Four Ways to Get Attention on the Job

It doesn’t take a lot to distinguish yourself in a business or non-profit organization. I’m not saying that the following four action points are all you need to be successful — you still need to know your “stuff” and be a top performer — but they will distinguish you, for your boss and others, as someone with a future.

Here they are:

• Return all of your calls and answer your voicemails and emails promptly.


• Do what you say you are going to do, and exactly what you’ve been asked to do.


• Meet your deadlines. If you can’t, advise the person in advance and set new ones.


• Follow through on the projects you manage.

These sound like simple rules. They are. But countless leaders of organizations I speak with agree that few abide by them. So if you do, those whom you report to and work with will remember you.

Admittedly, most people intend to observe them, but things get in the way, and they don’t. How easy it would be to call and say, “I am really sorry, but it will be tight for me to meet the deadline I promised next Tuesday. Would it inconvenience you if I changed it to Thursday?” Or, “Unfortunately, I can’t do what I said I would because…” But far too many of us, for a variety of reasons (fear, fatigue, inertia, sensory overload), just let such matters slip.

These rules are not only good business, but they communicate basic consideration, and particularly, that you care about the other person.

At Makovsky our credo says, “We are all each other’s client.” The rules are part of our philosophy — and our most mundane interactions — with clients, employees, outside suppliers and all the others with whom we work.

I recommend them highly to you, too … indeed, to everyone, everywhere.




Technorati Tags: get attention on the job, business success, communications, public relations, business,