Career Advancement - Career Shortcuts In Management

Getting into, or advancing in management appears fairly simple. Do a good job, and eventually you'll get promoted. But if you're in a hurry to advance your career, there are tricks you can use to get promoted, and Phil has been sharing these with many people over the years.

There are 5 basic steps in creating an advancement short-cut.

1. You need to be good at getting a job. The right job. Not just once, but over and over. Gone are the days of holding onto one job forever. It’s widely acknowledged a person entering the workforce today will have at least 4 career changes, ON TOP OF multiple job changes within those careers. It’s not a once-only operation. Being good at getting a job gives you power: power to find the best position for you, power to negotiate a better position within your current company, and confidence you are valued by others, which in turn makes you better at what you do.

Importantly, as you network, without motive, to make yourself known to people who may be interested in hiring you at some future stage, you will come to realise why many, if not most, jobs are either not advertised, or pretty much decided before the job ad appears. Keeping your options open is what gives you the aura of 'being lucky' with offers. So don't plan to get a job when you need or what it. Plan to place yourself in a position to be offered jobs months before you need it, or even if you don't need one at all. It gives you confidence, options, and in your current role: power.

2. You need to stand out for Promotion. Working hard has nothing to do with it. Staying back and sucking up to the boss doesn’t cut it. Not long term. Standing out means being noticed for the right reasons, doing the things that count, and being rock solid in your convictions. It’s what gives you the edge over others. You need to show an enthusiasm that is infectious. You need to be more reliable than all the others. You need to be humble enough to show you don't know it all.

3. Managing others. Easier Said Than Done. There are lots of quick tricks, including getting yourself organized before you try to organize anyone else. That means deciding where you want to be, or where you want your area of responsibility to be in, say, 6 months. Then as you think about what has to be done today, make sure most things will have an impact on that goal. The jobs that don't -  put those jobs at the bottom of the list, and if they don't get done, so what?

Another trap for new managers is to think everyone else will be as enthusiastic and reliable as you. But YOU got the promotion because you stood out from everyone else. So why would they now suddenly share your level of enthusiasm and dedication? Don't beat yourself up. Accept it, and work around it. My book: "Career Shortcuts  - Management Career Advancement" covers dozens of little hints and tips that I've shared over the years, with staff who have developed quickly into managers or up the management ladder.

Like this one: Don't manage. Lead. A manager pushes the staff from behind, and when the manager is not there, the work stops or slows. A Leader is out the front, sharing in the work, encouraging staff to catch-up. Staff appreciate it, join in, are more enthusiastic and will continue the work when the leader is not present. A manager thinks they're the boss. A Leader knows they are part of the solution.

4. Climbing the management ladder. More tricks that make it easy to stand out as a super efficient, promotable manager. Like this one: Meetings don't work! It's the meeting before the meeting that counts. If you hold a meeting, or attend a meeting, thinking it is a place to make decisions, you will be disappointed. Meetings are for sharing information, and agreeing on decisions already fleshed-out at the meeting with key players BEFORE the real meeting. Understanding this gives you enormous leverage, that will be noticed by those with the power to promote. You will be correctly seen as someone who gets things done, or know how to get things done.

5. Staying Calm and in Control is where most people who are climbing the ladder of success, lose the essence of life, joy, fun, adventure. And this lacking WILL be noticed by those with the power to promote you, or hold you back. You need to hold onto life, not take it too seriously.

Try this: Stop for a moment, breathe deeply in and out, very slowly, for about 30 seconds. Now think to your self, "Does my chest feel relaxed, free? Or tense, tight?" If it's tight, you have issues with how others react to you. You let people's attitudes, or inabilities, eat away quietly but relentlessly. It saps your energy and hinders your decision making.

If so, breathe deeply, and say to yourself, "I accept (name of ONE person you deal with) as they are." If that didn't make you cringe, then do it again with a different name. It won't take long before you find the trigger - the name that you struggle to 'accept as they are'. Once you find that name, repeat this a few times, gently breathing slowly the whole time. You will gradually find your tension easing. I talk about this a lot more in the book I'm writing, but it's powerful, releasing, and a disarmingly solid tool in your arsenal of career advancement tricks. You're welcome to take a look at my  book: "Career Shortcuts  - Management Career Advancement" and to use the form there to comment on any topics you'd like covered in future editions.

Tell me what you think, or if you'd like anything else covered. My goal is always to give bite-sized suggestions that can be implemented quickly, so you can look back and be stunned by your success. Cheers. Phil G. (philg.net.au/Career.html)