Get a Life

On Thursday I am off to India. Yes I have some business meetings there. But what I really am excited about is that I will get to see the Taj Mahal. While I do extensive traveling as a speaker and trainer in Asia as well as Europe, I have never taken the time to visit the Taj Mahal, something I have always wanted to do before.

That got me to thinking. When I was the head of Human Resources for Barneys, USA Networks and TV Guide I did a lot of business travel. I would go to someplace I had never been before, attend some meetings, often at the hotel I was staying at, have some business dinners at nice restaurants, maybe go out afterward for drinks and then as soon as my business was over I would get on the first available plane to fly home (unless as frequently happened the Chairman of my company called me earlier and had me cut my trip short)

Now whenever I go someplace on business I always make sure that I spend some time seeing and learning about wherever I am. Doing so is not only fun, it is important for your career. We learn through our experiences and business is iterative. (Look it up). You never know when the information that you learn in one setting will prove to be valuable to you in another.

When I was writing A Woman's Guide to Successful Negotiating I interviewed Jeanette Chang the Publisher for International Cosmopolitan Magazine. She told me one of the things she did that helped her become successful was to make herself more interesting. When you are more interesting people want to spend time with you. That leads to opportunities. People seek you out to work on their projects. Customers want to do business with you. colleagues spend time with you and share information. All that leads to career success. Job opportunities, promotions and salary increases follow. Jeanette suggested getting a hobby and becoming an expert in something. Her hobby is Asian art. She collects it; she travels to exotic destinations to purchase it and she has become an expert on the subject. That has made her more interesting. The result of those efforts. Well her success speaks for itself.

So take advantage of the world outside of work. Do something; learn something; travel somewhere. In short get a life. That will not only make you happier, it will also make you more successful.