There Are 10 Things You Can Do Now To Make Yourself A More Successful Professional!

You likely know what your greatest professional and personal deficiencies are. If not, ask someone you respect in what areas you can do better? Where can I improve? What is holding me back? Those who a) accept their weaknesses fully, b) establish very practical daily and weekly actions to improve in those areas, and c) voluntarily seek out an accountability partner to check in with and on their personal progress will accelerate their promotability/hire-ability, etc. Why? Who else in your reference group is doing this?

You have most likely been told repeatedly in different ways from different persons what are your greatest strengths. Lock in on what your 2 or 3 greatest strengths, attributes, characteristics, most valuable traits are. Brainstorm how you can best further develop them and put them to optimal use. For example, if you are exceptionally creative and innovative, what team(s) could you volunteer to be a part of that would benefit from your significant inventiveness?

Do not wait for some most admired and respected person to bring you under their wing. Consider who in your company or in your business life is the wisest, most mature leader, whose advice and counsel would be of enormous help to you developmentally. That person is likely busy. It does not hurt to ask. Worst case, that person feels complimented that you have that respect for him/her.

Just ask to have lunch or an early cup of coffee together once a month, or once a quarter. True leaders who have much to transmit to those coming up -- the ones you most want to emulate, are givers, and will want to take even a few minutes occasionally to help you grow and develop.

You know them when you see them or have worked with them over time. These are the colleagues that are the best at what they do, best practitioners, highly experienced, capable, and effective, highly and widely regarded for who they are, what they do, and how they do it. Seek these ones out. Ask them how they learned their competencies, what are their recommendations for how you can develop like skills. Their answers will be substantive and enlightening -- they got there due to explicit steps, disciplines, and experiences!

The more you are in the environment where real business bullets are flying, the more your strengths and weaknesses are revealed. This shows exactly where your "growth edges" are -- where it is that you need to improve and augment skills and knowledge in particular areas. Some of my best developmental experienced were pinpointed executive courses at the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia while at IBM. A huge factor were mixing with colleagues from different industries, companies, and circumstances who provided fresh views and vantage points, as well as professors with distinct expertise in targeted areas!

My experience and observation is that an individual has something as or more important than the resource of her or his time, which is what I call "ergs (units) of energy". We only have so many of these ergs of energy in any given day, week, and month. So the key question is, how are we marshaling them, allocating them, utlizing them? Just like in a house, where and what are the energy wasters? Where should my best energies be going, versus where are they now going? Where are the gaps and disconnects? How can I save/reduce energy in some areas and invest more energy in the most crucial, significant, valuable priorities and activities?

I have other very practical articles of best practices on time management in this blog, and I encourage you to read them. The most valuable master-tool is to start with a blank piece of paper and "invest"/place your time according to your priorities. This means that you need to consider what you need to eliminate, shorten/compress, or delegate (e.g., meetings!). Where/ how are you wasting time? What can you batch together? How do you build in/block creative time, writing time, reading time, responding time? When should I shut off my phone/e-mail notices? Time is our great irrecoverable resource, precious in its scarcity. Utilize it as you would driving a car with gas at $20/gallon! Drive smart!

Not just energy and time allocation, but team allocation is critical; team allocation is very important. Agreed, it is an apportionment of time and energy, but my angle on this is different. Not only from a value to the company standpoint, but developmentally valuable to you standpoint, over time what teams should you be on? Certain teams have specific incredible individuals from whom to learn, and tremendous topics/domains in which to learn and sharpen skills. Special, one-off projects are enormously valuable. Better to pick them usually than they pick you (though there are prize assignments from time to time). Communicating the types of teaming you believe to be developmentally important to you with your manager (assuming he/she is supportive) can be helpful.

I look back on specific opportunities at work, in my community, or outside of work that have been very valuable to me. For years I had the opportunity to give conferences to young people -- I received as much as I gave! Doing pro bono work for infant intervention centers was valuable to me as well as to them, volunteering for special one-time projects at work when I had pockets of time were experiences that expanded my awareness and made me a more rounded resource. You will know them when you see them. These kinds of experiences really add value and texture to working life! 

Companies are the "CEO's" of their careers so to speak -- they look out for what is best for them as they define it. There is something that rings true to the reality that we are the CEO's of our own career -- that it is unrealistic and even dangerous to assume that an organization will lead in your best care. It used to be the case back in the day at some companies; that is quite rare unless you are "handcuffed" as a highly prized and guarded high-potential, critically needed employee. Even then, surprises happen with the changing of the guard. So make a written career plan, and review it annually. What is your dream, your grand design? It is true that a cybernetic goal-seeking mechanism is launched when we clearly specify to ourselves where we want to go and how we want to get there! Break those goals down into steps and actions. Carpe Diem!

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