Category Archives: Advance Your Career

Client Tony Asks: In today’s environment, it seems so many careers get derailed.  Things start out promising, then bam! You’re taking a nose dive. What can I do to accelerate my career smoothly—without interruptions?

Coach Joel Answers: We live in a roller-coaster society with booms and busts. But there are ways to safeguard your career and make it much more likely you can keep it accelerating on an upward trend.

Take a look at these seven critical areas of business expertise.  As you increase your skills in these areas, you become more valuable to your employer—or any employer.

These skills can super-charge your career to ensure that you give more and more value, and in turn, are appropriately compensated.

1. Become an Expert.

Look at the work you currently do—or what you want to do. Find ways to become more skilled and effective in this field. Research, implement, get mentored. … Continue reading 7 Ways to Accelerate Your Career Without Interrupting It →

 You’re good at your job – you have great reviews, get excellent results, and you’re well-liked. Maybe you’re fairly new to your career, or maybe you’ve spent years at the same job without a promotion. Either way, if you if you keep performing, your success will be rewarded…right?

Unfortunately, no. Talent and results alone will not see you succeed. That may seem like a harsh statement after all the hard work you’ve done, but time and again, studies have shown it to be true – good work alone is not enough. You will need to take control and guide your own career in order to attain the success you have worked so hard for.

So what are you going to do? You’ve already done everything in your job description to meet and exceed expectations, so what’s next? In the new art of getting ahead, you’ll need to expand … Continue reading The New Art of Getting Ahead →

Melanie is in a total funk. She’s been working as a supervisor in her high-tech company for almost three years now. When she first came on board, she was considered somewhat of a superstar—a high-potential, high-achieving future leader. Lately, however, she feels she’s been fading into the woodwork. She’s not being asked to take on high-profile projects. Sometimes she’s not even invited to brainstorming sessions or brown-bag lunches—those informal, off-the-record meetings where a lot of new ideas and strategies are being discussed. What could have gone wrong?

Melanie unburdens herself to a close pal over lunch. Her friend listens patiently for a few minutes and then interrupts her rant with this advice: “Girl, what you need is an advocate!”

“What’s that?”

That night, Melanie dives into researching the topic of advocates at work. As she learns, a work place advocate is someone who will campaign on your behalf, champion your … Continue reading Why You Need an Advocate at Work—and How to Find One →

Katherine Asks: Your book, Getting Ahead – Three Steps to take your career to the next level focuses on the three key factors that will propel people up the career ladder – improving perception, increasing visibility and exerting influence. Why should I focus on these three steps? Won’t my work and professionalism speak for itself?

Joel Answers: Katherine, I wish it was that easy. The truth is that how quickly and successfully you climb the corporate ladder depends on far more than just your excellent work. Advancement is based on the perception you create, not just the merit you have accumulated or the skill level you have achieved.

For example, one person I coached was a senior business development manager who worked for Cisco Systems for 11 years. He came to me for coaching because he wasn’t advancing in the company as quickly as he wanted … Continue reading 3 Keys to Climbing the Corporate Ladder →

If deserving people aren’t getting career advancement opportunities, what is going wrong?

Why is one person climbing the ranks while another gets overlooked for promotion again and again? Your leaders work hard and are likely very good at what they do. Why isn’t that enough? My role as a corporate trainer is to help organizations find and develop their underutilized leaders. Women, minorities, and introverts may be amongst the most frequently unnoticed, for a variety of complex reasons. In my presentation, “Career Advancement: Release Untapped Potential of Your Underutilized Leaders,” I explain how senior executive can leverage existing talent while also saving time and money on endless recruitment. If you want to learn how to tap into the power of the PVI model to advance your hidden leaders, read on.

Utilize the PVI-Model to Help Generate Career Advancement Opportunities

“Reality is irrelevant; Perception is everything.” – Terry Goodkind

… Continue reading Career Advancement Opportunities for Minorities & Introverts →

Want to get noticed and get ahead in your company? Developing leadership skills demands a plan. Here are four, sure-fire ways to break through the clutter and stand out from the crowd. As you read them, think of ways you can apply them while you’re at work. For example, think of three things you can do to increase your visibility this week. Write them down. Then check them off as you accomplish them. Next week, do the same thing with building and demonstrating your confidence. In subsequent weeks, consider ways to promote yourself and focus on the things that matter most. With practice, these actions will become part of your daily routine.

Want to know how to get ahead at work? Practice these 4 ways. Be Confident

Confidence is being sure of yourself and secure with who you are. When you’re confident, those around you will be more … Continue reading How to Get Ahead at Work – Learn the 4 Sure-Fire Ways →

Mentors-on-Steroids

Do you have an advocate at work who is championing your cause? An advocate relationship is like a mentorship on steroids. Instead of remaining out of sight in the background, mentoring you privately, an advocate promotes you in a very public way, increasing your visibility and chances for promotion.

Who needs an advocate?

According to a white paper — “Advocacy vs. Mentoring” by Sylvia Ann Hewlett Associates — people who have advocates are more likely to ask for stretch assignments and raises. They have more doors opened for them and are more satisfied with their rate of career advancement. If that sounds like something you want, then you need to have an advocate — or several advocates — on your side.