Perception is Reality
Become a Winner in the Workplace
Robert Raymond
Smashwords ebook published by Fideli Publishing Inc.
Copyright 2011, Robert Raymond
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ISBN: 978-1-60414-396-6
“People Eat With Their Eyes”
While attending some of my first trade shows when I was in the food manufacturing industry, one of my brokers took me under his wing to “explain” the food business. He said, “People eat with their eyes”, if the food looks good and more importantly, if the packaging looks great, people will be convinced that the product tastes sensational.
Truer words were never uttered; although our products did taste good and looked very appetizing, when we upgraded all of the packaging for our products and our sales began to soar.
Think about the statement for a moment: people eat with their eyes. You wouldn’t eat a blue steak or a purple chicken. In today’s world, some of us are perceived as that blue steak and don’t forget how hard it was to get someone to try us to eat “green eggs and ham.”
Maybe the metaphor is a little off beat but unfortunately, many of us are or have been perceived as bad food, or more to the point, we don’t look and act in a manner that gets us accepted for who we truly are or the abilities we possess.
Packaging, or our outward appearance; from our maturity to our clothes to yes, our attitude these are what set the tone and expresses the image with which others see us.
This book, in a humorous and lighthearted manner, is about helping you to change your outward (and inward) persona to your fellow workers, your employer and future employer.
People do eat with their eyes and this book is all about changing you from that 3-day-old pizza left in the fridge to the filet mignon you truly are.
Nothing Succeeds Like the Appearance of Success.
Christopher Lasch, (1932-1994), American historian, moralist, and social critic.
Index
Introduction: Why the book?? Who’s it going to help?
Attitude: If you don’t respect what you do and who you are, why should anyone else?
Adapt: to your environment- Dinosaurs died because they couldn’t adapted; Sharks live on!!! Open mindedness Acumen: Wisdom, intelligence, expertise Appearance: Attire, personal hygiene, good grooming
Accountability: The bigger the mistake, the bigger the apology!
Diplomacy: The ability to say the right thing at the right time
Actuate: Initiative; get going…put into action
Some Simple Common Sense
“There are so many things that you really should know. And that’s why I’m bothering telling you so”
From the book Oh Say Can You Say? by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Doctor Seuss
Introduction
Who Needs This Book?
Talented, dedicated hard working individuals need to get recognized for their abilities. Guess what? Most individuals don’t and it is not because of their lack of ability, expertise or work ethic, but rather because the perception of the individual is “less than reality.”
“Less than reality” is an ugly phase when it comes to describing a person, but in the business world, regardless of the size of the company or what the company does, “less than reality” is a real issue.
Conversely, untalented and the not-so-smart individuals are successful in the business world (and in many walks of life) because they have the right image. That right image includes everything, including their appearance, their attitude and their personality.
Politicians, movie stars, athletes and other individuals in the public eye all have consultants and spin-doctors to ensure that they project the proper image to get elected, get starring roles and generally get noticed.
In the business world, like anywhere in the world, perception is reality and fine-tuning that perception is the difference between success and failure. That fine-tuning can begin at a very early age based upon the environment you grow up in, the right schools and yes MONEY.
But what about those individuals that aren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth; do not come from the best environment, don’t go to the ivy league schools and yet possess the talent, skills and dedication to make a difference in the workplace? Some learn quickly what it takes to succeed beyond their skill levels; others are just too talented at what they do so nothing else matters and they ultimately succeed. And I need to stress, this has nothing to do with the level of education you have or don’t have. One of the smartest persons I have had the pleasure to work with in my entire career didn’t have her college degree. I would have gladly traded all my college grads for more of her.
Unfortunately, the majority of work force today doesn’t understand what it takes to succeed and more to the point do not know what it takes to gain respect for the work they perform. Again, I’m not talking about a lack of hard work, dedication and skill level; I’m talking about the image they project. And this lack of respect has nothing to do with race, color or creed — so, don’t go there!
This book is about helping you develop a winning persona. Winners get raises and most importantly, winners get RESPECT.
So who the hell am I, and why am I qualified to write it? Let me answer why I think I am qualified.
— No, I am not nor have I ever been a human resource officer (personnel manager).
— No, I am not trained in fashion, do not have a degree in psychology and have no formal training in public relations.
What I do have is almost 30 years in the business world that spans from a Fortune 500 Company to small manufacturing companies and everything in between. I have climbed the corporate ladder from a lowly “trainee” to assistant manager, manager and ultimately achieved a senior level management position. I also served as president and held senior executive positions at numerous companies and eventually owned and operated several of my own companies. And finally, I was an executive recruiter, and you would be amazed at how people show up for an interview, mentally and physically.
Getting to there from where I started wasn’t easy. First of all, I wouldn’t consider myself to be of above average intelligence. I grew up in a blue-collar family with Midwestern values which included the idea of “work hard, put in your dues and good things will come to you.” And the only way I was able to go to college, hell, high school, was by paying my own way with part-time jobs. Yep, I paid for my own education. By the time I graduated from school at the age of 21, I had already worked for 10 years and had 8 different jobs starting as a paperboy and ending as a bartender with some backbreaking construction gigs throw into the mix.
My point is I didn’t come from a privileged family. To succeed, I had to take seriously the credo that a person needed to work hard and be passionate about the job. What I also learned early on in my professional career was that being a good, hard working employee wasn’t enough to get noticed, much less promoted.
What I began to realize was that the corporate culture of the company, how a person looked, acted and behaved with peers and superiors was the difference between getting promoted versus just getting an annual minimal increase in pay.
The lessons I learned in the corporate world helped me to succeed in the world of being a business owner, especially when it came time to get a bank loan or buying a business.
Along the way, I had to manage a lot of people. Managing people includes finding good talented individuals
and helping them get promoted.
I also saw the ugly side of business, when good employees, some that I recommended for promotion, didn’t get the opportunities they deserved for all the wrong reasons. We’ll get into those “wrong reasons” later in the book.
This brings us to the reason I decided to write this book. Business, regardless of the size of the company, talks a good game when it comes to “promoting from within,” treating each and every employee with respect and being dedicated to making the workplace a healthily environment. The trouble is that human nature kicks in long before the ink on the HR policies are dry.
Let’s be honest, the pretty woman seems to fare much better than the unattractive ones, even if she isn’t the brightest bulb. And don’t think it just happens to good-looking women; the same goes for men as well.
On top of that, there are the suck-ups/brown–noses that seem to get ahead for the most transparent of all reasons. Hey, that’s life; it isn’t going to change. If you think you can quit your job and find a safe haven somewhere else, you’ve got another thing coming … because it isn’t going to be any better. That’s life in the big city and the small towns, too.
This book is intended to give you some advice on how to get noticed for all your efforts and hard work with a chance that you may get a promotion, a better raise in pay and most importantly to help you gain the recognition and respect you deserve.
The ideas and advice contained in my book will work; they worked for me! They will work if you are short, fat, tall, skinny, bald, hairy and everything in between.
So, who should read this book? Everyone who intends to work for a living! This book will help the assistant to the administrative assistant to the junior executive up to the senior executive. And the concepts and ideas in this book are not just geared toward the business world. These concepts hold true for every walk in life.
Yes, a great deal of what is written in this book is very, very superficial. Guess what, so is the world. The sooner you realize that talking the talk is just as important as walking the walk, or in English… you need to look and act as important as you are and hope to be in the future, the sooner you will gain success.
This book is designed to make sure that your fellow workers and your employer recognize your talent by improving your presentation; the way you act and the way you look. This is not the type of book that can be written by an HR guy. Just because the people in HR can’t write it or say it, doesn’t mean the HR staff and your employer don’t think it.
One final thought on this book and respectability. In a recent survey about why good employees leave their current company and seek work elsewhere, the number one reason given by 38% out of 100% respondents was: “Because I wasn’t given the respect I deserve.” The second biggest reason for leaving, given by 33%, was: “Lack of advancement.” Pay and benefits were single digit reasons, 8% and 6% respectively.
Respectability is a two-way street
If you want to be respected for your efforts, you need to look and act like you care. Bitching that, “No one gives me any respect, so I don’t care about the company and my boss,” isn’t the answer. You will be miserable, your work will slip in quality, and there’s a good chance you will be looking for work elsewhere, either because you can’t stand the company or they can’t stand you!
Before you head out the door on your way to work …
One of the many bosses I worked for asked me this after someone in my area of responsibility had screwed up. “Do you think that the individual who goofed up said to themselves as they left for work, ‘I wonder what I can screw up at work today?’”
At the end of each section, we will recap what you need to do to get ahead, gain respect and become a winner in your workplace.
Attitude
“Start Everyday With a Smile and Get It Over With”
W. C. Fields
I’ve played a lot of sports in my life and if you are like me, you have been on an organized sports team or two. Playing organized sports, whether it football or chess, means that someone has been designated a “coach” and coaches love to quote phrases on achieving success through a positive attitude.
Quotes have become classic shout outs when the team is down or just needs some cheering up. They are used for almost every situation in a sporting event, short of someone getting their leg broken. Here are a few: “A quitter never wins” or the ever popular, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. My college roommate in freshman year had a great quote, “If you want good grades, you’ll get good grades.” He quoted this often to me and whoever was in earshot, whether he was in a bar, while deciding to sleep-in and skip that early morning class, or even prior to a quarterly exam. My roommate apparently didn’t want good grades; he flunked out after the first semester.
One 75-watt light bulb gives off more light than three 25-watt light bulbs
There are volumes and volumes of books on the power of positive thinking…and just as many consultants prepared to extol the virtues of positive thoughts. If only it was just that easy, you know, buy a book, or go to a lecture and ‘BAM’ you are blessed with the power of positive thinking.
The trouble is that wanting to be positive, and being positive, isn’t the same thing. Having a sustaining positive outlook on life (which is really what it is all about) takes a lot of hard work, perseverance and determination.
However, individuals with a positive attitude do get ahead in this world, are happier, more respected and probably live longer than the group that goes through life feeling sorry for themselves and having a generally negative attitude. So “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” isn’t just a song, it is a way of life, and it is never too late to “Be Happy”.
“But how?” you ask. Well grasshopper, I’m not a psychiatrist, nor am I a motivational guru, but I will tell you what helps me stay up-beat: … small attainable goals.
I know that may seem too simplistic or even dumb, but hear me out. Everyone has big, big goals — buying a house or a bigger house, owning your own business etc. Your big goal may be to become a vice president at your company and get filthy rich … or to help cure cancer … all good goals and you should strive to make them a reality. Big goals take time to achieve, and along the way, you will run into the obstacle called life.
Day-to-day life is full of little bumps in the road, like missing your bus in the morning and ending up late for work, or your boss dumping a project on your lap that he/she should have done and now you have until noon to make him/her look good. Those bumps in the road can and do cause all of us to get down and a negative coworker is waiting in the wings wanting to fan the flames of “life sucks and then you die.”
My cure to keeping focused and positive, as I stated earlier, is setting small attainable goals. Small goals like, I’m going to do 25 push-ups before I go off to work (exercising for an hour a day is a great goal, that’s why America is overweight — too big of a goal).
My small goals are simple and sometimes stupid, like deciding to keep my car clean, shoveling the snow before I go to work (yep, living in Chicago allows you to do that!) and setting small easy goals at work that can get done quickly. Yes, I do have big, long-range goals and I work towards them everyday, but I also bang out the small ones quickly so I can have a sense of accomplishment.
You may ask how I decided to follow this little process. It all started while I was moving up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 500 company. At the end of my workday, I would load up my briefcase. It was bulging at the seams with all the work I didn’t get done that day because of meetings, distractions and the fire drill that my boss felt needed my immediate attention. I would walk to the train station for my trip home with hopes of settling in for a long night of more paperwork and projects to be completed. The problem was that the sheer level of work I took home was overwhelming, to the point that when I got home, I had a drink, ate dinner, watched the news, played with the kids, the dog — but did no work. I did everything to hold off starting to get to work because I knew I could not get it all done in the time that was left in the day. Even if I did get a lot of the work done, my next day started with me thinking about all the work I didn’t get done. My days started out negative.
So, here’s what I did … I took home only one or two of the projects that needed to get done. I figured out that I was only going to get the one or two projects completed anyway so why not do them right and feel good about my accomplishments. Guess what? It worked, and I began to prioritize my work to ensure I used my time wisely. From there, I applied that same principle to other tasks and even everyday goals, (like doing push-ups in the morning – because there was no way I was getting up an hour earlier to exercise, and 25 push-ups is way better than doing nothing).
Give the small goals process a try. Set small personal and professional goals and trust me you will start to feel good about yourself. Once you begin to feel good about yourself, those bumps in the road don’t seem so tough to maneuver around.
Having a positive attitude will reflect on your work habits at work and yes, you will get recognized for your attitude and hard work. So I guess maybe it is true “if you want good grades …”
One Penny Doubled Everyday Results in Over 5 Million Dollars in Just 30 Days
Who said small things don’t matter! Getting the respect you deserve is about doing the little things properly and in a timely manner. Too often in my career I found my employees were not doing their required day-to-day tasks because they decided it wasn’t important, or even worse, beneath them. They may have gotten the big project done, but at what cost? Many people doing many little tasks results in big successes. Unfortunately, it is also human nature of most managers to not confront it and just stew in their anger until your name comes up for promotion or during your annual review. By then, it’s too late and you may not get the promotion or the raise you were hoping for so you could buy that house (big goals, remember?).
The key word here is perseverance. Too often, we let the small things slip by and not get it done until they turn into an overwhelming nightmare. For example: when you were in school and you did not study your notes from class each day and just let it slide until the night before a test… (insert freshman roommate’s name here!). There is a good chance that your result on the test was not what you had hoped for — that same process applies to your adult life.
Having the perseverance to do what is required is really, really tough, especially if you feel you aren’t getting credit for the work, or worse — someone else takes all the glory for your efforts. The lineman that throws a great block and allows the star running back to score a touchdown isn’t always recognized. But, if you are that lineman, you know you made it happen and eventually so will the fans, because you persevere and keep doing what is required.
Doing what is required every day at work may not seem to get you noticed, but it does. And, oh yeah, not doing what is required also gets you noticed. The key is: How do you want to be remembered?
At Andrew Jackson’s funeral in 1845, his pet parrot had to be removed because it was swearing
Respect others, as you want others to respect you. Your kindergarten teacher probably told you that after you decided to take a dump truck away from one of your fellow classmates because you wanted to play with it. Learning to respect others and to respect other’s things is a tough lesson. That lesson also seems to become less important as we get older. It starts simply enough, your parents teach you to be respectful, but along the way someone does something to you that you find offensive and the cycle begins. The highest level of disrespect usually results in wars and people losing their lives.