Can Your Father’s Lessons Be Applied to Your Job Today?

There may be a belief that the job world has changed over the years such that seasoned skills passed down through generations are no longer relevant. However, there are fundamental skills we must all practice that will relate to the jobs in today’s ever-changing world. Whether you are working in a technical field writing thousands of lines of code, or an oil field swinging heavy equipment, some of the lessons our fathers taught us have a major impact to our success today and in the future. Time has proven that the fundamental tenets of being well-organized, having a good work ethic and building interpersonal skills can offer a solid foundation for any job success.

Being organized is one of the first things employers look for in quality staff. I once heard of an employer, that would try to look inside a candidate’s car to see if it was messy or neat to gauge his organization skills. Daily organization habits have a direct effect on efficiency. Disorganized people have a habit of repeating work and wasting time. Organized people can prioritize work more efficiently to get more work done. Misplacing meeting notes, looking for your tools, asking people to resend emails are all examples of time-wasting activities. Being structured, organizing daily activities and prioritizing can have positive effect on efficiency, which may also affect your company’s revenue. Understanding how being organized can affect your company’s bottom line is important for you and your future growth in your career.

Another area of growth comes from having a good work ethic. Most workplaces these days recognize this and give annual training around this specific topic. A good work ethic means that you embrace your work behavior in such a way that you produce high-quality work consistently. The personal reward for this is normally a sense of accomplishment and pride in the job you’re doing. A secondary benefit is this is almost always reflected in your persona as seen from those you work with. Understanding this concept of having a positive attitude toward your work is a rewarding skill and that added benefit of looking good to your team and leadership takes us into our next skill around how we relate to others.

Almost daily, today’s jobs need you to exercise interpersonal skills. In the workplace, relating to leaders, staff and peers are critical to the success of you and your company. Interpersonal skills include the ability to both listen and communicate effectively. If you don’t understand the strategic direction being explained, then you can’t relate your tasks to align. If you can’t communicate the deliverables of your tasks, then nothing is accomplished. Doing both while building rapport with those you work with is a skill that will open many doors for you, not only during interviews, but daily in the workplace.

The world evolves at a dizzying pace. New technology is updated all the time and the ability to keep up is stressful. Besides technology, work culture can also evolve. From working in a cubicle under fluorescent lighting surrounded by smoke-stained ceiling tiles, to open areas with bean bags and espresso machines, we can find comfort holding on to these basic human skills needed to succeed. In every environment, being well-organized, having a good work ethic and building your interpersonal skills will give you the fundamentals to succeed. Using these skills to help you evolve will remove the limits on how far you can go.