As I get ready to transition from one position to another, I think about the road that has brought me to this spot, the actions I've taken that have led to my success thus far.
As I prepared to write this post, I jotted down four principles that have gotten me where I am today.
The first is owning your position. No matter what position you hold, from the lowest-paid clerk to the highest-paid CEO, in order to be successful in that position you have to own it, make it yours and yours alone. Part of doing that is to truly understand how your position benefits the organization - what is the why for that position existing. Every organization has a mission and a function, as does every position in that organization. Figure that out and you will go a long way to being successful in the particular position you hold.
I can think of three examples from my own career to share. First, when I was an administrative assistant in our Contracting Division, I felt my job was to take care of all the administrative stuff - ensuring we had adequate office supplies at all times, ensuring we had the appropriate cost codes to charge to, ensuring we stayed within our operating budget while still keeping our folks trained, etc. - so the contract specialists could do their jobs and get the contracts out on time. If I had simply been reactive to those around me rather than proactive in taking care of those around me, I would not have been successful in this position.
The next two examples are from when I was a budget analyst. Part of supporting our projects was knowing the financial status of the projects at any given time. In my mind that meant knowing what the upcoming contracts and such were to ensure we had the funds on hand to accomplish those tasks as well as knowing what the out year requirements were and the financial parameters we were expected to stay within on any given assigned project I supported. This meant doing analysis on a continual basis to ensure we were meeting our targets and staying within the parameters given - and doing what we said we were going to do with the funds provided. If I had simply been reactive and provided funding without doing the analysis to say hey, this particular section is going above their projected costs, or hey, that's not what we said we were doing with the funds, then the projects I supported would not have successfully met their targets and stayed within their cost parameters.
As the budget analyst responsible for the operating budget of a project office, I analyzed our usage of project and overhead funds for the current year to ensure that we generated enough overhead from our projects to cover our overhead-related expenses (training, rent, etc.) and developed out-year projections on the requirements for the office based the projects currently assigned there in order to not only develop the next year's operating budget but also to determine our out-year manning requirement for the next four years. If I had simply been reactive, we could have spent more overhead funds than we generated from supporting our projects in the current year and not been able to do appropriate long-term manpower planning, and we wouldn't be able to determine what effect changes that come up during the current year after budgets are formulated and/or adjusted will have either.
The second principle is earning your paycheck. Whatever position you hold has an expected level of performance. It probably has a minimum standard, an expected standard, and an exceedance standard, in fact. Aim for the exceedance standard in all you do in that position. If you are just doing the minimum, you are not helping yourself or the organization you work for. In fact, you may actually be hurting both instead, particularly if you want to move up in that position and/or the organization. Just because someone has done the time in the position doesn't mean they've excelled in the position, and excelling is what gets you promoted.
The third principle is being a warrior. According to Steven Chandler, author of The Wealth Warrior, a warrior serves, he does not please. Figure out how your position can try serve your supervisor and your organization at large in the big and small picture and over the short and long term. Do what is right, not just what you are told to do.
The fourth principle is earning sponsorship. If you follow the three principles outlined above, you will earn the notice and respect of the higher ups in the organization as well as your peers, and perhaps even folks outside of your organization. Earning the respect of and building relationships with these folks will provide you the references needed for furthering your career goals - and, more importantly, give you mentors and guides along the way.
Think of the people who are successful - truly successful - in your organization or in the world in general. And by successful, I mean they do their job well, and are liked and respected by others, and likely sought out as mentors by others. What traits do you see that you think earned them that success? Are those traits ones you would like to see in yourself? Remember to look at the big picture too, not just through the small lens.
I believe each of us has the potential to do great things in life, if we are willing to do the work to do so.
What are you willing to do today to help you pave your way to a successful tomorrow?
Until next time, Namaste!
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