The One Thing I Wish They Taught Me In School
How to remove your biggest roadblock: You
This took me a long time and a lot of failures to learn, but once I found the best ways to implement this mindset I saw an immediate improvement in my overall happiness with my career.
Take these words to heart and I can guarantee you will be removing one of the biggest roadblocks to your success, you.
I had been working at my previous company as an intern for two summers then I was brought on as regional manager, leapfrogging two levels in the process. How was I able to accomplish this coming from a background of no previous people management and without a college degree?
I just asked.
That is a bit of an oversimplification, but not by a lot. The position was open, I knew that they were considering people from other markets, they were having a hard time finding someone, I had been with the company for over two years and I was familiar with the market. However, no one had approached me directly or even asked if I had any recommendations, so I called my boss and made my case. She was immediately onboard and we strategized on how to win over our director. In the end I got the role and stayed on with the company until moving to Japan.
This is what no one seems to tell you, You need to Manage Up and set clear expectations for the direction that you want to move in your work life. Those who figure this out early go much further, much faster, than those that don't.
Despite this early bit of success I still did not have a firm understanding of this concept. While working with Honest, my previous employer, each year we would be asked to share our overall goals for the next year as well as the parts of the job that we wanted to improve upon or explore. Each year I would work on a few really exciting projects in social or campaign creation, which were out of the scope of my role, but then in review I would only say that I wanted to get better at my field position and expand the same areas I had been working on for the past year.
Although this went over ok with my manager, in hindsight I can recognize that she was really asking me where I wanted to go within the company and how she could help me get there. I was completely missing the point of the annual review!
I had let my imposter syndrome get the best of me and not wanting to appear selfish or greedy, I simply acted content in the place I was. If I could go back now, I would take advantage of the amazing opportunity that having a manager so invested in your development really yields; the opportunity to grow and gain experience in the areas you are truly interested in. This is what it means to have an “open mouth” versus a “closed mouth that doesn’t get fed.”
Open mouths do.
It wasn’t until moving to Japan and joining Wahl+Case that I was able to fully appreciate this law of career growth.
Working as a recruiter showed me the attitudes, skills, and mindsets that really build success and make candidates exciting to work with. I also gained a taste for working in a Tech startup environment with all of its flexibility and agility. After I joined, I was able to share my opinions and ideas with my leadership and gained recognition for doing so. This created a positive feedback loop where I could leverage my previous experience to push to grow into the position that I wanted to be handling. And It worked! Starting next month I will be working in a hybrid role that blends both my sales and marketing experiences and I could not be more excited! I know this would not have been possible if I had not developed the skill to “Open my mouth.”
At times, things can seem beyond your reach or not a part of your official responsibilities, but if you take charge of your own career earlier, I assure you that you will see the results and feel (and be) more in control of where you are heading.
I hope this helps you open your mouth and get fed!