by Karen Adamedes
A new year. A new opportunity to be successful in your work and continue to develop your career. Both of which should help you enjoy what you are doing now – as well as lay the groundwork for what you would like to do next.
Here are 7 super practical tips for your career success in 2019
1. Work with a mentor
In the 18th century Irish writer and author of ‘The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes’ said, “People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.” Still true today.
A mentor can teach you new things, provide you with the benefits of their experience, introduce you into their network or even be a great sounding board. A mentor could be someone in your organization that you work with (such as an experienced colleague) or someone removed from your day to day activities (a previous manager or someone in another department) or maybe someone you meet through your networking activities.
If you don’t have a mentor identify one who will help you in a particular area and ask them if you could meet to discuss this topic. Start with a coffee chat and take it from there. And if you already have a mentor? Ring them and arrange a catch up!
2. Network
A network of people to support you is vital to any career. They can help you through tough times, are a great starting point when you are looking for your next opportunity and will celebrate your wins with you.
Focus on depth rather then breadth in your networking relationships and you will have the right people there for you.
Identify people who you trust, respect and are good at what they do.
Invest time in your network. Relationships develop over time and through shared experiences. The network of people you know, value and choose to spend time with is uniquely your own. Enjoy the time and learnings you have with these people.
3. Practice presenting
The ability to present well is vital to showcase your abilities and contributions at work. You can use a presentation to demonstrate what you know, what you have done and what you are capable of. It might be to tell or to sell someone on your ideas. It might be formal or casual. It might be to one person, a small group or a large audience. Regardless, you want to be as good as you can be at this skill.
The ability to make credible presentations is a key competency in organizations and essential for your career repertoire.
Take some time to develop your skills and rehearse each and every presentation before you make it. The time will pay off in both your confidence and credibility.
4. Get organised
‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” is taking the world by storm as people clear out their closets and are organizing items by size in a bid for sparking the joy of an uncluttered life. Getting organised at work can bring its own kind of, if not joy, contentment and certainly productivity.
Whether it’s your diary or your desk – clearing out the clutter will create an environment that you will want to work in and help you focus on what is important. (And a nice little origami crane on your desk would make a nice addition to your work space too!)
5. Set a goal
You know the old adage about goals being the way to turn dreams into reality? Well it seems to work. Which is why people keep saying it. 🙂
If you have a dream that you’re not currently actively working towards – set a goal. Something that you can achieve that will move you in the direction you want to go. If you are not quite sure what you want to achieve – set yourself some goals to work out what you do want to do next. You don’t need to map out your entire career – decide on on some specific things your want to achieve or learn. These will be your goals (for now).
Decide on some actions, time frames and measures that will address gaps in your skills, knowledge or experience and help you achieve your dream. And finally, make time and do them!
6. Prioritize what’s important
Take some time to work out what is important to you and vital to achieve for your job and focus on these things.
It’s unlikely to be practical to be able to take on everything that you are capable of doing. Recognizing the difference between capability (of course you can do lots of things) and capacity (there are how many hours in a day?) is key to determining how much you can commit to.
7. Learn something new
According to the experts learning something new makes us happier because of the dopamine rush we get when we are exposed to new stimuli. Other advantages are that it’s said to make the brain stronger, we feel more confident and are more interesting to other people.
If that’s not enough good reasons – you need to learn new skills just to keep up with changes in technology, customer requirements and the way organizations work.
Learning something new will help you develop your skills and career potential.
Whatever you want to learn – I’ll bet there’s an app for that!
Have a great 2019 and hope to connect with you here or on LinkedIn, Twitter and/or Facebook.
Karen
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Karen Adamedes is an experienced executive, author and career-tipster. In her most recent book ‘Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home’ Karen shares many of the insights she has gained during a decade of working from home, where she has negotiated multi-million dollar deals, led national teams and delivered major projects. She does admit to sometimes working in her pajamas.
Wonderful tips for career development
Awesome career tips.
Setting a goal and prioritizing what is important are the two most important things.