Do you work hard or smart?
Working hard is a key to success and deeply engrained in culture. But it’s not what professional organizations value most. My observation is that whilst companies are intolerant of slacking, more success and rewards flow to people who work smart than to people who work hard.
1. Always know the top priorities of your manager and organization. Your work should be aligned to those priorities. Don’t get sidetracked by pet projects – they can wait and showing you can prioritize effectively increases your growth potential.
2. Check in early (and often). Too often people will get their head down, work hard and unveil the results of a significant piece of work to an audience. Almost invariably this leads to disappointment for all stakeholders. Checking in allows input and recalibration that saves time and effort.
3. Know the leverage points. Not all meetings or work requests are created equally. Some activities have an outsize impact and/or influence. Make sure those are executed to the maximum of your ability, even if it means negotiating delays elsewhere.
4. Prioritize things for which you are uniquely accountable. If you don’t deliver them no one else will. And focusing on other people’s work during the day and trying to catch up on your own deliverables at night will burn you out and guarantee underperformance.
5. Protect your boundaries. Always ask “is this something that should be done by another person or department?”. We get bombarded with work requests, and often they are misdirected. Just because someone asks you, doesn’t mean the best outcome is that you do it or that you will be thanked for it. If you are leaning in because you can add value that is great, but make sure you have implicit or explicit permission.
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