6 steps to professional improvement in the new year
In this time of resolutions, I thought I’d collect some recent research to help us with professional improvement in 2016. The first is a New Year’s resolution perennial: No more being late. Everyone misses deadlines sometimes — but some of us are chronically late, both for meetings and for turning in work assignments. There are all kinds of tips for how to tackle this problem but first you have to believe that it is a problem. I mean, really, does it matter if you’re 15 minutes late to a lunch date? Probably not. The real problem with chronic lateness is that it communicates disrespect. So if you’re one of the late people – knock it off and read these “how-to” tips.
Another classic resolution: Get better at remembering names. When you’re meeting new people in a business setting, rapidly learning and recalling their names is an important skill. But the vast majority of us do not feel we are very good at it. We fear blanking on someone’s name, especially when we’re introducing them to someone else. Fortunately, we can teach ourselves to be better at name recall. Commit to paying attention to names, repeating them, and using vivid imagery to help you associate each name with a person. The Harvard Business Review has more great tips to help you with this in the new year.
I have two resolutions I hope women will make in 2016. I’ve found myself frustrated with the way women talk about themselves. At a couple of recent events, I was almost ready to jump out of my seat to stop them! One was a high-powered networking meeting, stuffed with financial bigwigs. Two of the six women in the room introduced themselves as, “I’m My Name, and I’m with him,” pointing to the guy next to them. How on earth are we going to gain credibility as influential professionals if we introduce ourselves as appendages?
Similarly, I was at a panel full of very impressive speakers recently, and found myself appalled when the female moderator started her remarks by saying “I have never felt so unworthy in my life.” I know she intended to convey her respect for the panelists. But really, can you imagine a male moderator starting his introduction this way? Why demean yourself? She could just as easily have said, “I feel so honored to be up here with this amazing group of panelists.” As women, we have to stop putting ourselves down in 2016!
Staying motivated is a huge hurdle to success — both at keeping your resolutions and at driving your business forward. It can be especially challenging for solo entrepreneurs who find themselves without a lot of the rewards corporate environments offer. To stay motivated, I advise taking good care of your health and well-being, surrounding yourselves with supportive advisors, and taking time to think about strategy. For more good ideas see this article from The Hartford.
If the pressure of resolutions, and holidays, gets to be too much, here’s a short exercise to lift your spirits. List your ten most joyful places — the places that warm your heart when you think of being there. They might be places from your past, like the summer camp you went to as a child. They might be wonderful places you have visited — the Trevi Fountain is on my list. Perhaps they are places that have inspired you — sacred places, artistic places, spots of great natural beauty. Write your list, put it somewhere that’s easy to find, and look at it on the dark winter days. It just might help.
