Success Rule Book

Your Education Isn't Over. Prepare Now For The Tests That Lie In Store

[Forewarning: This is a long post]

Your education isn't over. That you may have finished school, college, or your professional exams is irrelevant.

To earn a higher salary, get a promotion, or run your own business successfully, you will need to educate yourself continually. You must increase your knowledge, gain experience, and continually upgrade your skills.

If you don't do that, you'll be stuck in your current position. Your job will become routine and dull. You'll stagnate.

And you won't get promoted. You won't get offered a better job. You wouldn't deserve to be offered one.

And if you were offered one, you won't know enough to do it well.

As a child, your teachers micro-managed you. You were told what to learn, when to learn it, which books to buy and which lessons to attend You were set specific tasks and given externally imposed deadlines by which to complete them. You were told what work you would have to do at home, after the working day.

You're an adult now. There's no-one there to set you homework, no-one to test you, no-one to check up on your progress. You've got to do all this yourself.

And you've still got a lot to learn.

You'll need to learn Strategy, Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Logistics, Customer Service, Negotiation, Law, Micro-economics, Research, People Skills, Writing, Design, Creative Thinking, Logic, Project Management, Purchasing, Market Analysis, Time Management, Risk Management, Human Resources, Psychology, Humor, Active Listening, Presentational Skills, Financial Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Business Development and Business Financing.

You will be frequently tested on many of these areas. It won't be a formal sit-down test, with a big neon 'test' sign flashing above your head. It'll be far more subtle.

You must prepare now. Do not let the requirements creep up on you, leaving you to suddenly find yourself with an evening to prepare followed by scary hours of 'winging it' badly the next day.

Many people fail to grasp the opportunities that are presented to them because they have failed to prepare for them.

A promotion comes up, but they haven't got the skills needed for the job.

Or they see or hear of a job they would like, but they can't apply as their lack of knowledge stopped them from volunteering for tasks at work that would have gotten them the necessary experience.

Too often the warning of an impending test comes only after it is too late to prepare. That's why you must prepare in advance, learning more than you 'need' at present. For by the time the 'optional' becomes 'necessary' it will probably be too late. You must actively be planning ahead. Find out what you need to learn - and what experience you must gain - in order to do your job better, so you can get the career you want.

The areas I have listed would cover most of what you would need to shine in any situation you encounter. A working knowledge of those areas will make you invaluable to your employer and to your colleagues. It will ensure that when you set up your own business, it'll have every chance of being successful.

The knowledge will help you understand the needs and concerns of your colleagues and customers. It will help you tailor your work to fit their needs. You'll be able to spot work you could do for them that would be of great benefit, but which they have not requested. Work that could increasing your value to the firm.

The knowledge also acts as your insurance. If you know how others do (or should do) their job, you'll be better able to recognize liars, the incompetent, and those who are 'winging it'. You'll be better able to spot when people are attempting to manipulate you or fob you off with red herrings. You'll be able to spot your boss's mistakes and omissions when they briefing you, and to compensate for them.

Your self-initiated study program should start with the areas most critical to your job; the ones that could improve your performance, reduce your errors, improve your effectiveness and the timeliness of what you do.

Next, it should cover the knowledge needed by people in the organization with which you interact. Your boss, your colleagues and your direct reports. The better you understand their roles, the better you can tailor your work to meet the needs of the 'customers' you serve.

Few jobs offer continual, substantial, on-the-job training. So you'll need to be continually investing in your education, OUTSIDE working hours.

You must put together a plan to gain the knowledge you require. Prioritize your learning, and start learning this week!

Sell To Your Boss

Selling skills aren't just for sales people. You too can benefit from learning and applying them in your home life, and at work.

In a must-read article, Michael Hyatt, the Chief Operating Officer of a large publishing firm, offers tips on getting your boss to agree to your plans:

I urge you to read the full article, now. Here's an abridged version:

   Selling your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career.... Here are six keys to getting your boss to say yes.

1. Meet your boss’s needs. The boss doesn’t care how this will make your life easier.... He’s concerned about his needs and the needs of the company... frame your proposal in these terms.... if your proposal promises to [aid those]... you’ve got [his] ear. If not, you’re likely dead before you start...
2. Pick Your Battles. Don’t take a swing unless [you're] confident [you'll] hit the ball. You will develop a reputation [that] will actually make it possible to pre-sell your boss before you ever say one word. He’ll be thinking, If John is recommending this, it is worth seriously consideration... he has thought it through and asked the tough questions.
3. Do your homework. [think through and summarise the recommendation, the background info, the rationale, the timetable for implimentation, and the financial impact.]
4. "Bullet proof" your proposal. First, think of every question your boss could possibly ask...Make sure each key question is answered in your [briefing]. Play devil’s advocate. [Plan how to handle every objection. Write it on a crib sheet.]
5. Make the pitch. Schedule a time to make the pitch ... when your boss is likely to be the most receptive. Maintain eye contact. Stay alert to the signals. Re-state the recommendation. Know when you are done.
6. Accept responsiblity for the outcome. If your boss says, "no," go back to your desk and engage in a little post mortem analysis. What went wrong? What could have been stronger? Where were you unprepared? How can you do this better next time?

Understand Your Job

I've four questions for you to think about...

1. Why shouldn't your job be made redundant?
2. In what ways are you better than the person who would replace you (if you were fired)?
3. What are your key achievements in your job?
4. What have you done in the past month to materially improve your performance?

If you can't answer the questions convincingly, you deserve to be fired.

Are You Getting The Wage You Deserve?

You accepted your current job, as it was the best thing to do at the time.

Times change. Since you were hired, you've gained experience, industry knowledge and have become better at your job. The market demand for people with your skills may have changed in favor. So the economic value of the work you do - and the work you're able to do - will have changed.

Yet, I bet your salary hasn't been adjusted every year in line with the market rate for your job. Instead, everyone in your company, your division or at your seniority level, will get an x per cent rise in their base salary this year. The x is arbitrarily chosen by management. The rise they offer will almost certainly be different to the rise you could get by moving to another firm.

If your current job is not making full use of your experience, knowledge and skills, and those assets are in demand and relevant to your work, then the chances are you could get a better paying job elsewhere.

If you're going to put in your 40 or more hours at work each week, you might as well get paid the going rate for that work.

I want to caution you against being a 'loyal employee'. The world is full of good people who have been at their firm for years. They like their job, and are quite good at it. They feel loyal to their company for providing them with an income. They are nice people, but their behavior is harming them.

They don't understand that their employment is a business deal. It's a mutual agreement between self-interested parties, acting in their own interests.

Their company pays them, but it's not out of benevolence. Employees owe no 'loyalty' to their employer. Both parties should be in the deal for what's in it for them. When the deal ceases to be the best on offer, both parties should be willing to move on.

Sadly, there are millions of mugs who believe in 'company loyalty'. They are the ones who foolishly believe that the company will look after their best interests, rather than its own. They are the ones who end up earning less than the market wage, and being taken advantage of by their 'benevolent' employer, deliberately or unintentionally.

Employers don't assess the going rate for each individual job each year. It would be too much hassle. Instead, they only become aware that they're underpaying someone when that person leaves, or threatens to leave. Were they to replace the actual or potential leaver, they find that the market rate for the position is materially higher, and that if they want a person with the right skills, knowledge and experience, they'll have to raise the salary of the position.

Let's be blunt. If you're employer isn't paying you what you could get elsewhere, you should request a raise, or walk.

Now, time to get down to specifics. I want you to check the market salary for your job.

US: http://www.monster.com/
US: http://www.careerbuilder.com/
US: http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/

UK: http://www.monster.co.uk/
UK: http://www.topjobs.co.uk/
UK: http://www.jobsite.co.uk/

Do it now.

Then figure out what you should do.

Will you ask for a raise? Will you apply for another job?

If you're being paid the going rate: what skills, knowledge and experience do you need to move up to the next level?

However your salary measures up, there's something you've now got to do, and your reward will be an increase in salary.

Stop Accepting Mediocrity

Do you spend your working life doing tasks you don't want to do, just to avoid your boss catching you out?

Most people do.

They do the bare minimum their boss will accept (or notice). All they do bares a watermark, the words "Will This Do?"

If it will, work is stopped, leaving mediocre results from the minimum amount of effort required.

Most people live their working lives to the 'what can I get away with' standard. It's pathetic, lazy and spectacularly self-defeating.

Be honest with me, and with yourself, for a moment. Wouldn't you love a big increase in salary? More control over what you do? A more responsible position where YOU call the shots? Of course you would! Hell, who wouldn't?!

So what's your game plan to get it?

If it's to do everything that's expected of you, I'm afraid you're in for disappointment.

If people got promoted for doing what was expected of them, MOST people would get promoted most of the
time. But they don't, because life doesn't work like that. Your employer takes it as read that you'll do what is expected of you. There are no brownie points in it for you.

If you want to life your dream life, you will need to do MORE than is expected of you. You must be in the business of positively surprising people.

If you work to rule, you are limiting yourself to roles similar to your current one. If you want something better, you must give more of yourself, and in the short-term not give a damn about whether your job description, salary, hours of work or job title reflect the work that you do.

Either your employer will recognize your work and reward you soon after you request it OR you will have the anecdotes, experience and bullet-points for
your Resume that you need to jump ship to an employer that will reward you.

Either way you win.

You deserve your dream life. Stop accepting mediocrity and work hard damn hard, and you will succeed at grasping the life you desire.