Posts Tagged ‘career success’

In many professions, people who are highly capable individuals never realise their true career potential.  I know that during my 25 year career in accountancy it was not always the best accountants who made it to the more senior levels.

As someone who climbed the career ladder starting as a 16 year old with minimum qualifications and progressing through the ranks to Finance Director before deciding to set up my own business, I noticed a number of things that seemed to get in the way of success.

I recently did a free teleseminar where I spoke about some of the reasons why people might be stopping themselves even getting to the starting gate.  I shared my view on the biggest mistake that people make in their CV and offered some tips on interview success.

A link to the audio of that event is available below

If you find it valuable, I invite you to check out the Career Accelerator Self Coaching Workbook that I refer to towards the end of the recording.

As always, please leve any comments, observations or tips that you would add from your own experience.

If you aspire to be a leader, you might notice that sometimes you continually move forward.  At other times you continually struggle.  The career ladder, unlike a normal ladder is not the same width at the top as it is at the bottom.  In many ways it is similar to a pyramid.  The higher you climb the narrower it gets.  As you try to take the next step in your career you might be finding it a struggle for one of the following 5 reasons.

Reason 1: Your resume or CV does not sell you

Make no mistake you resume or CV has one primary purpose: to get you to the next stage in the selection process.  Too often, people create resumes or CVs that list what they do rather than mentioning what they have achieved.  Remember you have to influence the recruiter that you are worth going forward to the next stage so highlight clearly and concisely your achievements.

Reason 2: You don’t know yourself

For anyone who aspires to be a leader, self awareness is an important quality to have.  Everybody, no matter who they are has areas in which they excel and areas where they are not so strong.  If you cannot articulate clearly what your areas of excellence are and where you need to develop, make the time to do a self assessment.

Reason 3: You don’t have the qualifications

In many fields, particularly professions, there is going to be a ceiling on how far you can go without the recognised professional qualification.  If you are in this situation you have two choices.  Either do what it takes to get the qualification or accept that their will be limits on how far you progress.  If it is the latter, look at ways of gaining new experience at the level you can reach.

Reason 4: You don’t have the right mindset

Believe it or not many people fail to get to the level they desire because they don’t believe that they are capable or good enough.  If this is you, take the time to separate fact from fiction when it comes to your limiting beliefs.

Reason 5: You are not willing to make the sacrifices

No long term success is achieved as a leader without some element of sacrifice.  Every time you say yes to something you are saying no to something else.  Make sure that you are willing to make the sacrifices before you seek to pursue a role as a leader.

Bottom Line – It is not always the most capable that achieve success in their leadership career.  So what action could you take to achieve success in progressing your leadership career?

Have you ever noticed how often people spend a huge amount of time and effort getting a professional qualification, then forget about developing themselves?
It is a bit like having a winning lottery ticket and not bothering to collect the prize.

Some of the excuses for not continuing to develop yourself might include:

1. Lack of time
2. Lack of sponsorship or budget within your organisation
3. All of the events are too far away
4. The topics are not interesting
5. They are covering things I don’t need right now

Truth is:

1. If you spent an hour a week on continuing professional development you would be doing more than most
2. The internet has opened up a whole range of possibilities for short, sharp and free learning
3. You can now do a lot of development activities from your office desk or the comfort of your own home
4. If topics are not relevant let people know who are organising events what you need most
5. Development is not just about the here and now it is about the future

Bottom Line – A professional qualification is the passport to your success. Continuing professional development helps you realise the potential of the passport.

Everyone spends a significant amount of their life at work.  To get the most out of your career you need to manage it.  So what are key steps that you need to take to manage your career.

Tip 1: Know what you want to achieve 

When you have a career as opposed to a job, you take a long term view.  Those who achieve most will generally have a very clear vision of what they want to achieve.

What’s your vision?

Tip 2: Set out a plan

Once you have clarity on your vision, the next step is to develop a plan.  Your plan needs to clearly set out:

• Where you currently are

• Where you want to get to

• The steps to move you to where you want to get to

In setting out your plan, think about skills, knowledge, experience, education and personal attributes.

Tip 3: Find a coach or mentor

Most people have 10-15 years to reach their vision so you need support and accountability to make it happen.  A coach or mentor can help you:

• Get clarity on your next move

• Make the right moves that contribute to your overall vision

• Avoid wasting time and effort going down the wrong path

Tip 4: Deliver outstanding performance

If you want to progress and reach the top, you need to build a reputation of being someone who consistently delivers outstanding performance.  One of the ways of delivering outstanding performance is to be clear about what you are measured on and make sure everything you do contributes to success.

Tip 5: Don’t move out of a job because you are disgruntled

Sometimes people move jobs because something short term annoys them.  It might be that they are not feeling valued, that they are not supported or whatever they do it will never be good enough.

If you find yourself in this situation, speak to someone more senior before taking action or to you coach or mentor.

Tip 6: Discuss you career with your boss

Employees are sometimes reluctant to discuss their career with their boss.  They worry that their boss might misinterpret this.  The truth is that the best bosses want to have people around them who are motivated and have a desire to get on.

How could you create a relationship with your boss that allowed you to openly speak about your career?

Tip 7: Avoid job moves that only offer short term advantages

It is easy to be lured in the short term by money.  Keep the focus on your vision and test job opportunities in terms of what you need to progress rather than short term financial gains.

Tip 8: Leave jobs on good terms

You might be working with someone today who pops up at some organisation you want to work with in the future.  This is more common than you think so always leave on good terms.

Tip 9: Speak openly to superiors about internal positions that are of interest to you

Managers often form a completely wrong impression about individual’s career aspirations.  If there is an internal post that would help you closer to your goal, speak to your superior about it.

Tip 10:  Be open to lateral moves

It is easy to think that every job change needs to be a move up the ladder.  Sometimes it might be useful to move at a similar level to get new experience.  For example imagine all of your experience was in subsidiary companies and you wanted some head office experience.  A lateral move might be the best way to do it.

Tip 11: Plan moves in advance

When you have secured a position and have got some clarity about some of the skills and experience you are gaining, start thinking about your next couple of moves.  Why?  The main reason is that it keeps you alert for new opportunities that might be ideal for you as you move towards your vision.

Tip 12: Keep your CV or Resume up to date

Make a habit of regularly updating your CV to capture new experience, skills or attributes that you have developed.

Tip 13: Record achievements and successes

In every interview you will always be asked about achievements and successes.  If you record achievements on a weekly or monthly basis you will have a bank of successes available to draw from when faced with this question.

In addition, you will also have the drive and motivation to do even more.

Tip 14: Don’t stay in a job too long

If you want to reach a senior level, you need to find the right balance.  Move too regularly and your loyalty will be questioned.  Stay too long and your ambition and desire will be questioned.  Three indicators that the time might be right to move on are:

• The excitement has gone from the job

• You are not getting any new experience

• The job is too easy

In my experience moving every 2-4 years is about right, but be aware of industry or sector norms.

If you want a career rather than just a series of jobs, you need to take control.  What’s your first step?

If you are reading this blog, I am guessing that you are probably someone who wants to achieve success as a manager or leader and have a successful career.  When it comes to our career and setting goals , very few have a clear idea of what they want and why they want it.

Think about your career 10 years from now and ask yourself the following:

What level do I want to be at 10 years from now?

If I was in my perfect job I would be ……?

I want to be known as a manager and leader who……?

Now think about why you want it.  The obvious answer is the financial rewards that come with success.  Yet in truth, money alone is not the long term driver. 

So what is it that makes you want to achieve career success?