(Based
on excerpts from Tayo Solagbade's E-book: First Twenty-Five(25)
Articles/True Stories On Self-Development And Entrepeneuring
To Help You Succeed FASTER!)
“All successful
employers are stalking people who will do the unusual, people
who think, people who attract attention by performing more
than is expected of them." -- Charles
M. Schwab
Who Should Read This Article?
A.
The career person who wants to know what she can do to stay
perpetually relevant to the organisation's future - and therefore
be (to a large extent) unretrenchable.
B. The
decision maker, employer or business owner who is curious
to learn what qualities her employees need to develop to ensure
they can consistently deliver the desired level of productivity.
Any Employee Can Become Unretrenchable
Any employee can deliberately equip
herself with competencies (skills, knowledge and attitudes)
that will make decision makers continuously regard her as
being relevant to the organization's future. Published studies
of highly successful executives(e.g. “The Lessons of
Experience - Lexington Books" - by Morgan McCall Jr.,
Michael Lombardo and Ann Morrison) reveal that most of them
acquired and effectively applied competencies that were instrumental
to their achievement of significant career successes.
Some of those competencies are described below:
1. Active
Learners From Others/Experience: They are constantly
on the lookout for lessons to learn from others (mentors,
peers etc), and from things they do that go wrong –
or right. Regard every on-the-job experience as a learning
platform to improve themselves. They then apply their learning
to future actions they take.
2. Positive
Thinkers/Problem-Solvers: Always see the positive side
of things. Typically regard problems as opportunities to learn
new things - and are often prepared to keep going as long
as necessary to find a lasting solution. Have a clear understanding
of the(sometimes long term) benefits offered by periodic visitations
of adversity. Most importantly, they are motivated by failure
because rather than fear it, they dislike failing.
3. (Voracious)
Readers: They cultivate and maintain healthy reading
habits aimed at keeping them up-to-date with latest developments
in relevant fields. Their resultant diverse knowledge of various
subject matter makes them interesting to interact with - and
also equips them to coach others effectively.
4. Multidimensional
Thinkers: They always try to "see the big picture".
Keep tabs on the pulse of the company, to anticipate trends
and adjust themselves to remain relevant to her changing needs.
Team playing is important to them, and they will often "cross
over" unasked, to help other departments resolve their
problems, so as to help the organization move forward.
5. People
Developers: Good coaches,
often striving to develop others around them to be high performers.
Believe in helping new entrants "learn the ropes"
quickly, (rather than "re-invent the wheel") by
striving to shorten/make less painful, their learning curves.
This frequently gains them a strong following amongst peers
and subordinates, often resulting in an informal leadership
status being conferred on them.
6. Enjoy
what they do: They get a lot of excitement from doing
their jobs. The daily challenges give them something to look
forward to i.e. sustained motivation.
7. Intelligent
Risk-Takers: Like to be
in the thick of the action - and are not afraid to take responsibility.
Will readily accept high priority or risk-laden project assignments
that others dread taking on. Practice Intelligent Mistake
Making™(i.e. take calculated risks, learn quickly from
any consequent error(s), then being subsequently wiser, avoid
repeating them) and do not fear failure. As such they tend
to recover quickly from setbacks, using lessons they’ve
learned to achieve new and/or greater levels of success.
8. Challenge
the status quo: Always in the forefront of the drive
to change the way things are currently being done, for the
better. Often to be found visualizing the future i.e. “What
can be”, and not “What is or Was”. Not afraid
to "rock the boat" in looking for viable alternative(s)
to existing ways of doing things.
9. People
Managers: They know "how
to win friends and influence people". Can usually get
people not working directly with or under them, to do things
without forcing (or clashing with) them. Some people call
it having "people skills". As team leaders or members,
they are therefore often very effective.
10. Multi-preneurs:
They employ a multiple-career strategy involving acquiring
a variety of relevant skills so as to be in a position to
capture opportunities when they appear. Consequently, they
wear many hats at work (e.g. True story of an ex-brewer -
this writer - who got recognition for using his “self-taught”
IT skills to computerize brewing data collation/reporting,
by developing automated computer spreadsheet applications
– thereby eliminating the need for the company to buy
expensive off-the-shelf software). Read my article titled
How To Be
A Jack Of Many Trades™, And Why It Can Make You Succeed
More Often? to learn more about Multipreneurs.
Question: But HOW Can One Develop These Competencies?
Answer:
Through Self-Development which I define as..
“.. the process
by which an individual continually – and intelligently
- uses her own efforts, resources, knowledge and experiences(as
well as those of others, voluntarily supplied), to improve
her ability to achieve repeated personal or workplace successes”
Who Else Has Acknowledged This Thinking?
The truth presented in this article
is based on timeless wisdom that has been substantiated by
recognised and qualified authorities in the field of Human
Resources/People Development.
Peter Drucker, as far back as 1955,
wrote in his book “The Practice of Management”,
that development cannot be anything other than Self-Development.
Among other things, he explained that for any organisation
to take on the responsibility of developing her people would
effectively be a waste of time because, that responsibility
is the individual employee’s – and no development
would happen if the individual does not take up the responsibility
to make it happen.
In the book “The Lessons of Experience”,
Morgan McCall and his colleagues researched the careers of
nearly two hundred of America’s most successful senior
executives and concluded - quite accurately - that every individual
manager has "the primary responsibility" for his/her
own "effective development".
The British Institute of Management
in a major report on "Management Mobility and Redundancy"
admonished the "prudent manager" to regularly evaluate
her knowledge status as relates to her job, and take action
to ensure it is updated to not just stay in touch with latest
developments in her field(s) of interest, but also prepare
her for the challenges of the future.
What Can You Do?
Various Self-Development resources
exist. E.g. Books, tapes/CDs, seminars, on-the-job experiences,
the Internet etc. The key here is for you to realize that
you would be unwise to wait for your organization to “develop
you”. You must seize the initiative! Sometimes you may
need to self-sponsor your Self-Development initiatives, so
your company’s “contributions”(for which
many employees will most likely compete) can be like welcome
extras!
Lastly,
remember this: The success conscious organisation is
always looking for employees who can help it become more profitable.
So, transform yourself into that kind of employee and you
WILL make yourself UNRETRENCHABLE!
To the employer:
If the organisation wishes to see her employees develop,
her individual managers' abilities or willingness to provide
necessary encouragement or guidance for each employee to practise
self-development (as opposed to “stifling” or
“mis-directing” efforts by each employee to do
so), would be a major determinant of success.
Tayo Solagbade's new 113 page paper
back(physical) book - "Ten Ways You Can Use Self-Development
To Create The Future You Want" is now available
for purchase from either of the Self-Development Academy’s
two online stores hosted by the following Print-On-Demand
service providers:
CafePress.com http://www.cafepress.com/sdaproducts/tenways
Lulu.com http://www.lulu.com/sdaproducts
(e-book and in print. Get a FREE Chapter Preview here)
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