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FeaturedOpinion

My Secret Work Weapon – Personality and experience.

By Ghaleb Bahssas, account manager, RAW

I come across many inspirational and productivity quotes, but the one that has captured my attention the longest is this: 80 per cent of the work is personality. Not only have I been practising it without really taking note of its presence, but I truly subscribe to the impact the right personality can have on colleagues, clients and friends.

Your personality is what allows you to distinguish yourself, and is the result of all the knowledge you attain from colleagues, managers and day-to-day experiences. Equipping myself with the right attitude allowed me to handle more jobs than any young executive in the agency and earned me the trust of my superiors.

But I soon discovered success is also dependent on another attribute: the talent to convert negative energy or feedback from clients into a positive experience. This requires you to be passionate about your job and what you are doing. Whenever I receive criticism, I no longer instil self-doubt within myself; instead, I learned how to extract the comments and apply a positive wash on them to turn them into a lesson.

To strengthen my resolve and best prepare me for future lessons and talents, I invested in knowledge and education by taking online courses while preparing for my master’s degree. The more I learned, the higher clients regarded me – not due to my studying but due to how my mind was approaching subjects and exploring ideas. Within four years, I transitioned from a team player to a knowledgeable professional who communicates comfortable and with a light spirit, paving the way to my current success.

Every stage at work requires a unique tactic and attribute in order to ensure optimal results. As would a mason lay down the building block of a tower, so would a prosperous career require the first step towards a bright future of accomplishment. As you gain experience, you will learn to reinvent the game for yourself, and with that being said, allow me to revisit and reword my original line: 50 per cent of work is personality, and 50 per cent is knowledge and education.