5 Easy Ways to Make a Good Impression at Work
Make a good impression! Put your best foot forward, and be respectful.
That’s how I might summarize my life lessons on how to show up well at work. And my time volunteering at my mother’s job – the mental hospital, taught me those life lessons better than anyone could. Even as a teenager, I intrinsically understood the power of a good impression and made that my goal. I didn’t just want people to say good things about me. And I wanted to build my reputation and increase my chances of referrals. I wanted the people who interacted with me to have a positive experience after working and interacting with me. I value making a good impression so much and included it as a key curriculum topic in my life skills and character education curriculum for teens and young parents.
Some tips from the time I was volunteering at the mental hospital which I have applied all my life to make a good impression include:
- Being respectful of my time and other people’s time
- Returning from my lunch break on time
- Asking questions to understand what my supervisor expected of me
- Showing up to work on time every single day
- Asking for more work
- Asking for feedback about how I can do my job better
The more your supervisor and co-workers realize you are reliable, deliver on your promises, and do amazing work, the more the responsibilities which come your way. More responsibilities, means more opportunities to be selected to work on special projects, promotions, recommendations and referrals to the kind of jobs you’ve been looking for.
When you make a good impression, you not only open doors which might have been closed to you. You create opportunities to do more and be more. Even in the mundane tasks at work, you have a chance to stand out, build a positive reputation and get referrals.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I’m Summer Owens, and my passion is helping youth and young adults realize success no matter what obstacles they face. As an international resilience and leadership keynote speaker, author, S.O. What! Success Coach, and creator of the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education curriculum, I empower people to say, “So what!” to even their greatest challenges. provide a framework to help people see past their challenges and focus on solutions using the S.O. What! Success System (Overcome Obstacles + Eliminate Excuses + Calculate Choices = S.O. What! Success). Through keynotes, workshops, books, online courses, and workbooks, I use life’s challenges and my own story of resilience as a rape survivor and teen mom success story to help others confidently pursue their dreams.
Looking for an inspiring college motivational speaker? A high school literacy curriculum? A middle school life skills workbook? A great example for teen mothers? A women’s empowerment or single mother’s conference speaker? I’m your girl and will help any audience say, “S.O. What!”.
