Know Yourself
You will be most successful if you are authentic and self-aware every day you show up at work. Knowing how you operate within your job is an important, learned skill and will be instrumental to your long-term career success. Self-insight and feedback will enable you to use your strengths to make an impact and continue to improve upon your weaknesses to achieve personal growth.One way you can become more self-aware is through a process known as “feedforward.” More proactive than feedback, feedforward creates a safe space for your coworkers to offer advice to help you work towards a goal. Marshall Goldsmith created this process as an executive coaching tool (learn more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVZiZob37I) and this has been an important exercise for career building at Radio Flyer. Our team participates in a company-wide feedforward exercise at least once a year to help each other learn and grow.
Know Your Stuff
Become a technical master at your craft. Identify your strengths, develop a unique skill, and leverage that expertise to make yourself stand out among other applicants. Are you an expert at copywriting? Can you use Excel to analyze data like no one else? Are you a SolidWorks master? Seek to become the go-to person in your company for that skill.
Develop your unique talents by attending training or participating in webinars or self-study. You can request training from your department leaders by connecting how this new knowledge and skill will benefit your team or company. To continue to build your technical toolbox, volunteer for stretch assignments, and identify mentors who can provide feedback along your development journey. Share your knowledge with others by leading a training session on the skill. Teaching others is a great way to deepen your knowledge and develop mastery of a topic.
Know the Business
In addition to knowing yourself and your stuff, you need to connect your work with the business. To build your business acumen, follow experts in your field, and learn from them. Create a bridge between you and your company leaders to seek out information and ask questions about the business. Add value to your organization by understanding how your work can accelerate the business or improve results. People who know how their work impacts the company goals are more engaged in their daily work.
Another way to build business knowledge is to attend company meetings and join cross-functional team discussions. Through these meetings, you will gain a deeper understanding of the key performance indicators (KPIs) you can influence. At Radio Flyer, we have monthly company-wide meetings to update Flyers about the business and where it is headed. Flyers learn how their role directly impacts results and these meetings provide an open dialogue for questions. If this isn’t common practice at your company, start by asking to sit in on meetings with other departments and take detailed notes that will encourage reflection of the material. Your leadership team will appreciate your initiative to learn the business and grow your professional skills.
These three areas have helped me grow my career, and I have used them as tools to help Flyers grow as well. These buckets combined are a strong foundation for any career. If you aspire to lead others, combine this knowledge with a deep commitment to knowing your team and learning how to unleash their potential.
As you begin your career, keep these three key areas in mind as you seek learning opportunities. By knowing yourself, knowing your stuff, and knowing the business, you set the groundwork for constant growth in your professional journey.