Employment in the United States is a very sensitive and dire problem. Success communicates positive information about an individual’s competencies. That said, several specific interpersonal characteristics enhance and reinforce personal success. In this regard, these white pages seeks to enumerate some of the critical traits associated with successful personalities. These attributes include self-awareness, assertiveness, social responsibility, flexibility, adaptability, and conflict resolution.
The unemployment rates have been at an all-time high since the economic crunch. People in all sectors of the job market were severely affected by the breakdown of economic structures. People had to rethink strategies and ways in which to succeed in their fields. Companies which were previously trading in the stock markets were rendered bankrupt and had to shut down. There was a massive overthrow of the job market as people lost their jobs, their homes, their livelihoods. The job description of a consultant basically shows the clients the best way to invest their money. It is achieved through choosing wise investments to help secure their future. At the same time, wealth consultants are able to detect patterns of markets and see which investments are good and which are not. In the current work environment, rethinking strategies previously used is very important. There are ways in which people applied for jobs and how they maintained their jobs and prospected for other opportunities. However, these strategies do not work in the current economy.
The first method of success is self-awareness (George, 2010). It means that one is comfortable in own skin and is aware of their abilities and their value. When a person is either applying for a job or prospecting for investments, there are certain modes of communication that one can use that show that one is confident in his/her abilities. The main key to confidence is having proper posture and having the knowledge needed in that specific field. In this case, when one is combated with questions about that field, he/she able to answer from the experiences. A person who is confident is aware that a challenge is not a setback but an opportunity to learn and grow (Goleman, 1998).
Self-awareness is characterized by having a reasonable comprehension of oneself and acknowledging singular capacity and potential constraints in the quest for a satisfying life. Specifically, self-awareness illustrates the ability of a person to turn the self into an object of one’s own attention. The individual capacity to introspect enables one to identify and store information about the self in different environments. In fact, people become aware of themselves and their surroundings when they reflect on the experience of perceiving and processing stimuli. In this regard, self-awareness enables a person to understand other individuals and their different perceptions towards them ostensibly to develop a response towards their attitudes. Accordingly, objective self-awareness is a construct of emotional intelligence that defines the ability of individuals to react to situations within different environments. Self-awareness accentuates an individual’s desire for personal growth and development by enabling them to perceive thoughts and behaviors of other people and their emotional effects. Increased individual self-awareness translates to efficient work performance and output. Conversely, inadequacies in self-awareness can lead to damaged reputations and ruined careers. Assertiveness is the second key to having better chances in the job market. It means that a person will not be turned down by an employer and walk away hurt or offended. Assertive people have the capacity to get negative responses from very many places and still go to the next location and ask for a job. They understand that to find job, they may have to knock on more than one door. In the case of looking into investments, assertive people may lose money in the process ofinvesting. but they keep looking for other areas to invest and grow. Assertive people understand the power of learning from past mistakes and growing from every experience (Miltenberger, 2004).
Assertiveness, is the ability to communicate thoughts, opinion, needs and feelings in a pointed and a rather direct manner that is neither offending nor condescending. Assertive people are articulate and efficient in influencing others while setting personal boundaries in a social setting. Further, assertiveness is the gateway towards self-confidence, esteem, and respect in the workplace. Moreover, it is a critical component in all meaningful relationship both formal and informal. Assertiveness is the key to having a better chance of getting employed in the vicious job market. Assertive people wield the capacity to get turned down severally by potential employers but still walk away without feeling hurt or dejected. Learning from past mistakes and growing from every negative experience is the hallmark of assertiveness. It is also an important factor in financial investment. In this regard, assertive people are unfazed by the prospect of losing money in any business deals but keep on pushing for more investment opportunities.
People bondage is the main factor in the gaining and retention of jobs. Bondage in the job environment is when a person is holding onto modes of working business that were used previously. When a person is stuck in a mindset of running the work environments as they were previously done, he/she sets a president to fail in the future. People are also bond in the work environments by others. For example, teenagers are affected by peer pressure, and in the same way, adults are more often disabled in their thought patterns by other people (Kennedy, 1995). The difference between the two forms of bondage is that the person who is bound by other people has a better chance of attaining help than the other one. When one comes to the realization of the abilities, he/she breaks away from all forms of bondage.
Hard skills refer to the set of job abilities that one is able to undertake in a certain work environment. Hard skills more often refer to the amount of workload that one can manage to comfortably do and use it effectively (Kennedy, 1995). In the interview process, one is more often required to prove that he/she has the experience that he/she has stated in the resume. In the financial field, investors are required to have skills in accounting applications and people management skills. Soft skills refer to the capabilities that one is able to do for the company in terms of critical thinking, drafting proposals, and seeing plans through. In the current work environment, one needs a stable balance between the soft and hard skills in order to succeed. By understanding the job market, one is able to determine the set of skills he/she needs in order to have a cutting edge above the rest of the employable people in the job market.
Moreover, relationships in the workplace are very sensitive, and one needs to be able to have the capability to deal with them (Miltenberger, 2004). Relationships in the work environment refer to dealing with the superiors, colleagues, and juniors. In the case of dealing with superiors, one has to deal respectfully with them. The respect is required because they have the authority and once one is willing to adapt to the rules and regulations set, they are able to settle a proper working environment with them (Griffin & Ebert, 2010). In the case of colleagues, one needs to learn to be a proper team player in order to live in peace. Once a whole team is able to live in the working environment peacefully, they are more productive. The main factor to success and productivity in this equation is to have good healthy work relationships.
Social responsibility has proven to be the perfect way for corporates to reach out to the community. A corporate social responsibility defines the relationship between business and the local society in which it resides. Corporates have come to the realization that social responsibility reflects positively on their brand image. Companies across the world have acknowledged this concept; hence, it is considered an essential component of an enterprise’s operations. Big corporations engage in massive corporate social responsibility activities ostensibly to win goodwill from consumers. Despite being unregulated and a non-income generating activity, corporate social responsibility helps companies to strengthen their brand and stabilize their customer base in the market. Moreover, corporate social responsibility influences employees attitude and behaviors by gauging their responses to social responsibility as a moral necessity of normative treatment. That said, people innately possess moral duties to treat others fairly, and when they see instances of unfair treatment, they react as if they are the ones being treated unfairly. In this regard, the givers usually have more powers than the takers. In the case of employees, one has to understand the balance between the two to achieve success.
Social responsibility has proven to be a way for the corporate world to reach out into the community. Its acts could range from cleaning up a neighborhood, feeding homeless people and building schools to helping empower the community. When people do it, they are able to gain access to a higher clientele base and develop good relationships.
Givers and takers in any economy refer to the people who run businesses and those that are on the receiving end. The givers more often have the power over the takers. In the case of employees, one has to truly understand the balance between the two in order to achieve success.
Adaptability and flexibility are used interchangeably when referring to the ability of employees to respond to changing dynamics in the workplace. Adaptability as personality trait enables employees to work with other individuals that may have a different way of thinking. It also allows employees to accommodate diverse cultures and entertain alternative thoughts. In light of imminent company restructuring due to technological advancements, adaptability allows individuals to accept new roles. Flexibility, in its turn, would help employees enrich the jobs by honing their skills, which increases their possibility of getting a promotion. In this regard, adaptability would involve anticipating and responding positively to changing paradigms. Moreover, this would entail developing quick thinking strategies in responding to sudden changes in fortunes as well as planning ahead but having alternative options in case things go wrong.
Adaptability
A personality trait that enables employees to work with other individuals that may have different ways of thinking
Adaptability in the world of business means how one is able to respond and change in accordance to the surrounding environments. When one is able to adapt to the rules and regulations set in the work environment and in the business world, he/she is able to steer through the different challenges that they he/she may face.
Flexibility in the business world refers to the ability to conform to the changing business environment. Companies in the contemporary world have to grapple regularly with the ever changing customer wants and needs due to the rapid development of technology and the fierce competition within concentrated markets. Similarly, employees should adapt to the rules and regulations set in the workplace; they can navigate through the complex challenges that they may face. Flexibility, therefore, refers to the extent to which individuals are able and willing to go beyond the call of duty. Ideally, it should enable both employees’ and business’ needs to be met. That is, flexibility should be mutually beneficial to both the business and the internal shareholders while still delivering impressive returns. It leads to increased employee performance and subsequently increased revenue generation and better cycle time and attendant client service. Employees who exercise flexibility in the workplace experience greater job satisfaction, are punctuated by stronger work commitment and lower levels of work-related stress. In this regard, flexibility is an attitude or mindset that allows individual employees to adjust to the role and responsibilities of their jobs. Flexible staff is open to new trends since their minds are ready in adapting to change that comes with accompanying challenges. Moreover, they have no rigid thoughts and are open to even evolution in their work schedule. Further, flexible staff members are attuned to adjusting to situations and can be relied upon when assigned new projects. Besides, flexible employees can work under intense pressure, are attentive listeners and excellent communicators.
Flexibility, in this case, shows the extent to which one is willing to go for their job. Being flexible more often than not means having to deal with longer working hours, giving time and resources in order to succeed. Optimism is a vital part of success in any venture. When one has a positive attitude towards the future, he/she able to look forward to working. The attitude makes it easier to handle more tasks and accomplish more assigned duties. Reality testing in any company is the ability to look at work and resources from an objective angle. From the inside angle of any job, it is possible to be blinded by the running of the company, however, when one takes an objective view they are able to adjust appropriately to the required standards. When one is able to follow through with the Proven Employment Strategies above, it becomes easier to familiarize yourself with the running of the employment world (Doughty & Long, 2009).
Conflict resolution is one of the main reason why people retain or lose their jobs. A working environment is replete with all manner of conflict, which more often occurs between individual employees. When proper systems are implemented in the workplace to ensure a resolution of such disputes, employees can handle misunderstanding without an escalation, thus leading to better productivity. However, with the absence of such a framework of conflict resolution, the possibility of the entire business grinding to a halt is imminent. That said, delineating personal lives from the work environment is pivotal in keeping employees out of trouble with the management. While conflict is a regular part of any social organization, the primary challenge occurs on how to deal with it. If concealed, avoided, or ignored, conflict will likely fester and grow into a full-blown resentment that would escalate into factional infighting within an organization, hence stifling productivity. Conflict resolution is one of the main reasons why people retain or lose their jobs. There are different kinds of conflict in the working environment. The main reason for conflict in the work environment is a between employees. When systems have been put in place to ensure that employees are able to resolve issues without getting out of hand they are able to have better results in the workplace (Griffiths, 2008). However, without proper systems for conflict resolution, the systems fail the employees and the entire running of the business. For an employee to avoid being in trouble with the management, they need to understand to leave personal lives from the work environment. They also need to have an insatiable drive to work diligently for their employers.
Returns in any work environment always come as a result of working at something consistently. Consistency in any job means sticking through even when things do not work as expected. Having the patience to work and remain focused until you finally succeed at what you are doing. In this economic crunch, only the people who are diligent enough will succeed.
References
Doughty, C. & Long, M. (2009). Handbook of second language acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell.
George, E. (2010). The world's biggest employers. Forbes.
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York, NY: Bantum Books.
Griffin, R., J. & Ebert, R., W. (2010). Business essentials (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Griffiths, C. (2008). Strategies and good language learners. In C. Griffiths (Ed.), Lessons from good language learners (pp. 83–98). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kennedy, E. (1995). Ruling passions. The New York Times.
Miltenberger, R. G., (2004). Behavior modification principles and procedures (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.