Green Sheet

f you are employed by a large organization, or even a small one, you may sometimes feel like a cog in a wheel with little or no control over your destiny. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You may not be the owner of the company, an executive vice president or even the head of your department, but you are the boss of one very important entity: you.

You are in control of your career and professional accomplishments. So do what any good boss would do: Set goals, evaluate performance, reward success and perform annual reviews.

Set your own goals

Your boss may want you to achieve a specific sales goal, and when you hit that number, you're finished. That may be sufficient from the company's perspective. But as you reach for the boss's goal, be more specific, and define all the steps that will lead to achieving it.

Include your sales territory, prospects' business types, services you offered, etc. This means rather than having one large goal, you'll have a number of smaller, attainable goals.

For instance, set a goal to sell 10 accounts in the Midwest, sign up five new home improvement stores or get six new placements for your newest terminal. Each goal achieved brings an increased feeling of accomplishment. Use those successes to motivate you toward the final, larger goal.

Evaluate your performance

It's easy to keep your nose to the grindstone and focus on the day's details while forgetting the larger picture. Instead, take time to review where you've been, where you are now and where you're going.

Give yourself a weekly progress report that identifies what you've accomplished and what remains undone. Then, try to determine what has stopped you from completing unfinished tasks.

Many times, we know when we've fallen short, but we may not want to admit it. Be honest with yourself about your accomplishments and shortcomings. Identify weak areas, and create specific steps for improving them.

Give yourself rewards

Just as your boss may reward top performers with a day off, a gift or a bonus, reward yourself for your achievements. Good work should be recognized, even if you are the only one singing your praises.

And remember, an accomplishment doesn't have to bring in revenue to deserve recognition.

For example, you may have overcome a long-standing fear of public speaking by giving a speech at a professional networking event. Kudos! You finally did it. Reward yourself.

Perform an annual self-review

Before you have your "real" annual review, do your own assessment. Determine answers to important questions so when your boss asks those questions, you will know what you want and what you envision for the future. Following are a few examples of such questions:

• Have your duties changed in the past year? Does your job description need to be tweaked to reflect such changes? Do you deserve increased compensation for the new work? If so, how much is fair?
• Are you happy in your current position? If so, what specifically makes you happy? If not, what can be changed to make the experience more enjoyable?
• Would you like to take on new tasks or responsibilities? Do you want to move into a new role? What kinds of training or experience will you need to make that possible?
• Do you wish to change or expand your market? Do you wish to alter your product offerings? If so, why? What attracts you to those markets and/or services?

No one has as much invested in your career as you do. Therefore, it only makes sense that you direct it. Don't leave such an important responsibility to someone else, even your boss.

If you control your career by setting goals, evaluating performance and rewarding accomplishments, you will be a more focused and more self-aware business person. You will also be a better employee because you'll be doing your boss's work for her.

Finally, you will be prepared if a new career opportunity presents itself because you will have a clear idea of your goals and strengths and be able to determine immediately if it will be a positive career move.