Thrive in Corporate America

Leadership, in its true essence, is a multi-faceted concept that encompasses many leadership styles. It is essential to understand that great leaders do not boss or dominate their team members and subordinates. In fact, they tweak their style to adapt to the environment and empower people to succeed in dynamic settings. In this book, Eighty Leadership Tips to Thrive in Corporate America, we will cover what true leadership is all about. A true leader knows when to use his authority and position and when to accommodate people and consider their opinion. Leaders have the unique opportunity to change people's lives completely, and through these tips, we intend to equip potential leaders with surefire ways to do justice to their role. The main purpose of this book is to enlighten leaders and leaders-to-be to transform themselves at the core to help bring about a positive change.

Tip#1

?

“Always remember it?is?just?a?job at the?end?of?the?day.?It doesn't?define who you are as a person.?It's?not?who?you?are.?It?is?part of?your character and?life. However, regardless of how passionate, ambitious, or career-driven?you are, your?full?life?is defined?by?many?other?factors?such?as?your?family, spiritual beliefs,?friends,?hobbies, etc.”

?

Have you ever been hit by this sudden realization where you find yourself in the midst of an existential crisis? Have you ever been in situations where you are rummaging through your mind but are unable to find the reason behind it? You are unable to identify why you are pursuing a certain career path or profession. You need to rise above the predisposed notion that what we do for a living is what defines us. You are more than your job. In the fast-paced age that we live in, work means everything. Our entire lives revolve around the 9 to 5 routine, and we are unable to take out quality time for ourselves. That is what is missing and is needed. To understand who we are at the core and know our identity, culture, and value system, we need to spend time with ourselves and our loved ones. Remember that your life is multi-faceted, with friends, family, hobbies, and spiritual beliefs, all being integral parts of it. Do not let your work define you because you are more than your job. Do not let it determine how you feel about life as there are more important elements in life for you to love. After all, that which you love is what ultimately defines you. Prioritize yourself and see it manifest itself in positive self-development.

Action Plan

●????Make a weekly journal and jot down everything that defines you. What is more fulfilling than your job? Seek answers from within.

●????Prioritize your family and make it an essential part of your life – begin with dedicating equal time to your work and family.

●????Pursue a passion outside work and nurture it to help you stay grounded.

Tip#2

?

“Always invest in yourself. If learning, training, doing an MBA, gaining external knowledge, joining non-profits, etc. entice you, invest in them. You cannot stand still the company you work for will take care of your next steps. You must own your career development and progression, including changes in the market, new skill sets, etc.”

?

Investing in yourself is the most profitable decision that you can take for your present and future. Learning and self-improvement is a continuous, life-long process and a surefire way to enhance one's quality of life. Successful leaders and entrepreneurs prioritize their personal and professional growth. They consistently strive to expand their knowledge base, develop their skills, and explore their creative side.

Self-investment does not necessarily have to be in the form of a material or financial addition but also entails instilling habits that nurture the mind and the body. Commit yourself to a healthy diet, workout schedule, or simply go on an unwinding spree. Take up courses or online certifications (MOOC) that spark your interest. Invest in being a more tech-savvy, knowledgeable, and well-rounded personality that adds value to your life and business. Being open to learning opportunities helps you explore new avenues that may propel your personal and professional growth to unprecedented heights. Take charge of your professional development and do not take the back seat even if you are in a managerial position or the CEO of a company. When it comes to learning and progressing – the sky is the limit.

Action Plan

●??Figure out where your knowledge base needs to be updated and which new skills you need to acquire. Next, list them down.

●??Sign up for a training or certification in your field, pursue an MBA degree, or devote your time to a nonprofit organization.

●??Keep reading new publications and industry-related news to stay relevant and credible.

Tip#3

“Remember to ask about your loved ones, regardless of how busy you are. Call your parents every day. Not only will that help them know you are doing fine, but that will also keep your heart warmer, ground you, and bless your days.”

When was the last time you talked to your siblings or parents? If you have not in the past week, now is the time. Pick up your phone, call them straight away, or simply head out to meet them now. Small acts of kindness that reflect care, concern, and deep-felt love go a long way in forging strong, intimate relationships.

With so many material distractions, the noisy world of social media, personal struggles, and the fast-paced nature of life, staying grounded is all the more important. There's no denying the fact that family is over and above everything. It is the foundation of our lives and what helps us stay connected. In a world full of virtual and fake relationships, having a family and spending time with them brings you warmth and an unmatched sense of belonging. Today, being able to feel deeply centered and rooted is a rare gift. So, take the first initiative, get connected, and feel the connection. It is something most humans yearn for these days.

Action Plan

●????Make it a point to call your parents or close loved ones at least once a week if you live in a different country.

●????Visit them on the weekend if you live nearby or in the same city.

●????Check on your loved ones time and again, and follow up with their health check-ups. Make it a part of your routine.

Tip#4

"Keep a kind relationship with all your colleagues, bosses, suppliers, and customers. You never know how life will change or evolve. Change is the only constant in the corporate world, so you need to keep that healthy link and build your network. You will need it one day.”

Today, the world is all about PR and networking. Networking will benefit us in our career and will help us in all walks of life. Do not approach the professionals in your circle only in times of distress. In fact, forge a relationship of mutual trust along your career path. It's a way of reaching out to like-minded individuals pursuing a career in the same field. These relationships can be a great value-adding resource.

Furthermore, you never know where life may take you; hence, it is always advisable to be on good terms with people in your social and professional circle. This helps you climb the corporate ladder effortlessly. With peer support, you can explore new avenues and get connected to opportunities that you never thought you were destined to. That is the power of healthy relationships. They help you evolve into better personalities, ready to take charge and take the world by storm. You feel empowered to attain the impossible as you know you are surrounded by your well-wishers, guides, and mentors to help you sail through it all.

Action Plan

●????Attend networking events like seminars, industry events, product launches, and the like to connect with people.

●????Meet other people through referrals. Stick around with people you know and nurture those bonds.

●????Have a proactive approach to social media by engaging in posts, tweets, status updates, and stories of key industry leaders. Join relevant groups to stay updated.

Tip#5

"You must own your career path. Corporate will always have the plan for you (or they might pretend they have one!), but at the end of the day, it's your life, your career, what you want to do, and how you want to live it."

Do you trust corporate with your career planning? Gone are the days when employees let the company dictate their career path. Now is the era of empowered individuals and millennials. For you to be in control of your professional goals, you need to be aware of your innate skills, interests, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in your surroundings (in short, carry out a SWOT analysis).

You need to define your career goals and have a strategy to achieve them five to ten years down the road. Always remember to draft a contingency plan. Lest plan A fails, plan B will automatically come into effect. Employees only serve organizational goals as long as they are aligned with their individual goals. While working for a firm or corporate giant, make maximum use of your resources and environment to hone your abilities.

Measure your progress along the way and work in collaboration with industry influencers and mentors to gain deep insight into your niche. Last but not least, know when to move on so that you do not miss out on an opportunity that can catapult your career trajectory.

?

Action Plan

●???????????????Keep reevaluating your career goals. Tweak your strategy where necessary to ensure that you are on the right track.

●???????????????Track your progress by taking regular feedback from your supervisor, peers, and colleagues. See how you can better yourself and do it.

●???????????????Update your resume with all the skills and certifications that you have acquired over time so that your profile shows up in the best possible light.

Tip#6

"Always remember that every move, every digital footprint is traceable inside or outside the corporate sphere. So, avoid doing something you might regret one day. There is limited privacy with the digital era we live in, and you don't want to regret your emotional outburst or embarrassing Christmas party photos a few years later!"

Your digital footprint is just a click away. Before you even meet your prospective interviewer, remember that they must have already carried out a social media audit of your profiles. Hence, to be on the safe side, it is always advisable to keep your social media activity as sober and true to yourself as possible.

Staying mindful of your digital footprint is important because people build perceptions based on the aspects of your social persona. Your digital footprint is like a double-edged sword. It is both uplifting and detrimental for the image that you build online. Every day we surf the web, we consciously or unconsciously contribute to a digital road-map that is traceable by brands, employers, and agencies alike. This digital presence is more public than we know and paints a picture of us to the world. It presents a mix of positive, negative, embarrassing, and praise-worthy attributes about us. You never know when a comment you make or a picture you share may become viral and be visible to thousands of people around the globe. In this digital age, you are recognized by your social media persona, so make sure it is accurate. Do not present yourself in a negative light.

Action Plan

●????Carry out a holistic audit of your social media profiles and remove any traces of embarrassing photos or status updates - your cyber/online reputation is a valuable asset!

●????Invest time into polishing your LinkedIn profile and add proper introductions and experience to your timeline. Your professional image online matters a lot.

●????Get your previous employers and teachers to endorse your skills and join industry-specific groups to form an association with intellectual people so that you may benefit from their insights.

Tip#7

"Have a hobby, activity, or passion outside of your work bubble. The one that can make your heart race and re-energize you. It's what brings you back to childhood – smiles, laughter, and joy."

As much as you love what you do, there is nothing more liberating and energizing than following your passion. Maybe you are following your dream profession, yet you need to take out quality time to do some soul-searching. Something that makes you feel connected to your roots and who you are at the core.

Having a hobby outside work – something that you do for leisure, to de-stress, and not to earn a livelihood has an inexplicable sense of satisfaction attached to it. Take out time in the evening after work hours to cultivate other interests. Pursue extra-curricular activities, meet new people, and spark your creativity. Even if you are a writer or artist by profession, take out time to vent your energies in creating masterpieces that soothe your mind and serve as therapy. When you are not under the pressure of a work environment, you have the liberty to experiment with your talents. You step out of your comfort zone, accomplish great things in the process, and surprise yourself. Passions can manifest themselves in different forms depending on your mood. Pursuing a passion has a wide range of benefits – it fills you with a sense of accomplishment and ensures spiritual and mental growth.

Action Plan

●????Get the membership of an activity club and sign up for a sport or two that will help you de-stress from your monotonous routine. Gym, walk, swim – do whatever it takes to maintain your sanity.

●????Reconnect to your roots every now and then, have a reunion with school and college friends, and visit an old place to revive memories.

Tip#8

"Your family comes first, and you must never ever forget that. No business trip, promotion, training, or meeting is more important or more critical than your family is. Yes, many times, you have to prioritize, and it's absolutely fine to put your work first. However, you must remember, those should be exceptional cases, not the norm."

Striking a perfect balance between your career and family is a fad. We all are juggling to acquire the unrealistic work-life balance that we so often read about. Is it only a far-fetched dream? Can we not strive even to achieve a fraction of it? We definitely can. It is very important to instill a sense of responsibility within ourselves and make sure that we are dedicating time to our family, friends, and loved ones.

Earning money is not the ultimate goal in life. When you begin prioritizing your family over your overwhelming work preoccupations, you will see how you grow and prosper in all spheres of life. An individual who knows when to dedicate his hours to work and when to devote time to family is truly happy and content at heart. Not only that, studies show that they even do better financially. Do not go overboard and work over-time. Organize your work in such a way that you get to go home on time and give the love, care, time, and affection that your family needs and deserves.

Action Plan

●????Keep track of your child's parent-teacher meeting, sports day, or any other occasion that demands your presence. Include it in your schedule beforehand so that you do not miss out on it.

●????Develop a culture in your organization that fosters work-life balance. Encourage people to prioritize family and do it yourself as well.

Tip#9

"Spend quality time with your spouse, kids, and loved ones. Do not miss important life events so that you do not regret looking back one day. Say 'I love you' every time you feel it, so they remember that they are more important in your life and have a place in your heart. This will keep them from thinking negatively when you get busy, arrive home late, or miss a birthday."

Do you want to live a life full of qualms and regrets? Life is busy, and we know it. However, amidst all the adult-life experiences, parenting, and professional responsibilities, you must not want to miss out on the most precious moments of life that make you feel loved. With the digital age bombarding us with innumerable notifications, we have gotten busier than ever.

As a responsible adult, you need to take control of your schedules and make time for your family and your loved ones. No matter how busy you are, there should be no excuse when it comes to attending special occasions, birthday dinners, parent-teacher meetings, your best friend's wedding, or a school reunion. These are the moments that only make you realize their worth when you experience them. Who are you toiling all day? What is the use of the hard work that you put in if you cannot spend time with those closest to your hearts? Make it a habit to appreciate and express your heartfelt emotions whenever you get the chance. Even if it is as small as saying 'I love you' to your spouse, giving a goodnight kiss to your children, or sending a 'Get Well Soon' card to your grandmother in another city.

All of these little gestures mean a lot and prevent misunderstandings from ruining your relationships. Remember, at the end of the day, it is these relations that are going to be with you forever. This is what you, I, and everyone else live for!

Action Plan

●????Have a vacation planned out every few months so that you get to spend quality time with your family.

●????Take out your family on birthday, anniversary, and graduation dinners. Throw a party and surprise them with your zeal and zest to make their special moments memorable.

●????Do not hesitate to say sorry and make an effort to fix something that you messed up.

Tip#10

"Never stick to one job or role for more than three-five years. You need to learn something new, create a bigger network, report to a new boss (good or bad) and enhance your skills with new ups/downs and experiences."

Can staying in one place hurt your career or stunt professional growth? In this new era of rapidly developing technology, change is inevitable. The skills that were most sought-for ten years ago are now obsolete. Or maybe they require polishing and some different kind of exposure to make them relevant to today's tech-savvy times. There was a time when employees used to spend their entire careers serving one organization.

However, things are now very different. You need to move on, acquire new skills, get a fresh perspective, and build your portfolio. The more diverse and versatile your experience, the more credibility you have. Exploring new avenues helps you broaden your horizons, enrich your knowledge base, and give you a sense and feel of handling new, complex problems. It's all about stepping out of your comfort zone to achieve the impossible. To stay on top of your game, you must stay abreast of all the recent advancements in your industry. An inquisitive mind that is always yearning to learn is what employers seek out in the modern age. Changing job roles also helps you adapt to change and level up in terms of experience and salary. Your network expands every time you switch jobs, and more industry contacts mean more work opportunities. Nonetheless, that does not at all mean you keep switching time and again, unnecessarily.

Action Plan

●????Develop a network and stay in touch. Whenever you feel stagnant in your current job, reach out to this professional network for new opportunities.

●????Do not limit yourself to your job. Learn complementary skills to further your career goals.

●????Try freelance work opportunities to add to your work portfolio.

Tip#11

?

"Don't punish team members when they fail. Use those valuable experiences to coach, mentor, and build stronger ties. Building trust comes from those moments. Do not let such great opportunities slip by."

Good judgment is a muscle — help your team build it. After making important decisions, talk them through with your team. Explain the subjective and objective criteria you considered, risks and trade-offs you assessed, and stakeholder considerations. This will teach people how and why you make the choices that you do. Give them a better understanding of the company’s priorities, and demonstrate the factors you would like them to consider when making judgment calls in the future.

Acknowledge that failure will happen, and that’s okay. Consider the mistakes you’ve made in your career and how they’ve helped you grow into the leader you are today. Give your team that same space. Let them flourish and fail, and when they fail, help them grow from it as opposed to writing them off. This means letting them make big or hard decisions on their own from time to time. Wean yourself out of situations where you can bear a little risk. You can always follow up with people after and highlight the areas for improvement. When a team member makes a poor judgment call, be curious, not dismissive. Ask them guiding questions to push their thinking and deepen your understanding of their thought process:

What assumptions or criteria underlie your assessment or decision? What risk framework did you apply to this? How will this impact the budget, timing, or work for another group? If they are unable to answer those questions, ask them to come back to you with more information or data to back their argument. Ultimately, this dialogue will allow you to more accurately assess your team member’s judgment capabilities and lead you both to a better solution down the line.

Action Plan

●????Have a mentorship program in place for your team members whenever their morale is down. This could include team-building activities, warm-up exercises, and ways to improve concentration.

●????Remind your team members of their accomplishments and discuss those as examples to motivate them when there is a need.

●????Have a therapist or psychologist in the company to help employees sort out their personal and professional issues.

Tip#12

"Always mentor the younger generations as you get more senior. Part of it is to give back, but it also will help you with your resume/CV when you decide to move on."

Look at this from the altruistic approach. Giving back to society or sharing what you have learned and experienced over time provides immense inner satisfaction. Sharing your deep knowledge or love for a particular subject is known to make you even better. It is just like teaching a concept to your friends; you share knowledge, and yet, it does not reduce. In fact, you end up with an even stronger command over what you share because it is entirely reiterated.

Your concepts are reinforced. It established your credibility as a reliable source on that subject matter. Mentoring is like serving in the role of a teacher, guiding, and filling knowledge gaps from your pool. As a people manager, you are building leadership skills that can further your professional goals. Coaching is a life skill that can be learned and developed over time. It is an indispensable part of managing, nurturing, and leading a group of people. Having the patience and listening ability when coaching others builds on your emotional intelligence and helps you achieve personal career growth – and there's no denying that. It's a win-win situation for both parties as you gain new perspectives and ideas.

You learn to see things in a different light as your mentee, and who knows you might be adding on to your skillset. Remember that when you guide or mentor someone, they are eternally grateful to you for it. They will vouch for your ability to show compassion and provide a listening ear when they need it the most. This will also help you build your tribe.

Action Plan

●????Take out time over the weekend to mentor a few colleagues and get them to spread positive word-of-mouth regarding your skills and abilities.

●????Do online courses that will help you hone your communication skills and develop the confidence to better able to get your message across to the younger generations.

●????Carry out professional mentorship programs at renowned places and add them to your resume.

Tip#13

“Everyone has a brand to grow and protect. Every word, meeting, email, action, or comment is either taking away or adding to that brand layer by layer, day by day, and year by year as you get older, more senior, and accept bigger roles.”

You are your brand, and every word that you speak and the action that follows defines who you are. As a personal brand, you need to grow, nurture, and sustain your brand image and persona. Developing your brand makes a lot more sense when you compare it with a company's branding – their logo, their communication style, and the overall feel and look of the business. Just like you develop sentiments for a brand, the same way how you present yourself in everyday life, meetings, and social media all contribute to the picture that people paint of you. You need to invest substantial time and effort into your brand so that when you climb the corporate ladder, your credibility is established in the industry.

Action Plan

●??????Keep learning and expanding your knowledge base. Make it a point to learn a new skill, listen to an audiobook or podcast, and keep polishing your intellect.

●??????Build a positive self-image by grooming yourself inside out. From the way you look to the way you talk and present yourself to the outside world.

●??????Embrace senior and managerial roles with great responsibility. Do your homework beforehand and get your facts right.

Tip#14

?

“Try to have fun in everything, every situation, and every day. There will be bad days and good ones. It is how you will handle that stress, react, and respond that will matter. It's your call because your mindset is what will prevail at the end of the day. It's your choice if you want to be calm, collected, happy, or otherwise.”

The power of the mindset cannot be underestimated. Life is full of ups and downs, and you need to take up each day as it comes. "Positive Thinking" can turn around your day. It fills you with an inexplicable sense of confidence, boosts your mood, and gives you the energy to deal with everyday stress.

If we get bogged down by life's challenges and pressures, there will come a time when you will experience burnout. Hence, to be able to sail through life smoothly, you need to display general optimism and also give yourself a positive self-talk time and again. After all, it is in your hands whether you value the little, good things in life or let life suck the very energy out of you.

Action Plan

●??????Commence your day with positive self-affirmation. Pin post-it notes about your strengths. Give yourself pep talk early in the morning, even if that means doing that in front of the mirror.

●??????Write down your failures. Accept your mistakes. Identify where you went wrong and then turn that around into lessons.

●??????Concentrate all your energy on doing what you are doing at the moment. Block out negative energy.

●??????Surround yourself with positive people. Do not spend much time with colleagues and co-workers who are always cribbing about how bad their day is.

Tip # 15

“Go on a vacation every year regardless of how long, when, or how far you have to travel. Your sanity is paramount to your health, family, and also your career. I recommend a minimum of two weeks: uninterrupted and with limited digital connectivity.”

It’s a no-brainer that taking a vacation at least once a year gives you a liberating feeling that rejuvenates your spirit. A growing body of research has found out the importance of giving your mind and body the needed break that it deserves. An over-worked mind or body will never perform to its optimum capacity and will eventually start failing you in times of dire need.

A vacation with digital detox has become an absolute necessity in this fast-paced noisy world, and you need to have your time to revitalize yourself. The certain benefits of taking a vacation include reduced stress, increased productivity at work, and better relationships at home and work. Do yourself a favor and take the long due vacation before life stress takes over you.

Action Plan

●??????Let your manager/boss know well in advance regarding your vacation plans so that there are greater chances of it getting approved.

●??????Keep setting aside money so that you have a budget to travel to a calm and serene place to soothe your senses.

●??????Make sure there are no urgent calls or commitments that you need to cater to and enjoy an uninterrupted, stress-free weekend.

Tip # 16

“Know your numbers by heart. No great manager or an employee, at any level, has succeeded or leaped his/her career without knowing his/her market, customer data, market share, P&L, retention, etc.”

In an age where Big Data is the buzz and Artificial Intelligence is making exemplary breakthroughs now and then, knowing your industry analytics has become all the more important. Keeping pace with the ever-evolving market trends and customer data has never been easy. Hence, an invaluable tip that every employee or manager needs to keep in mind is to have a strong command over the niche they operate in.

Have an R&D department in place that does the necessary research to further organizational goals. For the overall benefit of long-term business planning and to stay ahead of the curve, you need to work in tandem with customer data, P&L, and market statistics. This will help devise retention strategies and maintain a firm footing in the industry.

Action Plan

●??????Employ the necessary expertise and software to help you keep up with industry statistics and analyze to help make the required amendments.

●??????Dig deep into the root causes of anything positive or negative that surfaces itself and devise strategies to nip it from the bud.

●??????Keep reading marketing and research journals relevant to your industry so that you stay abreast of the recent happening.

●??????Get in touch with a business consultant to upscale your business and get success.

Tip # 17

“Your financial controller and sales are your most critical right and left hands. If they are not best profiles, competent, trusted, and committed after a maximum of 90 days, then replace/update them. It doesn't mean that all others are not critical or have essential roles to play, but those two profiles are the pillars to build a successful team.”

Some roles are indispensable and pivotal in ensuring the success of the team and the organization as a whole. The two major job roles, according to us, is that of the financial controller and the salesperson. Both have a critical role to play. Make sure that you hire them after proper screening and testing and provide them with hands-on training that will sharpen their skillsets and give your business an edge over others.

Remember, a well-developed human resource team is essential in keeping your business growing. The inflow and outflow of finances and the way funds are managed ultimately determine which facets of the business are developed and which ones are left out. All business decisions have financial implications, and managers must work in close coordination to ensure success. Coupled with the return on investment and the sales target that needs to be duly met, your employees define your success. Financial managers determine how available funds can be directed to ensure maximum productivity.

Action Plan

●?????????????Get your financial manager to chalk out a comprehensive and practical financial plan with project expenditures, revenues, and financing needs in real-time.

●?????????????Follow up with the progress of the accomplishment of the plans and evaluate against your organization’s goals.

●?????????????Give your financial controller challenges to meet along the way so that you can assess his performance. Replace him/her if necessary.

Tip # 18

Read every day. It could be a newspaper, favorite magazine, blog, HBR article, or even a book. You don't want to stay in your isolated bubble, completely unaware of the life outside of your company. It widens your scope and perspective and enhances your creativity.

Reading is an excellent habit that sparks imagination and creativity in the human mind, which sets your learning curve and success trajectory. Just like meditation and exercise relaxes and soothes the mind, the power of reading taps into our capacity to learn, grow, and develop. Read anything that sparks your interest – be it an HBR article, newspaper, or autobiographies of famous personalities that inspire you.

Turn your reading habits into time-sensitive goals and prioritize them. The world of reading opens up unexplored opportunities that propel you towards unprecedented success. Some of the most powerful personalities from Elon musk to Barack Obama claim to love reading. They can change your outlook on life and completely catapult the way you look at things. The information that the pages of a book are capable of handling is inspiring, and it can undoubtedly give your career a boost.

Action Plan

●??????Start with small, actionable steps and inculcate a habit of reading light-hearted write-ups or anything that interests you. Be it comics, a short story, or news.

●??????Make books, your best friends. Prepare for your presentation or meeting by consulting different books on the subject matter. Make your work fool-proof and let your knowledge shine through.

●??????Read on-the-go. Inculcate a reading routine that works for you.

●??????Do you prefer an e-book or an Amazon reader? Just do anything to get into the habit of reading and see the benefits manifest themselves in no time.

Tip # 19

“Move outside of your office and visit customers, worksites, other branches, suppliers, etc. No great leader, manager, or employee has ever developed sitting behind his computer, sending emails all day.”

To begin with, you need to understand your nature of work and then act accordingly. For you to be able to build and manage stakeholder relationships, both internal and external, you need to step out and explore things for yourself. There are no achieving things until you step out of your comfort zone and make an effort to forge real-time connections in person.

Human interactions take things to the next level and help develop professional relationships that result in long-term sustainability. Know your suppliers, vendors, stakeholders, and other people whom you work with and make an effort to collaborate with them. You can't expect to win at your business strategy and goals until you take the initiative yourself. Today's era is not one of sitting behind the computer screen and projecting alarmingly impractical numbers and expecting to achieve them overnight.

Action Plan

●??????Arrange and attend workshops, seminars, and events that help you network with leading industry leaders and professionals in your niche.

●??????Assign one day in your week to make corporate visits to the factory, retail outlet, production house, and agency whatsoever. Directly supervise your people in person to get them on the same page.

●??????Keep yourself updated about the latest trends so that your suppliers or vendors cannot fool you with their marketing gimmicks.

Tip # 20

“Ego is the first negative trait that could derail your career. Regardless of how good you are at your job, if you start to think or act as if you know it all, you will end your career one day.”

More than often, employees and managers have an external lack of control, and they tend to blame external factors when they fail. Have you ever pondered that you might be sabotaging your growth and developing an internal ego that is deterring you from reaching your goal? If we don’t keep our ego in check, we are under the risk of blowing it all.

When we get consumed by our success and act as the supreme authority, it blinds our vision and impedes our chances for growth. When pride takes over your ability to learn, adapt, and build relationships, you are self-harming your interests. Ego is a very dangerous trait that can consume you from within. As we are carving out our career, we are setting lofty goals to accomplish, we are pumped up and have a newfound vision to pursue.

Yet many of us get lost in the way, and that is more than often due to ego chipping away at your emotional intelligence.

Action Plan

●??????Make sure you don’t come off as too full of yourself or self-obsessed. Manage your relationships in a humble way, and do not let it take the better of you.

●??????Get your peers and colleagues to give honest feedback about your skills, such as empathy, listening, open-mindedness, humility, and emotional intelligence.

●??????Accept that you are not infallible, and to err is human. Change your definition of what 'smart' is in this technologically forward world. Be humble and understand that you are not Mr. Know-It-All.

Tip # 21

“Sleep well and eat healthy. Those two critical factors will determine your energy, mood, and focus. Long working hours, caffeine intake, eating habits, alcohol consumption, and jet lags are all adding up to your healthy balance.”

You need to eat a well-balanced diet, take care of your mental and emotional well-being, and follow an active lifestyle to be able to perform at your maximum capacity. You can't over-burden yourself and then expect yourself to out-do your peers. Self-care goes a long way in ensuring that you can meet your goals.

Striking the perfect work-life balance is the dream of every person living the 9 to 5 corporate life. Cultivate healthy habits when it comes to taking care of yourself. Make it a point to unplug and unwind every two weeks. Take time away from your work, and do not drag yourself unnecessarily by over-dozing on caffeine. Work extra hours only when necessary. Be mindful of what you do in your free time so that you can enjoy it at its core. Do anything that boosts your self-development and make you a happier and more productive person.

Action Plan

●??????Plan your meals before you go grocery shopping. You won't be able to change your diet overnight, so you need to make conscious efforts to eat healthy.

●??????Catch up on your sleep and do not compromise on it at any cost. Do not stay up when your body is giving you cues to shut it down by taking rest.

●??????Limit your screen time and make sure that you spend some time with nature and your loved ones to induce dopamine levels – the happy hormone.

Tip # 22

“Never attend any meeting unprepared, unbriefed, or without having a clear understanding of why you are there, what you want to achieve, the ultimate outcomes, or the next steps. Meetings are the worst syndrome in the corporate world today, and you have to take full control as much as your power/leverage/influence allows you, or they will destroy your productivity and time.”

Meetings need to be precise, crisp, and informational. In today's time, people are so busy that they do not have the time to indulge in long, never-ending meetings that are just a waste of time. You need to be prepared beforehand to ensure that you have a command over the subject matter. Research the attendees and curate content according to your target audience.

Communicate the agenda of the meeting to attendees so that they know what to expect from the meeting. Have a fluency over what you are going to speak about so that you can pique and maintain the interest of the people present. Know your topic inside out and do your homework. You've got to leave the audience appalled! Be prepared to tackle any questions that come your way as this established your authority in your niche. Have a grip on things to make the meeting as productive as possible. This way, people will look forward to meeting you and help you achieve the outcome and agenda of the meeting.

Action Plan

●??????Do some brainstorming before the meeting. Draw out a mind-map and be clear on the agenda so you can communicate it precisely.

●??????Create an invite for the meeting and send it to the relevant people so that you know who is coming. Gather and communicate all pertinent information that needs to be studied beforehand to make the meeting more productive.

●??????Do not forget to follow-up and send out minutes-of-the-meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Tip # 23

Your leadership skills are acquired, not born. You will develop them as you move with your career. Read about successful leaders/ legends, biographies, watch, observe, listen, and digest how they perform every day and impact people’s life.

We have been having a debate since time immemorial, whether people are born leaders, or they can acquire leadership skills over the course of their careers. Career development in today's era depends on taking up the habits of highly successful people who have set a precedent for others to follow. These mainly include soft skills such as interpersonal communication, patience, empathy, and confidence, to name a few.

While some people can effortlessly take the lead, other people learn by example. You need to practice discipline and be more organized at work to help you further your goals. A great way to hone your leadership skills is to take up more projects and challenge your limits. A true leader knows when to command and when to adapt themselves to someone else's proactive approach. Leadership entails when to be flexible and how to exercise emotional intelligence in a critical situation.

Action Plan

●??????Start with your workplace. If you see yourself as a leader, you need to know about your whereabouts and have your things sorted.

●??????Read the autobiographies of people who inspire you and let them be a role model for you. Keep learning as the sky is the limit.

●??????Empower your team-mates and delegate tasks to eliminate operational inefficiencies. You cannot do everything on your own, and you need to realize that.

Tip # 24

“Passion is a supercritical success factor. If you don't love what you do, nothing great could happen. It will show easily if you are passionate about your job/career/role, so don't pretend, nor fake it”

If you are passionate about something, it will automatically shine through. Passion can be a driving force for you to achieve targets that once seemed insurmountable. Passion has the power to propel you forward with an enthusiastic spirit and the zeal and zest to achieve the impossible.

Passion is an innate trait, unlike knowledge or skill. It is always present within us but cannot be developed over time. Simply put, it is an overwhelming drive to reach out for your goals in all walks of life.

Passion is the force behind your hard work, resoluteness of purpose, and accomplishments. It is predictive of success. Successful people such as world-class athletes, CEOs, novelists, or scientists – all have this undying spirit to achieve the unattainable. Passion cannot be faked, and hence experienced professionals can distinguish the fake ones from the real.

Action Plan

●??????Find your passion. Do some soul-searching and identify the passion that lies at the core of your existence.

●??????Take your failure to propel you forward and use it to ignite the power within you. Regardless of the industry that you are serving, know your work inside out.

●??????Communicate your passion to your team members to fill them with a?renewed level of energy, loyalty, and teamwork. You can inspire greatness.

Tip # 25

“Never give up. You will face tough challenges, bad days, failed projects, wrong judgment calls in your career, but never stop – Stand up and keep moving. Tomorrow is another day; your resilience will define your future successes and how far you expect to go.”

It’s okay to fail, but it's not okay to give up. Giving up portrays you as a weak personality and makes you spiral down an abyss of self-doubt. On the other hand, resilience is a golden skill that helps you recover from life's challenges. It gives you the energy to face life head-on and get up when life knocks you down with even more vigor and energy.

Building resilience is a kind of coping strategy that helps you tackle stressful situations. Nothing comes easy. To enjoy the fruits of your labor and hard work, you need to go through the struggle of fighting for your success. With time successful people embrace challenges gracefully, rather than overcome it. Resilience will take you places and help you grow above and beyond your shortcomings and failures. After all, it is the pressure that results in a polished gem.

Action Plan

●??????Have a close circle of trusted people whom you can rely on to strengthen your level of resilience.

●??????Practice cognitive framing – this is a mental exercise that helps you view your life's stressful situations in a different light. It makes you feel in control of the situation rather than being intimidated by it.

●??????Take action during critical times to build resilience. Do not let a traumatic situation paralyze you or pull you down.

Tip # 26

?

“Start saving for your retirement as early as you can if that's an employer plan or 401K, pension fund, etc. Don't think you have plenty of time until retirement because years pass by super-fast. Just saving ~10% aside with compounded interest could be the safety net that would support you and your family.”

It's never too early to start saving for retirement. When you're in your 20s, saving for retirement seems like a far-fetched dream. However, let me remind you that it is one of the most unjustified excuse to give for not saving. If you do not start saving from an early age, time slips by like sand, and the thought of saving itself seems daunting.

You need to realize that even setting aside a meager amount every month to save for your retirement can give you high returns in the form of compounded interest, 10 to 20 years down the road. There are many high-earning vehicles, such as the stock market, mutual funds, and other financial instruments that can help you grow the value of your money over time.

Action Plan

●??????Know how much risk you can take and then make your investments. Higher the risk, the more the returns.

●??????Calculate your net worth and take inventory of things. Know your value in terms of assets and liabilities inside out so that you know how much to spend and how much to save.

●??????Make calculations and predictions in real-time. Do the math regarding how much money you need to make your financial goals a reality.

Tip # 27

“You can't manage, coach, reward, and develop strong ties with more than 20 reports max. Keep your direct reports between 10 and 15 and develop those talents as they deliver.”

People management is an art that only a few can master. However, with conscious thought put into it, coaches and managers can figure out what works best for their team. A manager who has more than 20 subordinates often tends to get bogged down by unnecessary pressure and is not able to manage them to the best of their abilities.

A good manager is one who does not only command and supervise but also liaison with his people. This helps him to work with and for people. They develop talent in a way that benefits people in their self-development goals.

Employees often look up to their managers as their coach and mentors who can guide them towards professional excellence. With a manageable number of people to look over, a manager can do justice to his responsibilities and make sure that he gives every one of them individual attention. It also makes it easier to develop talent as you can personalize your approach and know where to direct your energy.

Once you know your team's strengths and weaknesses, you can capitalize on them and eliminate the loopholes. If there are too many people to manage, you might not be able to work with all of them on a one-on-one basis.

Action Plan

●????Identify the level of performance that your employees are at - novice, doers, performers, masters, or experts.

●????Make sure that you know each employee on a personal basis so that you can empathize with them and build on their core competencies.

●????Have a one-to-one session with your team members and ask open-ended guided questions so that you can develop healthy relationships.

Tip # 28

“Check on your high potential or high-value employees once a quarter by a personal call, face to face meeting, or worse case an email. Those are the ones who deliver outstanding results. They will not only feel energized, passionate, and excited, but that personal interest in their careers/wellbeing will go a long way in their performance and the company's as well.”

High-potential employees contribute much more to the overall organizational performance, and investing in them helps a business to identify, nurture, and grow their talent efficiently. Hence, to make them feel valued, you must invest in their training and constant holistic development.

When people feel that time is being invested in them, and their inputs are valued, a sense of empowerment overtakes them, and they are willing to go the extra mile to meet their organizational goals. In this virtual day and age, where people rely on digital connections more than anything, forging real-time humanized connections go a long way in garnering loyalty. Give them the power and authority to contribute to the way things work and see the profitability sky-rocket. When you interact with high-potential employees regularly and follow up with their progress and personal preferences, you will have them on board, which will help your team's productivity.

Action Plan

●????Develop strong predictive insights using data from past employee records. Get to know their underlying values and motivation to make the best use of their abilities.

●????Carry out ice-breaking activities to get people to mingle freely and open up to learning opportunities in a formal way as well.

●????Develop soft skills in your employees and hold a meeting on an important agenda every week to streamline things and eliminate any discrepancies.

Tip # 29

“Always consider the best and worst-case scenario for every decision, strategy, risk, etc. This question not only expands your view but your team's future planning, creativity, and way of doing business.”

Business decision-making can have far-reaching and often highly impactful effects on the performance of the organization as a whole. You can't really rely on intuition or your gut feeling to make crucial decisions that are multi-faceted. Gone are the days when people used to base their business strategy on a fixed pattern.

People now believe in challenging the status quo and thinking of creative and innovative ways to do things differently. Whenever you come across a challenging business situation to tackle, you've got to brainstorm the various solutions that could be implemented and then weigh the pros and cons of the outcomes. If you do not have the proactiveness to question the possibilities and expand your horizons, then you are surely self-sabotaging your own progress.

Action Plan

●????Get people to think out of the box by hosting mind-refreshing activities and games that stimulate creative thinking.

●????As a manager, set a precedent for innovative thinking if you want your employees to do the same. Do not mindlessly follow the herd and be the torchbearer in leading change.

●????Instill a culture of empowering employees to voice their opinion. Invite fresh and differing perspectives and respect other people's views.

Tip # 30

“Reply emails within 48 hours, even by quick promise to get back to the sender. It shows respect to the sender, your brand, and the company's image. It is another way to motivate more ideas since you won't have all the answers all the time.”

Replying instantaneously to emails helps create a good impression of you in the professional world. People doing business with you have high expectations when it comes to responding to emails because that shows their relative importance in your contact list. The ideal time is 24 business hours, and any further delay should be accompanied by an apology.

Prompt and concise replies give the receiver an insight into how it would be like doing business with you. Everyone appreciates efficiency, and if you attend to their queries promptly, you are more likely to land the gig. People who delay replying to work emails often come off as laid back and careless. They are considered to have an irresponsible outlook towards their corporate life and hence need to take up business matters with due diligence. People who prioritize replying as soon as possible show that they respect the brand, sender, and the company.

Action Plan

●????Use software such as MailChimp, Sparkpost, Active Campaign, and AWeber to compose and schedule auto-responders. This will help you stay on top of replying to high-priority clients.

●????If you are too preoccupied with other things, send a courteous reply such as "I'll be in touch shortly" or "I'll get back to you as soon as I get time." Try mentioning the time frame as well and follow that.

●????Send a clear and concise email without beating about the bush. If more information is needed, tell them that you will research and get back to them.