Remarkable Business Experiences I Have Learned From
It’s been close to 50 years that I have been working in the corporate world. There were three years as a US Naval officer, 30 years at Lockheed Martin, seven years at Northrop Grumman, and seven years as a small business owner. So there have many remarkable business experiences that I can share.
There are many similar lessons in each of these businesses. Let’s examine these many remarkable business experiences.
Remarkable business experiences … stay ‘discreet’
This is the first rule to survive in the corporate world. To explain the meaning of the word ‘Discreet,’ this analogy will hold good
– If you are wearing a discreet gray suit, it is unlikely that anyone at that business meeting will notice you (Source Vocabulary.com).
No matter which profile you are in, always stay low-key. Use your words judiciously. If you do so, trust me, half of the battle is already won.
Let your results do the talking
It’s pretty simple – Either you know how to flatter people, or you don’t. All my corporate life, I have been fighting this bitch – ‘FLATTERY.’ I can’t learn it. It’s my handicap.
BUT, I learned one thing with the course of time – if you are good at what you do, if your work is good, you will survive. It will make you virtually ‘indispensable.’ But if you are neither, it’s time for some introspection.
Be a multiplier.
Remarkable business experiences … always keep your cool
This is a very important rule in the corporate world. There will be circumstances when you feel like ‘Enough is enough. Now, I cannot take it anymore’. In such circumstances, you need to tread your path very carefully.
Never lose your temper in front of anyone. Talk regarding only facts and figures. Get your emotions out of your way.
If you have a spat with your colleague or a subordinate or a person from a different team, jot down your points on a piece of paper and put these points politely in front of him/ her.
Try to get one more person with you in that meeting (especially your boss).
Now, here is the key – Stay polite and calm when you speak. It will irritate the other person even more. Then, it’s a cake walk.
No matter how much right a person is, if he/she loses his/her temper, everything will go against him/ her.
Therefore, stay polite and composed, and everything will fall in your stride. People should say that that person shouted at you or lost temper on you, not the other way around.
If someone does something for you which he/ she was supposed to do such as creating a report, sending an email to a client, etc., say thanks to him/ her.
That person will admire it and more importantly, will remember you as someone who values him/her. At the same time, don’t say ‘Sorry’ very often.
Remarkable business experiences … there is no meritocracy
Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.” – and there was never a truer word.
Being very hard working or being very good/knowledgeable at your job is useful but only that.
What will matter more in the corporate world is where you are seen, what you are saying, and your ability to manipulate other people into doing what you want them to do.
The entire thing is ultimately one long psychological game. This was one of the very hardest lessons I’ve personally had to learn.
Create an environment of continuous learning
It is necessary that business people be good learners. They need to instill this in all their team. They must learn from their mistakes.
To be most successful, managers must acknowledge, understand, and improve on their shortcomings.
And they must encourage their team to also focus on continuous learning.
Remarkable business experiences … be a multiplier
Multiplier business managers know that at the apex of the intelligence hierarchy is NOT the lone genius.
Rather, it is the genius who knows the importance of bringing out the smarts and capabilities of everyone in the team.
Related material: Lessons Learned in Life … Class Continues Daily
Build connections
Both managers and leaders know their job with their teams is about building lots of connections. They make people feel they have a stake in common problems.
Remarkable business experiences … encourage feedback
It is vital that you let your team know you are interested and will listen to their concerns and ideas and contribute to solutions to any problems.
Offer recognition and always share success
Focus on building team confidence by publicly recognizing their efforts and achievements.
Think of it this way; anything is possible if you share the glory. Giving others a chance to claim credit is an easy, and effective, way to magnify results.
Remarkable business experiences … be decisive
One of the key jobs of a manager is to be an effective decision maker. Employees are never comfortable with managers who make slow decisions, and they frequently change their minds.
Quality managers make decisions quickly and stick with them.
Building and maintaining trust
Always do what you say and set good examples. Demand from yourself the same level of professionalism and dedication that you expect from others.
Trust, once broken, is seldom restored to its original state. It is the most fragile yet essential attribute of leadership and management.
Remarkable business experiences … know the expectations
It’s so easy to launch yourself into a project, to get straight to business when working with a new boss, and think that we’re productive.
Taking the time to clarify expectations upfront, however – whether that be regarding the work itself, i.e., which projects are the most important.
What’s the scope, and so on; or regarding the working relationship, i.e., how you can work most effectively together – can avoid a whole lot of time wasting.
At school, we had parents and teachers telling us to do our homework – at work, not so much (especially when we’re freelancers or business owners)!
Of course, we have our managers and clients, and if we don’t deliver our projects we’re going to hear about it; but what we’re not going to have is someone leading us by the hand and telling us exactly what to do.
We’re responsible for getting the job done in the time that we have and in whatever way we deem appropriate.
Even then, though, there are different levels of project delivery, and taking real ownership means going beyond just the bare minimum.
Remarkable business experiences … be responsible for your development
At IBM, we changed assignment every two years, giving us an opportunity to gain experience in different aspects of our function (in my case, what we called marketing “design” and “delivery”) as well as different business units.
In doing so, I looked for something that would challenge me and let me learn new things while exposing me to different people and giving me broader experience that would stand me in good stead for future roles.
Focus on strengths, not weaknesses
Training and development are great, but while it’s admirable to try to get good at everything this is not possible, and both you and the business will be better served if you learn to focus on your areas of strength.
Of course, when we first start in a company or a role, there will be certain things we need to learn to do – project management, time management, and so on – but beyond that, there will always be some freedom to discover what we’re good at and use that to our advantage.
IBM did this well: in our annual rating sessions we were asked to highlight our three biggest strengths and only one weakness, and even then we didn’t call it a weakness but an “opportunity.”
So you’re good at public speaking and delivering training workshops? Maybe you’re a number-crunching guru and a superstar at drawing up possible scenarios?
Or what about creative brainstorming, getting the team excited behind a common vision, or mentoring interns?
Find opportunities to use your strengths, and you will shine.
Remarkable business experiences … prioritize business communications
I was amazing at writing at school, in fact, I was so good that my English teacher would make copies of my essays and hand them out to the rest of the class.
On top of that, an international environment where most people were not native speakers meant that simple and unambiguous communication was crucial.
Effective business writing had a specific objective, used clear and concise language, active tense rather than passive; it wasn’t about sounding clever or being poetic.
Learning to write an effective business document – a recommendation, a report, or just an email for that matter – will allow you to get your message across quickly and effectively, to influence people with a more persuasive argument, and to impress people with your convincing business results.
The ability to distill complicated matters into a clear and well-thought-out message is a useful skill in all areas of life, above and beyond the corporate world.
Need some help in finding ways to grow your customers? Such as creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers? Or perhaps finding ways to work with other businesses?
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So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of collaborative innovation. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.
It’s up to you to keep improving your learning and experience with innovation and creativity efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
Check out these additional articles on business and its performance from our library:
7 Surprising Things to Know About the Zillow Business Model
10 Lessons for Successful Entrepreneurs You Need to Know
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
