The Business of You

In today’s demanding and competitive business climate, even the best companies and managers are limited in the amount of time and energy they can spend on your professional development. Even if you are fortunate and find yourself in an organization that values your development, there is still plenty you can and should do to augment the best development programs and shorten your learning curve.

The key to accelerating your personal development is to seek out opportunities to learn and grow at every turn. This means taking advantage of all the resources your organization offers you: existing education programs, your peers, and potential mentors. Additionally, your development plan can be rounded out by your activities outside the office.

This may sound like a broken record, but you are your own business, so your personal development rests squarely on your shoulders. You must own every aspect of it.

In hotly contested markets, attracting top-flight talent is an arms race between companies. Businesses will go above and beyond to attract the best and brightest talent, but bringing in the talent is only part of the equation. The highest-performing organizations know that developing their talent is a vital process that ensures the quality of their people meets their current and future business priorities. When executed correctly, the development of superior talent is one of the most surefire paths to a sustained competitive advantage.

Plenty of companies do an exemplary job of this. These organizations build well-crafted plans tailored to the employee’s skill development, performance management, and succession. Some examples of companies and industries known to have top talent development programs are Amazon, General Electric, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, large CPA consulting firms, and the hospitality industry.

Take Amazon: They have an intensive, month-long training and leadership program prior to hire. Similarly, Enterprise has a robust onboarding process consisting of a mix of classroom and practical field training their hires must complete before starting their day-to-day responsibilities. As employees graduate through the necessary skills for their next promotion at Enterprise, they are required to take a test and undergo a grueling interview process before they are promoted. All of this is designed to set the employee up for success as their responsibilities grow and they are faced with new challenges.

The following points will help you start your development journey. If you execute your personalized plan with regularity and a strong focus, it can propel you to impressive heights.

The easiest, almost no-brainer approach is to take advantage of all the programs your company offers. In many cases, companies will cover the cost. I have personally benefited from company-sponsored options like high-potential groups, courses on conflict resolution and presentation skills, and tuition reimbursement. Not all of these opportunities ended up being completely relevant to my role at the time; however, I have used the skills that I developed pursuing these tangential learning opportunities throughout my career.

Once you have taken advantage of the easy-to-access training, it will take a little more effort and initiative to find the next level of opportunities to enrich your growth. They will come in the form of cross-training, cultivating relationships in the office, and securing a productive mentoring relationship.

Cross-training is an effective way to round out your experiences and make you a more versatile and attractive contributor to your organization. It will also make you a more desirable candidate to recruiters when you apply for positions.

Cross-training can occur within your current department or outside of it in a different discipline. Some organizations will have planned rotations for designated team members to switch departments and roles every few months, while others have no such formal practice.

Learning and working side by side with others outside of your department is a great way to expand your perspective on the organization as a whole. It is very easy to be constrained within your department’s silo and be limited to a rather myopic viewpoint. Cross-training combats that. These types of projects will give you a glimpse into what strengths, challenges, and limitations other departments face daily. Not only will you grow as you experience new parts of the business, but you will also become more productive within your organization. Your familiarity with the inner workings of other departments will allow you to make more informed decisions and be more efficient in your work.

If there is not a formal cross-training platform in your organization, take the initiative to create your own. Ask for your manager’s permission, and make sure that this activity does not get in the way of your day-to-day responsibilities. For example:

Cross-training can be a great way to learn and prepare for potential promotions. The exposure to different skills and responsibilities can give you currency with decision makers when you are evaluated for a potential promotion (it demonstrates the ability to complete tasks at the next level).

It may not make sense to request this early on in your tenure with the company and in your position. There is no set timeline on when this kind of request is appropriate. It is situational. It should take place once you have demonstrated a basic mastery of your core responsibilities, your work environment has stabilized to the point where you are able to spend a couple of hours a week away from your desk, and it will not be a major disruption to your ability to get your daily responsibilities completed.

Cross-departmental exposure is valuable on multiple levels. You have a chance to demonstrate your talents to additional people within your organization. This showcase opportunity can pay dividends when internal openings come up in different departments. Working side by side with team members in other departments can provide valuable insights and create a more cultured view about the business as a whole.

Be prepared to illustrate how understanding a different job function will help your performance in your current role when you speak to your manager. If you execute your request correctly, you will likely be granted your opportunity and earn some “bonus points” with your manager for being a self-starter.

An effective cross-training platform will give you a better understanding of your organization. It also provides you with a stronger perspective of your role and its impact on your organization’s objectives.

The most effective executives in the business world leverage relationships across their entire organization to get things done and make sound decisions. Much of their effectiveness can be attributed to strong relationships and a well-balanced knowledge base about the business and its inner workings.

Unfortunately, early in your career you don’t have the luxury of this kind of perspective, and you don’t have access to information that most executives do. But there is a way to get there—get out and start talking to people.

Workplace gossip has a justifiably poor reputation—there’s nothing worse than the gossip comprising malicious rumors or speaking ill of colleagues behind their backs. There is, however, a productive kind of “gossip” that can play an important role in your workplace success, and you need to make a consistent effort to engage in it.

This type of talk comes in the form of informal conversations that can pop up in the break room, over a happy-hour drink, or at the end of a work call. They can help you learn who really pulls the strings in your organization and expand your sphere of influence beyond your department—ultimately helping you become the most connected employee at your company.

There are few employees more valuable (and overlooked) than what I call a “connector”—a person who builds relationships across departments, contributes to corporate culture, and is capable of connecting disparate, often siloed ideas into a coherent strategy. When you become a connector, even if you are early in your career and residing in the lower levels of the organization, you can provide a bird’s-eye perspective on your company, and this prepares you to contribute shrewd feedback and recommendations.

As a connector, you will have access to a broader set of perspectives than most because you are engaging with other departments and understanding the business at a far deeper level (organizational strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and trade-offs that impact other departments). Additionally, your relationships become an invaluable resource that you can go to when you need to better understand something from a different vantage point. This puts you in the position to make more informed decisions and recommendations.

BECOME A CONNECTOR

You’ll have to take action if you want to establish and maintain relationships and leverage the information acquired to benefit the company (and yourself) by becoming a connector.

•Schedule It

Start by blocking off two fifteen-minute windows daily to chat with team members. Swing by their desks, say hi, ask about their weekend or upcoming trip. A little small talk goes a long way. Even now at the executive level, I still block off time to make sure I am dialed in to what is going on with my team professionally and personally and make the effort to identify and assist with any potential obstacles they may face.

•Always Say Yes

If someone asks you to go for a coffee, lunch, or happy hour, try to do it (provided it doesn’t impede your actual work). The amount of work information exchanged in a more relaxed environment is astounding, and you’ll build deeper relationships with your colleagues.

•Establish a Broad Network

Pulling from the lessons you learned in the cross-training section, don’t just socialize in your department; a well-balanced, cross-company network will provide you with a comprehensive perspective of the business as a whole. Having visibility into a broad cross section of your organization will strengthen your work and decision making, because you’ll be able to see beyond your department’s silo.

•Just Ask

Not sure how something in another department works? Try asking a colleague about herself and her work. Most people enjoy talking about themselves and what they’re doing. Take a genuine interest in what your colleague is doing. You will learn something new, gain additional perspective, and become that much more valuable to your organization.

•Be a Strong Listener

Remove all distractions (devices!) and be completely present for your conversation. Digest everything that is being presented to you. Pay attention to the tone of your colleague’s delivery and body language, in addition to her ideas, and to what she doesn’t say. Engage in active listening. Ask relevant and clarifying questions. Restate what she says in your own words.

•Collect Feedback

Take a genuine interest in what drives success and failure within your organization. Meet with team members across your organization and collect their feedback about what made different initiatives successful or unsuccessful. Generally, people are willing to share their candid opinions on items that you are not directly related to. Utilizing this kind of surveying technique can provide invaluable insights about what makes initiatives successful and what impediments they may face.

•Get in the Know

Ask to be included on the distribution list for regular reports—even those specific to departments outside your own. You can justify your inclusion on the list by explaining that you want to figure out ways to work across departments to benefit your job function and the performance of the company.

•Hang Out after 5:00 P.M.

Typically, leaders in an organization work later than 5:00. Staying after normal business hours can give you access to members of the leadership team and help you form relationships with them. In those later hours it is generally quieter, and those remaining have fewer demands for their time and attention. In my experience, leaders are more likely to let their guard down during the quieter after-hours because there is a sense of camaraderie with others who put in the extra time. At the very least, you will earn a few points by being perceived as more committed.

•Stay Attuned to Your Environment

It is important to know the direction of prevailing winds. What is your network saying about your business? Are people happy? Do they look stressed? Has their behavior changed recently? Is the company adding benefits (bonuses, 401(k) matches), or reducing them? Are executives communicating less with the staff? These could be indicators that things are not going as well as planned. Are they bringing in new outside talent? Are people being let go? Have you seen a recent trend of bringing in consultants? It is important to know which way your company is shifting. You never want to be blindsided by the downturn and potential loss of a job. Also, you need to know if things are going well: Those are the opportune times to ask for raises or other benefits (when appropriate).

Developing a strong network and social ties will help you become the “goto” resource for your company—and aid you in wielding influence far greater than your title typically carries. Business, after all, is still all about people. Your ability to tap into this informal information network can be a difference-maker that takes your career to the next level.

A strong mentor/mentee relationship can be advantageous on many levels. It is important to tap into the wisdom of those who have been there and done that. A great way to shortcut your learning curve is to leverage the years of knowledge obtained by others. Because of their many years of experience or their invaluable perspective, mentors play a critical role in your career advancement. Developing a strong network of mentors is an extremely powerful tool to add to your business’s arsenal.

Your objective for developing a network of mentors is to find a group of individuals that you can trust and meet with on a semiregular basis (quarterly or at least a couple of times a year). Make sure to pull together a group that has a wide variety of experiences and skills.

For me, having a group of mentors with a wide variety of experiences has been extremely valuable. Just as a connector extracts value from a wide range of connections within an organization, a diverse group of mentors has helped me by providing different perspectives and expertise throughout my career. My mentors are a group of trusted advisors that I call my personal board of directors for my “business.” I have been fortunate enough to tap into their experience to prepare and watch out for common missteps when I’ve encountered a new work experience. Without their guidance, I would have likely made some of those common mistakes and stumbled through those new-to-me situations.

I am grateful to these individuals who have been so generous with their time and wisdom. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today without them.

There will be times in your relationship that your mentor will need to tell you that you don’t have your head on straight. You want to make sure that your mentor is not afraid to be honest and critical when necessary.

A good mentor is someone with more experience in a specific area of business or life than you currently possess. They have a level of professional or personal success that you are striving for. They should also be a good person, someone you can trust and confide in. You should feel safe sharing and being vulnerable with this person, because you need to get to the core of issues, without having to worry about offending anyone or overstepping your bounds. It is also important that they:

Solid mentors will be hard to find, so don’t be discouraged if it takes time to establish quality mentor/mentee relationships. Given the scarcity of quality mentors, make sure to do everything in your power to maintain the relationship.

You are probably wondering how to get a busy person to take time out of their schedule to help you. It simply starts with asking your potential mentor if they would be interested in being your mentor.

How you approach your prospective mentor will depend on your current relationship. If it is an individual with whom you have a strong relationship and converse with on a regular basis, then it can be as easy as simply approaching the individual directly and stating that you admire a certain quality they possess, and you believe you could learn a great deal from them. Ask them if they would mind if you took them out for coffee or lunch and picked their brain once a quarter. If you do not have a preexisting or strong relationship with your prospective mentor, then you will need to take a more formal approach. A good way to do this without putting the person on the spot is to write an email asking if they would be willing to mentor you. The elements of this email will include sharing your career background and experiences, what your career objectives are, a little flattery highlighting the experience or traits you admire about them, and what you would like to accomplish from a mentoring relationship with them.

If they accept, make sure to be very organized for your mentoring sessions. This means preparing your questions and sending them over to the mentor in advance. They are sharing their knowledge with you, and in exchange for that you must be respectful of their time. Don’t forget to express gratitude. The money you spend on coffee or lunch will be one of the best financial investments you can make.

As the person receiving the mentoring, the burden of responsibility to keep the relationship going rests with you. Like any other relationship, it takes cultivation and care. Make sure to call your mentor on a consistent basis (every other month or so). Share some of the wins you’ve experienced in your career. Make a special point to acknowledge how their feedback played a role in your victories. Ask them about how they are doing personally and professionally. Try to find things you could do to help them so the benefits are not just flowing one way. This is a two-way street; they need to feel like it is a mutually beneficial relationship.

Some of my mentors have been with me for over a decade. They have helped with new job opportunities, turning around businesses, assessing problems personal and professional, and I have even had the pleasure of providing guidance to some of them as my experience has grown. When managed correctly, the mentor/mentee relationship is an extremely rewarding experience that will help to drive your professional effectiveness.

I can attest to this firsthand. One of my early mentors helped me through my first big public presentation. I was completely in my own head and was a mess. My mentor, Steve, gave me a framework for how to prepare and a couple of tactics to manage my stage fright. Now, it was not the greatest speech, but it was solid enough to get the job done and ultimately laid the framework for me to become a skilled public speaker.

You can make great strides in your professional life in the office by leveraging what your company provides and tapping into the knowledge and experience of your mentors. The single biggest contributor to my climb through the career ranks was my commitment to professional improvement outside of the four walls of my office.

Your mind is a muscle capable of expansive growth, and many people take this for granted. Your brain needs to be trained regularly to maintain sharpness and continual progress. Wisdom takes time to obtain. However, those who put in the extra time and out-work their peers can accelerate their learning process significantly.

THE SINGLE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO MY CLIMB THROUGH THE CAREER RANKS WAS MY COMMITMENT TO PROFESSIONAL IMPROVEMENT OUTSIDE OF THE FOUR WALLS OF MY OFFICE.

Cliff Young is a perfect example of how to out-work others with a consistent and focused effort. A sixty-one-year-old Australian potato farmer turned marathoner, Young won a 543.7-mile endurance race from Sydney to Melbourne, beating world-class racers who were less than half his age and were backed by large sponsors like Nike. This race is considered among the world’s most grueling ultramarathons. So how did Young, this newcomer to racing, beat his younger and far more experienced competitors? He outworked them. He ran at a slow pace and trailed the leaders for most of the first day, but he kept running while the others slept, taking the lead the first night and maintaining it for the remainder of the race. His secret was that he slept far less than the other racers and eventually won the entire race by ten hours.

This is the way to view your training opportunities outside of the office. If you put in a little work (say, fifteen to thirty minutes) most evenings, you can gain ground and even surpass your “competitors” while they are idle.

The rest of this chapter shows different ways to stay sharp and grow your mental capacities outside the office.

The easiest way to consistently grow your knowledge base is to be curious. Take an interest in how things work. When you meet people and they tell you what they do, ask them about their job and industry. Learn about what it takes to be successful in that role, what challenges they encounter, or how the economy impacts them. When watching TV, mix in a documentary or a behind-the-scenes story about different businesses.

Taking a general interest in how things work can expose you to many new worlds. I am consistently surprised by how often a person I met at a party, conference, or event has helped me down the road—either through my newfound understanding of a new business segment or as an individual who possesses expertise in an area that can help me with a future challenge.

Always be on the lookout for opportunities to learn how things work. With this mind-set in place, you will become a lifelong learner and knowledgeable person—or at the very least, you will be an interesting person to have a conversation with!

Early in your career, it can be somewhat intimidating to develop fluency in what is going on in the business world in general. Like learning a new language, immersion training is the most effective way to develop your fluency.

What can initially seem daunting can become quite easy when you know where to find information. The key is to tap into a multitude of sources (books, websites, business channels, magazines) on a regular basis. Don’t worry about aiming for fluency right away; just engage with these outlets consistently to stay sharp and current on what is going on in the business world.

Business books are a great place to start improving your business IQ. Dedicate time to read regularly. Even if you are buried by commitments, chip away at the reading. I block off at least ten minutes a day. This time is sacred, no matter what I am reading. Get creative! If you have a long commute, get audiobooks or listen to podcasts.

Try to have the books you are reading connect to your development plan. Mix in topics that are new to you or are your weak spots, but don’t forget to read up on areas where you are strong. Try to read multiple books on each topic, for a more well-rounded perspective. If you are short on time, find official summaries of books online. They provide a quick way to learn the high points of a book you might want to read later.

Once you finish reading a book, make your own short book report. The whole point of reading is to take away something from the book. As I’m reading, I highlight text that I find valuable and earmark pages. Once I complete the book, I go back through each of these pages and create a “key takeaways” report. These reports don’t need to be overly deep. A simple list of bullets will suffice. This way you can reference all this information very quickly and implement its use in everyday life. That’s the whole point of reading, right?

Subscribe to a couple of business magazines too. They are good resources for deeper dives into relevant topics.

Allot some time every day to scan the business pages, read The Wall Street Journal, or visit CNN Money, CNBC, The Economist, Business Insider, Google News, or any source to get a quick scoop on what is happening in the business world today. Even a quick five-minute scan can provide a snapshot of the day’s events. These are great sources for general business knowledge and awareness of major trends. If you are looking to go deeper into a specific specialty or discipline, an online search will help you find publications and websites dedicated to your given area of interest.

Cable news networks can be fruitful resources for current events and business happenings. If you are working out at the gym on a cardio machine, put on CNBC or Fox Business. You can be distracted from the heart-racing workout and pick up some informational nuggets.

When you first start to visit these outlets for business information, it may not make sense to you what is going on. Don’t be deterred. Stick with a diet of healthy consumption, and you will start to pick things up more quickly.

Use it or lose it. Find ways to keep your mind active and engaged. It is easy to turn off your mind when you leave the office, but this muscle needs and craves additional stimuli. A regular dose of simple activities can help you to stay sharp and keep your mind ready for the challenges ahead.

Cognitive training is a relatively new area and is evolving quickly. Several brain-training websites claim and aim to help you think better and faster. The early research is relatively mixed, but many of us have realized the benefits of regular mental engagement. The science is still new here.

Lumosity’s platform is based on neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the relatively recent discovery that the brain, much like a muscle, can change shape and adapt to the challenges it is faced with. In other words, if you use a particular part of your brain enough on a particular skill, that part of the brain will grow larger and you will get better at that skill.

Another common benefit cited for regular engagement is delaying the effects of aging on your brain. I recommend visiting and trying for yourself some of the services offered at sites like Lumosity and NeuroNation.

Puzzles, crosswords, and other mind games are another way to keep your edge and make sure your analytic skills stay sharp.

Learning new skills engages your brain and strengthens its connections. Try to find new hobbies, learn a new language, or attempt to get proficient at a basic task with the opposite hand. Not only will your mind benefit, but you may also find another stress-relieving hobby for your free time.

Passive activities like watching TV can be healthy escapes in today’s hectic world—when enjoyed in small doses. This kind of escape is good in moderation, but too much can be mind-numbing. The increasing popularity of streaming services and on-demand entertainment makes it far easier to binge and waste significant chunks of time. Make sure you do your best to avoid getting into a rut of overuse that could ultimately stunt your cognitive and creative development.

Remember to follow Cliff Young’s lead when it comes to your training. This is a long race, so you don’t have to attack this area at a breakneck pace. Just be consistent and dedicated and you will come out ahead.

If you have made it this far in the book, the prospect of implementing preparation techniques, tips, and practices can seem a little bit overwhelming. And you’re right. Implementing even a handful of these practices and ambitiously following your career dreams takes a great amount of work and energy. That is why it is important to find time to rest so you can attack the next day.

When we are young, our minds and bodies are resilient and able to bounce back almost effortlessly. This youthful resiliency allows us to survive late nights, poor eating habits, and demanding schedules. It doesn’t last long, and even with that youthful resiliency you are not putting yourself in the best position to thrive if you have poor habits. As you leave your twenties it becomes even more important to use proper maintenance to thrive and survive a demanding schedule. Here are a few guidelines to help you operate at optimal capacity.

Give your mind and emotions a break several times throughout the day. Mark it on your calendar so you don’t allow your busy schedule to steal these necessary breaks. Discover the break activities that you find most therapeutic.

Personally, I crave physical exertion, so I typically gravitate toward moving activities for my breaks, one in the morning and two in the afternoon. When working extremely long hours, I find it necessary to fit in a mid-afternoon workout to help me reset and power through a late night of work. Ultimately you will need to find the activities that work best for you. Just make sure that whatever you do, it complies with your organization’s and manager’s policies regarding breaks.

One of the most effective ways to avoid feeling drained is to fully use your time off. This means at the end of the day you should avoid constantly checking your email for messages that come in after hours (which I am often guilty of ). Being connected is a double-edged sword. The accessibility is great for productivity in the short run; however, it is draining over time to those individuals who are always on.

As long as there are no emergency situations or tight deadlines looming, a solid practice is to establish a set time for you to be completely “dark” from email and work calls.

Shut down your laptop and phone email by 7:00 p.m. every day. On weekends, allow yourself to check your email only once—on Sunday morning. This is a solid practice to utilize at all levels. It provides uninterrupted work and think time. If yours is a customer-facing role, you will need to be “live” during the required windows. But most companies will build in admin windows for service and sales people who fall into these categories.

Along the same lines, take your vacations. Ever since the last economic downturn, people have been more afraid to take time off. And when time is taken, we are checking email every single day, trying to prove that we still add value to the organization. This comes from a deep-seated fear that the company may realize it can continue without you. Try to remember that you are a talented, significant asset. Put the laptop down and recharge yourself.

Use your weekends, evenings, and vacation time to recharge. When you are out of the office (unless it is an emergency), leave the office behind. You need to relax just as hard as you work. Find activities that help you replenish so that you can attack the next business day or week.

Make sure to take a lunch. Your body and mind need to take a break in the middle of the day. You will be more productive when you return.

Remember that your mind is a muscle that you can build up, but like all muscles, it needs a resting period to assist with the recovery process. If you don’t provide that, it will falter, just like any overused muscle.

Physical fitness is an important part of maintaining your health and gives you the energy to power through the workday. You do not need to be the fittest person on the planet; but a consistent workout schedule where you get your heart rate up will provide you with more energy and expand your mental capacities. There are countless studies touting the positive impact exercise has on your mind.

Also start being mindful of your diet. Food is your fuel, and if you put poor fuel in, you are not going to get the output you desire. You don’t have to go overboard, but try to improve your diet. In my twenties, my diet was brutal. I noticed as my work demands grew in my late twenties and into my thirties, I started to feel more sluggish. I started choosing healthier snacks instead of my staples—chips and cookies. I substituted grapes, a variety of vegetables with hummus dip, and raw, unsalted nuts into my diet. On top of that, I started eating several healthy dinners a week. It made a big difference in how I felt and my ability to produce in my daily work.

Consistent, quality sleep has been proven to help you perform your best and live longer. This should be reason enough to take sleep seriously, but many of us are guilty of not giving sleep its due. We mask the effects of lack of sleep through caffeine and energy drinks.

Everyone is different. Some people will perform optimally after six hours of sleep, and others may need eight hours to get there. Track your sleep. Identify the times when you wake up energized and can perform your best. How much sleep did you get? If you want to go deeper into your sleep analysis, there are free and paid apps that you can use.

For those who struggle to fall asleep, develop a consistent routine for sleeping. Aim to fall asleep around the same time every night. Create an environment conducive for sleep. That means a dark, quiet, and cool place. Avoid screen time right before bed. Research has demonstrated that lighting from screens (like laptops, tablets, and phones) disrupts your ability to sleep. Instead, try reading a book for ten or fifteen minutes to unwind.

On weekends, or outside the constraints of a nine-to-five job, naps are a great way to reenergize. Naps can lift productivity and mood, lower stress, and improve memory and learning. For optimal results, naps should be short in duration. An ideal target is between twenty and thirty minutes.

If you are ambitious and intend to implement many of the development tools and practices outlined throughout this chapter and the book, you will place great demands on your mental, emotional, and physical energy regularly. You will need to put yourself in the best position from a rest and replenishment standpoint, in order to continue to pack more progress into each of your days than most people. Use your time off wisely, and create healthy habits to ensure your success.

▸Take full advantage of all the development opportunities available to you in the office.

Use the formal training platforms and tuition reimbursements offered by your company.

Build relationships so you can be in the know and create a strong network of internal advocates.

Tap into the wisdom of those who are more experienced than you, with a mentor.

Proactively seek out content to stay up-to-date on industry and business trends that can impact your company.

▸If you are ambitious, be prepared to take good care of yourself to keep pace with the extra demands your training will put on your mind and body.