“How to rise the corporate ladder?” That’s a question every fresher coming out of college has in their mind. And to be honest, it all seems impossible on Day 1. The real world is often not what one expects it to be. Organizations often set the bar high when it comes to the quality of work that is expected from individuals. You might feel the work environment is overwhelming, and the wisdom your experienced colleagues possess might make the situation even more intimidating.
So, should you quit? I’d say you play the hand you’re dealt. Everybody has to start somewhere, and everybody starts at Day 1, exactly or similar to your current position. Things always seem the hardest before they become better.
Find a mentor who is kind enough to guide you in difficult situations. Finding a mentor can be hard or, at times, even impossible. It doesn’t mean you are doomed. Observe how things work, observe what people creating high impact in the organisation do. Their actions and work ethics will teach you things that often cannot be put into words.
Climbing the corporate ladder is as much about improving yourself day in and day out as much as it is about helping your organisation achieve its goals. They are two sides of the same coin. Small incremental changes every day compound into unimaginable growth over time. And when I use the word “unimaginable”, I mean it. And as you become a better version of yourself, you become an asset to your organization. So climbing up the corporate ladder is a second-order effect of you becoming a better version of yourself. It’s not something you ask for; you get it if you deserve it.
Your professional career will have its ups and downs. All days will not be rainbows and lights. And that’s how the game works; if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Learn from the tough days, journal why things went wrong and how they can be avoided in the future. And I can’t stress enough how important it is to journal your observations, insights you’ve gained and so on. Don’t hesitate to ask your colleagues doubts and questions; they are veterans in their domains. They are where they are, because of the kind of work they did in the past and currently do. Asking their opinion about anything is not a sign of weakness but a rational way to go about things. It is of course easier said than done, but if you make it a habit, there is no stopping you.
So how do you better yourself day in and day out?
Knowledge can be of two types; tactic and explicit knowledge. Tactic knowledge is know-how, intuitive and largely experience-based. Get why journaling about the tough days is a necessity? Putting down experiences into words will help you understand the situation even better. It opens up a new dimension, to say the least. Explicit knowledge is the kind of knowledge that is formalized, meaning knowledge that can be found in documents, books etc. More on the explicit knowledge part later.
We will now look at other interpersonal traits that are very important for succeeding in your professional career.
Don’t define your work by the scope of what your designation says. Take initiatives. Many people can be executors, but what can set you apart from the crowd is taking the initiative. Know what your company’s long-term goals are and take initiatives to make the long-term goals happen. Be aware of the broader goals of the company. You don’t want to define your scope to what your designation says.
Network with people, as nothing speaks more about the company’s pulse like the nerves of it. And the people of the organization are the nerves of the company. Know what everyone does in your organization. It gives a better sense of how things run in an organization. Knowing a person’s designation in the organization is quite different from networking with them. Because people do things that are hard to put into words or put in a job description, networking with people will tell you the void that might be created in that person’s absence. Which will in turn tell you how valuable they are to your organization.
Always have a long-term career plan. Knowing where you want to be in the future is as important as working towards it. Not having a plan is just like getting in your car and driving without knowing your destination. While it might seem fun for the first couple of days, it is inching towards failure as every minute passes. Not having a plan is planning to fail.
Be a team player. When someone in your team is not able to match up to the expectations, it doesn’t mean you exclude them from all your work. Judging them or brushing them aside is not going to solve all the problems if anything it’s only going to make things worse. You should help your teammates when they are struggling. A good leader works for the betterment of the entire team and does not just take credit for the ones who get things done. Help others when they are drowning in too many things. Because if they don’t get it done, it reflects badly on the entire team and not just the person who has delegated the work. Besides, helping people is the right thing to do.
Put in the extra hours. Work hard and work smart. There’s no such thing as overnight success. And if there is, it takes years of showing up every day, sleepless nights, and perseverance. And don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise.
I know that’s a lot of things. It is because you don’t get to climb the ladder overnight. It took decades for people who have already done it, and it’s highly likely that it will take you a long time too. So, the most important thing of all, you need to have patience. You need to have patience when things aren’t working, and you need to have patience when it seems like it’s the end of the world. Worry only about what’s in your control and get it done. And to start your journey, you need to believe that you can do it because all of us have it in us to accomplish great things.
I’ve used a lot of big words, but just concentrate on one step at a time. Know the big picture and make sure the next step you take is in the right direction towards it. It’ll all be worth it in the end.
Now coming to the explicit knowledge part that we talked about earlier.
Here’s how you go about with the Explicit knowledge part. Learn what’s happening in your field and most importantly the things that have been tried and tested. Learn a bit every day. As cliche as it sounds, reading books is one of the best ways to acquire knowledge. Bookmark the articles, tweets, videos, podcasts that you find insightful. Since you can’t grasp all the knowledge during the first perusal, create your vault so that you can go back and refer when you need it.
In today’s world, you have access to an infinite number of resources. With the Internet at your disposal, anything is possible today. And actually, that might be a problem. But technology has developed so much in the past two decades. You can learn things more efficiently if you use technology the right way.
Information overload is no joke. You have articles, newsletters, videos, infographics, podcasts, courses; Phew! If learning is a task, then picking resources to study from should not be an ordeal. Pathways solve that exact problem for you. Each Pathway has curated resources that will help you learn about your domain. You don’t have to search through the entire Internet to find credible resources to learn from. You will have access to (in)credible, curated resources at the click of a button. So you can save yourself from pre-learning fatigue. You can just sit back and enjoy learning. And the best part? It’s free!
Varun, Content Writer
