Tips for Growing Your Career in Management

Whether you are already a manager or are aspiring toward a leadership role, taking charge of your career is the best way to reach your goals. By thinking of your career as a business, not a job, you will be better prepared to take charge of the future. There are several ways you can do so, and they all involve stepping up in your company.

Stand Out from Others

Think about the things that make you stand out from others and look for ways of expanding upon these strengths. Instead of sitting around and waiting for someone to tell you what needs to be done, look for these things yourself. These are the things that will help you get past the resume stage of either an interview, or a discussion about a promotion as you develop your management career.

The powers at be want to have tangible evidence of your skills not just a piece of paper that suggests what they are. Perhaps you notice an inefficient process, so you decide to figure out how to make it more efficient. Try to fill a need instead of following others. You want to show your current and potential employers why you are unique from others. Share information about your accomplishments and other work to stand out.

Try Managing Your Company’s Fleet

If your organization has a fleet, ask if you can have more responsibility over the management of that. Perhaps you can assist the fleet manager in the hopes of someday stepping into this role. Look over the current processes to see what you might be able to improve upon. If the fleet is not yet using GPS tracking, do some research on potentially implementing it. Start your research by reviewing a guide on the benefits of choosing a GPS tracking device that you can utilize going forward.

Make the Right Promises

Don’t make any kinds of promises you can’t keep. You have likely received a promise that someone can’t keep, and it is never a pleasant experience. Instead, ensure you can follow through on every promise you make at work. And if you do make a mistake at work and realize you can’t keep your word, make sure you let the affected parties know immediately. This will help you be known as someone who is considerate of others’ time.

When you do make promises, get into the habit of overdelivering on them. Not only does this show you are reliable, but it indicates you are ready to take things up to the next level. Look over your work and consider ways of overdelivering. Perhaps you can organize the data in an easy-to-read manner or present it nicely. Or you might do a bit of extra research to really round out the information you are presenting. Consistently doing so will get you noticed faster than you might think.

Become Known as an Expert

You should become the individual that people turn to when they have a question about something, no matter how specialized that knowledge. That’s not to say you need to know everything about any subject. Instead, focus on becoming an expert at what you do and soak up any knowledge surrounding your niche. People will learn they can turn to you when they have a question about something. On the other hand, don’t offer unwanted advice if someone doesn’t ask for your opinion. There is no need to brag to everyone that you know a lot about organization, technology, or your niche. Instead, let others find out. You don’t want to be known as a know it all who is constantly offering unsolicited advice. This is especially true if you don’t really know a lot about a topic but want to sound like you do. You will find it is much better to truly know a lot about a narrow subject than to know nothing about everything.

Don’t Focus on Too Many Skills

In a similar vein, try not to focus on too many skills at once. This will not help you achieve the results you are looking for, because it guarantees that you will not pick up enough information about each area. Hone in on the areas you are very good at. For example, perhaps you have a knack for organization or time management. It’s a common misconception that you should only focus on the areas you are weak in. While it’s good to improve weaknesses, focusing on your strengths allows your skillset to go from decent to amazing.

It’s an added bonus of these are things you already enjoy. If you are somewhat good at these things, you might enjoy them because they come naturally to you. By using your strong areas at work, you are more likely to be confident and engaged, resulting in more satisfaction in your job. Of course, that’s not to say you should just call it good once you feel you have sufficiently developed your strengths. Instead, manage your time well by staying updated with the trends and adapting to them. Growing and evolving helps you stay competitive in your career, so make sure you are constantly learning something new in your industry.