To make it in business, you have to make your own luck. Whether you’re managing a startup, working in an entry-level position, or slowly rising the ranks in the middle of your career, there are certain habits that, when maintained consistently, are likely to help you achieve all of your career ambitions. This article focuses on the top four smart habits that successful businesspeople always observe in their mission to make the very best of their circumstances – and how they’ll get you noticed if you use them in your working life.
Extra Hours
One quality that the most ambitious and diligent businesspeople tend to have in common is their willingness to put in extra hours to get ahead in the workplace. They’re willing to take part in all-nighters when a deadline has approached a little too fast. They’re one of the first in the office, preparing themselves for a genuinely productive day. Plus when they take their coat at the end of the day, they’ve stayed in the office long enough to ensure that when they return to their desk the next day, they’re ready to launch into another day of productivity.
This attitude only takes minor tweaks to your schedule. Turning up a mere thirty minutes before your shift begins will ensure you’re sitting at your desk with your morning coffee answering those overnight emails before the start of your working day. Keeping yourself behind for an extra fifteen minutes at the end of a shift likewise allows you to tie off any loose ends you’ve accumulated across the course of the day.
That extra 45 minutes might not boost your productivity immensely, but it will get you noticed as a dedicated, diligent worker who values their work.
New Skills
Successful people across the board are keen to augment their current skill set with extra knowledge and learning that they know they can apply to their current or future jobs. They’ll attend seminars and conferences to glean industry-specific knowledge about the latest trends, and they’ll sign up to workshops and away days organized in their companies.
Beyond such activities, there are also more serious (and longer-lasting) knowledge acquisition techniques that can help you get ahead. Hone your business skills by studying for an online accredited MBA from the comfort of your laptop; you’ll be able to complete it from home in the evenings in as little as 18 months. Qualifications such as this make you a far stronger businessperson, and far more employable when you look to make a change in your career.
Professional Business Manner
It’s true what they say: there’s a certain mask that the best businesspeople know how to wear as they go about their day-to-day duties. It’s one of calm focus, professional courtesy, and efficient practice. All of these elements will gain you respect in your workplace and beyond, and will help colleagues and clients trust you with their work. Professional workers are generally:
- Polite, respectful and conscientious
- Happy to offer help to their colleagues
- Responsible and timely with deadlines and batches of work
- Courteous with all members of staff, regardless of position
- Kind, supportive and gentle in their feedback to others
- Excellent at communicating – whether in person, on the phone, or over emails
As you gain this reputation, you’ll find yourself offered more and more complex work, more responsibilities and, eventually, more promotions that are more befitting of an individual with your work ethic and personality. You’ll also be able to network with ease, making those all-important connections that’ll make you invaluable in the months and years that lie ahead in your career.
Work Hard, Play Hard
Even in the most exciting and dynamic of jobs, your life shouldn’t revolve entirely around your workplace and the duties you perform there. Most successful businesspeople gather the energy and the patience to perform consistently at work precisely because they take their evenings, weekends and vacation periods as a time to reflect, recharge and reinvigorate through fulfilling leisure activities.
Never yourself become married to your job – or you’ll lose a critical perspective that allows you to shift into and out of your business persona. Downtime, away from nagging anxieties and other stresses connected to the workplace, is just as important as motivated involvement in your work. Know when to turn off the work phone and have fun in those moments where it’ll be most nourishing to relax and forget about your responsibilities.
To be successful in business is not to be an unparalleled genius. Actually, it’s more about those small habits that you build into your day-to-day working life – habits that’ll impress your seniors and will help you work at the very top level, consistently, so that you’re always earning the right kind of attention in your role.
Piedmont Avenue Consulting is a Bay Area based consulting firm. We help executives, C-level and manager take their skills to the next level. With our coaching and consulting services going hand and hand we help companies thrive, boost productivity and efficiency. 510-761-5895
