Pearls of Perspicacity more resembles a box of chocolates than it does a traditional business or career book. Each chapter delivers its unique tidbit of knowledge and insight in a manner best suited to the ideas presented. The chapters differ in length, tone, and depth, but all have one characteristic in common: They all present nuggets of insight to help you immediately achieve better performance and greater fulfillment in your life. Why "perspicacity" you ask? Why couldn't you just say "pearls of wisdom"? Or even something more straightforward like "good ideas"? The answer is simple. None of those words sufficiently describe the book's broad range of content and the true nature of the ideas presented. Take wisdom for example. Wisdom implies a soundness based on knowledge, experience, or understanding that leads to good judgment. Fair enough; the ideas in the book would pass this test. But the nature of these pearls extends beyond mere soundness. Perspicacity implies a special keenness or acuity applied to insight. It implies a cleverness, perceptiveness, or acuity that takes the basic notion of wisdom one step deeper. This deeper level internalization of certain truths will give you a noticeable advantage in your career.

Pearls of Perspicacity

Proven Wisdom to Help You Find Career Satisfaction and SuccessBy Dick Lyles

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Dick Lyles
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-4479-4

Contents

DEDICATION..........................................................................vFOREWORD............................................................................viiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................ixIntroduction........................................................................xiiiPreface: How to Use This Book.......................................................xvii1 Everyone Knows....................................................................12 The Secret that Will Leverage Your Performance....................................33 One Question that Will Propel your Career to the Stratosphere.....................54 Why Worry about Perceptions?......................................................75 Where to Compete (and Where Not to)...............................................116 Who You Are Doesn't Matter........................................................137 Should You Sweat the Small Stuff?.................................................158 The World Isn't a One-Shot World..................................................179 The Cold, Hard Facts about "This Vision Thing"....................................1910 People Are Not Your Organization's Most Important Asset..........................2111 Make Your Work a Prayer..........................................................2312 Winners Win with the Hands They're Dealt.........................................2513 How to Beat the Values Test......................................................2714 How to Be a Problem-Solving Super Star...........................................2915 Sharpen Your Judgment by Using Heuristics........................................3516 The Strangest Secret of Personal Power and Influence.............................4117 Be a Value-Added Addict..........................................................4518 Excuses Will Kill You............................................................4719 Get inside Their Heads...........................................................4920 Power Your Proposals for Success.................................................5521 Double Your Brain Power..........................................................5922 Only Your Name Goes on Your Resum...............................................6323 Get Help When You Need It........................................................6524 Be a Helper......................................................................6925 Use Your Resum to Manage Your Career............................................7126 Achieve Communication Supremacy..................................................7327 Avoid the Writing Trap...........................................................7728 Leadership Makes a Difference....................................................7929 Don't Let Others Be Responsible for Your Success.................................8130 The Hidden Power of Mentors......................................................8331 Use Your Self Talk to Your Advantage.............................................8532 Feedback Is the Breakfast of Champions...........................................9133 The Most Important Virtue........................................................9334 Master the Effectiveness Equation................................................9535 Be Effectively Flexible..........................................................9736 Don't Let the Past Hold You Back.................................................103Afterword...........................................................................109Bibliography........................................................................111

Chapter One

Everyone Knows

Don't tell me who you are. Instead let me watch you for a week and I'll tell you. You can't fool people, lie to people, or persuade them to believe something that doesn't match reality for the long term.

Think back to some past jobs you've held or groups of people with whom you've worked. Did you know who contributed and who skated? Did you know who could be trusted and who couldn't? Did you know who could be relied on in a pinch and who couldn't? Did you know who always maintained high standards of performance and who didn't? Did you know who was thorough and responsible and who always looked for the shortcut? Did you know who genuinely cared about the organization and who didn't? Did you know who genuinely cared about other people and who didn't? Did you know who tried to kiss up to the boss and who let their performance speak for itself? Did you know who tried to put a spin on everything so they could take unfair credit and who gave credit where credit was due?

You're darn right you did! But here's the kicker ... so did everyone else! Some people might be fooled some of the time. Sometimes people say things in public conversations that might seem to indicate that a large number of people are fooled for good. Contrary to such false appearances, however, the reality is that over time everyone knows.

More important, everyone knows about you, or will know all about you in time. You can't lie to people about who you are, what you do, or how you act for very long. People who try to live a lie don't last.

This truism demands that we learn two valuable lessons.

The first lesson is: Don't become overly concerned when:

1. You see someone getting away with something you think they shouldn't (such as often slipping out early at the end of the day when the boss isn't looking).

2. You see someone else get credit for work when you think credit should have gone to you or someone else.

3. You think others are getting an unfair share of recognition or appreciation compared to what you deserve.

If you get sidetracked by those concerns, you will pay a price. More importantly, if you embrace those kinds of concerns and try to act on them, you'll simply create problems for yourself that you won't want to deal with. In addition, you'll make it harder for people to recognize and act upon your actual performance and the positive contribution you're making.

The second lesson is: Always ensure that your focus is on performing, supporting others in their performance, and working with character and integrity. Why? Because if that's your reality-if that's what's important to you-then over time people will know.

Chapter Two

The Secret that Will Leverage Your Performance

How you work with people is as important as what you do. If you're not seen as someone who is good to be around, a supportive and contributing member of the team, people won't want to be around you. If people don't want to be around you, or don't want you around, you're not going to have much of a career.

The major reason I wrote WINNING WAYS: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well with People (Putnam, 2000, and Berkley, 2002) was because I had encountered so many people throughout my career who simply didn't understand this important lesson. It breaks my heart year after year to see so many people fall short of realizing their full potential and the full rewards they could accrue because they didn't understand that the way they work with...