Welcome to February. Leadership expert Sally Helgesen notes that successful careers are usually built on expertise, connections, and visibility. February is a great time to calibrate your level of expertise, leverage your network, and develop a plan to increase your exposure within the organization. Focus on three things in February…
- Expertise – Feedback February
In past blogs I’ve highlighted the work of Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen who separate feedback into three buckets: 1) appreciation – to acknowledge, connect, motivate, and encourage the receiver; 2) coaching – to help expand knowledge, sharpen skill, or improve the capability of the receiver; and 3) evaluation – to rate or rank the receiver against a set of standards, to align expectations, or to inform decision-making.
Feedback February is focused on asking your boss, mentors, and clients to share their perspective on your work to gain a deeper understanding of your level of expertise. Questions to get you started include:
- What do you believe is my “towering strength” – what I do better than the majority of people you work with?
- What one thing, if improved, would make me a success at a higher level in the organization?
- What are my top three areas of expertise from your perspective?
- Why did you hire me? What types of problems / opportunities am I uniquely qualified to address?
Don’t over focus on one person’s viewpoint, look for reoccurring themes and opinions.
- Connections – Build Business Acumen and Breadth of Your Network
There are four types of networking that help you build connections and accelerate our career development.
Industry Networking
The goal of industry networking is to increase our business acumen over time. The people we network with can work within or outside our organization. Areas of discussion during industry networking include understanding:
- Who are our target customers and what value do they want from our organization?
- How do companies in our industry make money? What are the key drivers of revenue and profit?
Company Networking
Networking with people internally in our organization, but outside our department, increases our exposure. When taking jobs with increased scope and responsibility it is important to collaborate with colleagues across the organization. Areas of discussion during company networking include understanding:
- What departments must we work with to achieve our goals?
- What other areas can use our skills and experience?
Social Networking
The goal of social networking is to tap into other’s networks. It is not just who we know, but who others know that is important. Our friends, family, and colleagues all know people that can help us increase our knowledge, identify job opportunities, and provide introductions to hiring managers. Areas of discussion during social networking include understanding:
- What trends in your work should I follow and pay special attention?
- What influential people do you know in my industry? Company?
Role / Job Networking
The goal of role networking is to grow our functional knowledge. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to talk to people who have the same role we have at our company, but they work in another industry. Industries mature at different rates. The adoption of business practices and technology varies by industry. For example, the use of artificial intelligence might be more prevalent in the manufacturing and software industries compared to retail and education. Areas of discussion during role networking include understanding:
- What trends are impacting your industry and company the most?
- Which technological advances are your industry likely to adopt in the future? Why?
- Visibility – Plan to Increase Exposure to Others
It does not matter how good you are if others don’t know who you are, recognize your expertise, or acknowledge your accomplishments. Identify ways to increase your internal and external visibility. Example include:
- Volunteer for a cross-functional project or initiative.
- Write a blog post, news article, or white paper.
- Present at an industry conference or local chamber meeting.
- Speak at a company town hall meeting.
- Write talking points or conduct research for a senior leaders’ presentation.
This list can get you started. Be creative.
Bottom Line
Build the foundation for your success by getting honest feedback you can use, leveraging your connections to build knowledge and skills, and making an effort to increase the number of people who know who you are and what you can accomplish.