This presentation will give you practical, next-level tips to help you become the best version of your professional self.
After powering through it, you will be armed with the tactics you need to grow and nurture your network, deliver world class work product, earn trust and respect, successfully collaborate, and generally take your game up a notch so you advance your career (and have plenty of fun along the way).
Insights will come from successful professionals, pop culture, and Bradshaw's own learnings as a sought-after employee, effective leader, and industry-recognized pioneer.
This presentation was originally delivered as a part of the University of Chicago Alumni Career Program on May 19, 2015.
1. 50 Ways to Becomeâš
âš
More Professionally Excellent
May 19, 2015 || @UChicagoAlumni Webinar || #ProfessionalExcellence
@LeslieBradshaw is the Managing Partner @madebymany and AB â04 PBK @UChicago
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2. 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
tableâš
ofâš
contents
7. Have empathy, which requires
cognitive and emotional empathy + good listening.
4.
8. Embody good relationship skills, which requires
compelling communication and team playing.âš
âš
Make people feel relaxed when working with you; âš
one sign is that they laugh easily around you.
5.
9. 6.
make every [ ]âš
results-driving
Resource: http://tinyletter.com/LeslieBradshaw/letters/professional-excellence-your-ïŹrst-mission-should-you-decide-to-accept-it
meeting
email
conversation
event attendance
interruption
10. State the goal of the encounter; âš
get buy-in, write it out.âš
âš
Return to the goal at the end,âš
ensure it was reached.
7.
15. Be the best at something.
Cultivate the natural talentsâš
for which you are also passionateâš
(because not everything youâreâš
good at doing do you want to do).
12.
16. Craft mastery requires a high level ofâš
discipline, commitment, and focus.âš
âš
And you cannot attain or sustain itâš
by cutting corners.
13.
17. Continuously seek the resourcesâš
you need to learn more, be better,âš
and advance.
14.
18. âFirst, make yourself a reputation for being a
creative genius.âš
âš
Second, surround yourself with partners who
are better than you are.âš
âš
Third, leave them to go get on with it.â
âDavid Ogilvy
15.
20. Find a mentor:
Someone in or around your ïŹeldâš
with at least one decade more experience than you.âš
Usually external to your core job.
Make your meetings actionable, with homework!
Offer up a âreverse mentorâ relationship.
17.
21. Sponsor:
- Employed at your core jobâš
- Is at least two notches above you on the org chartâš
- Takes an active, deliberate role in âš
advancing you + your career
18.
22. Role model:
If there was a poster for professional rock stars,âš
you would hang this personâs on your wall.âš
You look up to their achievements, the life theyâš
lead, the character they have, and wantâš
to emulate them in your own life.
(e.g., Sheryl Sandberg, Warren Buffet, etc.)
19.
24. Bonus move:
- Be someoneâs mentor
- Be someoneâs sponsor
and if you are lucky enoughâŠ
- Be someoneâs role model
21.
25. "We make a living by what we get,âš
but we make a life by what we give."âš
âWinston Churchill
22.
26. You master the art of the ask by leading
ïŹrst with the act of the give.âš
âš
Before you ask for something, you have
to start by giving. A lot. âš
âš
But do so in small, manageable, and
genuine batches.
23.
28. âThe era of procrastination, âš
of half-measures, of soothing and baïŹing
expedients, of delays is coming to its close.âš
In its place we are enteringâš
a period of consequences.ââš
âWinston Churchill
25.
46. Your personal brand needs investment:
deïŹne it, reïŹne it, reboot it, expand it.
42.
47. Use your words to improve others;âš
strengthen them, encourage them, comfort them.âš
1 Corinthians 14
(summarized)
43.
48. âDonât judge each day by the harvest you
reap but by the seeds that you plant.ââš
âRobert Louis Stevenson
44.
49. "It is not the strongest of the
species that survives, nor the most
intelligent that survives.âš
âš
It is the one that is most adaptable
to change."âš
âCharles Darwin
45.
51. "My challenge to you is simply this: Observe
your environment. At work. At home. At
school. And if you donât see any diversity,
work to change it."âš
âMellody Hobson
47.
53. Believe in things, entities, and ideals higher
than yourself and monetary gain.
49.
54. 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."âš
âEmily Post
50.
55. closing thoughts
In sum: good manners, decisiveness, reliability, mastery.
Webinar to learn, lifetime to master.
Letâs keep the list goingâget at me on Twitter (@lesliebradshaw)!
Check out these two awesome newsletters for ongoing inspirationâŠ