I decided to create a new category called Personal Development in my website. The reason I am creating this new category is because I believe that not only should we invest in financial instruments such as stocks and REITs, we should also spend time investing on ourselves. With a good personal skill set and attitude, this can also help you with your job promotion which probably can equate to a higher salary. A higher salary can also means you have more cash to deploy into stocks and REITs!
Below are some of the tips that I have learnt from various self improvement books that I have read and from my experiences accumulated at work that I hope can help you in your day to day work.
#1 Speed
Learn to identify success and failures from prior investments. This enables you to get ahead fast from others. As the saying goes:
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. – Henry Ford
#2 Prioritize
Good work prioritization skills generates good work results. Generate results in the shortest time frame by learning to prioritize and manage your time. With good time management, this allows new goals to be set.
#3 Learn
Learn to take what you can directly from your competitor. If your competitor at work has already came up with an efficient way of doing things, follow him but do it better. Do not re-invent the wheel.
#4 Build Morale
Not only ourselves need to have a good morale, the team you are leading within the company should also be high in morale. Huge morale creates huge results, thus if you are leading a team, you should get your team fired up about your targets and create a sense of urgency.
#5 Responsibility
Remember that if you are holding a leadership position in any company, every leadership position confers a burden of responsibility. Everyone within your team relies upon your vision and decision making. Thus, as a leader, you should have good foresight and do not make decision hastily.
Here is the distilled experience of my corporate life. There is just one key to success that all the books avoid mentioning.
It is absolutely essential to find a sponsor in the organization. This is somebody who has a direct and powerful influence on your promotion and salary prospects. And somebody who also has a sponsor.
Usually one or two levels above you in the hierarchy.
You then have to work out what that person really wants and make it your focus to deliver that better than anyone else around you. Make their job easier.
Believe me.
Everything else is secondary.
And constantly look around for a better sponsor.