Happy at work? Be accountable for your own actions.

To be happy at work it is important to be more self-aware.  This means you are responsible for your own career and must lead yourself on the right path (self-leadership).  What is the right path?  One step in self leadership is to be accountable for your own actions so that you fix what isn’t working.  Below is a list of 10 ways you need to be accountable for what you are doing.

1. Admit mistakes and have a plan to fix what went wrong.  Learn from the mistake so it won’t happen again.
2. Periodically ask others how you are doing.  Your boss may already give you feedback but if he/she has not, ask for some.  If you have direct reports, ask them to give you feedback.  What about your peers?  Ask them how you can improve the way you work with them. 
3. Take some time to review what you are saying to yourself.  Are you critical, supportive, or unsure of yourself?  What kind of messages do you want to give yourself?  Find a message that makes you stronger and more confident.
4. Make a list of all your commitments to see where you stand.  Will you be on time for all of them?  Keeping your word is an important leadership strength.  Are you able to meet all your commitments? What do you have to do to make sure you are able to?
5. Increase your motivation to get the job done.  One way to do this is to continually ask yourself “why” this task needs to be done.  Relate it back to the overall vision you have of your work.  What makes you excited about what you are doing?  Sometimes it might just be to please your boss but most of the time it must be something you think is important to achieve – meaningful work.
6. Keep a positive mindset.  You are responsible for keeping a can-do attitude.  That positivity can be felt by others.  It is an energy that attracts others to follow you.  If you show that you are happy at work, others will pick up on that.
7. Model the kind of behavior you want to see in others.  Leaders are trustworthy.  You deliver on commitments and are accountable for your own actions.  Being optimistic and true to your values is part of who you are.  Your goals are important to you and you commit to achieving them. You see your work as meaningful and fulfilling and help others to see this too.
8. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  When you hit a roadblock that you can’t overcome, you ask for help.  You already know what is needed to overcome the roadblock and have a plan to recover and move on.  It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help if you have tried all the possible ways to overcome the challenge and nothing has worked.
9. Be responsible for your own growth.  To lead effectively you will need to keep up to date with changes in ideas and you will want to update your skills regularly.  It is important to have a growth mindset so that you are always ready to learn something new. Sometimes that might mean paying for your own training.
10. Hire a coach if you are having difficulty and are not happy at work. Self-leadership means finding a way your own success. A coach will help to see your blind spots so you can grow more rapidly.  Use this list as an assessment so you can identify where you need help.

For more tips on managing yourself go to my blog.

Coaching Opportunity

I’ve helped hundreds of clients to be happy at work.  How about you?  Give me a call 781-598-0388 or send me an email asparker@asparker.com  to have an initial conversation to find out if we would be comfortable working together.  There is no obligation and you might learn something about yourself during the conversation.