InStep Coaching Blog

I’m periodically asked to respond to a question posed by readers of the Career Builder section of the Arizona Republic newspaper, in a column known as “Ask The Experts.” Following is a recent Q&A from that column.

Question:

I recently was promoted out of the rank and file to a supervisory position. How can I gain respect and work well with my former co-workers who now report to me?

Answer:

Your first order of business will be to define what success is in your new role. From that you can set clear goals for you and your team and then lead them, not “boss” them, to fulfilling your mission.

Do this by holding a meeting and sharing your vision of success, and solicit ideas from the group on how best to get where you want to go. I also recommend that you meet with each team member individually, and ask them what you can do to help them succeed, and then do it. And most importantly, don’t forget about those things you complained about when you were peers.

Perhaps there are things that you can change that will give you instant credibility. You may not be able to do everything that they ask of you, but if they know that you care, they will be more loyal, committed and productive.

Periodically, I get questions from business leaders about where to find resources on email etiquette. It seems that many people working in companies today have gotten lazy in their proper use of email, or just never learned the technical basics.

My friend, web designer and all-around wonderful person Angela Nielsen, has written an information-rich article entitled “Email Etiquette – More Than Just Manners,” that you can read at
http://www.onelily.com/articles/email_etiquette.htm.

As one who is always on the lookout for interesting and creative ideas, my friend and editor Tom Bruein of Sharp Editing (www.sharpediting.com) showed me this great TV commercial that Bank of America (B of A) recently aired.

The commercial, which takes place in an urban setting, shows pedestrians peering into a suspended B of A logo where they see themselves living out an ambition such as buying a home, enjoying retirement and taking a company public on the NYSE. It also shows a young boy not yet tall enough to see his reflection, using a loaded trash bag to boost himself to see his future as a doctor performing a surgery. It’s all very inspiring.

Having seen this commercial, I can’t help but ask you the following –

If this were possible and you could look into your future to see your ambitions playing out – what would it look like? Do you see success where you want to be successful?

Many of us have an idea of what we want our successful future to be. Perhaps it’s more of what has already been accomplished, or it’s a desire for a better result in some other aspect of your life or business. Whatever it is, do you really know what success looks like?

When I left my banking career, my old friend and client Chris Mottinger, Principal of the Mottinger Real Estate Group (www.mottingergroup.com), made a statement to me that I’ll never forget. “It will be very important to define what success looks like to you.”

I believe that we greatly improve the odds for success in any area of our life, if we’re clear about what that is. So, if you haven’t done it yet - spell it out! Define, on paper, in vivid detail what success looks like for you.

Napoleon Hill, author of the bestselling classic, Think and Grow Rich, said “What the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Conceiving – that’s what comes first. That’s the vision. That’s the clarity. That’s what you see.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” Perhaps you remember this childhood taunt. It was innocent enough - maybe directed toward a foe during a playground squabble or when you caught one of your siblings in a white lie. All relatively harmless stuff.

Your parents likely instilled in you the importance of telling the truth. And although growing up you probably stretched it a time or two, chances are nobody suffered any real harm. A no-brainer, right? Well, some adults have forgotten this simple message.

We’ve all heard of Worldcom, Enron and the many others being investigated for falsified business dealings. The most blatant cases get publicized. But what about subtle dishonesty and deception amongst everyday business people? Where do we draw the line?

I wonder if we’ve created a business culture where deception, half-truths or outright lying is the only way we can now prevail - with our peers, employees and our customers. Has this become “business as usual?” (more…)

If you have clarity about what you want and need in your life, you are more likely to get it. This is as true for your career as it is for other things in your life. However, most people spend more time researching and evaluating a car purchase, than they do on that very important thing in life – a career.

When it comes to your “life’s work,” you can significantly increase the odds of building a career you will love by taking a few simple factors into account. These include being clear about what you want to do, where and with whom you want to do it, and what you want to get out of it as well as what you are willing to give up in return. However, this is not the way most people approach their career.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t plan our careers, we just take jobs. And even when we do some planning, we base our decision on only one or two factors, when there are other equally important things to consider. (more…)