Team Taskmaster

If you’re looking to get ahead in your career, you already know you need to bring solid skills and savvy to the table. But what really separates the go-getters from the complacent are the so-called soft skills: traits and qualities that make good people great.

Amit Gupta, writing on Dumb Little Man, came up with a list of nine soft skills that can rock your career. Among them:

• Take ownership. When no one is willing to step up as a leader, it’s time for you to step in. A process with a good leader, input from others, and true direction has a much better chance of success than a project with multiple stakeholders.
• Have a solution-seeking mindset. It’s easy to complain or point out problems, but much harder to suggest solutions. Don’t take the easy way out. A positive mindset can garner you good attention, especially if you offer ideas to solve issues and put out fires.
• Be willing to help. Yes, you’re busy, but the business world works on a give-and-take system. Be ready to offer or provide help to others when asked — and they’re more likely to return the favor when you need it.

For the other half-dozen traits, read Gupta’s full post. And tell me if there are other qualities that can help make you a workplace superstar.

Back before the economy imploded and unemployment hovered near 10 percent and some of my most-respected colleagues began exploring Amway as a valid income option, we were always counseled to play hard-to-get in job interviews.

Don’t talk salary first. Be enthusiastic, but don’t gush. Remember that you’d be bringing value to their organization. Above all, make sure you negotiate, because after all, any job offer is just a starting point.

Has that all changed?

I just read a piece by Tim Tolan on Fistful of Talent in which he expressed consternation that a candidate might go through several rounds of vetting and still show up at the final interview with a “you’d be lucky to have me” attitude. His point seemed to be that with unemployment rates as high as they are, anyone should be swooningly grateful to have made it that far.

“Maybe they don’t understand math or are so caught up in themselves they simply don’t get it. Can you say ‘clueless’? Thanks.”

Now, maybe he’s talking about people who are still saying “I’m not sure this is the direction I want to go” in that final interview. If that’s the case, he’s dead-on. If you’re so unsure of whether this job is the right fit, why in tarnation did you keep interviewing up to this point?

But if he’s talking about a candidate who’s confident in his abilities and is expecting to have his prospective employers show him a certain amount of wooing, well, I think he’s dead wrong.

I recently interviewed for a gig that would have been a huge win-win. I brought to the table a unique skill set and background that would fill a gaping hole in their structure. They were a smart organization that would have provided me new challenges and opportunities. And they recruited me; I didn’t approach them. It took them two months to convince me to interview — for a position they were creating for me.

But when I went to meet the senior management, they spent no time at all telling me how much they’d like to have me on board, or why I’d be a good fit, or what the company could offer me. Instead, they grilled me on minutiae like start times, telecommuting, and vacation requirements.

I get it that you need to figure that stuff out. But considering the effort they put into pursuing me, you’d think they wouldn’t treat me as if I was someone who’d just walked in off the street with a “Help Wanted” ad clutched in my grimy hand.

In the end, I said no, despite a fair offer. Recession or not, I want to be part of an organization that values me, not one that expects me to be grateful just to have a paycheck.

I’m sure I’m going to get plenty of comments from people who will flame me for turning up my nose at a steady income, but so be it; my job satisfaction comes from more than just money. As long as I’m getting by, I’ll hold out for that professional respect.

So I say playing hard-to-get is still the right approach. If you don’t respect yourself, how can you expect a potential employer to respect you?

(image by WTL Photos via Flickr, CC 2.0)

Want to make yourself indispensable at work? You can help bullet-proof your career (or get yourself noticed for a promotion) with five simple steps, says Ali Hale of Dumb Little Man. The first three:

1. Do your job and do it well. Sound obvious? Well, it’s not. How many of us coast through some (or all) of the day, turn in an “OK” rather than “stellar” report, or tell ourselves something isn’t worth putting effort into? To become a company hero, you need to not only do your job, but do it to a high standard, says Hale.
2. Mind your manners. You’d never be intentionally rude to your boss, but have you ever snapped at a colleague? Or been snotty with a receptionist? How you treat others, from the janitor to the CEO, gets noticed. Make sure it’s for the right reasons.
3. Get positive, even if you have to fake it. Sure, maybe you’re not completely engaged with a project or a challenge. But moaning and whining about it won’t win you any points. Be the “can do” person, the one with a smile even when the situation gets difficult. Focus on the things you enjoy about your job and take the time to praise or encourage colleagues, suggests Hale.

Hale has two more tricks and some other helpful ideas, so swing on by and read her full post, How to Make Yourself Indispensable at Work. And good luck in becoming the office superstar.

Have you been paying attention to the saga of the Great Oudini? No, that’s not a typo, as you fellow tennis aficianados know. It’s a reference to 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, a young tennis player from Georgia who is making waves with her extraordinarily successful effort at the U.S. Open.

Unseeded and unheralded, Oudin — or Oudini, as commentator Mary Carrillo has dubbed her — has pulled off three amazing upsets in a row. After a strong first-round win, she bested the fourth seed (Elena Dementieva), the 29th seed (Maria Sharapova), and the 13th seed (Nadia Petrova). She’s now the youngest American tennis player to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Serena Williams did it in 1999.

Why am I writing about sports in a business blog? Aside from the fact that I’m completely entranced with her story and efforts, there’s a lesson here. Emblazoned on Oudin’s self-proclaimed “lucky shoes” (customized pink and yellow Adidas Barricade sneakers) is the word “believe”. And it’s that mantra that has helped the plucky teen find success.

In the business world, as in sports, belief can take you places that hard work alone cannot. If you believe in your product, you’ll be a better evangelizer. If you believe in your team’s potential, you’ll be a better motivator. And if you believe in your company, you’ll be a better and more engaged leader.

The same goes for the challenges you face: If you aren’t convinced that success is within reach, it might not be.

The Cinderella run continues today, weather permitting, when Oudin faces ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki (7 p.m. EDT). Even if (and I fervently hope this doesn’t happen) Oudin loses, her belief has already blown her expectations out of the water. She began this season hoping to crack the top 100 in women’s tennis. Following her U.S. Open run, she’ll rise to at least No. 45. Now she’s ready to set her sights even higher.

As Oudin told Mary Jo Fernandez in one post-match interview, “I have belief (on) my shoes…hopefully, I can get as high as anything.”

So take a cue from a rising tennis star and start believing. You might be surprised at what you can accomplish.

(photo courtesy examiner.com, “Melanie Oudin ‘Believe’ tennis shoes (Gallery)“)