There has never been a more critical time to take an active role in your planning career advancement than now. With hundreds of thousands of top salary jobs left unfilled due to lack of qualified candidates having both the hard and soft skills to fill them, yet millions of people out of work, it is clear that there was a lack of career planning on many fronts. And with the rapid change in the way work is done there is little doubt that the future has more redundancies in store. Keep your career ahead of the curve and develop and implement an intentional career advancement plan. Here is a quick list of some of the things you should consider when developing your career advancement plan this month.
Develop your communication skills
Learn how to improve your skills of persuasion with by improving your story telling skills. Attend a story telling class or acting class. Consider developing your improvisation skills through similar classes. Not only will these skills help you to think and speak effectively on your feet, but they will also enhance your ability to build on ideas during discussion. You can also improve your ability to persuade by learning how to use the skills of debaters, not to win an argument but to be able to consider discussions from all perspectives and address all feedback.
There is an on slot of innovative ideas that need input from all to be refined, so expect conflict. Learn to effectively handle conflict to move discussions forward and minimize lingering negative emotions.
Develop your collaboration skills
With the changes in the way work is done everything is interconnected with everything else. So the most important thing is how you connect with and work with others.
You will need to effectively collaborate with and problem solve with those who may share a common interest but different values. Of course if everyone would think the way that you do and share the same values and perspective then your job would be perfect. That is exactly what everyone else is thinking as well. So learn to motivate those who are a challenge to deal with to help you achieve your goals whether they are project goals, career advancement goals or everyday operations.
In a global economy you will find yourself interacting with others who have different values and different ideas about the way things should be done. With effective collaborative skills you’ll minimize the challenges.
Develop relationships
Face to face networking is still the way to gain influence. Expand and develop relationships at all levels of your organization, throughout your industry and with professionals in industries that may complement the work you do. You’ll need advice, insight, direction and information from those in the know to develop your plan, to continuously evaluate it and to experience the career advancement you desire.
Learn the unwritten rules of career advancement
It is not that anyone is hiding the rules. There are many tracks to career advancement in which case a plan specific to your current skills and experience should be developed. Let your desire be known. Enlist the support you need from talent managers, your bosses and other colleagues. Let them know that you’d like their help.
Stay connected for several online posts about the unspoken rules of career advancement. Start with this brief intro.
Help others succeed
You cannot have success unless those around you are successful
Have you ever worked on a team with someone who just couldn’t or wouldn’t pull their weight? You spent half the day complaining to your other team members, boss, significant other, friend, sibling, anyone who would listen. Some people just don’t know the skills necessary to be a successful team member. But you need your team or support staff to be successful in order for you to be successful, so help them when you see an opportunity. Pass on an article, a link, a blog post or a specific professional development book. Your success relies on their success.
Seek frequent feedback
Are you absolutely certain you have the skills and have demonstrated the skills required for the position you want? If you are not the decision maker then you need to know what they are thinking. You’ll need to get their honest feedback about your performance and your promotability. Learn how the decision makers view you, your work and your professional presence. Learn what they need to see from you and in turn let them know your interests and goals. Learn which skills you need to develop and which strategic initiatives you need to focus on. Read more about the importance of feedback.
Take on assignments that will require you to develop and demonstrate the skills required for career advancement
Problem solving, project management, product or service development and implementation, financial and data analysis and strategic planning are only a few of the skills you need to develop and demonstrate. Look at new tasks and challenging assignment as essential opportunities to develop these skills rather than tasks outside of your job responsibility or personal capability. If you do you will offer someone else the opportunity to develop the skills and experience career advancement.
Remain relevant
Keep an eye on industry trends, business trends, technology trends, that will affect the way you do work. Stay abreast of technology on the horizon by developing relationships with leading thinkers in your industry, industry periodicals and credible websites and blogs. Where necessary make time to learn the new skills and even be the expert about what is on the horizon. Take opportunities to discuss upcoming trends in meetings, during social interactions or set up formal presentations.
Differentiate yourself
If you have conditioned yourself to fit in, this is the year to take an assessment of how you are uniquely different. What attributes, strengths and interests do you have that will set you apart from others? How can you uniquely add value? Companies need new ideas to remain competitive which requires diversity of thought, talent and ideas. If you are like everyone else do you want to leave it to chance that you will be the one selected? Be a stand out in the way you add value.
Develop a detailed and flexible plan
Although goals provide the motivation you need, you’ll need a detailed plan to keep you focused and on target with your career advancement plan this year. With so many distractions including from the media, noise from those who are discontent and from those who do not have similar career advancement goals it is easy to get distracted. Develop a plan with input from your company talent manager, boss, your personal career coach, a transition coach, mentor or sponsor, but know that it must be flexible and reviewed frequently, particularly after receiving valid feedback.
Don’t leave your career advancement to chance. You can take an active role.
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