“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
- Work-life balance is important, but people who only work their contracted hours rarely reap career and monetary rewards.
- In today’s world most employee’s allegiance is primarily to their monthly income rather than to a business or brand.
- People who have qualifications and the right attitude and commitment will succeed; beware of those with only lots of qualifications.
- Graduates employed straight out of University/College will leave after 2 to 5 years; salary, career progression and unfulfilled ambition are frequently key reasons.
- Give young people the opportunity to stretch themselves early in their careers; most will rise to the challenge and surprise you with their capabilities.
- ‘ There’s no such word as can’t….try‘; people who try will learn fast, become wise, build personal resilience and ultimately succeed.
- People are complex, fickle and often inconsistent; trust them to do what you ask, but always check that they are in fact doing what you asked!
- Your word is your bond; if you want to be respected then always do what you’ve promised to do, and in the timescale you promised to do it.
- Understand the strengths and weakness of yourself and those around you; people without weaknesses do not exist.
- It’s your career – take control and manage it yourself; don’t rely on your company or organisation to do it for you, because it will not.
- Never tell people they must do X for 5 years before they can do Y; modern business requires agility and a workforce managed with modern approaches and ‘can do’ attitude.
- Learn about people behaviour, different personality types and influencing methods; be politically aware but always behave with integrity.
- An enterprise will fail if the workforce’s structure and skills are not aligned with the enterprise’s need; always encourage continuous learning and re-training.
- It’s okay to be fearful when faced with something new; you’ll never know your limits unless you embrace the challenges that new opportunities provide.
- Listen and learn from others; remember – it isn’t a weakness to ask for help.
- Keep up to date with the trends in your industry and keep your skills relevant and up to date.
- Beware the corporate mantra! Words are hollow, meaningless and just spin unless people see and feel behaviours aligned with the mantra.
- Change is a fact of life; embrace it, don’t be intimidated or frightened by it – learn about the ‘change curve’ and how this relates to feelings and attitudes.
- Meetings and conference calls are a fact of life; listen well, think before you speak and remember that silence does not signify agreement.
- Employee loyalty is hard one and easily lost; if it’s lost an enterprise will struggle to meet its objectives.
- Open, two-way, meaningful and constructive dialogue between leaders and workforce is essential for success, particularly in large organisations.
- People create and innovate, not enterprises; enterprises mainly provide structures, budget and mechanisms to capitalise on the ideas of their people for commercial gain.
- Never flinch from making a decision; procrastination doesn’t normally make the decision any easier.
- Always prepare for a meeting; know what outcome you want before it starts.
- When you tell your boss there’s a problem, always tell your boss the options you’ve thought of to resolve it.
- Build trustworthy relationships with those you work with and maintain these when you or colleagues move on; keep relationships with your boss friendly but business-like – remember, bosses will have no compunction in firing you if they have to.
- Do not accept discriminatory behaviour from anyone; tell someone about it and insist suitable action is taken.
- Remember that in a commercial enterprise your loyalty counts for nothing in merger, acquisition, or restructuring situations.