The Voyage of Life

"The Voyage of Life" is a series of paintings done in the 1840's by Thomas Cole. Even if you are not an art lover, it is worth while reading about this journey of a person in his/her boat on a river.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_Life

Summary with complements from wikipedia:

"In each painting, accompanied by a guardian angel, the voyager rides the boat on the River of Life. The landscape, corresponding to the seasons of the year, plays a major role in telling the story.

In childhood, the infant glides from a dark cave into a rich, green landscape.
As a youth, the boy takes control of the boat and aims for a shining castle in the sky. The last two pictures reverse the boat's direction.
In manhood, the adult relies on prayer and religious faith to sustain him through rough waters and a threatening landscape.
Finally, the man becomes old and the angel guides him to heaven across the waters of eternity."

That is the story of life...

Corporate Talk

This insights were inspired by the book

CORPORATE CONFIDENTIAL - by Susan A. DePhillips

Food for Thought

• Only way to make change is to be part of it!
• Have fun and don’t be so serious!
• There is a fine line between seeking success and fear of failure.
• Use the word ‘trade-off’, not ‘sacrifice’.
• Some of most unproductive staff members work the most/longest hours
• Delivering performance is more important that ‘face-time’ (to be seen at work)
• Paradox: People that go the extra mile (work long hours?) get promoted
• Figure out who you want to be and how much of yourself are you willing to give up to be successful.
• Ask if you don’t know something, no one knows everything. No one likes a know-it-all!
• There will be a level of detail you need to attend to / aquire
• Understand what makes & cost the company money
• Calculations of ratios (seek out strategic reason for existence)
• Departments are instruments in the corporate orchestra
• Have info meeting with each department head to understand strengths and goals
• Demonstrate effective writing skills, poor writing is noise to reader

Get culture fit for you
Value ideas – nurturing (allow mistakes)
Hierarchical (Cross-functional development
Feel safe to comment/contradictions

• Politics “when the who becomes more important than the what”
• Understand peoples’ concerns/issues to address before a meeting to eliminate political outcome (use politics, don’t ignore it)
• “when you stand on your own two feet there is no need for politics”
• Management does not have a grand scheme for your career, you must have your own interest at heart
• Sometimes you have to move one step back to go forward

Give: knowledge, wisdom, experience. Get: title, position, money

• Get involved in assignments outside your normal scope to gain involvement in interdepartmental assignments to build critical alliances
• Be your own power, don’t imitate; when they leave, so will you.
• It is not what you can do for your mentor, It’s what your mentor can do for you
• Mentorship is a relationship, not corporate match making.
• You are responsible for your own development, not the company / your mentor
• Visibility and recognition determines career advancement, not hard work
• Step out and differentiate yourself: An individual from the crowd

Make significant contributions, demonstrate exceptional performance
· Type A: Rainmakers, high achievers
· Type B: Do what is required very well

You need both Capacity: Ability to do something, and Drive: Energy to achieve it

• Explain ‘what’ numbers mean and ‘why’ interpretation
• Diagnose the problem, and recommend corrective actions
• Find out what is required: $5 - $50 000 answer - Ask if you don’t know
• Allow time in projects to analyze and then interpretation later
• Figure out what your boss wants before he does
• Present results on a one pager, with bullets
• Although it is better to be respected than liked, you should at least be liked at some level, or else it is ‘likely’ to catch up with you
• Develop a positive outlook in life in general

Different attitudes
- ‘No-can-do’: Negative, not there to help in a crisis
- ‘Personal-problem’ child: If you can’t manage your personal problems, how will you manage your professional problems
- ‘Chip on the shoulder’ professional: poor listener (interrupt people), non-verbal cues to disapproval (rolling of eyes), domineering (my way is the best way).

• Take care of your boss
• Respond to a call within 24 hours (responsiveness)
• Keep your word, respond to your e-mails / phone calls and keep to deadlines
• Know the difference between important in mundane
• Gadgets are not status symbols, they are for adding value to tasks
• Info creates ‘title waves’, takes too much time to respond to
• Get to the point and be brief with e-mails. Most people only read 1st or 2nd sentence
• Gain respect by saving executive time
• Lead by example, respect everyone’ time
• If you opinion adds value to the company make sure you speak up, even if it contradicts other executives opinion
• Stick to the facts and drop the emotions

Speak up
-Speak the truth, not popular opinions
-Be clear on your position (don’t speak in acronyms)
-Don’t make it a personal issue (support success of the corporation, not your own agenda)
-Maintain your professional conviction
-Consider all points of view – be flexible. Sometimes the best solution involves a compromise

Make yourself indispensable by:
- Mastering your primary area of knowledgeSolve the problem and put new process in place to avoid problems in future
- Creating a niche in your businessProvide specific knowledge / competence of significant value that is hard to replicate / replace (intellectual reservoir)
- Expanding your are of responsibilityBe able to wear many hatsCreate the impression you can figure anything out and function in any capacity

• Do all and any work with dedication and energy you any other, even if it looks like a no-where job
• There is a direct correlation between your expertise to critical business drivers and level of value and recognition bestowed upon you by a corporation and its leaders.
• For every man starting their own venture, there are 2 women doing the same.

5 Mistakes woman make in the corporate world

1. Focus on form (appearance) over substance (key competence)
2. Not making use of effective feminine qualities like compassion (be a sounding board), gain insight in individuals
3. Making it personal
   Aggressive behaviour in business is not a personal attack
   Don’t breed after confrontation in meetings
   Don’t focus on being liked and getting along, business objectives comes first.
   Don’t be too emotional or sensitive
4. Hanging back
   Don’t be reluctant to volunteer for an assignment / project
   Take responsibility for driving your success
   Seek out and solicit projects
   Lightning the load of your boss is your responsibility
5. Working the concession stand (sacrifices)
   Choose career at snr level or family, you can’t have both

Rank the following motivators in order of personal importants
Challenge (results oriented)
Money (Achievement oriented)
Work Environment (comfort oriented)

• When you deliver the results, they money will follow
• Financial security reduce greedy behaviour at work (security vs. luxuries)
• Make sure you get paid for performance
• ‘Theory of compensation relativity’ – comparing salaries with peers
• Focus on refining your skills and developing competency and ignore peer compensation
• Discuss company pay programs / philosophies without making it personal

4 common behaviour on constructive criticism
The filter: if you only hear what you want to hear
The shut down: only hear first critism, ignore the rest (become paralyzed)
The fighter: argue about negative feedback (cannot be coached)
The flight: exit as soon as possible, avoid dialogue

• Ask for regular feedback, not just annually
• Keep track of your wins and losses for your performance discussions.

Use critical incidents to
Assist in developing self-assessment skills
Have well-rounded assessment of performance
Create opportunity to provide concrete examples that illustrate positive performance
Develop more open mindset for positive and negative feedback

• Make sure you acknowledge and understand the feedback, even if you disagree with the assessment
• There is a difference between effort and results
• If you disagree with your boss, tell your boss, not your boss’s boss
• Demonstrate your commitment to address any concerns management may have above your performance
• Find a business that interest you, have genuine passion and curiosity for
• Your professional success depends on who you are, not what you have

Professional assessment is included in the book to determine if the company you're in is right for you.

If you know what you want to be,

you should gain the skills to do it,

and the drive to keep at it.