The Top 10 Ways to Get Noticed and Advance Your Career

If getting ahead was only about hard work the executive halls would be filled with “the next in line.” The work that you do is important but more important is, knowing how you add value and learning to demonstrate and communicate that value continually. Learn the rules of the game, apply them and you will stand head and shoulders above your other hardworking peers.

There are ten ways that you raise your company profile and advance your career.

1. Learn the business.

How does the business make money? Who are the customers? What do they want? How and when do they want it? Identify what the business does to serve customers and how the business generates profits. Identify the key products and work groups that drive the business success.

2. Learn how you impact the business.

Make the direct link between what the business does to generate profits and the job that you do each day. Evaluate your approach to projects and the tasks that you spend the most time on. Are the activities that you’re focusing on costing the company money, saving the company money, or increasing revenue? If you find that you are spending time on tasks that add no bottom-line value, take on a new approach that is aligned with the organizational goals.

3. Get clear on the goals.

Demonstrate how well you understand the big picture. When issues and challenges arise, resist the urge to jump in with solutions. Before you do anything pinpoint the goal. Continually talk about the goals of the organization, your department, and your team. Help others see the importance of establishing goals that are aligned with the overall mission.

4. Take on the tough assignments.

If you know that you have the ability to successfully complete projects that have not been offered to you, ask for them. If there are projects that others shy away from, nominate yourself for the job. Make sure you clarify with the stakeholder how your success will be measured before you begin. Even if you don’t hit a homerun you will be more prepared your next time on deck.

5. Create name recognition.

To get ahead you need to be known beyond the boundaries of your own department. Look for opportunities to link up with other departments or workgroups for projects. Identify key people in the organization that you need to know and those who should know you. Use your connections to ask for introductions. Once connected leave a positive lasting impression.

6. Create opportunities for yourself.

If you are not being offered assignments that stretch you or allow you to demonstrate your skills, propose one. There are problems waiting for solutions around every corner everyday. I often tell people to find the gap and fill it. What good manager would deny you the opportunity? If you are denied prepare the reports anyway. Make sure that you document compelling evidence to support your position.

7. Focus on the results.

The goals are what you are shooting for but the results are what you get. Don’t focus on the list of tasks that you have to complete. You could finish your entire checklist and accomplish little. Not only that you could waste precious time, money, and energy and get nothing in return. Track and report your accomplishments in terms of the results that matter to the organization. Speak to the results, quantify them whenever you can, make sure that you can justify your decisions. Use the terms, "increase," "improve," "reduce" to describe your efforts.

8. Master the unwritten rules.

Sometimes at work we find ourselves talking about decisions that were made and how something different should have been done. Don't fall into the trap of believing that work is guided by an unalterable script that should be followed. Those scripts, that playbook hold only the written rules of work. The written rules are the ideals the unwritten rules represent reality. Identify the five most important unwritten rules in your company.

9. Manage perception.

There is truth, there is reality and then there is perception. You have to assess yourself through the eyes of others. You don’t have to change who you are but you do have to manage the way that others see you. What are the three words that you want people to think of when your name is mentioned? Continually check to make sure that you are being perceived that way. Make sure that those characteristics are valued in the organization. Be open to feedback. Don’t just ask for it, listen and make the necessary adjustments.

10. Study the winners.

Look at the people who stand out in the organization. Whose opinions and suggestions are always acknowledged? Who has risen to the position you hope to have? This is your benchmark or standard bearer. You don’t want to mimic this person but you do need to watch how they do what they do. Observe their actions. Measure yourself against that success. Adopt the winning characteristics and fit them into your own style.

This piece was originally submitted by Valarie A. Washington, who can be reached at washington@think6results.com, or visited on the web. Valarie A. Washington wants you to know: That Results Matter! For 13 years she has worked to help companies improve organizational effectiveness, team performance, and individual productivity by delivering high impact training to corporations throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Visit us at www.Think6Results.com or contact Valarie at by calling 630-705-1189.