THE TOOLKIT
You don’t possess a quality until you express it.

When I get a call and hear, “I’ve got a guy who doesn’t seem to be strategic” or “We’ve got a director here in management who isn’t decisive,” it is usually a case of mistaken identity. In my experience, if you take these people out of their work life, they demonstrate strategic thinking and decisiveness. For example, he has put money away in a retirement savings, and she makes decisions for her family on a daily basis. When I sit down with these individuals, I try to bring out the fact that they possess these qualities, but they need to express them more often and in more places. That’s all.

You may be the most intelligent, solution-oriented, strategic, results driven, open-minded, thought provoking, flexible, communicative manager in the company. However, until you behave in such a manner, no one is going to know. When asked the question, “Isn’t it important to feel confident about your intelligence or problem-solving skills?” my answer is “Absolutely, but it is more important to display these qualities to the people around you. Why? Because you don’t promote yourself. You don’t give yourself bonuses or raises. You don’t move yourself up the organizational ladder (unless you have the initials CEO after your name).” Therefore, if advancement in your career is what you desire, it is critical that you express all these great qualities to the people around you. As the old adage goes, “Perception is reality.”

When I’m standing in front of a room facilitating a workshop or strategy session, I explain this idea as my ability to make everyone else in the room feel as if the experience is valuable and worth their time. In other words, even if I believe I am the most effective, engaging, informative, credible, dynamic, out-going, thought-provoking (and obviously modest) facilitator, I will not be regarded as such until everyone in the room thinks so. I can go back to my company contact and say, “I did a great job.” I can say, “Everything went phenomenally well. As a matter of fact, I think it was one of the best workshops I’ve ever facilitated.” However, if my evaluations read, “He wasn’t engaging. He didn’t address our concerns. He didn’t seem to know his material,” then I am out of luck. I won’t be asked back.

We actually apply this concept every day of our lives, but we may not realize it. The phrase, “The customer is always right” spells it out. Our success is really determined in the eyes and minds of the people around us. Think of your co-workers as customers or clients. You serve when you provide them information, report back data, give them answers to questions, assist them when necessary, and perform a variety of other tasks. We preach this every day. However, the customers I’m talking about are the ones we spend most of our time with. They are the ones we interact with daily. They are the ones who impact and affect our success. In order to give them the best customer service we can, we need to give them what they ask for. We need to check back with to make sure we are meeting their needs. In our office place, these needs include the ability to be competent, informative, approachable, trustworthy, and many other characteristics we find on assessments and performance evaluations. So, ask yourself, “What do I do on a daily basis to make sure I’m communicating the characteristics I want others to perceive in me?”