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Get Ahead, Tips for Career Advancement
Author:John Mehrmann
What is the magic formula for getting ahead? What can I do to
accelerate my career advancement? What should I do to get noticed and
promoted? These are common questions, and the secret to unlock
potential for career advancement is nearly as common.
A few tips to get ahead:
Apply Yourself
A great idea alone will not succeed as much as a good idea with great
effort. Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb with a single
stroke of genius, but rather with consistent applied effort to test,
study the results, and try again. Inspiration springs from busy hands
and busy minds. Keep challenging yourself, keep applying yourself, and
you will amaze yourself.
Some people allow themselves to be limited by accepting lower
expectations or making minimal commitments, but not you. You have
talent, skill, and experience that make you unique. As you apply your
talents, you will learn more about how to use your skills. Like a
professional athlete or an artisan, consistently exercising your
talents will not exhaust them, but rather make them even better.
Surprisingly, the more that you do, the more that you are capable of
doing. You do not need to wait to be challenged, or wait for
responsibility to be thrust upon you. Rather, set very specific goals
for yourself and apply yourself to attain those goals. Every
achievement will build more confidence, more excitement, and more
desire.
Helpful
If you want to get ahead, hone your personal skills, but keep constant
attention on opportunities to help those around you to succeed. It may
seem contrary to think that building personal success is predicated on
supporting the success of the people around you, but it is a
fundamental truth. Some people call it Karma, and some people call it
common sense. The way that you treat your peers, your partners, your
customers, and your coworkers will all come back to you.
Perhaps you are too pragmatic to believe in Karma. If this is the case,
contrast the two potential extremes of your actions as a method to
compare the result. If you achieve success by taking advantage of
customers, coworkers, partners, and peers, how long would you expect
that temporary success to last? If you achieve success by deceiving
clients, would you expect them to remain loyal? If you achieve success
at the expense of coworkers or peers, would you expect them to continue
to give you support, dedication, and cooperation? What would happen to
your success if it is at the expense of others?
On the contrary, if you invest your time and effort in the attainment
of the aspirations of customers, coworkers, partners, and peers, then
what is the result? If you earn a reputation for taking care of
customers, could that help you to earn more customers? Will customers
be more loyal if they know that you contribute to their success and
satisfaction? If you assist coworkers, peers, and partners to succeed,
will they be more likely to help you in return? Will successful
partners and peers be more able to help you than the ones that are
sacrificed for personal benefit? If you make other people more
successful, then will it be more beneficial for you to be surrounded by
grateful satisfied people? When measured in these simple terms, karma
is not so mystical after all.
Ethics
Act with integrity. Regardless of what position you have or what you
do, ethical behavior is critical to your personal success. Integrity is
built on ethics and is the cornerstone for credibility. If you can be
trusted, then your commitments can also be trusted. Customers are
reluctant to make purchases, even at discount prices, from an
individual or an organization that does not have a reputation for
ethical behavior. Why is this so? How can a good price commitment be
trusted if the quality, commitment, or integrity of the individual or
organization can not be trusted? By contrast, if the individual or
organization can be trusted and continually demonstrates a commitment
to ethical behavior, then isn't it more likely to have confidence in a
good offer? The same logic applies to customer service, finance, and
even management.
Ethical behavior is especially important for management. It creates
standards and a culture for the rest of the organization. Workers and
peers have more confidence and commitment in a leader that demonstrates
ethical behavior. In the absence of ethics there is trepidation, fear,
and a risk of contagion. The guidelines are established by leadership,
good or bad. Leadership can come from anywhere in the organization that
ethics are strongly supported, even if it is not demonstrated by
management. Ethical leadership is like a bright light, causing
unethical behavior to hide in the shadows. Carry a torch of integrity,
especially if you are in a management position.
Authentic
Be yourself. You are a one of a kind blend of talent, experience,
knowledge, and skills. There is nobody else like you, and nobody else
has lived your life. Being authentic requires the integrity to be
honest about your talents and feelings, confident enough to share your
experience and skills with others, and the dedication to do it daily.
You may discover your personal strengths by watching the success of
others, reading a book, attending a class, or in a workshop. It is
common to see the actions, and the results of actions, in other people,
and to adopt some of those traits in our own lives. If this learning is
successful for you to seemingly develop new skills, then you are
actually merely discovering something about yourself that had not yet
been realized. On the other hand, if the tips and techniques taught by
others is not effective for you, then it is not because you are bad
student, but rather that the techniques may not be a match for your
personal strengths. If some techniques do not work for you, then
explore to find new ones that do. In the course of this activity, you
will learn more about yourself. How you share your strengths and this
knowledge will determine how authentic you are to other. Dare to
authentic.
Diligent
You work hard. You get tired. You want a break. That's fine, you
deserve to take a break, but that does not mean that you take a break
from being diligent.
Daily diligence means a focus on the seemingly little things that
contribute to the overall success. Diligence requires dedication and
attention to detail. It requires concentrated effort in the direction
of specific goals. Diligence does not mean that you never take a break,
but it does mean that your efforts are truly meaningful, directed, and
have attention to detail. It means follow-up, and not merely assuming
that everything will work out in the end. It means giving your full
effort, even when you think that other people are not working as hard
or seem to have given up. Diligence is the drive that keeps you going,
even when the motivation in your tank is running low.
Tips for Career Advancement
Advancing your career is not merely defined by betting a promotion.
Creating opportunity for career advancement is the result of
continually developing your personal skills, supporting the success of
others and your organization. In the process of developing your
personal strengths and habits, you will discover career choices that
can maximize and leverage your talents. In supporting others, you may
unlock new opportunities to expand your horizons, or propel your
personal advancement. These things are byproducts of the process, but
should not be the focus of your efforts. If you focus on the process of
continual improvement, success will naturally follow.
Apply yourself, be Helpful, Ethical, Authentic, and Diligent.
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Words of Wisdom
"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire
"He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are
accomplished by diligence and labor."
- Menander
"If you are not open to advice, then you are breathing your own
exhaust."
- Dan Tafel
"Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are
performed not by strength, but perseverance."
- Samuel Johnson
______________________________________________________
John Mehrmann is a freelance author and President of Executive
Blueprints Inc., (www.executiveblueprints.com) an organization devoted
to improving business practices and developing human capital. John
Mehrmann and Mitchell Simon are authors of The Trusted Advocate, the
fundamental guide to achieving extraordinary sales and sustaining loyal
customers. This revolutionary sales guide applies peak management
techniques and leadership skills to the sales profession, showing you
how to utilize authenticity and integrity in your sales to achieve
maximum success.
Article sourced from www.articlecity.com
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