Posted by Arielle
Whether you have been in the workforce for one month or ten years, one thing remains certain: some specific skills and qualities make you a top performer.
Don’t fall under the trap of believing you will one day have all the knowledge of everything there is to know about thriving in your career. There is always room for improvement and a new lesson to learn–even for the most seasoned professional!
Remember: these are ten skills and qualities that make you a top performer:
1. Communication: Verbal, Written, and Listening
Effective communication results in exchanging information that accomplishes a goal–such as solving a problem, understanding the disconnect in a marketing strategy, or expressing a concern or suggestion to your supervisor. In addition, communicating well isn’t limited to being a simple back and forth exchange of information. You must be able to actively listen to others and articulate what they want to express in your own words. Without proper communication, a task or conversation cannot move forward clearly.
2. Collaboration and Teamwork
A top performer works well alone and with others. Like an online marketing company, the best workforces are composed of like-minded individuals who finish tasks more efficiently because they work together! A team working together rather than separately is the catalyst motivating everyone to uplift one another with their complementing strengths and skills. Happy employees + the creation of meaningful work = happy clients. Moreover, every person on a team has a unique personality and set of traits that contribute to their team’s overall productivity, boost morale, and result in collaborative efforts that produce better work.
3. Organization and Time-Management
Every day we clock into work, we have a to-do list of tasks waiting to be completed; the icing on top is the fact that they’re all on a deadline. Staying organized and on top of time management will prevent you from experiencing unnecessary stress and anxiety–fortunately, there’s more than one way to streamline your workflow! For example, you may be someone who works best in short bursts of time and takes long breaks, or you need to power through to avoid throwing yourself off a groove. Whatever method works best for you, take the time to understand how you function best. Once you discover the power of organization and proper time management, deadlines and task lists won’t feel as threatening anymore.
4. Resilience and Tenacity
Stress is a part of the territory that comes with working as a professional. Take Pulse, your favorite Temecula marketing agency, for example; the summer is our slowest season because clients usually take vacations during this time; come the fall and winter, however, the workload doubles (even triples). After all, the holidays are suddenly right around the corner, which leads to content picking back up again. During the moments where assignments seem to pile on top of each other, stand your ground and be firm with mental fortitude by staying intentional with what you produce–without question. While the experience of stress is valid and understandable, it can affect the quality of your work. Completed assignments mean nothing if their quality falls below your usual standard.
5. Patience
Practice patience for others as well as yourself. First, when it comes to having patience for others, the simple answer is that most of the time, if not all the time, any aggravation directed towards them isn’t worth the energy. Why? That energy can be invested into completing another task or carrying on with your day. What needs to get done will get done.
Subsequently, you won’t be able to do everything perfectly from the get-go as much as you would want to–believe me, I know, as a former perfectionist. However, good things come in due time, such as developing a skill set, earning a promotion or a raise, and adapting to how you best work with your team–especially if you’re starting a new job. People won’t criticize you for being patient with yourself; they care about how you treat yourself and conduct yourself personally and professionally.
6. Emotional Management
The effects of emotions come into the workplace in two ways: through the circumstances of our personal lives and a situation that happened with a project, team member, or client. When you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed with an emotion of any kind, just breathe. It’s human to get emotional, but keep yourself in check because you still have a job to do. On the other hand, If you believe the emotional impacts are beginning to translate into your work, don’t be afraid to bring up your concern to a supervisor.
7. Competency and Reliability
Prove the competency your resume states you have by being reliable. Execute the responsibilities asked of you, keeping your word, and consider that you affect the team with your work ethic. By demonstrating you are the excellent employee an employer believed you to be, people will naturally trust you just as much as you trust yourself.
8. Self-Regulation and Management
Being honest with yourself is difficult, but it is imperative to growth. With self-regulation and management, you can reflect on how you can be better and determine the actions needed to make positive changes into a reality. But remember: practicing self-regulation does not mean attacking yourself with self-criticism. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging your flaws. On the contrary, doing so makes you a stronger person. When you’re considerate of yourself, you learn how to be considerate of others and adopt and translate that same nurturing mindset onto others.
9. Humility and Integrity
Conducting yourself with humility and integrity should be the foundation of your work ethic. When you can be upfront, honest, and sincere with who you are, how you communicate, and the type of work you deliver, employers and fellow team members will respect that beyond anything because those qualities naturally translate into everything you do. That transparency will be one of the most defining characteristics you can have because people who can trust you will never give them anything less than your best.
10. Confidence
Confidence is not arrogance; it is a person’s belief in themselves to achieve what they set out to do and never settle for anything less than their standards. Top performers are confident in themselves from both a personal and professional standpoint. The ability to execute an action without hesitation is the mark of someone who takes the initiative, seeks growth opportunities, and can be trusted to carry out tasks no matter what they are asked to do. Therefore, believe in yourself, and let others believe in you too. Challenge the misbeliefs in your head that say otherwise. If you don’t, you won’t be able to achieve anything or get to where you deserve to be.
A top performer is an individual who is consistent in all areas of their work– such as Temecula web design, copywriting, accounting, or project management, to name a few examples–but they are also human beings aware of their flaws and mistakes. As a result, they can handle their shortcomings and challenges with grace. If you continue practicing the qualities mentioned above and skills, you’re on the right track to move forward in a fulfilling career.