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FROM: MAY-JUN 2008 ISSUE | BY MERGE GUPTA-SUNDERJI
One of the challenges of youth is that young people are not always taken seriously. When you get promoted to your first formal leadership role you’ll likely be supervising employees who are older than you and have more experience. Take the time to deliberately gain respect and build credibility with your colleagues – it will assist you in living up to your leadership potential. Here are four practical ideas to help you earn greater influence and responsibility early in your career.
Learn More
Ask lots of questions and listen carefully to the answers. Many young people feel that asking questions accentuates their youth and is a sign of weakness. But asking questions is an indication that you want to improve, and the easiest way to gain knowledge and skills to help you become better at what you do. If you’re more competent, you’re more respected. When you ask questions, it tells the person you are asking that you view them as a capable resource, and it builds a stronger relationship.
Share Your Knowledge
You come from a generation that’s technologically savvy. Chances are that you know a lot more about Instant Messaging, Google AdWords, HTML coding, web conferencing, and the benefits of LinkedIn and Facebook than most of your co-workers. Offer to help others understand and work with these tools. Whether it is formatting documents, creating spreadsheets, or finding information on the Web, jump in to help. If you can see a way to streamline a process, either by creating a template for common tasks, or by using technology, do it. Then share the finished product with others. Be aware that there’s a fine line between sharing your knowledge and showing off. Offer assistance to others, but only give the information if they acknowledge that they want it.
Get Involved
Take every opportunity to participate with co-workers and management – in both professional and social situations. Volunteer to participate in special projects, new initiatives, the United Way campaign. Say yes when you are invited to drinks after work, or lunch with members of the team. Participate in forums and question-and-answer sessions. Take every opportunity to interact with senior co-workers. Understand that getting involved is about making yourself visible in a positive and productive way. Remember not to overindulge in alcohol at company social events as all your efforts will be in vain if you get tagged as the person who “drinks too much.”
Write Well
Whether you like it or not, people make judgments about your intelligence and your capabilities based on the e-mails and reports you write. If you write well – full sentences, correct grammar, appropriate punctuation, proper capitalization – people make positive assumptions about you long before they meet you. When they do, they may be surprised at how young you are, since your writing reflects much greater maturity. Writing well will give you a competitive advantage, as many people have not realized that instant messaging etiquette does not apply to business communication.
Don’t let your youth be a drawback. Act decisively to get the respect you deserve, and set yourself on the path to long-term success. Building your credibility with these simple actions will make your current or future role as a leader much easier. Let me know how you do.
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