"Ayah, what do you do in the office?"Satu soalan yang memang susah untuk di jawap, walaupun yang bertanya itu Luqman yang berusia tujuh tahun.
You see, when I was on sick leave, so was he. He was down with fever and
tonsillitis. We had plenty of time together - just the two of us recuperating. It is highly recommended to have one of you children to accompany you on a sick leave - the parent and child bonding find its right temperature!
Luqman's sickness I must confess was purely coincidental and not manipulated by me in any way.
The question he asked two days ago, made me think. What if the same question was asked by my prospective new employer at an interview? What will my answer be! I can answer that I am a leader, and ask the interviewer to refer to my blog entry here. Or I can take myself out from the pack by coming up with an answer more authentic.
So, as soon as Luqman drifted into sleep from the effect of antibiotic, I listed down what I do at work. I came to half a page and it started to look like a page from a management book. How unoriginal I thought. If what I do everyday is so ordinary and common that it appears like a photo-copy from a management book then how do I differentiate myself as a professional?
The word professional finally stroked a chord with me. Yes I am a professional - I use the breadth and depth of my skills and experience to align, engage and mobilize other individuals and teams to grow sales, reduce cost, add profitability and develop people! I do so with emphatic care for my customers and my stakeholders. I actually like my final summary of what I do at work. I will edit my resume to reflect that.
Most of us want to do our jobs well. Most of us want more important jobs, bigger salaries, greater security, higher status and a bright future. So we will try to do our job so well that we will be rewarded, respected and promoted.
And that is where we go wrong!
To achieve all of the above, of course we must first and foremost do the job in our hand very well. But we must also be able to do the other job well - the job not directly in our hand but if we choose to do will differentiate us from the rest and get us noticed for the next promotion opportunity.
The other job is larger and more vague: It is about adding value to the whole organization. If senior managers can see that you are able to solve the problems of the organization itself, not just the part assigned to you - then you have broken away from the pack.
When I reflected back to my rapid rise through the ranks, being appointed to the board as a director at age 36 by my first employer - I could smile with pride at my numerous initiatives in areas outside of my immediate responsibilities. Many were successful, and a few failed. But even those failed endeavour were applauded by my employer for I have provided lessons learnt and prevented others from wasting time and resources from committing the same errors. When I was an engineer, I proposed to the management a paper to start a child day care center on the company premises. I contacted all the government agencies and the labour office to get their support - and my proposal was accepted with personal support from the chairman. I found out later, he supported me not so much by his own conviction that it will work, but he was impressed with my passion and resourcefulness. Of course, I looped in the HR people so as not to step on their toes, but everyone knows I was the brain and the brawn behind the set up of the first child care center on a company premises in the Klang valley.
That was only an example.
A secretary who wants to break away from the pack can do wonders by creating a niche as an expert on customer background. Know who goes where for holidays, what are their children's names, what are their wives names, etc etc...Be the one with the updated information. Soon you will find senior directors and managers will come to ask you for those information every time they have an appointment with customers. Don't you think that you will be rewarded and recognised for that? Well, if you don't after trying - then walk to another place where senior managers have their eyes wide open and their heart ready to appreciate your good deeds.
That is just another illustration.
You need to find your own area of strength and passion where you can really pick it up and make a real great contribution to the organization, without being asked to do so.
If you want to be a manager - start dressing, talking, thinking and acting like one. Start seeing decision from their point of view and don't play the "us" versus "them" game. You need to start being 'them' before you get there!
Peter drucker once differentiate between efficiency and effectiveness: Efficiency is about doing a job right, effectiveness is about doing the right job!
Your boss will tell you how to do the job right - but you have to be able to figure out for yourself what the right jobs are. Efficient people are good as technicians. Effective people stand more chance to be promoted!
Doing the right jobs is a trait of professionalism!
Have a self-assessment, are you an effiecient person with those must do lists, and the right colour ticks for each category? Or are you an effective person who spend time thinking and exploring what are the right jobs which will make a difference to your job, your objectives, your organisation, your team, and most imprtantly - your life!
I will one day share with Luqman what his little question has triggered me to think and write about.
Labels: Leadership
