Being the Best and Achieving your Goals

Nkechi Ali-Balogun Principal Consultant NECCI Consulting

Developing Passion to Succeed Passion is a burning desire that creates commitment, zeal and enthusiasm. Every great endeavor has been fueled by passion. In the quest for success, passion always win over ability, intelligence, talents and other virtues. Passion makes you jump out of bed every morning enthusiastic about your day. It makes you go to work everyday with ideas about how to make a difference. Your performance at work can only be exceptional when it is infused with passion. Locked doors open for people with passion and where doors the remain locked, the fire of passion would burn them down!

Tips for developing/nurturing passion Know what you really want and develop a plan to achieve it Develop strong interest in your work Expand your knowledge of your job learn something new, take new courses or go for training Have fun Ensure a work-life balance Creatively try out new ways of doing your work

Believing in Yourself and your Ability

Believing in yourself is fundamental to living to your full potential. If you want to succeed, youve got to believe; and most importantly in yourself. However, so often you are your own worst enemy. You berate yourself, nitpick every little failure (while ignoring your successes), and you doubt your skills and potential. This could keep you from trying and taking the necessary risks to succeed. And it becomes deadly because despite all external factors, it all comes down to you. You make or break your successes. If you can strengthen your belief in yourself, there is no doubt that you will succeed. Tips to believing in yourself Identify your potentials Face your fears Challenge yourself Acquire skills to increase your competence Focus on your strength, but dont ignore your weaknesses Practice positive self talk and think positively Follow your mind

Being the Best in your Career

Being your best is about holding yourself to a higher standard and realizing your full potential. It is a goal that should be at the top of your list because its pursuit will increase your chances of having a more fulfilled and successful career. To be outstanding in your career, you need: Take your job seriously Offer innovative solution to problems Volunteer for tasks outside your job description Fix issues that everyone else ignores Have a positive attitude Be professional Be versatile Be committed to excellence

Adaptability and Flexibility

Adaptability Adaptability means adjusting quickly to change. It can also be defined as the ability to respond to challenges with resilience. An adaptable person is one who is open to new ideas and concepts, who can work independently or as part of a team and can carry out multiple tasks or projects. At its core, adaptability is the competence and motivation to change as the need arises. Adaptability is affected by two factors - Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Intrinsic factors

Age Gender Temperament Individual uniqueness

Extrinsic factors

Work environment/demand Occupational status Education Work experience, Factors that enhance adaptability Adequate workplace communication Continuous self improvement/ skills acquisition Organizational change and restructuring

Flexibility
Flexibility is a disposition of the mind that helps one to evaluate situations properly and adjust effectively to different roles and responsibilities. People with a flexible mindset are open to change and able to adapt and adjust continuously to changing circumstances. Flexibility increases creativity and effective problem solving. Flexibility is extremely important for negotiating, communicating and effective teamwork Elements of flexibility Intellectual Dynamism: Keeping an open mind and being able to integrate new information and draw conclusions from it. And having the ability to switch from the detail to the big picture. Receptivity: Being able to respond with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn new ways to achieve targets and objectives is a key competency. Creativity: Actively seeking out new ways of doing things and not being scared to improvise and/or experiment. Behaviour Change: Exhibiting different behaviours to show that you can adjust your style of working or method of approach to meet the needs of a situation or emergency Advantages of Flexibility With flexibility, you develop the capacity to: Solve problems creatively and adapt to challenging situations Deal effectively with uncertain, unanticipated or unpredictable work situations Learn new tasks, technologies and procedures with ease Proactively adapt to new opportunities or risks Flourish in high change environment Remain calm and focused during times of change. Make changes based on new credible information Tips to Developing Flexibility Monitor yourself: keep a log of situations where you need to be flexible and determine ways in which you could be flexible. Also commit yourself to doing something different every week (e.g., spend time with someone from a different background, listen to different music, take a different route home etc) Make yourself Accountable: Ask friends or colleagues to give you honest feedback in situations where you are being rigid. Modify your work behavior as appropriate: Make a list of routine processes in your work unit. Devise a plan to implement new technology and/or techniques to make them more efficient.

Thank you