How to Succeed in the Business World - Assignment Example

RUNNING HEAD How to Succeed How to Succeed in the Business World How to Succeed in the Business World Overview of the Paper Renowned Greek orator Demosthenes (not dated) believed that “small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises”. Whether big or small, however, one should be prepared to turn such enterprises into success stories. This paper is an exposition on how success can be achieved in the business world from the accounts of those who have either enjoyed the fruits of their success, or those who have ably mentored other people to craft their tales of triumph in business or in related endeavors. All successful ventures are devised from a carefully prepared scheme. Even what people regarded as overnight success came about as a result of rigorous preparation, which started the day a person is born. People are either aware or unaware that they are undergoing preparatory experiences. A simple home task of running an errand trains young people to follow instructions, communicate effectively and assume responsibility. Being assigned chores to do at home with the rest of the siblings or a group project in school educate people to discover the ins and outs of working in groups until eventually, team working skills are developed. As people mature for more demanding roles, leadership skills are honed in four contexts: (1) at home, even in such simple activities as organizing a birthday party for a family member; (2) in school, while leading a book club or a student government body; (3) at work, as management trainee and eventually as department head or a top executive of the company; and (4) in the community, as a responsible citizens supporting a worthy cause. On the whole, however, success in the business environment or in any other undertaking must be also tempered with a balanced life so that a person does not burn out or fade away oblivious of better and bigger opportunities for growth and advancement. The discussion is divided into six sections: preparing to succeed, communicating with others, working in groups, leadership in the workplace, keeping balance in life, and a conclusion or synthesis of the ideas tackled in this paper. Preparing to Succeed Success of younger adults are usually viewed as a measure of how well they have done in school. In school, the competition is somewhat delimited as to the time frame with which proficiency is supposed to have been acquired, usually at the end of a school term. In the workplace, however, a different gauge of success is used, which considers not only what has been learned but the time needed to achieve such learning, as well. As De Gues (not dated) quipped, a person’s ability to learn faster than his competition is this person’s only sustainable competitive advantage. Coming from a global statesman of business change, De Gues’s generalization could very well find good application in the business world. The role of schools in preparing individuals to succeed can not, however, be understated. Weare (2000) recognized the increasing role of schools in preparing students to succeed in the workplace, as well as the changing nature of work since the last half of the 20th century. It was during this period that social and emotional fitness were perceived to be equally important as technical proficiency in the workplace, and likewise for success. Among the compelling reasons for the increasing focus on social and emotional aptitude is the paradigm shift in the industrial sector from manufacturing to service. Weare maintained that: “work has become increasingly social rather than technical, and has brought about an increased emphasis on communication, teamwork, self-motivation and human management. The increasing rate of change in types and patterns of employment means that people need to be self-motivated, flexible, adaptable and know how to learn, rather than being wedded to a particular profession for life” (Weare, 2000, pp. 8-9). The social nature of today’s workplace, therefore warrants the essential need for mental, emotional and social skills for success in the business environment. This entails developing an accurate self-concept1 and acquisition of self-esteem. On the other hand, there are also important preparatory considerations in the workplace to ensure productivity and succeed in the attainment of envisioned business goals. Shumake (1992) considers it important that individual workers are sheltered from distractions from activities and occurrences which will hinder them from being productive because of curiosity. The use of free-standing screens provides visual shielding for individual work stations. Productivity is also promoted in the workplace with the right kind of privacy. Confidentiality of important documents should be guaranteed by making sure that only authorized personnel are allowed to view or access. Confidential conversations should also be protected using acoustic barriers. One of the most dependable privacy leakage protections available is electronic sound masking2 (Shumake, 1992). Electronic filtering of the air in the workplace interior helps improve productivity in the business environment by protecting employees from allergens and other airborne impurities which may pose a threat to the health of workers. It will also be helpful if living plants are placed in the workplace, since NASA researches provided evidence-based support that certain species of green and flowering plants help remove toxic materials from air (Shumake, 1992). When employees enjoy good health, their productivity is enhanced. Productivity and quality management also help an organization meet its productivity targets and economic objectives. The process deals with the total involvement of employees and managers in “planning, measurement, evaluation, control and improvement of productivity and quality” (Edosomwan, 1995, p. 9). Communicating with Others The advent of computer technology paved the way for faster personal communications, with only very employees if there are still some who still work in isolation. Employees are, therefore, faced with the challenge of interacting with different people everyday. Communication in this day and age is effected using a range of media (Weare. 2000). Among the modern media of communication used in the workplace includes fax messages, e-mail, and voice recognition systems. Geffner (2004), however, maintained that traditional business correspondence is still very in use for accountability and documentation. Effective business communications involve “getting things done right, not just getting things done fast …[which brings with it] the advantage of developing business relationships … and the unavoidable truth that the latest communications technology is not equivalent to communications know-how” (Geffner, 2004, p. 1). Use of communications technology has revolutionized the way information is transmitted and organized, but the responsibility of expressing ideas in clear and understandable language, as well as correctly interpreting and utilizing such information, rests among people. In this regard, a good command of the English language continues to offer a decisive edge for people who want to make their presence felt in the highly competitive job market. Stuart, Sarow and Stuart (2007) described oral communication as more personal and less formal, but expresses sincerity and respect for the receiver. Oral communication is also still a must in the business environment even with the influx of new technology. In the business environment, face-to-face meetings or conferences, personal business conversations, small group presentations, oral reporting, video conferencing and telephone conversations are indispensable modes of communication (Stuart, et al., 2007). Working in Groups Working in groups is a common scenario in the business environment. Start-up activities were, however, found through research to take longer than what is expected. But this conforms to what is believed to be a natural process for a group to define their goals for the project and to forge social relationships necessary for building teamwork. Levi (2001) outlined the five stages of group development as forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman and Jensen, in Levi 2001). In the forming stage, members of the group or team start to get to know each other; while the storming stage is characterized by conflict arising from disagreement about functions and processes pertaining to the project. After rules and social relationships are established and the group structure is defined, the norming stage is said to have been completed and this will only be the time when real work is done as the group focuses on completing their agreed tasks. This is the penultimate phase called the performing stage. As the task is completed, the group is usually dissolved in the final stage called adjourning (Levi, 2001). At various points in a group task, members should be readily aware of the characteristics which define teamwork. Harrison and Lock (2004) described the key characteristics of effective teamwork as follows : (1) commitment to the goals of the project or group; (2) open communication; (3) mutual trust among members; (4) free expression of feeling and ideas; (5) expression and working through disagreements; and (6) relaxed, comfortable and informal group atmosphere. When one or more of these characteristics are not present in a group, conflict arises. Conflicts are usually a manifestation of individual differences and diversity. Individual differences are latent or manifest differences observed between members of a group (Cooper and Varma, 1997). It is, indeed, surprising that while many organizations accept the importance of diversity in the workplace, a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that only 30% have an agreed definition of diversity (Price, 2008). Such practice, may really fuel conflicts in the workplace. Resolution of conflicts are dependent on the mental, emotional and physical preparedness of each of the members of the group and their facility in expressing the appropriate words for the situation. In this regard, it is important that members of the group carry out roles which facilitate team working efforts. These roles are categorized as task roles or building and maintenance roles. Harrison and Lock (2004) listed task roles as follows: clarifier, consensus tester, elaborator, energizer information seeker, informer, initiator, procedural technician, reality tester, and summarizer or coordinator. On the other hand, building and maintenance roles are: compromiser, encourager, follower, gatekeeper, harmonizer, and observer or commentator. It may be observed that leading is not included among the roles listed by Harrison and Lock in the aforementioned paragraph. It is believed that in team building, anyone of the above-mentioned roles may assume leadership depending on the task at hand and the requirements of the conditions present. Leadership is, however, discussed in more detail in the following section. Leadership in the Workplace The heart of modern and effective leadership was captured in a single sentence by Fairholm (2000) who posited of the need for “a new type of CEO,3 a team leader, a coach, a builder instead of the dominant general of the past” (p. 60). Fairholm also affirmed that traditional management is no longer the norm in today’s business context, indicating the need for leadership, not management. The effective leader in today’s organization is tasked with a nearly sacred accountability to facilitate conditions conducive for employees to stay happy while being productive (Senge, in Fairholm, 2000). An ideal leader is one who helps his employees, not control them; one who liberates his people, not confine them. Fairholm (2000) argued that the evolving business organization is moving power away from supervisors towards customers, in the same way that coordination from above is being replaced with cooperation among members of the organization. An effective leader in this contemporary business organization, therefore, rallies the employees to get involved in the promulgation of ideals, manipulation of knowledge and in the planning and decision making processes. If an organization is able to transform itself from being thing-oriented to being more human-oriented and more humane, Fairholm (2000) believes that it can rise above the level of mediocrity towards excellence. I share Fairholm’s conviction. Keeping Balance in Your Life Wuorio (2009) believes that keeping balance in life is a matter of: (1) accepting that only half of things planned for each day actually get done; (2) prioritizing assists people in scheduling activities based on urgency and reason; (3) learning how to say “no” for some things opens the possibility of saying “yes” to even more important things; (4) organizing the smooth flow of activities both at work and at home; (5) keeping one’s edge at home and at work by using technology to its fullest capability, but without forgetting to establish boundaries to maintain a balance between work and personal life; and (6) accepting that things or situations are not always perfect. Additionally, Bickel (2009) pointed out that some aspects in peoples’ lives are non-negotiable and a good sense of balance is required for people to be able to sort out those that are negotiable from those that are non-negotiable. Two other equally important considerations were suggested by Bickel (2009) – enjoying private moments when situations in either in the workplace or at home are tense; and knowing to ask for help in maintaining balance in life. The second one needs a good deal of self reflection and honesty. By observing the above practices, one may be able to enjoy the best of both worlds without exposing oneself to unnecessary stress both in the workplace and at home. Furthermore, when balance between work and home life is achieved, productivity may be expected in the workplace. Conclusions The paradigm shift from manufacturing to service in the industrial sector also paved the way for the evolution of business organizations from traditional management to spiritual leadership where the focus shifted away from top-down coordination towards cooperation among peers. Leadership is thus, expected to unite employees of an organization towards excellence by being more people-oriented. Being successful in today’s business environment is a matter of synergizing the benefits of mental, emotional and social skills vis a vis technical and communicative proficiency to blend well with a team or work independently to achieve optimal productivity, either as a plain employee or an executive. Success in business or in any endeavor, for that matter, is being able to leave one’s mark in our area of expertise, with a happy balance between work and family. In this regard, success has something to do with a synergy of the various elements of success as discussed in the paper and a person’s capacity to strike a balance between a successful career in business and a happy and contented family life. Finally, success is not the absence of failure. From a man who etched an indelible stamp in the annals of global history, “Making your mark on the world is hard. … It takes patience …commitment, and it comes with plenty of failures along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you wont. Its whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere” (Obama, 2006). References Bickel, M. R. (2009). Assessing your life and finding balance. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from, http://www.helium.com/items/1271831-balance-in-life-accessing-honesty-accepting-help-prioritize. Cooper, C. & Varma V. P. (eds.). (1997). Processes in individual differences. New York: Routledge. De Gues, A. (not dated). Success. Retrieved July 11, 2009 from, http://www.wisdomquotes.com/003419.html Demosthenes. (not dated). Success. Retrieved July 11, 2009 from, http://www.wisdomquotes.com/003419.html Edosomwan, J. A. (1995). Integrating productivity and quality management. 2nd ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc. Fairholm, G. W. (2000). Capturing the heart of leadership: Spirituality and community in the new American workplace. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Geffner, A. B. (2004). Business English: A guide to developing an effective business writing style. 4th ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. Harrison, F. L. & Lock, D. (2004). Advanced project management: A structured approach. 4th ed. Hants, UK: Gower Publishing Limited. Levi, D. (2001). Group dynamics for teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Obama, B. H. (2006). Northwestern University Commencement Address. Retrieved July 11, 2009 from, http://eqi.org/obama2.htm Price, A. (2008). Few organizations define diversity. Retrieved July 13, 2009 from, http://www.hrmguide.com/diversity/job-market.htm Shumake, G. M. (1992). Increasing productivity and profit in the workplace: A guide to office planning and design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Stuart, B. E, Sarow, M. S. & Stuart, L. P. (2007). Integrated business communication in a global marketplace. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Weare, K. (2000). Promoting mental, emotional and social health: A whole school approach. New York: Routledge. Wuorio, J. (2009). Need work-life balance? 7 tips. Retrieved July 13, 2009 from, http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/management/leadership-training/need-work-life-balance-7-tips.aspx#Needworklifebalancetips Read More