Working Girl Rules: Work Hard/Know Your Business
For this edition of working girl rules I decided to talk about working hard and knowing your business. This might be the most important rule for a number of reasons. First of all I am a big believer that working hard can make you successful in most things. You might not be the smartest, or the most experienced person at the table but if you are willing to work the hardest you will end up winning in the end. The ability to go the extra mile is often times what separates the winners from the losers.
I have won some great battles at work because of hard work. I have heard the old saying "work smart not hard" but I don't really agree with that. I think you have to do both work hard and work smart. I made a promise to myself years ago that I would never lose a battle because I was out worked by someone else.
The second part of the rule is knowing your business. I have a dear friend that I have worked with for many years and we were talking the other day about how we become so familiar with our business or the issues we are working on that it becomes like second nature to us. My friend is a very smart cookie and she never lets anyone talk down to her or act smarter than her because of who they are. She taught me this lesson years ago and it is one I still carry with me.
See people are going to try and convince you that they are smarter than you or know more than you. This is a pure intimidation tactic and one that might work if you don't believe in yourself and don't know your business. I'm not saying you have to know everything and if you don't you are a loser. Never be afraid to say I don't know but will get back to you! This is a much better solution than lying or making something up and then having to correct yourself later. The best thing you can do for yourself is make an effort to truly understand the industry you work in. Step outside of what you do every day and figure out what the other people in the building are doing.
Every summer I take myself back to school for a week. For one week I shadow people in other departments, drive to other offices we have to see what they do and in general try to learn as much as I can. I also read articles and trade magazines to stay up-to-date on what's going on. This is not the fun or flashy part of any job but it is what truly successful people do in order to continue growing.
I learned this a long time ago when I saw someone leaving the office with a file folder full of reading material. "What's that?" I asked. See at this point in my life (I was 25) the weekend was for partying. "On Saturday mornings I read all the articles, memos etc. that were sent to me all week and I didn't get a chance to read". Wow! That was a moment in my career when I realized you constantly have to be learning to stay on top. I now do the same thing and take home reading materials over the weekend and get caught up.
Your lessons for working hard and knowing your business will be different than mine. But don't ever miss out on the chance to learn from others and grow it is what will separate you from everyone else and make you stand out.
So work hard, know your business and keep reaching for what you want most!
I have won some great battles at work because of hard work. I have heard the old saying "work smart not hard" but I don't really agree with that. I think you have to do both work hard and work smart. I made a promise to myself years ago that I would never lose a battle because I was out worked by someone else.
The second part of the rule is knowing your business. I have a dear friend that I have worked with for many years and we were talking the other day about how we become so familiar with our business or the issues we are working on that it becomes like second nature to us. My friend is a very smart cookie and she never lets anyone talk down to her or act smarter than her because of who they are. She taught me this lesson years ago and it is one I still carry with me.
See people are going to try and convince you that they are smarter than you or know more than you. This is a pure intimidation tactic and one that might work if you don't believe in yourself and don't know your business. I'm not saying you have to know everything and if you don't you are a loser. Never be afraid to say I don't know but will get back to you! This is a much better solution than lying or making something up and then having to correct yourself later. The best thing you can do for yourself is make an effort to truly understand the industry you work in. Step outside of what you do every day and figure out what the other people in the building are doing.
Every summer I take myself back to school for a week. For one week I shadow people in other departments, drive to other offices we have to see what they do and in general try to learn as much as I can. I also read articles and trade magazines to stay up-to-date on what's going on. This is not the fun or flashy part of any job but it is what truly successful people do in order to continue growing.
I learned this a long time ago when I saw someone leaving the office with a file folder full of reading material. "What's that?" I asked. See at this point in my life (I was 25) the weekend was for partying. "On Saturday mornings I read all the articles, memos etc. that were sent to me all week and I didn't get a chance to read". Wow! That was a moment in my career when I realized you constantly have to be learning to stay on top. I now do the same thing and take home reading materials over the weekend and get caught up.
Your lessons for working hard and knowing your business will be different than mine. But don't ever miss out on the chance to learn from others and grow it is what will separate you from everyone else and make you stand out.
So work hard, know your business and keep reaching for what you want most!
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