Shirt: H&M; Pants: KOKO AND VAN
I will be answering some of the questions I am frequently asked.
“How can you climb the corporate ladder faster?”
“How to be successful in your career?”
“How to be an employee a boss wants?”
Before I answer, may kwento lang muna ako.
I am currently watching this American TV series entitled, The Designated Survior. Astig tong show na ito mga bakla. It’s about a cabinet member who became the US president after all the senior officials were killed in a bombing incident in the Capitol. He was forced in the most powerful position in the world and medyo kumakapa siya everyday. He had to earn the trust of the White House staff, the surviving congresswoman, the governors, the other leaders, in short, the whole world. It helped that he was a good man kaya he had good decisions along the way. Maganda yung series because they were looking for the people responsible for the bombing. Ang daming suspense. Mabilis yung storyline.
In the show, while the bida (Kiefer Sutherland) was still a cabinet member, he had a very efficient assistant. Naturally, when he became president, this assistant became one of his advisors and then later on, his Chief of Staff. Watching her, the chief of staff, I had a funny feeling that in my past life, siguro, isa akong Chief of Staff to someone important. I feel that kung nagkataon, isa akong magaling na Chief of Staff. Feeling ko lang. Given my attitude and how I work, parang yun ang ideal job for me.
Yan ay ang sa akin lang naman. Lelz.
So back to the question, I will be sharing some of my opinion on this matter basing on my experiences. Minsan din ako naging rank and file. Presently, I manage a staff of 40 people kaya I think I can share helpful tips to you.
First, love what you do. I always say that if you love what you’re doing, you will not have to work for the rest of your life. This is true. True din na if you love what you’re doing, it will reflect on your productivity and outputs. You will be more engaged and inspired compared sa mga taong napipilitan lang sa trabaho nila.
Second, you need to know something. You have to be good at it. Mahirap maging successful sa chosen career mo if you do not know anything about it. If you have a target career, I suggest study for it. Aralin niyo ng mabuti. Get higher learning. Enhance your skills.
Now if you love what you are doing and this is something you’re good at, this will become your passion. Believe me when I say that the bosses can differentiate who among their staff have passion in their work and who are those na pumapasok lang for the sake of it. You do not want to be the latter.
Next, be someone who is dependable and reliable at the office. Offer help to your peers, supervisors or boss for difficult tasks. Your supervisors/managers will surely notice this. When they give you a task, do it. Finish it. When they give you instructions, dapat may follow through ka. Wag mong antayin na i-follow up nila sa deliverables mo. Pag inasahan ka nila about something, don’t let them down. Also, update your bosses. No boss wants to be kept in the dark. If there are stuff that they need to know, inform them.
Go over and beyond what is expected of you. Go beyond your job description but not to a point naman na nagpapa-abuso ka. A pro-active person is different from a pushover. Ayaw din naman ng management isang pushover. A pro-active person does things before they are asked to do it. A pro-active person thinks beyond what is asked of them. Kung may “isang kahid, isang tuka”, meron din akong sinasabing “kung anong inutos, yun din lang ang ginawa.”. Ito guys yung mga walang effort. Literal na ginawa lang yung task. Walang analysis. Don’t be like that if you want to be noticed.
Always offer suggestions or alterate solutions to the problem especially if you are the one who’s presenting the problem to your boss/superior. Isa sa hindi ko gusto is yung sasabihan ako ng staff ko ng problema without recommendations ano pwede gawin to solve it.
Get to know your boss. Know their work values. Ano ba ang important sa kanila? Magover time or leave on time pero nagagawa ang deliverables? Do they want employees who speak up or yung mga sumusunod lang? Do they want to be the ones in control or hinahayaan nila dumiskarte ang staff nila. And then you adjust to that.
Be someone your boss can trust. You need to gain their trust before they can assign to you tasks that can define your career path.
Respect your boss. At the end of the day, no matter how much they depend on you, boss mo yan.
Step up and take the lead when a situation calls for it.
Show empathy both to your co-workers and boss.
Be a team player. Pinaka-naiinis ako is yung employee na madaming issues. Yung mga hindi team player. I promise you, if you are not a team player, less chances ka of being promoted. You need makisama sa mga tao sa office mo. I am not saying you have to force everyone to like you. No. You just have to act professional. Stay clear of chismisan and “iringans”. You are there in the office to work. Nothing else.
Wag kang magmadali. I notice that the kids nowadays fleet from one job to another. Nagmamadaling mapromote. Nagmamadaling magkaroon ng raise. It’s not like that. You need to work yourself through it. You need to prove something first before they can promote you. And this does not happen overnight.
Arrive to work early, earlier than your other colleagues. This will sure make your boss notice you. Ako, kabisado ko sino ang maaaga pumasok sa work in my staff. May plus points na agad sa akin ang mga yun. If you consistently arrive late, the impression that you will give your superiors is that hindi ka ganun ka interested sa work mo.
Do not be shy to express your ideas and to offer suggestions when asked for it.
Stop sulking and start smiling. Malaking bagay ang aura, mga bakla. Be someone who people like to be around and people certainly do not like to be around negative ones. You can start this by biting your tongue when you want to complain. Stop complaining about your workload. Stop complaining about your work hours. Stop complaining about your life. It really puts up bad vibes and ayaw mo maging identified as a negatron.
Those are just some of my suggestions. These were based from being in the corporate world for 17 years.
Bottomline actually guys, basta you like what you’re doing, you are enhancing what you know and you are a team player, you’re on the right track =)
Good luck, guys! I hope this helps!