excerpted from “The New Corporate Entrepreneur” by Marianne Mohr
Rule Five: The more you learn about other business persons – the more you learn how good you really are!
To build confidence in yourself look earnestly at entrepreneurs and their experiences. You may find that even most successful business persons have faltered, struggled and failed before they achieved their success. Some have even made profoundly bad decisions on the road to great wins. They are not possessed of more talent than you, but in most cases they just had the guts to take a risk, follow their intuition and they tried many, many times. If you are employed, as you learn more about your bosses you’ll find that they were not experts either when they started. So you too can have confidence that you can excel, if you find your talent and apply it to bring value to clients or the company. Don’t become discouraged if you fail the first time, nobody including CEOs knew how to do it right the very first time, they just didn’t let on. Learn from their experiences that as you hone your talent and look to deliver real value to the customer’s need - that you too have the right stuff to succeed. In the end you may learn that in your specialty you are no less capable and competent than any president or boss. Armed with this renewed confidence you can pitch your product or service with enthusiasm and earnestness because you believe in it, and you believe in yourself.
From the workplace guidebook continuing tips for improving work life:
♦ Know how to use your email and word processor
♦ Be “delighted to receive a message” on your voicemail greeting
♦ If in R&D, ask to be measured and bonused on quality and on-schedule delivery
♦ If in Customer Service, ask to be measured and bonused on add-on sales and referenceability
♦ If in Finance or Admin, ask to be measured and bonused on cost reduction and internal customer satisfaction
♦ If in Sales or Sales Support ask to be measured and bonused or revenue
♦ Wear your tie touching your belt buckle
♦ Don’t get a tummy
♦ Have a normal haircut
♦ Keep your voice down
♦ Remember success is always in vogue
♦ Make sure your vision maximizes your assets and provides value to your client or employer
♦ Say please and thank you
♦ Don’t wear weird jewelry
♦ Be 5 minutes early
♦ Volunteer for the dunking booth at the company picnic
♦ Know and read the annual report
♦ Check out the 10k