How To Move Up In A Career
How to move in a Career
Everyone explained their stories and it was quite interesting. I did not discuss my career but I just said that “looked at one dot at a time, the dots for me don’t make a lot a sense.” What matters is connecting them together into a story. What’s your story?
The 4 points I would like to share with you are listed below. I am happy to explain further or recommend resources if you have any questions.
Progressing through a career requires that you:
- Manage your time
- Manage your work
- Become a writer/content creator
- Ask questions
Manage your time
What is the one thing that is equal amongst all of us but you never have enough and only you really control?
You’re in the interruption business and you need to be an interruption manager.
Email management – Limit e-mail consumption and production. This is the greatest single interruption in the modern world. Email began as a yes or no communications system. It’s gotten out of hand. Set strict email/phone/IM times.
- Control your cubicle/office space with cues and signs.
- Block out times during the week to not be disturbed so you can concentrate on the real work.
- Research shows it can take up to 45 minutes to get back on task after an interruption. Multi-tasking is over rated. Your expertise is important.
Source – The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
Manage your work
Grab a sheet of paper and fold it in half three times, unfold and draw lines along the creases on both sides and you will have a 16 day planner of events. You’re kidding yourself if your daily to do list is bigger than 2.5 X 4 inches. This is a handy tool for progress reviews. Credit above.
If you bring a few of these along it’s easy to say; “well I did this this and this and I worked on that”. You’re really going to be connected to your work and it’s going to be easy to write good things about your accomplishments. To discuss performance for the entire year you can submit 12- 13 of these sheets for a self-appraisal.
Become a writer
To be clear I am NOT referring to IM or email
Write so much – mostly about other people and events
panel minutes, performance appraisals, selection notices, letters of reference, AD memos etc.
If you’re not an information creator then you’re an information mover and the value is in creating information. Data management is important but data creation and valuation is critical. Take a writing course and learn to write great things about other people.
Ask questions
The secret to anyone’s success is getting to know the people who can help you do your job well. I have to keep asking questions because I don’t know how this place runs but I know a thousand who do. Take the time to get to know them and thank them. It’s how you build your reputation and knowledge.
Knowledge management of how this place runs is serious business. How do we maintain what we know and what we do, without losing it along the way? The answer is of course YOU.
So you do need to think about it like that and act on it. People here are thrilled to help you develop your career accordingly because you’re the legacy.
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