Four steps to career empowerment
It’s all about taking charge
Are you feeling stagnant or blah at work?
Maybe you were recently passed over for a promotion and don’t know what’s next or you’ve been with the same company for so long that you’re feeling bored and underutilized.
Or maybe you love your company, but you’re ready for a new challenge and have no idea where to find it.
These turning points in our career are normal. They tell us that it’s time for a change – that we are ready to grow again. And while they can be uncomfortable, even scary, they can propel us to something greater.
When we find ourselves in this spot, we can choose to wait it out and hope things will get better or we can take charge of our career trajectory.
As you can imagine, I’m a big believer in the latter.
Here are four ways you can take charge:
Have a vision for what’s next and share it
When a client of mine asked her boss why she had not been part of a recent round of promotions, he told her he honestly didn’t know she was interested in any of the roles. This was a wake-up call for her.
It sounds basic but I’ve learned that knowing what you want and communicating it often is key to getting it. Ask yourself: where do I want to be a year from now, three years from now – even five years from now? And then share this with the people who can help support your advancement. I recommend setting up monthly discussions with your boss and other members of the leadership team just to discuss your career development. This keeps you and your goals top of mind with the key decision-makers.
Know your value
A woman leader from TD bank who participated in my group coaching program recently shared how she learned to stop trying to prove her worth and instead she is focused on promoting her value. This is bang on!
I meet so many accomplished women who are clearly delivering great results for their organizations and yet they often feel they need to do more and be more before they can advance. This is almost NEVER true. What’s really needed is a shift in their mindset which comes from reconnecting with the value they are already creating and communicating their impact with confidence. Because when a leader shows confidence in themselves and their abilities, this gives us confidence in them too.
Stop saying yes to everything
I don’t know about you but, as a woman, I feel like I am pre-programmed to help out wherever I can. I see this in how my clients take such good care of their families, their teams, their co-workers, or even their companies. Unfortunately, this means we often make the mistake of thinking that the more we do, the more we will be appreciated and valued.
But what gets valued at the leadership level is our ability to get out of the weeds so we can have a strategic impact. This means saying no to things that no longer serve us well, delegating more, and creating time for reflection so we are focused on the right priorities. Empower yourself to stop saying yes to things that don’t elevate your leadership and help you get closer to your goals.
Check in with yourself at least once a day
As you know, I write a lot about the importance of mindfulness and taking pauses throughout the day to reflect and be more intentional. Why? Because I have learned that the ONLY way we can truly practice self-leadership is to be constantly improving our self-awareness.
Just think about it. The more aware we are of what’s important to us, the easier it is to align what we value with the decisions we make and the actions we take every day. When we are more deliberate about how we manage our time and our emotions, we create more space to practice self-acceptance. This builds confidence and helps us to get better at advocating for what we want and what we need to be successful.
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