Career Archives - Page 2 of 12 - The Career Success Doctor

45 Pieces Of Advice For Career Success

Written by Natalia

Career success is the number one goal for most professionals. Whether they are lower-level employees, members of the C-suite, or even entrepreneurs, what they want –what we all want actually- is to be successful at what we do.

That could mean earn that promotion we’re after, a pay raise, increase our sales, generate more leads… and the list goes on.

Sometimes, when we have to make choices or just need help to stay focused, a piece of advice can be truly beneficial.

What about a few more pieces? These nice folks on ‘The Daily Muse’ have compiled a list of 45 pieces of advice for achieving career success. Organised in 5 categories, you will find quotes of many successful people who are sharing their wisdom. There is always something new to learn!

“When it comes to your career, sometimes it feels like you could use all the advice you can get. From picking the “right” career to actually excelling in it, there’s certainly a lot to learn.

And that’s why we’ve gathered our all-time best career advice. From starting out at the bottom of the totem pole to advancing to a more senior position to—who knows?—maybe even branching out to open your own business, we’ve collected 45 of the best tips for whatever stage you’re at in your career.”

Read the whole article here “45 Pieces of Career Advice That Will Get You to the Top”

Who am I to be compared to Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, Michelle Bruno, Kathleen Tierney or any other professional in this list… but, if I were to add a piece of my own, that would be these two words: “Under-promise, Over-deliver”.

What was the best piece of career advice you have ever received? If someone asked for your advice on achieving career success, what would that be?

Great Leaders Make You Feel Safe

Written by Natalia

We recently talked about how the altruistic leadership model impacts employees’ performance and a company’s success. But apart from being humble, great leaders make you feel safe.

According to management theorist Simon Sinek, in a recent TED Talk “Why good leaders make you feel safe“, leaders should make employees feel safe in the organisation in order to trigger the feelings of trust and cooperation.

“You see, if the conditions are wrong, we are forced to expend our own time and energy to protect ourselves from each other, and that inherently weakens the organization. When we feel safe inside the organization, we will naturally combine our talents and our strengths and work tirelessly to face the dangers outside and seize the opportunities.”

Good leaders make you feel safe by putting their interests aside for the greater good; by wanting you to achieve more; by helping you when you need it. As he puts it, “Great leaders would never sacrifice the people to save the numbers. They would sooner sacrifice the numbers to save the people”. Isn’t this altruistic?

As he analyses the importance of feeling safe at your job, he gives examples of how some organisations provide safety to their employees and what results they produced. He compares leadership to parenthood, but what stood out to me was the likeness to military life.

In the video below you can watch his whole speech. And in my opinion, these are 12 minutes well spent.

Leadership is a choice; not a rank. Leadership means courage and taking risks. Do not confuse leadership with authority. We never follow authorities, we obey because there’s the element of fear. We follow leaders. And great leaders create trust and make you feel safe.

Isn’t that the organization we would all like to work in?

Do You Want To Get A Promotion?

Written by Natalia

Are you thinking of asking for a promotion? Perhaps you’re too long in your current position and after all your hard work you believe you deserve to get promoted?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, today’s blog post is for you.

How to receive a promotion in 30 days

If you are planning to ask for a promotion, this article in Glassdoor has everything you need.

Heather Huhman has crafted a 6-step guide to help you land a promotion in 30 days.

Don’t forget to sell yourself properly. You can’t always rely on others to recognise your work. You have to demonstrate your value, just like you would do if you had to apply for a job.

” Research shows June is one of the best months to land a promotion, so now is the time to start planning your next move.

If you’re looking to set yourself up for success in the upcoming month, here are some tips to landing a promotion in the next 30 days… “

Read the whole article here: “6 Steps to Scoring a Promotion in the Next 30 Days”

Why you haven’t had a promotion yet

On the other hand, if you have already tried to land a promotion but failed, chances are you need to improve your strategy following the advice above.

If you feel like everyone else is being promoted except for yourself and you see your colleagues pass you by, then perhaps you need something more than a “strategy tweaking”. You might believe that you deserve a promotion but, perhaps, that’s not the case (yet).

In the following article in Brazen Life, by Levo League, you will discover the 9 reasons that might keep you from being promoted.

Self-evaluation is the key here. Be 100% honest with yourself and recognise your weaknesses in order to improve these areas.

“ When you don’t receive a promotion, the first thing you need to do is re-evaluate your qualities as an employee. If you’re trying to figure where you went wrong in your position, here are nine reasons you were probably overlooked for a promotion…”

Read the whole article here: “Feeling Stuck? Here are 9 Real Reasons You’re Not Getting Promoted”

It needs a lot of work to land a promotion, but nothing compares to the feeling you have at the end, when your work is acknowledged and rewarded. And if you evaluate yourself honestly, set an action plan for your weaknesses and follow these 6 steps, the next promotion is yours!

A Humble Leader Is The Best Leader

Written by Natalia

The dictionary defines humility as modesty, not being arrogant, having a feeling of insignificance, not believing that you are superior to others and being courteously respectful. But what humility has to do with leadership? Why being a humble leader is so important?

A recent study by Catalyst (“Inclusive Leadership: The View From Six Countries“) shows that when employees feel more included in their work groups, they are more innovative in their jobs (identifying opportunities for new products and processes and trying out new ideas and approaches to problems) and more engaged in team citizenship behaviours (going above and beyond the “call of duty” to help other team members and meet work group objectives).

According to the study, in order to create an environment where employees feel included, managers need to follow the altruistic leadership model. The four attributes of altruistic leadership are empowerment (empower employees to learn, develop and excel), humility (such as learning from criticism, admitting mistakes, and seeking contributors), courage (such as putting personal interests aside for the general good and taking personal risks), and accountability (showing confidence to employees by holding them responsible for results).

Being a humble leader was the second most important behaviour in this study (humility was right after empowerment), although it might be a little unusual to link humility with leadership. When we think of leadership, we often think attributes like self-promotion. But, as the study shows, being and altruistic leader -thus, a humble leader- will help your employees create the sense of belonging and uniqueness; the key elements of feeling included.

How to be a humble leader?

Admit your mistakes, learn from them and share them so that others can learn too
Listen, engage in dialogues and learn from others’ point of view
When uncertain, or lacking certain skills and/or knowledge, admit it and seek the right people who can contribute to the team

Erica Bell, in her article in talentzoo.com, provides some good tips on how to be a humble leader.

” If you want to be a CEO, COO, or hold any leadership position, you’ll have to manage others effectively. Part of being an effective leader is remaining humble. While you may be able to request major adjustments within the company as whole or your customer call center department, you won’t be successful unless you have the respect of those who are executing the projects you’ve planned. Humble leaders make others feel important and valued. Being humble isn’t always easy after working hard to get to a leadership position. Here’s what you can do to stay more grounded… “

Read the whole article here: “How to Be a Humble Leader”

Self-Deceit : How To Sabotage your Career Success and Happiness

Written by The Career Success Doctor

If you read the biographies of successful women from Sheryl Sandberg to Karren Brady, there are various common themes that emerge. The one I’m interested in here is the sense of feeling a fraud. These ares seriously successful women who questioned whether they deserved to be in the positions they have achieved, because they have learned to tell themselves a story that women don’t deserve to be taken seriously or to reach the highest level.

For years I used to deceive myself about who I was and what I wanted out of my life. I had some great stories I told myself about all the things I couldn’t do, particularly because I was a woman. And it was less than empowering! I totally believed them, and they shaped my identity. The classic one was to tell myself I didn’t have enough qualifications. It’s only now, with 5 degrees including a PhD that I realise it was never about the qualifications!

Men do it too; it’s not the preserve of women. However, women are notoriously bad at asking for a pay rise or a promotion, and their confidence levels in the workplace tend to be lower than those of men.

What these stories do for us is to protect us. We keep ourselves safe by keeping ourselves small. We tell ourselves our stories over and over again, so making them true. The problem then is that we don’t step out our comfort zone, and we don’t achieve the real greatness we are capable of. We don’t achieve the happiness we want, let alone the career success.

I just watched an excellent TEDx talk from Cortney Warren on this very subject. She’s a psychologist who has researched extensively into the subject of self-deceit, and the video makes for a very enlightening 15 minutes’ viewing.