Learn to DAzzLE

The frustrating thing about being underemployed or unemployed is the feeling of having no control. Every day you go to the same shitty job, and you get the sense that none of it matters. Maybe you are submitting applications and not hearing anything. It can feel hopeless.

Remember to control your controllables. What can you change in this situation? 

You can change the way you show up at your current role. Maybe you are a gas station attendant or a waiter. Maybe you are volunteering at your local animal shelter or managing the email list of a nonprofit while you look for a paying gig. It doesn’t matter the situation - what matters is how you rise to it.

And that’s where you need to learn to DAzzLE.

This stands for:

Decide that you are going to be the very best you can be.

work your  Azz off. 

Learn as much as you can. 

Engage the right people to grow. 

And WHO you DAzzLE is almost as important as HOW you DAzzLE. We’ve all known those silent sufferers who work really hard but no one notices them. Don’t be that person - learn how to shine light on your work to impress the right people. 

The D in DAzzLE stands for Decide. Because you have a decision to make. Are you going to wallow in self-pity that no one understands how great you are, and that you deserve a better job? Or are you going to prove that you deserve a better job by going above and beyond every day? 

In my career, I DAzzLEd the right people, and I have been promoted in every single job I’ve ever had. I’ve worked with good leaders, bad leaders, and leaders that DID NOT like me. And yet, I’ve been able to convince every company that I’ve worked for that I’ve got more to offer. How did I do it? You guessed it - I dazzled. 

So the first step is to make the decision that you are going to show up every day as the person you deserve to be. I don’t care if you are the lowest of the lowest rungs on that corporate ladder, you can show up with a great attitude, a desire to get along with everyone, and an ability to generate great ideas. 

Deciding to do well is one thing. Delivering great work is another. The next step is to put your head down and work your ASS OFF. I mean, work harder than you have ever worked in your life. Do not look at your phone, do not go outside for an extra break, just WORK. Finished all your work? Look around for more work to do. I promise you, someone needs help. 

Want to know if you’ve succeeded in working your Azz off? Check your screen time on your phone. People who are successfully DAzzLEing have very low screen time.

The next step is to LEARN. And this may seem counter-intuitive. How am I taking time to learn if I’m supposed to be working so hard?  But trust me, it is doable. What you want to do is find ways to learn about other parts of your organization that aren’t currently involved in.

Let’s say you are a waiter at a restaurant. Does your restaurant have a marketing plan? Maybe there is someone that they pay on an hourly basis to manage their social media posts? Can you get access to that person? Learn what they do - learn what they are looking for, and see if you can be helpful to them. 

Here’s a scenario:

You: Hey, I got your name from my manager, I understand you run our socials? I sometimes see great looking food coming out of the kitchen, would you want me to send you pics of it?

Sara the part-time social media person: OMG that would be awesome!!!

You: Great! Also, I’m really interested in social media marketing and content management, would you ever be willing to help me learn about the analytics you use? 

Okay - and Sara might be able to help you or she might not - but the question is - what do you have to lose??? You are already working there, try to find some pics you can send to Sara, and just try to build a connection with her. Guess what one scenario might be? Sara might find a full-time gig somewhere, then when they need a new social media manager, who might it be? There you go - it’s you. NOW you have a cool title to put on your resume about content management and marketing strategies, which suddenly opens you up to those roles you see online that require “1-3 years of digital marketing experience.” 

The last step to DAzzLE is to Engage. In this step, you have to recognize that all your hard work and learning don’t mean anything if you can’t get the attention of people who make hiring decisions.  So you are going to have to see what you can do to engage your leadership. 

This is not easy, because a lot of people are also trying to engage leadership. That is why this is the last step. You are not just someone trying to get the boss’s attention to ask about his golf game and compliment his suit. You are knowledgeable about the organization, you’ve put time and energy into helping your peers and learning from people in cross-functional areas, and you have meaningful contributions. So make sure you are using that. 

I have been a boss for a long time, and I want to tell you my favorite kind of employee. My favorite employee is the one I’m always saying ‘no’ to. Why? Because it means that person is always coming to me with ideas. They are in my office every week asking if we could form new committees or if they can be on a workgroup, or if I’ve ever thought about structuring our workflows differently. They are tenacious and not discouraged that the organization is sometimes not easily changed - they keep trying to find ways to improve our work.

The employee I don’t care for is the one I have to approach and say ‘Hey, are you awake over there? Do you have ideas or contributions? What are you up to?’

So be the first employee. Engage your leadership with ideas, compliments, suggestions and other things you gathered in the first three steps of DAzzLE.