不论你是不是千禧一代，职业成功往往与你的个人品牌有莫大的关系。个人品牌包括许多方面——信誉、成就以及与你有关的方方面面。设想一下，如果公司要将你平级调动，招聘经理给你的顶头上司打来电话。他们会如何谈论你？这个问题的答案就是你个人品牌的核心内容。

千禧一代在树立个人品牌时会面临独特的挑战，尤其是在多代人共事的大公司。但各行各业的高管们正在考虑给年轻人才创造更多的领导机会，他们通常会从某些特定因素着手，衡量千禧一代是否做好了准备。根据我的经验，个人品牌的三个要素，可能会对千禧一代的职业成功产生重要影响：

谦逊

千禧一代在高度互联、技术推动的时代长大，他们给工作场所带来了独特的技能。不过，尽管你在iPhone手机上打字的速度，比上司敲击电脑键盘的速度更快，但这并不意味着你更擅长决策。虽然千禧一代具有一些前辈们所不具备的能力，但反过来，前辈们同样有千禧一代不具备的能力。以谦逊的态度面对这种关系，是培养相互尊重的关键。

不论公平与否，千禧一代常常被认为是以自我为中心的一代。而缺少谦逊的态度，只会坐实这种观点。此外，谦逊的好处不止限于打破这种刻板印象。首先，谦逊可以提高智力。健康的好奇心，将有助于发现更明智的见解，学习新事物和做出更好的决策。如果不去质疑你的想法和设想，你最终可能忽视一些有助于你增长见识的建议，忽略你的错误，最终错失发展良机。其次，谦逊可带来影响力。人们喜欢与开明的管理者和同事共事，因为他们重视其他人的意见。通过重视不同的想法，真诚地寻求他人意见，你可以获得支持，去实现自己的目标。自诩无所不知的人，很少能够得到这样的支持。

适应能力

一般而言，在你的职业生涯中，刚刚迈入职场那几年是最灵活的一段时期。随着时间的推移，日益增多的承诺和义务，将越来越多地妨碍我们出差、搬迁、换工作和培养新技能的能力。我曾接受过几项长期的国际任务，这些任务带来的独特经历，丰富了我的技能，并且永久性地确立了我的思维方式。就你的个人发展而言，加入一个新团队或不同部门所带来的收益是难以估量的，但随着职业的发展，要实现这些收益将变得越来越难。

向有影响力的人们证明你的适应能力和意愿。只要你在导师或管理者心目中埋下一颗种子，当他们为某个潜在的机会寻找人选时，这颗种子便会发芽，你将成为他们考虑的对象。这样一来，你不需要靠自己去撞开机遇之门。相反，你会发现，有人已经帮你打开了这扇门。他们将给你带来更多的可能性，甚至包括你之前并不知道的机会。当然你随时都可以说“不”，但如果没有人知道你愿意说“是”，你可能连说“不”的机会都没有。

耐心

在本文谈论的所有品质当中，我认为，对于我们这一代人而言，耐心才是最难做到的。千禧一代总能很快发现那些失败的结构和过时的流程——这些结构和流程往往过于迟缓，难以做出改变。他们加入一家公司后，会凭借直觉确定公司需要做出哪些改变，但很快便会对缓慢的进程感到沮丧。相较于其他生活领域的变化速度和即时满足感，大公司的步伐往往非常缓慢。不幸的是，前辈们可能并不理会千禧一代对于更快速变化的欲望。他们认为，这些年轻人过于天真，有妄想症。

凭借对创新和影响变化的渴望，千禧一代可以给公司带来巨大的价值，但了解有效的改变需要什么同样重要。改变并不容易，它需要的东西远远比我们表面上看到的复杂得多。我这样说并非要打击千禧一代——年青一代应该是变化的主力军，因为他们才是变化带来的未来收益的受益者。我很难为这种冷漠或固执的态度找到一个好借口。然而，如果缺乏那种基于来之不易的经验而获得的情境感知与视角，你就很难理解深思熟虑的变化管理的重要性。确定最终结局只是问题的一小部分——说服人们为什么以及如何进行改变，才是成功的核心。我想起加州大学洛杉矶分校篮球队教练约翰·沃顿的一句名言：“要快速，但不要匆忙。”作为变革的拥护者，你的耐心可以确保更好的结果。但对于千禧一代来说，更重要的是，耐心将证明你的成熟度，表明你已经为更大的挑战做好了准备。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

审校：任文科

Whether you’re a millennial or otherwise, achieving career success is often tied to your brand. Personal brand encompasses many things—reputation, accomplishments, and just about anything people associate with you. Imagine you’re being recruited for a lateral move in the company and the hiring manager calls your boss. In that conversation, what would be discussed and shared about you? The answer to that question forms the essence of your brand.

Millennials can face unique challenges in establishing their personal brands, especially within large, multi-generational companies. But executives across industries are increasingly thinking about creating leadership opportunities for the next generation of talent, and they often weigh a millennial’s readiness by considering particular attributes. In my experience, there are three elements of a personal brand that can significantly impact a millennial’s career success:

Humility

Millennials bring unique skills to the workplace from growing up in a highly connected and technologically enabled world. Regardless, you are not the better decision maker because you type faster on your iPhone than your boss does pecking on a keyboard. Although you are likely to bring capabilities to the table that prior generations do not, the reverse is also true. Navigating this dynamic with humility is the key to developing mutual respect.

Fairly or not, the millennial generation is often broadly perceived as entitled. Demonstrating a lack of humility will only reinforce that assumption. However, the benefits of humility go far beyond defeating stereotypes. Firstly, humility allows you to expand intellectually. A healthy curiosity will help you uncover greater insights, learn new things, and make better decisions. If you aren’t questioning your thinking and assumptions, you may end up ignoring well-informed advice, overlooking mistakes, and ultimately missing out on development opportunities. Secondly, humility enables influence. People enjoy working with open-minded managers and colleagues who value the opinions of others. By appreciating diverse thinking and genuinely seeking input, you can win support to achieve your goals. Few know-it-alls will enjoy the same.

Adaptability

Generally speaking, your early years will be the most flexible of your life. As time passes, our ability to travel, move, change jobs, and build new skills becomes increasingly impeded by a growing set of commitments and obligations. Through several long-term international assignments, I’ve been afforded unique experiences that broadened my skills and forever shaped the way I think. The developmental benefits of joining a new team or a different department can hardly be matched, but these become increasingly difficult to entertain as your career advances.

Make a point of expressing your adaptability and willingness to people of influence. By planting the seed in the mind of a mentor or manager, you position yourself to be part of the conversation when talent is being considered for potential opportunities. Instead of needing to kick doors down on your own, you’ll find others opening them on your behalf. This can lead to a broader world of possibilities, including doors that you didn’t even know existed. And you can always say no, but if nobody knows you’re willing to say yes, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be offered the chance to do so.

Patience


Of all of the traits mentioned, I believe patience to be the hardest for my generation. Millennials are quick to note the failed structures and outdated processes that are all too slow to change. They join a company, intuitively determine what needs to happen, and quickly become frustrated with the slow progress. The pace of a large company can pale in comparison to the speed of change and instant gratification in other areas of life. Unfortunately, prior generations may dismiss a millennial’s appetite for faster change as naïve at best, or deluded at worst.

Millennials can add significant value by being eager to innovate and affect change, but it’s equally important to understand what effective change entails. Change isn’t easy, and often requires more than meets the eye. I do not say this to discourage—younger generations should be a major catalyst for change, as they stand to reap the future benefits that come with it. There is rarely a good excuse for apathy or obstinacy, but without the contextual awareness and perspective that comes with hard-earned experience, it can be difficult to understand the importance of thoughtful change management. Defining the end game is only one piece of the puzzle—convincing people why and how to get there is the heart of success. A famous quote from UCLA basketball coach John Wooden comes to mind: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” As a champion of change, your patience will ensure better outcomes. But more importantly for millennials, it will show maturity and readiness for bigger challenges.