Advance Your Career, Develop a Winning Personality!

When scouring newspapers for job ads, you often see “WITH PLEASING PERSONALITY” as one of the requirements. Most employers would rate this as one of the characteristics that all ideal employees ought to have.

But how do you define pleasing personality? Having a pleasing personality, does not mean having the “super model” look. Personality is actually the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. It does not only refer to the way you look and how you dress up, but also refers to your total package: how you converse, how you socialize, an dhow likable you are.

If you are vying for a promotion, or simply eyeing a position in the company, bear in mind that not only an impressive CV, but also having a pleasing personality would help your boss in deciding which personnel would fit the spot.

I have a friend who is a genius at her work. No one in her department can do what she does and she can; in fact, she can do almost everything! Unfortunately, when promotion time came, she was passed over in favor of a coworker whose only advantage is that she looks more “managerial”.

You see, my friend is the head of her department, but she dresses shabbily and that is just one of her problems relating to her uncharming personality. She commits one social blunder after another, making an enemy of almost everyone. She is like the stereotyped nerd who cares only for the technical aspects of her job.

Unfortunately, you are usually evaluated not only on your capability but also if your personality fits the position or simply if you are likeable. The example I narrated was rather extreme and you are probably far from that. But in tight contests for a cherished job, having a better personality may spell the difference in winning.

In your quest to develop your personality you should take note that there are two major components to work on. First is how you package yourself and communicate—this is the area which most people associate with personality development. The second and probably more critical part, concerns your behavior and social interaction.

For you to better appreciate the importance of the two parts of personality development I will discuss their scope in more detail. The first part of your makeover has to do with the impressions conveyed externally. Among these are:

Knowing your physical qualities, strengths, and weaknesses. Your choice of garments and grooming will depend a lot on your physical features. Take some time to carefully examine your appearance in the mirror and see what pleasing qualities to highlight and what unflattering features to downplay.
Establishing your personal brand and packaging. Know the appropriate grooming, hygiene, and dressing. Have a clear vision of what image you wish to project. This will also include your behavior and bearing.
Improving your communication skills. Knowing the right things to say and when and how to say it will go a long way to improving your relationships. Remember too that non-verbal communication like body language is also part of the process.

The second aspect of personality development is how to conduct yourself in a business situation, this is also known as business etiquette. Some of the key ideas here are:

Managing professional interactions. This covers a wide area, ranging from telephone manners, email and internet protocol, entrance and exiting etiquette, elevator behavior, appropriate personal space, voice tone and volume modulation, and many others.
Learning proper meeting decorum. How to avoid offending others while still getting your point across. Especially important is knowing the right manners during dining.
Practicing ideal behavior in the office. Among the things to master here is how to serve compliments and criticism professionally and how to gain the cooperation and respect.

Remember, you can only enhance your looks to a certain extent; but you have the capacity to develop your personality as much as you want. You may improve any trait which you deem proper and agreeable.

Personality development is vital to your career. It is an investment in yourself that will certainly pay abundant dividends. But the best thing about developing your personality besides boosting your career is that you can also apply these to your personal life and reap even greater benefits!

BusinessCoach Inc. offers excellent seminar-workshops on personality development.

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*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.