Is career progression about who you know or what you know?

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Of the many different aspects of you and your personality that affect career progression, perhaps the most important is ambition. But ambition is only as strong as the opportunities that are presented to you in your working life. Two of the most important factors that can help you fulfil your ambitions are ‘who you know’ and ‘what you know’.

Who’s Who?

Establishing and building work relationships is the key to success. Many people keep their ‘work’ and ‘social’ lives completely separate, but in the technology-led world we live in today, the two are becoming more interlinked. As the lines blur between social media and business contacts, it’s sometimes difficult to retain the distinction, as sites such as LinkedIn encourage businesspeople to forge links with like-minded professionals.

In the real world, rather than the virtual one, the equivalent is networking, where you can meet people from related disciplines, who may be able to link up with you professionally. Another example of ‘who you know’ being an advantage in career advancement is when your work colleagues move on elsewhere and opportunities arise for you at their new workplace. Regardless of who exactly you know, the more contacts you have – and the more well-liked and respected you are – the more avenues will be open to you.

What’s What?

Another crucial factor in career progression is what you know: your specialisms and what makes you unique. If you stand out from the crowd, you will be more attractive to prospective employers. Ambition is all well and good, but without the knowledge to back it up, your career might stall.

Keep an eye on new legislation and training opportunities. Be at the forefront of new thinking and make yourself indispensable to your company’s business strategy. It’s all about demonstrating your breadth of knowledge and depth of experience.

A CV is a shop window for prospective employers and needs to be a true reflection of ability. Experience is something that you can’t replicate without living it. You learn as you go along, from other experts and sometimes from your own mistakes.

Career progression isn’t just about who and what you know, but these can be big factors in career fulfilment. If you feel directionless, perhaps you need to discuss your work with someone, to get you back on track. When it comes to maximising potential, career coaches can look at what skills you have at your disposal and make the most of what you’ve got to be successful.

The importance of SMART to you

When considering implementing a coaching programme with individuals within a team or a team within a business it is important to understand why you are doing this and what you are hoping to achieve from it.  By clearly setting out and agreeing your objectives – from the business, individual and coaches point of view – you are more likely to achieve a successful outcome.  And, perhaps almost as importantly, you will be able to demonstrate that you have.

Business coaching has the potential to deliver a myriad of positive benefits for the business and the individual receiving the coaching.  This can be anything from a fresh perspective on a personal challenge, enhanced decision-making skills, greater interpersonal effectiveness, or increased confidence. Personal and professional improvement could also include increased productivity, success in achieving goals or an overall satisfaction with work/life balance.  We take a quick look at the five key areas where coaching can have a demonstrable impact:

Development of self-awareness – coaching doesn’t provide the answers directly, but it does provide individuals with the space to develop their own solutions, guiding them and asking the right questions.

Improved levels of ownership and responsibility – with increased self-awareness, individuals are more likely to recognise a challenge and find ways to address it.

Increased confidence in identifying solutions to work-related challenges –coaching also provides employees with a better understanding of their own skills and capabilities, which in turn improves their own confidence in being able to identify an effective solution to work-related challenges.

Improvement in performance, achieving targets and goals – the combination of the outcomes above help lead to measurable improvements in things like work performance, business management, time management and team effectiveness.

Enthusiasm for personal learning and development – with the individual being able to see the positive impact that coaching is having on their performance they are more likely to recognise and embrace their own on-going personal learning and development.  This could include improved self-confidence, relationship development, communication skills and life/work balance.

Top Coaching Benefits for Employees

When considering implementing a coaching programme with individuals within a team or a team within a business it is important to understand why you are doing this and what you are hoping to achieve from it.  By clearly setting out and agreeing your objectives – from the business, individual and coaches point of view – you are more likely to achieve a successful outcome.  And, perhaps almost as importantly, you will be able to demonstrate that you have.

Business coaching has the potential to deliver a myriad of positive benefits for the business and the individual receiving the coaching.  This can be anything from a fresh perspective on a personal challenge, enhanced decision-making skills, greater interpersonal effectiveness, or increased confidence. Personal and professional improvement could also include increased productivity, success in achieving goals or an overall satisfaction with work/life balance.  We take a quick look at the five key areas where coaching can have a demonstrable impact:

Development of self-awareness – coaching doesn’t provide the answers directly, but it does provide individuals with the space to develop their own solutions, guiding them and asking the right questions.

Improved levels of ownership and responsibility – with increased self-awareness, individuals are more likely to recognise a challenge and find ways to address it.

Increased confidence in identifying solutions to work-related challenges –coaching also provides employees with a better understanding of their own skills and capabilities, which in turn improves their own confidence in being able to identify an effective solution to work-related challenges.

Improvement in performance, achieving targets and goals – the combination of the outcomes above help lead to measurable improvements in things like work performance, business management, time management and team effectiveness.

Enthusiasm for personal learning and development – with the individual being able to see the positive impact that coaching is having on their performance they are more likely to recognise and embrace their own on-going personal learning and development.  This could include improved self-confidence, relationship development, communication skills and life/work balance.

Getting Emotional

The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus said “change is the only constant in life”, but regardless of how true this statement is, change remains one of those things that people generally have difficulty coping with.  This is the same in personal situations and within the working environment.  In business, when people have to deal with changes to the status quo they will often experience an array of different emotions from denial and resistance through to understanding and integration.

Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross identified this and developed the Emotional Change Curve model in the 1960s.  This sets out to identify the key stages of change.  This model is very useful in helping people understand what they are likely to be feeling and why.  Obviously, no two people will deal with change in quite the same way, but if you understand the model you will be better equipped to help people face the change.

1.       Denial – often when faced with change people often won’t believe it will actually happen.  By repeating the key facts of the change and the underlying reasons for it, you will help to break through this phase

2.       Resistance – it is not uncommon for employees to feel anger about a change, particularly if they feel they have no control over the outcome.  It is important that these people have the opportunity to speak openly about how they are feeling, without this causing wider issues.  One-on-one meetings allows them the opportunity to explain how they feel and gives you the opportunity to actively listen and where appropriate, respond.

3.       Self-doubt – when employees realise that although they will be listened to, the outcome of the change remains the same then they can potentially suffer from self-doubt and depression.  Encouraging employees to talk things through with their colleagues, managers, sponsors and you can help.

4.       Exploration – eventually employees will begin to explore the realities of the change and what the business now looks like.  By acknowledging their more positive approach and highlighting the positives of the change, you will reinforce this approach.

5.       Acceptance – this follows when employees start to build confidence in the ‘new way’.  As confidence grows, then so too will employees’ acceptance of it.

6.       Understanding – when employees can see the benefits of the change, they will then understand why the change was implemented.  Reinforcing the benefits through regular, clear communication will help with this.

7.       Integration – eventually the change will no longer be something different, but will become business as usual.  Until the next time…