Five Things I’ve Learned About Moving Up The Corporate Ladder

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If you don’t want to work yourself to death just to get that next promotion then the next one and the one after that, or even worse, work so hard all of your days to never get those key promotions that would lead to bigger and better things, you need to get smart; you need to skip the rungs and jump straight to the top and you so that by doing the following things that will surely fast rack you up the corporate ladder…

1. Make a game plan. If you do what most people do and go through your working life like you’re the ball in a pinball machine being thrown around all over the place never knowing which direction you’re moving in, you will never get to the top fast. What you need to do is set out a long-term career plan with goals, milestones and the steps you will have to take to get you there.
2. Get the best education. We all know stories about famous high school dropouts like Steve Jobs and Richard Branson who were able to make it despite their lack of formal education, but these individuals are few and far between and it is much easier to fast track your way to the top if you have some impressive credentials like an online masters in organizational leadership or an MBA from Harvard. Rightly or wrongly a good education gets you int the foot of the door, then it is up to you to impress the right people and rise to the top.
3. Network, Network, Network. If you don’t put yourself out there, you don’t get anywhere, so shamelessly attend events, shmooze colleagues and connect with the people who could propel you to greater success at every opportunity, but do it in such a way that it’s not obviously cynical. Don’t expect them to do all kinds of things for you without giving back, make yourself indispensable to them, form genuine bonds and then when the time is right, they will be more than happy to pull you up a rung or two.
4. Do more and be more. Although you shouldn’t have to work like a dog if you are smart about it, there is no getting around the fact that if you want to get to the top fast you need to be a hard worker. Not only do you need to get to work on time and work hard when you’re there, but you need to be seen to volunteer for extra work and stay behind often to make yourself totally indispensable. If you work smart, then although you’ll be seen to be doing, you won’t actually have to do too much more work and it will pay off faster than you might think.
5. Make yourself a resource. If you do lots of reading on your sector outside of work and you learn skills that are complementary to what you’re doing such as IT or marketing skills, then people in the office will come to think of you as an extra resource – an extremely knowledgeable and credible person – and they’ll start relying on you as well as sending you out to conferences and speaking engagements which will really help your career take off.

Lots of hard work, plenty of knowledge and persistence will pay off in the end and you will go further faster than any of your peers if you walk these steps and pull yourself up that ladder.