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The Promotable and Fireproof Newsletter
Your source for quick, actionable advice on maximizing your potential in the age of fast change, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and uncertainty.
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Promotable and Fireproof
Steve Degnan here, Advisor Board Member and former Chief Human Resources (HR) Officer.
Relationships, Reputation and Results
are the main ingredients to career success,
and what I see as the driving forces in becoming
Promotable and Fireproof.
Together let's dig in to some quick take advice to make this real.
I’m glad you’re here. Let’s go!
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Relationships |
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Focus on your Superpowers:
The fastest way to gain respect within a team is to be great at a certain unique skill that you possess that the others do not. When you are on a team, large or small, start to discern what that is.
An early team I was on had the ultimate follow up person that I have ever met. Gail would never forget anything and would close the loop on everything. What ever happened to this initiative we agreed on? Did we ever complete such and such? It could be painful at times but she was incredible at it and we relied on her for that. Find your one incredible skill and accentuate it and don’t be afraid to claim it. Your teammates will come to rely on you.
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Reputation |
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The Art of Schmoozing:
Schmoozing is a critical life skill but too few want to do it because it requires getting out of your own head. If everyone in your office is into college football, but you are not, why not ask AI to give you an overview of key games and who won on Monday morning so you can be armed with a comment and even a forecast of the next weekend? You may even find yourself gaining a real interest.
Do this regardless of what the “group” is interested in so you can develop camaraderie with them. This is especially important if you are new. Over time, you can begin to sell them in on whatever your interest may be: British Cricket, Ping Pong or your Short Wave Radio set in your basement …
Bonus Point!
Use your AI tools to inquire about great openers in casual networking, current events that are non-controversial to speak about, and basic concepts of networking.
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Results |
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Be Quick!
Quick check ins beat formal sit down meetings for performance management! Every time. This goes for bosses and subordinates. You will save yourself a ton of wasted time and hurt feelings by keeping your boss updated on how things are going with a series of 5-10 minute stop and chats. By the end of the year there should be no surprises when performance review time comes around.
Bosses you need to add this kind of interaction to your repertoire if you are not doing it yet. Some do it by the old “management by walking around” technique. I did it by leaving my door open and making sure people felt comfortable popping in. Melisa, one of my team members and among the best at this, would stop in, say “Got a minute” and quickly update me and get a temperature check on key issues. We rarely had a long sit down. Great for her and great for me. Adopt the quick check in.
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