{"id":407,"date":"2012-02-08T11:58:46","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T11:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/going-somewhere-career-development-tips\/"},"modified":"2022-03-30T13:07:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T12:07:25","slug":"going-somewhere-career-development-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/going-somewhere-career-development-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Somewhere? Career Development Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\"coffee\"<\/h3>\n

If you really want to shine in your career it’s critical that you truly understand how your strengths can work for you and your weaknesses can work against you.<\/h3>\n

In a nutshell, how well do you manage your talents, flaws and all?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are 12 tips to help you on your way!<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Take responsibility for your own career<\/h3>\n

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Your career is your responsibility. Your manager and \u00a0your employer should ensure career development is given a major focus, but no-one can make it happen except you \u2013 you have to actually do something! <\/em><\/strong>If you’re the kind of person who hides her light under a bushel don’t expect someone higher up\u00a0to spot and reward your talent \u2013 you have to make a case for yourself, however much it makes\u00a0you squirm.<\/p>\n

2. Play to your strengths<\/h3>\n

The No.1 most important factor – is it the right job for you?<\/strong> Whether it’s the job you’re in or \u00a0the job you’re aiming for, if it doesn’t play to your strengths it’s probably not where you should \u00a0be.<\/p>\n

Do you know what you do best? What do people tell you are your greatest talents? And here’s another key question to ask yourself: what do you bring to this role?<\/strong> It’s a question of\u00a0differentiation. Many people may have similar skills and knowledge to you, so you need to be \u00a0able to articulate what happens as a result of you being who you are<\/em> and in this position.<\/p>\n

If you don’t know the answer to this, how do you know what your stand-out features are, and \u00a0how does anyone else?<\/p>\n

There’s a Part B to this, too – beware of ‘growth’ roles. Stretch, by all means, but don’t overreach yourself; if a new role or responsibility doesn’t map well against your existing skills, \u00a0leave it to someone else.<\/p>\n

3. Work around your weaknesses<\/h3>\n

Don’t waste time<\/a> and energy trying to eradicate weaknesses<\/a> that aren’t show-stoppers; where possible, find a way to work around them.\u00a0If spreadsheets or routine tasks aren’t your thing but they’re a key part of the job, delegate or \u00a0buddy up with someone who can help you. If you simply have to do it yourself, get some training, but don’t be distracted from what you do best.<\/p>\n

Major flaws are another matter. If you smile like Gordon Brown, and you can’t be trained to do otherwise, don’t smile.<\/p>\n

4. Act on feedback<\/h3>\n

Feedback<\/a> is the life-blood of career development, yet so many people fail to make the most of \u00a0this fabulous resource. If you’re open to constructive criticism \u2013 and especially if you’re not – \u00a0get as much feedback as you can from other people, figure out what it’s telling you, and act on \u00a0it. There’s a wealth of information out there to help you know what you do and don’t do best; \u00a0your Colour Works profile<\/a>, day-to-day feedback, your annual appraisal, 360 degree feedback<\/a>, \u00a0Team Climate Surveys, Stop-Start-Continue. Don’t ignore it or dismiss it – use it!<\/p>\n

5. Focus on your goals \u2013 don’t get distracted<\/h3>\n

This sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how many people get caught up in the events of the day \u00a0and find themselves way off track when it comes time to head home. Multiply that tendency \u00a0by 5 days of the week and 48 weeks in the year and that’s a lot of ground to make up.<\/p>\n

Do you get pulled from pillar to post or are you resolute in sticking to your guns?<\/p>\n

For every major task you undertake, if it’s not related to your goals, ask yourself why you’re \u00a0doing it. On a regular basis, ask yourself: am I achieving what I’m supposed to achieve? If \u00a0not, identify what you’re doing instead and stop doing it.<\/p>\n

7. Be a team player<\/h3>\n

There are no islands unto themselves in today’s workplace. Whether you’re a team manager, \u00a0a team member or someone who would rather lose themselves in the system, you’ve got to be a team player if you want to get ahead. And to be a team player, you need to know what role \u00a0you’re best suited to play.<\/p>\n

Are you a leader or a follower? If you’re a leader, are you a good one? Do you have the emotional intelligence<\/a> \u2013 the social skills \u2013 to allow other members in the team to thrive or are \u00a0you a domineering \u201cmy way\u201d kind of a guy? Shine, by all means, but bathe in the reflected \u00a0glories of your team mates, too.<\/p>\n

8. Be positive!<\/h3>\n

People like positive people. Not suck-up-to-you people, or perpetually-high-as-a-kite people, \u00a0but people who give off a good vibe and prefer half-full to half-empty.<\/p>\n

Many people would argue that there’s a place for the pessimists of the world. In fact some of \u00a0the best defensive sportsmen and women in the world are born pessimists, always on the lookout for trouble, and it serves them very well. But there’s an art to sounding the alarm, and if \u00a0you’re a \u201ctrouble ahead\u201d kind of a person you’d do well to find the good in something before \u00a0you start pointing out the flaws.<\/p>\n

9. Move with the times<\/h3>\n

Standing still in a fast-moving world is a great way of falling behind the pack, and it’s essential \u00a0you stay interested and hungry in your chosen field, especially if you hope to rise through the \u00a0ranks.<\/p>\n

Learn, explore, keep abreast of new technology and new events, read journals and attend conferences. In short, don’t be a fossil – evolve.<\/p>\n

10. Build on your knowledge and skills \u2013 but be diverse too<\/h3>\n

Career development and job-hopping are not the same thing.<\/p>\n

Be wary of moving from job to job and function to function, thinking you’re gaining valuable experience of the business along the way. It’s not easy to move from Customer Servicing to\u00a0Finance to Systems to Marketing and pull it off, so be sure you can excel in the roles you \u00a0choose.<\/p>\n

Transferable skills \u2013 leading people<\/a>, managing change<\/a>, budgeting \u2013 will serve you well in \u00a0almost any role, but much of your job-specific skills and knowledge can be lost if you jump \u00a0around too much.<\/p>\n

A safer bet is to stay within the same functional area, add to and leverage the skills and \u00a0knowledge you acquire, diversify through well-chosen project work, and differentiate yourself \u00a0on the basis of solid performance.<\/p>\n

11. Build up a solid network of contacts<\/h3>\n

The old adage \u201cIt’s not what you know but who you know\u201d is as true now as it ever was. If \u00a0you want to get something done in areas outside of your jurisdiction, there’s nothing like \u00a0having a well-placed contact on the inside to make things happen for you. The same applies \u00a0to getting a new job; you have to be an excellent unknown quantity to get a job over a very \u00a0good known<\/em> quantity.<\/p>\n

Many people create networks of contacts easily. Extraverts, in particular, love to get face-to-face with people and explore ways of doing business together. But if you prefer to keep \u00a0yourself to yourself, don’t let this stop you from reverse-networking – being of service to \u00a0people who come looking. Nokia invest heavily in this and send new recruits on international\u00a0networking missions with the explicit purpose of creating new pathways through the business.<\/p>\n

12. Get a mentor<\/h3>\n

Apart from being excellent business practice for wise heads to share what they know, having a \u00a0mentor who’s senior to you and not your boss is a very smart move.<\/p>\n

Pick someone who’s well-respected, been around a bit, knows the business, and is very good \u00a0at what they do. They’ll be flattered to be asked for advice and you can be sure you’ll get \u00a0valuable help and insight that would be hard to get from people who work with you day after \u00a0day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more how-to’s, follow these links for mindfulness<\/a>, meaningfulness<\/a>, assertiveness<\/a> and employee engagement<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] If you really want to shine in your career it’s critical that you truly understand how your strengths can work for you and your weaknesses can work against you. In a nutshell, how well do you manage your talents, flaws and all? Here are 12 tips to help you on your way! 1. Take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":4418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[9],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29549,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407\/revisions\/29549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecolourworks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}