Recently I was delighted to become an "aardvocate" of a Q&A site call Vark. It rings the bells of Yahoo! Answers, but it's fresher, easier-to-use and more social network friendly. (Again, this is probably something my GenY groupies would agree with) Basically you ask questions and knowledgable people of that topic answer.
A question was sent to me "How to develop leadership character at work?" I refuse to write "how to" articles particularly when they involve self-growth, but I will spread some great young professional advice that I received from a professor/now friend while completing a MSc in International Business Development at the University of Neuchâtel in Switerland.
He told me to:
Continue sticking out of the crowd
In meetings, be the last person to add something interesting to the conversation
Be the person who takes initiatives and take them in front of your superiors
Speak concisely and follow with actions
Never disappoint, and if it's unavoidable, take responsibility and fix it
One thing I would add particularly being in the IT world is to be human when possible! Rather than emailing your colleagues sitting next to you, approach them....talk human-to-human...be old-fashioned, and look up the word "old-fashioned" if you have no clue what it means. When a colleague looks stressed, approach them with sincerity. And for goodness sakes, let people know that you're alive as opposed to disappearing in the corner or staying behind the computer.
Do NO ordinary please!! Lead and stick out!
Companies and the world continually needs leaders.
And if you need some motivational music, click the music note
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A friend of mine will enroll into a 1-year art institute program in Los Angeles to improve his music recording skills. He dreams to make music for movie films. The program offers no guarantees...no jobs lined up, no internships, no visibility, no courses on how to marketing yourself or create a portfolio. The awwww-dropper for most non-Americans, it will cost him $29,000! Most people I know in Europe and Asia are accustomed to paying less than $1000 per year for education.
Will this program land his dream job?
Maybe my friend has smart brains. Smart brains is about being rational. Invest a lot of time, and in this case money, into fine-tuning skills. Practice, practice, practice, build, build, build up skills. At the end, provide certificates, hopefully from the finest schools that prove you're amazing. No one can refute a degree, right? Don't forget to mention grades when highest in the class, and become a student leader of some organization even if it has nothing to do with making film music just so you can call yourself a leader...yea I've been there, done that.
OR
Maybe my friend has stupid balls. Stupid balls are irrational creatures. In retrospect, my friend has no clue if the program is legit or not, but he's going to do it anyway and move his whole life across the country. Ask him why and he'll talk about having a hunch that by being in Los Angeles where films are being produced, opportunities to meet some critical players within the field may arise. Is he confident? Not really. He does, however, believe that going there will provide the best chance to reach his dream of making film music.
Would you go to the school?
Most people find his decision rather odd.
Now here's the catch.
I'm willing to wage most people admire stupid balls whether they want to admit it or not. Stupid balls bring the wow-factor, the excitement into our daily lives. When stupid balls act, people pounce on it. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always a pounce. Smart brains are particularly eager to ridicule stupid balls' decisions. What's funny is that most people we idolize aren't a result of having smart brains, but because they have stupid balls. All exceptional leaders take absurd risks, which smart brains pounce upon until stupid balls come out on top.
So the next time before ridiculing a risk taker, you might want to check your balls. "No guts, no glory."
Best of luck my friend at school. May you reach all your dreams!
Side-note: Whoever wants to combat me and say that higher-level education isn't a business in the USA, please contact me and I'd be happy to go into an insightful battle.
Double side-note...some nice viral marketing on "ball" by Axe
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