50 Ways to Become
More Professionally Excellent May 19, 2015 || @UChicagoAlumni Webinar || #ProfessionalExcellence @LeslieBradshaw is the Managing Partner @madebymany and AB ’04 PBK @UChicago Professional Excellence newsletter: http://tinyletter.com/lesliebradshaw Radical Collaboration newsletter: http://tinyletter.com/sync

Why Professional Excellence Matters Improve
Your EQ: 1 - 5 Drive Results: 6 - 10 Master Your Craft: 11 - 15 Mentor / Sponsor / Role Model: 16 - 19 Pay it Forward: 20 - 23 Self Reliance: 24 - 27 Do the Right Thing: 28 - 36 Radical Collaboration: 37 - 41 Miscellaneous: 42 - 50 Closing Thoughts table of contents

why professional excellence matters The
further along you get in your career, the more your reputation and your output matter more than your resume. So why not be known for being excellent and delivering excellence?

improve your EQ 1. Resource:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/education/edlife/how-to-be-emotionally-intelligent.html by Daniel Coleman

Have self-awareness, which requires realistic
self-confidence and emotional insight. 2.

Employ self-management, which requires resilience,
emotional balance, and self-motivation. 3.

Have empathy, which requires cognitive
and emotional empathy + good listening. 4.

Embody good relationship skills, which
requires compelling communication and team playing. Make people feel relaxed when working with you; one sign is that they laugh easily around you. 5.

6. make every [ ]
results-driving Resource: http://tinyletter.com/LeslieBradshaw/letters/professional-excellence-your-first-mission-should-you-decide-to-accept-it meeting email conversation event attendance interruption

State the goal of the
encounter; get buy-in, write it out. Return to the goal at the end, ensure it was reached. 7.

Don’t bring your phone. Be
present. 8.

Take impeccable notes. Consider
using pen and paper. 9.

Return to your notes; reflect
on and organize them. Take and assign actions from them. 10.

11. master your craft Resource:
https://medium.com/thelist/a-survival-guide-for-the-millennial-entrepreneur-ddd42a90119f

Be the best at something.
Cultivate the natural talents for which you are also passionate (because not everything you’re good at doing do you want to do). 12.

Craft mastery requires a high
level of discipline, commitment, and focus. And you cannot attain or sustain it by cutting corners. 13.

Continuously seek the resources you
need to learn more, be better, and advance. 14.

“First, make yourself a reputation
for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it.” —David Ogilvy 15.

16. have at least one
good: -mentor -sponsor -role model

Find a mentor: Someone in
or around your field with at least one decade more experience than you. Usually external to your core job. Make your meetings actionable, with homework! Offer up a “reverse mentor” relationship. 17.

Sponsor: - Employed at your
core job - Is at least two notches above you on the org chart - Takes an active, deliberate role in advancing you + your career 18.

Role model: If there was
a poster for professional rock stars, you would hang this person’s on your wall. You look up to their achievements, the life they lead, the character they have, and want to emulate them in your own life. (e.g., Sheryl Sandberg, Warren Buffet, etc.) 19.

create a virtuous cycle of
paying it forward 20.

Bonus move: - Be someone’s
mentor - Be someone’s sponsor and if you are lucky enough… - Be someone’s role model 21.

"We make a living by
what we get, but we make a life by what we give." —Winston Churchill 22.

You master the art of
the ask by leading first with the act of the give. Before you ask for something, you have to start by giving. A lot. But do so in small, manageable, and genuine batches. 23.

24. stop relying on others
to remind or prod you

“The era of procrastination,
of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.” —Winston Churchill 25.

Plan the work, work the
plan. 26.

For Pete’s sake, take notes!
27.

"The time is always right
to do right." 28. —Olivia Pope quoting MLK, Jr. Scandal Season 4, Episode 19

Ruthlessly seek truth and relentlessly
ask for honest feedback. 29.

Ruthlessly speak truth and relentlessly
give honest feedback. 30.

Learn to deliver a sincere
apology. And say it when it’s warranted. 31.

Treat everyone you encounter with
dignity, respect, and kindness. 32.

Forgive.
33.

Take the time to thank
people, guide people, help people. 34.

Remember: Your character is what
you do when no one is watching. 35.

Make and execute the hard
and right decisions to drive the business forward. 36.

the future belongs to those
who partner best 37. Resource: http://tinyletter.com/sync

“Stop, collaborate, and listen.” —Vanilla
Ice 38.

Put down the keyboard, pick
up the phone. Shift from digital to physical. 39.

Politic around the ‘hood like
you are running for mayor. —50 Cent (paraphrased from his line in Jimmy Crack Corn) 40.

Be dependable.
41.

9 more ways…

Your personal brand needs investment:
define it, refine it, reboot it, expand it. 42.

Use your words to improve
others; strengthen them, encourage them, comfort them. 1 Corinthians 14 (summarized) 43.

“Don’t judge each day by
the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” —Robert Louis Stevenson 44.

"It is not the strongest
of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." —Charles Darwin 45.

Remove the emotion, include the
business case. 46.

"My challenge to you is
simply this: Observe your environment. At work. At home. At school. And if you don’t see any diversity, work to change it." —Mellody Hobson 47.

Follow through.
48.

Believe in things, entities, and
ideals higher than yourself and monetary gain. 49.

Mind your manners! "Manners are
a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use." —Emily Post 50.

closing thoughts In sum: good
manners, decisiveness, reliability, mastery. Webinar to learn, lifetime to master. Let’s keep the list going—get at me on Twitter (@lesliebradshaw)! Check out these two awesome newsletters for ongoing inspiration…

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