I have talked about the importance of personal reviews before. With the appraisal season just gone by/going on, it is a good time to talk about it again.
I found a sheet of paper today as I was spring cleaning one of my cabinets. It’s titled: Things I learnt in the last FY. It was made post the first year of my career (not that I am much older now!). Back then I was fresh out of college, brazen and always spoke my mind (not always a good thing in the business world). The sheet is not only a reflection of the person I was back then and the mistakes I’d made; it also has a few valuable lessons that I forget every now and then. I’m going to list them down here and hopefully, you’d make your own little note too.
List of things I learnt in the last FY:
- Never say ‘No’ without sugar coating it first
- Learn to be diplomatic in all conversations and mails. You never know what may be used against you.
- Speak your mind but know how to.
- Never assume
- Try and develop an aura of authority.
To move ahead in your career
- Look the part (power dressing)
- Speak intelligently, clearly and with lot of references to various books/research
- Stay away for trouble makers
- Pick some winning projects and help drive to the end
- Make connections – both internal & external
This little list might tell you more about the younger me than I’d like to admit. I’ve still not learnt all the lessons that I wanted to. The ‘aura of authority’ bit was part because of an elder respected colleague and part because of an article I read. But, 5 years down the line, I’d still like to re-read these to see how far I’ve come or am yet to go.
What does your list tell you?
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