Mathematical calculus has two parts: differentiation and integration. On these two pillars rest science and technology as we know it. There is hardly any modern engineering invention that does not owe its creation, and continued refinement, to these two concepts. Many complex problems are solved after being differentiated and then integrated. Interestingly, this is also the recipe for career success.[/i]

If you aim to be successful at your job, you need to be thoroughly differentiated and then well integrated. Differentiated individuals are unique, with a distinct brand. Their name conjures up an image of someone who knows their onions. Differentiated individuals are real--you get the sense that they mean what they say. They have street credibility because of a track record of on-time delivery of commitments. They produce something of value to their colleagues and resist the temptation to be average. Differentiation is one part of the equation. The other is integration.

Integrated individuals have empathy. They are emotionally intelligent and are in tune with their environment. They care not only about themselves but also about others; not only about their team but also about other teams; not only about their division of the business but about the entire company. They want to see the whole – not just the parts – achieve great feats. Integrated people aim for synergy of thoughts, resources, and energies. Dr. Seuss has a comment to the graduate that achieves differentiation of technical skills and integration of people skills: [i]Oh, the places you’ll go!

Achieving this potent mix of differentiation and integration in a career, especially early on, can seem daunting. To overcome the fear of getting started, I offer you two career tips below:

First, differentiate. Pick an area where you can quickly become an expert.

As a new graduate, you likely won’t get to pick your daily tasks at work; that’s why they're called assignments. But you do get to pick how well you do them. My advice is to do them very well. Some companies have stated probation periods for new employees where they are essentially checking you out before committing to you. But even in companies without these programs, the same process is still going on informally. It might feel unnerving to learn that you are being constantly judged, but truly, it is not any different from school, where you have continuous assessments of your knowledge and performance. Do your first assignments well. Attack them with all you've got. Treat it as though your career depends upon it, because it often does. The first step toward being a differentiated graduate is to excel in your early assignments.

The second step is to pick an area of need and quickly master it. You need to be known for something. Shirley is our VBA programming expert. Paul is our presentation guru. No one is better than Alex at locating old files. Etc. What gap do you see in the organization, and how can you fill it? Think of something within your reach. Many graduates underestimate their power and falsely believe they can’t do more than they are told. Doing just what you are told is average; it’s the opposite of differentiation. To stand out, you need to do more than your assignment. Is there a process you can automate with your programming skills? Can you source for different contractors that can offer better service for less? Can you create a scoreboard or system to keep conflicts to a minimum? In any company there are thousands of opportunities that are ripe for the taking for graduates who want to seize them.

Then, integrate. Focus on learning every aspect of your business.

Regardless of where you start in the organization, endeavor to learn about the different parts of the company. Your aim is not to be an expert in every single detail (an impossible undertaking), but to know how each division contributes to the whole. If you are in finance, understand how engineering works, and know what safety metrics are important to the company.

Why is this important? Organizations quickly make judgments about new graduates’ potential for high leadership in very much the same way that individuals make snap judgments about others within seconds of meeting them. We size new strangers up, it’s instinctive. You will be a stranger to a new group of people, and they will want to take your measure. The earlier you can show them that you see, and care, beyond what’s on your desk, the faster you will move up the ladder.

One easy way to do this is to read anything and everything your CEO writes. If she gives a speech, listen to it. Train yourself to see decisions from the view of the CEO. It will help you understand how the company makes money, what the biggest internal and external risks are, where the most attractive prospects lay, and so on. The more of these you internalize, the better integrated you become.

In addition to following the CEO, reading the company’s quarterly and annual financial statements will help you get the big picture. You don’t need an MBA to understand this. Between Google and YouTube, you will do just fine grasping the basics. Or, you can do what I did. I scheduled a one-hour meeting with a VP of Finance, and she graciously walked me through our company’s annual report, a public document. I had about 15 questions prepared for the meeting, and she answered them all. I got an MBA in 60 minutes!

Summary: Professional success involves both differentiation and integration

In short, my advice to graduates is to not become scared of standing out early. Knowledge overcomes fear, and I hope the career advice in this post has helped. The path of career success goes through differentiation--doing your first tasks well and then mastering an area of need--and integration, keeping the grand picture of the entire estate in mind when making decisions.

What is your best graduation advice? Please share below.

Please note: This post originally appeared on my blog, www.thedreambook.net

What does it take to win? What do winners do differently? By taking a closer look at high-achievers, some patterns emerge that we can use as a guide. In this post, we discuss four “winning ways.”

Winners are attractive. The bewitching ease with which they go about their calling is endearing. You know that what they’re doing is not easy, but they make it look so. Even their sweat, when they sweat, is picturesque. You have fun when you watch winners because they are having fun. They are attractive because they paint—with their words and actions—a believable picture of what could be. Winners make us dream.

Winning Way #1: Winners practice harder.

Muhammad Ali famously said, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” Winners engage in what Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, call “deep practice,” which means practicing at the edge of your ability. Deep practice is hard, as your brain is constantly forming new neural pathways, and your body is doing its best to adapt to a difficult regimen. But it pays in trophies, in awards, and in leaving a legacy. Contests don’t make winners, they unveil them. That’s why winners crave competition; they cannot wait for their unveiling. They know they have done their homework; there’s no reason to expect a bad grade.

Winning Way #2: Winners leverage the “Matthew Effect.”

The Matthew Effect, or law of accumulated advantage, is the age old, rich-get-richer/poor-get-poorer dynamic. It’s a term coined from Matthew’s parable of talents where Jesus said, “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath.”

Winners recognize, develop, and use their natural strengths. Let’s take a semi-hypothetical example of how winners apply the Matthew Effect. A young boy named Leo is poor at math and science and business and music and language. He can either work very hard at developing one of these subjects, or he can work on his soccer skills. By the way, even though he is quite young, it is clear he is good at soccer. In fact, he is better than every other player on the field.

So Leo decides to spend a little more time than others cultivating new skills at soccer. This month, he perfects his dribbling, next month his shooting. He then agrees to move to another country where he can develop his talents even further. He already “hath” at the start, but because he recognizes and develops that, he “shall be given, and he shall have abundance.” Today, that young boy is the best player the world has seen in a generation, and many believe he is the best player ever to grace the soccer field.

Leo Messi’s path to the top is typical of winners. They pick a field they are naturally better at and then go to work. With time, the Matthew Effect kicks in, and they gradually accumulate advantage over others with slightly less skill or slightly less work ethic. What is an indiscernible margin initially mushrooms to an undeniable gulf eventually.

Winning Way #3: Winners put their angels to work.

By angel, I mean any person, process, or system available to help IF you let it. Winners excel at recognizing angels. They possess an uncanny ability to know who or what will help. They unmask opportunities where others see threats. They ask for help, they reach out. They know that if you don’t ask, you don’t receive. They understand that success is teamwork, and the best team wins. Winners invest in positive relationships. They get that great relationships underwrite great accomplishments. Winners also make themselves an angel to other people who need them. By giving of themselves to others, they receive a lot more in return.

Winning Ways #4: Winners love.

Perhaps the most defining characteristic of winners is love. We love winners because winners are lovers themselves. They love what they do, and they love who they are doing it for. It is love, or passion, for their vocation that makes them work longer than their contemporaries because lovers always outwork workers.

What would make Edison try 1,000 different materials for the light bulb? That’s not just prodigious talent or even good ‘ol work ethic anymore—that is love. That transcendental care for the task at hand; that singular determination to reach uncharted depths where priceless pearls lay; that godlike desire to attain purity, the kind of purity that comes when you look back and say, “I gave my all.”

Conclusion

I have mentioned four things that winners do, which you can apply as career advice, or simply at winning in life. But, in truth, there are a countless number of things that winners do that make them win. So maybe the question should be less about what they do and more about who they are. How are winners wired? Ultimately, winners win because they have been programmed to. There’s a coding in their DNA that abhors excuses and loathes failure. They have no fear of success. They win as a matter of habit, as a matter of course. It was Aristotle that said, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” Winners autograph their work with excellence. Winners win because that is their nature: the way it is in the nature of dogs to bark, of cats to meow, and of politicians to lie.

The good news is that this nature can be nurtured, and it can even be developed. To win, you must refuse the temptation to take the next exit, the path of least resistance, the well-trodden road of mediocrity. Demand from yourself only what is best, and the best is what you will get. Your dreams will come true.

For more insights on how to overcome fears, dream more and win in life, please visit www.thedreambook.net

I think it is better we separate facts from fiction and get well tutored in Stocks trading and investing! A seminar is coming up which in my honest opinion is a good deal. Experts from the industry and academia are coming together to slice and dice issues on the capital markets. For newbies, this is one good opportunity.

I think it is better we separate facts from fiction and get well tutored in Stocks trading and investing! A seminar is coming up which in my honest opinion is a good deal. Experts from the industry and academia are coming together to slice and dice issues on the capital markets. For newbies, this is one good opportunity. Read the attached file, you are welcome

Their test is what you expect in any test. maths, verbal and speed! just revise any book on GRE or GMAT and you'd be fine

It depends on what they are taking you for. But if it is truly the Int'l Graduate Programme then you will be offered around 50,000 USD per annum and that can go up depending on your performance.

We cannot go far if the government does not make Education her number one priority. Anytime I look at our national budget and see the percentage allocated to education, I shake my head. We are far from improvement as long as we don't realise that we have to do our own learning. G8, IMF, WorldBank etc. cannot do our thinking for us. We have to do it ourselves. As long as education remains just one of those things and not the main thing, then I don't see hope.
Power of course is another big issue. My generator has been running for over 12hrs, I will soon put it off and put on the second one which will run till tomorrow morning. If the government supplies power, I'll have more money to save at the end of the day. Just my 2 cents. Thanks.

My sister, to answer your question, yes. It is okay for both of you to marry.There is no fear in love, perfect love cast out fear. Age doesn't enter into the equation.