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STAND OUT at work and DEVELOP your leadership skills

HOW TO BECOME A KEY ASSET AT WORK

Let’s admit it, seeing others get ahead while your career remains stagnant is not a great feeling. Experts say this could be happening because you’re not marketing yourself enough to get a promotion. You won’t progress until you’re seen as worth advancing. So, how do you show you’re ready? Lara Haskins, owner of 360HR – a recruitment company in Johannesburg – shares tips on how to get that promotion:

1. What do you do best? Ensure your colleagues and managers know your skills and talents.

2. Capitalise on compliments. Help others; fill in when someone is on leave. Offer to share the workload.

3. Share the credit. Praise and highlight their achievements, success and contributions, no matter how small. They may reciprocate with positive feedback about your successes.

4. Become an industry expert. Update your skills with additional training. Build your brand on social media (LinkedIn and Twitter – even Facebook) and post relevant articles. Become the “go-to-guy” or “go-to-girl” in your department.

5. Seize opportunities to self-promote. Share about recent projects or achievements. Use opportunities as they come up to share meaningful accomplishments like targets reached or client successes.

Master the art of leadership

First-time managers often face a challenge in developing the unique skills needed to lead people. A recent survey done by the US Center for Creative Leadership shows a variety of leadership challenges first-time managers face. The most difficult is leading teams effectively, and learning how to be a better manager. For nearly 60% of respondents, it’s the ability to assert your authority over former peers while maintaining positive relationships. It’s a journey that seems daunting at first, but experts say it can be mastered. Here’s how:

Do a team building exercise to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each member in order to best-utilise their skills.

Always give positive reinforcement and balanced feedback so that if performance management is necessary it’s not seen in such a negative way. Connect with each person on a more personal level to understand where they come from, how they got to their position and what their passions are.

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.”

- Theodore Isaac Rubin, Psychiatrist and Author