Anoop Verma
It is natural for any employee to aspire for climbing to the top of the position that is possible in his job profile, but more often than not we come across roadblocks, which make further progress difficult if not impossible. You might be denied a promotion as someone else in the office is found to be more productive than you are. You might find yourself being stymied due to office politics or some other reason. It can be immensely frustrating to be denied a job that you are sure that you can excel in. Perhaps there is a mysterious quality that allows others to race ahead of you.
While you need not worry about any intangible trait that you may not have been born with, there are some traits that you can try to pick up during the course of your life. Here is a list of seven basic qualities that you need to develop in order to excel in your personal, as well as professional life:
Be articulate in speaking and writing
The ability to express your thoughts in a clear and precise manner is most important. You must be able to make an eye contact while speaking. Your vocabulary has to be varied and you must be in a position to tailor your language to suit your audience. Also, in order to speak articulately on issues, you must have a feel for them. You have to step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.
Be a decision maker
Indecisiveness is the hallmark of mediocrity and weakness. A good leader has to be decisive and capable of taking the correct decision without wasting too much time. If you are constantly being paralysed by the fear of taking a wrong step, then you can never take a step forward and essentially you won’t be able to achieve anything. If you have a crystal clear perspective of what you want to do, you will be in a position to evaluate the pros and cons of any decision quickly and you will be able to come up with a course of action that is most appropriate.
Accept responsibility
You can only have the respect and admiration of people around you, if you are one of those who accept the responsibility for both – their successes and their failures. You have to acknowledge your errors rather than blaming someone else for your own errors of judgement. Putting oneself in the firing line is the hallmark of a man who is unafraid of initial setbacks and is focussed on achieving the long-term goals.
Don’t be confined by your job description
This is especially important in a smaller organisation, where multitasking is necessary for getting things done in time. You have to be capable of thinking on your feet, adapting quickly to the shifting priorities and doing whatever it takes, regardless of your role or position.
Develop an aura of optimism
Being positive about work and life is also essential for success. If you are constantly mired by cynicism, then your boss will start seeing you as a negativist who hates his job and who cannot be depended upon to safeguard the company’s interests. On any occasional day, it is ok if you are feeling a tad pessimistic, it can happen to anyone, but for your own good, you can’t afford to be an eternal pessimist. With your positive outlook, you will be in a position to inspire others to develop similar positive feelings. A successful person does not see problems, he only sees solutions.
Punctuality pays
Your speaking skills, your air of positivism, and your sartorial style, will not take you far enough if you are not punctual. If you are always trying to play catch-up with your work and rushing to meet deadlines, then your productivity will go down and so will the quality of work. This means that you have to overcome procrastination and work efficiently by setting challenging goals for yourself. You don’t need to waste time by checking status updates on Facebook 20 times a day, you should be focussed on doing what will lead to personal and professional growth for you.
Eccentricity might be a virtue
No, you don’t need to be come out as a Don Quixote. But a being a little different from others, essentially, being true to your own personality, is an important virtue of the successful. You must come out as who you really are. This means that you have to be ready to speak your mind whenever the occasion demands it. After all, success is a rare phenomenon, so most successful people seem rather odd, albeit in a good way. People who aren’t afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.
