7 Strategies to Create Future Success
Who wouldn't like more clarity about the future of their career path, or to feel more confident and grounded in their higher purpose?
Getting clear about where you want to go and feeling aligned with your purpose can do wonders for generating more motivation to set new goals or experiment with things outside of your comfort zone that can help set the conditions necessary to achieve those goals. It's a developmental process that changes throughout our lifetime. As a mentor for young professionals striving to align their careers with UN Sustainable Development Goals, I've collected a few practical tips from my own journey that can help anyone get started by leveraging an entrepreneurial mindset. All you need is a willingness to be creative, resourceful, and a desire to see problems as opportunities. The seven strategies below can help you find people who share your values (not necessarily your profession) and generate the skills and network necessary to create and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible to achieve on your own.
Find Strength in Numbers by Joining Networks: A network can be a local civic service group like Rotary, UNA-USA chapters, or an entrepreneurial meet-up designed to provide support, ideas, and people to talk to about your business plans.
Find a Great Mentor in Your Field: Find someone with experience who can advocate for you and provide advice. Good mentors bring a feeling of support, inspiration, and can help you experience a shift in perspective
Practice Your “Pitch”: Practice your business proposal with different people. This will prepare you for future opportunities to inform and influence decision-makers. By business proposal, I mean any new venture. It could be a book you hope to write, or a neighborhood group you want to form to enrich your community.
Tell Your Story: Telling your story helps people connect with you. This can inspire them to help you through partnerships or collaborations. It may also inspire them to create a business too.
Pay it Forward: Once you are successful in your business, share what you've learned with others to help them set the conditions for their success too. It strengthens the community and ensures diversity in business.
Do Your Internal Leadership Work: Ask yourself, if you were to start a new business today (or nonprofit), what would it be? Who would you serve and where? What kinds of funds would you need to grow? What would be the best way to get those funds? If these questions don't feel right to you, consider whom you would want to partner with to start a new organization. Having a business partner adds extra brainpower and resources.
Seek Leadership Positions: Any type of work experience is a learning experience that can offer a level of influence or subject matter expertise that builds over time. People who desire to make an impact as decision-makers need to be self-driven to seek community, philanthropic, or corporate board opportunities on their own.
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Why Board Experience Matters
Board service offers a place to experience business and management issues from different perspectives. Over time, this experience becomes valuable knowledge gained through situations encountered in board work that is beyond what you might encounter in a daily operational role. Research shows that board experience is helping more minorities rise into CEO roles too.
Board of Trustees, Board of Directors, Advisory Boards, or Committee roles often come through networks of people who know you well enough to make a recommendation, or who can open doors if you're willing to knock. It can be difficult to know where to begin finding opportunities. These are not roles an employer is likely to initiate unless you're going to specifically represent your industry on behalf of your employer's business. Many people get stuck in the trap of thinking they can't afford to dedicate the time to outside activities, but the truth is, you can't afford not to expand your network if you hope to rise through leadership roles and make the greatest impact possible. In both cases, your success depends on your commitment, creativity, and willingness to put in the work necessary to develop a strong, influential leadership network.
When in doubt, do your homework and reach out to others who have achieved goals aligned with your ambitions. Don't be afraid to ask about serving on a committee or advisory board. Once you commit to making a change or starting something new, get involved in leadership roles as soon as possible, even if it means volunteering your time at first. The experience will strengthen your overall leadership skills, build important relationships, and positions you to be considered for higher roles that might not otherwise be possible based on a linear career path.