11 Ingredients of Career Success

Here are some thoughts from the great personal finance book Grow Your Money!: 101 Easy Tips to Plan, Save, and Invest. They list the 11 ingredients of career success as follows:

• Prepare a plan.
• Do your professional reading.
• Take classes.
• Do more than is expected.
• Welcome additional tasks.
• Find a mentor.
• Be a mentor.
• When the time is right, cultivate specialization.
• Focus and follow-through.
• Develop strong speaking and writing skills.
• Don't be afraid to take risks.

Here's my take on each of these:

1. If you don't have a plan and work the plan, your career is on auto-pilot and you'll get auto-pilot raises, promotions, etc. You do NOT want this! You want above average raises, promotions, etc. That's why you need to actively manage your career.

2. Yes, reading is a great way to grow your career.

3. Be sure if you take a class that it's worthwhile. I've had a ton of "sounded good on the brochure but ended up being a waste of time" seminars. That said, a good class/seminar is worth its weight in gold. My preferred method of finding good ones is to ask those in my network for recommendations.

4. I'd change "do more than expected" to "deliver more than expected".

5. A key part of "welcoming extra tasks" is the can-do, positive attitude you display when doing it.

6. My best mentoring relationships (both being mentored and being one) have developed naturally. That said, don't wait forever if one isn't developing for you. Find someone you trust and respect and ask them to guide you. Most people will be honored that you asked.

7. Look for those "bright stars" that are a level or two below you and try and help them develop their careers. By helping them, you'll learn a ton too.

8. My career worked the opposite -- I started out very focused and as I progressed higher and higher I got more general in the skills I developed/was asked to develop.

9. Another way to say "deliver results."

10. I was talking to my wife the other night about how all those school plays, debate events, and speech competitions in high school have paid dividends for me throughout my career. They taught me to be relaxed in front of an audience, how to speak extemporaneously, and the basic steps to making a good speech/presentation. These skills have benefited me BIG TIME during my entire career.

11. Take calculated risks. I did a few times (for example, see My Jobs, Working for a Maniac and My Jobs, The Dot Com Bubble Bursts for details). Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. But if you select them carefully and have a well-thought-out Plan B in case they go south, then many of these will pan out by super-charging your career.

Comments

[David@DINKS Finance]

I'm in a communications class and I HATE giving speeches. I just get nervous/self-conscious. But I know that I KNOW how to deliver a great speech, it's just a matter of going up there and doing what I have to do. I wish I had those experiences you had throughout high school, but now I need to work even harder in college to play catch-up.

Speaking is something you can't get away from, and I hope I will continue to devleop my skills. Like you said, it's paid off dividends for you.

[FreedIncome]

Great post! I just interviewed an executive at a Fortune 500 company that in four years went from the bottom of the ladder to top executive. He employed most of the items you list.

[FMF]

Freed --

Our advice is probably similar because I've been an executive at a Fortune 500 company too. :-)

[Stephanie]

Hey just wanted to let you know that I "dugg" your blog here (on digg). Thanks for the advice!

[FMF]

Stephanie --

Great! Thanks!!!!!

[Pop]

"I just interviewed an executive at a Fortune 500 company that in four years went from the bottom of the ladder to top executive."

Can you please give me the name of the company so I know which company to never invest in?

[Kantoorpand kantoorruimte huren]

Nice advices. Only the point: 'be a mentor' is not clear to me.