Being proactive at the workplace

Hi, I'm Dr. Tali, and today we're talking about being proactive as a career professional. So the first thing I would say is you want to make your boss look good. That is the best thing you can do. That's the most useful thing for your career. So when you work in a company, you always have a boss, right? If you're the boss, I'm sure you have a board or a chairman or someone to report to. So you always have to think about how does. What does success look like? How does my boss think about this job and think about our work? And what do they want to see? How do they want to see the team succeeding? How do they want to see us hitting our goals? What is it to them? Is a good day like we did what we were supposed to do? What puts them in a good mood? What do they get to brag about when they're at meetings or when they're talking to their peers? That's how you should be thinking because that should drive what you are doing every day. So when I say be proactive, I mean we're trying not to be passive. Don't just wait for things to happen to you or them to give you work or for the deadline or for the meeting. Do what you can do what is in your control. How can you go above and beyond? How can you be thoughtful? How can you think? What can you do for the company? I've noticed this at the last three events. This is where we're going wrong. If I take some initiative right now, suggest this program to my boss, maybe we'll have better events. You start to think like that, that's how you become more proactive. And I say make your boss look good because you don't want to do it in a way that makes your boss look bad. Because that's just going to make your life harder, right? Because if you now try to outshine your boss or show off to others or to do things that as your boss is without their permission, you're going to ruin that relationship. And relationships are very important for advancing your career. So you have to think about what are your boss's goals. And they're usually quite vocal about these things. You can tell when they're happy about something or who they always praise or what they're always happy to see gets done. You know, what they talk about in public or with other people in the office or in the company. That's what you're trying to target. Put yourself in their shoes. How do they get to shine in their job. If you start doing that, they will start to like you more. You will start to shine because. Because you're now speaking their language, you're hitting what they want. It's a win win situation in their mind because you're doing what needs to be done to make them look good, which makes you look good. So if you're being proactive in your career, think that way. How do you make your boss look good? How do you make sure that your winning is their winning? It's a shift of mindset. But once you start to notice these things and you start to apply them, you'll start to see results. One of the ways you can apply this is by asking questions. I think when you're a career person and you work in a corporate office or for a company or a business, you want to be the person that knows more because you can use more with that information. Being proactive is. It's something that takes information. You need the knowledge to act on it. So you don't want to be proactive in all kinds of directions because then you're wasting your energy. You want to be strategic. Asking questions is a useful tool in a corporate environment. It's a good thing because it shows that you are in like you're more enthusiastic about the work. You're not just there because it's a job nine to five. Tick a box. You know, you. It makes you look like you're taking time and interest in what the work is, that you're passionate about your work, that you're interested in this sector, that you really care how the company goes, whether you care or not. This is something that's quite easy to fake because you just ask questions. I feel like being curious is not something you have to fake. You just have to wonder what the answer is and ask the questions. We have a culture of like, not asking questions because you feel like it makes you look stupid. But I feel like it's the opposite. If you're asking questions like that someone has just answered like, that's when you look bad because you're not paying attention in a meeting. That's not what I mean. I mean, ask strategic questions. Why do we do things this way? Have we tried this other idea? Have we thought of this kind of partnership? Can I try this different thing? Who is the person that's responsible for this? Oh, wow. This project was done so well. Who did this? Oh, really? It was Sarah from finance. Wow, Sarah. It's just adding to the conversation. It gets you in the mix. It helps people to notice you it's, it helps you to be more memorable and it empowers you with knowledge because you listen to the responses of the questions. Also, people really love to talk. So other people in your office, if you're someone who asks them questions, they'll like you more because you let them talk. If it's a supervisor or this guy who sits next to you asks how his weekend was or what he's up to tonight, this evening, or what Rotary group he's in, or what his church fellowship is doing right now, ask people questions. People like to talk, they like to share their lives. And it's how you connect and you relate to. So it's a wonderful way to get more information while also giving the other person a floor to speak. People who ask more questions are more like than the people who are always talking. Think about it. In your office, there's a person who's always talking and that person sometimes gets on people's nerves. Then there are people who ask strategic questions that open conversations, that make people think about things differently, that open invitations to planning something for corporate retreat, or what are we doing this weekend? Or shall we do this for the boss's birthday? You, you never know. But asking questions and getting in. The practice of asking questions also builds your own confidence. And you get used to speaking in the office, especially in small, small amounts. If you're someone who is not used to being the talking person, asking questions is a useful tool. So I would suggest you do that. It helps you to guide where you want to be proactive. Because when you have a career, you have to think about the long haul. Like, where am I trying to go with this? Where is this path taking me? Where is this job taking me? This boss, this relationship, this training, this project. So asking questions gives you more information so that you can make better decisions. And it also helps you to build relationships, which is very important in career advancing. The last thing I would say is now that you've thought about what your boss wants and you've asked a lot of questions, you want to start to think ahead. Like I said, we're thinking of the long term, but in the short term, once you have that information, what does this mean? Because for every decision and every action, there's consequences. So during meetings, when you're seeing people discussing, oh, yes, now we're going to take this project to the next district, we're going to be rolling out the new branches. Da da, da da. You start thinking ahead. What does that mean? It means they're going to make a new team. It means someone's going to be a project leader. It means they're going to send people for training, means someone is going to have to move to that new district. It means they're going to have to hire this many people. What do things mean? Think ahead. Don't wait for information to be given to you. If you've worked there for a while or you've asked the right questions, or you have friends with the boss's secretary, you have information. What does that information mean? What are the possible outcomes? If you start to think like that, you start to see opportunities before other people see them. Because most people are being passive. They're just sitting there in the meeting, waiting to be told. Sarah is moving to Gulu, you know, but if you're thinking about things in advance, you come prepared. So when they're discussing things in meetings, you can make suggestions, you can ask questions, you can volunteer yourself, you will be more useful and it's more strategic because you have a better chance. It's like knowing about an opportunity before other people do. Just because you've been there, you've asked questions, you know people, you're now thinking ahead. For every decision I make, I know there are going to be multiple consequences. But because I've worked in my job now for several years, no matter the sector or the company, I know that all the different decisions will have a certain amount of consequences. I need to know the budget, I need to know the timeline, I need to know who is responsible, what is the action that's going to be taken. Sometimes I'll be in a meeting and I have to assess. This is a great idea. But when I think about the execution, I'm like, we've been down this road before. How are we actually going to get this done? And so we'd rather choose the medium idea that we know will execute well, because that will leave better customer experience at the end, because I have experience and I've asked the right questions at the last event of what we were doing. So you have to start to think proactively like that, when you start to think about multiple consequences and you can even do it for different scenarios. If Bob gets the promotion, that means he's going to hire Tim and Grace and John to go with him to the new district. However, if Sarah gets the promotion, Hush is friends with Joyce and Camilla and Zoe in that company, so she's the one who's going to make those decisions and to help promote them. So you start to know these things in your mind. So when you show up for the meeting, you'll know if Bob gets the promotion or Sarah gets the promotion. You know how that's going to affect you. Because if this one's moved to that company, that means this one is going to move to this district. You know, there's always consequences and like ways things play out. I'm not saying you're always accurate, but the more you do this, the more accurate you become, the better you get at it. And it's not just about people. You know that if this project gets approved, there goes the whole marketing budget for the year. That means you can't suggest this other program. You know that if this project gets, they don't approve it and they're like, no, that's a bad idea. That gives you an opportunity to present your proposal. You see, there's always different ways things can play out. But if you're looking at all the different scenarios, then you can be strategic about which one works best for you and what you need to do to prepare to give yourself the best chance for that opportunity. Sometimes it helps to do this with a friend, not always a co worker. It's useful if the co worker and you have like aligned interests. However, if your consequences and their consequences are not in alignment, then it can cause more trouble because they can say something or do something to affect you. So I would suggest you do this with a friend who doesn't work with you. Like you know, your friends, who you tell about your workmates and what's going on, even your family members. You do like scenario planning. If this happens, then I can do this. If that happens, then I do that. Because usually we only do this when it's directly going to affect us. Oh, there's this job I'm up for. If I get the promotion, then I have to move to the next district or if this other person gets the job, I know that my life is going to be hard because they don't like me. You know, we only think about these things when the consequence to us is very clear. But there are so many things around us where the consequences will affect us and so many things where the consequences could affect us if we want. So if you're being proactive about these things, then it helps you to navigate, to prepare and to put yourself in the right place at the right time. You know who is the person that's going to make that decision. You know when that committee is going to do the approvals for this next project. So you start to plan these things. You start to plant seeds with your boss. You do a training in advance. You know, there are different things you can do to make opportunities happen for you so that you create sort of situational luck. Once you get used to thinking that way, I think it makes a big difference because you're less passive. Things don't just happen to you. So you stop being a victim for everything that happens in your corporate career or in your professional career and you start to be the driver, which is the whole point of being proactive. If you found this video useful, be sure to subscribe on my social media channels so you can get more information. I believe in you. I want you to succeed and I am here to support you.