A wise man once said, “The journey to the CEO’s chair starts with a single promotion.” Or was it about that ‘of a thousand miles’?
Whatever that may be, it teaches a simple truth. That to be at the top, you need to go through the journey to the top and you start this journey from where you presently are. A journey where you learn from other’s achievements and mistakes (because obviously you won’t work long enough to make them all yourself) and more importantly implement what you learn, and slowly work your way up the corporate ladder.
Moving up the corporate ladder need not be an ugly experience, as often described. Instead if you focus on overtaking your competition rather than dragging them down, you might even find the journey addictively exhilarating. Here, I present a few things you would do well to remember to ease this beautiful journey.
The Hours Do Count
Let me present you with the simplest and the most universally accepted corporate rule. Invest your hours and the returns will follow. Time is one of the chief assets through which you can portray your commitment to your job. It is sad but true that the sheer number of hours that you put into your work, and not just the quality of them, are one of the main criteria that your superior will use to judge your contribution. So as far as possible, if you want to reach your goals, work doubly hard during the weekdays so that you have the weekends to rest and relax with your family and friends.
There’s No Free Lunch
A reward or a higher post is not just sitting there for you unless you back up your claim with your achievements. You can’t make a reputation on just your potential and the sooner you realise this, the better it is. So roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and start making things happen, for it’s only through your achievements that you make a clear and positive impression of yourself. Also make sure that your work is seen and you may need to tweet your own horn to do that (it’s unlikely that anyone else will do it for you). Nevertheless if you perform consistently enough, you are bound to get noticed.
Tell Em’ the Way They Want Em’
No one likes a sub-ordinate who gets easily intimidated. So as far as possible, don’t be intimidated by your boss. Instead, learn to associate yourself with your superiors as exchange of any kind of information with them will only be beneficial for you. Also make sure that they don’t find your effort to communicate a little too annoying. You can do that by finding out which way they would like to be informed regarding the professional developments, personally or through email. The basic idea is to make it convenient for them.
Shortcut to Disaster
If you have a fetish for self-annihilation, here’s a tip. Pick an ugly fight with your boss. Don’t get me wrong here. Healthy debates are good. In fact, they go a long way to help come to a correct decision. But don’t let them escalate into a heated argument. It’ll do you much more good if you accept your boss’s final call and work on it as the odds are that your boss knows more than you. It will also give his ego a boost, and he’ll appreciate the fact that you had the wit to debate with him but also simultaneously had the good sense to bow down before his dictates.
Create a Reputation
The highly respected ones hide many secrets to safeguard it, the unscrupulous ones may reach new lows to destroy it and the rich ones hire PR agents to enhance it. What I’m talking about here is reputation. The fact that you are reading this article allows me to make a safe assumption that you are not yet rich enough to hire someone else to build it for you. So it’s up to you to create it. And how do you go about it? To start with, gain respect for your motivation and proficiency at the workplace. Be receptive to opportunities to work in other departments to broaden your horizons and seek newer challenges. Loose no chance to prove that you are the best man for the job. And also make sure that you are available to groom your juniors. By doing this you will have shown your leadership capabilities.
Know Your Stuff
Another way of creating a favourable reputation is to know everything concerning your work like the back of your hand, beginning with the numbers. It is important to keep track of facts and figures to answer any question and to defend your position in any situation. It is not too hard to be an expert at your craft either. More often than not, all you will have to do is to read a couple of books on your areas of work and voila, you’re an expert.
Nail Your Presentation
It’s not often that you get a chance to present something to the people who actually matter. So when you get that chance, grab it with both hands; for many careers have launched through great presentations and an equal number of careers have been destroyed with bad ones.
So, remember these little tips and live by them in your workplace and see your career sail to the top (if not rocket towards it). Have faith in yourself and tell yourself that the world needs better leaders. The world needs you.
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