3 Strategies to Jumpstart Your Career: Leadership Hacks for Next-Gen Leaders

 

 Good morning. Welcome to next gen leaders. My name is Bianca Cardenas and I am your host.

 You're early in your career, but you want to start on your own development.

Today, I'm going to show you three simple ways to kickstart your career Investing in yourself will help you become more confident and stand out as a leader. You will also be able to build a professional network and meet the right people who can truly elevate your career.

 Good morning. Welcome to next gen leaders. My name is Bianca Cardenas and I am your host.

I'll share simple strategies that are like taking the shortcut to your goal. We'll talk about looking for different opportunities to shine, finding a mentor and becoming more influential. I'll share practical tips I have used for many of my clients to help them make an impact in their roles.

By the end , you'll have the tools that you need to do the same. Stick around to the end to learn about the three most common mistakes people make early in their careers.

 Let's start with taking initiative. This is all about looking for ways to step up when there's an opportunity to step up. It's important not to just sit around and wait for someone to tell you what to do, be proactive and look for different ways that you can add value, or maybe make a process more efficient.

One thing that I did was research my industry to see if there was emerging trends that I could introduce to the executive team.

I found something that fit perfectly within our wheelhouse. I built a business case for it and presented it to the executive team. I also made sure to tie my proposal. To the broader strategic goals. that way the executives truly resonated with what I was offering.

But this is just the beginning to really grow as a leader. You need something else, a good mentor. Finding a good mentor is like using GPS to get to your goal. They can guide you, share their experiences with you, and help you through tough challenges. It's important to look for someone that you respect in your field, and ask if you can meet for ten minutes to talk about their career.

It's a good opportunity to see if you guys are in alignment of how you're thinking about things and your values. If you find that there is good alignment, then ask them if they would be willing to meet with you, regularly. See if they would be open to potentially mentoring you.

I had very bad luck finding a mentor throughout my career. I logged onto LinkedIn and looked for connections that had similar interests to mine. Then I reached out to them and asked for a quick meeting to introduce ourselves. I finally found a mentor that was very closely aligned to what I cared about and valued. When you find that alignment. The mentorship is 10 times more powerful.

But having a mentor isn't enough. There's one more skill that's even more important That skill is influence. Great leaders know how to communicate well. They are really good at connecting people's work to the bigger picture, which is a great way to inspire them to take action. Listening to other people is just as important the best leaders ask questions to understand other people's needs and address what's in it for them.

This makes everyone feel valued and aligned with the bigger picture.

When I'm conducting role plays with different leaders. I find the most influential people are the ones that slow down and ask a lot of questions to truly understand who they're working with. And once they find these little nuggets that the person really cares about. They do a great job of tailoring their message. To reflect. What's in it for them. When, it's done well. You can inspire anyone to do anything.

 Now you have three powerful ways to kickstart your early career, taking initiative, finding a good mentor, and improving your influence. Now here are some of the three biggest mistakes people make in their early career. they come in and try to learn everything on their own. Initially, it sounds like a great idea.

It shows that you're willing to step in and figure out problems on your own. and be completely self reliant. But the thing is, it also communicates that you're not willing to collaborate and work with other people to achieve the same goals. that's why when you come into a new place to meet with each person and see what their job is, and how your work contributes to their work.

They  are highly competitive. When you come into an organization and you are making it known that you're just wanting to move up as quickly as possible, this is not a good look. It communicates to other people that you're not willing to take the time and invest in the organization and really understand how and why it operates the way that it does.

They try to change things too quickly. Organizations have   been successful before you got there. When you come in and you're wanting to change things too quickly without understanding why they are the way that they are. Shows you're not willing to be patient and come along with others on the ride I suggest You get to know why things are the way that they are know the history of the company so you have a better understanding of the culture and the people it isn't until you truly understand what makes the organization unique Then you can start slowly implementing changes.

But you need to have those influence skills to get people bought in.

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 and think other emerging leaders can gain some value to this, feel free to share it. If you're interested in learning more about leadership development tips. I'll include my blog in the description below.

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Until next time. Keep striving, growing and leading with purpose