Why Working Hard Is Not Enough to Have a Great Career

With work, it’s not just enough to put your head down and work hard. You need to know how to navigate the system and build good connections. Even some people who work less hard get promoted more with relationships. The classic saying is true that it’s all about whom you know in your career.

To progress your career, you need both competence and confidence. You need to have the belief that you can do things and skills to pull it off. At times, people have good ideas work but don’t have the confidence to share. It hurts more when you get beat at saying that idea while contemplating.

It’s not enough to do the job well but to also show you’re excited to work. But also, you need to show that you can work well with other people. To work well with others, you need to be attentive to how to help people. If you choose to shut down these subtle requests, you won’t do well.

There are always invitations to help people inside and outside the workplace. In each of these, try your best to step up and build a good relationship. So practice being aware of all these invitations to help out people. Not everyone will notice them right away for them to build a good career.

The main difference between school and work is school is just about keeping up. Meanwhile, with work, it’s always about stepping up and being helpful. Be a workmate who notices problems and brings solutions. Don’t just ask for what you should do next but bring suggested solutions. It’s an unwritten rule that you shouldn’t just go to people reporting problems. You need to explain the problem well then properly explain solutions.

When talking about your career, talk about the past, present, and future. Tell them the spark that leads to the journey, your actions, and your goal. Be mindful about the problems you hated and see them as calls to action. This will let people know why you devote your time to your career.

When going into meetings, always think ahead about who will be there. Ask yourself what they’re going to ask you for, and what you should ask them. You should also think about your point of view about the topic even mentally. With this, you’re probably not going to be caught off-guard during meetings.

Source: Gorick Ng