If you want to know how to build a successful career, you’ll love this article. You do your best at work, but do you think it’s not enough? You are right! To achieve professional success you need much more than just being good at what you do!
It is also important to know your own talents, to be able to build your own brand, to establish new contacts (networking), and above all, to know your goal. Enough of swimming with the current. If you want to breathe new energy into your work and get off the ground, it’s time to approach it in a conscious, planned way. Get to know 8 important success factors and take over the helm of your career!
How To Build a Successful Career:
1. Know where you are going
The first thing you need to know is where you want to go. But that’s not enough. You still need to know why. Why is this important to you? And you can feel it with your entire self. Only such a strong inner conviction of what you want and why it is important will give you the energy to act and help you take advantage of opportunities, choose valuable projects that will help you develop, do something important for yourself and others.
When you know where you want to go, it is easier for you to choose the professional experience that brings you closer to it. You develop in a planned, purposeful way. You get involved in what helps you to develop and, as far as possible, sift through projects that do not enrich you in the desired way.
But remember, not at all costs. You need to know what is important to you and take care of the balance in life, the balance between work and personal life. Look at your professional development in the broader context of your whole life, family, children, passion. Remember that a fulfilled life is not only a success at work. Look, above all, not at whether something pays off for you, but at whether it is worth it.
Questions that will help you set your professional goal:
- How do you want to develop? What do you want to become? What is your vision of yourself in 5-10 years?
- What do you believe in or strongly support? Why is it important for you?
- If you were to infect others with just one idea, what would it be? What would you like to inspire people to do with all your heart?
2. Let others know you’re a great employee
Your boss may not tell you what you need to develop to get promoted, but you need to be sure of what is expected of you, because only in this way can you consciously work to achieve the desired result. People in the company need to know that you are good at what you do. You have to show them this in a skillful, unobtrusive way, without bragging, showing them.
Present the results. The same way you do PR for a company or a product, the same way you have to take care of your own PR and be your best advocate. For this you need an adequate sense of self-esteem, knowledge of yourself and your talents. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?
Build your own brand:
- Write down your professional qualities, talents and strengths. Ask 3 co-workers for feedback on what makes you stand out, what makes you good. Improve your professional self-awareness.
- Regularly present the results of your work – spend at least a part of your work time on building your own brand, or be visible! Let these not be empty words, however, behind every PR activity there should be reliable work and measurable results, which you can boast about.
- Get to know the expectations of your superiors towards you and towards a person on a higher position and start to meet them before you even start negotiating promotion.
SEE ALSO: How To Say NO To Your Boss And Coworkers: 5 Clever Strategies
3. Build relationships with others
The third important thing is networking. Meet people and build relationships. Not only in the company, but also with people from your industry who work in companies similar to yours. Be known on the market. Your sincerity, authenticity and openness are important here. In a thoughtful and conscious way, talk about your dreams, assets and willingness to develop.
Sometimes one such conversation at the right moment can give you a valuable career opportunity. When you want to change your job, department or position, it is too late for networking. Build it in advance.
What can relationships do for you? They help to gain informal knowledge about what is happening in the company, what is happening on the market. The best thing you can achieve is when others become your spokespersons and talk positively about what you do, who you are. Make sure you are known to the right people on whom your career depends. It’s not just your boss! Any support will be useful for promotion, and friendly support from colleagues or managers of other teams can be invaluable to reassure your boss in the choice you make.
Make people in your environment think “This person is the perfect choice” when they hear about your promotion. Ask for help when you need it. Request support, recommendation. Don’t wait for someone to guess that you want them to support you, nobody reads somebody else’s mind. Speak clearly what you want, what you need, what you ask for. This is the quality of life of the winners.
Set yourself networking goals:
“This week I will make sure you have a relationship with the following people: …”.
(e.g. you may want to get to know the department head you would like to apply to from your current position or the person who is dismissing the position you would like to take etc.);
“The actions I will take in the coming month to nurture business relationships: ….”
(e.g. you can send an e-mail to your network of contacts about your participation in a trade conference with a question whether you will meet there – by the way you will show up as a person who constantly cares about your professional development and inspires others).
4. Be proactive
Don’t wait for someone to see you, or you can wait all eternity. Discover your talents, strengths and skills in front of yourself and others. Test yourself in action.
Start acting:
- Define what you want and can do now (for example, show your boss that you can work very well together or prepare a presentation for a meeting and show yourself as someone who inspires others, get involved in a new project in the company and show organizational talent, etc.).
- Write down what you want to achieve and plan the execution of the action.
- Dare to take risks: do what you planned.
- Ask for support, advice and advice from other experienced people who have already done what you want to do.
- Learn from your own experience, correct shortcomings.
- Value your commitment after the action is taken and plan the next steps.
5. Be open to your boss and co-workers
Let yourself be judged and be open to feedback from your boss and colleagues. That’s what happens, that’s what the corporate reality is. The more open you are to feedback, the more you will be able to improve. However, do not treat feedback as a revealed truth about you.
Take from the feedback what will help you to develop. And don’t complain about your boss! Many of us make the mistake of trying to fight our boss instead of trying to… understand him. If you want to be judged by others, start by noticing the strengths, goals, needs and desires of your boss and co-workers.
Gather feedback:
- Ask your boss about your strengths and the biggest development area, what you need to work on to develop the direction you want.
- Ask for feedback from your colleagues: what makes them feel good about working with you and what causes grumbles, understatements, difficulties.
- After the feedback meeting, decide what you want to do with it and plan time for improvement, e.g. go to training, workshops, use coaching.
SEE ALSO: How To Improve Your Career Every Day: 10 Great Things You Can Do
6. Be bold and responsible
Don’t be afraid of chanllenges. If you want to be promoted, if you are or want to be in a managerial job, do not be afraid to take responsibility, take risks, take advantage of opportunities to show off your ideas. Don’t think you don’t have anything interesting to say.
So the sixth important thing is to dare to influence others, behave like a manager, a boss. Show that you can rely on you. Get out of the comfort zone. Don’t fall into the trap of your internal critic who says “you’re not fit, you can’t do it”. Want to be able to do it! If you care about something, you can also achieve it.
Do not do too much thinking about what your head tells you, just plan smart actions, look for opportunities and act in spite of fear!
Answer important questions:
- What is your chance now?
- What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
- If there was no risk of failure and you knew that everything would work out, what would you do differently now?
7. Look for a mentor.
The seventh important thing is to find a mentor. A supportive mentor is a priceless treasure. Someone who knows you will see your talents. He will share his knowledge and suggest how to avoid the reefs and go out into the wide waters. Don’t let yourself be persuaded that people don’t want to share their knowledge. They want to. This is a real joy for many people.
Look for a mentor with whom you feel good communication, someone who does something you would like to do. Arrange a meeting and convince him to teach you. The effects can be spectacular!
- Who would you like to see as your mentor? What would you like to learn from this person?
- What can you offer this person in return? Feel the perspective – why would she want to teach you? Be prepared to convince the person to be your own.
- For whom do you want and can you be a mentor?
8. Take care of others
And last but not least, support others in their efforts. Be kind to people, be positive. Everything comes back. Do not block your development opportunities when there is no possibility of promotion at the moment. Your development is not only about climbing the ladder, it is also about acquiring new skills, proving yourself in new areas, trying new things.
It can be a level development or participation in a new project that will give you satisfaction. You have the helm of your career at all times. Be aware of this, go where you want to go on the way, experiencing unforgettable adventures and deriving satisfaction from the wonderful things that I am sure you will accomplish.
Thank you for reading this article about how to build a successful career and I really hope that you take action my advice. I wish you good luck and I hope its contents have been a good help to you.
