An ace who learned

Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first. (Robert McKain)

An ace who learned

Erich Hartmann shot down 352 planes. He was lucky. He was on the Soviet front in WWII. The Soviet MIGs and Yaks were no match for his plane. "Paule" Rossman taught him how to carefully pick a target and then wait until everything was in his favor before attacking. Hartmann was most proud of the fact that he never lost a wingman, the plane he fought with as a partner. He contented himself with, at most, one victory per flight.

Hartmann had all the skills of a great pilot and managed to be where he could make the most use of his skills. He also listened to his mentor. At the end of the war he was ordered to move his squadron to the western front and fight the British and Americans. He refused. He disobeyed the order. He felt it was suicide for his entire squadron.

Assignments at work may help your career, mean little or be suicidal. One major contribution of a mentor is to help you figure out your priorities. What assignments should you chase after? Which should you accept? Which should you refuse to do?

The most important word you may ever learn to say to your boss is, "No." In other situations you may need to say, "These are the other things I am working on. Which of them shall I drop to get that done?" The final winning phrase is, "That is a critical assignment. I'll have it done in two days if you give it to me."

Hartmann became the greatest ace of all time by carefully choosing the targets, missions and battles he would fight. He even refused a dangerous order, risking getting shot for disobeying. If he could pick his priorities in a split second in life and death situations, you can pick your priorities at work.

Something to do today

List your boss's priorities at work.

List your priorities at work.

Make a list of the things that will get you a raise or promotion the quickest.

Compare the lists.

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Tomorrow: My former boss is killing me

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Copyright 2006 by Bryan Dilts. "How to REALLY get a GREAT JOB" and "REALLY get a GREAT" are trademarks of Bryan Dilts. Connecting the Best People, With the Best Companies is a trademark of AGI. All rights reserved.

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Message Added: February 5th, 2008 at 5:31 am