Regardless if you're a young professional or an experienced veteran of the workforce, there will always be areas where you will have plenty of opportunity to earn the respect and the trust of your colleagues and clients. Here are my favorite focus areas for professional excellence that require zero talent whatsoever:
1. Diligence
The quality of the work you deliver to your customers on a daily basis is your signature. In the perception of your customers and colleagues the impression of how much you care about delivering value to them is visible in the quality of your output. Hence it is always quality first and quantity second. Always put quality on top of your priorities. That being said this does not mean that you have to get everything right one hundred percent of the time. Often you will have to abide by deadlines and circumstances you can not -fully- influence. Oftentimes 'highest quality' means that you take a caveat of a given deadline into account. As a result a rough solution or idea of a solution can be enough in order to test with your customer and later refine in further iterations - rapid prototyping follows exactly this principle. In that case it is all the more important that you make a good forecast of time and effort required and -in case necessary- ask for help. Remember that help will be granted to those who ask for it. However it will always be up to you to account for the quality of the work you hand in, even if others might have contributed to the overall result.
2. Reliability
Be careful with your commitments. Learn to say no, before you say yes. 'Yes' is the most common mistake in professional life. 'Yes' is always easy. If you are an easy 'yes' your work is soon going to become miserable. Your peers will soon realize you're a bad negotiator and exploit this. It would be irrational if they didn't. Ultimately you will feel that your work is going to suck. In this case it is not someone else's fault - it is your fault and your fault only. Saying no is hard. However disappointing others by not delivering on your commitments or delivering poor quality will be much harder in the long run. Trust is hard to earn and is easily squandered - that is especially true for fast paced work environments. Therefore always think twice before you accept an assignment. It is your responsibility to pick your work and to clarify risks and impasses, e.g. lacking capacities, uncertainty, ambiguity, lack of qualification, etc.. Once you've accepted an assignment, deliver the best possible quality. No excuses. Show the world they can rely on you.
3. Punctuality
According to a German proverb 'punctuality is the virtue of kings'. According to my experience, punctuality is the most underrated quality in work life. On countless projects I have seldom had the impression that people value punctuality highly. In some cultures punctuality can even be considered corny. The worst of all is that the higher up in the hierarchy you go the more it seems 'en vogue' and accepted to be late for appointments and meetings or dragging meetings beyond schedule. However bad the situation is, it is always good news for you: By being punctual you will be able to serve as a role model and leave a highly professional impression. Don't let yourself be impressed by the unpunctuality of others. Be a professional and show up a few minutes before the show starts. Leave or end meetings as soon as the scheduled end has arrived and if necessary say you have a follow up meeting (my default follow up is working on my own deliverables, which always applies). This will send a message of strong commitment and dedication. Also: start and end meetings and appointments on time. You don't necessarily have to go for a hard cut. Open meetings a few minutes ahead of schedule with some informal talk. This way it will be easier to start once the time has arrived. Don't ever (never ever!) wait for people who are late. By waiting on laggards you will punish the majority that showed up right on time and thereby send the wrong message to those who lived up to your expectation. The same goes for ending meetings. You can transition into ending meetings by starting to wrap it up five minutes before the scheduled end. This way all meeting members will be reminded that the meeting is going to end soon and will have an easier time to prepare mentally. In case you have no direct control over the meeting or there's obviously a strong desire to continue by a majority of participants -even after you have already taken several attempts to close the meeting- you should let the others do the talking.
4. Proactivity
This is the most misunderstood concept of work: being driven and engaging does not mean to engage in everything that comes across your desk. You will only be able to successfully apply a proactive stance and develop your own drive if you build focus in the first place. Proactivity without focus can leave an impression of profanity and shallowness. By focused proactivity I mean that you take ownership for all your commitments and not let yourself be distracted or discouraged by obstacles. If you have commited to some problem, you should find a solution for it no matter what. This can already be as little as a mere clarification and comprehensive documentation of the problem, in case you -and chances are also the people involved- don't have a firm grasp of scope and depth of the matter itself. It can also be a ready to implement solution itself. Always try to surprise your colleagues and customers. Work is like water: it is most likely to flow in the direction where it will be done. Engage in getting things done (instead of pushing things away or making things more complicated). Become a freaking 'getshitdone-machine' #gsdm :-)
5. Positivity
I am regularly baffled by how much people complain at work. I sometimes catch myself whining and lamenting - usually about things I feel I can not change. In case you catch me doing the cry-baby: slap me. Slap me hard! Stop the whining. Instead surprise people with an overdose of positivity. Yes, there's probably 1000 ways to fail - but there is always one way to succeed. Yes, things might be complex, ambiguous, uncertain and volatile - but we certainly can improve on one thing at a time. Things that have worked perfectly yesterday might not work tomorrow. Keeping a positive attitude and an optimistic view towards the future is the mark of a true leader. Change is hard. But change always brings plenty of opportunity. Realize that you will only leave your mark in history if you are part of the solution and not part of the problem.
6. Prepared
Always show up prepared. By this I don't only mean that you should have done your homework for all specific tasks, tests and meetings in your schedule. In a broader sense you should always work to improve in order to become the best possible version of yourself. You never know when opportunity might smile upon you. Do your homework. Do it for each day and do your homework for life. You have no idea when and what kind of a once in a lifetime chance might come your way. Be ready to grab it. Don't hesitate. Jump on it and ride it. After all you will not regret having failed or having been thrown off. However you will deeply regret not having tried.
7.Empathy
Finally this might be the hardest skill to master in life and in work: Listen to and try to understand others. Sometimes people don't even want to have a solution or any advice. They just want to be heard and share a story. This holds true for your fiercest critics: try to grasp their point of view and ask yourself why their standpoint could be valid. Try not to have, let alone share your opinion but instead just take it in. Think about what you've learned and process it. See it as a free opportunity to learn something and acquire a deeper understanding of something important. Chances are you taking the time to listen to people and hear them out will entirely fit the bill. Just say something like 'I understand how you are feeling.' - and mean it! That is it. Like magic, isn't it? Don't pontificate or lecture someone who has shared something - even if it is something that might not have convinced you. At least try not to be judgemental. Don't be a prick. Try to make it about them, not about you.
In a nutshell
Be awesome, get on a team and kick some ass!
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