Last year a few smart, ambitious Gen Y employees at TalentSmart asked me about the things I’ve done and learned that might help them steer their careers. These conversations plus the fact that I have a younger brother finishing college in the fall got me thinking and eventually researching. Here is part one of my answer.

THE RESEARCH

As a recovering trophy kid myself, I’ve learned quite a bit about this topic the hard way. But I wanted this to involve more than just my opinions. So I spent the last couple of months conducting structured behavioral interviews with managers from corporate stalwarts including Target, Best Buy and General Mills all the way to cutting edge startups and non-profits. To avoid speculation and generic platitudes, I asked these managers to tell me about a specific Gen Y’er they have worked with that had/has clear leadership potential. Then I asked them to describe specific events and situations covering everything from how they do project work to how they write emails. After 30 or 40 minutes, we then switched gears and had the exact same interview about one specific talented, yet somewhat disappointing Gen Y’er (i.e. a trophy kid).

THE RESULTS

Regardless of age, industry or company size, I was astonished to hear manager after manager tell me virtually identical stories listing virtually identical behaviors distinguishing the effective Gen Y leader who “gets it” from the talented trophy kid who doesn’t. The much-touted intelligence, confidence and ambition of Gen Y are every bit as real as the entitlement, narcissism and poor follow-through. The big difference? Some Gen Y’ers have simply learned to behave more in-line with the first set of traits than the second.

The good news is that even raging, narcissistic trophy kids can whittle away their rough edges to reveal the confident and humble high-performer underneath. It’s not rocket science, but it does take a willingness to confront face-to-face some uncomfortable realities about your thinking and action. In the coming weeks, I’ll be blogging about 10 specific things you can do to make the transition from trophy kid to influential leader.

WHAT YOU CAN DO IN THE MEANTIME

I included this quick and dirty table below to help you start thinking about what you currently do, say and think that is either helping or hurting your career. Whether you want more flexibility and independence, more meaningful work, or a fat pay check and a corner office, truly doing good work is what ultimately gets you there. Branding, blogging and social networking definitely help to open doors, but once inside that door your boss and/or clients need substance.