I just cannot resist myself from quoting Jack Welch over and over again. Mind you, I have read dozens of books on business and leadership; some of them are good; but none of them came as downright and straight forward as Welch's. (If you are interested I recommend you reading "Straight from the gut" first and then the "Winning". As Warren Buffet said, No other management book will ever be needed)
Now, as I am approaching closer to my very first career promotion, I remember the words of Welch in his book "Winning" on getting ahead. On contrast with other career books, which provides lame, abstract philosophies on getting ahead, Welch gives you practical points like a capsule that can be swallowed.
Below, I have summarized few points on his take. Obviously, by summarizing, some of its sharpness is compromised. But nevertheless, it will give you the essence.
Some Dos and Don'ts
1. Do deliver sensational performance, far beyond expectations, and at every opportunity expand your job beyond its official boundaries
"an even more effective way to get promoted is to expand your job's horizons to include bold and unexpected activities. Come up with a new concept or process that doesn't improve just your results, but your unit's results and the companies overall performance. Change your job in a way that makes the people around you work better and your boss look smarter. Don't just do the predictable"
2. Don't make your boss use political capital in order to champion you
The following are some of the behaviours which leads to it.
a) Transgression of your company's values and behaviours
b) Lack of candor
"Not only boldface lying, but even withholding information accounts to lack of candor"
"Don't make your boss ask the perfect question to get information from you"
c) Wearing your career goals on your sleeve
3. Manage your relationships with your subordinates with the same carefulness that you manage the one with your boss
Two career-damaging traps:
a) When you spend too much time managing up:
"As a result, you become too remote from your subordinates, and you end up losing their support and affection"
b) When you get too close to your employees, overstepping boundaries, and end up acting more like a buddy than a boss
"the best thing employees can say about you is that you were fair, you cared, and that you showed them tough love"
4. Get on the radar screen by being an early champion of your company's major projects or initiatives
5. Search out and relish the input of lots of mentors, realizing that mentors don’t always look like one.
"there is no one right mentor. There are many right mentors"
6. Have a positive attitude and spread it around
"Have a sense of humor, be fun to hang out with. Don't be a bore or a sourpuss. Don't act important, or worse, pompous. Smack yourself in the head if you start taking yourself too seriously"
7. Don't let setbacks break your stride
"Once or twice or more times than that, you will not get promoted. Don't let it break your stride"
"work like hell to let those feelings go"
"by all means, do not let your career setback into the office cause celebre. What a way to alienate everyone"
"If you want to complain about your career, do it at home, at a bar across town, or wherever you go to worship. The people at work, while they know a lot about your case, should not be drawn into your emotional experience"
"More important even if you think of leaving your company, try to accept your setback with as much grace as you can muster, and even see it as a challenge to prove yourself anew. Such an approach will serve you well whether you stay or go"
In essence, "Exceed expectations, broaden your job's horizons, and never give your boss a reason to have to spend political capital for you. Manage your subordinates carefully, sign up for the radar-screen assignments, collect mentors, and spread your positive attitude. When setbacks come, and they will, ride them out with your heads up"
Of course it sounds ridiculous when read in such a condensed form. However when you read the book, which assists you with real life anecdotes and examples, amazingly everything will make sense and how. When I think of some of the amazing leaders I have worked with and relate them with some of the above factors, I could realize how true each of those is.
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