I am not a book expert nor even a consistent book reader, but I intend
to start reading more books from now on. I would like to start giving my
two-cents on the books I have read to share my views and opinion on them with others
just like me, the infrequent reader, to overview the perspective I gained after
reading a book. I am hoping to receive critical feedbacks on the points I may
have been missing out or even wronged about. Recommendations on books that you
all think might be helpful and useful to me would be certainly appreciated.
First things first, what made me choose this book?
I have started my first job for a
consultancy company in early 2016. I am already in my mid 20s and just fresh
out of school after finishing my MSc studies in the UK. So, to be frank,
jumping into the working world was quite challenging and it took me (in fact,
still taking) me some time to settle in. I am fortunate to be able to be
involved working in the industry that I am passionate about. However, later I
found that being passionate alone does not suffice. While I appreciate the
exposures I am gaining and able to cope up with the job scope, I noticed that I
consistently and repeatedly slacking with my soft skills especially in terms of
communication. A year has passed, and after personal scrutiny of the overview
of my first working year, I am very disappointed to notice that I have made insignificant progress in my
soft skills.
So I decided to get some help
regarding this. I have talked to friends that are facing similar issues,
watched self-improvements videos and many more. Then I decided to get this book
- So, You Want To Get Promoted? by
Shankar R. Santhiram that I hoped, could give useful insights to help me
improve on my soft skills.
So, what did I learn from this book?
I know from the title, you might
think it is all about strategies to help you get promoted – this is true.
However though, the content really touches on the ways you could improve
yourself to be a great employee in your company. What caught me the most about
this book was it outlines 5 steps – The
5 Keys To Get You There (one per chapter) that will provide you the guidance,
such as in avoiding possible conflicts, improving communication skills,
becoming a reliable worker and many other areas that will distinguish you from
any other ordinary employee to a valuable employee.
The 5 Keys To Get You There and
their steps are;
1. Get
Noticed
-
Let Your Results Speak For You
-
Admit Your Failures
-
Get Social
-
What’s My Brand
-
Developing Specialist Skills
-
Getting Connected To A Purpose
-
Observe, Listen, Read & Model
-
Care About What You Do
-
Focus On Continuous Improvement
-
Develop Self-Belief
-
Decide What Upskilling Is Required
-
Upskilling For Your Company
-
Upskilling For Your Industry
-
Managing Your Time For High Performance
-
Learning To Work With Others
-
Stay On Point
-
Beat Procrastination
-
What Is High Value For You?
-
Stay Calm Under Pressure
-
Be Unyielding
-
Become Emotionally Aware
-
Being Clear About What You Need
-
Choosing The Right Mentors
-
Building A Strong Relationship
-
The Time To End A Mentoring Relationship
The steps were elaborated very
comprehensively but in a way, very easy to understand and agree to. After going
through each of the 5 Keys, the author also noted a summary or review of the
steps which I find helpful to recap each chapter.
One of the plus sides of this
book is that it was well-structured and made generic. It is not specified for any
particular industry, so any new entry level employees, no matter what industry
or profession you are in, can relate to this book. For me, I was constantly
surprised that I could relate to almost all (around 90%) with the issues and
conflicts raised in this book and I am pretty sure others will do, too. There
even were a few times that I said to myself whilst reading this book - “I
should’ve done that!” and “I should think about that first before making my
decisions.” So, somehow, without realising it, I really DID feel connected with
the book.
Overall, I could find a lot of
vital points made by the author to help the readers to become a better employee
and improve the way they work, how they approach each task and others. This
book was a light read even though some of the things stated are things that we
all already knew, but the author produced simple, logical and conclusive
remarks and examples on the subjects that affects the outcome of our actions
and give significant impact in our career. I recommend this book to be read not
only to those who have recently started their career but also to anyone who is
currently searching for a job or even those who have accepted a job offer that
have some time before joining a company. This book will give you the heads ups
of what to expect and guides you on how you could deal with the possible ups
and downs situation that you may encounter in a way, which could either jeopardies your career, or on the
other hand, will make you stand out as a great employee.
Allow me to end this article by
borrowing the Afterword from the author;
There you are, the 5 Keys. Get noticed for the right reasons; work on adding value to everything
that you do; concentrate on up skilling to improve yourself; transform your
personal habits and become reliable; and get help from the right mentors. Follow through these 5 keys diligently and you will place yourself at
the top of the list for promotions. Just understanding them is not enough. You need to take action. And your attitude towards your work life will determine how successful
you are at getting promoted. I used to think it was always about doing what you love. As I have
gained experience, I think it is more. I believe it is about connecting with
your job, and this can be any job, so that you will learn to love it. When you connect with your job, you will become passionate about it. And
being passionate is a precursor of being good at anything. When you are good at
your job, you will get promoted.
*Note that it is not just merely
of getting promotions, but also to help you become a great employee.
However, all of the
recommendations made should be applied, as at the end of the day, KNOWLEDGE IS
NOT POWER, APPLIED KNOWLEDGE IS. It may seem very easy execute, but in reality,
it is more difficult than we could ever
imagine. These steps obviously require constant trials and practices but I hope
the positive and progressive efforts made will become a habit in the workplace.
Will it be effective? How long will it take? All that depends on each
individual, right?
Book pages: 92
Price: RM29.90
Store the book was bought: MPH,
Alamanda
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