The TOP 4 actions to Career Success:
In the past 25 years of working in retail and mentoring hundreds of emerging leaders in their quest to success, I had a window into their lives and watched people dream about and get to their dream job.
Through this lens I was fortunate enough to observe some key behaviours that have paved the way for many people to achieve success.
No matter what your profession is, retail or any other these actions will lead you to greater success and fulfilment in your personal life.
The TOP 4 actions you must take to achieve success and fulfilment:
1. Gaining Clarity This sounds simple but for many it’s not. It took me years to figure this out. I fell into retail as a part time job and always thought it was my back up job until I did something else. When I got clear that I wanted to inspire people and teach them to lead, then my career grew and grew. Today I get to add value to others by teaching them how to be the best leaders they can be. Making a difference with people is great but it won’t get you a clear career path. Decide how you want to make a difference and get clear on what that looks like. When you get clear you will be amazed at how many doors start to open for you.
2. Self Awareness “ Every Set back is a step forwards if we look at this way. Turn your daily challenges into daily lessons, by becoming aware of what they are. If you are not self aware you don’t know what it is you need to work on, and if you are waiting for someone else to tell you may never know. Self awareness starts with a desire and a passion to learn and improve yourself. In my own career I have always built myself a personal development plan. This can include reading a leadership book or following a linked in group that has relevance, for example talking about leadership skills. Take an inventory of your own abilities and also know what is needed in your career to grow and develop your self, put a plan in place and then just do it.
3. Relationships “ It seem so obvious but lots of people underestimate how powerful this is. I was having a conversation with a long time friend the other day about how frustrated he was in his current career choice, and he shared with me his manager keeps telling him how negative he is. This is not helping him grow to that next level, people think that technical skill is enough but trust me when I say this is the furthest from the truth. How do you think you get promoted by the people that are above you. Make it your business to listen communicate and add value to your team and supervisors they will take notice? I always wanted to be the easiest person to manage and guess what it worked. Now you have to stand to your principles and beliefs but you can still get along with people while doing that. Learning how to influence through being an agreeable leader is a skill and one that will build positive relationships. Managers sometimes see this as a weakness but in-fact it is completely the opposite.
4. Commitment and work ethic “ I understand that people always talk about work life balance and that’s GREAT when you have achieved the success you want. However the truth is work ethic and commitment matter. Obviously you don’t want to get burnt out and you have to have time for your family so be the master of your calendar. But people like people that are hard working and someone that they can trust to get the job done. People that have stood out on my teams are the one that always take on more and achieve everything before the deadline. Remember when you were at school was their such a thing as homework balance? I don’t remember that. When I see my kids working at a project where they spent every night working hard with no play time this is when they got the A+. Some people are just naturally gifted and can skate through projects but most of us have to work at it to achieve the results we want, so don’t do things half hearted and expect to get promoted to the next level.
There are certainly many more articles out there that will tell you allot more advice on what and how to grow in your career and I would be open to any insight that you can get hold of, but remember one thing make sure that when you want to know about how to do something talk to someone that has done it. These are 4 of my top principles that have helped me reach success in my own career, I hope this helps you when crafting your plan for Success.
People ask me all the time can you learn leadership? Are some people simply destined to be good leaders while others will forever be awkward in the role?
Well, while some people are “born with it (as Maybeline would have us believe), it certainly is possible to learn the skills needed for leadership if you don’t already have them. If you already have leadership abilities then it will enhance your natural leadership traits to even further increase your influence. Which will improve you and your teams performance and increase your results.
Developing yourself as a Retail leader means understanding what makes people tick, building your confidence, learning to persuade others and becoming a stronger and more influetial character.
Being a great leader is not only important in the workplace “ it’s important for everything that you do.
And this is the good news: not all great leaders are born.
Some are made and you can be too once you learn how to build up your confidence, your influence and your ability to make the right decisions under pressure.
It’s easy to understand so you can read through and take action right away.
Let me introduce you to our brand new guide: “The Intentional Leader” . If you like the 4 principles in this article then you will absolutely love this e-book on the top 10 tips for todays retail mangers.
I share in more detail with practical activities at the end of each chapter that you can apply immediately.
Being Intentional in your life by investing in yourself should not be last on your to do list. Great leaders are constantly learning more about leadership to pass on to their team. I read books and even blog posts that can help elevate my team and keep them inspired to grow. Great leaders want to work for even greater leaders. To build a high performing team of people it starts with the manager of that team.
I read something today managing is getting people to do things they don’t want to do, leadership is inspiring people to do things they didn’t think they could do.