How Career Success Can Be Achieved - The Step-By-Step Guide
Employees mistakenly believe that the management of their career is something they have no control over. They give away their power to others and trust that their managers, senior leadership and external forces are there to manage their careers for them. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
What Steps Have You Taken to Be More Successful In Your Career?
One of my colleagues left the corporate space at the executive level. She went from being a manger to a VP within the span of 5 years. This is a relatively short timeframe for covering so many levels, however, she was kind enough to share some of her strategies.
Be clear on what it is that you want and where you want to get to. See your manager as a co-creator, someone who can help you chart your course, put you on interesting projects, and open doors for you.
Put your hand up for interesting initiatives. How might supporting a certain department or project help you shore-up your skills in a certain area, provide visibility for your brand, help you grow your network? How might getting involved in different areas of the business support you in crafting your narrative as to why you are capable and deserving of being promoted to the next level?
Build your team – have mentors, sponsors, confidants that you can lean on when you need advice, guidance, support and encouragement.
“Don’t leave the management of your career up to others.
Take the reins and make it happen for yourself.”
What Are the 7 Things Needed to Be Successful in a Career?
1. Hard Skills
Take stock of your hard skills. What do you need to shore up? If PowerPoint or Excel are not your forte and having strong skills in these tools would help with reporting or developing more dynamic presentations, then this a good place to start. There is a plethora of options for strengthening your technical skills, everything from online courses to in-person classroom training.
Make sure your hard skills are on point is a great place to start.
2. Soft Skills
Soft skills are invaluable in today’s corporate world and as you move up in your career and begin to manage individual contributors and teams, these become ever more valuable.
How might you begin to improve your soft skills? Perhaps taking an online leadership certificate is a good place to start. Many top tier universities offer excellent online courses. Harvard Business Review and Forbes are also excellent resources for growing your soft skills toolkit.
To get you started, check out my other blogs on some key leadership skills.
3. Mentors
Who is a mentor? A mentor is someone who is further along on their journey than you. A mentor has the experience that you would like to have and can provide advice, guidance and help to avoid pitfalls. They don’t necessarily have to be in the same industry, but they must work in the same domain. As an example, if you are a project manager in IT, then your mentor might be a senior project manager of finance.
Where might you find a good mentor? There are several great places that you can look at to find a suitable mentor.
Connect with those in your industry who are further along in their career path than you are. Take note of their professional experience, their academic achievements, as well as their volunteer positions. Do any of their accomplishments spark some ideas of avenues that you would like to pursue?
Why not reach out to your connections using the messenger tool built into LinkedIn? Let the person know why you are messaging and what you hope to get out of a more in-depth conversation. Be specific and tell them what stood out to you in their profile. Referring to 1 or 2 specific points increases the likelihood that they will get back to you.
Groups are also a fantastic space on LinkedIn and another way to leverage this professional social platform. Join groups that are relevant to your industry and be sure to participate in the conversations in a meaningful way. Ask thoughtful questions that are likely to spark a discussion. Share interesting articles or resources that you have come across. Adding value to a group before asking for help or putting forward your request for a mentor is also a more sure-fire way to find someone who is willing to connect and provide guidance.
Alumni Associations
Alumni associations are another fantastic space to find a mentor. Join your local chapter and start attending events. Get to know your fellow alums and make meaningful connections. After the event, be sure to follow up with those that you made a connection with by sending a brief thank you note. Much like on LinkedIn, referring to a specific conversation or interesting point that came up will help you stand out with the person.
Family & Friends
Explain to your friends and family that you are interested in growing your career and finding a mentor who could offer guidance, support and coaching would be a great next step. Perhaps they may have someone in their personal or professional networks that you could connect with and who would be a great fit.
Within Your Organization
Are there leaders within your organization that you respect and admire and who you would like to approach about mentoring? Could your boss possibly recommend or connect you with a leader in the organization who would be a great fit as a mentor?
This is an excellent avenue to consider and pursue.
To read more on how to establish, develop and grow a great mentor-mentee relationship, read my blog here.
4. Sponsors
Sponsors are also key to growing your career. A sponsor is someone at the mid to senior level within your organization who champions you, your team and your work and brings your name to those tables and conversations that you are not a part of.
Having a sponsor is invaluable to moving up. Below are some links to excellent articles on why sponsorship is important and how to secure a sponsor for yourself.
5. Networking
Building your brand and increasing visibility for you and your team is essential when it comes to growing your career. Networking ties into the two points from above – mentorship and sponsorship. The more you get to know your colleagues and the leadership across the organization, the better informed you will be about who might be an excellent mentor and sponsor.
To read more about building a strong networking, consistently nurturing your connections, and strengthening your professional relationships, click here.
6. Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is generally in low supply across the global human population. People rarely consider how they are being perceived, they don’t listen to the tone of their voice or the words that they use when they speak and overall have a very poor idea of how they make others feel.
One of the best things anyone can do to grow their career is to take stock of their presence. What kind of a response do you generate in others during your interactions with them? What is the general impression people have of you, your presence, your skills, strengths, aptitudes, etc…
If you are not sure, there are two things you can do to find out:
Pay attention – notice how others respond to you and what you say
Ask – reach out to a friend, colleague, confidant and find out what the outside perception is
7. Grit
None of the above is easy and changes in any or all of these areas don’t happen overnight. This is the long game, and I would encourage you to show yourself some self-compassion and grace. Building a career takes time, energy, focus, patience and perseverance.
Those who are not willing to stick it out and go the mile will not get there. Be tenacious, accept that there will be setbacks, but keep going.
How to Build a Successful Career
Do you want more personalized help with building a successful career, finding a mentor or securing a sponsor? Don’t hesitate to reach out here.
Interested in Learning More About Sponsors?
Here are some additional resources on sponsorship that might be helpful. Please Google the titles below:
The Relationship You Need to Get Right – Harvard Business Review
Sponsors vs. Mentors: What's the Difference & Why It Matters - Glassdoor