Getting Serious About It
TRADITIONALLY, getting a job was a joyous, even wondrous occasion - an event followed by a lot of ritual backslapping and passing around of cheap sweets (the sort you get at Rs 40 a kilo and which no one likes enough to want a second helping). But that, as experienced hands and exhausted executives would know, is only the beginning.
Work apart, there are many things you must do on your first day at work - get liked by your new colleagues for starters, and then, create the right kind of impression.
Let us get it straight once and for all, for the record and for posterity - people want to be taken seriously. So should you. It is of immense importance if you have even the tiniest little fibre of ambition twitching within you somewhere.
Leaders can't be leaders if they cannot get people to take them seriously. CEOs can't be CEOs if their proposals invite peals of laughter and mirth in board meetings. Managers can't be managers if their subordinates pinch their cheeks and say `cho chweet but no thanks' every time they try and give them an assignment. And so on.
It is vitally important that you exude the right aura from day one. Nip the thing in the bud so to speak, if people tend to take advantage of you. If however you have passed this stage and effectively scuttled your chance for making your foot matter as and when you should choose to put it down, there is hope yet. All is not lost. There are many who have made the mistake of letting their colleagues get the better of them and the years eat into their confidence. But that can soon be remedied.
The first thing you must do is reinvent yourself. Be the consummate professional, or at least, project the image of being one. You can start by getting your body language right: shoulders squared, eye contact, a firm handshake, etc. Attire yourself appropriately - you will have a hard time convincing people that you are a professional if you come to work in a chicken suit.
If you happen to be afflicted with the occasional bout of verbal diarrhoea, keep a tight leash on what you say and when you say it. For instance if you are in a meeting or a brainstorming session, say something only when you have something to say - if you have nothing to add to the discussion, hold your peace. If you have to say something, make sure it is meaningful. Bear in mind that gem of a statement that came from Abraham Lincoln's emancipated hat - It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and prove it.
The next thing you must do is act the part. You can't expect people to take you seriously if you are used to being the class clown or the practical joker. It does not mean that you have to give up humour and laughter; it just means that there is a time and a place for everything. Your job is to find out what that time and where that place is.
Once you have got this covered, it is time to move into phase two of the plan:
Get a spine: You can't get respect if you don't stand up for yourself. You don't have to go looking for confrontations but should confrontation come your way, don't be afraid to tackle it. One of the major problems with pushovers is it is a habit that is hard to get rid of. But once you have vowed yourself into a frenzy to be a cliff of resolve, the rest should follow.
Be clear and articulate: The strong silent types may rake in the green at the box office, but they rarely do in a corporate office. You have to be an effective communicator in order to survive the tides of a business world. But remember; say something only when you have something to say (Lincoln's law of communication).
Read up: Do your homework on time. The best way to get your colleagues to take you seriously is to be really good at your job, and if possible, theirs too. Be well informed of the latest happenings in your line of work - it may mean a few hours of contrived boredom but you will thank yourself for it when you are arguing over a point in the conference room.
And finally, make sure you don't trip on wires (at least not in front of the colleague/subordinate you have just yelled at for not doing his work properly) or get a chronic case of foot-in-the-mouth disease. Manage that, and the rest should follow.
Peter Thuthuri
faqs@cnkonline.com
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