Leadership & Work Ethics – Part 7

Its been 2 weeks since my last post on this series & I’ve received a lot of positive feedback about these posts. To this I am very thankful & motivated not to relent on my efforts considering the impact its having.

To catch up on the entire discuss so far please click here

Today we will be looking at essential work ethics that I have seen as necessary to be successful in life & career based on my experience over the last 20 years or more.

Personal Brand

I had written a previous post on personal branding where I  look at brand as a trademark, a unique thing you are known for. I’ve realised that successful people have a brand they maintain at all cost which makes them iconic.

What are you known for at work? Are you supportive, friendly, jovial or a snub, a lone ranger or bully?

A lot of people don’t even know themselves enough to start developing a personal brand.

Your personal brand is firstly who you are, then what you do. To understand who you are, you must conduct a SWOT analysis of yourself. What are your natural strengths? A fish is at its optimal best in water, but totally useless on land.You must start to amplify those areas of strengths while working on areas that needs improvement.

Personally, I’m naturally an organiser, a planner,a leader, I love things to be done decently & in order, I’m very meticulous. I’m a quick learner & very committed to my words (to a fault – Ps15:5 MSG), committed to a chosen course or cause & I don’t give up easily. I speak the truth always & I’m always learning, always looking for a solution & a way out of any difficult situation.

These traits have helped me in my work  & people totally rely on me to deliver quality work at all times.

Respect

Respect they say is reciprocal. It a 2-way street, you can only receive it when you have given it. From one perspective, I see a lot of bosses at work demanding for respect when they’ve not shown it to their subordinates. A lot of the times, these bosses are usually at the first level of leadership(Position & Rights).People will only respond because they are compelled to & the level of influence on subordinates is zero. They need to move to higher levels of influence based on relationship, results & their ability to mentor & reproduce these results in the lives of others.

On the other hand, as subordinates, we need to show a level of respect to our bosses as well irrespective of whether they deserve it or not. For example, at the start of my career I was taught that as a matter of respect, you don’t sit down & ignore your superior when they enter the room, instead you stand up & acknowledge them. Just like in the military, the presence of a superior officer must be acknowledged.

Respect & courtesy tends to open doors to favour when it’s done genuinely.

Team spirit

This is becoming more & more important in the modern age where the world is transforming into a global village. In John Maxwell’s  Law of Teamwork, the first thing noted was that “One is too insignificant a number to achieve greatness“.The ability to collaborate is of high value in the workplace & you need a team spirit to standout & survive.

Organisations now successfully implement major projects with the use of teams either physically located in the same place or virtually connected from different locations.Your ability to be socially aware ( of other people’s strength, weakness, political affiliation, culture, religion, etc) is important & this must be based on the fact that you are firstly self aware (personal brand) & confident of yourself ( SWOT) & the expertise you are bringing to the party.

We will look at other traits in the next & final post on this topic.

Do you have the work ethics to make you stand out & be successful in your life & career?

This is my snippet. I AM SHALOMESQ!!!