Some "Secrets" to Your Career Success!

In this ongoing series of blogs stemming from my eleven career-management principles reduced to fit on a single 3”x 5” index card, the focus of this blog is on what has worked for many professionals interested in managing their career for ongoing growth to keep them challenged in their pursuits and to provide them the momentum they need to keep them marketable. Now having worked with over 7,000 clients engaged in various careers in ages ranging from 14 to 75 years, I have codified the patterns that provide the momentum and the success that most professionals seek.?

Previously, in this series, as an attempt to cover all eleven principles—one-by-one—in blogs, I have expounded on the first four. In this blog I plan to lay out some of the common strategies that have worked for my clients who wanted and achieved rapid career growth, high marketability, and a strong sense of fulfillment in their pursuits using #5, building trusted relationships. These tips apply to professionals at all levels but are especially relevant to those in their early careers trying to learn the ropes. I plan to present these strategies as a list of Dos and Don’ts:

?Dos:

1.?????Engage in a job that fully exploits your training, interests, and passion. You must get in a “flow” state in what you do, even when you feel that you are not at the top of your game. When you can engage this way, you are on your way to be the top dog in your field sooner than you can plan.?

2.?????Surround yourself with people who have achieved a strong reputation in your field and learn from them.

3.?????Observe how those who have earned their stripes in your area of work (and in other areas allied to yours) are navigating through their struggles to sustain their reputation. The only way you can do this is by developing close relationships with them and by earning their trust.?

4.?????Be humble about your successes, but also learn how to broadcast them without??the ire of others.?

5.?????Learn how to manage your boss, so they do not have to manage you.?

6.?????Try to learn more about yourself and how others view you by what you are denied than you learn from what you are given without much fuss. (This tip resulted from a client who was yearning to head the business where he managed its large engineering team. The CEO denied him his request to make him the GM. From that experience this client learned what he needed to work on to get there.)

7.??????Realize that once you have earned the respect of others around you and that of your boss establish your intent on how you plan to get to the next level without assuming that your boss or the “system” will take care of that. Have a candid dialog with your boss and seek their guidance on what you need to do to get there. Do not assume that such a pathway will open for you during your next Annual Performance Review (APR).?

8.?????Work relentlessly to up your game.?

9.?????Learn how to manage or lead (even if you are not yet a manager) team members that are better than you are and grow by leading them. If you get on an ego trip this becomes impossible.?

10.??Find a good manager to learn from. Only about 15-20% of them are worth their salt. The majority of them do not make good role models.?

11.??Actively participate and volunteer for causes that are important to your boss and to their managers.

12.??Become visible in company-wide and org-wide events and play some important parts in them.?

13.??Beyond your immediate work become a pillar of your professional community. Contribute your knowhow and talent through blogs, speeches, and publications in media and professional journals.?

14. Find yourself a mentor and be a mentor to someone. If you cannot find a mentor for yourself, see how being a mentor to someone makes up for that deficit in some unusual ways!??

15. Do not focus on success. Instead, focus on upping your game by constantly striving to be better than the next competitor. Be your own benchmark to keep improving on it, thus playing the infinite game!

Don’ts:?

1.?????Surround yourself with people way smarter (or accomplished) than you are. They often make you feel (even unintentionally) inferior, and you may end up suffering from the imposter syndrome.?

2.?????Assume that your current skills are enough for you to grow. Find and learn the next level of skills before you tank on your current ones.

3.?????Rely on your pedigree (Stanford, MIT, Harvard) to save you if you are not performing.?

4.?????Ignore any performance gaps that show up in your APR. Instead, work with your manager to develop a plan and work diligently to conquer those gaps.?

5.?????Personalize how others act or behave towards you unless it is a direct result of your leadership (e.g., if someone leaves your team or group do not assume that it is because of you, unless there is a pattern to these defections).?

6.?????Assume that you can also acquire/develop some of the rare skills that make others around you exceptional; some people are blessed with certain gifts, just as you are born with yours, the rest you must develop.??

7.?????Overwork to compensate for your skill deficit or to impress others and your superiors.?

8.?????Ignore the importance of emotional intelligence (EQ).?

9.?????Keep bringing up your high GPA when someone points out to you what you can do better.

10.??Disrespect anyone, no matter their station.

11.??Play politics but know how to be politic (“shrewdly tactful”).

12.??Assume that being blunt and frank criticizing others, either individually or in a meeting, will elevate you; people resent it, no matter how true your assessment is!?

Things that don’t matter:

1.?????Your race, country of origin, or your ethnic background (at least in the US).?

2.?????Whom you know.?

3.?????How great you were in your last job.?

4.?????How much money you made for your company five or ten years ago.?

5.?????Trying too hard to get promoted to the next level.?

6.?????Your certifications unless you apply that knowledge to your job at hand.?

7.?????All your personal problems at home. That you cannot afford to buy your own home on your current salary.?

8.?????You and your spouse have a business on the side, unless it interferes with your job performance.?

Hope that some of these strategies and tips help you advance in your own career.?

Good luck!