How to change attitudes towards work to make your career faster

If you want to become a valuable specialist, promotion within the company should not be an end in itself. In this article, Facebook Product Design Director Julie Zhuo explains how to relate to your career, your boss, and your future self to improve your skills faster and ensure you have a brilliant career.

What is the essence of a career

If you asked me at 22 about career plans, I would look at you with empty eyes and then change the subject. And this does not mean that I did not think about work at all.

I was ambitious, dreamed of gaining financial independence and was afraid to upset my parents. (They wanted me to become a doctor because it’s a “very stable profession.” I think they still get upset that I didn’t go into medicine.) hours waiting for the end of the day.

However, I rarely thought about it. I was even somehow embarrassed to seriously think about a career. I was too reluctant to turn into a selfish sucker who flatter her bosses to be promoted.

Plus, at 22, I took my first job at a startup where everything was happening too fast. There was no time to sit and reflect on the skills and experiences you might need. Who cares about talking about a career when you're about to change the world?

But if you don't think about a career, you are letting things go. Maybe this will lead you to what you have always wanted. Or maybe not. So why rely on case if you can control the process?

Here's a truth that I would rather have known much earlier:

Your career is defined by skills and how you use them, not by outward signs of progress.

However, it is customary in society to judge a career by salary, position, bonuses or participation in prestigious events.

I often hear people say, “I want to climb the career ladder. What should I do? This is a perfectly normal question, but I suspect there is a pattern behind it: career advancement = reward. I think this is wrong.

I think it's like saying that you are a good friend because you have been invited to a wedding. Of course, friends are usually invited to the wedding. But if you want to be a true friend, you won't be asking. You just do everything to be one, and then you will surely receive an invitation envelope, even if you have never dreamed of it.

It's the same with a career. If you are primarily trying to improve your skills and bring more value to your company or society as a whole, you will automatically rise up the career ladder and your income will grow.

Dealing with Adverse Circumstances

Of course, it could be different. For example, you have a terrible boss who thinks that in order to advance your career, you should mostly be silent, bring him coffee every morning and do all the minor work that he throws off on you. And so you check his inbox and you get a promotion.

But how will these skills help you in the long run? Will it improve your professional qualities? Will make you a worthy candidate for a job with another company? Of course not. Maybe you will climb the career ladder, and then the bosses will change, and you will simply be kicked out.

And then it turns out that you have no skills other than the ability to bring coffee and sort other people's mail, and it will be very difficult for you to find a job with the same high salary.

So don't ask yourself, "What can I do to get me promoted?" Ask the question differently: "What skills do I need to develop to be of greater benefit to the company or society?"

Even if your employees never get promoted, the business is falling apart, and all the external indicators of success - position and salary - leave much to be desired, your skills will not go anywhere.

No matter where you go, your skills and experience will go with you. This is why you shouldn't worry if your career is not going uphill at a fast pace. Maybe a pay cut and a demotion will open the way for you to new knowledge and opportunities?

Your boss is a coach, not a judge

For a long time, I considered my boss to be a person who appreciates my work, like a teacher at a school or university. It determines whether I did a good job and what grade I deserve.

My principle of communication with the leadership at that time could be defined in one phrase: "Do not behave like an idiot." I tried to seem better and more confident in myself than I really am.

When my boss asked if I needed help, I said that everything was under control. If he had to intervene in matters for which I was responsible, I considered it a failure. Above me, as if a neon sign lit up: “Attention! The employee is not competent enough to cope with the task on his own."

This continued until I had a chance to work for myself. That's when my opinion about the leaders changed. The boss's job is to make the team perform better and bring more value to the company. When you look at management from this angle, it seems logical that your career will be invested.

If you do better, your boss's performance will automatically improve. Therefore, he is on your side, he wants you to succeed, and spends his time and energy to help you.

Imagine that you are hiring a coach, but instead of talking about your weak points, you tell him that you are in great shape and you do not need his help. Stupid, huh? I did not perceive my boss as a coach and therefore did not receive useful feedback on my work, advice or other help, thanks to which I could learn a lot.

Of course, the manager still evaluates your work, and if you are lazy, unqualified and sloppy, you will very soon find out about it. But if you diligently complete all tasks and want to become better, your boss will help you.

Do not hide your feelings from him: what inspires you, what motivates you, what interferes with your work. The more honest you are with your manager, the better they will be able to help you. Remember: he is almost more interested in your success than you are.

Create your ideal look and believe in it

To achieve something in life, you need to believe that it will happen. The phrase sounds trite, but it's not just words. One confirmed that if a person clearly sees himself in the future with certain skills, he automatically begins to do everything to acquire them.

Many years ago, when I faced difficulties at work, I was scared and did not know what to do, I wrote a list of what the future me should be able to do. This list began with the words "one day I will be."

And this list is still valid. Gradually, I supplement it with new desires and cross out what I have achieved. Skills that then seemed like an unattainable dream to me now feel like something ordinary, as if I have always been able to do it. And it reminds me that I will definitely achieve everything that I have recorded.

I look at this list several times a year. It both calms and motivates me.

If you're wondering what was on my list, here are a few points:

stop being nervous a few days before public speaking;
feel comfortable in meetings with more than five people;
blogging without worrying about what other people think.

But this has yet to be learned:

briefly and clearly explain what I want to do;
good storytelling;
organize large-scale events where people have fun and I do not suffer from stress.

Only you decide what your career will be

It doesn't matter who helps you, ignores you, or even hinders you, your career, like your life, is completely in your hands.

If you have to force yourself to go to work, ask yourself why this is happening. If you can't remember a single difficult moment in the past six months, maybe you are no longer developing. If you constantly look back at other people and expect to be praised, you may not want to take responsibility. If the job doesn't fit with your long-term prospects, maybe it's time to change it?

If you have never thought about what you would like to do in the future, think about it now.