Volunteering is another way to promote your career and demonstrate your value while expanding your knowledge in critical areas of your company.
Volunteering also provides a great way to earn a reputation for being reliable, professional, and cooperative, worthy of promotion.
Keep in mind that while you are volunteering, you may discover a need that you have the skills and experience to resolve. A great advantage in this situation is that by being involved, you know the right person to contact; it may be the person you are working with in your volunteer position.
The more you know about yourself, the more you will communicate about your value to the right people at the right time to promote your career. Record everything that you do to enhance the company's bottom line.
Start today by dividing a blank sheet of paper into three columns with three separate headings: action, result of action, and impact of action.
Your key accomplishments are probably actions that you take for granted. For example, if you are responsible for accounts payable, in column one write ‘paying invoices', in column two write the result of this action, for example, paid in time - no interest payments, and in the third column write the impact of this action, for example, a decrease in the cost of production. Did you think of this action as related to decreasing cost, or did you think of it as doing part of your job? How do you think others view this action?
Scheduled performance development planning meetings provide the perfect opportunity to showcase your accomplishments for career promotion. By being proactive and creating opportunities, you improve the likelihood that you will gain the attention of your employer and the career promotion that you deserve.
Yet another successful technique is to single out an unresolved challenge that exists in your company. Try to pick a situation that will benefit from your combination of experience and skills. Write a memo that outlines the need you've discovered. Highlight how you will use your skills to resolve the problem and contribute to the immediate objectives of the team or department involved. Send your memo to the person who will benefit most from your unique approach, for example, your boss or a human resources representative.
Don't wait for your organization to discover the same need. By waiting, you take the chance that they may decide to post the position.
Without your proactive approach to your career and potential promotion, they may decide to promote one of your peers. By being proactive, you create a win-win situation. You may gain a challenging, enjoyable career opportunity and eliminate the need for a competition.
Even if a new career or promotion opportunity does not result from your actions, you have successfully created an opportunity to demonstrate your value to the organization. You have increased the likelihood that they will consider you for the next rewarding career or promotion opportunity.
December 26, 2007
A moment of science
ats send all sorts of nonverbal signals, both to each other and to us humans. One of those signals is a blink. If you own a cat and haven't ever noticed it blinking at you, keep an eye out. It usually happens just as the cat enters a room where you are sitting. It will notice you from a small distance, stop, blink both eyes once or several times, and then approach. Once you are on the lookout for it, the blink is quite noticeable. It's slower than a human blink and looks, well, intentional.
What is your cat trying to tell you? A blinking cat is a happy cat. Blinking in cats is a signal that they recognize the presence of another cat in their vicinity but they are not going to fight it. A blink sends the message: "You are my friend. I am not angry. I am not threatened, or threatening."
This kind of message is very important in the wild, where cats battle for territory. Run across a neighboring cat and you'd better make your intentions clear, or you may find yourself in a fight. The blink serves to say: all's well here.
If you don't feel silly doing it, try blinking at your cat, perhaps while stroking it. Sometimes our facial gestures can trigger a response in them. The two of you can have a mutual friendship moment, sending "I'm okay -- you're okay" messages back and forth.
So, why do cats blink at us, when we aren't cats and don't understand such feline messages? Well -- do you ever speak to your cat?Wisdom of age-3
An elderly woman walked into the Bank of Canada one morning with a purse full of money. She wanted to open a savings account and insisted on talking to the president of the Bank because, she said, she had a lot of money.
After many lengthy discussions (after all, the client is always right) an employee took the elderly woman to the president’s office.
The president of the Bank asked her how much she wanted to deposit. She placed her purse on his desk and replied,"$165,000". The president was curious and asked her how she had been able to save so much money. The elderly woman replied that she made bets.
The president was surprised and asked, "What kind of bets?"
The elderly woman replied, "Well, I bet you $25,000 that your testicles are square."
The president started to laugh and told the woman that it was impossible to win a bet like that.
The woman never batted an eye. She just looked at the president and said, "Would you like to take my bet?"
"Certainly", replied the president. "I bet you $25,000 that my testicles are not square."
"Done", the elderly woman answered. "But given the amount of money involved, if you don’t mind I would like to come back at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning with my lawyer as a witness."
"No problem", said the president of the Bank confidently.
That night, the president became very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of the mirror examining his testicles, turning them this way and that, checking them over again and again until he was positive that no one could consider his testicles as square and reassuring himself that there was no way he could lose the bet.
The next morning at exactly 10 o’clock the elderly woman arrived at the president’s office with her lawyer and acknowledged the $25,000 bet made the day before that the president’s testicles were square.
The president confirmed that the bet was the same as the one made the day before. Then the elderly woman asked him to drop his pants etc. so that she and her lawyer could see clearly.
The president was happy to oblige.
The elderly woman came closer so she could see better and asked the president if she could touch them. "Of course", said the president. "Given the amount of money involved, you should be 100% sure."
The elderly woman did so with a little smile. Suddenly the president noticed that the lawyer was banging his head against the wall. He asked the elderly woman why he was doing that.
And she replied, "Oh, it’s probably because I bet him $100,000 that around 10! o’clock in the morning I would be holding the balls of the President of the Bank of Canada!
Moral of this story….
Don’t mess with old farts…
Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Brilliance only comes with age and experience.
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