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3 REASONS YOU CAN’T TAKE SHORTCUTS ON YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS
So, you have a bunch of friends who keep getting promoted and getting awesome new jobs (along with terrible titles) and you’re feeling like your career is lagging. You just can’t stop asking yourself how you’ll ever hold up. Remember that old story about the tortoise and the hare? Well, as someone who’s always in a hurry to get to the next level, I’ve found that slow and steady is a really great way to go. There is no substitute for hard work experience if you really want to be successful in your chosen field.
DEPTH GIVES YOU CREDIBILITY
The higher you rise in an organization, the more people will look to you for the assurance that you really know what you are doing. And here’s the truth: There are going to be a lot of things you’ve been asked to weigh in that you really don’t know much about and you’re actually going to feel a lot more unsure of yourself than you are. You wish. But if you have real depth in just one specific area—what a boss of mine used to call “your hit pocket skill”—you’ll have a niche in which you know you’re adding value to the team. And that’s where you turn when you need a confidence boost. This in turn will make you more comfortable being more sensitive and open to asking questions in areas that are foreign to you. Leaders never have all the answers, and one of the biggest characteristics of good managers is their willingness to admit what they don’t know and ask for help. So, if you know you’re kicking ass and adding value because of your depth and expertise in an area, you’re more likely to ask for help with your weak bits. And it’ll make you far more well-rounded and less likely to have big, ugly blind spots that can get your team in trouble.
DEPTH GIVES YOU CREDIBILITY
Leadership is a lot about your ability to influence others, especially with the pace of change in organizations today, and a major cultural shift from “command and control” style leadership. Ultimately—even when you have a big title like the president or chief something—people won’t really follow you if you can’t inspire and influence them to do so. And it’s not just people who report to you—often the hardest-hit audience is your partner or other stakeholders you need to onboard with your team’s plan.
YOU NEED TO HAVE THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS
Leadership is a lot about your ability to influence others, especially with the pace of change in organizations today, and a major cultural shift from “command and control” style leadership. Ultimately—even when you have a big title like the president or chief something—people won’t really follow you if you can’t inspire and influence them to do so. And it’s not just people who report to you—often the hardest-hit audience is your partner or other stakeholders you need to onboard with your team’s plan.