Sitting across the table from successful business leaders, I’m often struck by the number of highly talented people who rely on external influences to build their careers.
Many successful people seem to have achieved their breakthrough moments through a chance meeting or being in the right place at the right time (or at least not by being in the wrong place at the wrong time).
As an executive search consultant, I know that a well placed call can be transformational, just as coming across that job ad that piques interest, or networking with the right person. People don’t seem to appreciate that all of these things can be actively managed.
Take a step back and ask yourself if this is how you would run a business — by relying on chance moments to ensure success. A plan may be subject to changes, but that doesn’t mean you should get by without any forethought at all.
So, before your career becomes chapters of circumstance, take some control and start managing you future.
Here are some practical steps to get you noticed
- Raise your profile. It is easy to get lost in the management layers, particularly within big organisations, so building your profile is important. This can be as simple as joining your national trade association and attending events to build your network. If you are more ambitious, you can seek out the platform at conferences, networking events.
- Get a mentor. Ask a senior management member, preferably totally outside your day-to -day existence, to be your mentor. Even if they don’t have the time they will be flattered you asked and it shows initiative. But the ultimate goal is to find someone who can help you progress through the organisation and teach you the lessons of success.
- Identify your skills gaps — and fix them. What is the job you want in the future? Find a way of getting in front of someone who does that job to make sure it is not just a daydream. Ask them how they got there and what skills you need.
- Set a realistic goal. Look at where you are now before you decide where you want to get to. Ask yourself — can it be done? Do you really have the drive to achieve it? If you set yourself an unrealistic goal it will lead to a false dawn and you will go nowhere. Setting a realistic goal is more important the older you are. Career changes are fine — up to a point. You don’t want to be seen as a “jumper” (headhunting slang for someone whose track record indicates they won’t stay in any job for long)”.
- Identify what drives you. What gets you excited about what you are doing? Is it clinching a sale, coaching a team, seeing the world and racking up the airmiles, or is it getting home in time to read your children a story? Whatever it is, you need to know in order for your next career choice to be a sustainable one.
- Identify the type of culture in which you will thrive. Cultural fit is something that people often overlook, particularly if it indicates an inconvenient truth about themselves and the role they think they are made for. Do not think that you can mould the world to your image — you might be able to, but its a long shot, and in many organisations you will not progress if you are a maverick, or if you are the one that chooses to start work at 10am when everyone else is there at 9am.
- Set realistic expectations. Are you someone who currently works in a large corporate in a middle-management role, but would really like to be given the opportunity to run a small company, have some P&L responsibility, take a big salary with lots of equity in the new venture? Yep, I thought so. I know this only because that is such a common “ideal” expressed by candidates.
- Manage your online profile. The search engine is becoming a valued recruitment tool. Make sure you are off Facebook and on the business networking websites such as Linked In. Hiring managers and recruiters use these tools.
Many people are not where they deserve to be in their careers because they are not doing some or all of the things listed above. In the words of Sir Edmund Hillary, “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves”.
Now get out there and make yourself proud.
