Breakthrough Career Connections

Leveraging relationships to your advantage

How’s your career doing these days? Is it taking you where you want to go? If you are employed, you may be simply thinking you are happy to have a job. The job market always seems to be in a volatile state, doesn’t it? There is so little security in our world anymore. But take heart, there are things you can do to enhance your career security and accelerate your career advancement. The key is to be proactive and utilize relationships to expedite your promotion and career advancement.

Here are some strategies to proactively utilize relationships to your advantage:

• Develop a strategic career business plan with short and long term goals.
• Break down each goal into action steps to take you from where you are to your next desired career position.
• Identify breakthrough contacts - the key people in your company that can help you get ahead.
• Put together a strategy to evelop and enhance relationships with each of your breakthrough contacts with the goal of leveraging those relationship to help position you favorably within the company. Here are ways to do that:

- send them an article or a resource related to their area of expertise

- invite them out to lunch or for coffee

- request an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting to solicit their opinion/advice/perspective on their area of the business as it relates to yours

- send them an email recognizing their efforts on a particular initiative or congratulating them on an achievement or award

• Follow up religiously to maintain ongoing relationships with your contacts.
• When the timing is right, ask each of your breakthrough contacts the following question:
  What would it take for me to get into the position of XYZ (your next step)?
• On a regular basis, check in with your manager or supervisor by asking the following question:
  “How am I doing? Am I meeting your expectations?”
• Then follow that by posing the question:
  “What would have to happen for me to be able to move into the position of XYZ, or take on the XYZ project?”

If you utilize these strategies on a consistent basis, you WILL see yourself advancing in your career and moving closer to achieving your short and long term career goals.