Looking to advance in your career? 3 Steps to Success

Looking to advance in your career?

If you are like most people, #career advancement is important and can occur at many levels. On average, most people spend more than one-third of their lives at #work. That being the case, why wouldn’t you want to be #successful and happy in what you are doing! Whether it is climbing the corporate ladder, entering a new industry, or taking on more responsibility in your current role, developing your #skills may be at the crux of your career #success.??

Making a career change of any kind can be difficult without a plan. If you are looking to advance in your career, you must develop and follow a roadmap to lead you down the road to success. While many options and paths depend upon your specific situation, we would like to discuss the top 3 steps to get you where you want to go.

3 Steps to Success

1. What does success look like to you? Before you can set your sights on moving forward in your desired career or job, it is important to first identify what success looks like to you. Maybe success means having the ability to buy a new car, a bigger house, or going on a cruise around the world. What is considered a success in your eyes may not be a success to someone else. Maybe you want more time to spend with your family or a shorter commute to work. Success could mean the opportunity to work from home, the ability to set your own hours, and the choice of selecting to work or not.

However you envision success in your particular life, it is YOUR definition and yours alone based on your ambitions, values, and even timing. This is an open-ended response with no right or wrong answer. It can even change as your life situation changes and you mature. The key is that you are the only one who can envision what success will mean to you at that particular point in your life. Even as you are progressing towards your defined vision of success, you may change and alter your path along the way.

The important thing to note is that to achieve success, you must have an idea as to what it will look like when you arrive sometime in the future.

1. Goal setting and establishing a timeline. Once you have determined what success looks like, it is now time to define the specific goals that you must achieve along the way to get you to the level of success that you want. To use a sports analogy, “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” – Bill Copeland. In other words, without goals, you will never achieve your desired result.

These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-sensitive, or to use an easy acronym, S.M.A.R.T goals. Once you know what your goals are, map these goals on a timeline for both short-term and long-term success.

No matter what your goals are or the timeline in which you hope to achieve them, the important thing is that you have goals. As the saying goes, “what gets measured gets done.”?

1. Action items. Consider each of the steps that you must take to reach these goals. Evaluate your current skills and talents to determine if you have those that are required for your new role. Do you need to pursue some professional development courses? Do you need to return to school or obtain some certifications? Maybe you have to research and network with people who are already working in this role. Will you be able to reach this goal within the current organization? You may have to seek additional education or professional development opportunities to close any gaps that you have identified in your skills, qualifications, and experience.?

Training and professional development will help to fill those gaps that have been holding you back and will help you to achieve that thing that defines success for you.

Case Study:

In the fast-paced, technologically advanced business world, it is easy to be left behind if your skills are not aligned with company goals and objectives. At Culture Amp, Founder, and CEO, Didier Elzinga believes in the importance of growing the company’s people. The company has created two learning and development programs, Coaching for Everyone and Learn Yourself Up to encourage employees to take an active role in their personal and skill development to help them achieve success and not be left behind.

Conclusion:

Being successful in a career or business is everyone's dream in life. This can be achieved by hardship and with dedication to your work. Every success has its own path of its own for you to walk through, you need to set a clear vision of what your success would like to be. You need to set a timeframe that should be realistic, and achievable and take actions on every decision you make. Keep in mind that every step you take will affect your success whether it is for your career or business.?

To know more on how to achieve success, contact me for consultation.