5 Career Myths - The Saboteurs of Your Next Level

We are all immersed in our daily work. We manage conference calls, emails, meetings with clients, business partners, initiatives and projects in which we are involved, operational strategies and most likely we do not have  enough time to ask ourselves a certain question:

What is the next level of my career?

Some of you may not have thought about this question yet. Others have already put a strategy at the core of their efforts to the next level.  While others, certainly not from this Newsletter’s subscribers - operate with some harmful career myths. And I am serious about this, I used to operate with some of them until I realized that they became my own saboteurs which prevented me from accelerating my own career development.

Here are 5 Career Myths – The Saboteurs of Your Next Level. Are you driven by any of these beliefs?

1. My career development depends entirely on my boss’ decision, on my HR or … my parents (if you are at junior level)

If you don’t set an objective for your career, if you expect others to be a better advocate for your dreams – you may have to wait longer, you may get frustrated or you may lose self-confidence. Remember, you are never alone in this journey – choose a mentor or a career coach. Identify your development area, do not neglect your training & development process. Analyze your professional reputation and check how you are perceived by your organization – handle any identified perception gap as soon as possible. Scan your strategic contacts and learn how to influence more by engaging your community/network. Inaction will not give you your dream job!

2. If I work hard and have Exceed Expectations someone will notice me and I will get that promotion …

I spent 16 years in the Corporate World. For the first 8 years of my managerial experience I operated with this belief. I missed some significant career opportunities waiting to be noticed by my senior leaders …until I realized that strong performance is mandatory but it is not enough. You need to learn how to manage by influence, how to operate with your strategic network, you need to understand how “the maze” works and to adapt. Activate your “advocates”, all the professionals who can speak positive about your performance, activate your support system and create a personal brand strategy which will support your career development acceleration.

3. I can’t develop my career here; The role I’m dreaming of doesn’t exist yet!

When your dream role doesn’t exist yet, you have to play that role. Play it, be successful, keep decision makers/the organization informed about your results and the value generated for the organization and then make efforts to formalize that role. I have done this many times in my career or I have advised my customers to have the same strategy and it worked, most of the time. Sometimes we let frustration related to career stagnation drive our mind, let creativity drive your efforts and you may discover that there is a solution for every problem!

4. I see no opportunity to grow vertically in this company!

In my opinion, those days when “career” was related to climbing on company’s verticals - are gone. Now there are so many opportunities to develop your competencies and to generate more value – therefore, you can always reconsider a lateral movement especially that agile companies operate now with non-pyramidal structures. Or, you may consider any structure which will transform your idea into reality (entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, community leadership, etc.)

5. My manager did not establish a development plan for me…

Let’s be honest. It is only your responsibility to develop those competencies and skills which will make your next level possible. Collect feedback about your development needs, align them with your next level competences needed, start looking for training, coaching opportunities or expose yourself to projects where you need to operate with a different level of skills. Remain curious and open minded and set a regular 1:1 with yourself – to check your development status, to give yourself a small reward or to push your limits farther! You choose!

Some professionals just want a job. Others want more than that: to use their competencies and skills to bring value to the business, customers or communities. Others are interested in building their legacy. If you hear other professionals talking about legacy, you may think it is too early for you – this is an error! Trust me!

Imagine your career as an amazing construction - it is your construction that will stand the test of time. You are responsible for it! You coordinate it! You are the one who has to show the world what makes you different as a professional. You like it or not, your legacy has already started! Identify your saboteurs, eliminate them and move forward! Do not waste precious time! You are living the most productive years of your career - extract the best from them!

If you liked this article, I kindly invite you to subscribe to Career Transformers Newsletter here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/newsletters/career-transformers-6734366017532805121 Thank you!

Author: Amalia Sterescu - Edupreneur ★ Career Transformer ★ Personal Branding Pioneer ★ Public Speaking Coach ★ World Explorer (54 countries)