How to Succeed at any Career

Woody Allen once said, “80% of success is just showing up.”
While there’s definitely some truth to that – in practice, success requires a bit more effort than just showing up – especially if you want to succeed at your career.
Employers are constantly looking for the right signs to qualify you as promotion-worthy material. You just need to show them you are qualified. Remember, it’s not a matter of what you did or said during the interview process – what matters is what you do consistently every day.
So how can you start moving up the corporate ladder? Here are some helpful hints to get you started:
Build Relationships: Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. It’s a good idea to foster positive relationships with your co-workers as well as your superiors. When it comes time for a promotion or a recommendation, you’ll be glad you built a network of alliances to fall back on. You can never have too many friends to speak in good favor for you. Many professionals try to “edge out” other people for promotions or to be in good favor from the boss. Don’t play that game – perform whatever function you do as an executive would – help others shine, compliment people to others, and help other people network.
Be Professional: Everything from your workplace demeanor to your Facebook page might be scrutinized at some point by your current or future employers. Try to keep a low profile when it comes to your personal life, and always maintain an air of professionalism. Not only will you be taken more seriously, you’ll be remembered as a rising star when opportunities arrive. In the eyes of your boss, your reputation is a reflection of things to come. If you have a sullied reputation at work or you were too personal in the past, consider changing jobs. It’s difficult to change your employer’s perception of your core personality – you might be better off with a clean slate.
Show You Care: If you find yourself constantly watching the clock, just waiting to rush home – then you’re in the wrong job or there’s a problem with your work ethic. No one likes working all the time, but you should take some pride and satisfaction from your work. This attitude will help you work more efficiently and effectively. At the same time, its a good idea to push the envelope once in a while – to stay late or come in early – anything that shows you’re a cut above the rest. The main point here is not to “brown-nose” by showing up early, but rather to examine your own intention and motivations on a daily basis. If you don’t want to go above and beyond, if you don’t want to put in more than your fair share, you might be better off in a different career. To truly succeed and go far in any profession, it has to be the right one for you – the one you want to put effort into.
Keep these career tips in mind as you go about your day-to-day business and you’ll start turning heads. Performance and behavior can be altered whenever you choose; it’s never too late. Your career is more than your livelihood – it’s your best link to a promising future. Why not get ahead today?

How Great Bosses Motivate Employees

The 5 Qualities of Remarkable Bosses

Consistently do these five things and the results you want from your employees--and your business--will follow.

In the eyes of his or her employees, a remarkable boss is a star. Remember where you came from, and be gracious with your stardom.

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Remarkable bosses aren’t great on paper. Great bosses are remarkable based on their actions.
Results are everything—but not the results you might think.
Consistently do these five things and everything else follows. You and your business benefit greatly.
More importantly, so do your employees.
1. Develop every employee. Sure, you can put your primary focus on reaching targets, achieving results, and accomplishing concrete goals—but do that and you put your leadership cart before your achievement horse.
Without great employees, no amount of focus on goals and targets will ever pay off. Employees can only achieve what they are capable of achieving, so it’s your job to help all your employees be more capable so they—and your business—can achieve more.
It's your job to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities your employees need and deserve. When you do, you transform the relatively boring process of reviewing results and tracking performance into something a lot more meaningful for your employees: Progress, improvement, and personal achievement.
So don’t worry about reaching performance goals. Spend the bulk of your time developing the skills of your employees and achieving goals will be a natural outcome.
Plus it’s a lot more fun.
2. Deal with problems immediately. Nothing kills team morale more quickly than problems that don't get addressed. Interpersonal squabbles, performance issues, feuds between departments... all negatively impact employee motivation and enthusiasm.
And they're distracting, because small problems never go away. Small problems always fester and grow into bigger problems. Plus, when you ignore a problem your employees immediately lose respect for you, and without respect, you can't lead.
Never hope a problem will magically go away, or that someone else will deal with it. Deal with every issue head-on, no matter how small.
3. Rescue your worst employee. Almost every business has at least one employee who has fallen out of grace: Publicly failed to complete a task, lost his cool in a meeting, or just can’t seem to keep up. Over time that employee comes to be seen by his peers—and by you—as a weak link.
While that employee may desperately want to “rehabilitate” himself, it's almost impossible. The weight of team disapproval is too heavy for one person to move.
But it’s not too heavy for you.
Before you remove your weak link from the chain, put your full effort into trying to rescue that person instead. Say, "John, I know you've been struggling but I also know you're trying. Let's find ways together that can get you where you need to be." Express confidence. Be reassuring. Most of all, tell him you'll be there every step of the way.
Don't relax your standards. Just step up the mentoring and coaching you provide.
If that seems like too much work for too little potential outcome, think of it this way. Your remarkable employees don’t need a lot of your time; they’re remarkable because they already have these qualities. If you’re lucky, you can get a few percentage points of extra performance from them. But a struggling employee has tons of upside; rescue him and you make a tremendous difference.
Granted, sometimes it won't work out. When it doesn't, don't worry about it.  The effort is its own reward.
And occasionally an employee will succeed—and you will have made a tremendous difference in a person's professional and personal life.
Can’t beat that.
4. Serve others, not yourself. You can get away with being selfish or self-serving once or twice... but that's it.
Never say or do anything that in any way puts you in the spotlight, however briefly. Never congratulate employees and digress for a few moments to discuss what you did.
If it should go without saying, don't say it. Your glory should always be reflected, never direct.
When employees excel, you and your business excel. When your team succeeds, you and your business succeed. When you rescue a struggling employee and they become remarkable, remember they should be congratulated, not you.
You were just doing your job the way a remarkable boss should.
When you consistently act as if you are less important than your employees—and when you never ask employees to do something you don’t do—everyone knows how important you really are.
5. Always remember where you came from. See an autograph seeker blown off by a famous athlete and you might think, “If I was in a similar position I would never do that.”
Oops. Actually, you do. To some of your employees, especially new employees, you are at least slightly famous. You’re in charge. You’re the boss.
That's why an employee who wants to talk about something that seems inconsequential may just want to spend a few moments with you.
When that happens, you have a choice. You can blow the employee off... or you can see the moment for its true importance: A chance to inspire, reassure, motivate, and even give someone hope for greater things in their life. The higher you rise the greater the impact you can make—and the greater your responsibility to make that impact.
In the eyes of his or her employees, a remarkable boss is a star.
Remember where you came from, and be gracious with your stardom.

Article by :        
Jeff Haden