Solving problems show that you care, that you have initiative and leadership.
Exercise: Solving problems is a short-cut!
Help Solve Problems
Anyone can drop a complaint into the metaphorical suggestion box, but the mark of a truly brilliant employee is coming up with solutions to those problems. Becoming a problem solver shows that you care --- not only about your own career, but also about the long-term health of the entire business. And don't sit back and wait for problems to find you; even if there aren't big crises staring you in the face, there's always something that could be done better or more efficiently, in every workplace.
Maybe in your role as a project manager, for example, you spend a huge portion of your day documenting what you did on each project, which is limiting your ability to make much progress on the project itself. And you know this doesn't only affect you; you've heard similar complaints from the rest of your team.
It would be easy to bring up the problem to your boss and wait for him or her to come up with a solution. But it would be a true sign of leadership to not only bring up the issue, but also present a solution --- like an idea for templates that would significantly cut down on the time you spend documenting each project. Better yet, offer to create those templates yourself if your manager likes the idea!
If you're the one who identifies workplace challenges and suggests a way to fix them, you won't only make your life easier; you'll prove to your boss that you're ready to solve the bigger and thornier problems that fall to a manager or leader.
"THE NEW RULES OF WORK", page. 302
So, what problems can you see to solve right now?
No comments:
Post a Comment