Episodes

When it comes to dealing with people, it can be difficult when they don't share the same opinion you do as to how to handle a specific situation and that can often lead to conflict or complications. The fastest way to move past those differences and get back to moving forward is to put yourself in their shoes. If you can understand people's thoughts and motivations it goes a long way towards formulating an argument that sways them to your side. How well can you read them? Some people will mask ...

If you want to be successful in your career, you will need to build relationships with the people at work -- peers, superiors, and subordinates. Strong relationships build strong networks. This week, we look at the different types of relationships you'll find in the office and key aspects to building them. Unless you're the CEO, everyone has a boss, a manager, a leader. When it comes to career growth, this is probably the most important relationship to build and maintain. A good relationship wi...

In the 1960s, Dr. Laurence Peter defined a theory known as the Peter Principle. This theory states that people in an organization are promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. This usually happens when someone is promoted from a position that requires one set of skills to a new position that relies on completely different skills that the person is not equipped with. While they may be quite competent at their previous position, in their new position, they don't have the competency re...

When you speak up at work to offer your ideas, have you considered how loud is your voice? I'm not talking about volume, but how many people hear your message? How much weight does your opinion hold? How large is your sphere of influence? A management position comes inherently with influence over the team that you lead based on being in a position of authority. But influence does not necessarily mean power or authority. This week, we look at some strategies for how you can grow your sphere of in...

Advancing your position or getting promoted at work can sometimes feel like a struggle. If you are feeling stuck and wondering why you aren't advancing, this week's episode will help you understand the key misconception that most people face and learn some strategies you can put in place to get past it. As we go through childhood, we are often told that through hard work, we can be successful. While this is true in large part, just by working hard and being good at your job is not always enough...

If you pay attention to what is going on within your company you can often see what direction things are going to go. With this warning, you can PRE-act to upcoming changes instead of RE-acting to them. This proactive stance will put you in the best position to succeed when those changes happen. Whether the changes are localized within your department or if there are larger changes coming that impact the entire company, everything starts with understanding who are the key players in decisions a...

At some point, you may find yourself in a position where you are able to attend an industry conference. When this happens, with enough planning, you can leverage this conference to help advance your career. At any conference, there will be panels, talks, and sessions by industry experts. These can help you understand upcoming changes to any regulations that apply to your industry. They can also offer new techniques and solutions to problems that you may have been facing. Often, the speakers als...

I've mentioned Jackie Simon in the past. If you aren't following her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiesimon1/), you should. She's a leadership coach and regularly posts some insightful content. This week's episode of the ManagingACareer.com podcast is inspired by a post she made this week on Delegation vs Leverage (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jackiesimon1_delegating-wont-get-you-promoted-activity-7230196646461026304-D_UT). Links to Jackie's profile and the inspiration post will ...

In today's episode of the ManagingACareer.com podcast, we take a look at a framework you can use to evaluate whether your current role will have a positive impact on your ability to advance your career. This framework is supported by four E's: Enablement, Empowerment, Engagement, and Enthusiasm. Enablement: The first E is Enablement. In Episode 51 - Success or Failure (https://www.managingacareer.com/51), I use the quote from Alexander Graham Bell, "the only difference between success and failu...

Having regular conversations with your manager is important to ensure that you are on track for your desired career growth. But just as important is to occasionally have similar conversations with your skip level leaders. When it comes to skip level one-on-ones, there are three key outcomes to look for. First, is to build a relationship with your leaders. Second is to have an opportunity to highlight your contributions to the organization. And third is to have more insight into the direction th...

I was hosting a coaching call the other day and I wanted to share the problem that we discussed in case you are experiencing a similar situation. The person I was speaking to has an issue where their manager is actively sabotaging their career development. If you want to be successful, you have to take control of your career because no one else will do it for you. And when your leader creates roadblocks that prevent you from growing the way that you wish, it becomes even more important to own yo...

At the time of this episode, we're a little more than halfway through the current year. Most companies have an annual goal setting process and it's a good time to check in on your progress towards those goals. Waiting until the end of the year to review your progress doesn't give you enough time to react and adjust to ensure success. In Episode 47 - Annual Goal Setting (https://www.managingacareer.com/47), I go through several frameworks you can use to help define your goals. If you followed th...

Let's talk about credit. I'm not talking about the financial mechanisms by which you borrow money from a bank using plastic card. I'm talking about the type of credit involved when someone receives recognition for work performed. If we consider our relationship to credit: we can TAKE credit; we can GIVE credit; we can STEAL credit; and we can GIVE AWAY credit. In today's episode, I'm going to talk about each of these different modes and how they can impact your career advancement. Taking credi...

I firmly believe that you have to own your career. If you rely on someone else to drive it, it will likely not go in the direction that you want -- if it actually goes anywhere at all. In each episode of this podcast, I cover a topic that makes you think about your career, but taking action is still up to you. Sometimes, we find ourselves procrastinating even when we know we should be acting. This week, I want to cover several reasons why you may be procrastinating and how to get past them. We ...

The other day, I saw a post on the co-Founder of the Maven learning platform. Her post was a synopsis of an issue of her newsletter that really resonated with me ( ). It was on the topic of Finesse in Communications. You could also...

The goal of most people in the corporate world is to get promoted. Along with that promotion is usually personal growth, more responsibility, and increased pay. But, what happens if you find yourself promoted too soon? There could be many reasons that you receive a promotion. Someone more senior could have left -- either the team or the company. You could have also pushed for it with your leaders and everything aligned for them to promote you. You may have even received a promotion that you wer...

I was reading an article on LinkedIn by that was titled . This article talks about how a new leader could build a AAA team - a team with the three A's: Accountability, Autonomy, and Authority. From a leader perspective, it's important to...

The past few weeks, several of us at my job have been working on a slide deck that will be presented to an executive that is a few levels above mine. The final deck is just three slides, but it took a lot of time to get those three slides nailed down to the ideal content. Most of the time was spent on simplifying the content to only the information that the executive would actually care about and refining the slide design to be more visually focused. For a deck to only be three slides but for i...

I was reading through LinkedIn the other day and there was a where he had made a mistake but owning up to it and correcting the issue lead to an overall great outcome. That post inspired this podcast episode. It can be scary when you...

I focus a lot on the Individual Development Plan or IDP as a tool for managing your career. As a singular document, it encapsulates where you want your career to go and the steps it will take to get there. If you need to review the IDP, refer back to Episodes 036 through 040 where I break down each section. But if you are unsure of what that end goal should be, understanding your WHY may help you resolve that problem. Have you ever spent time of self-reflection on your motivations for choosing ...

There is a lot of uncertainty in the job market right now with so many news stories talking about this company or that company laying of large portions of their workforce. If you've been following the guidance that I've shared in the various episodes of this podcast, you've likely done all within your power to keep your name off of "the list", but sometimes, no matter what you do, you could find yourself impacted by a layoff. When you lose your job, it's ok to have feelings. Acknowledge them. W...

Manager, Leader, Mentor, Coach; all four can help you advance your career. This week, we take a look at each role and how each one can help you in your quest for a promotion. At the most simplistic level, the roles can be summarized as: A Manager tells you want to do. A Leader enables you so that you can do it. A Mentor shows you how to do it. And a coach changes the way you think about it. Your manager is responsible for what projects you work on. It's important to have a manager that recogn...

The other day, while browsing Facebook, a quote appeared on my feed that I found very inspiring. "The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action" - Alexander Graham Bell. This week, I want to break down why I find this quote so inspiring. In general, I consider myself a fairly successful person. But most of that success has come from not being afraid of the results and just TRYING…..or using the language of the quote, taking action. If you are looking to make pro...

If you regularly listen to my podcast, it's either because you know me personally and want to help me out (thanks, I appreciate it) or because you found me because you are looking for advice on how to position yourself for a promotion. I hope that you find my advice targeted and actionable while being presented with simple clarity. But, I'll also be the first to tell you that you should listen to multiple people and synthesize your own plan about the best course forward because no one else live...