Josh Anstey’s Blog

Last night I attended a talk organised by the ACS featuring Stephen Kowal, CIO and Director of Business Excellence of CSC and employer of 87 000. Overall the talk was brilliant with lots of really useful information, ideas, motivation and inspiration. It has given me a fortune of food for thought and ideas to pass along on my blog.

Stephen talked about IT careers, what employers look for, and how best to achieve your goals and position yourself in a way that will enable you to reach great heights. The talk was really great from so many aspects, and had lots of information and ideas that can be implemented for entrepreneurs.

‘A straight line career path doesn’t exist’

As entrepreneurs, it is important to take this fact on board with you. In the modern world, a straight line career path doesn’t exist, and it is vital that you allow yourself to explore different avenues and options so that you are not narrowed into one avenue. Don’t feel pressured about following what was the traditional path, but rather embrace the fact that the straight line career path doesn’t exist, and utilize the opportunities that it presents.

Key success factors

• Foundation Skills – it is important to have the basic foundations of what you are doing. There is such a wide variety of ways to attain this and learn these skills. So do what you can to get the foundation and basics in so that you can build on them and succeed at what you are doing.
• Attitude - do every job passionately regardless of what you think or desire. Skill, knowledge and ability are important, but there is nothing that can compare to that of attitude. A positive attitude not only makes what you do enjoyable, but it puts you in a league of your own and lets you stand above the crowd. Be positive about your ventures, your businesses, and where you are heading. Having the right attitude is what overcomes obstacles and achieves success!
• Know your business, learn your industry – know what you do and have the knowledge to develop your business, who and what you are. Make sure you have a good understanding of what your business is, and where you come from. This will benefit you in moving forward. Continually learn your industry. This is not a once off process, but an ever evolving and continually changing activity. So keep informed about your industry. Knowledge is power!
• Personal growth and learning – you are what drives your success and don’t forget that. You are the one that makes and creates your opportunities. Remember to always work on your personal growth and learning so that it can assist you in your endeavours and your success.
• Communication, communication and communication – this is everything that you are and where you are going. If you can’t tell someone who you are, and communicate where you are going, then there will always be that invisible barrier. Make sure you can smoothly and effectively communicate with someone, whether it is in pitching an idea, networking, socialising and discussing business. Communication is another vital key to success. It will make you or break you. You can get some tips from my post on ‘The art of the elevator pitch’.
• Everybody is a customer; every position is a leadership position – as an entrepreneur, it is important to recognise that anyone, anything and everything is an opportunity, a customer, or a potential business partner. Keep this in mind and you will never be caught off guard, and you will make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. Remember that regardless of what your role is, from coffee boy, to CEO, to Entrepreneur, every position is a leadership position. No matter what you do, there is room for leadership and an opportunity for your to showcase your skills, and lead.

I hope you enjoyed the summary of this amazing talk, and my comments and additions to the bullet points. This is a starting point for all of this. I will follow this up with a second post to discuss the other half of the talk that covered your ‘Goals’, so keep your eyes out for that one. Hope you were able to take something away from this and implement it straight away. I would love to know your thoughts.

Remember to subscribe to my blog so that you don’t miss a thing!

Click here to read my previous post about this ACS event, “ACS Young IT Talk”, or if you would like some tips for events like these, read my post on “Networking with business cards”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 8:17 pm and is filed under Business, Entrepreneur, Ideas, Networking, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.