One of the most common questions that I get is, "How can I advance my career?" I'm going to try to answer that in a series of short posts to share what I have learned and observed after nearly 20 years in the software industry.
Part 4: Get Your House in Order
In Part 1, I gave a framework for showing how taking on a project can demonstrate that you're ready for the next rung in your career ladder. In part 2, I showed how to be seen as a thought leader. In episode 3, I offered up different ways that you can lead things to get experience. In this fourth and last installment, I talk about how being a model employee will help open doors for you.
1/ Keep your word.
Are there expectations that you're currently not meeting? Are there things that you know you're supposed to do but somehow you can't manage to get them done? Develop a process for keeping your calm and increasing your output. If you have never checked it out, Getting Things Done (GTD for short) is a good method. It took me a while to realize that just because I didn't get something done and nobody said anything doesn't mean that it didn't go unnoticed. Sometimes leaders would acknowledge it later by not giving me the next assignment. When this happened, I had to dig myself out of a hole. Instead, build a to-do list, track things, and get credit for what you've done.
2/ Be the type of employee you want to manage.
This sounds like it's more of a vision than a concrete set of steps, so let me add a bit of depth to it. Don't just show up to meetings; instead, participate. I'll expand upon this in the future, but your brand is well served by having an opinion, even if you're wrong. Find out what it means to be the model employee, and deliver on that. Like I said, would I want to manage me? If there's something that makes you a less than ideal employee, fix it.
3/ Focus on administrative hygiene.
Every job that I have ever had includes some sort of administrative requirements. Make this a non-issue; just do it. Try to avoid complaining about things that are expected to be a part of your job. Even now, I have administrative requirements on a weekly basis. Find a way to make it simple for yourself. If you are asked to give feedback on a deliverable "by Tuesday," immediately create a meeting invite for Monday afternoon to remind yourself to complete the feedback. Make this a part of your normal work week and don't make someone ask you to follow up.
4/ Reframe your workday.
Organize your tasks in things you "do" and things you "manage." As you move up in leadership, you will find that your time to actually accomplish work is consumed by a lot of meetings which don't usually have measurable productivity or output. For the things you do, set aside time to accomplish them; for the things you manage, have time available on your calendar for everyone else. Following advice from a number of books I've read: slice your day in half, and reserve half of it to actually accomplishing work.
5/ Find a rhythm.
I'll never suggest that climbing the corporate ladder is structured. Every single day is its own challenge, but you can increase your output and improve your morale by developing a rhythm. Before I read any other email, I read the "early bird," a collection of news stories about SAP which occurred in the last 24 hours. It takes 5 minutes to read, but it puts me in the frame of mind that I am thinking about our business externally right off the bat. I also do something to invest in myself every morning. Sometimes it's a TED talk, sometimes it's a LinkedIn article, but it's part of my rhythm, and I am off if I don't do it. Find your rhythm. It will help keep your sanity, especially with the increased workload of leadership.
In this last installment of this series, I've given you a framework for increasing your brand as someone who can be relied upon, who is capable of managing multiple competing priorities, and who has strong work habits that will carry through to your next position. This will help open up doors for you to be noticed, increase your chances for promotion, and allow you to confidently answer the question, "Do you have the demeanor for increased responsibility?"
I'm closing out this series, and I'm going to switch gears and focus on acing the interview, followed by leadership lessons for new managers. It's been a lot of fun writing these articles and I have appreciated all the comments, encouragement, and criticism that I have gotten.
Keep the conversation alive; iron sharpens iron. Geoff