Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the University of Toledo Launchpad Incubator's "Launch Hour" event. The august panel offered their insights re: “Climbing the Corporate Ladder”.
While the topic was focused on advancing in a corporate environment, the content holds value for people in many contexts … corporate/ non-corporate, military veteran/non-veteran.
A few bullets I took away to help "optimize your talent capability":
- Do the work
- Be vulnerable
- Its one thing to get the job ... yet another to keep it
- Define what success looks like up front
- Always seek to 'understand' before being 'understood'
- Find a mentor
- Trust your team
- Keep options open and be open to opportunities
- 'Aspiration' is key to career progression ('ability' and 'availability' are critical also)
- Take your lumps
- You’re never fully prepared for everything
- Volunteer
- Embrace and leverage technology ... as it evolves it influences the business environment
- Generational differences can have huge positive impact if people are willing to come together and appreciate/leverage them
- Plateaus are only a perception ... you make your career and choices ... if you feel your career is staggering do something different to move forward
- Don’t 'jump' just to 'jump' ... careers don’t move at Instagram pace
- Organizations will learn who wants and are able to take on more (by watching performance)
- Everything is connected ... work is part of life ... stay balanced
- No one cares more about your career than you
- There are always 'other duties as assigned'
- 'Doing your job' includes helping others perform well and improve
- Don’t run 'from' things, run 'to' things
- Ask for feedback ... and receive it well
- Ambition is awesome … blatant, overbearing self-promotion can hurt you
- 'Culture' exists in every organization. It varies with every team. Be aware. Understand. Adapt.
- Be positive and respectful. The person you dismissed yesterday might just be your boss tomorrow.