Are you trying to advance your career in a competitive professional landscape? You\u2019ll need to master strategic positioning, continuous skill development, and understanding your unique value proposition. Lucky for you, we have an easy-to-understand toolkit just for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve compiled the 10 essential steps for progressing your career once you\u2019re past the first wave from the following books: Positioning<\/em> by Al Ries and Jack Trout, Eat That Frog!<\/em> by Brian Tracy, The Startup of You<\/em> by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, and I Wish Someone Had Told Me\u2026<\/em> by Dana Perino. These perspectives have everything you need to know about crafting your professional identity, navigating career transitions, embracing your competitive side, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of <\/em>Shortform’s guide to career development<\/em><\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Ries and Trout in Positioning<\/a><\/em>, first you need to understand your current professional positioning before trying to advance your career<\/strong>. How do others perceive you in terms of your strengths and weaknesses relative to other candidates or employees?<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: According to Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, the key to understanding how people perceive you<\/a> is learning how to receive<\/em> feedback effectively. They advise that to stay open to feedback, you should become aware of certain triggers that might prevent you from listening\u2014for example, a relationship trigger<\/em> might cause you to ignore advice from someone you dislike, or an identity trigger<\/em> might make you ignore feedback that criticizes who you are as a person. Ironically, the kind of feedback that an identity trigger might block could be especially useful in determining your current position, because it implies a disconnect between how you see your identity (or position) and how someone else sees you.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, Ries and Trout advise that, as you craft a career progression plan, you must realistically identify your desired professional position. They caution that you can\u2019t be the best at everything to everybody<\/strong> and argue that the biggest challenge in positioning yourself for career success is often figuring out specifically what professional positioning you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: While Ries and Trout don\u2019t mention it, we might infer a connection between identifying your desired position and finding an open niche. To identify your desired career positioning, you might also need to identify the niche where you can succeed professionally.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It might not be intuitive, but evaluating your name should be part of your career progression plan. Ries and Trout assert that your name is a crucial element of how people perceive you<\/strong>, just as a brand name influences how people perceive products and companies. As with company acronyms, they advise you to avoid going by initials, as they\u2019re less memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, they argue that some names intuitively sound more credible than others for a given role. Thus, as with brands, if your name doesn\u2019t support your desired positioning, Ries and Trout recommend changing it or using an assumed name (for example, many authors write under a pen name).<\/p>\n\n\n\n To round out your career progression plan, Ries and Trout offer some specific suggestions for charting a course from your current professional positioning to your desired position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, they emphasize the importance of fit<\/em>. Your boss and company should fit with your values and goals\u2014in other words, your desired positioning. Conversely, your desired positioning should fit with your company\u2019s vision and goals. Ries and Trout advise that when applying or interviewing with a new company, you emphasize this fit. To do so, they advise that you focus on how your strengths match the company\u2019s strengths rather than how your strengths can help the company\u2019s weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, Ries and Trout emphasize the importance of networking and staying in touch with people outside your own organization. They contend that you get most of your big opportunities through these contacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Ries and Trout emphasize the importance of persistence with your career progression plan, since positioning is inherently a long-term proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Developing your skills is one of the most important ways to increase your productivity and advance your career<\/strong>. According to Brian Tracy in Eat That Frog!<\/a><\/em>, you must determine what you need to learn in order to do your job better and then learn it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Developing your skills has multiple benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identify your most important tasks and capabilities, then draw up a plan to continually develop your skills in these areas. You can learn anything\u2014from typing and computer proficiency to specialized knowledge in your field. Learning should be a priority. Basketball coach Pat Riley said, \u201cAnytime you stop striving to get better, you\u2019re bound to get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can take courses and workshops, or earn certifications and advanced degrees in your field. But there are also several ways to make learning part of your routine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) Read about your field or industry daily<\/strong>. Also, read books and articles about personal development and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Take courses and seminars<\/strong> addressing skills you need. Attend conferences and business meetings of your profession or occupation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Listen to audio programs in your car<\/strong>. The average driver spends 500 to 1,000 hours a year on the road. Use this time to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You build mental muscle or brain power by using your brain\u2014so the more you learn, the more you expand your capacity to learn. The only limits to how far you can go are the limits of your imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In every effort, there\u2019s always a major constraint or limitation that hinders your progress on completing your task or achieving your goal<\/strong>. Tracy says it can be internal or external. It can even be personal\u2014everyone has limiting factors. There are always multiple factors creating friction, but one is greater than the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s critical to identify constraints that are holding you, your project, or the company back.<\/strong> Removing it will make a bigger difference in how quickly you achieve your goal than almost anything else you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Potential bottlenecks can be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1)<\/strong> External<\/strong>: Outside factors affecting your ability to accomplish your goal include competitors, the market, customers, and the government. For instance, customers may have a false perception of your product that’s hindering sales. An external factor will turn out to be your biggest constraint only about 20% of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Internal<\/strong>: 80% of the time, your biggest constraint will be internal. It may be a person whose help you need or who has to sign off on an aspect of the process. It could be a key resource that\u2019s lacking or an organizational weakness, such as an inadequate marketing or sales effort. Other potential internal limitations are cash flow and operational problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Personal<\/strong>: Everyone has limitations affecting the pursuit of their tasks and goals, but one factor will predominate. To succeed, you need to honestly examine yourself by asking what personal quality or knowledge or performance gap is holding you back<\/strong>; what keeps you from accomplishing important tasks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your primary constraint may not be obvious at first glance. Make a list of every step in the process and every activity, then analyze them to determine what\u2019s holding you back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to accurately identify constraints, so that you choose the right strategy to eliminate it and restore progress toward your goal. Focusing on a lesser factor instead of the one that\u2019s hindering you the most will be a waste of time and a diversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, one company attributed lagging sales to its sales staff and management, and the company restructured the whole department in response. But this tactic failed to improve sales because the major constraint holding back sales was incorrect pricing, not the sales staff. Once they focused on the right thing, sales took off again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you fix the biggest constraint, you may find another that\u2019s now the biggest. Identify and remove each as you find it. Removing the most consequential bottlenecks will motivate and energize you to push your task to completion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Removing a limiting factor may be your most important task at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a global work economy, you\u2019re competing with many people with similar capabilities. Success relies on making yourself seem more valuable and desirable than others. According to Hoffman and Casnocha in The Startup of You<\/a><\/em>, knowing how to be more competitive means building a foundation of valuable assets, a guiding set of personal values and ambitions, and an understanding of your market\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the founders of successful startups, you must identify and strengthen your unique assets to gain an edge over competitors<\/strong>. Your assets are the resources you have, whether they be your skills, knowledge, and connections (what the authors refer to as \u201csoft assets\u201d) or your money and possessions (\u201chard assets\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoffman and Casnocha note that it\u2019s easier to identify your hard assets since they\u2019re physical or quantifiable, while soft assets might be more difficult to recognize. To identify your soft assets, reflect on things that you consider easy but other<\/em> people find challenging. For example, your research skills might be a soft asset\u2014when investigating an obscure problem as part of a project, you might find that your colleagues struggle to search for solutions and that you\u2019re able to locate helpful leads easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoffman and Casnocha recommend you focus on building skills and knowledge over earning money. They note that, while you need money to support your lifestyle and take career risks, skills and knowledge are far more valuable because they allow you to capitalize on new and more lucrative opportunities. When developing your soft assets, prioritize building specialized <\/em>skills first\u2014those that fit a specific niche and preferably have less competition. When you know one aspect of your field well, you can stand out and build a professional network more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you feel vulnerable and anxious as you navigate the challenges of your career, Perino says you should recognize your inner tenacity and resilience<\/strong>. You don\u2019t need external safety measures, such as a fail-proof financial cushion, because you are your own source of security. Your education, relationships, skills, and past successes are a strong foundation that can catch you if you fall. When you trust yourself to overcome adversity, handle obstacles, and recover from difficulties, you feel less anxiety and have greater self-confidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To build this self-trust, take an inventory of your resources and accomplishments. Reflect on your past achievements and support systems, reminding yourself of the skills and relationships that have helped you succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another important part of creating your competitive edge is defining your unique personal values and ambitions<\/strong>. These help guide you throughout your career and differentiate your work from your competitors\u2019. Hoffman and Casnocha explain that when you figure out what matters to you, whether it\u2019s becoming influential, making others happy, or a more specific cause like promoting sustainable living, you\u2019ll be internally motivated to pursue your career goals. When you\u2019re internally motivated, you work harder and create higher quality work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To define your values, the authors recommend you periodically reflect on your values and ambitions to see if they\u2019ve changed or consider talking about them with people who know you well. They argue that your aspirations will change and evolve as you progress through life, so you should accept occasional uncertainty and be comfortable with experimentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it\u2019s important to be passionate about your work, Hoffman and Casnocha argue that the best entrepreneurs are both realistic and visionary. To turn your assets and passions into a successful career, you must create work that appeals to your market<\/strong>\u2014the people who will buy what you\u2019re offering. <\/strong>Whether you\u2019re a leadership coach or a game designer, you have an audience you\u2019re catering to. Hoffman and Casnocha stress that success in the real world is determined by how other people value our work\u2014whether they find your coaching relevant or your games entertaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, you can enhance your competitive edge by keeping the market\u2019s needs in mind. The authors advise you to research what people value to identify fast-growing industries or a popular market that relates to your skills and values. Then, try to locate a niche with little competition so that your skills can stand out. For example, as a game designer, you might notice a growing interest in health and wellness and consider creating games about self-care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To give yourself the best chance for a promotion, Dana Perino argues in I Wish Someone Had Told Me\u2026<\/a><\/em>, you should make it easier for managers to envision you in a higher position. Do this by demonstrating initiative, readiness, and commitment. She recommends a strategy based on three key moves:<\/p>\n\n\n\nTable of Contents<\/h2>
1. Understand Your Current Position<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Identify Your Desired Position<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Consider Your Name<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Chart Your Course <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Develop Your Skills<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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6. Identify Constraints<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Embrace Your Competitive Side<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Identify and Strengthen Your Assets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Define Your Values and Ambitions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cater to Your Market\u2019s Needs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Set Yourself Up for Promotion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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