Studies have shown that two-thirds of your success depends on your emotional competence. If you are reinventing your career/business, YOU INC, so that you will be more successful in the New Year, you have to marry your experience and expertise with emotional competence.
Over the years I’ve watched so many really smart women with a wealth of experience either get passed over for promotions or lose sales because they lacked some key skills, like failing to take charge of their career. So, as the CEO of YOU INC, the fastest way to ramp up your EI skills is to give yourself a performance review. Here’s what to ask yourself:
- Are you where you want to/expected to be at this point in your life? If not, what’s missing? Money? Position? Happiness?
- Have you been working hard but not doing much about becoming a leader in your field?
- Are you focusing on the day-to-day tasks or do you see your day-to-day tasks as a stepping stone to your career goal?
- Are you fully engaged?
Many women see the work they do in the “worker bee” category (you go to work, do your job well and go home). If you want to ramp up your career, you need to maximize your SMARTWOMAN@WORK skills: go to work, do your job well AND
- get involved with the company, e.g. joining an affinity/leadership group, helping with the company’s 5K or golf outing charity event
- seeing the “bigger picture” of YOU INC at the company, including:
- volunteering for assignments that give you exposure to a greater number of people in management or at the executive level (so they get to know your skill, work ethic and personality)
- developing your influencing skills
- find people who will mentor/sponsor you
- On January 24, 2012 I’m offering a webinar designed specifically for women who want help with mentoring, including: kinds of mentors, finding a mentor, getting started, what to do at mentor meetings. If you are on my mailing list, you’ll get advanced notice. Sign up for my mailing list here:
