Work, doing it well

Timn asked what I do for work. What I do is not that important but rather how I do it - I am on my 4th "career" by some measures but I have always been well paid for my age. In order I have been a yacht captain, a sales/marketing stiff, an IT guy, and a real estate developer.

Here are my thoughts on doing well at work, besides trying to do something you enjoy since we spend a lot of time doing it.

Succeeding in the modern work world
20 steps in no order…

1) Show Up
2) Set Clear Expectations and update them, it is OK to reset them as required.
3) Learn Simple Financial Math
4) Know how to find and read the scope part of a contract. Aspire to write good scopes.
5) Know how to read and prepare a budget then track to the budget.
6) Ask for help
7) Report back, often
8) Understand the concept of Return on Investment
9) Understand the concept of Return on Capital and the cost of Capital
10) Complete
11) Learn your Job
12) Understand Risk
13) Respect the owners or management
14) Be patient for advancement
15) Think ahead and forecast
16) Understand how your job fits into the big picture
17) Understand your value to the organization and be able to articulate it
18) Keep your value above your cost
19) Do not depend on your job
20) Know when it is time to leave

By far the biggest issue I see in the work world is people shooting them selves in the foot. The ones that manage not to f'up to badly do rather well.

Derek

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In the long run reality always wins.

dang those are some good points.
The two things I learned the hard way are;

If there is a project a bunch of people have tried, but no one could get it to work, and they think you are just the special talent to do it...


They don't have the funds right now, but if you work for free for a while the ball will get rolling...


Just walk away.

The other rough one is that if you are smarter than your boss, you're screwed, because they still are your boss.

Thanks. That's a really good way of explaining it, and I agree with it all. Cool jobs, by the way. I bet you've got some cool stories from being a Yacht captain?

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Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

Yeah, he does, I'll be nice and let him tell em....

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Jay Woodward
Snohomish, WA
'90 Mazdog Frankenprotege
Chronologically, 46...

Yacht Captain - there ain't no service crew or sweep 1200 miles from the nearest spec of land. Back when I started we also did not have full GPS coverage, one had to think, hell even after I had GPS there are parts of the world that are not charted or not charted well so I might know where I am but have no idea where that reef is. By the way if you get close to the poles and are in a fjord GPS does not work nor any other navigation system, it gets down to a stop watch knot meter and compass, a lot like TSD rallys.

Weather is the biggest factor out at sea, the owner I worked for liked me to move the boat around at some rather crappy times of the year, I have been in the North Pacific in Feb. Nov. Jan. & Oct. way too many times. (Found me some bad weather in the South Pacific too) All of this in my very early 20's, fully responsible for a multi-million dollar asset and several lives. Good times I had no idea I was in so far over my head!

Later when working as the head of IT one or our Hotels lost all phone service so we had 800 or so pissed off guest and Qwest was doing their typical bang up job of not solving the problem. The General Manager of the hotel quipped "bet you wish you where out on the yacht again" I let her know that at least when I make a mistake in IT no one dies. All a matter of perspective.

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In the long run reality always wins.

Innovation.
I wouldn't say that I'm the best employee ever, or that I'm supremely motivated in my current career, but I have ideas of things that make people less work or make their current work easier and I have the skills to make them happen.

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Grant Hughes

My friend the yacht captain told me about when they would anchor for the evening in the Med sea somewhere. They would shoot off the 12 Ga. a few times just to let the locals know they were not to be messed with. Yet another level of responsibility...

The only issues I ever had with the locals were of a very different sort, they would load up their wounded and sick in a panga and see if I could do something for them with my med kit.

So I have done a few stitches, cleaned a lot of cuts, passed out sterile wipes and given out a few antibiotics.

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In the long run reality always wins.

The most interesting thing to me has been the career jumping. Something I've been considering a lot more often lately now that I'm almost to a point where it is even possible.

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Grant Hughes

When I was just a kid one of my early employers said " If someone pays you a dollar in wages give them a dollar twenty five in effort" That has always stuck with me and always worked.

How did you get into being a yacht captain in your early twenties?

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Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

From 1956-1960 the federal minimum wage was $1.00 even.

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Grant Hughes

Two best lessons learned so far. If you don't like it, don't waste your time and fess up to any mistakes.

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Diamond Jim
Co-Driver in the Double Zero course opening car
Charter Member of O.U.C.H.
Organized Union of Cat Herders

How to be a Yacht Captain:

1) Start sailing in your early teens, love it live it.
2) Do some racing, do it well, win some stuff.
3) Join College sailing team, learn quickly that you suck get your ass handed to you for the whole freshman year...
4) Keep working at it, listen to the coach, practice more, even on days off. Sail 352 of the 365 days that year. Start to do a bit better in the team's practice races. Get a guy with a Gold Medal in sailing to crew for you a bit and tell you all about how you are doing a lot of things wrong.
5) Suck less in the Jr year, win a bunch of races gel with your crew (now my wife) travel a lot to other schools.
6) Become team captain in a NCAA ranked school dominate the district make solid placings at the national level.
7) Get invited to race on big fancy yacht, while the "heros" go off the the bar and act important stay on the boat and work your butt off to make sure everything is ready, prepped, and sorted out - not getting paid mind you.
8) Go start big race doing the grunt job, do it well end up driving the boat in the hardest conditions of the early AM hrs, win the race. Think nothing about it just start cleaning up the boat and jumping in to help out as needed.
9) Have the owner call you 2 months later and ask you to take over the program as he noticed you worked hard, did not put on airs and clearly knew how to sail.
10) Enjoy pay checks never try to get more on the sly maintain impeccable ethics at all times, understand its the owners boat to enjoy not yours.


Here I am driving the old girl, some years after I retired, I sitll get calls to go do races all over the place.

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In the long run reality always wins.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2009 11:48AM by derek.

Hey BTW thanks again man, for letting me play on the bosses' boat!

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Jay Woodward
Snohomish, WA
'90 Mazdog Frankenprotege
Chronologically, 46...