Stand Up, Step Up, Play to Win: 10 Steps to Advance Your Career

You went to the right schools, have the right skills, chose the right company but can't figure out how you've gone unnoticed. Sometimes it's not what you know but how you apply it and who knows about it. Have you ever wondered how even in a tight job market others are able to continually move up the career ladder, transfer departments at will, or get chosen for the plum assignments? You want to be noticed so you keep working hard waiting for someone to take note and reward your efforts.

If getting ahead was only about hard work the executive halls would be filled with "the next in line." The work that you do is important but more important is, knowing how you add value and learning to demonstrate and communicate that value continually. Learn the rules of the game, apply them and you will stand head and shoulders above your other hardworking peers.

There are ten steps that you can take to raise your company profile and advance your career.

1. Learn the business.
   How does the business make money? Who are the customers? What do they want? How and when do they want it? Identify what the business does to serve customers and how the business generates profits. Identify the key products and work groups that drive the business success.
   
   
2. Learn how you impact the business.
   Plot the path from your job to the buying customer. Connect the dots. Make the direct link between what the business does to generate profits and the job that you do each day. Evaluate your approach to projects and the tasks that you spend the most time on. Are the activities that you're focusing on costing the company money, saving the company money, or increasing revenue? If you find that you are spending time on tasks that add no bottom-line value stop it. Take on a new approach that is aligned with the organizational goals.
   
   
3. Get clear on the goals.
   Demonstrate how well you understand the big picture. When issues and challenges arise, resist the urge to jump in with solutions. Before you do anything pinpoint the goal. Determine how the company will benefit from any actions taken. Continually talk about the goals of the organization, your department, and your team. Help others see the importance of establishing goals that are aligned with the overall mission. Ask clarifying questions that drive discussions toward the accomplishment of goals. Suggest ways to get everyone moving in that direction. When the team gets off track refocus them on the goals.
   
   
4. Take on the tough assignments.
   If you know that you have the ability to successfully complete projects that have not been offered to you, ask for them. If there are projects that others shy away from, nominate yourself for the job. Make sure you clarify with the stakeholder how your success will be measured before you begin. Identify the resources that you need, the people that can help you succeed, and ask for help before you get in too deep? Take the time to write down the things that you learned along the way. Even if you don't hit a homerun you will be more prepared your next time on
   deck.
   
   
5. Create name recognition.
   To get ahead you need to be known beyond the boundaries of your own department. Look for opportunities to link up with other departments or workgroups for projects. Consider the units or departments that are on the receiving end of work that you do. What groups send work to you? If you are working on something that touches other departments communicate your findings, actions taken, or desire to be kept in the loop. Attend open meetings about company issues or volunteer as the liaison from your department on special committees. Identify key people in the
   organization that you need to know and those who should know you. Use your connections to ask for introductions. Know how you want to be introduced in the conversation or email. Once connected leave a positive lasting impression.
   
   
6. Create opportunities for yourself.
   If you are not being offered assignments that stretch you or allow you to demonstrate your skills, propose one. There are problems waiting for solutions around every corner everyday. I often tell people to find the gap and fill it. Find the gap between what is and what should be. If you know that the supplier that you're using is continually raising prices, take it upon yourself to investigate the alternatives. Identify the other providers give the pro's and con's for each and link your
   proposal to the overall goals of the department. If you know that your workgroup will be facing cutbacks (and who isn't) talk to your manager about researching ways to do more with less. What good manager would deny you the opportunity? If you are denied prepare the reports anyway. Make sure that you document compelling evidence to support your position.
   
   
7. Focus on the results.
   The goals are what you are shooting for but the results are what you get. Don't focus on the list of tasks that you have to complete. You could finish your entire checklist and accomplish little. Not only that you could waste precious time, money, and energy and get nothing in return. Get clear on the end result. What will success look like, how will it be measured? Track and report your accomplishments in terms of the results that matter to the organization. Speak to the results, quantify them whenever you can, make sure that you can justify your decisions. Use the terms, "increase," "improve," "reduce" to describe your efforts. Consider The Business 6â„¢: revenue, productivity, quality,
   costs, cycle-time, and customer satisfaction.
   
   
8. Master the unwritten rules. Sometimes at work we find ourselves talking about decisions that were made and how something different should have been done. Jack Welch of GE fame once wrote, "Live life as it is not as it was or as you wish it were." Those who succeed where others do not typically have an in spite of mentality. Rather than
   spend time spinning their wheels about what may have been they begin with right here and right now. It's difficult for others to do that because there is a sense of security in believing that work is guided by an unalterable script that should be followed. Those scripts, that playbook hold only the written rules of work. The written rules are the ideals the unwritten rules represent reality. Identify the five most important unwritten rules in your company. Do the examples listed sound familiar?

   Written or acknowledged rules:
   
   

   • We believe in an open door management philosophy.
   • We believe in teamwork and collaboration to meet goals.
   • We want people to innovate and think creatively.
   • We believe strongly in work life balance.
     
     

   Unwritten rules:
   

   • Take your manager solutions not problems or you will be viewed as a whiner and not a contributor.
   • Go with the majority, don't make waves or be viewed as an outsider.
   • Give your opinion only when it's asked for.
   • Those who get promoted come early and leave late.

   
   

9. Manage perception.
   There is truth, there is reality and then there is perception. You have to assess yourself through the eyes of others including peers, direct reports, managers and other departments. You don't have to change who you are but you do have to manage the way that others see you. Think about the reputation that you want to have. What are the three words that you want people to think of when your name is mentioned? Continually check to make sure that you are being perceived that way. Make sure that those characteristics are valued in the organization. When you complete an assignment ask what others thought of your work. Ask what you might have done better. Be open to feedback. Don't just ask for it, listen and make the necessary adjustments.
   
   
10. Study the winners.
    Look at the people who stand out in the organization. Whose opinions and suggestions are always acknowledged? Who has risen to the position you hope to have? This is your benchmark or standard bearer. You don't want to mimic this person but you do need to watch how they do what they do. Observe their actions. How do they present themselves in meetings? When presented the opportunity find out just how this, "stand out" moved to the head of the class. Find out their secret to success. What did it take for them to get there? What paths did they take to get where they are? While you are watching also watch how others respond to them. Measure yourself against that success. Adopt the winning characteristics and fit them into your own style.
    
    

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Valarie is CEO of Think 6 Results -- a knowledge broker passionate about learning and improving performance in organizations. She’s a writer, presenter, and executive coach on a mission to get every employee and organization focused on and thinking about the SIX business driving goals that matter.

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Contact Valarie at washington@think6results.com or by calling 630-705-1189. Visit us at http://www.Think6Results.com.

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