5 Game Changing Strategies to Accelerate Your Career

All of us struggle to succeed on our own terms.  And, if you want to accelerate your career, working harder is seldom the answer.  Fourth century Greek philosopher, Diogenes, said, “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”

Here are some key strategies for business success that are relevant and important at every stage of your career. If you aren’t happy with arc of your career trajectory, revisit these game changing strategies to accelerate your career and keep yourself from burning out.

• Take Ownership. You need to be the driving force in your success story. If you can’t define what you want or what comes next for you, how can anyone give it to you?  First, you need to define success and what it looks like.  Then, you need to learn the steps that it will take for you to get there.

• Know your why.  Once you’ve decided what you want, know WHY you want it and how it benefits your organization. Do your research.  Know your metrics.  Instead of thinking about all the reasons why you shouldn’t get that raise, you need to think about all the reasons why you deserve that raise.  You need to be able to articulate your value to the organization and build a business case for your goal.

• Protect your brand.  You need to know the value you provide to your organization.  Instead of downplaying your accomplishments or assuming that everyone knows you are responsible for a stellar result, claim it for yourself.  Your stellar performance cannot speak for you – you need to be the voice.  You also need to surround yourself with people who genuinely want you to be successful and are invested in your success.  My daddy always said, “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.”  The same holds true at work.  Your name is your brand – protect it.

• Make the Ask.  In order to be successful, you need to get comfortable negotiating on your own behalf.  See yourself as your own best client.  Asking for what you need is not selfish, it shows how invested you are in the organization.  When you get an offer, promotion, or raise, you can ask “How flexible is that?” as a soft volley towards negotiation.  You don’t have to accept or reject the offer as made – you can negotiate what you want.

• Multiply Impact.  Many of us are working too hard and burning out just as we are poised to take on more responsibility.  Then, we opt out of leadership because we don’t have the bandwidth to take on one more thing.  Nothing is cost-free so if you are overworking in one area, you’re neglecting another area.  Carrying all the weight of fixing a project may feel noble, but it obstructs learning just as surely as rejecting responsibility all together.  Effective delegation and outsourcing can move you from doing it all à scaling and multiplying impact.

Remember, anyone or anything that doesn’t LIGHT YOU UP is too small for you.

xoxo, SNW

Sarah-Nell Walsh

Career Coach & Strategist