You may have realized by now that, in your early years, most business self-help books are utterly useless for career progression. Particularly when green & keen, we’ve all tried reading them – One Minute Manager, 7 Habits, Who Moved My Cheese, How to Win Friends, etc.
The irony is, especially when fairly junior, anyone spouting the business babble comes across as weird and so is unlikely to be promoted.
[As an aside, if you feel that emotional intelligence isn’t your strong suit, to the point that you need to learn it in a book, my advice would be to focus on the Big Data / Operations side of marketing. This is no bad thing, as you’ll most likely end up earning a lot more than your charismatic colleagues.]
With few exceptions, my experience of career progression has been that if you work hard, take the time to master your brief, are a reliable team member, have good organization & communication skills and are always upbeat, you’ll rise above most of your peers.
The one self-help book I would recommend is Richard Templar’s The Rules of Work: The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business. It assumes you’re good at your job and suggests practical actions to help you get on and up. Rather than CEOs or wannabe Bransons, it’s aimed at those in the early stages of their career hungry to climb the ladder. Chapters include: If you can’t say anything nice, shut up; Act one step ahead; and Know the system – and milk it.
From the 100 rules, here are three I’ve found particularly valuable:
1) Know something others don’t
Hopefully you know about a lot of things, however it’s worth being the go-to person for something crucial. This makes you indispensible and – if you pick your topic well – offers an opportunity to be a subject matter expert with insights the exec team crave. For modern marketers, you may want to consider:
2) The power of the unsolicited report
Personally, I’ve found this the best suggestion in the book. Most of the time, CXOs are too busy to do the research and so are suitably amazed/delighted when an interesting, snappy report appears out of the blue that addresses a pain point.
Chances are, when it comes to implementation, your name will be the top of the list and you’ll find yourself on some plum projects. In your manager’s eye, you’ll be elevated to a thinker and a problem solver, rather than just a foot soldier.
3) Capitalize on moments to shine
Isn’t it annoying not to be appreciated for your brilliance at least a few times a day? The fact is, there’s likely to be only a handful of high-visibility opportunities a year where you get a chance to make a name for yourself. Like it or not, exec opinions of you are often based on these – so spot these opportunities a mile off and nail them.
The irony is, especially when fairly junior, anyone spouting the business babble comes across as weird and so is unlikely to be promoted.
[As an aside, if you feel that emotional intelligence isn’t your strong suit, to the point that you need to learn it in a book, my advice would be to focus on the Big Data / Operations side of marketing. This is no bad thing, as you’ll most likely end up earning a lot more than your charismatic colleagues.]
With few exceptions, my experience of career progression has been that if you work hard, take the time to master your brief, are a reliable team member, have good organization & communication skills and are always upbeat, you’ll rise above most of your peers.
The one self-help book I would recommend is Richard Templar’s The Rules of Work: The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business. It assumes you’re good at your job and suggests practical actions to help you get on and up. Rather than CEOs or wannabe Bransons, it’s aimed at those in the early stages of their career hungry to climb the ladder. Chapters include: If you can’t say anything nice, shut up; Act one step ahead; and Know the system – and milk it.
From the 100 rules, here are three I’ve found particularly valuable:
1) Know something others don’t
Hopefully you know about a lot of things, however it’s worth being the go-to person for something crucial. This makes you indispensible and – if you pick your topic well – offers an opportunity to be a subject matter expert with insights the exec team crave. For modern marketers, you may want to consider:
- Funnel math – If there’s one thing likely to get you noticed by those up the food chain, it’s fully understanding and articulating Marketing’s impact on revenue. This is the difference between fluff & bluff and talking the talk of the top table. Refer to Rozzer’s Marketing Metrics post if you need some guidance.
- Systems and data – This is fast becoming one of the most influential areas of marketing and yet – due to complexity or dullness – one that many avoid. If you’re not one of these people then chances are you’ll be in high demand. Several years ago, one of my team took a punt that Salesforce was going to be the foundation of our company’s sales engine and so decided to master it. In her mid 30s, she’s now VP Global Sales Operations, one of the most influential people in the company, and pulling in massive coin.
- Market analysis – It’s often scary how many strategic decisions are based on a sales/exec manager’s gut feel – usually because they’re too time poor to undertake proper research and analysis. Being the oracle of market data – such as segment size, growth and potential – will give you a seat in strategy discussions. And being able to present this in a concise, compelling way, will take you far.
2) The power of the unsolicited report
Personally, I’ve found this the best suggestion in the book. Most of the time, CXOs are too busy to do the research and so are suitably amazed/delighted when an interesting, snappy report appears out of the blue that addresses a pain point.
Chances are, when it comes to implementation, your name will be the top of the list and you’ll find yourself on some plum projects. In your manager’s eye, you’ll be elevated to a thinker and a problem solver, rather than just a foot soldier.
3) Capitalize on moments to shine
Isn’t it annoying not to be appreciated for your brilliance at least a few times a day? The fact is, there’s likely to be only a handful of high-visibility opportunities a year where you get a chance to make a name for yourself. Like it or not, exec opinions of you are often based on these – so spot these opportunities a mile off and nail them.
No comments:
Post a Comment