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Top 9 Ways to Climb the Corporate Ladder Without Killing Yourself In this series, Dr. Jimmie Flores will provide you with proven tips to differentiate yourself in your organization. If you do what everyone else is doing, climbing the ladder will take forever, and you will even find reasons not to try. Dr. Flores has worked in organizations including Shell Oil Company, The Prudential, USAA, and served as a clinic administrator for a surgery practice. The information provided here is not a shortcut to success, but you will gain insight on how to move faster to the top. Dr. Flores has taught at the university-level for more than 20 years. As a corporate trainer, he has built seminars that make an immediate difference in employee morale and productivity. Those courses include Project Management Essentials, Driving Change to Generate Long-term Results, Using Project Management to Gain an Edge, and Aligning IT with Business Makes Bottom-Line Sense. For the past few years, Dr. Flores has taught those courses for organizations that include RackSpace Hosting, General Dynamics, and City of San Antonio. Stop Thinking Moving Up is all About Politics You fail to earn the promotion that you expected. The raises are announced, and you are in the middle-of-the-pack. You lose out on a high-profile project assignment. When you experience these unfortunate events, it’s easy to blame politics. I find it funny that we often blame “politics” as if it were a person. We even get angry thinking about Mr. Politics. Some might even assign facial characteristics and a personality to Ms. Politics. Mr. Politics is unbearable! Ms. Politics looks stupid! Stop it! Focusing on What You Can Control I find it much easier to focus on what I can control. For example, I have a job description, and my requirements are clear. My goal is to ensure that work gets done right and early. Note that I stated early. The work that is assigned to you must be of high quality, and it should be done early. In other words, you need to be a reliable person that works ahead of schedule. Many of those who blame politics for failing to succeed in their organization often do shoddy work that is delivered after the deadline. Of course, these helpless individuals are going to blame someone else for falling short of expectations, such as a missing report, an incompetent team member, and even the tsunami in Japan. The excuses are endless, often requiring a high-level of creativity. Make Yourself Accountable I just mentioned we should make ourselves accountable for the work that we do. From my experience, fewer than 20% of the readers will heed this advice. When we are accountable for getting our work done right and on time, we get on the radar. Everyone knows that when we are on the radar, the pressure increases, and we are expected to deliver on what we promised. If you wish to climb the ladder faster, assume more responsibility. The work doesn’t have to be glamorous. It really doesn’t matter. The fact is that your direct is going to assign you more work because you have shown the willingness and ability to perform. Avoid making a big deal out of it. Let your manager know that you just need guidance regarding the expectations of the assignment. You also need funding, resources, and removing some obstacles when they arise. You are not looking for someone to micromanage you. In other words, you are an empowered employee, one that can make important decisions when necessary. The Stairs are the Only Option at First I mentioned in this series that you can climb the corporate ladder faster “without killing yourself.” Some of you reading this article are thinking about doing work quicker and assuming more responsibilities. That sounds like a strategy that kills. However, that is far from the truth. You are right that moving up requires us to do hard work at first, which means using the stairs, and not the elevator. However, after a few years of over-delivering, we can expect the climb to be easier. Once we’ve shown that we bring value to the organization, we will earn the promotions, raises, and recognition that make our investment during the early days worthwhile. The point here is that the progression up the corporate ladder has less to do with politics and more to do with our undeniable commitment to hard work. Please feel free to share your success stories with me. You can reach me at jflores@jmbok.com or by calling 210-601-1996 and also you can visit my website at http://www.jmbok.com/
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