Leadership: 5 Reasons Why You Might Be Struggling To Progress Your Leadership Career
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?
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.