It is puzzling to many that why its so difficult to move ahead in their careers. They seem to be giving our best and doing everything right, but are still stuck and its unclear why…
This is important – If this is not through carefully, we’ll continue to wait for months for recognition of good work and years for career growth with not much of luck.
ASK YOURSELF A FEW QUESTIONS…
What should I actually be working on? Ask below questions to your manager or project leader to demystify expectations.
1. What are top 3 things that you want me to focus on (mention, that you will get real serious on these 3 things, so they better be the top 3)?
2. What are the outcomes you expect – According to them, how will a great, good and not-so-good outcome would look like? This creates clarity and gets both on same page.
If you are a senior leader, its recommended that you “tell” than “ask” – Please come up with top 3 priorities along with KPAs and present to senior leadership on your plans. They will adjust if the goals aren’t aligned, but the purpose of getting on same page is met.
Its good to repeat this exercise every 3 months to review progress during past quarter and make corrections to stay on course for next quarter.
Most of the career disasters occur not due to lack of efforts, but due to mismatch in expectations – Gaps in setting & meeting right expectations. This creates divide in perception of performance and impacts rewards & growth. Create ” clarity” to create success.
Where’s most of my time spent? It quite possible that we spend most of available time pleasing people that do not have any impact on you or the team you work for. You probably are working on projects that look fancy but slow you down on your critical deliverables.
Time is finite. Its important to ensure it is spent on things that positively impact you, your team & company – Work with right people, involve in right situations and be on right meetings, everything else is counterproductive. Be ” precise” with your time.
Get the bigger picture. – Yeah, but how? Make efforts to be part of key project reviews, staff meetings where decisions are made(by clearings meetings that don’t matter much). Have 1:1s key peers, and peers of your manager to get the latest on moving targets. This gives you bigger picture and helps you respond well to changing goals.
Bottom line is, how ” relevant” are we? If we are, we could be creating lot more impact with lot less efforts
These discussions can be frustrating for employees & leaders when above 3 factors are not in place and might end up in parting ways before realizing benefits of the association. Putting above in place can make it easier for everyone, can create solid relationships and of course creates excellent career growth for deserving employees. Considering, world is such a small place now with everyone connected to another, its good to leave that lasting impression of great organizational maturity.
Trust me, most leaders want their people to move up the chain and do more, be more. Thats how startups of few persons grow into successful organization like Google, Apple & Facebook. What they need help with is, independent thinkers who identify problems that are on critical path, come up with solutions that are effective and tie the loose ends clarity of communication.
Wish you good luck with being Precise with time, creating Clarity & staying Relevant to become most valued employee that every organization dreams of.
See you at the top!
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