SUCCESS IN CAREER

Why aren’t you succeeding in your career?


It is heard from quite a few people who work for companies that just aren’t conducive to personal success, e.g., the leaders are brutally unsupportive, the company infrastructure is unfocused and on a fast train to nowhere, etc. We understand the hardship of that, so the following advice may or may not apply to you. But it applies to most people.

If you think that you’re not going nowhere in your career because you haven’t moved up in the company hierarchy as fast as you think you should have, then one of two things may be wrong:

1. You have the wrong definition for success.

2. You’re looking up so much that you don’t do your present job very well.

3. You’re afraid to do the one thing that will ensure success-take chances.

Wrong definition of success

If you define success as a corner office, then you’re going to be sorely disappointed throughout your career. After all, there are only four of those, right? To feel successful, you need to stop defining success from the outside.

Titles and a steaming bowl of alphabet certs mean nothing in the business world unless they can be used to solve problems or improve the business. Are you solving problems with your programming skills? Is the business profiting from your networking know-how?

You’re looking up too much.

Know the difference between ceremony and substance. In other words, do you want that promotion because of the “prestige” it will give you or do you really have something worthwhile to give at that level? So many people focus on that pie in the sky that they fail to fulfill their current responsibilities. Do your current job extraordinarily well, and attention will follow naturally. Don’t have the attitude that you’re too smart to be in the trenches and that you’re just biding your time until someone recognizes your genius.

The key driver for career growth isn’t a Microsoft/Cisco/Oracle certification or your personal agenda; it is the value you create for the business. If you don’t have the work ethic, people skills, or initiative to accompany that cert or MBA, then you may have just wasted a lot of money.

Fear of taking chances

If you never make waves, your boat will not go anywhere. Grumbling because the executives at your company can’t see through your skin, bones and associated ligaments to see your breathtaking potential, is a waste of time. You have to take action. No one wants to hear how smart you are-they want to see it.

If you’re that good, formulate a plan that will save your company money or help end-users produce more. Plan, do your research, do your homework and then take a shot. Too many people wait for perfect and when it never comes, as it won’t, they simply abandon the effort.

Don’t be afraid of mistakes. If you don’t make any mistakes, you’re not doing anything. If you’ve done your research and the effort doesn’t pay off, at least you have your research as an example of your preparation. And failure can teach you that much more than some of your more timid coworkers will ever learn.

If you don’t like leaving your comfort zone, then don’t seek out growth. You can’t have both.

Contributed By : Mr.Zakir Chougle
- Trainee Software Engineer