by Scott Martindale
CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC
With another graduation season upon us, I am publishing an updated and expanded version of my top career success tips—primarily targeted to new college graduates and young professionals, but really any young person entering the workforce. Whether you are just starting the interview process, or have your first job lined up, or are already underway in your career, there are certain behaviors, habits, attitudes, and actions you must know to succeed in today’s workplace. Even mid-career professionals, particularly those who are feeling a bit stuck in their careers, may benefit from what I have to share.
Over the course of more than 40 years of experience, observation, reading, reflection, and thousands of conversations, meetings, presentations, negotiations, and interactions while working within various organizations large and small, ranging from one of the largest multinational corporations to solo independent consulting to a small, entrepreneurial business, and in workplace situations ranging from corporate headquarters, to field operations locations, to virtual (home) offices, I have boiled it down to my top 12 tips for career success.
Of course, this is far from an exhaustive list. And I’m certainly not claiming to have leveraged them all to maximally benefit my own career (far from it). In fact, I wish I could go back in time and implement them more fully. My career surely would have progressed so much smoother. Believe me, I’ve made my share of mistakes—in career moves and interpersonal relationships, holding back when I should have gone for it, saying yes when I should have said no (or vice-versa), or inappropriately hitting reply-all (ugh).
Success habits are like any other type of skill—such as carpentry, surgery, chess, golf, public speaking, or writing—they can be learned, practiced, and improved. Adopting these behaviors also will enhance your appeal with employers, clients, and coworkers. They can even help you in your personal interactions like dating, community involvement, golf foursomes, and family life.
Getting by on the knowledge you learned in school or an internship is simply not enough to truly excel in the modern workplace, particularly given today’s mix of onsite, remote, and hybrid situations that make it even tougher to learn these critical concepts without fully experiencing the daily workplace interactions, politics, mentorships (whether formal or informal), and role-modeling of yore. That’s why it’s so important for you, the new graduate or young professional, to start your career with the right mindset, behaviors, and habits.
Many of these 12 tips likely are not what you heard at your graduation address. Hopefully, they can help jumpstart and smooth your path to career success. So, please share this article with all the recent graduates and young professionals in your life. Without further ado, here they are:
1. Don’t burn bridges
2. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” (re: Steven Covey)
3. Be a problem solver, not a problem creator
4. Embrace a can-do spirit
5. Operate with an owner’s mentality
6. Never stop learning and growing
7. Build your personal brand
8. Become a skilled networker
9. Find your moral compass
10. Practicality trumps passion (at first)
11. Take calculated, asymmetric risks (and be prepared to pivot)
12. Determine your own definition of success
Let’s dive into each of them….Click here
