T I M E Assure Success.

  

 "I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it because the team, Not the individual, is the ultimate champion.".– Mia Hamm

We are living in a world of #Technology #Revolution, Job #Disruptions, Fast lifestyle and Global #Uncertainty, where scenarios are changing very rapidly. The world which we have been calling a "Global Village" stands divided where "Might is Right" is the order of the day. Time does not wait and the events of various types and dangers keep happening all around us. Since #Corona (Covid19) breakout in Dec 2019, there has been a #shutdown of many companies /organisations and job #opportunities have been shrinking continuously.

Despite fast recovery from Corona Pandemic since Jan 2022, there has been# restructuring of many companies and organisations, resulting in moving into smaller #workplaces, having fewer people doing more, and preference for more people #working #from #homes and on a contractual basis.

Job #sustainability in such a chaotic #environment is a big #challenge for any individual. Newer Technologies are also disrupting certain jobs, though creating #smatter but fewer jobs. These jobs need new #skills, fast learning, #multi-tasking #teamwork and quick #adaptability, Therefore you need to plan and act in time to #upgrade your skills. You should not keep hesitating and thinking. Instead, be quick to take a calculated #risk and grab any emerging opportunity, stay #motivated, #innovative and carry on. Some tips for your career success are given in succeeding sections

                                 T à

·    Tactful. You should be #tactful and #tolerant while dealing and negotiating with customers, vendors, business partners and sub-contractors. This comes with #maturity and adopting a #positive #attitude, Remember being blunt and outspoken does not go well always. As you gain #experience and mature further, you will learn the art of being tactful during #negotiation. Keep in mind that organizational interest should come first.

·    Talented. A talented manager draws synergy from peers/team. #Talent is not an academic #qualification but applied #knowledge in the form of talent/skill that leads to success in any job you may undertake. One should continuously improve one's talent.

·         Target. Select your #target carefully and then go with concentrated #energy to achieve it. In the current global market, you are to decide your target as KRA and ensure you meet that. In many organizations, reviews and promotions are linked to targets set and achieved.

·         Team-Work. Be a useful member of your #team and assist others to perform well. It is always team decision and team effort which leads to #success. Look after your team and assist them to perform well. Encourage them to learn new skills and boost their competence.

·         Technology. Fast-moving technologies necessitate all of us to learn and share know-how about emerging technologies to remain current and #relevant. You should be technology savvy to get the best of your time and effort.

·    #Digital #marketing, #Online ticketing/booking. Online education, 3-D Printing, ICT and mobile communication devices like a smartphone, testing tools and instruments have given new opportunities for businesses to grow. You must get the best out of emerging technologies and evolve adaptive business practices. Be early to adopt emerging technologies and add more value to your business.

·    Thinking out-of-the-box. As a manager/team leader you are to be creative, sincere and  #think-out-of-the- box to evolve new #cost-efficient solutions. Traditional thinking will not help in innovating new products/services.

·    Thanks and Curtsey. Thanking someone does not cost much but opens the door for communication in future. Make it a habit to thank at least 2–3 people every day and you will get inner happiness and better strength to do well. This will assist in expanding your social circle and #networking.

·    Time Sharing enhances #productivity. In today's global and competitive market, time is the most important resource. You do not have 24 hours at your disposal. You need to split the available time into small segments to make yourself available on a need basis. Manage your time through #multitasking.

·    Time for family. You need to spare time for children, elders and also for friends. You must give priority to the organization/job, second to your family and last to your friends. You need to spare some time for your #family every day and a lot more time on the weekend. Avoid carrying office work to your home, Watch TV with family and eat together sitting on the dining table and not in individual bedrooms.

·    Tolerance Strengthen Relationships. As a manager, you need to be patient and tolerant while dealing with issues which team members may be facing. As you become senior and mature, you should be more tolerant of minor mistakes of your teammates.

·    Training for #Competency. You should regularly train yourself in emerging technologies and management techniques. We are living in an information age which is rapidly changing. Likewise, you should facilitate the training of team members by arranging workshops, seminars and conferences for them.

·    Transparency and Openness. Openness in dealing with team members, vendors, customers and business partners.. If you are #transparent to your team and they will trust you and most willingly support you to succeed

·    Trustworthy. In the eyes of seniors, customers, vendors and teammates you must be #trustworthy. They should be able to bank on you and expect good services.

·    Truthful. Do not tamper with any data and always tell the #truth. In the long run, truth prevails and lies get caught.

·    Try , Try and Try. You may get disappointed if you fail in your task, but you would have learned something to improve and try again. However, if you do not try, you will remain ignorant of what is in it. Therefore try, try and try again till you succeed.

·    Turning Point. During your career, you will come across some ups and down. There will be a turning point when you may change your line of business or field of education and go for your passion or a better career. At this stage of your career, be determined and do not waiver or get distracted. If you take a timely and right decision, it will be a lifetime joy for you.

                                 I  à

·         Ideas for Innovation. Keep a small notebook in your pocket/bag to note down ideas as these may occur at any time. Do weekly/monthly sorting of recorded ideas to find doable and something out of the ordinary. Getting a new idea is part of creative thinking. The idea need not be yours and it may be of any team member and it must be appreciated. Every idea may not be successful but you must be determined to make it work.

·    Improvement of Competence. Improvement in skills, knowledge and processes is a continuous activity. To stay ahead and lead from the front, self-improvement should be an ongoing activity.

·    Inertia to Change. You should not get stuck in your comfort zone as that is a sign of laziness. You are to be bubbling with energy and taking initiative and moving ahead of others. Today's world is highly dynamic, where speedy decision-making and taking timely and right action are the keys to staying ahead. Hesitation to change will be a drag on your career.

·    Integrity. It is a higher form of loyalty to the organization, profession, seniors, juniors and peers. A person with high #integrity will not talk against his/her organization and always uphold the dignity and honour of team members. You may be a hard taskmaster and the team may find it difficult to satisfy you but you must speak well about them while dealing with senior management or customers.

·    Interaction. As team members, always interact to draw strength from each other. As a manager, you must #interact with functional managers and other stakeholders.

·    Integration. As a manager, one of your prime-role is to #integrate effort and sub-systems to evolve a cost-efficient solution. It requires proper interfacing and readjusting for any incompatibility. A fully integrated team makes use of everybody's talent/contribution and exceeds expectations.

·    Initiative. Opportunity comes like a flying bird and you are to be quick to grab the opportunity and move ahead. #Initiative and risk-taking are essential traits of a successful leader.

·    Innovation. #Innovation is not an invention and it could be some modification, improvement in look-and-feel, different material, or ease of operation. Innovation provides you lead in the market and sustainability of the business. Your employer/senior is always looking for new ideas/innovations to progress their business and that is the pathway to your success. Along with your team, you need to do lateral thinking and experiment with new ideas and innovate. Your market demand will grow and your career will get a #quantum #jump.

·    Inspiration. #Inspiration is a higher level of motivation which propels us up the ladder. You should have a good mentor whose life/job and personality inspires you. His/her achievements are like flags on the hill while running a cross-country race.

·    Introspect. Whenever you find events are not taking place as planned, you must do #introspection to identify the cause and respond accordingly. Often it is our own mistake, misunderstanding or ego which needs to be corrected to improve the situation.

                                 M  à

·    Make or Buy. One crucial decision is whether to make a product in-house and deliver it to the customer or buy off-the-shelf or subcontract and deliver on time and at a better price. Here come your innovative ideas and initiative to project you as a star performer and help your organisation to grow. You will be amply rewarded for such contribution and progress further.

·    Manage 5Ms. As a manager/team leader you should progressively improve your #management of five important components of managing projects/products – Men (including women), Material (hardware/ software), Money (sanctioned budget), Machinery (Equipment, Tools, Instruments) and Methods (Processes and procedures).

·    Maturity. A matured fruit is tasty while raw fruit is sour or bitter. Likewise, a mature person draws respect from all.  #Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act within the bounds of dignity. Shri. Adi Shankara defines – You have maturity when to stop trying to change others and instead change yourself.

·   Means and Measures. There is a famous saying- "Cut your coat according to your cloth." Living within your #means will avoid any tension due to overspending. You will have sound sleep and happiness at home and better performance at the workplace. There is no need to compete or copy others when you cannot afford that luxury. Plan your budget and remain within that. Likewise, make optimum use of allotted resources at your workplace and avoid cost over-run.

·    Meditation. After a lot of running around and passing through a lot of stress and strain, #meditation helps to sit calm, think deep, relax and rejuvenate. Remember meditation is not an act to be performed but an effort to take body, mind, emotions and energies to a higher level of maturity. Meditation provides you with total relaxation/rejuvenation. Some corporate houses have organised meditation centres within their campus to create a healthy working environment.

·    Meticulous. Always plan meticulously and execute energetically. You must organize your work and do it as per its priority. If you tend to start too many tasks simultaneously with fewer resources, there will be a backlog and most tasks will be shown as work-in-progress. Instead, plan well, act well and deliver on or before time.

·    Milestones. Milestones planted along the road help us to know the status of our journey and control our speed to reach the desired destination on time. Likewise, while planning any project or job scheduling, you must mark #milestones on the chart to help your team to monitor progress and meet deadlines. You may also mark milestones on your career path.

·    Missionary Zeal. You must have a vision for at least three years ahead and set up your mission to accomplish with full force and determination. Determination and concentration of energies are the keys to the success of any mission.

·    Morale and Motivation. You must remain motivated in your job and cheer up your team members to keep the project/task on track. High #morale is an important factor to ensure good productivity and success. During the difficult phase of any mission/project, your leadership counts to show your grit, calmness and high morale. A leader always presents an encouraging posture to cheer up the team and boost their morale.

·    Multi-Tasking. #Multi-tasking is necessary to showcase your multi-skills and optimal use of available resources. However, the number of tasks undertaken will depend on the time and effort available. You must bite as much as you can chew.

                                E  à

·    Earn to Grow. There is great satisfaction and happiness in your working hard to earn it than inheriting or getting it as a gift from family/friends. When you roll up your sleeves and sweat it out, your whole team gets inspired and follows you.

·    Education and Skills Building. Higher #education and skills for your chosen career are a must to grow. Fast-changing technologies and business practices necessitate remaining up-to-date. In the emerging global education scenario, there is a number of online training courses offered by many universities. IITs and organizations like Coursera, MOOC, Future-Learn, Amazon, and Microsoft. You should join the one which is suitable to boost your profile.

·    Effective. Your team must take your instructions seriously and the task assigned by you must be executed faithfully to meet all requirements. The product or service when deployed must be #effective to fully satisfy customer requirements. Similarly, your communication with peers, stakeholders or any audience must be clear and effective to create the required impact.

·    Efficient. One must be efficient while using his/her skills and get the best result with available resources and optimum effort. If you are #efficient in your job, you will be able to complete the job within the scheduled time and with no cost/time overruns. Similarly, the product which you deliver must perform to its full efficiency and be easy to handle.

·    Ego- Ego management is a very problematic issue but you must control it. Most of the conflict is due to ego problems/misunderstanding, where either party feels he/she is right and another person is wrong. As a team leader/manager you should not have an egoistic attitude and rather show flexibility and courtesy to fellow team members. You must shed #ego even when dealing with family members and friends. This will create a good environment both at home and at the workplace.

·    Emotional Stability. As a team member, you must deal with facts while taking any decision and not be moved by any emotion. Some people are over-sensitive and get emotionally disturbed on a very small issue at their workplace or even at home. You have to control your emotion and stay calm. Now a day, the employer gives more importance to the #Emotional #Quotient (EQ) than Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Most employers have an expert to evaluate your EQ during the selection process.

·    Employability and Productivity. There are often complaints from the corporate that fresh graduates in the field of engineering and management are not industry-ready and they have to spend resources to train their new appointees. You are to excel in academic courses while at college/university and also acquire additional job-related skills as well as soft skills. The employer is always looking for readily billable professionals.

·    #Endurance. You are to develop the capacity to work/ travel for long hours which demands good health and #determination. You could be attending late conferences or long travelling to customers/ vendors. Therefore you should develop mental and physical robustness to sustain work pressure.

·    Energy Conservation. You need not run and win every race. Sometimes it is a good idea to conserve your energy for really tough competition. Winston Churchill has stated in his memoirs how he stayed fit during prolonged World War II. He had said -

"Do not keep standing when you can afford to sit down and do not keep sitting when you can afford to lie down."

·    Enthusiastic You must demonstrate sustained #enthusiasm toward every assignment /project and the team will follow you. Even when you are tired, your enthusiasm must not drop.

·    Ethics and Ethos. As a professional, you must follow business/professional ethics in which ever field you may be working. Similarly, the organisational method must be followed diligently. Do not give up ethics for sake of short-term gain/temptation. Do not indulge in any unethical activity as you are being observed by people around you, including vendors, customers and channel partners.

·    Evidence of Actions. Whatever you do in any stage of your career at any position, let the result speak for itself. This requires evidence/proof of actions taken by you and the result obtained. As a leader/manager, you must lead the team from the front with demonstrated performance, showing #evidence of your competence. This is most inspiring for the team.

·    Evolving Not Solving. #Evolve sustainable solutions through #collective #efforts Revolution leads to disruption and disturbance. Do not provide a solution to the team. Instead, involve them to showcase their talent and evolve collective solutions built around their competency. This encourages team participation and synergy.

·    Example to Follow. Action and results speak louder than verbal announcements. A successful leader or manager; leads the team by personal #example. This is the best evidence of your commitment to the job/project. Your conduct in the workplace and at home should be exemplary.

·    Excellence through Continuous Improvement. In today's highly competitive market, you need to be outstanding in any field of work. It applies at the time of entry into a career and during the entire service to climb the corporate ladder. Most employers have a performance-based review for promotions. Therefore your search for #excellence should continue as you move from one level to the next.

·    Experiment Idea to Validate. To find something new or innovate, you must develop a habit of #lateral-thinking and questioning why not another way around. Once you have an actionable idea, you must #experiment with it to validate its suitability. A successful experiment will establish that your idea is workable and its product will be usable, safe, durable and cost-effective.

·    Eye for Details. You should have a good eye for details and identify the essentials and leave the rest. Time is at a premium and what is essential, needs a priority and your attention/participation. While walking through a production facility or a work-site, where your team is working, you should be able to capture a lot of information at a glance as to how are they focused on their job. Similarly, while referring to a document/file you should be very quick to go through it without missing essential details. This saves a lot of time and you can take the right and fast decision.

To read more, please read by Book – A2Z 26 Steps to Assured Success, Available on amazon.in and flipkart.com

Contact:   Dr Sarbjit Singh, drsarbjit@gmail.com