Advice From 6 Successful Leaders On Stepping Up

Making sense of your potential can be tough and confusing. What’s most difficult is that it’s different for everyone. There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for figuring out what to do next. For instance, perhaps you’re feeling stuck or uncertain about where to take your career? If that’s the case, then you’ll need to reflect on what you really want to achieve and create a plan to get there.

On the other hand, you might be ready for a promotion. That means you’ll have to think less about technical capability and more about people management skills. So how are you going to transition from a technical role into a leadership position? Whatever end of the spectrum you find yourself on, remember that stepping up isn’t just about having confidence and courage.

To move onwards & upwards, sometimes we have to look inwards.

We’ve asked a few of our expert presenters to share their advice on what it takes to step up and succeed.

Kerry Duncan - General Manager (Property and Store Development), Officeworks

Find the balance. It’s a 24/7 world when we connect to the Internet and are often bombarded with information. Developing a career is exciting and an important part of life, but it’s more important than ever to switch off and take time out for yourself. It’s not a matter of working long hours but rather getting the balance right for you. Finding quality time for family, friends, your career, community and most importantly, you will help you feel energised, balanced and happy!

Michael Ritoli - General Manager National Sales, Asahi

Planning for your next role and understanding the gaps that need to be addressed are essential. It is vital that you have a planned and clear understanding of what type of roles you are targeting and assessing them against your current skill set and experience, this will help with creating a plan for any development areas. Regardless of whether it’s an internal promotion or a position with a new company, you will need to demonstrate your readiness and match for any new level of responsibility.

Deb Assheton - Expert Facilitator, The Amplify Group

Set a deeply meaningful 2-3 year goal, then work backwards on smaller goals that will help you progress toward your dream career move. Work on yourself first - dig deep to expand your self-awareness, your grit and your resilience so you can run the marathon (not just the sprint).

Pina Sciarrone - Chief Retail Insurance Offer, AIA

At the beginning of your career, it may be your technical expertise or experience that gets you to a particular level within an organisation. But as time goes on, if you want to continue to be promoted into bigger and more influential roles within an organisation, those technical skills start to matter less. What starts to matter is how you interact with people. Don’t get me wrong, being good at what you do does matter and knowing your craft or industry is important - but you need much more than that. You need to know how to bring people together to achieve a vision or goal whether you directly manage them or not. You need to know how to provide clarity and focus to a team of people. You need to figure out how you add value at an enterprise level, even if you are responsible for a specific function or team.

Kate Savage - People and Culture Consultant, Elbow Room Coaching

Don’t wait until ‘after reviews’, don’t wait until ‘after Christmas’, don’t wait until Monday. Figure out what you want, make a plan and then start. Do one thing today.

If you want to change careers, do 20 minutes mind mapping on the commute home. If you want a promotion, think about who can help you achieve that. If you want to change companies, do some research today. If you want out, carve out 20 minutes of your day to figure out why. What do you want out of your (next) role? Make sure you’re running towards something rather than running away. Don’t look at this as part of a HUGE transition and a NEW step into the BIG wide world… it’s overwhelming. All you need to decide right now is what the first step could be… and do that.

Rosemary Shapiro-Liu - Business Mentor, Expert Facilitator & Author, Triple Win Enterprises

Create wins for yourself, those around you and the world in every decision and action - triple wins will move you to the top of your game. You know what’s right, so don’t let your monster within get in the way. Deal with your internal doubter and give imposter syndrome the flick. Instead, make friends with your ‘Mentor Within’, your benevolent and ever-present guide. Make time to work out what you want, then lock in a time each week for a management meeting with yourself to track your progress and take your own advice. You are, after all, your own best guide.