Happy new year! It is a good time to go back to the drawing board and take hold of your career- where you are, what you should be doing and where you are headed to. Remember your boss is not responsible for your career. You are.
When you make career growth and development a daily habit, you will grow your career faster than you ever have before.
Start growing your career this year by doing the following:
1. Set small goals regularly
It is wise to set smaller goals throughout the year. Think about your work daily. Are there things you should be doing to elevate that work? Are there skills you could learn to help you advance? Think about this for a bit and then list goals that relate to these items. And then, once you have set the goals, give yourself a deadline to have learned these things. Take stock of how well you performed at the end of the deadline, you can ask someone to score or grade you.
2. Leave your comfort zone
Success happens outside of our comfort zone. So you need to stretch yourself beyond your area of expertise. Do something that scares you. For example, if you don’t like writing, you can take up daily tasks of writing a paragraph. Sign up for writing courses and read wide. You can guest post for a blog. This would make your writing creative juice flow.
3. Get feedback
Self-assessment is important, but it is more important to get feedback. For example, at the end of each and every meeting you lead, you should ask the following questions:
- “What really worked for you?”
- “What would make it even better if?”
You can learn a lot from these two questions. So much about your work product and performance can be learned from these two questions.
4. Curate your work
Take stock of the fantastic things you are doing this year. There are countless places for you to store your work in a cloud. When you have got a great portfolio of work, it represents your walking resume. You can share it with your manager at review time.
5. Stay curious about your industry
By doing so, you stay open to learning about your industry or company. Develop thoughtful insights about your industry and do not be shy to share the insights garnered. Study your industry and company to learn the new ropes. Always ask questions of people in your space. Ask your manager and colleagues questions. Ask your company’s customers how they feel.
6. Read
This year, spend time reading blogs and books about your profession whether big or small. This would make you more knowledgeable and stretch your thinking. Reading new things can start conversations when you are networking. Reading also builds your career with new ways to do things.
7. Network brilliantly
This is about leaving a positive impression. On LinkedIn, personalize the message and tell the recipient what you have in common, and how you’d like to help them. If you do not know someone, ask someone in your network for assistance. And it isn’t just LinkedIn. Attend industry events and local events and meet as many people as you can.
8. Get a mentor
Mentors have treaded familiar paths.They are great resources for all your career needs. Do you need feedback? Ask your mentor. Need to bounce off industry or company insights? Looking for ways to stretch? Mentor!
9. Have a mentee
Conversely, a mentee can also be a tremendous resource to learn from as well. They can bust some of your paradigms as they expose you to new thinking and present you with new ways to solve problems and look at things.
10. Listen
Even if you are really happy in your current role, it never hurts to listen to other opportunities and build relationships with new people in the industry. In fact, that is what you are supposed to be doing if you want to grow and improve your career. Always be open to new opportunities and new connections with people.