Do you want to move up in your job or career more quickly? Everyone in the world wants to get to a place where they have stability, a good salary, and a job where they feel useful and comfortable at the same time. However, most people have to start at the bottom and move up little by little until they reach their goal.
Getting ahead in your career can be hard. You need a mix of luck, good decisions, the right skills, and even meeting the right people. But it’s not impossible, and it’s easier and less stressful if you know the rules.
Lia Garvin, who is in charge of operations at Google, wrote for the Harvard Business Review that if you want to grow, you have to act, but in order to act, you have to know that there are some things that are especially helpful and will really make a difference.
Garvin told HBR that if you don’t, you’ll get a little (or a lot) burned out, which might not let you grow as much as you want.
How to get ahead at work faster: 3 keys from Harvard
In her article, Garvin says that over the course of her career, she has tried many different ways to grow at work and has found three that work every time.
Focus on feedback
Garvin says that asking for feedback shows your bosses or supervisors that you want to learn and get better wherever you can. This can help you get more and better opportunities.
It’s about realizing that feedback is not an attack or a criticism, but rather a way to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are and where you need to improve so you don’t get stuck.
The expert says it’s a good idea to ask for feedback on a regular basis and every time you hit a milestone or reach a goal, so you know what to do next.
Get in touch with the right people
Garvin says that this point is about making connections and building relationships with people from different parts of your work, especially if you know that they can work together to improve work flow and results.
It’s about being a link between these people so that everyone can better understand the problems they all face and what it takes to solve them. You should try to be what Garvin calls a “Dot Connector.” He says that “Dot Connectors” find opportunities that other people don’t see and find new ways to solve old problems.
Networking
Lastly, it’s especially important to be friends with the right people, work on those friendships, and help them grow, because those are the people who can open the doors you want to walk through.
Garvin says that you should choose the people you are interested in and work on those relationships, not just as a way to reach your goal, but also so that those people can and want to connect with others or even give you a chance if the chance comes up.
Networking is more than just having the email or phone number of the CEO of a company. It’s also about having good contacts and showing that you’re not just there for yourself.
