Here are a few skills you should develop to advance your career.
LEARN TO NEGOTIATE:
Once you grow past a stage in your career, everything hinges on your negotiating skills. Don’t go to meetings wanting to win with all your ideas. Remember, to use a cliché, negotiation is a win- win situation. Be prepared to loose some to gain some. Keep the big picture in mind. Concede defeat if it will enhance your big picture success.
ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE:
You are not going to advance very far in your career if you are afraid to fail. If you feel overwhelmed and all a twitter when handed a task, and look for excuses to wriggle out of it, you can be sure that your career is heading south. Instead of assuming you will fail, look for ways to succeed. This slight change in how you look at a task will surely give you the necessary exposure to top management and very soon you can be sure that you will be marked for greater things.
LEARN TO SELL:
Or in other words learn to communicate effectively. Silence is golden, no doubt, but if you are not able to communicate whatever, your strategies, your business plan, etc., others who can, will easily upstage you in the corporate setting. You will become a wall flower and very soon will get ignored. This doesn’t mean that you have to keep chattering. Some times a pause in conversation will give other people a chance to jump in and make a fool of themselves.
PUT YOUR NOSE TO THE GRINDSTONE:
All the above mentioned skills will get you thus far and no further. To really advance in your career nothing can beat working hard. It doesn’t mean that you have to work 24/7. What does your boss expect from you? He expects results. Deliver results. Always under promise and exceed expectations. Play hard and play to win. Remember winners are always remembered and losers are consigned to the dust. Learn your company’s business inside out. Everyone should come to you to know more. Crudely put, become the ‘go to man’.
