Shoddy Employee? You Could Be an Entrepreneur

Being bad at your current job might just be your cue to start an entrepreneurial career.

At a recent meeting, I heard the story of someone who announced that she was "smarter than everyone else in the company" and that she had been fired because the boss was jealous and insecure. While the room laughed at the perceived arrogance, I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this visitor delusional, or is she an undiscovered entrepreneur?"

Entrepreneurs often get a bad--though sometimes well-deserved--reputation for having a big ego. But what they may lack in humility is certainly compensated for by their sense of empowerment, fulfillment, and freedom. In fact, some of the worst employees make the best entrepreneurs and are often considered--by the corporate world at least--to be unemployable. Even more so, all current entrepreneurs had that moment when they knew that the promises of a traditional job or workenvironment would pale in comparison to a new opportunity.

Do you recognize the signs that a traditional workplace isn't for you? How do you know when it's time to take the leap?

Here are three signs you possess the skills it takes to be an effective entrepreneur:

Sign No. 1: You're Quick to Start, But Slow to Finish

In the Kolbe Index Test, entrepreneurs often score high in the Quick Start action mode and lower in the Implementor and Follow Thru action modes. This is because the big dreams of entrepreneurship often trigger hundreds of ideas. But for an employer, this type of team member is hard to manage when it comes to finishing projects and staying on task.

These personalities are best described as expanders--a little bit like bread dough that's infused with too much yeast. The entrepreneur who is an expander works best with a team or partner who can act as the container, one who reins in the expansion and supports with all the details. The corporate world attempts to beat the rising dough back into the smallest container possible, while entrepreneurship relies upon expansion and growth.

It's difficult to leave tasks unfinished in a traditional business environment, even when it becomes apparent that the goals have changed or the outcomes are not achievable. In this situation, an entrepreneur will see a new path--or 15 new paths--and want to jump into a new project with a greater chance of success. However, the same individual working a 9-to-5 will often drag out a project, never reach completion, but be unable to abandon it due to office politics or sunken costs.

Sign No. 2: You Can't Leave Good Enough Alone

For the cubicle-dwelling entrepreneur, few things are more frustrating than seeing opportunities to grow or transform a business go ignored. For the company, this desire to tinker with what's working well is viewed as meddlesome, encouraged (in small doses), or outright prohibited.

For established companies who have figured it all out, the entrepreneur's desire to improve, test, and try new ways of working can be threatening or viewed as a waste of time. The admonishment to just get the work done or leave good enough alone is frustrating to the entrepreneur who thrives in circumstances where convergent thinking is less important than following the rules.

While many entrepreneurs work with mentors, coaches, and colleagues to avoid reinventing the wheel, it's often the on-the-ground thinking that contributes to success. Seeing many paths and outcomes, judging the best one for the circumstances, and then implementing it is fun for the person who can't leave it alone. It's also essential to adaptive growth.

Sign No. 3: You Love Lazy Shortcuts

An entrepreneur has the tendency to find new paths and solutions, which often results in discovering shortcuts previously unseen. To some, this is seen as laziness. Three years ago, I was in my downtown office on a quiet Friday afternoon when nearly the entire office had left for the day. It was then that I heard the ironic judgment that propelled me into an entrepreneurial lifestyle:

"We love the work you do ... you're so efficient ... no one has done this job better," my boss said. "So we're cutting your hours." It wasn't easy to hear, and was even harder to understand at the time. But that moment has brought me much further than if I had continued to work 40-hours a week at adead-end job.

Nowhere else is the shortcut celebrated as much as in entrepreneurial business. We're forging a new path and learning what works to make life easier, tasks smoother, and expenses lower--things critical to survival. Instead of working for the sake of work or spending eight hours doing a task, entrepreneurs push boundaries, find shortcuts, and improve the process.

So are you a bad employee? Or a great entrepreneur? If you find your work style resembles these three scenarios, there is no surefire way to transform your cubicle environment so that your co-workers can appreciate and reward your unique approach. In fact, many managers don't know what to do with you and may be unable or unwilling to adapt. When you find yourself less engaged, frustrated by the politics, or expanding beyond your job description, you may in fact be unemployable and an undiscovered entrepreneur.

Kelly Azevedo is the founder of She's Got Systems, a custom coaching program that leads clients to get support, documenting and dominating in their fields. Kelly learned that her innate ability to create and utilize systems allowed her to complete tasks at corporate jobs in a fourth of the time and she sought out a more challenging environment. She has worked in successful six-figure and million-dollar online businesses, helping owners create the systems to serve their startup needs. Adapting quickly to the fast paced environment, constant changes and ever present challenge of communication in the online world, Kelly has supported her private clients in their group programs, private clients, product launches and all the daily business.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC leads #FixYoungAmerica, a solutions-based movement that aims to end youth unemployment and put young Americans back to work.

How To Get A Promotion?

Remember the song Kolaveri, di? Of course you do.

It’s a mediocre, but catchy number, which is now a global phenomenon. And what made it into such a huge success? It’s music? Quirky singing style? A mixture of Tamil and English lyrics? Well, yes, to a certain extent, but mostly due to a brilliantly well thought out viral marketing strategy. It made someone listening to the song look COOL. Just like the ridiculously popular American sitcom, ‘Friends’ did. If you watched Friends in the 90s, you were considered uber cool. Mostly, we associate with certain fads because our friends are doing it.

To get a promotion, one of the most important favors you can do yourself is to create an aura of awesomeness around you. Not blatant self-promotion, but sending out subtle feelers on a continuous basis. What it does is, it slowly starts influencing people. Word of mouth does the rest. Assuming you’re working for a firm that has enough opportunities for promotions, you can follow these steps below to ensure you are one of candidates in the race to the top:

Be the only Jack of your trade:

If you are the assistant editor, you be the best darn assistant editor there is, like the main chef at a fancy restaurant. He goes, the restaurant loses business. Perform superlatively. Good reviews go a long way at the time of final assessment. Give it your all. Carve a niche for yourself. People should say and believe that there is no one else who can do your job as well as you. Once you have that reputation, half the battle is won. Additional traits like asking for more responsibilities, dressing impeccably (not in torn jeans and loose t-shirts), being well-groomed, and being punctual and regular at work also help immensely. Seem keen and enthusiastic. Put in those extra hours at work. Show them you’re ready for more.

A little tooting never harms:

It’s fine to be humble and polite about your achievements, but not always. Make sure your colleagues, your superiors, or anyone else in important positions knows about the projects you’ve been working on or are associated with. If a client has sent a testimony, make sure it reaches the right places through an email, most preferably: “Hey, just wanted to share with all of you what so and so sent across yesterday. So nice of so and so.” Simple. No need to go overboard. Whenever you get an opportunity, make sure you let your seniors know your future plans, career goals  and such. And that if there’s an opening for a senior position you would like to apply.

Be Mr. Likeable

It’s hard to be sugary sweet all the time and with everyone. You don’t need to. You can fake it. The world’s a stage and we’re all actors, right? You will always be friends with a select group of people, and there will be another set of people who you cannot tolerate. But that’s the real world for you. Be helpful, cordial and nice to people in general. Smile a lot. Hone your people skills. Relationships matter. Attend office parties, get-togethers. Network, do some PR. Know the people in the higher echelons. If the seniors are into smoking Cuban cigars and drinking Scotch, learn about these things so you can casually slip that knowledge into your conversations with them. “That lad right there, smart, enterprising chap, I tell you.” Once you get this line out of them, you, Sir, will be on your way to the moon. These relationships will also help when you have to go back to them for recommendation or reference letters.

Build them skills

You can never know everything there is to know about your field. So continue to learn. If this means going back to school, do it. It’s good if your firm offers you opportunities for professional development. But if they don’t, don’t shy away from augmenting your skills by joining a program or a workshop that will help you move forward in your career. If you are an editor, a program in editing and publishing will be great, if you are in marketing, a program in selling skills will do you good, say, even an executive MBA. You can enroll in the evening classes or weekend sessions. It will be hard. You will miss out on your social life, but this is equally important, too. Even cross-functional skills will be terrific. If you’re a marketer, you can try learning about finance and if you’re in HR, you could maybe try and get a handle on operations. Multi-skills will always come in handy when promotions are up for grabs. 

You do all of this, and before long you would be on the hot seat giving your promotion interview. And presuming you will sail through it like a hot knife through butter, remember one thing: never forget your colleagues, or develop an attitude, all of a sudden. They have been with you throughout, and will have your back if you share the same equation with them like earlier, before you got your fancy pay and a cabin with a view. Also make sure you send across a thank you note to your colleagues for their support, your supervisors who recommended you for the promotion, and also to the people who were in the interviewing panel.

And most important of all, do not jump the gun. Do not go around screaming about your promotion from rooftops. Wait for the company to officially announce it. There’s nothing more embarrassing than learning later that someone else got it.

5 Secrets to Become a Great Leader

Each of us has an inherent liking for leaders. People who exhibit authority and charisma and lead others often engage our attention.

If you too crave to be a leader at your office or develop better leadership skills, the following information can be really useful:

Communicate with Transparency

Communication is the biggest tool that you can use to turn into an effective leader. Being a leader doesn’t mean being born with extraordinary skills. A leader too needs to commit mistakes, pay his dues and learn along the way. If you are open to honest conversations, including giving & receiving feedback, you qualify as an upfront and capable individual—an impressive trait that would make people trust you with responsibility. Many employees complain about their team leaders or managers not being sensitive to their problems. Even worse are instances when managers seem aloof and unapproachable. These are all examples of leaders who have poor communication skills.

Be Proud Not Egoistic

Leaders need to have a commanding aura, clearly establishing that they are in control. Having self-confidence and some degree of pride are associated with most leaders. However, this blend of qualities shouldn’t include ego. When a person becomes egoistic, his leadership starts oscillating between arrogance and being smug with authority. None of these traits are liked by people. If you truly want to become a leader, you need to gain a bigger understanding on issues. This means looking at things from somebody else’s perspective too but an egoistic person is incapable of doing so. A proud leader can still maintain an open mind and gain advice from others. An egoistic leader is prone to distancing himself from his well-wishers as he cannot digest the smallest bit of ridicule. Once a person loses that vital vibe of understanding with his inner circle of confidantes, his leadership becomes short-lived.

Lead by Setting Examples

People often question how to establish authority and ensure that people look up to you. Perhaps, the easiest way of doing so is leading by example. This is the easiest form of leadership since an active and capable leader doesn’t need to explain much. His actions alone prove his credibility. Consider the example of a king leading his men in the battlefield, riding at the front. Tactically, hundreds of soldiers converge upon the enemy, in front of the king, when war is declared. However, the mere presence of the king riding with the pack and leading it, establishes his valor to his subjects. It instantly snubs any challenge to his influence.

Appreciate & Reward

People entrusted with leadership positions often forget to encourage their team members. The biggest way of boosting tempo of an employee/team member is to appreciate his or her efforts. Appreciation in person can work wonders to uplift an employee or the entire team. It is the biggest psychological stimulus a person needs to continue working hard. If along with appreciation, you can combine some sort of reward, no matter how small, the appreciation is further driven home. Management gurus often quote the examples of iron-fisted leaders who put forth incredibly-high incentives. This ensures that a team member has the biggest motivation to accept the hierarchy and work better, i.e. money.

Don’t Ridicule but Rectify

This might be slightly confusing but there is a huge difference between correcting somebody and ridiculing. Many times, we combine the two and believe that pointing out a mistake invariably includes some degree of ridicule. However, correcting someone without being animatedly angry, making defamatory remarks or hurting sentiments constitutes Rectification. This establishes you as a patient and effective leader ready to invest time and effort in your team.