Seven Things When It Comes to . . . Bringing Your Own Solution to the Problems You Ask Others to Solve.

One day at my first job out of undergrad, I was whining to one of my favorite supervisors, Nadia.  I had worked at the agency for almost two years and was pissed off that I was one of the last junior associates to have the opportunity to travel with our IBM clients to an annual conference in Florida.

Since Nadia and I were close, (and 20 years later we still are) she said, “Patrice don’t complain about what people aren’t giving to you . . . show them why you deserve to have something.” She gave me a great memo outline that highlights three things: (1) how much the clients liked me (I had received a lot of unsolicited feedback from clients verbally and by email); (2) my recent significant accomplishments that are important to the agency (i.e. my high billability rate) and (3) the quality and strength of my work, including client memos and reports that were shared with the SVP and leadership team. The next day she submitted my memo and basically convinced the senior staffers to send me on the client trip. 

I learned a lot during that first business trip including how to lay out my clothes the night before and to bond with someone by talking about something OTHER than work.

I also learned that in your career, you should not expect others to solve your problems, but instead first come up with your own solutions.  It’s far more effective to bring a problem to someone and a possible solution to solve it.  Here are seven common problems people experience in their jobs, work and careers – along with seven possible solutions to solve them:

1.   If you feel you’ve been overlooked for a promotion, follow Nadia’s three-point memo outline above. Start the memo with a respectable, “I would like to formally request to be considered for promotion to XYZ position.  Following is a brief summary of my recent accomplishments.”

2.   If you’ve been looking for months or more than a year but haven’t found a job, create your own.  Freelance or work for free for friends and others. Find ways to create opportunities to do what you want to pursue.  

3.   If you feel left out because you aren’t invited to attend key meetings – ask your supervisor for 10 minutes of their time. Instead of venting to your boss about why you feel excluded, explain the reasons why attending, having the information and spending time with the staff would help you better support and work with the team.

4.   If an internal “client” or senior colleague isn’t responding to your emails, ask your boss if you can initiate a call to them OR if your boss/supervisor can put in a call on your behalf. 

5.   If you feel stuck in your current job/position, figure out what advice you would give to someone in your exact position. Then give yourself that advice and think of three things that you can do to get unstuck.  More than likely, they will be the same things that someone would suggest to you.     

6.   If you want to transfer to another department at your current employer but are told that you don’t have the required experience, see if your company will pay for you to go back to school or enroll in a professional certificate program.  Even if you don’t get the opportunity to make a lateral move, you’ll have a new degree or skill set that you can use at another job/position.   

7.   If you start your own business but things are moving very slowly, find at least three things that you can do for the FIRST time or that you can do in a NEW or unique way. 

If you are currently facing a problem, instead of just asking your friends or family for advice - take 30 minutes to FIRST come up with your own possible solution and/or advice.  Often, we know the thing we need to do but we ask for advice from others for validation. Be known at home and at work as the person who always has a possible solution for every problem.