When we join an organization, whether it is a first professional experience or a career change, we can think that growing within the organization and obtaining better roles is something quite difficult and only for the best. It is true that sometimes the competition is fierce and there are many people fighting for it, but sometimes people tend to use strange paths to get there. Working solely and exclusively with a goal of promotion is like working exclusively for money, the more we search the less we find. Although organizations are generally quite complex networks of interaction between people and assets, there are very simple things that everyone can do to make these interactions run better and produce the maximum output towards the organization’s goals.
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Be yourself
Creating a personality within the organization different from what you are, with the aim of “looking” better, is something that does not make sense. We all have our positive and negative things. We just have to know how to exploit the positives in favor of the organization. Creating schemes around falsehoods and lies can even bring some return in the very short term, a return that can motivate a continuation of this behavior but in the long run, only contributes to a reduction in the quality of relationships. Being transparent and honest is never a problem in a transparent and honest organization.
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Dedicate all your professional effort to the organization
The world is full of opportunities and we can sometimes fall into the trap of trying to catch them all. When we do that, the time we dedicate to our career is divided and in the competitive world we live in today, this can have consequences in our progression. We often disperse our time and dedication, in many roles outside organization, for financial reasons. That can happen because more financial opportunities were detected elsewhere, but all of this has consequences, not so much in the short term but in career long run. Even if we manage to carry out our tasks within the organization, is the quality and commitment in these tasks the same?
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Be proactive
Many of the great developments and innovations in organizations occur through unscheduled and unexpected events. These events are triggered by people who are aware to the environment around them and can detect opportunities for the organization. Fulfilling your duties is already very positive, but detecting opportunities and implementing them is one of the things that can differentiate you. You have probably heard this by many, your professional growth comes not just from doing what you are told to do but from what you do and nobody told you to do it.
Little things like the ones described are within the reach of everyone and allow your development in an organization. We must always keep in mind that a career is built over several years and some things that seem positive to us today, may not contribute to our long-term success.