I know, I know. You are all ‘relationship-ed out’ after Valentines Day, your parents continue their single-minded focus to ‘get you off their hands’, and if you hear another love song on the radio you might crash your car into a tree on purpose.
Relax. This is not about romantic relationships. This is about professional relationships and how your career will stagnate without them. It is yet another area of professional development that we neglect because it is difficult to tie to measurable results. It is clear to see that networking might get you a new job, but it is not so clear to see how having solid relationships at work can bring about your next promotion.
It is an uncomfortable truth that providing results is only part of your job. The other part is how you achieve those results. Who you work with/through and how they feel about working with you makes an impact on the end product. Believe me, the leaders of your organization are watching.
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The NFL season is almost over, most of our favorite teams have lost… so we decided to celebrate the playoffs by hosting a game of football ourselves! This has been our third year of hosting pick-up touch football games, and this weekend’s was probably the most “challenging”. 20 degree weather, noon start time and reminders of the previous night’s festivities didn’t stop the 15 people who showed up to play ball. After 2 hours of running 50 yard sprints, smack talk and bruised body parts and egos, another successful day of sports concluded with lunch at a local Indian buffet. We will definitely host future pick-up games, including football, basketball, volleyball and indoor sports like bowling.
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I will make a grand assumption and say that many desi’s in professional careers pursued some kind of difficult education. It probably involved all-nighters, cramming, exams, and projects. You probably achieved quite a bit and maybe remember a whole host of facts, but did you learn much about what it takes to succeed in your chosen profession?
We come from an achievement oriented culture and within the educational system it is easy to see how we succeed. Everything is measurable and we can easily see our capabilities translated into good grades. However succeeding in the workplace is not always so transparent. Sometimes you may see top performers passed over and mediocre workers promoted. It all comes back to professional development.
The thing about professional development is that it never stops, because shockingly, the world keeps changing. Many people don’t realize how much learning is a huge part of your career. And this kind of learning doesn’t come with cheat sheets. Nor is there an exam to cram for. It is on going, it is hard, and it is the only thing that you have total control over when it comes to your career.
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