4 ways to know if youre knocking it out of the park at work

4 ways to know if youre knocking it out of the park at work4 ways to know if youre knocking it out of the park at workWith good days and bad days, long commutes, and less time for fun with friends, it can be difficult to tell if youre actually good at your job.Heres how to tell that youre most likely doing well in the office.Your coworkers and boss like working with you - because you listenUnlike someone whos difficult to work with, youre receptive to others because you actually listen to them. It isnt all about hearing the sound of your own voice.In meetings, you contribute fresh ideas without overpowering the conversation or causing it to go off-track.People feel like they can confide in you, but youre not a chronic time-waster.You dont get too caught up in the gossip milline Cain writes in Business Insider that you rise above office politics.In corporate America, no one is 100% immune to office politics. Learning to navigate your workplace is an important part of succeeding at yo ur job, she writes. However, if youre one of those people who can successfully sail through potentially contentious workplace situations without ever getting mired in the drama, thats a good sign.Heres how to handle office politics the right way.Youve been a reliable ambassador for your companySara McCord, a freelance writer and editor, writes in The Muse that getting more visibility is a sign that youre doing well at work.The best bosses find opportunities for their people to learn by doing. But they also know when they need their best foot (read employee) forward, she writes. Who are they going to ask to run the account for a high-profile client or represent the company at a conference? Someone who they have complete faith in, and who they think represents the company in the very best light. Without a doubt, when youre asked to speak on behalf of your team, its because your boss thinks youre doing a great job,When people really trust you, they have no problem having you represent both them and their work.People talk about your workGhostwriter and author Peter Economy writes in Inc. that when youre doing well, your projects are talked about.When people are moved by work, they feel compelled to discuss it. Theyll usually pass it along to their friends, other co-workers, and their peers. No matter what the subject matter is, if youre being positively talked about, youre probably doing a really stellar job. People only talk about others they notice, he writes.

Why You Should Want to Throw Up A Little In Your Career

Why You Should Want to Throw Up A Little In Your CareerWhy You Should Want to Throw Up A Little In Your Career 18 Best Places to Work with Top CEOs Have you ever had a serious case of the jitters? Or been at work preparing for a presentation but the thought of public speaking made you practically queasy? This kind of edge-of-your-seat anxiety and professional nervousness can be crippling. However, it can also signal professional growth.Stretch assignments - or tasks given to an employee that is currently beyond their level of knowledge or skill can - can produce this font of anxiety but also present a prime opportunity. It is important to accept new challenges and push yourself beyond your comfort zone, says Jodi Euerle Eddy, SVP of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer of Boston Scientific . You may even experience a nervous feeling of uneasiness, which is normal. Accept this feelin g as encouragement knowing you are pushing yourself forward to new heights.It is her belief - and experience - that wanting to throw up a little sometimes, is a healthy sign of challenging yourself with new opportunities to expand your technical, personal and management skills. So if youre ready to step out on faith to up-level in your career , heres tried-and-tested advice on how to look for the right stretch opportunities in your current role or elsewhere.1. Evaluate your current company & manager.Before raising your hand for a stretch assignment, you should be very clear about what kind of company you work for and the type of manager you have. While many employers profess to be advocates for learning and development , some can be more rigid about allowing employees to try something new or think outside of the box.At Boston Scientific , we know the value of investing in our employees on multiple fronts, including education, says Eddy. Within the IT organization, we enco urage participation in learning programs designed to improve their technical and personal skills. We want our employees to experience improvement. Challenging employees with stretch goals is part of the learning process and keeps interest high.Even earlier in her career, Eddy was sure to eye various opportunities and had the benefit of a supportive employer that selected her to participate in a leadership development program which exposed her to assignments in a variety of IT disciplines. From there I continued to focus on building out my own skillset, driven by a passion for learning. That meant rotating through just about every possible role in IT ERP systems, networks, cybersecurity, application development, etc. and soaking up as much as I could. In addition, over the years, I was also able to attend many world-class formal business and management training programs. Stretching yourself isnt always about a specific assignment sometimes its about raising your hand for those othe r learning opportunities.Now that she is CIO, Eddy assigns stretch assignments and takes into account two key factors. First is the need of the company and the criticality of the assignment. Second is the abilities of the employee and, to some extent, the relationship of their current work to the work involved in the stretch assignment.2. Discern between a stretch assignment & a menial task.Practice smart judgment when you are evaluating or considering taking on additional work with the goal of professional growth. As much as you want to be the utility player or eager employee, its vital to choose your assignments wisely and think through the outcomes and consequences. Having clear and consistent communication with your manager as well as a career development plan can help with this, and save you from the pitfalls of meaningless assignments.The key is to make sure you and your manager have a shared understanding of how work-related decisions are made, says Eddy. Mutual respect a nd genuinely caring for one anothers well-being are the foundation for this mindset and enable you to respond with confidence to work challenges including stretch assignments.To help you evaluate a stretch assignment, Eddy says you must do two things3. Capitalize on every aspect of the stretch assignment.Once youve taken on the task, enthusiastically approach the stretch assignment as a unique opportunity and bring it to a successful conclusion. If done well, you may position yourself for additional responsibilities, a raise or a promotion down the road. Therefore at each turn, attention to detail is imperative.It always makes sense to track your results and articulate where youve been able to add value- we should all be prepared to advocate for ourselves , advises Eddy. But the greatest gift of a stretch assignment is the learning. What did it teach you about this new area? What lessons can you bring to the next assignment? What questions did it raise that youd like to continue ex ploring? Its important to be focused and have clear goals at the saatkorn time, taking on a stretch assignment to check a box is missing the point. Theres so much upside in the exploration.And when you feel the urge to throw up - or worse, quit- remember that your manager has faith that you can take on the challenge.4. Stay in regular communication with your manager.Taking on a stretch assignment should not be confused with taking on projects for your colleagues.If you feel overworked or overburdened by the actions or inactions of fellow employees, it should be addressed through appropriate management channels, says Eddy.Being mindful of your work-life balance as important as realizing the sacrifice you are making can pay off in the end. Obviously, ansicht assignments will require additional effort- if you believe there are viable reasons why you could not expend that additional effort at that time, its a good reason to have an open discussion with your leadership.5. Do not be disc ouraged by setbacks.On occasion, we all make a mistake or come up short on an assignment. Naturally, there will be setbacks . The key is to minimize these misses, learn from the experience and keep a positive attitude. If you can do this, you will continue to move forward. Oh, and volunteer for the next stretch assignment that comes your way.Whether you have the capacity take on a stretch assignment or not, another way to be invaluable to your team and boss is to suggest ways the business can grow and tee up others for new challenges. Your manager depends on you for your ideas, insights and talents, so share them.As a leader, its my job to play to my teams strengths as much as it is to help them bridge gaps. Theres no one way to approach it, but I believe in having open conversations in both directions. By defining clear goals for my team and knowing my people, I can look for the points of intersection where someone can stretch into a skill that will help us move the needle in a meaningful way. At the same time, I rely on my team to tell me about new projects or learning opportunities that get them excited, and how that can help us innovate faster and make an impact on the business. I see it as part of my responsibility to create space for those conversations to happen.

Career Lessons from Kris Allen

Career Lessons from Kris Allen Career Lessons from Kris Allen Regular readers know that American Idol is my guilty pleasure and last night, the show provided a rare surprise despite the fact that producers and judges had been hyping a finale between Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert all season, a dark horse contestant sneaked in under the wire, beat one of the two the judges favorites and made it into the finale.The whole thing reminded me of a question I saw from a job seeker the other day. I volunteer as a career expert for Careerealism on Twitter, where people send in their job search/career questions and a bunch of us give our best advice. One of the questions was about a co-worker who was leid pulling her weight, but who was getting away with it. The question was should I tell my boss what shes really up to.Most of us said no. First, speaking negatively about a co-worker just winds up making you look bad and second, the truth will usually come out anyway if you just keep your head d own and do your work.Kris Allens ascent on American Idol just proves this point. It didnt matter that he wasnt given a lot of screen time in the early rounds. It didnt matter that the judges routinely dismissed his performances and praised less worthy attempts to the high heavens. It didnt matter that Simon Cowell went on a publicity tour to tell everyone Kris would never make the finals none of it mattered because every week Kris just worked hard, kept his head down, and earned new fans. And so we came to last night and the shots of the judges with their jaws literally hanging open as the results were announced.Times are tough right now and a lot of you are doing more work than youre paid to do. If youre also carrying someone who doesnt deserve to be there, please dont try to push the issue by talking to your boss or, as one employee I once knew did, sending an anonymous letter (really). Just pull a Kris Allen. Ignore what everyone else is doing and just focus on doing your best e very day. It will pay off