Stuck on your career ladder – Tools for Moving Ahead

I promised to write a follow-up blog to the one published in August last year
titled “Career Stagnation Syndrome”. I started that blog by asking:

Did you ever realize how challenging it is to continue upward on your career ladder?
I received several emails and comments on my facebook and linkedin posts suggesting that generally, people feel “they are stuck”).

In my view, YOU are the sole problem!

Ask yourself: Am I really putting in efforts that would build momentum for my career move? Think about it…. and run a reality check based on the following points:

Do I have the right qualifications, experience and exposure?
Is my current employer growing in business volumes and profits?
Is senior management supportive of my career development?
What is the competition like (are there any other potential candidates waiting for promotion)?

Write down your statements and now answer the following questions:

- Do I need to upgrade my qualifications?
- Do I need to look for another job in a sector and company that is growing?
- How do I show enthusiasm and express my desire for promotion to senior management?
- How can I beat the competition?

Your answers will help you make a strategic plan that will build momentum and the energy required to pull you out of the situation.

It’s like re-launching a brand when companies repackage the old stuff and find a new market for their products. My experience is that people stuck in their career get frustrated and generally complaints without realizing “how free they are to make a move!”.

It’s simple and doable; just remember three words:
Commitment – Passion - Action

Few Leaders - Others Just Pretending!

“There is no such thing as a perfect leader, either in the past or present, in China or elsewhere. If there is one, he is only pretending, like a pig inverting spring onions into his nose in an effort to look like an elephant.” —Liu Shao-Chi — Which means we must consistently strive to improve ourselves”.

Realizing that there aren't many strive for improvement, the above stuck me hard! Does it mean that leaders around us are just pretending?

To me, One can improve only if he has the realization about self-accountability, and courage to take criticism in a positive manner.

There aren't many who can describe things that they should not be doing as leaders!

Continuous improvement is the key challenge for leaders..... only few meet this challenge...... so there are only few leaders, others are just pretending!

Collective Wisdom – Power to Generate Solutions

Over the past 22 years of my interactions with top executives, I have noticed that most of them never realize the knowledge and expertise exist within their own organizations.

Often stuck in issues such as decline in sales, increasing production losses/costs, staffing, branding etc, they look outside the organization by hiring an “Independent Consultant” for advice.

I ask them why an outside Consultant? You have people who know the company, product and customers. They look at me with blank faces and say “That’s the best practice” or there is any other way out?

Neglecting the wealth of internal knowledge and expertise, most businesses end-up paying massive amount of consultation fee for advice that is often too expensive to implement. Smaller business can’t afford that fee and either vanish or go into deep trouble.

One of the most effective way to overcome issues mentioned above is by encouraging staff and senior management to get engaged in creative discussions focusing Issues-vs-Solutions.

Nothing can beat the power of “Collective Wisdom”. By effective interactions between the staff and senior management, the knowledge and insight gained is invaluable. It not only helps identify solutions to major issues, but also create ownership among staff and boost morale.

Process is easy! Find couple of enthusiastic individuals within the organization and ask them to prepare questions relevant to a specific issue for group discussions. Once questions are validated, call group meetings (ideally 10-15 relevant participants), break them into equal groups. In a relaxed environment float questions one-by-one and generate debate. You will soon realize the extraordinary co-creative potential that exists when human beings start close interaction. You will see the energy, bindings and ownership values emerging.

This "Collective Wisdom" generated by group discussions will layout a clearer path towards solutions that are practical to implement describing “How to –and “How not to”.