Tag: office workers

6 Skills You Must Have to be Successful in Corporate America

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The ultimate achievement of success in business, is truly displayed when you are in fact the boss. A managerial or ownership position certainly has its perks and rewards; however the path towards this achievement is a merciless trudge where only the strong survive. Having the key fundamentals in business will only make the process easier. Here are a few skills you must have to be successful in corporate America.

    • Work with Integrity
      In corporate America, times may seem rough, the environment can be cutthroat, but one must always possess the ability to remain honest throughout the process. Dishonesty towards coworkers, customers and clients will only come back to bite you in the long run. Always stay true to these people, and yourself as well. No one is perfect and it’s justifiable for people to make mistakes at times. The truly honest person will admit their mistake and use it as a learning experience to never replicate that mistake. People will appreciate that more than a faster answer that may not be completely correct.
    • Be Punctual
      When asking an owner what their biggest pet peeve is, many will say the tardiness of employees. The reason why most people are employed is because they showed up to the interview on time; why should showing up to work late be any different. Work like you are always trying to land that job, never take your position for granted. In addition, always work a full day. Hard workers work hard 100% of the time they’re at work. If you can execute this skill, then it is that much easier to teach it and expect it from your own employees.
    • Be Respectful
      It should be a given that one always works with the utmost amount of respect, but it should be shown to every person you come in contact with. The saying “You never know who’s watching” applies here, as you never know who you are making a connection with. You could easily be talking to the CEO of a fortune 500 company and not realize it. In addition, working in an environment where everyone is respectful; and there is no drama, will be a positive influence on the employees and make the workplace a more positive one. Always show respect and your employees will one day follow in your footsteps.
    • Be Organized
      Being organized is clearly a given, however make sure your thoughts and ideas are organized too. Ensure any ideas or concepts are well researched and well thought out should you present them to your superiors. Being unorganized and unprepared is worse than keeping it to yourself until ready for presentation. It is difficult for someone to change their impression of you if negative. Keep everything as simple as possible and never overkill anything with complexity.
    • Be a Leader
      The ability to lead or coach is clearly a must for owners. The whole point of the system is to learn, understand and ultimately teach. Having great leadership skills will already put you at an advantage in the corporate world. Learning and grasping concepts are great for the individual person, but training in those very concepts are more valuable. A saying that best fits this skill is: “You can give someone a fish and feed them for a meal; or you can teach someone to fish and they can feed themselves forever.” 
    • Be Brave
      Bravery and courage are essential components of success. Dream big, but act small. Always do the little things and never ease up on the basic functions of work; but also set goals for yourself and always strive to reach them. Setting goals is a great way to gauge yet also inspire yourself. Never be afraid to take chances; worst case the chance you take is just a learning experience. The motto “You always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” applies here. Take shots often and fire at will. If you can execute these skills in corporate America, there is a great chance you will be successful in the end.

Are You Obnoxious at Work and Don’t Even Know it? Take the Quiz and Find Out!

There are certain behaviors at the office (and in life) that are best to avoid and can actually hurt your chances of being voted “Coolest Co-Worker”. Are you going through life blissfully unaware of how you are perceived by others? Take our quiz and find out.

Give yourself one point for every Q you said yes to below:

1. You firmly believe that the thermostat at the office should intuitively adjust to your body temperature alone.  The rest of them can put on a sweater or buy a fan.
2. You keep a smug little smirk on your face at all times like you know all of the office gossip, most of which you started, so you should.
3. You plague your office co-workers with Facebook Friend Requests and get all bent out of shape when they are ignored.
4. You bring a cell phone into the rest room and proceed to carry on your conversation for the whole duration of your visit. After all, you’ve got some really important stuff to say.
5. You gave one of your co-workers a ManGroomer, a handy tool that conveniently removes all that unwanted back hair, or some other equally embarrassing gift at the last holiday office grab bag.
6. You talk really loudly on your cell phone going up the office elevator, in fact, you talk loudly every where you go. Everyone wants to hear your plans to attend the next Star Trek convention don’t they?
7. You show up for every meeting late, unprepared and looking put out that no one thought to remind you that the meeting started 20 minutes ago.
8. You never bring anything to the office party or buy the cheapest thing you can find yet you are first in line for the food…going back for seconds and even thirds.
9. You take off your shoes, exposing your bare, un-manicured “hobbit like” feet at the work. After all, how are you expected to get anything done if you are not comfortable?
10. You think that everyone in the office over the age of 30 is old and gleefully take every opportunity to remind them that you are “much too young to remember” whatever unbelievably boring thing they just mentioned or sprinkle conversations with endearing comments like “Wow! I didn’t even think that was invented when you were my age!”
11. You enjoy going for jogs in the hot sun at lunch time and then join your co-workers around the meeting table in the afternoon. Of course, you are considerate and put on lots of your favorite perfume or cologne so as not to offend anyone.
12. You are absolutely convinced you are always the smartest person in a room. You are sure to let everyone know it too through a series of yawns, patronizing remarks, snorting when others speak, or rolling your eyes in disgust at their sheer ignorance of your own brilliance.
13. You delight in the mistakes of others and think it is both cute and funny to discuss them loudly while the boss passes by. Really, though you are only trying to help.
14. You think “business casual” means wearing pajama pants to the office or a stained t-shirt that your Mother forgot to wash…again.
15. Complaining is the job you do best. When you make a mistake it is always your co-workers, customer or management’s fault. No doubt, the government also had a hand in it.

Obnoxious Office Worker Quiz

 

The Results Are In!

 

 

13-15 Points – Congratulations on your Winning Behavior at Work! You just won yourself a Charlie Sheen “Winning” T-Shirt! Be sure to post your quiz results on all of your favorite social media channels!
8-10 Points – You appear to suffer from Borderline Office Obnoxious Disorder and should seek guidance from your HR Department. Ummm…hopefully, you don’t work in the HR Department.
7-5 Points – You can be quite annoying at times but are not full fledged obnoxious. As long as there is at least one person more obnoxious than you at work, your less desirable behavior will go, for the most part, undetected or at least ignored.
5-3 Points – You in the vast majority of people who have infrequent bouts of obnoxious
that can be brushed off by attributing it to a) that recent case of swine flu b) erratic hormone levels c) global warming d) all of the above.
2-0 Points – You are either a considerate co-worker or your complete lack self awareness made you fail to score yourself accurately on this quiz. 🙂

What are other annoying habits of co-workers left off this list? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know!