Leadership Tip

How to be more successful at work using a short exercise

Not all of your work accomplishments will be recognised, and it can be awkward trying to draw attention to those that go unnoticed.

But there's a simple weekly exercise that can help you win more recognition in the workplace, even if you have an aversion to office politics. In anything but a start-up, you need to work hard for recognition, and you can achieve that by simply mentioning one good thing you’ve done recently any time you met someone more senior. Try this technique to make sure you always have a topic handy:

  1. Open a new spreadsheet. You'll be updating this weekly.
     
  2. Block time at 5pm every Friday afternoon - which is usually "dead time," before everyone wraps up before the weekend. Block a full half hour in your schedule so that you don’t rush yourself, but it usually takes five minutes.
     
  3. Write down your biggest work achievement of that week. As you’re doing it, think about which person might be interested in hearing each example.


You’ll find that the exercise serves a dual purpose as a resource for performance-review preparation. Instead of struggling to remember the highlights of the past 12 months, you’ll only needed to check your spreadsheet.


The above leadership tip...
was sent in response to a question from a participant on our acclaimed 10/10 leadership development and mentoring programme. Whether you're a first time manager or an experienced leader, straightforward, practical advice on best practice is hard to find. Until now. To find out how you, your team or your organisation can benefit, please join us on our next complimentary webinar or contact us.


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