Watch, Emulate and Make It Your Own
This is Karl of Work Happy Now. I had an amazing time guest posting on Alex’s blog. I hope to be back again soon. If you want to stay updated on my thoughts and ideas then follow me on Twitter and we’ll stay in touch.
When I first got out of college I worked for a small company. One of my co-workers was always coming up with new ideas. I was in awe. It seemed to come so easily to him, coming up with a new avenue for advertising or improving a process in the warehouse.
I sat back and just admired his skills.
He got the promotion.
Watch and Learn
It wasn’t until after I left that job that I realized that I needed to use his formula and emulate others like him. That’s when I began to watch other superstars within the companies I worked for – how they handled upper management, why their ideas were better than most, and their work ethic.
If they used PowerPoint in an effective way, I borrowed their techniques and made them my own. There is an old saying: you can tell a lot of a person by who they admire. But I believe you can tell even more of a person by who they emulate.
Career Superheroes
You have people around you who can teach you skills that will take your career to a new level if you are willing to try their techniques. That means copying their style then slowly changing it to fit your needs. Believe me, there are graduate classes inside every business. It’s up to you to pay attention and figure out who is the best teacher.
Who did you admire in your first job or career? Did you have a boss or co-worker with mad skills? Why did you admire them so much? It’s always nice to pass on a compliment to a person who has played an important role in your life.
Karl Staib writes about unlocking and kicking open the door to working happy at his own blog: Work Happy Now! If you enjoyed this article, you may like to subscribe to his feed, follow him on Twitter or read one of his most popular articles, How to Change Your Company’s Office Culture.
Image courtesy of billerickson
Written by karl Permalink
Shauna@IncreasingVelocity.com Said,
March 24, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Hi, Karl;
While I find that there are far TOO people with ‘mad skills’ in office environments, you are right in that everyone enjoys a compliment. Not only will it naturally improve one’s relationship with the person they admire (and maybe even help encourage some mentoring), it will subconsciously bring out the best in the admired person as well, knowing that they are being watched.
As in any endeavor, we can either learn from people who have what we want, or be jealous of them — completely missing the point!
I hope you don’t mind my dropping by. You are on the now infamous Personal Development blog found on my site (and many others). I am going through the list to ensure it holds value and contains no bad links (which it did!), and wanted to say hello. I also like and identify with this post and your message in general.
Thanks for what you do, and for indirectly providing my readers with great advice!
Shauna
Sushmitha Said,
April 1, 2009 @ 9:08 am
Hi,
Nice blog post. I am a big one on “emulation” and finding inspiration at work through employees who do the BEST. I also ensure I provide my views and feedback whene ver I get the chance. My only hope is that it should not come across as being ‘”fake” or having some sort of “hidden agenda” behing this appreciation.
Cheers
Sushmitha
Frank Said,
April 5, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
Nice blog post. So very true!
In old times, when an apprentice learned his craftsmanship from a master craftsman, it was considered a sight of great skill to be able to imitate the master. Painters learned to paint by imitating the painting of a master.
If you can imitate, you’re ready to add your own originality and creativity.
Willie Said,
April 6, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
I’ve always found your blog an inspiration. That we learn by imitating is something that we do instinctively as children. When we grow up it is lost. Thank you for encouraging all of us to relearn this.