Job and Career |

OK, you’ve asked for it. Our most powerful and effective tips for getting ahead at work.

This is real senior management stuff, not text book chatter and theory.

These tips are based on real world observations.

We are not going to pull any punches.

What we say here might be upsetting. You probably won’t like what you hear.

1) It’s Time to Kiss the Boss’s Butt

It’s true. It’s who you know, not what you have accomplished. Many people do not want to believe this simple, often stated rule because it means the hardest working; most creative, most dedicated people are not necessarily going to get the next promotion.

This means that unless you are kissing the right butt you will not get ahead no matter how hard you work, no matter what your accomplishments are.

The person who will get the next big promotion or the next big job opportunity will be someone who knows the boss better than you do, someone who has more face time with the boss, and someone who the boss has better chemistry with.

People get promoted because the boss feels they can be trusted to do the job, to follow direction, and to be a loyal supporter of the boss. Prior accomplishments are often not the main consideration.

In most big promotions, the lucky winner is not the person with the most accomplishments nor the largest accomplishments. It’s the person the boss feels most comfortable with. Sorry, that is how it works. So get close to your boss and his/ her boss now and start building a close relationship and don’t forget to kiss some butt.

2) Market Yourself, No One Else Will

I once watched an individual get promotion after promotion while to me it seemed that all the person did was do a lot of talking. Sure he was very articulate and very well spoken, but the track record did not support huge promotions nor did the amount of trust top management seem to put in this person.

What was his secret? When I observed this individual closely, I noticed that he never passed up an opportunity to market himself. Yet he did it so subtlety that most people never noticed. What do I mean?

Whenever there was a large meeting with both peers and superiors, this person would find a way to get everyone’s attention. Then, while discussing the current topic he would ever so slightly mention something that he and his team had just accomplished. He would somehow show a connection between that accomplishment, however so minor, and the topic at hand.

In this way, every accomplishment was highlighted to management.

Most people never noticed this trick, but I caught on after reading the book How to Guerrilla Market Yourself and Get What You Deserve by Jay Levinson and Seth Godin. As I watched, this individual never missed an opportunity to blow his own horn, but he always did it in a very inconspicuous way. It was almost subliminal in it’s effect.

So the tip here is to make sure upper management knows what your contributions and accomplishments are, and do it in a subtle way if possible. Make sure that both your boss and his/her boss know. Don’t rely on your boss to tell his boss all the great things you are achieving. Tell him yourself.

3) Do The Right Work

If you have read any of the material on this web site you know by now how important it is to do the work you were cut out to do. It’s hard to be passionate and committed to doing work that does not utilize your natural talents and your personal competitive advantage. Spend 15 to 20 minutes to taking our career test to discover what types of work you were truly meant to do.

4) Never, Ever Disagree With The Boss in Public

Disagreeing with the boss in front of other people is so stupid. No matter how close you and the boss are and how right you think you are, never disagree with the boss in public, even if he invites you to. Instead, learn to become a valuable advisor to the boss. Here’s how…

If you disagree with the boss, wait until you two have a private moment and then explain your viewpoint. Then, at the end say “Thanks for listening to me. I really appreciate the opportunity to be heard. You are the boss, and I am a loyal soldier so I will do it your way. ”

Why? Even the most confident boss will have doubts about himself. He / she does not need you undermining his/her credibility. Plus, bosses want to see that everyone is in alignment and following him. Creating dissension is really a disservice to the team.

In short, if you want to end your career growth quickly, just disagree with the boss in public.

If you really want to get ahead, anticipate future issues and possible disagreements and discuss them in private, ahead of time. In this way you become a trusted advisor to the boss. This will build trust and demonstrate loyalty.

I once had an employee who used this method on me many times. He would come into my office and say something like this: “There is going to be a meeting later today and I expect this issue to come up. I just want to give you a heads up. Here is my perspective… and here is the opposing view…”

Eventually I learned to trust this person and I felt we made a great team. I would frequently seek out his opinion before making critical decisions. So it does work.

5) Become Indispensable By Filling a Gap In Your Boss’s Skill Set

OK, this is tricky and it takes some insight on your part, but it is the best way to get close to your boss and to make yourself truly valuable. Plus, if done well, this will truly benefit the organization.

In the United States, we are raised to respect authority. For many this means believing that a person of higher authority is more capable, stronger etc.

Most of us have weaknesses, some that we recognize and others we might not be aware of. The key is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your boss and see if you have the natural ability to compensate for the boss’s weaknesses.

I observed this in one organization where the boss was not very strategic, and his position did require he provide a direction and vision to the organization. One astute direct report figured this out and made a point of feeding the boss with strategic ideas, vision and direction. The executive adopted many of these ideas and they became his own and that of the entire organization.

In this way the direct report played a key role in defining the direction of the company. He became a trusted advisor to the boss giving him a very strong competitive advantage over his peer group.

The moral of the story is, discover your bosses strengths and weaknesses, understand the latter and then fill the void with your own strengths. If done well the boss will appreciate it. Save loans at payday advance

If you want to negotiate the best deal for yourself going into a job, do as I say, not as I do.

When the Free Press asked me whether I wanted a job, I immediately yelled, “Yes!”

Not very cool, I know.

And I quickly slammed any door I had for negotiating. Fortunately, I was treated pretty well anyway. Now, I tell people (even people I make offers to) not to accept instantly.

A little about the dynamics of hiring: Between the time when a company offers you a job and you accept, you have leverage.

Inside the company, a bunch of people have met and decided that you are the person, out of a handful of candidates, whom they want to hire. The person who makes the call is expected to get your acceptance. They do not want to reconvene, go to the next candidate or re-ignite their search.

Often, the company has room to improve its offer.

When you get an offer from a place where you’d like to work, be effusive with your thanks. (I love it when people get excited about a job offer. It’s one of the big thrills of our job and gets people started off on the right foot.)

Be excited, but don’t commit on the spot. Tell the employer you’d like some time to think it over. That’s only reasonable. But what’s a reasonable amount of time? That’s debatable. Overnight at the bare minimum. A couple of days is reasonable. More than a week might make it seem as though you’re playing one offer against others, or aren’t very interested.

When they make the offer, get the particulars. How much will they pay? When do they want you to start? What are the specifics of the job? What about vacation pay and insurance? (These are questions you may have wondered about, but declined to get specific about during the interview process.) How about moving expenses? Training opportunities? When will you be up for a salary review?

The Money.
The key question, of course, usually is how much you’ll earn. When will they review your salary? Typically, that happens after a year. Can they make it six months? This could mean a more immediate raise, not just in the first year, but subsequent years’ raises will come faster, too. This is especially good to negotiate for if you and the company agree that the wage rate isn’t as high as would seem appropriate for someone with your skills, and you’re both willing to bank on your ability to prove yourself.

Experience Level.
A key question is to ask what experience level they’re crediting to you. Especially in the first five years of a career, salary and paid vacation may be structured around how much experience you have. How are they counting the three internships you had? Some will count them, some won’t and some are negotiable. You want to get that number up as high as you can.

Vacation.
How much vacation will you get, and when will you get it? Some places don’t allow you to take vacation until the calendar year after the year in which it was earned. That means, that if you start in February, you won’t get vacation until the next year. You could be looking at a year or more without a break. Ask whether you can take some in the current year.

Vacations tend to be earned on a pro-rated basis for the first year — so many days off for so many days worked — and in lumps of two, three or four weeks in the second year and beyond. The number of weeks depends on your experience. If vacation time is important to you, find out whether you can get to that three- or four-week level a year earlier.

Moving Expenses.
How will the company handle your move? Will they pay “all reasonable costs”? Does that include your piano? Your pets? Your car? Will they set you up with house or apartment hunting help? Will they pay for the visit out to look? If it looks like their moving policy won’t cover the expenses from your move, can they give you a lump sum (some call it a signing bonus) to make up the difference?

Training Opportunities.
Few people negotiate development opportunities, but this is an option, too. Ask what and how you’ll be learning skills for your new job, especially if it’s something new for you. What form will on-the-job training take? Will you have a mentor? Periodic progress reports?

Even the start date is negotiable. They may want you right away, but you haven’t had a week off in years. Maybe you want to blow that week into your transition time so you can relax, get ready and celebrate your new job.

Get It In Writing.
Now that you know what might be negotiable, decide what you really need. Reasonable people don’t negotiate everything. Go for your top-priority items. The way you handle negotiations will affect the way you begin your job. You want to be smart and ready to work with your new employers, not pushy and demanding.

Finally, ask them to put in an offer letter. This is a polite way to ask for it all in writing. This should not be taken as a sign of mistrust, but as a sign that you’re thorough, above board and business like. It’s a reasonable request. Don’t then be surprised if they ask you to sign off on your acceptance, too.