How to be a Professional: Excel at work

Katie Steinhaus, MBATraining & Development for Life-Science Innovations

First, let’s test the clickers

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How many parking tickets have you gotten at Ridgewater?

a) 0b) 1c) 2d) 3e) 4f) Might not graduate because I can’t afford to

pay them all!

Is your goal to have a job …

After school

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1. That is interesting, challenging, and where you have potential to really succeed

2. Where you put in your time, you don’t love it but it pays the bills

Do you have a plan to reach that goal?

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0% 1. YES!2. I’ve got some ideas but open to suggestion. 3. I have no idea.

This was my planPhase 1: Finish schoolPhase 2: TBD…Phase 3: Have a cool job where I love what I do

What do you think?

What percentage of American workers have a job they love?

a) b) c) d) e)

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a) 15-30%b) 31-45%c) 46-60%d) 61-75%e) 76-90%

You have the potential to excel

“Individuals who focus on their strengths are more engaged in their work and achieve greater

results.”

When you focus on your strengths

Gallup results from Go, Put Your Strengths to Work

My Strengths

1. Take out a sheet of paper2. What are some of your strengths?3. Start making a list.

See how many things you can write down in the next 5 minutes.

Other potential strengths

Think back over school projects , work or volunteer experiences. What things do you:

Look forward to, love working onFind easy to stay focused onTime flies by when I work on thisWhen this comes up I can’t help but get involvedI feel ‘in the zone’ when…

Your Strengths Equation

Talents + Skills + Knowledge + Experience

Strengths =

Using your strengths at work:

1. Performance is always the point at work2. Your strengths aren’t just what you’re good,

weaknesses aren’t just what you’re bad at3. When it comes to your job, the “What” always

trumps the “Why” and the “Who”4. You’ll never turn your weaknesses into

strengths5. You’ll never find the perfect job

What happens if…

This job isn’t playing to my strengths enough?

See if you can make adjustments so it does:

“I’d like to learn more about…”“I’d love the opportunity to get more involved in…”“I think I can add more value here..”

Final Thoughts..

1. You have wonderful and powerful strengths

2. No one else has quite the same combination

3. You will be at your best, have the most potential for success when you figure out a way to play to them most of the time.

Final question

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1. Strongly agree2. Agree3. Disagree4. Sorry, I slept through this

I learned something this morning that will help me professionally when I graduate: