It’s been a year – crazy how quickly it went! I figure that 1 year in, I should share 1 lesson learned.
No Task Is Too Small
Cliché, I know. However, cliché’s exist for a reason. No task is too small, especially when you’re starting out. Carrying out tasks to the best of your ability, no matter the task, will make you stand out to those around you. It might not pay off immediately, but if you do it enough times, someone with real influence will notice. That’s not to say your career will be fast tracked or anything, but building a reputation of excellence will carry you far.
For example, I was not expecting to be in a position of having to hire someone a year into work, but after some unforeseen changes above me, I was promoted and am now the hiring manager to backfill my position. I had an intern who I think would have been great for the role, but one of the organizations higher ups had a bad experience in which the intern thought they were above the task being assigned. Needless to say, they were cut out of the hiring process prior to first round interviews.
I’ve always try and look at tasks that I ordinarily might find somewhat remedial or monotonous as a way to understand the building blocks of the organization, and try to discover efficiencies in the executions of these tasks, Approaching this with the mindset of knowing you won’t be doing it forever and this is potentially the one opportunity in this stage of your career to really understand the work at hand. It is much easier to create efficiencies, develop strategy, and create effective change if you fully understand a process, not just from an observer’s perspective.
Next year we’ll shoot for 2 lessons learned.
-Alex