Monthly Archives: February 2008

The 5 Barriers to Personal Growth on Company Time – Part 5: Don’t Tell Anyone. Ever.

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Baby with a secret 

Photo by gadgetgirl 

Part 1: Why you need to look out for number one

Part 2: Don’t work too fast

Part 3: Let the details tell the story

Part 4: Deflect envy

For my final instalment for this series I want to talk about letting people know what you’re upto. At work there are lots of great people around that I like and trust that I am dying to tell about my blog or reveal that I’ve spent the whole day sitting at my desk reading a book. I want them to know how clever and cunning I am.

But I’m not going to.

Why I here you ask. If I trust these people then surely it’s ok to let them know? Unfortuatly it’s just not worth the risk, people love to talk and a secret can soon become gossip. Also I’ve told one friend before that I fully trust and swore him to secrecy only for him to pass me in the canteen asking in a full volume voice ‘Yo Jackmo! Busy day updating your website today bro?’ Continue reading →

Actions Change Beliefs

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actions change beliefs 

Photo by w2awfil 

I trained at Telecom for two years and was with the company for about three and a half in total. During this time I trained around 200 people from their beginnings with the company and observed several trends. I recently read an excellent article about cognitive dissonance that resonated with me and got me thinking about the past. The basic premise of the piece was that person’s beliefs are changed – over time – by their daily actions. Continue reading →

The 5 Barriers to Personal Growth on Company Time – Part 4: Deflect Envy

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The green eyed monster! 

 Photo by mmlobster

The people in your direct proximity are your biggest danger of being discovered slacking, be it on purpose or inadvertendly. You cannot hold it against people for revealing your true game plan, they may not share the same beliefs as you. That energy is better spent learning from your mistakes and devising methods to fly under the radar.

When someone has it much easier then you it’s natural to feel envious. It raises all sorts of ugly and confrontational questions such as; Why do they have it easy and I don’t? Are they better then me? Am I getting a raw deal?

If it gets to the point that these questions are being asked then it’s already too late. As a successful Productive Slacker you need to wise to the beginning signs of envy. Recognising it will allow you to take steps to deflect it. Continue reading →

The 5 Barriers to Personal Growth on Company Time – Part 3: Let Details Tell The Story

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Let the details tell the story

Photo by lesec 

So far we’ve established that you need to look after number one and discussed the importance of not working too fast.

In this post, I’ll be talking about the perception of being busy and how it’s all in the details.

“Why do the Yankees always win? The other team can’t stop looking at the pinstripes.”

Frank Abegnale

Having read the previous two posts, you may be thinking; it’s all very good to say we should spend half our time working on personal growth and pursing our own interests on the company clock but what happens if I get caught?

A very valid question. Obviously the methods for actually achieving this need to be given considerable thought because being caught could have serious potential consequences. Continue reading →

The 5 Barriers to Personal Growth on Company Time – Part 2: Don’t Work Too Fast

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time is on my side

Photo by littledan77

If you don’t have seem to get enough time to earn and living and do the things that you like then you’re working too hard. You owe it to yourself to spend as much time as possible on fulfilling your needs on the company’s clock. So far I’ve covered:

Why You Need To Lookout for Number One. In this post, I’ll be covering the second barrier to personal growth on company time: setting an expectation of how fast you can work and having to live upto it.

Barrier 2: Don’t Work Too Fast

People will base their expectations of us on their perception of what you have done in the past. Did you rush to complete that task in two hours of being asked to do it or did you say that you’d complete it by tomorrow?

Understand: you have direct control over how people perceive you, by setting a high expectation for yourself, any future tasks you do may be considered ‘late’ or ‘slack’ if you’ve taken longer then the time people expected you to take. Continue reading →

Practical steps to being a pro leader

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Leadership skills 

Photo by anibal 

Have you ever seen a highly effective or inspirational leader and wondered how they do it? Was this person born a good leader? Perhaps they have a genetic advantage or how can I be more like this person? No matter how good they are, the reality is that they will have had to learn the same way that you and I do; through practice.

Before attempting to study the principles of effective leadership it is import to realise a simple fact: leadership is a skill. And like any skill, leadership requires continual practice and reflection to be improved. By recognising this, it will allow you to strategise and take a structured approach to consistently improving your ability as a leader.

That being said, how do you practice leadership and when do you get the opportunity? At first, this can seem like quite a daunting question, how do you actually practice leadership? The reality is that your average day is already presenting you with many chances to practice your leadership… Continue reading →

The 5 Barriers to Personal Growth on Company Time – Part 1: Lookout for Number One

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 busy bee

Photo by frankeys creation
  • Would you like to work half your hours but still receive all your pay?
  • Do you wish you had more time for reading books and catching up on your RSS feeds?
  • Do you have projects underway or in mind that you can’t find time to work on?
  • Do you work for a large profit based organisation?
  • Do you wish you could slack at work more but can’t figure out how?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you my friend, are working too hard. In this 5 part series I wish to discuss why you need to spend less effort working and more time furthering your own agenda, on company time. Continue reading →