Want your Career to Soar in 2023? These 5 Building Blocks are Vital!

‘Some’ll win, some will lose
Some are born to sing the blues
Whoa, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on’

‘Don’t Stop Believin’ from The Journey

2022 has ended. We bid goodbye to it with a ferocity combined with relief. And as we turn into 2023, we also know that nothing has changed. 2023 is not expected to be Business as Usual. Hawkish sentiments prevail, harsher times are predicted for professionals globally, aggressive job cuts continue, stiffer monetary challenges with regular doses of tough news persist amidst just a mild smattering of hope.   

Everyone will be tested. Leaders at the top steering through turbulence. Entry level managers holding on for their dear lives. And middle managers desperately tying both ends and not getting squeezed themselves.

Like the lines from that famous song, Journey, tough times are inevitable.

And so it takes an even tougher, refreshing attitude to believe that these are the times when one must re-invest and re-build into efforts and processes that will make their careers soar. Go back to the very basic and fundamental levels.

The Five Building Blocks for Career Success in 2023 that we speak of here are the basics. These must be attuned to the times we live in.

Creating Your Personal Brand

A question that I ask in my coaching conversations: ‘How would you introduce yourself if you aren’t allowed to use your current identity – say you cannot use your company name because you’ve been asked to go or your current area of expertise has become irrelevant?’ Most of us struggle to find a convincing answer.

All though our careers, we’ve been happy to spout our designations & company names on our profiles. We completely rely on them to give us further growth and visibility. And suddenly one day, it gets taken away. We’ve seen it happen so often in 2022.

Which is the reason building your own personal brand is a topmost priority. In a rapidly changing career market place, what do you stand for in the minds of your target audience? How are your skills being perceived? What do people think of your leadership skills & achievements? Why do they have to like and follow you? What will they say about you to anyone they meet?

How you communicate these aspects are the core of building your personal brand. Start acting on it from now.

Scale up your Leadership skills

Leadership is a tough continuous journey. As much as becoming a first time leader is a high for a young professional, being an effective, inspirational leader is another ball game. Which is why there are is so much literature and research into leadership styles, decision making, team management, conflict handling, grooming leaders, navigating change and much more.

As Brian Tracy, the most enduring leaders ‘Become the kind that people would follow voluntarily, even if they had no title or position’ And for that, one must identify skills, learn, practice and have the courage to take feedback.

Ace Your Communication Skills

The best definitions of communication comes from the world of NLP : ‘The meaning of communication is the response you get’ As a business leader, when you truly understand this statement, you become a much better communicator. If someone does not understand what you are saying, it often just means you are not using their specific learning style. Have you evolved a personal communication strategy? Do you make the best use of business & data storytelling to inspire, engage and influence your audience? Are you persuasive enough and to make your point?

Navigating Workplaces

Whether you are working from home more often, or dealing with stress at work, it is important to find effective ways to navigate the workplace.  Building a solid working relationship with your manager and finding a balance as you progress are critical. Navigating workplaces is the most undermined of skills – stuff that is never taught in a text book – no formal trainings happen. Experience can be a hard teacher at times. Engaging in meaningful conversations, building smart sensitivity to the happenings around you are at the core of learning this skill.

Personal Effectiveness

To achieve all of the above, we need to get the best out of ourselves. We need to be ready to accept change. Be in that mental space. Personal effectiveness is an approach to success that involves utilising all of your energy, skill and motivation to develop and reach the goals you set for yourself. It is about taking care of oneself. And aligning one’s purpose and goals – finding accountability partners and building support systems.

We choose to talk about these 5 Building Blocks in the beginning of 2023 because they are at the core of all Professional Growth. Each one of us would be at a different stage and will have specific need gaps to address. One good first step in addressing this with positive intent and action is to belong a progressive learning group that is designed for this very cause.

The Professional Growth Learning Group on Mentza is a fledgling ecosystem of professionals. global industry leaders, leadership coaches, practitioners, mentors and trainers engaged in conversations that are centred on these 5 building blocks. Through a series of 25 minute conversations, workshops, 1:1 conversations, the purpose of the community to enrich your learning, actualise it with practice and move you towards career success!

Come and Join us on the Professional Growth Community on Mentza! More interesting news follows!