Who is EXTRAORDINARY?
Who is incredible at performing their job? Who do you respect and admire?
Creating your own definition of what it means to be extraordinary at work is the first step in elevating yourself professionally. Knowing how you want to perform when you are the leader at what you do for a living places you on the path toward becoming extraordinary in your career.
Most of us are familiar with the concept of mentors and role models. They can be helpful if they are willing to take you under their wing, but what can you do if you want to learn from someone who you have never met? Is it possible to use their expertise to help you achieve your goals?
YES! You can learn from people who have achieved success, regardless of whether you have the opportunity to work with them.
The secret to learning from other extraordinary movers and shakers is to observe them very closely. Identify the characteristics that you admire.
Create a list of:
· Specific things that they do well
· skills they use to help them stand out among their peers
· how they communicate and lead others
· what they do that makes them remarkable, incredible and extraordinary
· when they use techniques that set them apart
· why they are respected
· actions that enable them to excel
Your list will become an integral part of your roadmap toward becoming extraordinary at work.
Watch what other successful people are doing and commit yourself to finding ways to be even better than the people that you admire.
Carefully examine how they add value, how do others view them, how do they handle challenging situations? Analyze what makes them “the best” at what they do?
The next step is to carefully and honestly compare your performance with the performance of your respected role models. Evaluate which strategies and characteristics you currently possess, as well as areas where you can improve by making a conscious effort and by learning new skills. Perhaps you possess some of the qualities you need to be extraordinary, but you aren’t as strong as the people you admire or you don’t know how to do what they do. Consider whether your strengths lend themselves toward each desired quality. You may find that you have identified some characteristics that you admire, but can’t see yourself possessing them.
I challenge you to be honest about how you currently perform, but encourage you to maintain an open mind regarding how you can learn to improve and adopt some of the characteristics that will enable you to become extraordinary.
Continue reading this blog and you will learn specific ways in which you can be more successful.
Taking yourself to the next level professionally will undoubtedly take work, but the reality is that nobody has the ability to do what you can do, and nobody had the opportunities that you will have.
It is up to you to make things happen for yourself. Identifying the characteristics that will enable you to thrive and excel is the first step toward incorporating them into the way that you work and relate to others.
After you have created your list of desired characteristics, skills and strategies, please share them with me. It will be interesting to see whether some patterns and consistencies emerge.
Remember, knowing the characteristics of a superior winner is the foundation of becoming one!
