“Focusing on the people-side of business is what’s going to make or break you.” – Mark A. Herschberg
My guest today is Mark A. Herschberg, author of The Career Toolkit – Essential Skills For Success That No One Taught You. Mark received his BSc in Electrical Engineering and a MEng from MIT, and has been an MIT instructor for the last 20 years.
Have you ever encountered workplace skills you were told were important, yet no one helped you develop them? Mark’s book helps you master these vital skills that can yield outsized returns for your career and your income.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- The powerful effect of career planning, and how to construct an actionable career plan now
- How to effectively communicate with people from any background
- How ethics can guide you through common challenges you are sure to face at some point
- Mark’s reflective lessons as a new manager….and more!
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How to Get to Your Dream Role
For any role that you want in the future, dream role or anything else, you can’t just hope to wind up there. You have to recognize that it’s a step-by-step process. You’re going to have your plan, and it’s going to have checkpoints along the way.
So when you look at that dream role which is probably five/ten years out, to get there, ask yourself, what are the intermediate steps along the way and how can you achieve each one of those steps? Because you can’t just take that one giant leap – you need to plan it out step by step.
How to Combat Unethical Behavior
There are a few different things you can do, but the main ones are first, “keep records”, because having records will help avoid ‘he said, she said’ situations.
Second is to speak up. Don’t do so alone if you can have others come in, because if you have an issue, other people probably do as well.
Third, you want to shine the light. Making people more aware [about the problems within your company] is going to help ameliorate the problem or at least bring pressure for those who are involved in it to reconsider their actions.
Managing Introverts vs. Extroverts
One thing we need to be more cognizant of as managers is that we are extrovert-oriented in many of our in-person interactions. Extroverts tend to spring into action immediately while introverts like to think first before doing anything.
So we need to acknowledge that we have different styles of engaging and then create a channel for each person to bring their personal capabilities through their preferences.
Links and Resources
Connect with Mark: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
The Career Toolkit Socials: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Link by Author (book)
The Career Toolkit by Mark A. Herschberg (book)
