We all want to advance in our chosen career or profession but it’s not always that easy. Declan Coyle, offers the following 10 steps to career advancement.
Awareness is power What is your gift? What do you love to do? Do what you love, and love what you do! Had Michelangelo won the lotto, he would still have wanted to chip away at a block of marble - he saw a David in there! He was inspired, and you have a similar gift. Make sure your job is matched to your talents and your personality type. Know where you’re going? Without a target you cannot aim. Like a ship on the high seas, if you don’t know what harbour you are heading for no wind is the right wind. So have a goal clearly defined in your mind. Focused but flexible If you are too rigid and too focused on your goal, you may miss a better goal. Stay flexible, agile, and nimble. Step back from the end-result Don’t try to do two things at once. Give total effort and commitment to the job at hand. Once you’re detached from the outcome and you will get it. It’s not about trying harder, but about giving your all an easy, relaxed manner. Remember Michael Johnson’s inner talk as he rounded the bend and saw the tape in his world record 400 metres: “Relax… hold your form … don’t rush it… and let it happen!” Delegate Learn the art of delegation, and only delegate to high-performance people. Delegate the ‘what’ not the ‘how’. Allow them scope for creativity. Only plan 60% of your day Learn the skills of effective time management. Real time will usually be twice as long as estimated time. So don’t plan you whole day! Don’t be a yes man Learn assertiveness skills, and how to say ‘no’. Conflict resolution In practice, good relationships are the key to minimising stress. Conflict or frustration can stem from work or home, and each affects the other. Good relationships don’t just happen, they have to be worked at continually. In every encounter, think win/win. How can I get what I want by helping you to get what you want? Both parties need to feel good about the outcome. Judge intentions as well as behaviour We judge others by their behaviour, but we judge ourselves by our positive intentions. Search for, acknowledge and understand the positive intention of the other. Understanding does not mean agreement, but it is the archenemy of conflict, as real genuine understanding cannot co-exist with conflict. So, first seek to understand the other, then to be understood yourself. Feeling good about yourself produces results Believe it or not, forgiving others is the most selfish thing you can do. While you are feeding negative attack thoughts into your subconscious, your enemy is out enjoying himself playing golf or tennis. Meanwhile you’re injecting bad juices into your neuro-chemical system. Make a fistA. and let it go. Go the extra mile. Send the written apology; even if your intention was never to hurt, their perception is that they are hurt, and that is what matters. Forgive yourself any mistakes, as you cannot be a victim and feel whole at the same time.