IntroductionWelcome| 00:04 | Are you in the right career?
Are you just meant to do what you're doing?
| | 00:09 | Your answer to these questions, how well your
strengths and abilities match your day-to-day
| | 00:13 | work will have a big
impact on your quality of life.
| | 00:18 | In my book, Invaluable, I explored how to
help individuals increase the value of their
| | 00:23 | time and quality of work life, in
other words, how to become invaluable.
| | 00:29 | This course, Discovering Your Strengths, is
part of a five-course series on helping you
| | 00:34 | become invaluable and get
the most from your career.
| | 00:38 | In my coaching, the first factor in becoming
invaluable is unlocking your abilities, which
| | 00:44 | is essentially discovering your
strengths, so you can harness them.
| | 00:48 | The invaluable factor of ability is pretty
simple, it represents how well you do what
| | 00:54 | you do or how much value you actually provide to
the company or the customers that you work with.
| | 01:00 | When you started in your current position, you brought
a certain skill level that allowed you to get the job.
| | 01:07 | However, getting a job
does not make you invaluable.
| | 01:11 | You also need to increase your overall
capacity to provide real tangible value when you work.
| | 01:19 | In simple terms, ability is a measurement of how well
you are exceeding your boss' or customer's expectations.
| | 01:27 | While there are many ways to discover your
strengths, this course will focus on the path
| | 01:32 | of improvement that will give you
the most benefit for the least effort.
| | 01:36 | First, we are going to help you
figure out what your talents are.
| | 01:40 | We will take you through a process of
understanding what you just naturally excel at doing.
| | 01:46 | When you put your efforts into the things
that you already do well, you will actually
| | 01:51 | get greater benefit than wasting a lot of
energy on the things that aren't your strengths.
| | 01:56 | In fact, one of the characteristics of
highly successful people is that they have learned
| | 02:01 | to build on their strengths, not
try to improve on their weaknesses.
| | 02:06 | After we have helped you discover your talents,
then we will work on matching the job responsibilities
| | 02:12 | that you have or would
like to have to those talents.
| | 02:16 | In today's competitive market, it is
important to continually improve and move forward.
| | 02:22 | We will help you put
together an action plan to do that.
| | 02:26 | So, let's begin the process
of discovering your strengths.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Using the exercise files| 00:00 | Throughout this course, I'll be asking
you to fill out worksheets to better
| | 00:03 | understand how well you're
progressing on the path to becoming invaluable.
| | 00:08 | These worksheets have been provided
in the Exercise Files tab on the Course
| | 00:12 | Details page for all lynda.com
subscribers, or if you're watching this tutorial
| | 00:18 | on a DVD-ROM, the exercise
files have been included there.
| | 00:22 | I suggest that you download these
worksheets and print them out prior to
| | 00:27 | watching the course.
| | 00:28 | At various points throughout the course,
I'll be asking you to pause the videos
| | 00:32 | and fill out a worksheet.
| | 00:34 | In order for you to get the most out
of this training, I recommend you have
| | 00:38 | these worksheets on hand.
| | 00:40 | Now let's get started.
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
1. Finding your TalentsDefining talent| 00:00 | One of the wonderful things about living
in today's world is that we have almost
| | 00:04 | limitless opportunities.
| | 00:06 | There are so many things that we can do,
especially when it comes to our careers.
| | 00:10 | Although some people have limited
options, most of us have choices in how we
| | 00:15 | spend our time and
efforts in building our value.
| | 00:19 | This great blessing can also be a curse though.
| | 00:23 | While some people seem to know
instinctively the best areas to focus their
| | 00:27 | energy and attention, my experience is
that most of us struggle with knowing
| | 00:32 | what we really do best.
| | 00:34 | As a result we spend a lot of time and
energy jumping from career path to career path.
| | 00:41 | Personally, it's something
that I did for quite a while.
| | 00:44 | I jumped from career to career to
career for many years, until I finally
| | 00:49 | understood who I was, and focused on my talents.
| | 00:54 | When I use the word talent, I
have a very specific definition.
| | 00:58 | A talent, as I'm going to use it in this
course, is made up of three things: gifts,
| | 01:05 | plus love, plus skills.
| | 01:08 | Your gifts are the things that you
were born with that have come naturally to
| | 01:12 | you from the beginning.
| | 01:14 | These are usually areas where you do
better than other people, or have always
| | 01:19 | seemed effortless to you.
| | 01:21 | Every person has at least one
or two gifts, and some have many.
| | 01:27 | The next is love, meaning something
that you're passionate about doing.
| | 01:32 | Some people have a great gift, but
don't necessarily love that gift.
| | 01:37 | They maybe really good at
math, but they hate doing math.
| | 01:42 | So the love part of a talent is
considering what you enjoy doing with your time.
| | 01:47 | When you work, does it seem like the
time just flies by because you enjoy it,
| | 01:52 | or is it a slow drag?
| | 01:54 | And finally, skills.
| | 01:56 | Skills represent the knowledge and
capability that you've acquired over time.
| | 02:01 | Skills can come from education,
mentorship, or on the job training.
| | 02:06 | When you combine gifts, plus love,
plus skills, you have a talent.
| | 02:14 | Take a moment, and think of one person
you know who is highly talented; who is
| | 02:20 | successful in their career.
| | 02:22 | Most likely they have a natural gift
for what they do, they love doing that
| | 02:28 | work, and they have also worked hard and
studied to improve their skills over time.
| | 02:34 | This talent is a big part of what
has enabled them to become invaluable.
| | 02:41 | I'm going to walk you through the
process of discovering your gifts, your loves,
| | 02:46 | and the skills that you've acquired,
and putting them all together so that you
| | 02:51 | can focus on your talents.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Identifying your gifts| 00:00 | As I mentioned earlier, your
talents are made up of three things:
| | 00:04 | your gifts, your loves, and your skills.
| | 00:07 | So, the first step to discovering
your talents is to understand your gifts.
| | 00:12 | Your gifts are the things
that come naturally to you.
| | 00:15 | They've always been there and
are a part of your personality.
| | 00:19 | Sometimes these gifts show up early in
life, and sometimes they appear much later
| | 00:23 | as a welcome surprise.
| | 00:25 | Whatever your gifts are, we want
to discover and understand them.
| | 00:30 | Making your gifts stronger will give
you the greatest amount of growth and
| | 00:33 | benefit in the shortest amount of time.
| | 00:36 | To make this process easy for you, I've
created a simple worksheet that you can
| | 00:41 | use to ask yourself a series of questions.
| | 00:44 | Included with this worksheet is a 360-degree
feedback form, where you can ask other
| | 00:50 | people to give you their
impressions about what your gifts are.
| | 00:54 | In fact, their responses will
probably reveal more than your own.
| | 00:59 | People often have a hard time
recognizing their own gifts.
| | 01:03 | You've been living with them so long,
you may have come to take them for granted,
| | 01:07 | or just forget that you have them.
| | 01:09 | First, you'll answer the series of
questions on the worksheet, and then you'll
| | 01:13 | have someone else respond to the questions.
| | 01:17 | Let's talk about each of these
questions briefly, starting with the questions
| | 01:21 | you'll answer about yourself.
| | 01:23 | With all of these questions, just write
down the first thing that comes to mind.
| | 01:29 | Writing your answers down will make it
easier for you to remember, and you'll
| | 01:33 | also have a physical record of this process.
| | 01:37 | The first question is, what comes easily to you?
This question is deliberately open ended.
| | 01:44 | Think about the first thing that comes
to mind. What's easy for you to do?
| | 01:48 | And write that response down.
| | 01:50 | Next is a question about when you
were younger, under the age of 10 or so.
| | 01:55 | When you were a child, what sort
of things came easy to you then?
| | 01:59 | Think about the things you just
naturally took to as a child, and found
| | 02:03 | yourself spending the most time doing, and
which give you the greatest amount of enjoyment.
| | 02:08 | Write down your answers.
| | 02:10 | Next, what are the areas where you've received
awards, won contests, or received public praise?
| | 02:17 | This really is an outside
validation of what your gifts are.
| | 02:21 | It means some person or group of people
recognized your gifts and rewarded you for them.
| | 02:28 | Next, what are the areas where others have
said, "I wish I could do that as well as you?"
| | 02:33 | Of course, when you give the second part
of the worksheet to someone else, they'll
| | 02:38 | give their answer to this question, but
for now, answer it from your perspective.
| | 02:44 | What do other people tell you they
wish they were as good at as you are?
| | 02:49 | Finally, take some time for quiet introspection.
Just ponder for 5 minutes.
| | 02:55 | That means do nothing else but sit and
think, and focus on this question:
| | 03:01 | What are your natural gifts?
| | 03:04 | Set a timer for yourself for 5 minutes
and quietly think about that.
| | 03:09 | After 5 minutes, write down your answer.
| | 03:12 | Many people in today's society have
become used to finding easy answers, but
| | 03:16 | by taking just 5 minutes to yourself
to sit quietly, you'll give yourself an
| | 03:21 | opportunity to push past all the mental clutter
and find the answer that may be less obvious.
| | 03:28 | Finally, you'll see a section on
your worksheet for other sources.
| | 03:33 | This means there are other great resources out
there that you can use to discover your gifts.
| | 03:38 | There are many books, online
aptitude tests, and more that are available.
| | 03:44 | Perhaps you've taken such assessments before.
| | 03:47 | If you have, think about your results,
and write them down on your worksheet.
| | 03:52 | After you've filled in your answers,
and after at least one other person has
| | 03:56 | completed their worksheet about you,
we're ready to move to the other column.
| | 04:01 | This column is where you indicate that
someone other than you also mentioned the
| | 04:06 | same gift in their worksheet.
| | 04:08 | For instance, if I said that I received
awards for public speaking, and someone
| | 04:13 | else mentioned my awards for public
speaking when they completed the 360-degree
| | 04:18 | worksheet, then I'm going
to put a check mark there.
| | 04:22 | What that means is that both you and
someone else agree that it's a gift.
| | 04:27 | After you've answered the questions
and someone else has provided their
| | 04:31 | feedback, you'll complete the
Multiple mentions section at the bottom.
| | 04:36 | Here is where you'll list
things that appear multiple times.
| | 04:40 | If you only mention speaking once, for example,
then you probably wouldn't list that there.
| | 04:46 | But if more than one person said that
you're great at getting deals done, or
| | 04:51 | making sales, then you might list
making sales in that first bullet.
| | 04:57 | Now it's time for you to complete this
worksheet and give the second worksheet
| | 05:01 | to at least one other person.
| | 05:04 | After you do this, you'll come away with a
greater understanding of what your gifts are.
| | 05:09 | This understanding will help you along the path toward
discovering your talents and increasing your ability.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Discovering your loves| 00:00 | Perhaps you've heard the old saying, do
what you love and the money will follow.
| | 00:04 | It's a nice thought that if you work
on something that you're passionate
| | 00:08 | about, then money is just naturally going to
flow to you and give you a blissful career.
| | 00:13 | There is a strong element
of truth to this statement.
| | 00:17 | However, the reality is that many
people have a very difficult time making
| | 00:21 | a living doing what they love.
| | 00:23 | Sometimes they lack the physical
gifts necessary for a successful career.
| | 00:27 | For instance, many people love sports
but lack the athleticism, size, and
| | 00:33 | coordination to succeed professionally.
| | 00:36 | Sometimes it's because they love
doing something in a market that's
| | 00:39 | oversaturated with other
people who also love to do it.
| | 00:43 | For instance, I love music, yet there are
millions of other musicians in the world.
| | 00:48 | Love alone is not enough to guarantee successful
career; however, it is a critical element.
| | 00:56 | Many people choose a career
solely in the pursuit of money.
| | 01:01 | Yet, because they do not love that
career, they end up being frustrated in
| | 01:04 | their job, being less successful overall, and
may perhaps quit or change careers over time.
| | 01:10 | Perhaps a better rephrasing
of the original statement is:
| | 01:14 | do what you love, and it's more likely that
money will follow, but you still need talent.
| | 01:20 | When you love what you do, you're willing to
endure the moments of work that you dislike.
| | 01:27 | For instance, I love the opportunity to
teach and train you just as I'm doing now,
| | 01:33 | but I dislike the editing process
that it takes to prepare for the camera.
| | 01:38 | Yet, because I love what I do so much,
I'm willing to put up with that small
| | 01:42 | annoyance in pursuit of the greater goal.
| | 01:45 | In short, doing what you love gives
you longevity, endurance, and persistence.
| | 01:52 | We've provided a worksheet to make it easier
for you to discover what it is that you love.
| | 01:57 | No matter how clear you may feel about
this in your mind, I suggest you complete
| | 02:02 | this worksheet, because it
will strengthen your commitment.
| | 02:05 | The first question is, what part of
your current job do you love the most?
| | 02:11 | Every job has things that people like
to do and things they don't like to do.
| | 02:16 | List the things you like to do here.
| | 02:19 | The second question is, if money were no
object, what would you do for a career?
| | 02:25 | This assumes that retirement isn't an option.
| | 02:29 | Imagine that you did need to work for
the rest of your life, but that you didn't
| | 02:33 | need to worry about paying the bills.
What kind of work would you most enjoy doing?
| | 02:40 | The next question is, which work
activities do you get lost in?
| | 02:45 | There are probably some things you do
at work that cause you to be absorbed
| | 02:50 | day in and day out in the work process.
Maybe you work late doing something simply
| | 02:55 | because you love it, and
people have to tell you to stop.
| | 02:58 | You may want to ask someone
else for their perspective on this.
| | 03:02 | If you have any activities
like that, list them here.
| | 03:06 | Next, list your hobbies, whether it's collecting
stamps, or fishing, whatever it is, list it here.
| | 03:13 | This hobbies question preps you
for the next more-vital question.
| | 03:18 | What are some elements of those
hobbies that are applicable to the workplace?
| | 03:24 | Perhaps I can find a strong
career equivalent of collecting stamps.
| | 03:28 | For instance, attention to detail,
categorization, valuation, all those things
| | 03:35 | have very strong equivalents in the workplace.
| | 03:39 | So consider aspects of your hobbies that you
may love doing that can be useful in your career.
| | 03:46 | The last question just
gives you a moment to reflect.
| | 03:49 | Pause quietly and ponder for 5 minutes,
focusing on only one question:
| | 03:55 | What kind of work do you love the most?
| | 03:59 | Allow your mind to reflect back on all the
different work you've done since your first memory.
| | 04:05 | Which kind of work did you most enjoy?
Use a timer if necessary.
| | 04:10 | After 5 minutes, write down
the answer that you've come up with.
| | 04:15 | Once you've gone through all those
questions, there is a Multiple mentions
| | 04:20 | section at the bottom of the worksheet.
| | 04:22 | Review your worksheet looking for patterns,
anything you've mentioned more than once.
| | 04:28 | If you've mentioned more than once that you enjoy
working with or talking to people, then list that.
| | 04:34 | List everything you see multiple times
up to the top five in that bottom section.
| | 04:40 | We'll use this later when we put your gifts,
loves, and skills together to discover your talents.
| | 04:47 | Remember, if you do what you love, it's
more likely that money will follow,
| | 04:53 | but you still need talent.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Recognizing your skills| 00:00 | Now that you've discovered your natural
gifts and realized what you love to do,
| | 00:04 | it's time to consider your skills,
what you've been trained to do.
| | 00:09 | We are educated throughout our lives
to improve our skills, and that education
| | 00:13 | can come from a variety of sources.
| | 00:15 | While school provides some great
skills training, it's not the only source.
| | 00:19 | From our family members, to friends, and mentors,
the people around us also provide skills training.
| | 00:26 | Every job that you've had has given
you some on-the-job training, and your
| | 00:30 | employer may have provided other
learning opportunities as well.
| | 00:34 | We want to consider every source of
education when we're looking at your skills.
| | 00:40 | To help you discover your skills, I've created
a simple worksheet that you can download and complete.
| | 00:46 | The first question is, what did
you focus on in your education?
| | 00:51 | If you went to college, what was your
major? What was you minor? If you
| | 00:54 | attended a trade school,
what trade did you learn?
| | 00:57 | This plays a big part in the
development of your skills,
| | 01:01 | so let's list those here.
| | 01:03 | Next, what careers were
you exposed to growing up?
| | 01:08 | You may have heard your parents
talking shop when you were younger.
| | 01:11 | When you spend time around
someone else's place of work, or you hear
| | 01:16 | conversations around the dinner table,
it naturally influences your skills.
| | 01:21 | For instance, my father was in
radio, and my mom was an educator.
| | 01:26 | You can see the combination of those
influences in how I'm training you right now.
| | 01:31 | Who have your mentors been?
| | 01:33 | These are the people who had a
profound influence in your life.
| | 01:38 | You look up to them, either
inside or outside of the workplace.
| | 01:42 | What did they do for a career?
| | 01:44 | Mentors can have a significant
impact on your skills, perception, and
| | 01:49 | understanding, because you
look to them as an example.
| | 01:52 | So list a few of these mentors, and
what careers they've had, and it's very
| | 01:57 | likely you've picked up some skills from them.
What positions have you held in the past?
| | 02:03 | List all the jobs that you've had, and I'm pretty
sure you've learned some skills from those positions.
| | 02:10 | What do you study or read
about in your spare time?
| | 02:14 | Think about the magazines you subscribe
to, the books you enjoy, the blogs you visit,
| | 02:19 | or even the podcasts you listen to.
| | 02:21 | All of these things have an
impact on your skills over time.
| | 02:26 | And finally, what additional
training have you received?
| | 02:30 | For instance, maybe your work paid for
you to attend some seminars, or perhaps
| | 02:35 | you have gained other skills doing volunteer
work, or in community roles that you've filled.
| | 02:41 | After you've answered these questions,
complete the Multiple mentions section.
| | 02:46 | Here you will list anything you've mentioned
more than once, up to the top five mentions.
| | 02:52 | You'll use this information
in discovering your talents.
| | 02:56 | Later, we will talk about how
you can improve your skill set.
| | 03:00 | This exercise is a starting point to
understand what you've already learned
| | 03:05 | so that you can discover your talents.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Discovering your talents| 00:00 | We've talked about the three aspects of
your talents: gifts, loves, and skills.
| | 00:05 | Your gifts are the natural
abilities that you were born with.
| | 00:09 | Your loves are the things that you
are most excited about in your work.
| | 00:13 | And your skills are the knowledge and
education that you've acquired over time.
| | 00:18 | Now it's time for us to put these
all together and discover your true talents.
| | 00:23 | We will be building on the work that
you've done in the previous three videos,
| | 00:28 | so if you haven't done that yet, I
recommend you go back and complete those
| | 00:31 | videos before moving forward.
| | 00:33 | We have provided a simple
worksheet that you can download.
| | 00:37 | You will notice three columns: Gifts Mentions,
Love Mentions, and Skills Mentions.
| | 00:43 | When you completed the earlier
worksheets, you found gifts, loves, and skills
| | 00:49 | that you mentioned multiple times.
| | 00:52 | These things have great
significance in your life.
| | 00:55 | Take a moment and enter all of the
gifts, loves, and skills that you mentioned
| | 01:00 | multiple times in the new worksheet.
Your worksheet should look something like this.
| | 01:06 | Next, look for common
threads between the three columns.
| | 01:10 | If I list that I'm good at selling as a
gift, and I love closing sales, and that
| | 01:16 | I've had extensive sales training,
then I'm going to circle each of these,
| | 01:21 | and draw a line connecting them.
| | 01:23 | This is a very likely indicator
that I have a talent in sales,
| | 01:27 | so I would list sales
under I believe my talents are.
| | 01:32 | You may see phrases that are related
to each other but not exactly the same.
| | 01:37 | Use your best judgment to connect those.
| | 01:40 | For example, you may mention that one of
your gifts is public speaking, and in the
| | 01:45 | loves and skills, you mentioned teaching people.
| | 01:48 | Those are closely related enough that
you might want to circle those three, and
| | 01:54 | draw a line connecting them, and list
teaching people as one of your talents.
| | 01:59 | Notice that there's only room for
three talents on this worksheet.
| | 02:03 | This is a deliberate choice, as you want to focus
on spending your time working in your top talents.
| | 02:12 | If you've identified more talents in
this exercise, choose only the top three.
| | 02:18 | It's also fine if you've identified
only one, because it allows you to be even
| | 02:23 | more focused on that one talent.
| | 02:26 | Remember, people who are most
successful in their careers are the ones who have
| | 02:32 | naturally spent the majority of their
time, training, and effort in their talent.
| | 02:38 | As we move forward, we will show you
how to match your talents with the work
| | 02:42 | you're doing right now.
| | 02:44 | Then you'll create a course of self-
study so you can continually improve your
| | 02:49 | talents until you become invaluable.
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
2. ResponsibilitiesUncovering your responsibilities| 00:00 | If you want to improve and enhance your
ability, it's important to understand the
| | 00:05 | responsibilities your job requires.
| | 00:07 | If you are not employed at the moment,
you can still learn from this video to
| | 00:11 | help you prepare for your next position.
Ability and responsibilities go hand in hand.
| | 00:17 | You use your abilities to fulfill the
responsibilities your employer expects.
| | 00:22 | Think of it like ordering a pizza.
| | 00:24 | If the pizza arrives and the
toppings are missing, or if toppings are
| | 00:29 | included that you didn't ask for, you are
going to be a little surprised and probably upset.
| | 00:35 | It's the same with your employer or customers.
| | 00:38 | They have a list of responsibilities,
either written or in their head, for you to do.
| | 00:44 | If you're going to deliver what they
expect, it's critical to understand those
| | 00:49 | responsibilities as clearly as possible.
| | 00:53 | How do we discover those expectations so
we know what the job responsibilities are?
| | 00:58 | There are three sources where we can
get this information. The first is the
| | 01:03 | job description, which is a documented list of
all the things you're expected to do in your position.
| | 01:11 | If your employer hasn't already
provided something like that, you might ask
| | 01:15 | them if they'd be willing to create a
written job description to help you perform better.
| | 01:21 | A second source for discovering your job
responsibilities is to ask your employer directly.
| | 01:27 | I suggest you do this even if
there is a written job description.
| | 01:31 | This way you can verify that the written
document matches the unwritten expectations.
| | 01:38 | Employees are often expected to do
things that aren't written anywhere.
| | 01:43 | These assumed responsibilities have been passed
down verbally from work generation to work generation.
| | 01:50 | Without a written document,
responsibilities can be forgotten over time.
| | 01:56 | The third source of information about
your responsibilities takes a little more
| | 02:00 | work, but it's well worth it.
| | 02:02 | It requires tracking what you're
actually doing in your workday.
| | 02:07 | This may not seem exciting, but
it yields incredible benefits.
| | 02:11 | We've provided a worksheet that you can
download to track your work responsibilities.
| | 02:17 | Usually one sheet per day is enough,
| | 02:20 | but feel free to make as
many copies as you need.
| | 02:24 | The worksheet is simple.
| | 02:26 | Whenever you start an activity, such as
making calls to current customers, note
| | 02:31 | the time you start, and
what activity you're doing.
| | 02:35 | Now look for a match between your written
or verbal job responsibilities and the
| | 02:41 | activity you're doing and put a
yes or no in the Match column.
| | 02:47 | If calling current customers is a responsibility
in your job description, then put a Y for yes.
| | 02:54 | But what if you've been asked to
organize a department meeting, and that activity
| | 02:59 | doesn't match the job description.
In this case, you will put an N there for no.
| | 03:05 | Through this process, you'll start to
uncover hidden job responsibilities.
| | 03:10 | These are the things that you are doing
which may not actually be your responsibility.
| | 03:16 | Being clear about your responsibilities
lets you focus on improving the
| | 03:21 | abilities that will help you do a better job.
This exercise will help give you that clarity.
| | 03:27 | After tracking your progress for 2 weeks,
take the list of all the Nos
| | 03:33 | to your manager, and ask something
like, do you want me to add these to my
| | 03:38 | job description, or is there someone in a
different position that should be doing these?
| | 03:44 | Clarifying with your manager after
completing the worksheet will help you both
| | 03:49 | be even more clear about your responsibilities.
| | 03:52 | By going through this process, you'll
get a better understanding of what your
| | 03:57 | company expects from you, and you'll learn
the areas where you can improve your ability.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Matching your talents to your responsibilities| 00:00 | When you spend your time at work in
your talents, you become very valuable to
| | 00:05 | your employer, and you find greater job
satisfaction, which leads to increased value per hour.
| | 00:11 | Now we'll see just how aligned
your current job is with your talents.
| | 00:16 | In the previous video, I provided three resources
for discovering your job responsibilities.
| | 00:23 | The written job description, by asking your
employer, and tracking your work activities over time.
| | 00:30 | Now you can list those responsibilities
on the Confirmed Responsibilities
| | 00:35 | worksheet we have provided for you.
| | 00:37 | Also, if you completed the Talents worksheet,
you'll have a list of one to three talents.
| | 00:43 | List those at the top of this worksheet.
| | 00:46 | Now review your list of responsibilities
and put a check mark in the Talent
| | 00:51 | column for any activity that
matches one of your talents.
| | 00:55 | For instance, I've listed that I'm
doing bookkeeping, and one of my talents is
| | 01:01 | working with numbers, so I am going to
put a check mark in the Talent column.
| | 01:06 | Continue doing this for all the
responsibilities that you've listed.
| | 01:10 | At the end of this simple exercise,
you'll begin to see how much your current
| | 01:14 | job is aligned with your talents.
| | 01:17 | In an ideal situation, you would
have check marks on every responsibility,
| | 01:22 | meaning that everything you do
is aligned with your talents.
| | 01:25 | However, it's likely that there will be areas
where your responsibilities are not talents for you.
| | 01:31 | I will talk about how to deal
with that in the next video.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Changing responsibilities| 00:00 | What if many of your job responsibilities
don't match your natural talents, or you've
| | 00:05 | discovered through the previous exercises
that you spend most of your time working on
| | 00:09 | things that you're not
good at, or don't enjoy doing?
| | 00:13 | While a few people hold jobs that are a
perfect match for their talents, most find that their
| | 00:19 | job description doesn't match
their talents to some degree.
| | 00:23 | The good news is that you have control of
this situation and your job satisfaction.
| | 00:28 | The best approach to matching your talents and
responsibilities is to look for opportunities
| | 00:34 | with the company you're in right now.
| | 00:38 | The more you understand your
business, the more valuable you become.
| | 00:43 | If you were to move to a new business, you
would lose momentum and become less savvy.
| | 00:49 | The transition time of moving from
one company to another is very costly.
| | 00:55 | Instead, you can work toward a job
description that better matches your talents.
| | 01:00 | I will take you through a multi-question
process to discover how to do this for yourself.
| | 01:06 | The first question is, are
you willing to make a change?
| | 01:11 | If you're completely satisfied with your career,
you may not find it necessary to make any changes.
| | 01:17 | If this is the case, then simply make a commitment that
you're going to do your best in your current position.
| | 01:24 | If, however, you want to improve your value
per hour and your job satisfaction, then now
| | 01:29 | is the time to commit to make
whatever changes it takes to do so.
| | 01:35 | The second question is very important.
Is your employer flexible?
| | 01:40 | Generally speaking, the larger and more established
your company, the less flexible they are going to be.
| | 01:47 | From their perspective, they have a job to fill,
and either you're fit for it, or you're not.
| | 01:52 | In a small to medium-size business, or one
that's growing very quickly, there is usually
| | 01:58 | a higher degree of flexibility.
| | 02:00 | There may be an opportunity to move to a different
position or even change your current job description.
| | 02:08 | Understanding your employer's flexibility is the
first step toward aligning your job with your talents.
| | 02:14 | If your employer is willing to change your
responsibilities, this is the most direct
| | 02:19 | approach to making a change.
| | 02:21 | The third question asks, is there a position
within the business that better matches your talents?
| | 02:29 | Staying with your current company is ideal
because you will already understand the company
| | 02:33 | culture and the way they operate.
| | 02:35 | For instance, if I'm currently in a sales
position, but I understand that my talents
| | 02:40 | are better suited toward marketing, then I
may research open positions in marketing and
| | 02:47 | what I can do to move into a marketing role.
| | 02:51 | If you identify a position that's a better
match for your skill set, then ask yourself,
| | 02:56 | what's the next step toward
moving into that position?
| | 03:01 | If you have a good supportive relationship
with your manager, you might tell them you
| | 03:06 | think you'd be better suited for a different position and
ask what steps they would recommend to make a transition.
| | 03:14 | The final question is, if you can't find a
position within your business that suits your
| | 03:19 | talents, what position or career outside of
your current company would be a better fit?
| | 03:26 | Nobody benefits when an employee is in a position
they don't enjoy or doesn't match their skill set.
| | 03:33 | Businesses are more successful when their people are
highly talented and well suited for their positions.
| | 03:41 | Employees are more motivated and productive
when they're in positions that match their talent.
| | 03:46 | In short, what I'm recommending is that you
don't try to change yourself to match the position.
| | 03:54 | Instead, change the position to match you.
Be patient with this process.
| | 03:59 | The exploration of whether you're in the
right position can sometimes take weeks or even
| | 04:05 | months, but if you're willing to do the
work to understand your talents, and do what's
| | 04:10 | needed to be in the right position, your
career satisfaction will improve dramatically.
| | 04:15 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Assessing your performance| 00:00 | An important part of improving your ability
is continually assessing your job performance.
| | 00:05 | This process is simple, and we've given
you a worksheet to make it even easier.
| | 00:09 | You are simply going to list the job responsibilities
you discovered through the previous exercises.
| | 00:15 | Then you'll rate yourself in one of
three columns: Below expectations,
| | 00:20 | or Poor performance, At expectations, or Good performance,
or Above expectations, which is Invaluable performance.
| | 00:29 | Suppose one of my job responsibilities
is to meet one on one with my employees.
| | 00:34 | I realize that I've been meeting
occasionally with them but not on a regular
| | 00:38 | basis, and the meetings are not
as productive as they should be.
| | 00:42 | In this case, I might rate my
performance as poor in that category.
| | 00:47 | If another job responsibility is
communicating regularly with my best customers,
| | 00:52 | and if I go above and beyond by
providing valuable industry information,
| | 00:56 | for instance, then I'm going to
check the Above expectation's column.
| | 01:01 | Your task is to assess your performance
for every responsibility on your list.
| | 01:07 | It's important to be honest about
those areas where you're performing below
| | 01:10 | expectations and realize that
everyone has one or more of these areas.
| | 01:16 | This self-assessment is a
critical step toward improvement.
| | 01:20 | You'll notice a section at the bottom
for one action. After assessing yourself,
| | 01:26 | stop and consider for a moment, what's
one thing that you can do to improve in
| | 01:31 | one of those areas? What's one step
you're willing to take to move forward?
| | 01:36 | When you've identified the action, write
it down, and decide the next step you're
| | 01:41 | going to perform, and make a
commitment to when you will do it.
| | 01:45 | For more information on how to process each action
item, see my Time Management Fundamentals course.
| | 01:52 | This initial self-assessment is the benchmark.
| | 01:56 | It lets you know where you are right
now, and your greatest opportunities
| | 02:01 | to improve ability in the future.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Understanding the employee manager relationship| 00:00 | In order to improve your ability, it's
important to understand opportunities for
| | 00:04 | growth that exist in an
employee-manager relationship.
| | 00:08 | This video applies to you, regardless
of your position in the company, whether
| | 00:12 | you're the CEO, a middle
manager, or a front-line employee.
| | 00:16 | Managers have a special opportunity to
help their employees improve their ability.
| | 00:21 | While accountability is certainly part
of a leader's role, the most important
| | 00:25 | part is to be a resource to
help their employees succeed.
| | 00:30 | A leader's job is to serve others, both
through holding people accountable, and
| | 00:35 | helping them get the best results possible.
| | 00:38 | If you're an employee, I encourage you to
cultivate a positive relationship with your manager.
| | 00:44 | Ask them to continually assess your
ability, to give you training to improve
| | 00:49 | that ability, and to provide any
resources that will help you succeed.
| | 00:54 | I suggest asking your manager to
complete the performance assessment worksheet,
| | 00:59 | like the one you completed earlier, to
assess whether you are performing below
| | 01:03 | expectation, at
expectation, or above expectation.
| | 01:07 | Many people considered the standard
performance review to be enough of an assessment.
| | 01:13 | While regular review is important and
helpful, you can take the initiative and
| | 01:18 | assess yourself well in advance to be
sure that your standard review ratings
| | 01:24 | are above expectation.
| | 01:26 | If you're a manager, I suggest that you
also complete the performance assessment
| | 01:30 | with your employees.
| | 01:32 | Come from the perspective of management
through service, with the attitude that
| | 01:37 | your job is to help them succeed.
| | 01:39 | If your employees are happy in their
jobs, and improve every day, you all succeed.
| | 01:45 | It may help to think of yourself as a coach.
| | 01:48 | As a business coach, my perspective is
to do what it takes to help my clients
| | 01:52 | get the results that they want in their lives.
| | 01:55 | My clients are open with me, and willing
to share their successes, and admit their
| | 02:00 | shortcomings, because they know
I'm here to help them succeed.
| | 02:04 | As a manager, you can fill that role.
| | 02:07 | Consider regular one-to-one meetings
with each employee as another opportunity
| | 02:12 | to help your employees succeed.
| | 02:14 | These meetings allow you to provide
regular development training on a consistent
| | 02:19 | basis so your employees
can improve their ability.
| | 02:23 | The relationship between an employee
and manager is critical to long term
| | 02:27 | success, not only for the company, but
also for each person as an individual.
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
3. Self-ImprovementInvesting in yourself| 00:00 | If you want to increase your value
per hour, and be more successful in your
| | 00:04 | career, how much time are you
willing to invest outside of work hours to
| | 00:10 | improve your ability?
| | 00:12 | It's common for employees to feel that
they should only work the hours for which
| | 00:17 | they're getting paid.
| | 00:18 | It's certainly important to do your job,
but you also want to invest in your
| | 00:23 | career by regularly improving your
skills outside of your day to day job duties.
| | 00:30 | This will enhance your ability, increasing
your value per hour, and your job security.
| | 00:36 | You can make this investment in yourself
by following a simple five step process.
| | 00:42 | The first step is to determine the
time investment you are willing to make,
| | 00:47 | whether its one hour a week, or more,
make a decision on the amount of time
| | 00:51 | you're willing to spend improving your ability.
| | 00:54 | Then budget that time by
scheduling blocks of time in your calendar.
| | 00:59 | Call it your ability investment,
or some other descriptive title.
| | 01:03 | Scheduling time in advance in your
calendar will make it easier for you to
| | 01:09 | stick to your commitment.
| | 01:11 | The second step is to choose an area of study.
| | 01:14 | If you've completed the previous
videos, you have gone through an exercise to
| | 01:18 | identify your talents and job responsibilities.
| | 01:22 | Now pick the areas that
you are going to focus on,
| | 01:26 | let's say, for the next month. The
best choice will be related to your top
| | 01:31 | talents; those one, two, or three
things you do best.
| | 01:35 | Spend extra time to improve those talents in
a way that benefits both you, and the company.
| | 01:41 | The third step is to gather your
materials for the course that you are
| | 01:46 | creating for yourself.
| | 01:48 | You're going to find your own
textbooks and other materials to improve the
| | 01:51 | ability you selected.
| | 01:53 | If I'm trying to improve my ability
with computers, I might choose books or
| | 01:58 | magazines about computers, or I might
decide to enroll in online courses on
| | 02:04 | particular technologies.
| | 02:06 | You can pool resources not only from
books, and magazines, but also Web sites,
| | 02:11 | blogs, and community classes.
| | 02:14 | Step four is to commit to a deliverable.
Tell a friend, a mentor, a coworker, or
| | 02:21 | ideally your manager about this
ability investment that you're making.
| | 02:25 | Let them know that you're going to
deliver an assignment to them to demonstrate
| | 02:30 | what you've learned.
| | 02:32 | Commit to a specific date, and ask them
to put that date in their calendar to
| | 02:36 | hold you accountable.
| | 02:38 | This will strengthen your commitment,
and allow the other person to play a
| | 02:42 | supportive role for you.
| | 02:44 | By being involved from the outset,
they will want to support you, and give you
| | 02:48 | whatever resources they can to help you succeed.
| | 02:51 | And the fifth step is to work
the schedule that you created.
| | 02:56 | At the scheduled time you have set for
yourself, stop whatever you're doing, and
| | 03:00 | focus on that ability improvement.
| | 03:03 | Make sure it doesn't get in the way of
your normal job responsibilities, but
| | 03:07 | takes place outside of the work
schedule as an investment in yourself.
| | 03:13 | As you follow your training schedule,
and create deliverable projects to your
| | 03:17 | accountability partner, you'll see that
your talents grow, and you will progress
| | 03:22 | steadily toward becoming invaluable.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Making continual improvements (The Invaluable Cycle)| 00:00 | Through years of coaching executives
and employees, I've developed
| | 00:03 | a philosophy of improvement that applies to the
business as well as the individuals involved.
| | 00:09 | It's a great framework for helping you understand
how you can improve consistently over time,
| | 00:15 | and it's also a great tool
for self-assessment.
| | 00:18 | I call this the invaluable
cycle, and it has three parts.
| | 00:23 | Think of it like a triangle, and
the three parts can be represented by
| | 00:27 | the acronym SAM. The letters S-A-M stand
for systems, accountability, and motivation.
| | 00:35 | Look at anyone trying to succeed in what they do,
and you'll see the invaluable cycle, or SAM, in action.
| | 00:43 | By systems, we mean a
process or pattern of performance.
| | 00:47 | In basketball, for example, there are
systems that a player needs to learn in
| | 00:52 | order to improve. A way of passing the
ball, a way of making plays, a specific
| | 00:57 | role based on positions on the court;
all of these things are part of a system.
| | 01:03 | If the system is documented, it's easier to
understand it and make improvements to it.
| | 01:09 | The second part of the
invaluable cycle is accountability.
| | 01:13 | Accountability is personal training and
follow-up provided to you by someone else.
| | 01:21 | In my basketball example,
accountability is represented by the coach.
| | 01:25 | The coach is the person who watches what the athlete
is doing and assesses the player's performance.
| | 01:31 | Just as any good athlete needs a coach
to help them improve consistently, you
| | 01:37 | can benefit from someone to help you improve
consistently and meet the commitments you've made.
| | 01:43 | Your manager is the easiest person to turn to,
as it is their job to help provide that accountability.
| | 01:50 | Others can also provide accountability
as long as they're qualified to
| | 01:55 | provide you with ongoing development and
feedback, and they're consistent in their follow-up.
| | 02:01 | The third part of the
invaluable cycle is motivation.
| | 02:05 | Motivation, to me, is not a let's get
excited speech that gets you energized.
| | 02:10 | Motivation is the reason that you carry
within yourself that drives you to want to succeed.
| | 02:18 | In the basketball example, motivation is
the desire that each person on the team
| | 02:23 | has to win the championship,
or to be the best they can be.
| | 02:28 | Think about where you want
to be in 5 years from now.
| | 02:32 | That answer is your motivation.
If you're in a manager role,
| | 02:37 | seek to understand the
motivation of each person on your team.
| | 02:41 | When you can help connect what someone
wants with what they're doing, it will
| | 02:46 | keep them moving forward.
| | 02:48 | How can you use the invaluable
cycle to assess your ability?
| | 02:53 | We provided a quick and easy Invaluable
assessment worksheet to help you do this.
| | 02:58 | You'll simply assign a rating from zero to ten to each
of the components: systems, accountability, and motivation.
| | 03:05 | A zero in systems would mean I have no idea
what I'm doing or how to do it, while a ten
| | 03:12 | would mean I perfectly understand the systems
that relate to my position and follow them consistently.
| | 03:19 | Next, you'll assess accountability. Zero here
would mean I have no accountability to
| | 03:25 | anyone else, and a ten would mean I have a great
relationship with a mentor who is holding me accountable.
| | 03:33 | Finally, you will rank motivation. Zero means
I see no connection between the job I
| | 03:39 | have right now and what I want in the
future, and a ten would mean I see a clear
| | 03:44 | connection between my current job
and what I want in the future, and this
| | 03:48 | knowledge pushes me forward every day.
| | 03:52 | After you've assessed yourself in each
of those three areas, you'll have an idea
| | 03:56 | of where you can improve.
| | 03:58 | Choose one action you can take to
improve in one of those three areas.
| | 04:03 | Use this simple tool on an ongoing basis.
| | 04:06 | Schedule a time to, once per month, do a
quick assessment, just like we did here.
| | 04:12 | Rate yourself from zero to ten on systems,
accountability, and motivation, and then
| | 04:17 | choose one action you can take to move forward.
| | 04:21 | The SAM cycle will help you get in the habit of
continual improvement in making yourself invaluable.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Understanding the leapfrog method| 00:00 | In a previous video, you completed an
assessment by rating your performance on
| | 00:05 | each of your job responsibilities.
| | 00:07 | You'll need that worksheet
again for what we are about to do.
| | 00:11 | If you ever played the game leapfrog as
a child, you'll know that the rules are
| | 00:15 | very simple: someone in front of you
crouches down, and you jump over them.
| | 00:19 | When making improvements to
ability, we want to do the same.
| | 00:24 | We want to jump over being just
good, and get to invaluable.
| | 00:29 | Let's say I've discovered that I need
to do a better job of meeting deadlines.
| | 00:33 | I don't just want to meet expectations;
| | 00:37 | I want to leapfrog right to
exceeding expectations, such as getting
| | 00:42 | assignments in early.
| | 00:44 | This is a clever but simple way to get
the greatest benefit as quickly as possible.
| | 00:49 | We will do this by following
a simple four step process.
| | 00:53 | The first step is to identify
an area that you want to improve.
| | 00:57 | Review your list of job responsibilities,
and identify the ones where you're
| | 01:02 | performing below expectations.
| | 01:05 | Now choose one of those areas to improve.
| | 01:09 | The next step is to ask yourself,
what would I need to do to perform above
| | 01:15 | expectations in this area?
| | 01:17 | Let's say I rated my performance below
expectations in communicating with my
| | 01:22 | coworkers. What will it take
to perform above expectations?
| | 01:27 | Perhaps I need to be more consistent;
scheduling regular meetings, being more
| | 01:31 | clear in my instructions, and
immediately notifying them whenever there's a
| | 01:36 | delay in the project.
| | 01:38 | Answer this question for each
area you rated your performance as
| | 01:42 | below expectations.
| | 01:44 | The third step is to identify which
area of the invaluable cycle -- systems,
| | 01:50 | accountability, or motivation -- will
help you perform above expectations?
| | 01:56 | To continue our example, if I'm not
communicating well with my coworkers, is it
| | 02:01 | my lack of a system that's causing
that? Is it my lack of accountability to
| | 02:06 | someone else? Or is it a lack of
motivation or desire on my part to communicate?
| | 02:12 | Let's say that I've identified an
accountability issue; that I don't have someone
| | 02:17 | to report to about how well I am
communicating with my coworkers.
| | 02:21 | This leads us to step four, which is
answering the question, what is my next step?
| | 02:27 | In my example, my next step is to talk
to my manager, and commit to reporting
| | 02:32 | weekly on what I'm doing to
communicate with my coworkers.
| | 02:37 | Now I've used the invaluable cycle to
begin leapfrogging over performing just
| | 02:43 | at expectations to
performing above expectations.
| | 02:47 | Now it's your turn to practice.
| | 02:50 | Identify an area that you want to improve.
| | 02:53 | Ask yourself, what would I need to do to
perform above expectations in this area?
| | 02:59 | Identify which area of the systems,
accountability, and motivation cycle
| | 03:04 | will help you perform above expectations, and
identify your next action step for improvement.
| | 03:12 | Use the leapfrog method of
improvement regularly, and you'll see continual
| | 03:17 | progress in enhancing your ability.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Improving your performance with self assessment| 00:00 | There's a saying that has been attributed
to many authors, and I've found it to be true.
| | 00:04 | When performance is
measured, performance improves,
| | 00:08 | and when it's measured and reported
back, performance improves significantly.
| | 00:14 | Establishing a system of reporting and measuring will
help you to increase your ability consistently over time.
| | 00:21 | I've already given you one way to
measure your performance by using the
| | 00:25 | invaluable cycle of systems,
accountability, and motivation.
| | 00:29 | We also want to measure how well
you're performing in each of your abilities.
| | 00:34 | We've provided a worksheet
called your Monthly ability chart.
| | 00:38 | It includes a space for the date.
| | 00:40 | I'd recommend that you do this
monthly to track your results over time.
| | 00:45 | Next, you'll see spaces for rating
yourself in general on a scale of zero to ten in
| | 00:51 | each of the areas of systems,
accountability, and motivation.
| | 00:54 | If you need a refresher on these areas, go back
and review the video about the Invaluable Cycle.
| | 01:00 | Next, you'll see rows to measure
your performance for five abilities.
| | 01:06 | I'd limited your measurement to just
the five most important areas, which will
| | 01:11 | keep the process simple and easy to follow.
Now, what abilities should we be measuring?
| | 01:18 | You can measure anything related to
your talents or your job responsibilities.
| | 01:22 | If you need help deciding what to
measure, start with your talents, which are
| | 01:27 | those one, two, or three things that you
identified during the talent discovery process.
| | 01:33 | Then fill in the remaining spaces with a few job
responsibilities that you feel are most important.
| | 01:40 | In the Target column, you'll put
the number that you're striving for.
| | 01:45 | Now, how do we measure this?
| | 01:46 | Some things are quantifiable;
they're very easy to measure.
| | 01:49 | For instance, if one of my areas is sales, my
target simply is my sales numbers for the month.
| | 01:56 | But what if I chose teaching as
one of my performance areas?
| | 02:00 | I'm going to have to
quantify the unquantifiable.
| | 02:03 | You will measure this like we did
systems, accountability, and motivation: by
| | 02:07 | assigning a rating on a scale of zero to ten.
| | 02:11 | A zero would be nonperformance, five would be average,
and ten would be outstanding, invaluable performance.
| | 02:18 | Since we want to perform at the absolute
best, that target will always be ten.
| | 02:24 | The remaining columns are fairly
straightforward. In the last month column,
| | 02:28 | just recopy the number you put
in the previous month's spreadsheet.
| | 02:33 | Of course, the first time you're using
the worksheet, you will just leave it blank.
| | 02:38 | In the This Month column, you'll
put your rating for the current month.
| | 02:43 | Finally, in the column called Change,
you'll want to subtract this month's
| | 02:48 | rating from last month's, and this number
reflects how your performance has changed.
| | 02:54 | The value of measuring your
progress comes in the pattern.
| | 02:58 | We want to see a trend that is upward over time.
| | 03:02 | Occasionally, there will be dips where
you don't do as well as the previous
| | 03:05 | month, but overall, if we see the ratings rise over
time, then we're going to see improved performance.
| | 03:13 | Now, what about the second part of that
quote I started with: when performance is
| | 03:18 | measured and reported,
performance improves significantly?
| | 03:22 | How can we report about this?
| | 03:25 | I recommend submitting this
report to someone on a monthly basis.
| | 03:29 | It could be your manager or someone else.
| | 03:32 | It doesn't matter, as long as you tell
them you're going to send this report to
| | 03:37 | them monthly because you
want feedback and accountability.
| | 03:42 | In the section that says
This Month I will focus on,
| | 03:46 | you'll choose one area of systems,
accountability, or motivation that you're
| | 03:51 | going to improve that month.
| | 03:53 | Whatever area you choose,
create an action item for yourself.
| | 03:58 | For example, if you stated that you
were going to improve your bookkeeping
| | 04:02 | ability that month, you would write
down the next step, which might be Read an
| | 04:07 | article about advanced bookkeeping techniques.
| | 04:10 | Next, you'll want to process it,
meaning you're going to decide what you're
| | 04:14 | going to do with it, when you're
going to do it, and how it will be done.
| | 04:18 | If you want to learn more about how to process, please
see my Time Management Fundamentals course on lynda.com.
| | 04:25 | By following this system of self-
assessment on a monthly basis, you'll make
| | 04:30 | it much more likely that your ability improves over
time, and in turn your market value increases.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Improving your ability with technology| 00:00 | Technology can play a special role in
improving your ability, and marketplace value.
| | 00:06 | Consider the phone that you're using
today, compared to the one that you used as
| | 00:11 | recently as 10 years ago.
| | 00:13 | The increased power and
sophistication is staggering.
| | 00:17 | Without a commitment to regularly
improve your technological skills, it's
| | 00:22 | easy to fall behind.
| | 00:23 | While most of the principles I teach you
focus on your strengths and your talents,
| | 00:29 | you'll also want to spend some time
regularly getting familiar with the latest
| | 00:34 | improvements available in technology.
| | 00:37 | My first suggestion is simply, when using
a new technology tool, read the manual.
| | 00:44 | Even the most technologically savvy
people can learn lots of tips and tricks
| | 00:51 | just by taking a few moments to
skim through the documentation.
| | 00:55 | Another easy and powerful source for
information about technology is right here at lynda.com.
| | 01:02 | Create a schedule for yourself to
review a new course on a regular basis.
| | 01:08 | Take advantage of the subscription you
already have by learning from the experts,
| | 01:13 | so you can improve your ability in the
software and technology tools that you use everyday.
| | 01:20 | Finally, I recommend that you subscribe
to a least one source that updates you
| | 01:25 | regularly on technology.
| | 01:27 | Choose an outlet that speaks your language.
| | 01:30 | If you're enthusiastic about technology,
subscribe to a magazine or a blog that
| | 01:36 | goes in greater depth.
| | 01:38 | If you're not as technologically savvy,
choose a magazine or a blog that's
| | 01:42 | directed toward the beginner or casual user.
| | 01:46 | In short, budget an hour or two per
month in staying on top of technology.
| | 01:52 | This small time investment can pay
big dividends for you in the workplace.
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
ConclusionFinal thoughts| 00:00 | The principles you've learned are: first,
focus as much of your effort as possible on
| | 00:06 | using the talents that you have.
| | 00:08 | Your talents are made up of the gifts you
were born with, what you love to do, and the
| | 00:13 | skills that you've acquired over time.
| | 00:15 | Once you've identified your talents, try to
focus your job responsibilities as much as
| | 00:20 | possible on those talents, and if necessary, make a
transition so that you can utilize those talents more.
| | 00:28 | Also, work to build a positive relationship
with your manager and those that you manage
| | 00:34 | so that you can support each
other in becoming more valuable.
| | 00:38 | Finally, establish a system of self-improvement
and self-assessment, so you can continually
| | 00:44 | improve your ability month after month.
| | 00:48 | Do these things and live these principles,
and you'll find it easier to steadily walk
| | 00:53 | the path toward becoming invaluable.
| | 00:56 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
