Career planning: Take Risks Others May Not
Posted by Diana Needham on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Are you one of the ones who has retained your position as downsizings take place around you? Great!
How do you reduce the risk of being the next one selected?
Take risks others may not take.
Your position is a key asset…and your job is to protect it. How, you ask?
Here is what not to do: Don’t lay low, stay under the radar, and hide.
This is the time to be bold and take risks, even if you always take the same route to work every day and rarely step outside your comfort zone. This is the time to show the company what you are really made of. Remember that the company does not care about your comfort. What it cares about is how you are contributing to the bottom line or adding tangible, measurable value. To do that, you have to take risks.
Here are some actions to consider:
- Go out of your way to introduce yourself to colleagues you have not yet met. Have a positive personal interaction. How does this help? By going out of your way to meet your colleagues, both up the chain and side ways, they begin to know who you are.
- Look for opportunities to demonstrate you can roll with whatever comes your way and help the company make the best of it. Show your flexibility.
- Share credit with others. While it may seem instinctive to hoard any credit you receive, the goodwill you display when you spread the credit around has a high value to you and your future.
- Take on more responsibility. Be prepared to lend a hand and take initiative every day. Yes, every time you raise your hand or take on something new, you take on the risk of making a mistake. But it is a bigger risk to just sit still. Think of it as showing your boss that you are an enthusiastic, valuable player on the team.
- Regardless of what your job description says your role is, think about ways you can cut costs or share expenses. Revisit old ideas and opportunities to see if there is any life left in them. Be someone who puts money in the company’s pockets.
- Finally, make every effort to keep your current accounts, clients, and internal partners happy; they are your bread and butter. If they go away, you go away.
It used to be only the CEO and top level managers were expected to take the risks, and that’s why they got the big bucks. No more. Taking risks is how we can reap reward.
Filed in Career, Career Planning | No responses yet
