boss:

TAKE 100% RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BOSS - One of the greatest career myths is that you have to wait for your boss to give you direction - that you’re somehow entitled to regular coaching, advice, and support. While this would be ideal, the fact is, your boss has a lot of other priorities besides managing you.

ASK FOR FACE-TIME - Schedule a time to meet if your boss doesn’t suggest it first. Bring work updates, ideas, questions, and anything else you need to discuss. Stay within your time limit and don’t forget to say, “thanks.”

KNOW YOUR BOSS’S PRIORITIES - Your boss’s opinion of you is critical. When you know your boss’s priorities, you can make better decisions about how to spend your time. When you link your activities to what matters most to your boss, you become a more valuable team member.

DON’T BE A “YES-MAN” - You don’t need to agree with everything your boss says. Although you must support your boss’s ultimate decisions, when done diplomatically and privately, disagreeing with your boss can build your credibility and make you a more valuable asset. 

ASK WIIFH? - Before you present ideas to your boss, ask, “What’s in it for him?” Think about how your objectives further your boss’s goals and priorities. When you link your activities to benefits for your boss, you are much more likely to get support for what you want.

UNDER-PROMISE AND OVER-DELIVER - It’s natural to want to impress and please your boss by making big promises. However, no matter how much you actually accomplish, if you don’t meet the expectations you set, you can’t help but damage your reputation. When you deliver or over-deliver on your promises, you build credibility in the eyes of your superiors.

DON’T FOCUS ONLY ON PROBLEMS - Yes, your boss is busy. But just because you’re lucky to get a few moments, doesn’t mean you should focus only on difficulties. Make sure you regularly discuss positive performance and future plans.

OFFER SOLUTIONS - Never take a problem to your boss without offering 2 or 3 possible solutions at the same time. You want your boss to think of you as a problem-solver, not as a chronic messenger of bad news. If you simply want your boss’s input on a problem, be sure to make that clear. Otherwise your boss may feel that you are trying to transfer your problem to her.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK - While it’s nice to get positive feedback from your boss, negative feedback helps you improve more rapidly. If your boss doesn’t coach regularly, be sure to ask about ways that you can improve your performance.

ALWAYS MAKE YOUR BOSS LOOK GOOD - Visibility is critical to your career, but don’t forget that your boss is your #1 customer. As you promote yourself, do whatever you can to make your boss look good.

Practically everything you achieve in your career, you will achieve through relationships. And your relationship with your boss is one the most critical.

When you master the ability to manage your boss, you’ll find it much easier to get support for your objectives. These skills will help you earn more, get promoted faster and ultimately achieve the career results you want.

Do you long for the financial acumen of a Warren Buffett, the presentation ability of a Steve Jobs, the magnetism of an Oprah Winfrey, or the golf swing of a Tiger Woods? Have you ever wished that you too had been born with advantages that would lead you to success in your chosen field?

Well think again.

Researchers in Expert Performance Psychology have found that no one is “born great.” Over 20 years of data suggest that there’s no significant inborn difference at all between average and top performers in any field. The only exceptions the researchers found were in a few sports, like basketball, where physical size offers you a competitive edge.

While top performers may not have any inborn advantages, there are some significant differences that distinguish leaders in their fields from everyone else.

Top performers put in more practice than average people, they practice strategically, and they seek out feedback and coaching to make them even better.

The good news is that by adopting these expert performance strategies and habits, you too can put yourself on the road to leadership. Here’s how to get started.

1.  Focus on What Matters.
You don’t have the time or energy to do everything well. Identify your key tasks – the ones that have the greatest impact on the goals you want to achieve. Focus as much attention as possible on them, eliminating, delegating or deferring as many non-essential tasks as you can.

2.  Optimize Your Actions for Better Results.
Instead of trying to simply complete important activities and cross them off your list, aim for better results each time. Ask yourself if there’s a better way. How can you save time, save money or achieve better results?For example, if one of your major tasks is sales presentations, was your last presentation better than the previous one? Did you improve your delivery, give better information in less time, offer more compelling visuals, make more sales?

3.  Practice Frequently and Strategically.
Ronald Reagan, the “great communicator,” didn’t stumble accidentally on speaking success. Early in his career, while working as a spokesman for General Electric, he found that his talks weren’t getting the response he wanted. Reagan spent hours and hours working on his delivery in order to connect better with his listeners. By the end of his contract with GE, people were complimenting his ability, and suggesting that he run for political office.

While frequent practice is essential for mastery of any skill, how you practice is just as important.To become the best, you can’t just go through the motions when you practice, you need to have goals for each practice session.

Instead of mindlessly running through your presentation, focus on delivering a better one, even if no one’s listening.Consistently striving to do better each time, even when it’s “just practice” will create new mental patterns and cement these higher levels of performance as habits.

4.  Get Feedback.
You may think you gave the best presentation ever, but what does your boss think? How about the heads of other departments?

Most people avoid criticism and don’t seek feedback. But top performers welcome assessments and coaching, knowing that without them, they won’t continue to improve.

5.  Never Stop Stretching.
Getting better requires stretching beyond what comes easily. While most of us are happy to practice the things we’re already good at, top performers know that if they stop to rest on their laurels, they’re destined to remain at less than their best.

In the late 1990s, Tiger Woods recognized that the skills that had brought him early success and worldwide recognition weren’t enough to take him where he wanted to go. He hired a new coach and began to rebuild his swing. The natural slump that followed brought public criticism and decreased support, but Tiger’s perseverance clearly paid off. He’s now on track to surpass the records of history’s greatest golfers.

The only things standing between you and your goals are your determination to achieve them, and the strategy you use to build your ability.

Put these steps into practice, aim for consistent and never-ending improvement, and we guarantee you’ll see higher levels of performance more rapidly than you’ve ever imagined.

A frequent question we get from managers at all levels is how to motivate consistent high performance from others.

In today’s business environment, you can’t force anyone to do anything.

As a manager, you need to think of yourself as leading a volunteer army. In the words of President Dwight Eisenhower, you need to get people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

The fact is, psychological research proves that praise and appreciation is far a more effective employee motivation strategy than threats or punishment. 

When people want to do something they tend to put in more and better effort than if they believe that they have to do it. And in this post we share a motivation strategy that you can use to encourage this kind of voluntary contribution from everyone around you. 

Are You A Master Motivator?

In your quest to achieve higher performance and productivity for your team, you might want to add this item to your management toolkit - the simple “thank you.”

In their bestselling book, The Carrot Principle, authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton report that managers who regularly recognize and praise high-performing employees achieve higher levels of productivity, employee retention and customer satisfaction than managers who don’t.

In a 10 year study of 200,000 managers and employees they found that expressing appreciation correlated with greater bottom-line financial performance as well.

Companies with a culture that praised and rewarded high performers were significantly more profitable and had higher rates of employee engagement than companies that didn’t recognize employee efforts.

Recognition & Praise Increase Employee Motivation

These findings aren’t really a surprise. In fact, they’re grounded in a long-accepted psychological principle.

Appreciation is one of the most powerful of human needs. And when it comes to getting the best performance from people - appreciation and recognition is far more effective than threats and punishment.

When people feel you appreciate them, they tend to perform better, leading to higher productivity, more satisfied customers and increased sales. The better people perform, the more you appreciate them. The more you show them how valuable they are to you, the more productive they become. This virtuous cycle of productivity and appreciation benefits everyone - you, your employees, and your organization.

Appreciation is the fuel that powers this positive cycle.

With all the evidence now pointing to the value of appreciation, you would expect that everyone would be offering it. But unfortunately, many managers continue to resist. In their studies, Gostick and Elton found that 88% of employees state that their biggest gripe with management isn’t pay, but a lack of appreciation

Why don’t more of us express appreciation? There are several reasons.

• We feel that by praising people we might “spoil” them.
• We assume people already know when we appreciate them.
• We assume that when people already know they are good, they don’t need to keep hearing it.
• We feel that expressing appreciation puts us in an inferior position or makes us obligated to reward people further.
• We’re busy enough already. Taking the time to praise and reward people is an unnecessary burden on our schedule.

While these are common preconceptions, they couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Expressing appreciation for a job well done doesn’t spoil people or make them complacent. It’s the best way to motivate continued high performance. And expressing appreciation doesn’t have to be a time burden. In fact, when the people around you begin performing at a consistently higher level in response to your sincere appreciation, you’ll need to spend less time supervising their work.

Get in the Habit

Many people we work with recognize the value of appreciation and want to get in the habit of giving more. However, with all the other competing demands on their time, their good intentions don’t translate into regular behavior.

Expressing appreciation is like any other habit. It may take some time to get started, but once you do, it becomes almost automatic.

One of our clients - an “old-style” senior manager who valued his “tough” image - finally got in the appreciation habit by forcing himself to recognize at least five people each day. He began each morning with five coins in one pocket and transferred a coin to a different pocket each time that he expressed appreciation during the day. Even if he had to call people at home to recognize them, he wouldn’t leave work in the evening until he had transferred all the coins.

It doesn’t take long for the appreciation habit to take hold. Once you see the positive results, recognizing people for their efforts will become second nature.

As people recognize that you appreciate their efforts, they will be more inclined to help you whenever they can. Even the most accomplished senior executives and highly skilled knowledge workers need and want recognition. Offering praise and encouragement fuels their continued motivation to achieve.

There’s no question that, for most of us, receiving criticism is not easy. Even when it’s well-intentioned constructive feedback, listening to someone point out an error that you made or a flaw that you have can be very tough to take.

While learning how to accept criticism graciously, and even thankfully, may not be at the top of your list right now, learning how to deal with negative feedback could make a big difference in your ability to advance rapidly in your career.

Research in Expert Performance psychology reveals that top performers in every field learn to view criticism differently than the rest of us.

They see it as valuable feedback and as an opportunity to improve.

Rather than trying to avoid criticism, expert performers welcome it. They seek out coaches and advisors who can give them constructive, sometimes even painful feedback. They then use this feedback as a guide for steady improvement.

To become a top performer, you’ll need to open yourself up to feedback from those around you. Here are some steps you can take to ease the sting of criticism and begin to make it work for you, instead of against you.

1. Hit the Pause Button - It’s important to maintain your composure and not lash back or respond defensively to criticism. Take a breath. Don’t do or say anything. This brief pause not only helps you compose yourself and prepare to listen to what the other person has to say, it demonstrates your poise and self-confidence. Maintaining your composure when criticized shows that you’re in control.
2. Turn On Your Brain and Turn Off Your Emotions - It’s important to disconnect your automatic emotional response to criticism. Otherwise you won’t be able to objectively consider the value of the information. Focus on the words and facts, not on the feelings they generate within you. Regardless how undiplomatic the other person is in delivering the feedback, tell yourself that it is designed to help you improve, not to tear you down.
3. Listen Carefully - Listen intently to what the other person is saying. If you’re busy formulating your rebuttal, you may miss some valuable information that can help you avoid errors in the future or improve your overall performance.
4. Acknowledge Your Error - Acknowledging a mistake is not the same as acknowledging that you are an inferior person/a failure. If you believe the criticism is accurate, take full responsibility. Don’t blame something or someone else and don’t make excuses. If appropriate, offer a diplomatic apology: “I’m sorry that my actions led to that result. It certainly was not my intention.” Again, if appropriate, ask for suggestions on how you can improve your performance the next time.
5. Take Corrective Action - After you’ve heard the other person out completely, and listened to any suggestions for improvement, state/communicate your eagerness to improve in the future. If appropriate, describe any actions you will take at his time to counterbalance your previous error.
6. Acknowledge The Other Person’s Motive - Thank the other person for the feedback and make sure to state how valuable you consider it. This demonstrates your ability to use criticism as a way to improve – an essential quality of a leader. In addition, let the other person know that you are open to receiving his or her feedback in the future.

While any criticism can be discouraging, it’s important to keep in mind that negative feedback can contribute significantly to faster growth and higher performance. Even when you don’t care for the style in which criticism is presented, be thankful that the other person is willing to give you feedback, and along with it, an opportunity to improve.

Have you ever had the experience of looking back on a busy day, week, or month only to realize that you didn’t accomplish nearly as much as you had planned?

If so, you’re not alone.

Most people, even those of us who diligently block out our time and prioritize our schedules, find that, while we’re always busy, we often don’t make the progress we anticipated.

Whether you’re building a successful career or a successful business, your time is your most valuable asset.

Just as your financial condition is a direct result of how you use your money, your productivity is a direct result of your time management.

However unlike finances, which you can easily keep track of with bank statements, receipts, and other records, it’s easy to lose track of just where your time is going.

Before you can effectively use any time management system, you must have an accurate picture of how you’re spending your time right now.

By far the best way to keep track of your time is to use an Activity Log. With this system, you keep a detailed record of just how you’re spending each hour of your day. After you see where your available time is going you’ll be in a much better position to make decisions that increase your productivity.

How to Benefit from an Activity Log

Click Here to Download our Activity Log. (Or create your own by making a table with 3 columns: Time, Activity, and Value.)

Starting tomorrow morning, keep a copy of your activity log with you throughout the day. Go about your activities as you normally would. Only each time you begin a new activity, note it on the log. Be specific. Don’t just write down “telephone calls.” If you’re calling a colleague to finalize a sale, solve a problem, or get some needed information, write that down. If you’re just calling to check on weekend plans, note that too.

To get the most accurate picture of your time usage, record every activity on your activity log. Note when you break for lunch or coffee, when you are interrupted by coworkers, and when you check your email. If you work on a single project for an hour, you only need to note that project one time. However, if you stop what you’re doing for any reason, make a note of it and then note the time you restart.

Keep your activity log for a full week.

Then, at the end of the week review your activity log and objectively analyze how you’re spending your time. Go through each activity and, in the “value” column, note whether each activity is in your:

Top 20% — high-value activities that contribute significantly toward your goals

Bottom 80% – activities that need to be done, but don’t contribute as significantly toward your objectives

0% – activities that should be delegated, or simply not done at all

Determine how much time you actually spent in each “Value” column relative to your total working hours. This can be eye-opening.

When I (Jane) first began keeping this log years ago, I found that I only spent a small fraction of each day involved in activities that significantly impacted my bottom-line results. The more time I shifted to these activities, the more productive I became and the better results I saw in my career.

Since then, many of our clients have benefited from this simple technique. Charles, the president of large restaurant chain, found that he was wasting a significant amount of time at the beginning and end of his many meetings. By scheduling meetings back-to-back he was able to come up with large blocks of uninterrupted time for important projects.

Janet, publisher of a women’s magazine, found that her long hours at work were interrupted so frequently that she rarely spent more the 20 minutes at a time on any one project. After she began scheduling specific “open door” periods, she was able to cut down on her total time in the office and get home at a reasonable hour.

While we recommend using an activity log to get a baseline picture of how you’re spending your time, keeping an activity log regularly can also be a very effective time management tool. A few moments of writing and analyzing your time usage each day can help you make better choices about your activities and can lead to significant gains in productivity and a significant drop in stress!

If You’re Too Busy to Keep a Log

If you think you’re too busy to keep an activity log, yet you’re not yet as productive as you’d like to be, remember the story of the woodcutter, sweating and straining as he struggles to cut down a large tree with a dull blade. A man approaches and suggests to the woodcutter that he would be able to cut the tree down much more quickly with a sharper saw. At which point the woodcutter replies, “I can’t stop now, I’m too busy sawing!”

If, at the end of a month, you realized that you had less money in your accounts than you thought, you would (hopefully) take the time to do an audit to determine just where the money went. Remember, while finances can always be replaced, your time is an irreplaceable resource. Take the opportunity now to determine how to best invest your time assets. This simple, short-term strategy will pay off in significant increases productivity and significantly better long-term results.