Top 10 Ways To Excel at Work & In Your Career!

Steve Jobs says that the only way to do well at work is by loving what you do. If you haven’t found yet what you love, then you should keep looking. All of us without a doubt aspire and work towards good success at work.

Today, ‘job security’ is almost non-existent all over the world. You have to be proactive and strive to identify the right career for you. This is not all. With tough and ever changing economic times, and there are many uncertainties, you have to think outside the box and invest in a career plan that will definitely lead you to success.

All of us definitely wish and work towards being role model employees, and all of us want to excel at our jobs. However, being an expert in what you do is not enough to be a successful employee.

A lot of other skills such as attitude, professionalism, team work etc. also define your success in your career. All of us definitely aspire and work towards being role model employees — and all of us want to excel at our jobs. However, being an expert in what you do is not enough to be a successful employee.

A lot of other skills such as attitude, professionalism, team work etc. also define your success in your career. The term ‘job security’ is almost non-existent in today’s fast-paced world. You need to be proactive and able to identify the right career. It does not just stop there. With turbulent economic conditions and other uncertainties, you have to be smart and put in place a career plan that will eventually lead you to success.

Ways to have a successful career:

1. Have a key goal

People who succeed in their work are the people who are happy with their jobs and to who it is clear exactly what they want from their work. They distinguish their goals and draft out a well-structured plan to achieve their goals. To best achieve their set goals, prosperous people go ahead to place timelines and deadlines with expected targets to help them plan and work towards success.

“To begin with, put in place a plan for the next five years, writing down what you want, where you want to be, and the goals you want to achieve. Such a plan may give you the feeling that your goals are far off, but do not be discouraged. It is a good practice to regularly evaluate your progress based on the milestones you have set. This will help you get closer to your goals,” says Lalitha M Shetty, Director-Human Resources, Omega Healthcare Management Services Pvt Ltd.

2. Expand your knowledge and skills

Professional life is different from college and yet, one has to be willing to learn each time. It is important you expand your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant and critical to your organization. Professional life is different from college and yet, one has to be willing to learn continuously. Always learning new skills will be the key to success. It is important you expand your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant and critical to your organization.

For getting ahead, you should keep up with the current industry news, apart from paying attention to trends outside your area of specialization.

“With the advancement of technology and other environmental forces changing rapidly, it is imperative for you to build on your skillset not only to perform your job, but also to stay relevant and marketable. It doesn’t have to be a master’s level qualification, a specific short course may also be useful to enhance your skills and diversify into new areas. Demonstrate commitment to your own professional development. By showing the motivation and willingness to continually learn, you’ll find opportunities to develop your skills and grow in your career. Make sure people within your organization know when you have qualified,” says Shetty.

3. Be very confident in your work

It is hard to go wrong with confidence. Confidence is one factor that is very key for one to be successful and move forward in their work. No matter the field of work, confidence is good to demonstrate that you are well conversant with what you do.

Don’t ever doubt your individual capabilities. When you find yourself with doubts, it is advisable to consult your superior or other team members and accept support and guidance. Self-confidence is important for you to grow higher up in your confidence and have your superiors at work know that you are very capable of handling bigger tasks and even responsibilities. Even as being confident is good, don’t allow the confidence make you arrogant. Arrogance can be a great setback in your career path.

4. Be willing to accept other responsibilities

When you are willing to take up additional responsibilities at work, it shows your willingness and desire to help your working department and organization to grow. This will add your value to the organization, by helping you to showcase your talents and knowledge that are key in adding value to the organization.

There will be days when your workload is not much and you think you can comfortably take on additional work, it is good to help out and offer assistance to other team members.

With this, the management knows clearly that you are willing to take on additional tasks and that you are capable of tackling more responsibilities as well. Reaching out to other team players is a sure to show and demonstrate your role as a good team player. Be keen and on constant look out for any additional tasks and whenever you can, take on added tasks.

5. Maintain a good relationship with your manager

For you to succeed in your career, having a positive and good relationship with your manager or your boss is very crucial.

Catch up with your boss and talk about your work and development in the company. Concentrate on short-term objectives and plan strategies to achieve them. Make it known to your boss that you wish to know how you can be more effective at work. Look out for honest feedback from your manager especially on how you grow to higher levels within the company. It might be necessary to learn to have a more strategic and not a tactical view of the company.

It is good to ensure that your manager is always informed at all times, since a manager is your first point of contact in any organization. Also ensure you document each one of your achievements and send your manager a break down every month. In case you have people who work under you, it is good that you submit to your boss an update on their success as well.

6. Be professional at all times

Regardless of the nature of your job, being professional at all times is important. A keen professional follows all rules and is kind, friendly, and wise. Avoid getting involved in petty office politics and unnecessary gossip, which may even cost you your job.

Respect your company’s corporate values and code of ethics. You also require adequate people skills so as to be a good professional at work. Ensure you are very social, that you get along well with the other employees and that you attend work functions as well. By doing all these, be sure to be at your very best behavior all the time. Upholding work ethics is also an important part of being a good professional. Being professional also involves dressing professionally and formally when going to work. Dress well for that job you want and avoid wearing casual outfit as much as possible.

7. Take time to network and meet more people

For one to be successful, one should be good in building strong stable relationships at work. Having to build a strong relationship at work doesn’t just mean friendship but building a strong relationship of trust and respect.

There are those people who might find this to be a very challenging task, however, networking always pays off.

You might be an amazing performer in your work, but then being likable and your social skills could be the important factors in determining your success.Being social with others is key to achieving good success at work as achieving can never be done all alone. Meeting with people helps to put you in touch with those who share a similar career path and similar goals as you. This will enable you to come up with new ideas and new structured ways which could help you better in meeting your goals.

8. Create your very own opportunities

In as much as being good at your job is important, it helps so much to be different. What makes successful people unique is their spirit to go beyond their work limits.

One needs to have keen observation and an eye for detail and always be on the watch out for important opportunities. An opportunity might be in you finding solutions like an innovative and creative way to do an already existing job, or even by identifying a new position. Talk to the management and discuss how possible it would be creating this new post and present yourself as being a potential candidate. These are key and useful steps that can help you succeed in your career and professional life.

9. Get yourself a good mentor

It is normally good to look for good people who will offer you support in building and developing your own career path. A good mentor could help you build on your basic career skills and the expertise required for you to move to the next level. Mostly.

A senior person who has been serving in the organization for a long time would be in a better position to offer you guidance as a mentor. Mentors can actually be your opportunity to learn more concerning the organization and understanding its core business. Having a good mentor will also help you to identify the right opportunities for you in the organization based on your abilities, in line with your career goals.

10. Be yourself & Have a positive attitude

All said and done, the most important aspect is for you to be your true self and to have a success attitude. Do your part with a lot of dedication, enjoy doing the work and be passionate about it. Happiness is very important to performing well and boosting your abilities at work.it is not necessary to self-promote yourself so as to get noticed.

You can easily build a positive work culture around yourself with the help of a positive attitude. Stay committed to your profession and work while displaying the virtues of competence, diligence and loyalty.

Take enough pride in the job you do. Only when you are your true self will you be able to culturally align yourself within an organization. Your work should be a reflection of your values, and such employees who take a personal interest in their work are the ones who are trusted with positions of responsibility.

Also, surround yourself with “can-do” people. The type of people you surround yourself with can greatly impact your success. It can either enhance your chance for success and may even enhance your ambition and creativity. You become what you think. A positive mentality with a thought process channelized towards achieving success will certainly help you get there.

Succeeding in your work requires:

Taking initiative

In today’s careers, requirements are more highly developed and acquired, and require much more than someone who avoids to take risks. Today’s career landscape is quite competitive and therefore employers are looking for people who can bring fresh ideas onboard and who can take initiative, start up new projects, present new solutions and create new opportunities for the business.

Evaluating yourself

One of the best ways to achieve any form of success is to keep on assessing your performance. You don’t have to wait for the annual review, you can evaluate your own yourself. A good way to do this would be to have goals that you can assess and measure and set a timeline for achieving them. Start with having short-term goals when you’re new at the job. Have a well detailed plan to achieve these goals. Break the tasks down into weekly tasks or even daily and hourly asks and fill out a small form at the end of the day or week to assess where you are, what is already achieved and whether there is a need for you to change your strategy. You could even share your own performance report to your managers, to show how you’ve progressed. This will show your superiors that you value and understand the value of constant self-evaluation and improvement.

Being ready and willing to learn

To succeed in your career, you have to be ready and willing to learn. No matter which college you graduated from or grades you attained, professional life is so different from college life. Be prepared to have so many questions pop up every day asking what you’re doing. It might take you days to get adapted to your duties at your new job, so show your superiors that you are teachable, good at paying attention and always willing to learn new things.

Anticipating needs

To achieve success in your new job and achieve overall career success, you will have to be well aware of what your manager wants. Ensure you stay a step ahead of your boss by asking yourself, what I would want done next if you were your boss. By making sure that you get things efficiently done in time, and take the initiative to do things yourself, by this you will be showing a positive, showing a go-getter attitude to the management.

Ensuring you Communicate well

Communication is very important to an employee and an organization’s success. If your manager has to ask you for a status report every now and then, you’re not doing everything you need to be doing.

Setting goals you can achieve

Remember your boss is not paying you for ‘working hard’ or for ‘staying busy.’ At the end of the day, what is important to your employer is how you’re contributing to fulfilling the company’s Objectives, both short term and long term objectives. Therefore, always remember that you’re being paid to deliver on already clearly defined goals and objectives that significantly impact the company’s performance and overall vision. This goal-focused mindset will help you achieve great career success, no matter where you currently are on the corporate ladder.

Acting and not only talking

The value of action is far greater than that of mere words. Use this as a principle in your dealings at the office. Instead of bragging about all the things you can do, and then never actually delivering, you ought to show management what you are capable of.

Gaining trust

This is one of the most important tips for success you need to ensure success when you start a new job. Think of it this way: the quicker you earn your boss’ trust, the sooner they’ll have less to worry about and hence more free time to focus their attention on other pressing matters.

If your boss finds you trustworthy, they’ll delegate tasks to you. Make sure you meet your deadlines and keep your promises. It’s critical, especially early on in your relationship with your boss, that you fulfill every commitment you make, no matter how difficult it may seem.

Creating solutions

Everyone can turn their problems into their manager’s problems. Be the solution provider, not a problem creator. Great employees solve problems. If you don’t have the authority to give the final verdict on a problem relevant to your work or department, then make sure you offer solutions to your boss and try to help as much as you can, wholeheartedly.

Being compassionate

Being a good employee requires compassion and understanding that your manager, and fellow employees are doing their best. Throwing a tantrum is not going to do anyone any good, neither will constantly complaining about how much work you’re doing. At the end of the day, everyone is doing their fair share of the work they’re getting paid for.

Many of these tips of success behaviors that can help you succeed in your career are also found in great managers. By keeping these in mind, you can put yourself on the path to true greatness and achieve your ultimate career goals.

Once you graduate from college and get a job, your next immediate concern is how to succeed in your career. Because the world has become so competitive, doing well in your job and moving forward with your career is more important now than ever. Career advancement and recognition are on every professional’s list of goals.

But what sets the exceptional professionals apart? The answer is simply willingness and a strong desire to perform well.

Your work should be a reflection of your values, and such employees who take a personal interest in their work are the ones who are trusted with positions of responsibility.

Also, surround yourself with “can-do” people. The type of people you surround yourself with can greatly impact your success.

It can either enhance your chance for success and may even enhance your ambition and creativity. You become what you think. A positive mentality with a thought process channelized towards achieving success will certainly help you get there.

Excelling in your career also requires a certain amount of investment, planning and perseverance to stick to the plan. A clear goal with a focused plan can help you stand apart as a successful individual in the industry.

Invest in yourself and pave your way to success as career success is very much achievable, even in a situation where you land yourself a non-paying job for experience, love your work and grow up the ladder with time. Patience in any profession is also crucial. Success is sweet but hard work is so much necessary sweat.

Originally published at https://www.howsitlike.com.