YOU and Improved! How to Pump Up Your Career

Big companies do it all the time; they nudge a product's positioning, update its packaging, and attract lots of new interest. You can do the same thing with your career.

To give you the basic idea, I'd like to offer three places to begin: mindset, knowledge, and positioning.

Change your mindset: In every situation, when interacting with others, your first thought should always be: help this person.

As I've previously written in this space, these three words will not only change the way you approach others, but they will also change how others perceive you. It's easy to tell the difference between someone who genuinely wants to help others versus those who are out for themselves.

I'm not suggesting you become a saint, or that you entirely abandon your own self-interests. I'm simply suggesting that your first thought is always to help the other person, then you can focus on whatever you need to get done.

This is a form of enlightened self-interest. This behavior makes sense because you genuinely want to help others, but also because you want to spend your life in communities, social networks, and organizations that function this way.

Change what you know: The act of learning expands your perspective and increases your value. To pump up your career, pump up your learning. Read a more diverse range of opinions, research and news sources. Take a course, or three. Attend demonstrations, debates and arts events.

Above all, push at the edges of your comfort zone. Don't just reinforce your existing opinions. Be the oldest person at a concert, or the youngest at a library lecture. At the end of a speech, go talk to the speaker. When you read a good book, write to the author.

Be curious! You'll gather insights that energize your career.

Change your positioning: As the months and years go by, two things happen. You change, and the world around you changes. But most people go year after year without consciously changing their career positioning.

Think of it this way. Your resume used to be something you pulled out when changing jobs. Now a version of it lives 24/7 on LinkedIn, and less formal versions (bios, etc.) probably live on numerous social media sites.

Pay attention to your positioning. Are you projecting the image that brings you closer to your goals? Is this positioning positive and proactive, or tentative and slightly negative?

Most importantly, are you expressing clearly what you want? Most people are not; they keep this information locked away, for fear of being perceived as unrealistic or overreaching.

If you edit your dreams, they will never come true. Say what you want, over and over, but also say how you can help others.

HELP WANTED!

YOU and Improved! is not just the headline of this article; it is the name of my next book, and I'd like to offer you the opportunity to be part of it.

The book is about the power of enlightened self-interest, which means to do well by doing good in a highly proactive way. It means being a force of good, so much so that people welcome and even seek out your presence. It means building a career and life that gives you enormous satisfaction, and that makes a significant difference in the world.

Using the comments field below, or through email (I'm bruce -at- nowpossible.com), send me your examples of how enlightened self-interest has helped your career, company, community or network. You can send me personal examples, or suggest that I take a look at a particular company or piece of research.

I will credit all contributions used in the book, and I may even quote you (unless you ask me not to do so.)

Be yourself

I don't just want ideas. I also want to know how you feel. Are you excited or terrified by the pace of change around us? Have you tried to do good, only to learn that your company pays for sales, not "do-gooder nonsense"?

This is not your normal book. I don't want to talk at you; I want to talk with you.

Thanks in advance for your energy and ideas!

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Bruce Kasanoff is co-author with Michael Hinshaw of Smart Customers, Stupid Companies. Bruce also has free ebook guides available at Kasanoff.com.

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