Raise Your Game: How to succeed at work

Raise Your Game: How to succeed at work

by Peter J. A. Shaw
Released November 2009
Publisher(s): Capstone
ISBN: 9781906465537

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Book description

The pressure's on…

  • You've just won a big promotion and your new boss has high expectations.

  • You have an important meeting and want to make a constructive impact.

  • You're thinking of restructuring the team and need to show clear leadership.

  • You know you're capable of so much more and need to grasp the opportunity.

Meanwhile, you're drowning in a sea of unanswered email and voicemail… How can you raise your game and achieve your full potential?

Peter Shaw, professional coach and author, shows how combining self-belief with practical action creates the basis for powerful change, helping you step up to the next level. Learn how to identify your strengths, take bold but calculated risks, build your network of supporters, convert your critics, live your values and find fulfilment and joy.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Acknowledgements
  3. Foreword
  4. Introduction
    1. The issue for you
    2. Being and Doing
    3. Next Steps
  5. A. Take Stock
    1. 1. Develop Your Strengths
      1. 1.1. Why are strengths important?
      2. 1.2. Recognise your strengths
      3. 1.3. Grow your strengths
      4. 1.4. Look after your strengths
      5. 1.5. Moving forward
    2. 2. Understand Your Least Strong Areas
      1. 2.1. Why is it important to understand your least strong areas?
      2. 2.2. Develop your least strong areas
      3. 2.3. We all have feet of clay
      4. 2.4. Is this about least strong areas or preferences?
      5. 2.5. Recognise your least strong areas
      6. 2.6. Seek to grow in your least strong areas
      7. 2.7. Moving forward
    3. 3. Embed Your Values
      1. 3.1. Why is embedding values important?
      2. 3.2. Recognise your values
      3. 3.3. Live your values
      4. 3.4. Bring self-awareness about your values
      5. 3.5. Know your values
      6. 3.6. Look after your values
      7. 3.7. Moving forward
    4. 4. Create an Equilibrium
      1. 4.1. Why is creating an equilibrium important?
      2. 4.2. Recognise what holds you in equilibrium
      3. 4.3. Retain your perspective
      4. 4.4. Clarify the right equilibrium in different roles
      5. 4.5. Look after your equilibrium
      6. 4.6. Know your rhythms
      7. 4.7. Moving forward
  6. B. First Steps
    1. 5. Address Your Self-Doubt and Your Fears
      1. 5.1. Why is understanding self-doubt and your fears important?
      2. 5.2. Living with self-doubt
      3. 5.3. Recognise your fears
      4. 5.4. Understanding your fears better
      5. 5.5. Moving on from self-doubt or fears
      6. 5.6. Keeping clarity about your self-doubt and your fears
      7. 5.7. Moving forward
    2. 6. Believe You Can Do Difficult Things
      1. 6.1. Why is believing you can do difficult things important?
      2. 6.2. Collect the evidence
      3. 6.3. Wear the badge
      4. 6.4. Tackle difficult things with confidence
      5. 6.5. Moving forward
    3. 7. Know Who Your Supporters and Stakeholders Are
      1. 7.1. Why is it important to know who your supporters are?
      2. 7.2. Build an effective relationship with your boss
      3. 7.3. Building effective relationships with key colleagues
      4. 7.4. Building supporters among your staff
      5. 7.5. Building a network
      6. 7.6. Communicate effectively with your supporters and stakeholders
      7. 7.7. Moving forward
    4. 8. Take Some Risks
      1. 8.1. Why is it important to take some risks?
      2. 8.2. What sort of risks are you prepared to take?
      3. 8.3. How do you respond to risks?
      4. 8.4. What happens when you avoid taking risks?
      5. 8.5. Moving forward
  7. C. Up the Pace
  8. 9. Stretch Your Muscles
    1. 9.1. Why is it important to stretch your muscles?
    2. 9.2. How far have you come?
    3. 9.3. What does stretching your muscles mean?
    4. 9.4. Where might you stretch your muscles?
      1. 9.4.1. Increasing your chairing skills
      2. 9.4.2. Asking the right questions
      3. 9.4.3. Building your profile
      4. 9.4.4. Taking control of the situation
    5. 9.5. Moving forward
  9. 10. Influence Others and Convert Your Critics
    1. 10.1. Why is influencing others and converting your critics important?
    2. 10.2. Develop your influencing skills
    3. 10.3. Build new partnerships
    4. 10.4. Building support from colleagues for a decision you want to make
    5. 10.5. Engaging critics
    6. 10.6. Moving forward
  10. 11. Understand How You Respond to Problems
    1. 11.1. Why is it important to understand how you respond to problems?
    2. 11.2. Increase your self-awareness
    3. 11.3. Recognise how you cope with conflict best
    4. 11.4. Negotiate effectively
    5. 11.5. Holding firm when courage fails you
    6. 11.6. Moving forward
  11. 12. Warm Down Thoroughly
    1. 12.1. Why is warming down thoroughly important?
    2. 12.2. Know how to look after yourself
    3. 12.3. Grow your vitality
    4. 12.4. Manage your time effectively
    5. 12.5. Coping effectively with stress
    6. 12.6. Moving forward
  12. D. Grow the Momentum
    1. 13. Keep Your Focus
      1. 13.1. Why is keeping your focus important?
      2. 13.2. What sort of focus are you looking for?
      3. 13.3. Ensure effective action
      4. 13.4. Take hard decisions
      5. 13.5. Ensuring an effective focus for communication
      6. 13.6. Moving forward
    2. 14. Grow Your Resilience
      1. 14.1. Why is growing your resilience so important?
      2. 14.2. Build resilience
      3. 14.3. Recover from mistakes
      4. 14.4. Building resilience for the future
      5. 14.5. Moving forward
    3. 15. Build Your Team
      1. 15.1. Why is focusing on building your team important?
      2. 15.2. Getting the best out of your staff
      3. 15.3. Bringing a healing touch
      4. 15.4. Moving forward
    4. 16. Renew Your Freshness
      1. 16.1. Why is renewing your freshness important?
      2. 16.2. Staying open-minded
      3. 16.3. Enhancing the skill of forgetting
      4. 16.4. Coping with disappointment
      5. 16.5. Keep nurturing your successors
      6. 16.6. Moving forward
  13. E. Where Next?
    1. 17. Keep an Open Mind
      1. 17.1. Why is keeping an open mind important?
      2. 17.2. Know when to step back
      3. 17.3. How good are you at stepping back?
      4. 17.4. Be honest about your options
      5. 17.5. What are the breakpoints?
      6. 17.6. Be ready to be surprised
      7. 17.7. Moving forward
    2. 18. Recognise When the Tide Turns
      1. 18.1. Why is it important to recognise when the tide turns?
      2. 18.2. Go with the flow
      3. 18.3. Stand up to the waves
      4. 18.4. Avoid drowning
      5. 18.5. Recognise the ebbs and flows
      6. 18.6. Come up for air
      7. 18.7. Move to a different bay
      8. 18.8. Is the tide turning a good thing or a bad thing?
      9. 18.9. Moving forward
    3. 19. Know What Matters to You
      1. 19.1. Why is it important to know what matters most to you?
      2. 19.2. Where does ambition fit in?
      3. 19.3. How important is recognition?
      4. 19.4. Where does financial security fit in?
      5. 19.5. Embracing the freedom to choose
      6. 19.6. Moving forward
    4. 20. Renew Your Vision
      1. 20.1. Why is renewing your vision important?
      2. 20.2. Observing others renewing their vision
      3. 20.3. When is reinventing yourself important?
      4. 20.4. What about when you start a new job?
      5. 20.5. Renewing your vision partway through a role
      6. 20.6. Enabling others to renew their vision
      7. 20.7. Moving forward
  14. F. To What End?
    1. 21. What Is Fulfilment for You?
      1. 21.1. Why is it important to be clear on what fulfilment means for you?
      2. 21.2. Recognising what you are driven by
      3. 21.3. What does making a difference mean?
      4. 21.4. What is your life purpose?
      5. 21.5. Where does faith or belief fit in?
      6. 21.6. Moving forward
    2. 22. How Do You Want to Be Remembered?
      1. 22.1. Why is it important to reflect on how you want to be remembered?
      2. 22.2. What do you want to be remembered for?
      3. 22.3. What is your legacy as you move on from a particular job?
      4. 22.4. Getting it all into perspective
      5. 22.5. Moving forward
    3. 23. What About Family and Friends?
      1. 23.1. Why is it important to focus on family and friends?
      2. 23.2. Where does love fit in?
      3. 23.3. Do you love yourself enough?
      4. 23.4. Moving forward
    4. 24. Where Does Joy Fit In?
      1. 24.1. Why is it important to know what gives you joy?
      2. 24.2. What is joy?
      3. 24.3. Where does the sense of fun fit in?
      4. 24.4. Can you create a sense of joy in your team?
      5. 24.5. Moving forward
  15. A. Conclusion: Next Steps
    1. A.1. Key questions
  16. Selected Bibliography
  17. About the Author
    1. Other books by Peter Shaw
      1. Forthcoming books

Product information

  • Title: Raise Your Game: How to succeed at work
  • Author(s): Peter J. A. Shaw
  • Release date: November 2009
  • Publisher(s): Capstone
  • ISBN: 9781906465537