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There’s a fine line between being annoying and being assertive, just like there’s a fine line between being a pest and being someone who responsibly follows up.
People might not tell your boss if you did a great job of being respectful of their time, but trust that the feedback will get to your superiors’ ears if you’re not, even if you’re talking to someone in the most distant corner of the organization who technically has a lower position than you.
How do you position yourself so that others willingly help you?
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Everyone at Harvard is pretty much trained to be a leader. They arrive having been the president of the debate club, CEO of a small company and captain of the fencing team.
One of the major transitions is learning how to work as a team amongst a group of type A people. It’s easy to lead when people are used to following, less so when other people are used to leading.
There are a few strategies you can take to help lead a team of leaders without appearing to be THAT obnoxiously bossy person.
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Today’s intern training session touched on my company’s philosophy that it is “impossible to turn a weaknesses into a strength.” It seemed counter-intuitive. Why wouldn’t every company want to turn each employee’s weaknesses into strengths?
But, then, in that rare flash of insight I am rarely prone to, realized it was about ROI — Return on Investment.
Rather than having employees spend excessive amounts of time trying to turn a fear of public speaking into a Broadway actor’s stage presence, companies would rather have them reach an acceptable level of public speaking competency. The return on investment for reaching perfection for a weakness just isn’t worth it.
I would argue that the most successful (and happiest) Harvard students are those who leverage those strengths.
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It is a v. well-known fact that Harvard students tend to over-commit themselves to difficult classes, time consuming problem sets, sports teams, term-time jobs and leadership and axillary positions in approximately 13 extracurriculars.
While the effects of over-committing are well-documented (anxiety, stress, lack of sleep), the external effects of over-committing are often glossed over. In fact, we live in a culture that praises the nearly over-committed. We want people to work hard and long hours to achieve what they want (money, fame, success), but we don’t want them to necessarily crash and burn.
However, a population of the (nearly) over-committed isn’t quite optimal either.
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It’s easy to get things done when you’re in charge. Hell, you’re the boss, it should be easy to get things done. But, what if you’re a gear in the corporate cog? No direct reports, just colleagues and higher ups. How in the world are you supposed to make an impact?
Commentary: Netflix on Freedom & Responsibility Culture
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Netflix takes its corporate culture seriously. Probably the first and only time I would recommend or read a presentation deck of 128 slides. It features FASCINATING insights about its business strategy and culture of work.
I’ve worked for a number of different companies — big, small, new — each has its own set of characteristics. Netflix, thus far, has an extremely unique point of view. The level of transparency is severely refreshing.
Quick kudos to one of my favorite blogs: TechCrunch.
What do you think? How does Netflix compare to companies you’ve worked for or worked with?
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