Most “up and coming” professionals believe that you have to be the best at ‘getting the job done’.
You have to prove yourself… prove that you are the most committed and capable.
You stay absorbed in your work, head down outworking everyone else on your team.
While you may be working hard, you may not be working smart…as it relates to managing your career.
Your biggest mistake?
You’re almost exclusively focused on ‘the work’.
Yet, when leaders make promotion decisions, that’s not the primary deciding factor.
You go through your career checking the boxes…. if you go get this experience, if you achieve these outcomes, you’ll be in line for the next role.
But, what typically happens is that the rules change…there are other skills and experiences that you don’t have that you’re told you need…. the bar moves.
In the interviews for my book, FuelForward: Discover Proven Practices to Fuel Your Career Forward, Ralph de Chabert, Chief Diversity Officer for Brown-Forman Corporation shared this perspective: “We continue to struggle with the notion of merit, wanting to believe that’s real. And we want folks to believe that positions are earned through dint of sheer effort, i.e., people grow in an organization because they were rewarded solely for the results achieved through their hard work – I got this position because I earned it.”
What seems so unfair is that when you look at others around you who are landing those promotions, they are no more qualified or capable than you.
Can it simply be that your face doesn’t fit?
Or, is there more to it…
What’s the difference?
What are they doing differently?
What do you need to do differently to achieve your full potential as an “up and coming” leader and breathe new life into your career?
And if you’re serious about taking action and taking back control of your career…
Download my guide for 5 Ways to Breathe New Life Into Your Career.
