Let’s start off this series of “stakeholders” by exploring your suppliers. People can struggle with this category, so let’s explore it a bit more.
Let’s suppose that you’re in marketing or sales. Who develops the products or services that you sell? Who purchases or supplies them?
Or suppose you’re in customer service, answering questions and resolving issues. What are the products your customers call about? Who controls them?
I’d like to spend some articles here talking about all the different people that you work with. Why? Because it’s crucial to developing the kinds of relationships that will help you not only now, but in your lifelong career journey.
The concept is straightforward: When you become clear on the needs of those you work with, you’re able to make better decisions, deliver more value, and be happier with your job. For the lack of a better term, I’ll call these people your “stakeholders.”
Sponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com
Welcome to my new career tips newsletter! I encourage you to pass this to anyone who might have an interest in revitalizing their career – instructions for subscribing are at the bottom.
I’ve been involved with a fair number of volunteer organizations during my lifetime, and I’ve always been amazed at how much people are willing to give. On the face of it, this isn’t quite rational – why would you do something that costs you a lot of time, money and work, when you aren’t getting anything specific in return?
Ah, but you do get something.
During the last 40 years, it became popular to build up children’s self-esteem by telling them they had infinite potential, unlimited opportunity. “You can do anything you want!”
In a certain sense that’s true, but in another sense it’s misleading. We all have different natural talents, different bodies, and different upbringings. If we were all able to become Supreme Ruler Of The World, we’re going to have a lot of competition – and a lot of unhappy people!
In the work environment, it all seems to be about receiving recognition and compensation for the work we do. Great bosses know this, but there are so many others which are … clueless.
How do you keep motivated to do great work when your boss isn’t being much of a help?
One answer is to go ahead and create your own recognition and rewards for a job well done.
The Career You’ll LoveSponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com |
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| Welcome to the inaugural edition of my career tips newsletter! I encourage you to pass this to anyone who might have an interest in revitalizing their career – instructions for subscribing are at the bottom. (more…) | |
Everyone’s a leader. No, really!
We often assign the term to people who are in recognized positions of power and authority, but that weakens the term.
If someone is going along with you on any kind of journey, you’re a leader. You are in a situation which you need to exercise some kind of influence over others who are with you on that journey.
Is everyone out to get you? Really?
I ask, because it seems that we sure act this way a lot. Our boss announces something, and instantly we’re trying to figure out why that puts us at a disadvantage. Why would there possibly be anything good in what he said?
Here’s a different way to think about it.
“This is a terrible place to work!” “My boss is an idiot!” “I hate my job!”
We hear these complaints all the time, and we know how it affects us to hear them. We might join the complaint train, we might feel sadness and empathy, or we might even try to argue.
But let’s think for a minute about what it means to the person who SAYS these things.
I’ve been fortunate to have had opportunities during my career to create jobs. Ultimately I even ended up creating customized jobs for myself, based on bringing my best talents and passions to giving great value to my employer.
In the first article, I describe the general approach. In the subsequent 5 installments, I walk you through the process of creating a job which could just be the most exciting work you’ve ever done.
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