20 Ways to Get Ahead in Your Career

So, you're looking to get ahead in your career.

Everyone knows someone who seemingly gets by without much effort. Maybe even someone who is very successful without having to work hard.

Doesn't sound like you?

If you're like most people you have to drive hard just to keep up and feel like it is becoming more difficult each day. You have to give your absolute best. If you have decided you want to succeed and get ahead you then you need to decide to be a workhorse. If that doesn't sound easy or glamorous...well...it isn't. Truth is, in today's economy you will have to grind it out at times.

So what are some of the ways to separate yourself from the pack and get ahead in your career?

TWENTY WAYS TO GET AHEAD

1. Brand yourself! Think of your favorite brand. One of mine happens to be FedEx. They flat out get it done. You trust that if you give them your important package they'll get it to the destination on time. You need to be that way in your work life. Employers want to give a task, assignment or responsibility to someone they value, can trust and who they know will flat out get it done . Become known as that person
   
2. Step up! Take Initiative! . Look for things that need to be done and get them done. Either through yourself or leverage it to others. Volunteer for the tough, undesirable assignment. It's like exercise. Short term pain for long term gain.
   
3. Arrive early! If you arrive early, you are already ahead of 90% of your colleagues. If you are Gen Y - 99%. That's good news for you. By arriving to the office 30 minutes early you can plan your day, tackle any messages or e-mails from overnight and get your favorite office friendly beverage poured.
   
4. Stay late! Those who leave when the 5 o'clock horn sounds don't typically get ahead quick. Those who make just one additional call, send the one additional e-mail, finish the one extra task do.
   
5. Be available! This means 24/7/365. Business is a rapidly changing environment and companies value employees who are willing and able to assist when needed. This doesn't mean you have to be at the beck and call of your employer (not recommended!) but be flexible and willing to engage at any time. Even if it's just by e-mail or text.
   
6. Think! Think before you speak. Think before you send an e-mail. Think before you act. And be ready to think on your feet.
   
7. Be Organized! Have your information and resources sorted out and readily available. This will give you peace of mind and help you fulfill #6 above a lot easier.
   
8. Be Prepared! Know your numbers, anticipate problems and questions, come to meetings ready to go.
   
9. Give Credit! Support your team and those who helped you accomplish your work. First, everyone knows you didn't do a big task all on your own. Second, you gonna need help again.
   
10. Don't Panic! Problems will arise. Those who can keep a cool head are most likely to lead and find a solution. With that, don't lash out or point fingers when problems occur. Blaming is losing.
    
11. Under Promise, Over Deliver! Sounds basic but it's a tricky concept to master. Not only will people's request be incredibly urgent to them it's easy to over commit and want to appear responsive. This takes practice and great communication.
    
12. Communicate! Be precise, concise and clear.
    
13. Ask Questions! Get all the information you can from your boss, customers, vendors and teammates. Asking that one extra question may be what directs the project and helps reach the outcome.
    
14. Be Face-to-Face! In today's environment with e-mail, voicemail, text messaging, tweeting, Facebooking, etc it's actually more rare to do many day-to-day tasks in person. If your boss e-mails or leaves a message that might require a long reply, consider replying in person...with a leave behind document prepared.
    
15. Understand Financials! The lifeblood of a business is its financials. Even if you are the receptionist, you need to have a basic understanding of business financials. At the minimum, learn about a Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow. And this is one area where the higher you go the more you need to know.
    
16. Be a Steward of the Finances! Manage every dollar of the company's money with the highest regard. Especially in today's economic environment.
17. Set Goals! If you want to get ahead, you need to achieve the company's goals. You also need to set and achieve your personal goals. To get ahead you may need a skill or experience you don't yet have. Set them as goals and make plans to achieve them.
    
18. Respect and Honor Your Work Community! Disrespecting subordinates or peers may work in some industries but most people need the help of their human resources. You're more likely to achieve your own professional goals if you have a team that feels respected and willing to put in the extra mile for you.
    
19. It's not a Social Club! It is fine to have great relationships at work...but it's not a social club. You are at work to get work done not chit chat. Spend your work time working and your play time playing. Collaboration with your work team is good! Just be sure to achieve a business result while you are at it.
20. Hold Yourself Accountable! To get ahead you need to be accountable. To your boss. To your colleagues. To your Clients & customers. To yourself! People who place blame or make excuses do not get ahead. And the less your boss has to hold you accountable the better.
    

BONUS: Be Consistent! Whatever you do to step up and set yourself apart from the crowd do it consistently. Stepping up only at certain times (i.e. review time) is blatantly manipulative and won't help your cause.

This is just a short list of recommendations. There are many others but if you start to tackle and master a few of these people will start to notice...maybe even your boss.

You just might get ahead in your career!

TAKE ACTION NOW!

1. Read the list again. Pick two items to work on this week. Write them down. Record activities, questions and progress at the end of the week
2. Return weekly and choose another two until you have integrated all 20 at some level. Practice!
3. Have a question? Need coaching, training, feedback or just want to share? Contact us! See top right hand side of page for contact information.

PS - Love to interact with readers. Don't be shy!

Are You Going to be a Leader Today?

Leading, by its very nature, is never easy. Never straight forward or black & white. It takes a person of impeccable standards, character and fortitude to take others on a path that isn't entirely certain. A leader always has to clear obstacles and create a compelling future.

But what about today?

Not much causes as much stress as economic uncertainty. The impact it has on professional, and personal, lives is tremendous. And boy do we have economic uncertainty and stress today. With conditions today that have been called the worst since the Great Depression there is cause to be alarmed.

But a leader cannot, must not, focus there.

A leader must stand tall, be strong. A leader must understand, adapt, create. A leader must see the situation for what it is - not give in to the doomsdayers. Take stock and assess the threats...but also the opportunities. A leader then must create a vision for how to get past the challenge. And then the leader must forge a path to the vision. Never faltering.

Are you going to be a leader today?

What steps can you take right NOW to be a better leader for those looking to you for guidance and direction? And remember, those people could be people you lead at work, but also those around you in every day life such as friends & family.


TAKE ACTION NOW!

• Choose to lead today. You need to mentally prepare each day to lead. Deciding to be a leader is the first step.
• Take stock in what you are focusing on right now? Are you focused on the downside of the daily news? Could you, if you wanted to, focus on the opportunity today's economic climate provides for those who take action? HINT - the answer is "yes".
• Go on a media diet. Don't watch the television news, read the newspaper or listen to news on the radio. If you need to keep informed, quickly scan headlines online but don't dig into the stories. Do it for a couple of days. Refresh.
• Remember that Focus is Power!
• Need coaching, feedback or just want to share? Contact us! See top right hand side of page for contact information.

PS - Love to read your comments and interact!

Accountability Stinks

That's right. We all know it.

Who really wants to be held accountable anyway? Sure, many of us say we do until...it actually happens. Our boss calls us out on a missed deadline. Our friend remembers the promise we made and gently (of course) reminds us.

Accountability is hard.

I observed under performing members of a sales team last week create a near mutiny with their management team. Their results had been poor for months. This was after a week long training session, daily direction and encouragement from management and added tools for success. The claim from these team members was that they were missing one item of which the top salesperson on the team had "control" - a sales presentation that was yielding tremendous results. What they failed to recognize is that this same top salesperson also consistently displays an exceptional work ethic, tireless commitment, persistence and drive. The under performing members wanted the magic bullet when really there's a success formula they are failing to implement. Even with the superior sales presentation these members would likely still fall short without the drive and work ethic of the top salesperson.

It's easy for us all to go into blame when we're not achieving results - personally or professionally. Why hold yourself accountable or allow someone else to when you can blame an event or another person? And truthfully, most people are surrounded by enablers who will accept your excuses and allow you to continue to under perform or fail. Your co-worker who believes that because the printer was broken and that's why you couldn't complete an assignment.

Nonsense!

If you want to be a leader you must hold yourself accountable first. You must get rid of excuses and blame.

If you are a leader of a team you cannot accept blame and excuses within your team.


Don't be an enabler of under performance. Great news is that accountability can be learned. Accountability can be practiced. Accountability can be measured. And in the end, accountability can be fun when you start to achieve the results you deserve. One way to get more accountable is to get a coach...


TAKE ACTION NOW!

• In what areas of your professional, educational or personal life do you need to hold yourself more accountable?
• or what are you blaming for missed results? Another person? An event or circumstance? Yourself? When you are blaming you are losing
• In what ways can you practice accountability? In what ways do you measure your own accountability? Can you partner with someone whereby you hold each other accountable?
• What resources can you invest in or leverage to increase your personal accountability (i.e. a class on time management)
• Need help, feedback or just want to share? Connect with us using any of the contact methods listed at the top left section of this page.

Instantly Improve Your Business or Personal Life

During a professional coaching session recently a Client had described to me how a colleague had failed to fulfill on his end of an assignment. My participant was frustrated and after the description was complete asked me if it was OK to be upset. I said sure you can feel any emotion you choose but the fact is you are 100% accountable for solving the issue.

WHAT???

Needless to say that wasn't initially well received. How could my coaching participant be 100% accountable for someone else's failure? Of course my participant had done "everything" possible to ensure that the colleague had what he needed.

Everything? Really?

Ownership. We all have to take ownership for the results we want in business and in life. If you can own an issue, you can take control and drive the solution. As our discussion continued I asked questions about what could my participant have done better to change the outcome. Could one more follow up call have been placed? Maybe the colleague responds better to e-mail or text - could the deliverables been put in writing so everyone was clear about the results. Could a connection to a resource been made that would add synergy to the team? Who does my participant have a relationship with that the colleague does not?

You see, we can always do one more thing to add value and change the course of any project. And rarely, if ever, do we do "everything" possible to ensure success. If we choose to take ownership we can set ourselves up to win.

When you have ownership you can set the rules and establish the benchmarks. If you don't take ownership someone else will, or worse, life will. Save yourself the frustration, hurt, anger and time lost that comes from blaming others. When you're blaming you're losing.Don't let someone else or circumstances get in the way of your success. Take ownership and take control!



TAKE ACTION NOW!

• Where is your focus? On the problem? Or on the solution? Focus is Power!


• Think of a situation where you are not realizing the results you want. What additional value can YOU provide to move the issue forward? Take ownership and Take Initiative!


• Who or what have you been blaming for lack of results? Others? Events? Yourself? Blame is ineffective


• Step back from your challenging situations. Ask yourself how you can better communicate with your teammates or networl. Then confirm that this method of communication will be effective for all parties involved


• Need coaching, feedback or just want to share? Contact us! See top right hand side of page for contact information or leave a comment to this post below.

Maintaining Certainty in Uncertain Times

Unemployment - 7.2% and expected to rise. Ouch!

As concern about the recession and unemployment continues to mount there is a lot of uncertainty in the U.S. economy. As a result, employees across America are uncertain about their future and stability. Rightly so. But that's not the end of the story... The recession is, in many ways, a myth for most people. But it is up to you to make it a myth.

Some keys to overcoming uncertainty:

1. Define Success - It's easier to define success in buoyant times when all is well. When faced with challenging times it is even more important to define success. You may need to recalculate what is achievable in the short term. You may not get that raise you wanted but if you power though a tough time you could end up earning more than you originally expected. Define what success is during a tough time so that you can achieve it and move on to the next level when the challenging period is over
2. Create Your Own Certainty - Begin each day with the certainty. Know that you have what it takes and are willing to do what it takes to succeed. These are two qualities that will help you during boom or bust times. Certainty helps keep moving forward - not sideways or back.
3. Focus is Power! - focus your energy on the positive and on results. You may end up in a situation which requires extra work for the same pay (or even less!). Focus on getting those results and when you make it through the storm you will be rewarded. Organizations in lean times focus much more on results, optimization and effectiveness. Those who deliver results are more likely to reap the reward of greater certainty in the short term and growth in the long term.
4. Mental Toughness - We've all been through tough times or experienced loss. When confronted with a difficult situation only the toughest survive. Don't let the daily grind get you down or lead you astray. Practice this daily.
5. Contingency Plan - If the worst does happen will you be prepared? Are you ready with a Plan B at a moment's notice or will you have to start from scratch when disaster strikes?
   

Getting your mindset in the right place and planning for your future are even more important in uncertain times. Take time to master your mental state and game plan your way through this recession.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

1. Review the goals you have created for the next 90 days, six months and one year. Carefully prioritize those goals which will give you the most certainty and provide the greatest strength in the face of uncertainty. As an example, review your financial goals first and be sure that you have an achievable goal of creating some financial security.
2. First thing each day take an action which will put you in a great mood and provide certainty. One of the things I do, which is super simple, is update my Facebook and/or Twitter status with a strong message about how I'm going to conduct my day. Try this or simply write down a powerful "status" for yourself in a journal. You'd be surprised what a difference this can make. And if you use social media tools you might also get some great comments back pushing you further along!
3. Build mental muscle. Listen to empowering music on the way to work or before you begin your job search for the day. Or better yet, listen to a powerful professional or personal development CD or podcast
4. If you don't yet have a written contingency plan get one down on paper - now! If you already have one - great! Make sure it is still up to date
5. Consider securing a coach or mentor to help you plan and guide you through these tough times. If you have one - great! Have him or her review you 90 day plan and provide "certainty" feedback.
6. Need coaching, feedback or just want to share? Contact us! See top right hand side of page for contact information or leave a comment to this post below.

Do I Need a Coach?

YES!

It really is as simple as that. Everyone can get better and its a challenge to do it on your own. Take a look at any professional sports team. These teams are filled with athletes who have played their sport since they were about 5 years old and have worked at improving their game almost every day since. They all have coaches. Why?

Consider these reasons:

1. To get better - a coach's job is to help the people he or she coaches to get better. At fundamental skills, strategy, mindset, motivation
2. Identify blind spots - after we have been doing something for a lifetime (or a few months) we start to think we know it all and have no weaknesses. A coach can look at you objectively and help you identify your blind spots. Once you can see them you can work on them.
3. The truth - to get better you need to hear the truth. Where are you and where do you need to get to in order to reach your goals and full potential? Not a sugarcoated direction from someone who doesn't want to hurt your feelings but the raw truth that will guide you to your destination quickly.
4. Strategy and Planning - once you and your coach have identified your areas for growth your coach can create a personalized strategy and plan that will provide you with a road map to get you where you want to go.
5. A process & system - when trying to grow and develop we often head down a path, stop and try something else before we make any real headway. A couch can keep you on track by providing a process & system for success.
6. A safe environment to test & practice - a coach can give you a format to try new things, test and practice tough situations and problems before you implement them in real life.
7. Accountability - if you say you want to reach your full potential you need someone to hold you to your word and keep you on the path. A coach holds you accountable to your promises you make to yourself and to your team. A coach will move you to Action and Results
   

You need this! Even if it isn't a formal coaching partner find someone who can deliver the above to you in a consistent and clear manner. You won't be sorry!

TAKE ACTION NOW!

1. Take 15 minutes now and list the areas where you want to get better in your personal and professional leadership life. Consider these areas as a start: Strategy & Planning, Communication, Judgment, Interpersonal, Problem Solving, Action & Results.
2. In what areas are you the most strong? Where are you the weakest?
3. Imagine yourself after you have grown in your weakest areas? What would you professional and personal life look like after you have taken action to improve?
4. Now, see yourself working on your growth with a trusted resource who could provide perspective and help you find your blind spots in these areas. Someone who was invested in your personal growth without bias. Some one who could push you beyond your current limits.
5. Need a coach, some feedback or just want to share? Contact us! See top right hand side of page for contact information.
   

Happy New Year! And a bit on New Year's Resolutions.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I love New Year's Day. A fresh start, a great time to reflect on the year gone by and the year ahead, a great time for aspiration. And, of course, there's college football bowls.

New Year's resolutions are also a part of this day and are perhaps as old as the first time humans recorded New Year's day. In all those years though, I'm not sure that we, as a people, have gotten much better at keeping them. Research shows that between 10 - 25% of people who set New Year's resolutions fail to keep them. That's not to say we should quit setting them as they indeed have value when kept. Rather, instead of making a resolution for the sake of the resolution itself, do so with a reason why and a plan to execute.

I personally don't set a new year's resolution but I do have annual goals. The difference, perhaps, is that I tend to set mine before the new year begins, I have a reason why I want to achieve the goal and I track my goals weekly (if not daily).

A few basic tips for anyone who wants to set some great annual goals for 2009:

• Understand that a goal is an acknowledgement that you are not currently where you want to be in some area of your life. That you want to grow.
• Know that having a goal creates positive pressure which is necessary to move you forward
• Create two groups of goals: professional/career goals and personal goals
• Identify the goals you want in each group. Be incredibly specific. Too often, people will set a goal like "lose weight" or "get a new job". Goals like these are both unexciting and unspecific. A recipe for failure before you even get started .
• Practice S.M.A.R.T. Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. Timely.
• Set one audatious, super stretch goal for each group. Make it one that you have a good deal of uncertainty about achieving but if you did - WOW! Make these goals on the very far edge of attainable and realistic. Make them fun!
• Create a strong enough "WHY" for each goal. What will you gain by achieving the goal and/or what will you lose by failing to achieve it? This is a step many people forget and it is a step that can push you over that last big hump toward achieving your goal. A "why" provides you with a strong emotion to attach to the goal, as well as the necessary motivation to drive you to success. Without the "why" your goal becomes a "to do" and that drains the life right out of it.
• Make your goals AND the reasons why public. You can determine just how public but at the minimum share with a spouse, trusted friend or coach. This person can help you stay on track. It provides you with accountability.
• Set up a system to track (i.e. measure) your progress. This is another step people often miss. They set a great New Year's Resolution but only check in on their progress the following New Year's Day only to find out they failed. At the minimum you should check in on your progress quarterly. For the most important goals, or those you believe will be the most difficult for you to achieve, you should track progress weekly at a minimum to start and probably even daily. The more you check progress the more likely you are to make progress.
• Make your progress public. This again will provide you with accountability - not to meantion reasons to celebrate!
• You might also consider hiring a coach who can provide perspective, motivation, tracking and accountability
  

TAKE ACTION NOW!

• Set aside an hour or two now, today to go through this goal setting process
• Need a coach, some help or just want to share? Contact us! See top right hand side of page for contact information.
• Share your most audatious goals with us! Send an e-mail or message on Twitter.

Go get 'em and Happy New Year!