How to be Successful in the Business World- Tips on Taking Advantage of Your Opportunities and Dealing With Stress
The business world grew tremendously over the past years and also increased in
popularity among the student population in local universities. For example, when I joined Women in Business, I realized how many empowering women chose to pursue this field. With all the determined and ambitious women in this field, it is important to learn to take advantage of opportunities and seek out tips of the trade to help deal with stress and eventually be successful in the business world.
I decided to turn to my Aunt Sara Kirby, Principal Client Development, and ask her for
success tips. She currently works for the company Circana in Pennsylvania. Her responsibilities involve client retention and portfolio accounts. Although her career consists of many responsibilities and tasks, when asked how to become successful in her role, she explained that there is one thing to being successful in her position and in general.
“Being able to communicate and get along with people– all types of people is most
important!” Sara Kirby explained. She also mentioned how learning to foster relationships is key to successful business decisions and deals with colleagues and clients.
This sounds simple, however, learning how to communicate effectively with all types of
people is a skill that definitely takes time and patience. Along with communication, taking ownership and accountability, whether it is a task, project, or problem, is important. For the past 15 years, my aunt started renewing clients which is a high stress job because you need to constantly win clients over from other competitors. This led to my next question: “how do you deal with stress in your career?” Stress is something that everyone deals with throughout their personal and professional lives so it is important to learn ways to manage your stress level.
My aunt explained that it is key to understand your own needs. For her, working out, the New York Times puzzles, and spending time outside is perfect for her to decompress from work and take time for herself after a long stressful day. Furthermore, my aunt explained that understanding your own needs means taking care of yourself.
“If you can’t learn how to take care of yourself and your own needs, you can’t take care
of others,” my aunt explained. This is important especially if you plan on having a family in the future. How do you expect to take care of your friends or future family when you aren’t able to take care of yourself and your career?
Along with focusing on taking care of herself, she prioritizes real-life experiences over
social media; she believes that it does not make people happy in the long run, something I also agree with.
The one tip that really stood out to me was when she explained that pathways to success or careers tend to be non-linear. For example, my aunt graduated college with a Biology degree and then later decided to pursue a career in business after college. She found herself in variousjobs with different tasks and with all her trial and error she then decided on getting her MBA. Once graduated, she worked on making new connections until she finally landed a job that fit her and made her happy.
Her last tip focused on change. She explained that if you don’t like the situation you are
in, take action and ask yourself what you can do to improve your situation. For example, if you are unhappy with a policy or plan in your current job, speak up with your ideas for change. Learning how to voice your needs and ideas creates new opportunities, even if the idea scares you. Voicing yourself will also help you stand out from your other employees and put you at the top of your boss's mind. In the end, if you see yourself being a good fit for a new position or want to voice your opinion on an upcoming project, be courageous and speak your mind.
By Ella Kirby
