JOBS & CAREERS SPRING 2018 - 312

TOP TIPS

Rule 4 Have courage
to take a risk

Rule 5 Learn
to juggle

Courage is crucial if you
are going to get anything
off the ground. You have
to take some risks and you
need to be able to make
some tough decisions.
I think I am naturally
brave - it's that what'sthe-worst-that-can-happen
attitude I mentioned
before - but courage is
absolutely something you
can cultivate too. You
achieve some success, so
you realise you can make
good decisions and so
you take another decision
and another one. And as

If you have a family and a
career, you need to learn
about efficiency - and
fast. You have to be able
to get your work done and
get out of the office, but
you are competing against
men whose hours can
stretch into the evening.
Organisation is the key.
When I'm in the office, I
work relentlessly. I don't
surf the internet, I don't chat
- I do what needs to be done
because I know that, when
it is done, I can go home.
Deal with things as they
come up. This is a habit I

a result, your courage to
take those risks grows.
If the prospect scares
you, remember you can
start small. Nobody ever
started anything without
taking a risk, it's true, but
it doesn't have to mean
remortgaging your house
and putting everything on
black or red - that is not
the sort of risk I would
recommend. Very often
it is a risk with yourself
and your time. You'll
never know the outcome
of anything unless you
take the first step.

notice in many successful
people: when something
comes up, they deal with
it immediately. If someone
emails wanting an answer,
it's much quicker to read it,
answer it and move on to
the next thing than park it,
and then think, "Oh, I've
got to go back and do that."
Prioritise between your
responsibilities. There are
no hard-and-fast rules on
this - sometimes home is
the priority and sometimes
work is. You have to have
an acceptance that you can
only do what you can do.

If you have a family and a
career, you need to learn
about efficiency - and fast

Rule 6 Take a
reality check
You don't have to be supertalented academically to
be successful, and you
don't need to be good at
everything. But what you
do need to do is work out
what you are good at. Then
you need to get better at it
and focus your career on it.
Everybody is good at
something and most people
will know what that is. It
might be that you're calm
under pressure or are a
good organiser. It might be
that you have great vision
or understand strategy. It
might well be that you're

good at figures but bad at
vision, and that's fine. The
second part is important
- you need realistic goals,
as well as being realistic
about your talents.
Think about what
you do well and take for
granted. Lots of women
come to me and say, "I've
been stuck at home with
the children for 10 years
and I don't know what
I'm good at." Well, you're
organised, you can budget,
you manage people. We
all have talents. It's about
working out what they are.

A final thought

Success means different things to different people, and everyone
has a different measure of success. But whatever success means to
you, there are always three cornerstones to achieving it. Planning,
process and strategy. Ask yourself high-quality questions. What is
it you actually want? What is it you want
to achieve? Then think about what has
stopped you in the past. Why didn't I?
What stopped me? Why didn't I achieve
it? Decide what you want, decide what
you're willing to exchange for it, set
your goals and go to work.

Taken from Karren Brady's 10 Rules
For Success, which is available for
Kindle from Amazon
J O B S & C A R E E R S /// 3 1 1



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