5 Qualities of Effective, Motivated People (5Rs)

Find out how to take ownership of your job with the 5Rs, in the second part of this two-parter.

5Rs are tools that will help you see yourself not as a mere employee, but an owner of the business you are in.

R1. Responsibility
Learn to take responsibility for the actions that you do. Responsibility comes from the root word "response". This means you should respond to a situation rather than react to it. Taking responsibility will define you as a person of high integrity and conviction, and this in turn will make others look up to you.

You can develop this quality by volunteering when you know you can do a certain task rather than waiting to be asked. Sometimes, people wait to be asked, as they feel more important. You do not have to feel this way. You can throw yourself into your work with passion and give it your all. Do this consistently and people will take notice. Taking responsibility also makes you a more confident person and boosts your self-esteem.

R2. Reliability
When you are reliable, you become your own boss. you become an indispensable asset to your organisation, someone whom the organisation feels can help drive it.

You can become reliable by maximising your strengths and minimising your weaknesses. Identify those aspects of your life where you think you are good and develop these further. Be truthful to yourself by being able to identify the weaknesses that you possess and see how you can overcome them. This is not possible overnight, but make a concerted effort and you can achieve it.

Set measurable goals in your life and give yourself deadlines to achieve them. This way, you develop more confidence in your personal ability. Go to work every day with the attitude that you are the most important person your organisation has ever had and work to achieve that level of trust from your organisation. How? Say what you mean and mean what you say.

R3. Resoluteness
Being resolute ensures that you are not easily swayed by what others are saying about you or your organisation. Learn to be open to constructive criticism that allows you to analyse yourself and improve where you need to. However, do not fall prey to "emotional vampires" in your organisation who sap your sense of self-regard and make you feel as if you are wasting your time. It is easy to be swayed by others if you are unclear about what you really want.

Be clear about your goals and synchronise them with that of your organisation's . If you are unable to do this, it might be a good idea to move on.

R4. Resourcefulness
Sometimes you lose sight of your goals and purpose in life because you feel you are in a rut. You can change these negative feelings by becoming resourceful. Learn how to work within limitations and maximise your productivity. You need to exploit the resources available at your disposal to the maximum benefit of your organisation. This is where you can learn to think creatively. When you are resourceful, you make sure that whatever you have works for you.

R5. Re-Learning and Re-Thinking
Learning is a continuous process, and sometimes involves re-learning. Develop the habit of letting go of outdated ideas and work methods and learn to embrace new technology and new ways of doing things. When things do not work as they should, you need to re-think the situation and come up with a different way of doing things. Remember, nothing fails like success. What worked once may not work the same again.

Albert Einstein said: "The world we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them."

We are confronted daily with problems. Instead of trying to avoid them, see themas apporturnities for you to re-learn and re-think what you are doing. You do not have to re-invent the wheel but you can certainly improve on the quality of the wheel and make it more durable.

Make it a point every day to learn something new or do something different. Try to think of something that whether you can refine the process, perhaps shorten the time to do it or make it more efficient. do not start thinking only when things go wrong. Be proactive. Being constantly on the look out for how you can change things will make you more efficient and motivated.

Article contributed by D. Theyagu, and adjunct lecturer with the Nanyang Technologies University, who also runs his own consultancy firm called Lateral Solutions Consultancy which designs and conducts competency-based training for organisations.

Email: dtheyagu@singnet.com.sg; www.lateralsolutionsconsult.com; Fax: 6752-2160

Extracted from The Straits Times CATS Recruit