Symptom 1: Job-hopping is bad for one’s career

This was true about a decade ago. At the time, employers viewed job-hopping as a sign of instability and hence unreliability. The new thinking is different. Job-hoppers are considered market-savvy and having more exposure since they have worked in more than one company. This also makes them appear desirable in the market. They are considered smart players, who plan their growth and actively seek challenges [working in a new place is a challenge]. On the contrary, those who are in the same job for long are seen as lacking ambition—people who are stuck in their comfort zones and undesirable in the market.

It may sound radical, but the approach soon will be—if you haven’t moved in two or two-and-a-half years, you had better have a good reason for staying at that job. The new-age thinking is speedily seeping in as recruiters don’t have the luxury of writing off good talent just because of job hopping. Picking people with high performance is always desirable and when it is a consistent feature at previous jobs it also conspicuously indicates the fast learning and quick-on-delivery traits of the candidate. Today, loyalty is more about delivery than time spent behind the desk. Often people hold out in a career or a job for a little too long until it’s clear that the job isn’t working for them anymore. This may be for two reasons, either they are nervous to take the plunge or they have been fed upon the age old myth of job-hopping is bad. Hanging on more than the required shelf life of the job blunts your ability for accepting new challenges and getting into a delivery position where results are outstanding.

So regularly keep monitoring yourself for the next jump before it is too late. The change is much harder to manage when you’re operating from a place of desperation and exhaustion. However, remember: Don’t burn bridges and leave with good references; keep your spouse in the loop not just about what you’re doing but also about what you’re thinking. It goes a long way in creating a team feeling.

Symptom 2: Engaging in office politics isn’t right

Office politics is nothing but networking with the right people, nurturing your relationships and knowing what to say when. It’s nothing but being sensible. What’s not ‘right’ about it?

My suggestion is observe those who build their careers quickest. Don’t they spend almost one-fifth of their time at work in office politics—building their network and nurturing relationships? This is vital to success. It’s one of the fastest ways to grow because you will have friends in all the right places. Think of it as a strategy that you use to accomplish what you want.

But don’t confuse office politics with office gossip. Participating in office gossip is never a good move unless it is for listening and gathering information. If you are seen as a gossip monger, be ready to kiss your dreams goodbye.

Symptom 3: Big companies is where success is

Just like we have a general tendency to associate goodwill and positive attributes to good looking people, we really get excited about big brands and large companies. We automatically correlate personal success with that of the company. I don’t have anything against people working for corporate giants. It’s the perception, which I’m against. There are many drawbacks of working in a big organisation and I can say this with confidence as I have been employed with at least three of the world’s most renowned brands in the past.

You’ll learn newer ways of doing things and better processes but executing any plan takes time given the multi-tiered hierarchy of such organisations. Lastly and most importantly, you don’t get to fail as often as you want so the learning curve exists but develops at its own gradual pace.

Symptom 4: All you need for success is hard word and good work

For some reason people seem to believe that if an individual will work hard, follow the rules, and be patient s/he will be successful. Hard work is necessary but overrated. Also, it depends on what you mean by hard work. The new-age mantra is—it’s not about how you work but about how fast you can learn and apply what you learn that makes you most valuable.

Simply by slogging for long hours every day will not take you anywhere. What you need is focus, ambition, willingness to take risk, desire to grow and efficiency.

Symptom 5: A perfect resume guarantees a job

There is no such thing as a ‘perfect resume’. Besides, a resume will neither help you get a job nor will it help in networking. I have seen thousands of resumes, but have never come across even one that compelled me to hire the person without the usual interview.

A resume is simply a means that you use to introduce yourself to potential employers. That’s not to say that if a resume is exceptional it won’t interest an employer, but they will only take you as far as the interview room. It will not guarantee you a job. So your resume need not be perfect, it should be good enough for the HR and hiring manager to seriously consider you for a position. Neither of them care about how ‘perfect’ it is.

That doesn’t mean that you should present a badly done resume. The important thing to remember when crafting your resume is to resist making yourself look more important than you really are, to impress head hunters. Such embellishments make you vulnerable to all sorts of problems as it would be pretty discrediting if your prospective employer actually calls your previous employer to verify your job tasks and discovers that you were not exactly forthcoming in your specific duties. Avoid the other extreme as well—a resume is not a laundry list that reveals everything about you. Highlight your work talent and qualifications in an honest and easy to understand manner.

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Hem and Haw were extremely excited. They saw this as an opportunity to impress the beautiful mice princess, Maya, and immediately started preparing for their long journey. Hem set out with his chisel, hammer and other tools necessary for sculpting cheese, in his backpack.

He travelled relentlessly for the entire day. At the fall of night, he checked into a mice tavern in a clearing by the road. After a sumptuous meal, Hem was just sitting there and soaking in the atmosphere when he noticed a large piece of cheese, as big as a boulder, in the bar.

He decided to practise for the upcoming sculpting competition. So taking his tools out of the backpack, he began to chisel away at the cheese.

Several hours later, Hem stood back to look at his handiwork. It was a statue of Princess Maya. The onlookers applauded his art and Hem was reasonably happy with his attempt. However, he realised that the ears of the statue were too big for the body. He made a mental note to be careful of this in the future and went to sleep after a tiring day.

The next morning, he continued on his way leaving the statue of Princess Maya behind. Fortunately, on the second evening, Hem found another cheese to practise on and carved another sculpture of the Princess.

This time, he got her ears right but made her legs shorter. He made a mental note on how to improve on it the next time and moved on. This continued throughout his journey. He would check into a tavern at night only when he could get a big piece of cheese to practise on.

Every evening he would create a sculpture of Princess Maya, make mental notes on how he could improve, and move on the following morning, leaving the sculpture where he created. It took Hem seven nights to reach the Royal Mice Gardens. By then, he had made seven practice sculptures that were each a little better than the one before.

On the day of the competition, Hem created his best sculpture ever and, to his delight, was awarded the coveted ‘Golden Sculptor’ award. Princess Maya was so overwhelmed by his work that she consented to go out for a dinner with him.

Now you may be wondering what happened to the other sculptor, Haw. So let me tell you his side of the story&

Like Hem, Haw too set out on the seven-day journey to the Royal Gardens for the sculpting competition. He too made camp on the first night at an inn, found a large cheese to practise on, and created a statue of Princess Maya.

He realised that he had made her eyes and nose bigger than her body. Haw got upset for making this mistake. The next morning, he heaved the statue onto his back to study his mistake later, and continued on his journey.

At the end of his second day of travel, Haw found another cheese to practise on. After a couple of hours of hard work, he created another statue. This time, he forgot to include the whiskers and became furious at his mistake.

He could not sleep the entire night. The next morning, he woke up feeling tired and lethargic. But he had a long journey ahead, so he heaved the second statue onto his back as well and trudged slowly towards his destination.

Night after night, Haw repeated this pattern: he would create a statue of Princess Maya, get angry with himself for the mistakes, then carry the statue on his back and move on.

By the seventh night, he was exhausted and had lost all motivation. The next morning, he woke up early to set out for the final leg of the journey with the seven statues on his back. Alas, he could not move an inch. With clenched teeth, he strained to move, but nothing happened.

He realised that the statues were extremely heavy, making it impossible to move. Haw complained bitterly as he looked over the statues in detail—too big, too short, too tall, something amiss &the list of mistakes went on and on.

The heart broken mouse slumped down next to a tree stump and continued to stare at his statues for hours. As a result, he never made it to the Royal Gardens to participate in the competition.

The story illustrates the fine difference between success and failure. The statues of the princess in the story are a metaphor for the mistakes we make in life. What differentiated Hem from Haw was the way in which they responded to their mistakes.

When Hem created practice statues, he observed and made mental notes of mistakes he made remembering to be careful to avoid them in the future. However, he left the mistakes where he made them and continued towards his goal. As a result, he gradually developed his skills and eventually achieved his ultimate objective.

Haw, on the other hand, had a different approach towards his mistakes. He weighed himself down with his mistakes every time he made them. The load on his back kept increasing day-by-day until one day it immobilised him.

Instead of leaving his mistakes behind, Haw carried the weight of his mistakes with him, which eventually prevented him from reaching his objective.

Each one of us makes mistakes on our journey to success—some small, some big. And every time you make a mistake, you have a choice: either learn from your mistake and move on like Hem, or add it to your baggage like Haw.

The danger in harbouring regret and continually analysing your past mistakes is that, like Haw, you can eventually get stuck and can jeopardise the achievements that are waiting for you in your future.

Reflect on the story of Hem and Haw and make the decision to leave your mistakes where you make them. It’ll help you move ahead in spite of mistakes.

This was first published in the May 2011 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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But an overwhelming number of managers get this wrong, leading to poor output and increasing stress.

Too many leaders ponder:”What should I delegate?” That’s where they go wrong in the first place. The right approach should be, “What is it that I can’t delegate?” I think that except for projects that are sensitive and absolutely confidential or the ones that deal with long-term objectives of the organisation, most of the tasks with due diligence can be effectively delegated.

Also, if they can deliver a task better than you or if a task is more time and cost-effective if they handle it instead of you, go right ahead and delegate it.

The next pitfall with many a managers is they delegate tasks, which they are not comfortable doing themselves. This is an absolute no-no. Instead, the question to be asked by the managers should be, “What are my people good at?”

You should hand over those tasks to your team that stop you from reaching your full potential or ones for which you are over- or under specialised. Ensure that the tasks are suitable to be delegated and handed to the appropriate individual.

Poor delegation may boomerang and can result as a morale buster for the team. It may even lead to developing bad blood within the team. Be honest about your reasons for delegating a task.

An important question to answer before you delegate a responsibility or a task to an individual or team is, “What’s in it for them?” Delegation is about them, not you. Delegate responsibilities that people will aspire to handle, or areas that you want them to develop.

Another trap that managers fall into is of procrastinating assigning tasks because they are unsure if their subordinates can deliver as effectively as they can. Delegation does not mean losing control over the task. It means showing respect for the talent others can bring to the table.

However, you can get around this issue by delegating as per your subordinates’ strengths; don’t set them up to fail. Even if you have minor reservations or doubts, still consider delegating. This is a good opportunity to start building independence.

As a manager you already have a full plate. Get realistic, others don’t have to do things as good as you. They just have to be good enough. If they have passion, then even being ‘good enough’ will take them to next levels of performance. Understand that mentoring is a critical component of the delegation process.

Some managers try to scheme their way into delegating tasks. In the process to make the other accept a task, they make it sound simple and without much of work. They forget that in doing so they undermine the importance of the task and the person who has to handle it.

A better approach is to let the person understand the importance of a task, the responsibility it brings and the long-term consequences it comes with. Once they are clear about the task, the ownership comes on its own.

Clarity of vision is one factor that never fails to bring the better out of your team. Begin with the end in mind. Intelligent managers always share the vision before they share the tasks. It automatically fires the brain to perform better because tasks without the vision are unexciting and cumbersome.

The idea is to make people feel that they are contributing to the success of the organisation rather than standing on the periphery.

Always state the required outcomes and results at the outset. Explain what must be achieved, what the measurements will be, and clarify how you intend to decide that the job was successfully done. Recheck understanding by asking them to explain what they understood in their words. Look for reassurance that the task can be done.

Address any gaps and reinforce your belief in the individuals. They need to know you trust them. Focus on results. Concern yourself with what is accomplished, rather than detailing how the work should be done: your way is not necessarily the only or even the best way.

Allow them to use their own methods and processes. This facilitates success and trust. Empowerment is also about letting go so others can get going. Express the confidence in their abilities to live up to the expectations and yet give them space to make some mistakes. Keep the communication process open to provide inputs, support and feedback.

You must absorb the consequences of failure, create an environment where failure is an opportunity to learn and grow and pass on the credit for success.

Do not micro-manage. At the same time, do not altogether abdicate control. For effective delegation, it is of paramount importance to find the balance between giving enough space for the people to use their abilities to the best effect and grow, and monitoring and supporting to ensure the work is done correctly and effectively.

Always have enough time to review the delegated work when it comes back to you. As a thumb rule, do not accept half-finished jobs as this would result in your team never learning to deliver the job properly and taking ownership. Worse, this will land you in a position where you have to clean the mess and add to your already full plate.

As an effective manager, it is important on your part to get in the habit of complimenting and sharing credit if you are satisfied by what they have done. This effort on your part will go a long way in winning their trust.

Effective delegation involves achieving the desired results, managing the demanding deadlines, empowering and equipping the team, developing a second line of go-getters, and efficiently multi-tasking.

Most of all, it creates the most expensive commodity for yourself—time—time for planning, strategising, making decisions and sharpening the saw. Remember, though, that you can delegate tasks and vision but not your responsibility.

Ultimately, the responsibility of getting work done remains with the manager. If a task fails, you cannot point fingers at anyone. You delegated. It was your call. You may have picked the wrong person for the job. The responsibility for non-performance remains at the top, as the buck always stops at the leader.

Go all out and learn the vital science that goes into delegation. And keep applying the principles, for, no manager has been perpetually successful without excelling in the art of delegation.

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