Posts Tagged ‘goalsandachievements’

If you are reading this post, I am guessing that progressing your career might be important to you. So what barriers might be stopping you from moving to the next level?

1. You are great at working alone on activities but struggle at managing.
2. You have not kept your skills up to date.
3. You don’t believe in yourself and what you have to offer.
4. You are more afraid of failing than trying to succeed.
5. You are not clear about what you want from your next role.
6. You don’t sell yourself effectively in your resume or CV.
7. You struggle to sell yourself at interviews.
8. You understate your achievements.
9. You won’t ask for help to get to the next level.
10. You are not willing to invest in acquiring the skills, training or mentoring to make it to the next level.

Truth is every step in your career brings with it new challenges. So what do you need to focus on to get to the next level?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

The need for change, transformation, new ways of working and innovation to name just a few is never off the agenda.  Yet the realities between the desire and the delivery of change are somewhat different.  So what realities do you need to face up to when making change?

 

Reality 1: Most folks don’t like change

 

Sure we all have to adapt a little bit all of the time and in the main do this without thinking.  On the other hand talk about any sort of significant scale change and chances are that the barriers will go up pretty quickly.  We all to a greater or lesser extent thrive in consistency and stability.

 

Reality 2: People focus first on what they will lose

 

Think about a time in the past when you have had to consider making change.  Chances are that people’s initial reaction was not to focus on the opportunity or challenge.  They are more likely to focus on what they will lose.  It is human nature and almost a sort of safety mechanism.

 

Reality 3: People will feel isolated

 

People might normally feel that they are part and parcel of a team of supportive people.  Then a change comes along and it can be easy to feel isolated.  This is even more likely if you are the person who is leading the team.

 

Reality 4: People all have a different level of readiness for change

 

Some people thrive on continually having new challenges thrust in their direction while for others it will feel like a huge burden.  As the leader the challenge is to be aware of the fact that everyone responds differently and that you will need to test readiness for change.

 

Reality 5: People worry that they won’t be able to do it  

 

One or two might be sceptical but change is still possible.  On the other hand if there are many all starting to doubt the ability, skills or resources to make change then there is a potentially big problem.  As the leader you have a key role in supporting people through these times of doubt.

 

Reality 6: People have only got so much capacity

 

Even the most enthusiastic can suffer from change fatigue from time to time.  There is a fine balancing act between challenging people and burning them out.  Be alert to the fact that people may only have so much capacity so don’t overload them with change initiatives.

 

Reality 7: People need to fail safe

 

Whenever you are considering change you are asking people to take some risk.  They will only take those risks if they know that if it does not work out that they will be acknowledged for having a go.  Remember without some form of risk taking nothing ever moves forward.

 

Bottom Line – The natural tendency is to resist change, so what are you doing as a leader to help other achieve success when it comes to making change?

 

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals to become better leaders and managers.  For more information click here