Alexandra Levitt's column a week or two ago really struck a chord with me. For about a dozen years, I have progressed rather effectively in my career, in large part due to the application of what Levitt and others call "Intraprenuership" to solve problems and improve processes and operations for my various employers.
Even if you are not in a job that directly aligns with your passions and interests, noticing opportunities to maximize your abilities through creative solutions that improve efficiencies, expand product and service offerings to customers, or generate revenue, savings, and/or publicity are a great way to build value with your employer in today's environment. They also enable you to identify opportunities within the employer for advancement you may not have thought of.
Businesses committed to success will embrace the initiative of their employees at all levels to develop ways on the inside to increase productivity and profitability. If you are ready to take ownership and put in the effort to bring an idea of yours into a reality, intrapreneurship is a great opportunity that can start anytime.
Showing posts with label results. Show all posts
Showing posts with label results. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Hey Graduates! It's about results!
Today's Raleigh News & Observer features a great article on three NC State students who built a low-cost, quick response testing system for Tuberculosis. Their creation, which they have transformed into a new business to refine and eventually mass produce, presents significant advantages and benefits throughout the world, particularly in developing countries where reducing the time to analyze TB test results would expedite delivery of drugs necessary to treat it and reduce mortality.
For these three students, their work ethic, passion, and ability to develop creative solutions are all on display in a substantive matter that is relatable, one way or another, to just about everyone. While they are going out on their own for now, there is no doubt that their experience and impact will likely secure them future opportunities in their chosen fields for the foreseeable future, regardless of the general job climate.
In other words, they have already succeeded at the big trend every soon-to-be-graduates seems to be focused on: personal branding.
To be honest, I really don't understand the reason why there is such a focus on this. After all, is there really a need to give yourself a professional identity when the reality of the job opportunities available to new graduates (in any market) are fairly limited? Branding, or identity, is an ongoing process, and it seems to me that it would be best to present yourself as possessing the basic character traits any employer would want (i.e., work ethic, detail-orientation, endurance, obedience, loyalty) than try to define yourself in an employer or mentor may find a little presumptuous.
There are exceptions, as with these kids from NC State. Note, however, that their identity is represented by what the accomplishments they have made and the potential for the results they achieved.
Before you start thinking about your brand, you should ask yourself, "do I really have any results I can bring forward?" A degree is not a result, but rather a credential, and it does not separate yourself out. While the potential for success is important, a record of achievement is far more valuable, and in these times, it may serve to separate those who earn the available jobs from those who will continue to sit on the sidelines.
There is no substitute for achievement, and there is no better way to prove it than with results. For every graduate, this should be the focus of their pitch to potential employers.
For these three students, their work ethic, passion, and ability to develop creative solutions are all on display in a substantive matter that is relatable, one way or another, to just about everyone. While they are going out on their own for now, there is no doubt that their experience and impact will likely secure them future opportunities in their chosen fields for the foreseeable future, regardless of the general job climate.
In other words, they have already succeeded at the big trend every soon-to-be-graduates seems to be focused on: personal branding.
To be honest, I really don't understand the reason why there is such a focus on this. After all, is there really a need to give yourself a professional identity when the reality of the job opportunities available to new graduates (in any market) are fairly limited? Branding, or identity, is an ongoing process, and it seems to me that it would be best to present yourself as possessing the basic character traits any employer would want (i.e., work ethic, detail-orientation, endurance, obedience, loyalty) than try to define yourself in an employer or mentor may find a little presumptuous.
There are exceptions, as with these kids from NC State. Note, however, that their identity is represented by what the accomplishments they have made and the potential for the results they achieved.
Before you start thinking about your brand, you should ask yourself, "do I really have any results I can bring forward?" A degree is not a result, but rather a credential, and it does not separate yourself out. While the potential for success is important, a record of achievement is far more valuable, and in these times, it may serve to separate those who earn the available jobs from those who will continue to sit on the sidelines.
There is no substitute for achievement, and there is no better way to prove it than with results. For every graduate, this should be the focus of their pitch to potential employers.
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