Success Archives - The Career Success Doctor

The Irony Of Fear Of Failure

I’ve just published a new post on another site called ‘How Does Fear Of Failure Affect Your Business?’. The article is all about the irony that fear of failure in business can actually lead to failure, because when we’re frightened, we often don’t do the things we need to do in order to thrive.

In fact this phenomenon is as true of our career, or indeed of life in general, as it is of a business. It really is so weird that the deep-held desire to keep ourselves safe inhibits us from taking what we perceive as risks, yet that in turn can stop us from having the happiness we desire in life.

How many times have you looked at someone and thought ‘wow, there’s an incredible human being in there – if they could only show it’? How many times have you ever felt you weren’t realising your potential?

Years ago, when I truly wasn’t realising my potential, I always thought it was other people. I convinced myself I was doing everything I possibly could to be visible, to be successful, to make a real impact. I felt frustrated that I couldn’t seem to make my mark or be heard by the ‘right’ people (most of whom I perceived as idiots anyway).

With hindsight, it’s not all that surprising I didn’t make the mark I wanted. No matter how well you think you are disguising your feelings, if you are contemptuous of others, they will sense it, at some level, sooner or later.

But that wasn’t the only thing that held me back.

Back then I had several beliefs about myself which weren’t particularly useful. The belief that I was unloveable. The belief that I wasn’t good enough. The belief that I wasn’t intelligent enough when, at the time, I already had a degree from Oxford and an MBA!

It’s extraordinary how we manage to get in our way, through our fears, our beliefs and a mis-placed notion of what will protect us.

If you’d like to read more, here’s the link to the article on fear of failure and how it affects a small business.

Image: © Doug Wheller : ‘Fear Terror Eye’

Thinking Of Entrepreneurship? 10 Facts You Didn’t Know

Written by Natalia

When we are thinking of entrepreneurship -either in terms of thinking to start our own business, or in terms of thinking the real people behind companies- we tend to have some specific stereotypes in mind. Did you know that it’s not always the case?

For example, one of the most common stereotypes has to do with age. Almost everyone thinks that you have to be in your mid-twenties to be an entrepreneur, but we have already discussed that there’s no such thing as “too old to be an entrepreneur”.

A Kauffman Foundation report called “The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur” proves that almost everything we think we know about entrepreneurship and holds us back, isn’t (completely) true; but it’s mostly based on stereotypes. Facebook, Apple and Google were all started at a college student’s garage after all!

According to this survey, the most common barrier to entrepreneurial success is not age, time, or work-life balance. It is the lack of willingness and/or ability to take risks (98% of respondents).

I saw on social media today a very interesting article by Jeff Haden on Inc., which is based on this report.

” Picture the average entrepreneur and you probably think of someone young, living the ramen noodles lifestyle, working a crazy number of hours — and often sleeping under the desk.
(…)
And, if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, the report also offers hope that there’s still a time – and a place – for you. “

Read the whole article here: “10 Facts About Entrepreneurs That May Surprise You”

Are you thinking of entrepreneurship? What holds you back?

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?

Today’s Professional Woman Report: Career Success Is A Moving Target

Written by Natalia

Yesterday, Citi and LinkedIn released the results of their fourth annual survey “Today’s Professional Woman Report“.

This year’s survey was conducted among a sample of more than 1000 professional women and men, and -like every year- it was inspired by discussions on Citi’s LinkedIn Group “Connect: Professional Women’s Network“.

The results indicate that career satisfaction is a moving target and the definition of career success is changing. See the infographic below for details.

The key finding of this study is that career success doesn’t necessarily mean happiness, as most professionals believe that their career will peak in the next 2 to 20 years (depending on their current age), but the happiest point in their career was several years ago.

On the question about when they think their career will peak, most professional women replied at the age of 53, while men expect to reach the peak at the age of 55.

Grouping by generation, Millennials expect to reach the top at the age of 43 and their happiest point was at the age of 28. Baby Boomers on the other hand, believe their career peak will be at 62, while their happiest moment was at 49.

Here’s what Linda Descano, CFA®, President and CEO of Women & Co., said about these results: “The survey illustrates that career satisfaction and success are not just end goals – they’re both moving targets.”

On another note, while only a 17% defined career progress as a salary increase, 58% of men and 52% of women equal career satisfaction with a “good salary”. – For women it was equally important to doing what they love and being challenged.

Furthermore, women were asked a series of questions about their financial and career concerns. The good news is that financial issues are less of a concern for women this year. Compared to Today’s Professional Woman Report of 2013, the number of women who were concerned with paying off student loans has dropped from 46% to 35%, with saving for retirement from 56% to 46%, and with paying off credit card debt from 35% to 30%.

When they were asked what the most significant indicator of women’s progress in the workplace would be, 1/3 said “elimination of the gender wage gap”. Men replied “the end of the need for the ‘women in the workplace’ conversation”, and 31% of women agreed.

On achieving goals, 37% of women said they achieved their professional goals this year and 84% of the ones who asked for a raise last year, received it.

What do you value most to feel satisfied with your career?

Today’s Professional Woman Report Infographic:

Today's Professional Woman Report, June 2014

Infographic source: Women & Co. blog
Data source: Press Release

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.