Working Worried? Be ALL THAT By Dr. Devona E. G. Williams Are you working and worried? Staying positive in this economy requires a deliberate strategy on the part of employees. This is your chance to stand out and be noticed and to use this period as an opportunity rather than a source of stress and fear. I drove by a business recently and it had a sign out front that read - we are not participating in the recession – this should be your mantra. So here’s an overall game plan I developed for you. As a performance consultant with Goeins-Williams Associates, Inc. for over 20 years, I help organizations and individuals achieve desired results using blended interventions. Here’s an approach that will help you design your own interventions to achieve your desired result – stay employed, advance or get a raise! To help you remember these strategies – or interventions I’ve given them the acronym of ALL THAT. So here they are. A – Attitude is everything. Stay positive and let your actions mirror a positive attitude. That means smile and think and speak in an optimistic way. It will change your mood and lift the mood of others around you. Positive attitudes support productive work environments and increase the level of energy in any organization. You will attract others to you with your positive attitude. Assess. Assess your strengths, and weaknesses, your knowledge, skills, abilities, and special talents. Pick up a journal and use this to document your assessment. Start by asking yourself: what are my areas of knowledge, specialized skills, unique abilities and special talents? You should include your work and volunteer experience, formal and informal education; special talents and hobbies that could add value to a future employer or are the basis for your own business venture. Not sure where to get started? Ask others to respond to these questions for you – ask friends relatives, your children, business associates, professors/teachers, mentors, your Mom – what they think are your gifts and talents and what special skills you have. Talk to 50 people. It will help you form your next steps, strengthen your resolve, keep you positive, and serve as a basis for jobs you will go after or create on your own. L – Let go of fear and negativity in the workplace. Do you fear losing your job? How real is your fear? Is it general or specific? Developing a plan will reduce the fear and anxiety you have. Your plan should include overhauling your resume. You should develop a paper version of your resume for networking functions and another version for online application submissions. L – Lead others. Seek leadership opportunities on or off your job. On the job leadership opportunities include volunteering for a difficult assignment, showing others how to tackle a problem or offering to take ownership of a challenging situation. Leadership opportunities outside of your job can be in the form of a volunteer assignment. Be a mentor. Help with a political campaign. Become a member of a community board of directors. Don’t know where to start? Look in the blue pages of the phone book and make a few phone calls or search on line. Charities, schools and political organizations are always looking for good people. This will surely lead to new employment as well as enhance on the job performance. At the very least, it will serve as an excellent distraction from your own worries as you focus on others’ needs. T –Teamwork. Remember that innovation and organizational achievement is attained through teams not individuals. Together everyone achieves more. Use your strengths to enhance team productivity. Don’t be the one in your work group who never offers to help address organizational problems or pitch in to help. Support your co-workers, your boss and the organization. Be the one who stands out from the crowd. The most important aspect of teamwork is stepping in to take on unpopular tasks that may further the organization but are not specifically a part of your job. If you say you are going to do something in a specific time period – do it! Following through is the most important aspect of team work. Encourage and support others in your workplace. Be a good listener. You will be noticed. H – Have faith that you can endure, overcome and succeed. Have patience for developing and executing your plan. Have endurance getting through this time period. Remember, this, too will pass. Have persistence – stick to your plan and work on it everyday. If it is upward development within your existing employment, then really work on it. Focus on excellence. A – Add value to the work place. Become the “go to” person in your organization. When you’re on the job – be present. Come to work on time, stay until it’s time to leave. Watch unnecessary breaks – they get noticed. Contribute by being a positive force, leader and team player. Know your job; seek innovative ways to do your job. Offer suggestions for improvement and be willing to be part of the group to help solve them? See a problem in the organization? Develop a written solution and find a creative way to present this to your management team. T – Time management. With limited resources today, many employees are asked to do more with less. This affects attitude as well as energy level. Effective time management can be achieved by assessing your time management challenges and then finding an approach that manages your time challenges? Are you a procrastinator? Have lots of interruptions? Have a hard time prioritizing? Have too many emails? The key to time management is learning how to focus on what is urgent and important and eliminate that which is unimportant and trivial. This requires setting priorities in writing and developing your own time management plan. Worrying at work about whether you will keep your job is counter productive. Employing strategies to BE ALL THAT will give you momentum keep you in a positive mood and increase your attractiveness and value to your clients. About the Author Dr. Devona E. G. Williams is President and CEO of Goeins-Williams Associates, Inc. Performance Consulting, an award winning performance improvement firm of Clayton, Delaware which focuses on people, process and performance. Contact her at info@goeinswilliams.com or visit www.goeinswilliams.com.