In this article Harrison suggests that you need to be in favor with the right people. These people have an ability to control what happens in your career. People with strong and influential opinions exist within all companies and organizations. It is important to cater to and get the approval of people who have the ability to influence the opinions of others one way or another. When you go against people with the power to influence others they can turn against you and make your career and life much more difficult. You do need to be aware of the game going on and you do need to play it, or at least play along with it to get ahead.
To determine the sort of career you should be pursuing, you need to determine whether you are a tangible or intangible-oriented person. Many people fail in jobs simply because those jobs did not cater to their specific skills and interests. Tangible-oriented people seek work within clear guidelines, whereas people interested in the intangible are more comfortable around new and unproven concepts. To succeed in your career, you need to understand you inner nature and choose a workplace accordingly.
My first job out of law school was working for a federal judge in Northern Michigan. The position did not pay very well, but that did not matter to me at all. I decided I was going to “live it up!”
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Gauging the people around you and giving them exactly what they want can determine the success or failure of any action you undertake. This ability separates the great entrepreneurs from the average. Instead of assuming that you know what people want, work to ascertain peoples’ actual desires and fulfill them. When you go out of your way to fulfill the needs of your employer rather than focusing on your own needs, you will find great things happening in your career.
In this article, Harrison talks about the state of mind as being one of the best methods to deal with a job search during a recession. It is important to understand that depression, anxiety, and other such states of mind slow down or curb action being taken. You need to be enthusiastic, positive, aim to rise above obstacles, and to believe that the mind has the true power to decide your future.
Your ability to defend yourself against bullies will determine your odds of long-term success in any career. Bullies throw other off balance by making them feel uncomfortable over time, establishing a power dynamic between themselves and their victims. Bullies exist throughout the business world, and once you learn to identify them you can avoid problems by simply choosing not to play their game.
Employers sometimes ask in the course of an interview about other interview you may have had, and how you handle this question can determine your success. You must convince your current interviewing employer that their position is your first choice before divulging any information about other interviews, and be careful how you justify your other interview to your prospective employer. You must convince your current interviewing employer that you consider their position to be your best fit, and would most help you meet your career goals of upward mobility.
Your environment ultimately shapes who you are, so you need to seek out environments that will help shape you into the person you wish to be. People choose their jobs based on all sorts of factors, but often overlook the environment itself. The environment and people that surround you every day, however, ultimately determine your happiness and shape your future.
Change is the most beneficial thing that can happen to you; starting from scratch gives you the opportunity rebuild your life and career in the manner you see fit. You must find where there is upward movement and opportunities are being created, and ensure that your own structures and ways of operating are effective and relevant to you. Orient your life towards happiness and growth in everything you do.
In this article Harrison explains how you can ensure success in your career by externalizing your opponents. Your job is like a game; if you work hard, play by the rules of the company and are seen as part of the team you will be viewed as a valuable player for the company. The most significant part of any game is the presence of an opponent. Don’t look for an opponent among your co-workers. Never speak negatively of your team members. Instead, concentrate on the external opponents. External opponents bring you and the team closer as you work towards a common goal. In order for you and your company to succeed it is important to have an external opponent. Harrison advises people to consistently work hard and not participate in the politics. This is a sure way to score big in your career.
True self-esteem comes from within, not from the acceptance of others. When your sense of worth comes from within, you free yourself from comparisons with others and will enjoy a greater sense of internal security. You will no longer be bogged down by the experiences of others and can become much more self-reliant.
Your greatest successes will come from some of the smallest actions in terms of meeting people. You will cause a “stacking effect” the more you meet and connect with people; conversely, people cannot connect with you when you are withdrawn and nothing will happen. You must do everything in your power to connect with as many people as possible.
A powerful sense of self will make all the difference in your life. You must understand that your sense of yourself and your capabilities come from inside of you, not from the external forces that have brought you to your current place in life. What you feel internally might be completely different from what the world is telling you, and you must learn to focus on the former rather than the latter.
Adopting a positive attitude will always bring you closer to success, as nobody wants to be associated with a losing side. Everyone wants to associate with and hire winners, and avoids losers. Nothing is more important than maintaining a positive attitude, as many employers hire people based primarily on attitude; with the right attitude, everything else will fall into place. You must look like you are on the winning team, even if times are tough; nobody wants to hire a loser.
Everyone tries to maintain a certain emotional state, and learning to control your own emotions will have a profound impact on your career. While everyone allows their emotional states to be influenced by outside events, there is no advantage in basing your own emotions on things that you cannot control. Allow yourself to discover happiness and fulfillment naturally, rather than making your emotions dependant on external circumstances. Your outlook will have a tremendous impact on your psychological health, as well as that of those around you.
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