Now that the New Year is in full swing here are seven “must have’s” to turn a new career leaf in 2017.
1. Fill in the blank: Whatever your current or desired field is, be you need to have expertise in a specific segment. If you do social media: are you a strategy person or skilled at identifying and engaging influencers? It’s not just about working in one industry or field, but rather about becoming an expert at something that others value and need. 2. Writing: Over the past 20 years I have found that many people struggle with business writing. The trick is to keep your communications concise, using simple sentences and explain the only 5 questions that anyone ever wants to know: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY. Go online or sign up for a class, but work on making sure that you are comfortable with writing your ideas efficiently and effectively. 3. Negotiation: Check our “archives” to see what we recently posted about this critical skill and how to develop it. http://livingonpurposeproject.com/post/156036582629/january-18-2017-ask-patrice-when-it-comes 4. Salesmanship: There is a saying that salespeople are born, not made. However, we can all become more skilled at selling people on our ideas, vision and even ourselves by using some marketing 101 tactics and strategies – always remember to educate and not sell, and that even people who are looking to buy don’t want to feel a hard sell. 5. Perseverance: 80% of most things you attempt will not turn out exactly or even close to what you had planned - it’s called life. The sooner you embrace this fact the better life becomes. At many points in your career you MUST be willing to work longer, harder, better. Period. If not, step side and make way for those of us willing, ready and able to do the work at hand. 6. Humor: Everyone thinks they are funny - only a few are right. Of course, you think you have a great sense of humor but how can you test it out? Fine tune your ability to use wit and humor to really connect with and even disarm others. Remember humor is about being makings smart observations about people and life. If you need some ideas to put together your 10-minute comedy set, check out two of my favorite comedians – the late George Carlin and Chris Rock. 7. Keep your word: Following through on what you say allows you to always demonstrate (a practice) this core skill. The secret is to under promise and over deliver and make your personal and professional goal to be a person of your word. At the end of the day, people hire, partner with, and seek out those who are consistent and reliable. Work on your time management and keep yourself organized and soon you will find this is second nature.
Successful people have the necessary skills and mindset for success. Anyone can do it, once you know which skills and abilities will enable you to consistently be a rainmaker. This week, take a few minutes to access your current skills and set goals for making them sharper and savvier.
