Friends, part of my role is to optimise people’s performance in order to help build a better organisation. I want people and teams to perform at optimal levels – because everyone benefits.
So I help improve the performance of the individual through highly specific, targeted coaching –
- designed to eg uplift their confidence
- or to teach them practical skills
- or help raise their visibility (through their work, through exposure to leaders or to uplift their profile through LinkedIn and other channels).
- I also look for promotion and secondment opportunities for ambitious people.
Now here is the thing that leaves me flummoxed. More often than not, people say they are ready for a promotion or their next challenge. But when presented with a list of actions, they don’t take this up – because their work keeps them too busy.
I understand that we are all generally busy, but to sacrifice your career because your day-to-day job is prioritised is a foolish counter- ambition.
There will come a time when you appear on a list for a potential redundancy, or your manager leaves and someone who don’t get along with becomes your new manager or the organisation restructures and your job is not challenging any more. And you will want a new role. But you haven’t done anything to make it easier to transition to a new role.
You have failed to:
- Built new connections
- You are not active on LinkedIn
- You are not actively working on your development areas You are not doing things to raise your visibility in the workplace You are not developing executive presence each day,
In other words, you are working really hard because you are prioritising your work. So why would anyone want to hire someone who does not know how to prioritise their career (ie themselves) appropriately? Tell me I’m wrong.