In this day and age of uncertainty, it's easy to feel anxious about keeping your job and controlling your own destiny.
But regardless of your particular circumstances, there are aspects of your work life that you can influence.
Below are 12 ways that you can exercise control in your professional world.
#1 Work with integrity - Regardless of our employer, if you act with honesty and a drive to do the right things for the right reasons, you'll always be in good stead.
And if not, do you really want to work for an organization that doesn't honor integrity?! #2 Work hard - If those you work with know that you can be counted on to deliver, then they will always have something nice to say about you to others, who ever those others might be.
#3 Embrace accountability - Make commitments that you can keep and hold yourself accountable for following through.
If no one else is stepping up to commit, volunteer to own it yourself.
Again, good employers will respect people willing to be accountable for their actions and the work that needs to be done.
And would you really want to work in a place where this is not the case? #4 Be prepared - Pay attention to what's going on around you.
Consider what you can do to add value, to learn new skills, or to prepare yourself for options inside and outside of your company.
It's not enough to know the options though.
You need to take action and ensure you do what you need to do.
The Boy Scouts aren't the only ones who benefit from being prepared! #5 Think ahead - Think through the possible scenarios of a situation and anticipate where problems may come from.
Prevent the problems where you can and have a Plan B when you know there is risk involved.
#6 Balance - Don't take on more than you can handle.
If you suspect you won't be able to follow through, don't make the commitment.
It's better to let the person asking know that you can't commit to a task then to commit and fail to follow through.
Know what you can handle and play the balancing act so you don't over commit.
#7 Don't blame others - We all make mistakes, but there's not benefit that comes from making sure everyone knows who screwed up.
Do we need to ignore mistakes? No.
We need to understand what happened so we can prevent a recurrence.
But we are better off spending out time focusing on what needs to happen to move forward than to dwell on finding someone to blame.
I love this quote I found from author Neal Whitten, "Exercise tolerance.
Care about mistakes that people make, but care more about the people who made them.
" #8 Admit when you're wrong or you've made a mistake - As humans, we're going to make mistakes.
The sign of a mature, confident professional is that they are willing to admit when they're wrong and then work to correct the error.
If we aren't willing to own up to our own failings, then the message we send is that we're either too dense, too egotistical, or too stubborn to admit we failed.
And no one wants to work with the slow, the arrogant, or the mule.
#9 Give credit where credit is due - None of us can be successful alone.
When you give credit to others, you gain the respect of those who helped and garner their willingness to help in the future.
#10 Push harder - Take a minute while you're reading this right now to take you dominate arm and point behind you as far as you can go.
Now take your arm backwards even further.
Now take it even further still.
The point is, we can generally push ourselves harder than we think we can.
Don't be afraid of failure.
Just keep trying harder.
#11 Manage your time - Focus on your top 3 priorities and determine these priorities by the values you have and the goals you've set.
Don't be a slave to others' whims.
Ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing and if it advances you and the things you believe in.
#12 Ask yourself, "Is this the best I can do?" If the answer is no, then do it again.
The quality of the work you do speaks to the "brand" that you create for yourself.
Ask yourself what do I want to be known for and make sure the products you produce reflect that message.
It's difficult to live in times of uncertainty.
So find some control over ambiguity by ensuring you are doing or continuing to do the things that establish you as the valuable individual you are, regardless of the organization.
But regardless of your particular circumstances, there are aspects of your work life that you can influence.
Below are 12 ways that you can exercise control in your professional world.
#1 Work with integrity - Regardless of our employer, if you act with honesty and a drive to do the right things for the right reasons, you'll always be in good stead.
And if not, do you really want to work for an organization that doesn't honor integrity?! #2 Work hard - If those you work with know that you can be counted on to deliver, then they will always have something nice to say about you to others, who ever those others might be.
#3 Embrace accountability - Make commitments that you can keep and hold yourself accountable for following through.
If no one else is stepping up to commit, volunteer to own it yourself.
Again, good employers will respect people willing to be accountable for their actions and the work that needs to be done.
And would you really want to work in a place where this is not the case? #4 Be prepared - Pay attention to what's going on around you.
Consider what you can do to add value, to learn new skills, or to prepare yourself for options inside and outside of your company.
It's not enough to know the options though.
You need to take action and ensure you do what you need to do.
The Boy Scouts aren't the only ones who benefit from being prepared! #5 Think ahead - Think through the possible scenarios of a situation and anticipate where problems may come from.
Prevent the problems where you can and have a Plan B when you know there is risk involved.
#6 Balance - Don't take on more than you can handle.
If you suspect you won't be able to follow through, don't make the commitment.
It's better to let the person asking know that you can't commit to a task then to commit and fail to follow through.
Know what you can handle and play the balancing act so you don't over commit.
#7 Don't blame others - We all make mistakes, but there's not benefit that comes from making sure everyone knows who screwed up.
Do we need to ignore mistakes? No.
We need to understand what happened so we can prevent a recurrence.
But we are better off spending out time focusing on what needs to happen to move forward than to dwell on finding someone to blame.
I love this quote I found from author Neal Whitten, "Exercise tolerance.
Care about mistakes that people make, but care more about the people who made them.
" #8 Admit when you're wrong or you've made a mistake - As humans, we're going to make mistakes.
The sign of a mature, confident professional is that they are willing to admit when they're wrong and then work to correct the error.
If we aren't willing to own up to our own failings, then the message we send is that we're either too dense, too egotistical, or too stubborn to admit we failed.
And no one wants to work with the slow, the arrogant, or the mule.
#9 Give credit where credit is due - None of us can be successful alone.
When you give credit to others, you gain the respect of those who helped and garner their willingness to help in the future.
#10 Push harder - Take a minute while you're reading this right now to take you dominate arm and point behind you as far as you can go.
Now take your arm backwards even further.
Now take it even further still.
The point is, we can generally push ourselves harder than we think we can.
Don't be afraid of failure.
Just keep trying harder.
#11 Manage your time - Focus on your top 3 priorities and determine these priorities by the values you have and the goals you've set.
Don't be a slave to others' whims.
Ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing and if it advances you and the things you believe in.
#12 Ask yourself, "Is this the best I can do?" If the answer is no, then do it again.
The quality of the work you do speaks to the "brand" that you create for yourself.
Ask yourself what do I want to be known for and make sure the products you produce reflect that message.
It's difficult to live in times of uncertainty.
So find some control over ambiguity by ensuring you are doing or continuing to do the things that establish you as the valuable individual you are, regardless of the organization.
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