How to start your new career off right.
One of the more common questions I get with late stage applicants and new hires is some version of “What can I do to set myself apart and get off to a great start?”
My early responses were tactical: Read this, study that and so on. While that may have been decent advice, it falls short for many reasons.
Great teachers show people how to find the answers they don’t simply provide them.
My next answers became more strategic: Build a detailed plan, with time and metric based goals that align with company expectations. Better advice to be sure, but it was still lacking.
Great leaders align tactics, strategy, and a mindset that leads to an emotional investment.
I was still missing the final piece. The mindset.
So I began looking around at those that, irrespective of inherent talent, were setting themselves apart.
As with many business problems, the answer was immediately apparent when I finally asked the right question.
What's the common thread of successful people when you take talent entirely out of the picture?
The answer: The Underdog Mentality.
Wikipedia defines an underdog as “a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose.”
I’m not saying everyone setting himself or herself was expecting to lose, but the common thread seems to be the mentality, preparation and approach of a team that is has to win, but is fully expected to lose.
It’s the realization that if you use the same game plan and match effort, you will lose every time. So what do you do when giving up isn’t an option?
Here are a few simple steps to building the underdog mentality.
1) Extra preparation
Put in more time in than you typically would up front preparation. Using an academic analogy, this isn’t cramming for finals, it’s acting like its finals for the duration of the semester.
- Deepening of Knowledge
- Skill Development
- Meticulous Planning
- Scenario Identification
2) Discipline in practice
As the old adage goes, you play like you practice. Approach practice like you approach would real life work scenarios. I’m all for not taking life too seriously in general, but that simply doesn’t apply here. With extra preparation ahead of time you’ve developed a meticulous plan with timeframes and metrics. Discipline in practice is the part where you actually stick to your plan.
- Practice your knowledge
- Work your plan
- Repetition of identified scenarios
- Refine your skills
3) Hustle in the game
How do you grab a rebound against someone six inches taller than you? How do you win more 50/50 balls than someone stronger and faster than you? You hustle. You hustle like you’ve never hustled before. You find a gear you never knew you had.
In the work place, this is good old-fashioned work ethic.
Underdogs work hard. They work harder that the people on their left and on their right, because they always assume they’re the less talented, and therefore have to work harder just to keep up.
4) Anticipate
Pure hustle without anticipation makes athletes run around with their head cut off. It makes students walk into an exam and get blindsided by a whole section of the test. Those that can anticipate (because they gave extra time for preparation) appear faster to the spot. They appear quicker than they actually are. They appear smarter than they actually are.
In the work place, this is the work smart concept. Working smart is all about looking for ways to innovate traditional notions of how to get the job done.
5) Innovate & Execute
If you look at the greatest underdog victories in history, arguably the most important piece is innovation and execution. The coach developed a game plan that wasn’t anticipated. The coach adjusts at halftime. You keep them guessing.
If your army has inferior strength and numbers, you don’t call for a full frontal attack.
The last piece is execution. I’m pretty sure the expression “easier said than done” was invented to talk about execution, but it becomes exponentially easier with dedication to 1-4 on this list.
So my answer to “What can I do to set myself apart and get off to a great start?” is simple...
How do you try to win when you are expected to lose?
What does that mean in the role you’re about to embark on?
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8yIts all about initiative...how hungry you are is the DEAL.
Document Recording Specialist at eRecording Partners Network
8yGreat advice!! Good way to start a new job on the right foot!!
Customer Success Executive | Change Management | 2x Unicorn SaaS Executive | xPwC, Columbia University
8yGreat insight, Charlie.
Americas Head of Sales
8yGreat article, Charlie. This resonates with me because I have often felt like the underdog throughout my life.. whether it be in sports, school, or on the job, I have always assumed that I'm the "less talented, and therefore have to work harder just to keep up" which in my opinion is the reason for some of my 'wins' throughout life. The question I wonder is this: where did this 'underdog' feeling and mentality come from? Was it derived from certain scenarios growing up? Was I always surrounded by extremely talented and hard working individuals and literally had to put in the extra effort to keep pace? Great thoughts.
Product Strategist at Qualtrics
8y"The question is what are you going to do with your time. What drives you. Greatness is a lot of small things done well. Day, after day. Workout after workout. Obedience after obedience....You gotta wanna succeed, as bad, as you wanna breath"