Stop the Status Quo and Take Action Now!
If you are a tech specialist and stuck behind your desk whenever the big, boardroom meetings happen, it may feel like your career is at a standstill and you are not taken seriously. If this sounds familiar, have you done anything to move out of your current situation?
Albert Einstein stated that, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Well, if you want to move ahead in your organization and have a seat at the table where the key decision-makers are, you’ve got to make it happen yourself.
Instead of waiting around for a promotion, take action.
To start, try these ideas:
• Create a New Project.
If there is a problem at your organization, find a solution. Create a new project that attacks the problem and offer to manage the entire process, without asking for extra pay. Organize and monitor the project from beginning to end and get new teams of people working together. When you’re finished, you’ll be able to report your findings to your superiors and offer them unique and valuable information. And in the process, you’ll also establish new relationships with other teams within your organization.
• Take the Initiative.
What is keeping your management team up at night? Figure out what their needs are and fill them. Is there a job they really want completed, but they just don’t have the staff or resources to finish it? Stand out and help them with what needs to be done. While most employees will only do what is expected of them, you’ll stand out by going “above and beyond” your daily responsibilities to help them make the company more successful.
• Set goals.
Have you set any goals to move from where you are now to where you want to be? If not, now is the time to do so. Write down what you really want to accomplish today, this week, this month, this year, and in the years ahead. Then, figure out what you need to do to reach each goal. Maybe you need more education about a specific technology? Perhaps, you need to attend more networking events to meet people who can help you?
Figure out exactly what you want to do, take the steps necessary to accomplish your goals and set deadlines for doing so. Otherwise, how do you know where you’re going and how you are going to get there?
Only You Can Make It Happen.
As a tech person, it can be easy to hide behind a computer and just wait for an opportunity for a career advancement to come along. But if you don’t do anything to move ahead at your organization, you’re going to be sitting at your desk for a long time.
Instead, create bigger goals, take the initiative and make yourself known to the people who matter. By helping them solve problems and increase sales, you’ll become an invaluable part of the team. And who knows? In a matter of months, you could be sitting at the head of the decision-making table at your organization!
Robert LeCount is The Rich Dad Company’s Director of Information Technology. Based on Robert Kiyosaki’s best-selling book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” The Rich Dad Company uses innovative technology to offer a new way to think about money and investing. For more information and to increase your financial education, please write to Robert below or at www.richdad.com.
