Three years ago I took a leap of faith and left a company I
had been with for 9 years, to go to a competitor, and work in management for
the first time. As much technical knowledge and experience as I had, I was
definitely nervous about what was in store.
Now I am celebrating my three year anniversary at First
Business Bank, and almost twelve years in banking. (Did I really just say 12 years???) I will never claim to have things all figured
out, but I have learned a lot of lessons along the way.
Here is my list of the
7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Staring My Career:
1 – ASK.
Ask questions, ask people for their opinions, if you’re not sure why
something is done a certain way, ASK.
Asking questions is important, and asking powerful questions is even
better. It can be easy to only ask
questions when it’s absolutely necessary. You likely want to fly under the radar when
you’re starting out and just learn to do things the way they’ve always been
done. Asking questions shows that you
are thinking and that you care. If you
ask bigger picture questions, it shows you will go above and beyond in your
thinking, and your work.
2 - Eat lunch and attend happy hours with
people outside of your department. Building
connections with people in your company that are in other areas will pay
dividends. You will have more allies at
work, and when you are tasked with something that involves these other
departments, you’ll have a smoother go of it if you’re already familiar with
someone involved.
3 – Remember people’s names and use them. I have always struggled with remembering
names, and last year I made a conscious effort to use people’s names when I
greet them. It was amazing how people’s
responses to me changed! People are always at least moderately friendly, but
when you use their name it becomes a much stronger link between the two of
you. Even Dale Carnegie knew this when
he wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People back in the
1930’s. He said that hearing your own
name is the sweetest and most important sound in any language. He’s right.
4 – Become the expert in areas people shy away from. You will learn quickly in a new job that there are tasks people willingly take on, and then there other things people will groan about and try to avoid. In my first bank job people dodged participation loans, SBA loans, report writing, and New Market Tax Credit loans. So what did I work hard at specializing in? Participation loans, SBA loans, report writing, and New Market Tax Credit loans. This will quickly set you apart as someone who doesn’t back away from challenge, which is invaluable when you’re trying to stand out in a positive way.
5 – Dress for the job you want, not just the
job you have. Starting out I could
barely afford groceries, let alone a wardrobe of dress clothes. I would buy things cheap, and wear them till
they wore out. Over time I learned
through observation that there was a difference in perception of people who
barely met the dress code, and those that put themselves together well
daily. Now before I go much further, I
don’t think you should be judged by your looks and clothes. We’re all glorious people full of potential no
matter what we wear. BUT, most of the
information someone gets from meeting you once is from your appearance. You have a choice to use that to your
advantage or not.
6 – Respect those who aren’t present. a.k.a. Don’t
trash talk co-workers. When
starting a new job it is very easy to cling to the first group of people that
accept you. If you quickly find they are
a group that will gossip and talk badly about other employees whenever they
have a chance, graciously distance yourself from them. They’re the toxic ones everyone knows about,
and you don’t want to be in that category.
People watch new employees closely, so this is a great chance to show
your integrity and gain trust. If you
rise above the shit talking and instead spin conversations in a constructive
way, people will respect you, and will know you won’t trash them as soon as
they leave the room.
7 – Relationships are
JUST as important as tasks. This threads through everything I’ve written about
in this post. It is really important to
be knowledgeable and great at the work you are required to do, but the other
side of the equation is the people. You
will never know which co-worker will eventually be your boss, or be close to
someone in HR at a competitor. The
absolute best thing you can do is make it a point to get to know people, be
sincere, take the high road, and manage yourself with integrity. There’s no telling how one bad relationship
could ruin your chances at your dream job, or one good relationship could open
the door to a golden opportunity.
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| There's no shortage of fun relationships to build at First Business! |
