Naiman Labs Newsletter #5. Don't be humble!

New week and another issue of Naiman Labs newsletter. Welcome friends!

I recently had a chat with a friend who's job searching, and he told me about how difficult it is to “sell” himself during interviews. And yes, it’s hard. Not only in job search, but at work. When we try to get a promotion, for example. It got me thinking about how many of us struggle to show off our skills and achievements at work.

We were all taught to be humble, but sometimes, that can hold us back in our careers.

I hear a lot of complaints how people do their job, but I don’t grow in the company, or is not going up the way I want etc. When I talk to my friends I often hear that their default expectation is the following:

“I do my job and I assume everybody sees it somehow”.

It is more complicated, right? Especially if work remotely. I think that it is important not only do your job, but also to demonstrate what and how you do.

Catch-up ☀️

Make sure you discuss your goals, plans and targets with your manager. It is important. And not only to make sure that you’re going in the right direction, but also to show your thinking process, your vision and your achievements. Make sure you have regular catch-ups with your manager. And don’t be very humble. If you achieve something, tell them about it. If you have made some progress with a complex task, don’t wait until you complete it 100%, make sure to update your manager.

Work together 🤝

Team up with your colleagues, especially if you’re working from home. Turn on that camera during virtual meetings, join in on casual chats, join the slack channels devoted to football, photography and books. And don’t be afraid to ask your teammates for help or advice, or even share a task with them once in a while. Solving problems together is very bonding. Building relationships with your team can only benefit you in the long run.

Share 💡

Don’t hesitate to share your knowledge. This is one of my favorite practice. I love knowledge-sharing sessions.

Your colleagues are experts in their own fields and can offer some amazing insights. Why not to discuss it with them? And of course you know a lot, and you often learn something new - why not to share it?

There’s more. Knowledge sessions can be not only work-related. And why not take the opportunity to showcase your own passions and interests? Organize a session on photography, sports, cooking, or anything that you’re enthusiastic about.

📃 People management article of the week

Long read. Why We Love to Hate HR…and What HR Can Do About It from Harvard Business Review.

It has many obvious things, but I like the brief history of American economy in 20th century and how it influenced HR.

Also I found important things for HR in this article. The most important one is the common HR problem I also saw when I worked with various clients. Many HR teams just apply what is common in the market, or in the industry - best practices (btw not alway the best, but just well-known). However it is more important (now more than ever) to apply practices that are tailored for your organization, solving your organisation’s current and future problems.

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⚒️ Productivity tip of the week

I love using read-later apps for reading articles I find interesting.

When I come across interesting article and I don’t have time, or I don’t want to read immediately, instead of copying the link and saving it in the notes, or just leave it open in browser I use read-later app.

Currently I use Reader by Readwise. It provides a lot of cool functions - highlighting, tagging, folder management for your articles and highlights.

However before I found Reader I had been using the app called Pocket. Very easy to use and very light for your devices. You can have Pocket on your phone, tablet, or just as an extension to you Chrome browser.

Just one more tip here 😉: read-later apps are good for saving and storing something you want to read. But don’t forget to set up a time for review and actually to read what you saved. Otherwise this will become just a paper dump.

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Have a great week ahead and don't forget to share your achievements!

Vlad from Naiman Labs