Expanding yourself as your role expands
| If you’ve been at the same company for more than a few years and excel in what you do, you’ve likely gotten a role expansion or promotion. The challenge lies not in how you do the tasks well, it lies in how you expand your view of yourself along with the expansion in your role. It’s natural to view yourself in an elevated when when accepting a new job at a new company with a new role.
When staying at the same company, it’s much harder because you’re working with the same people and have created a system of working with them. They have a pre-determined opinion of you, and you have one of them. Growing, refining, and elevating yourself comes much less easily when continuing with the same company. It can be far more rewarding where growth, financially and in titles, can come more quickly when you do achieve self-expansion. Here are some tips: ⁃Write down 5 attributes which embody how you want to be perceived. This should include 1 to 2 attributes you aren’t currently completely, if at all, perceived as. ⁃Determine a new ‘start day’ for your new role. Even if you’re already in it and have been doing it for a while, pick a ‘start day’. Prepare for that day the way you would a new job. Update your wardrobe to include attire that matches the role. Spend time considering how you will act and what you will change/modify in order to achieve your desired perception attributes. Change up your office. On your ‘start day’, arrive at work early by 15 or more minutes. If you’re leading a team, have a team meeting on your ‘start day’ and do some stage setting to elevate the way the team will work and how you will work with them. ⁃Have a meeting with your boss to ask how you’re perceived. Share with them the attributes you’re targeting and ask them to look for, and be open to, changes, and seeing your evolution. ⁃Identify a single action you can do every day which is new or different from before, and will contribute toward your desired perception. For example, if you have a tendency to be late to meetings and want to be perceived as an expert or prepared, be the first one to all meetings beginning no later than your ‘start day’. Just as your parents will always see you as their child, your boss can always see you as the initial person they hired. They may unintentionally not recognize your growth. Following these tips will help you change that, and will help you grow further faster both personally and professionally. |
