Tuesday, November 7, 2006

It’s not enough...

to have technical skills today to get promoted. It’s too competitive today. You have to also demonstrate personal leadership. That is the ability to inspire others to follow. It begins with interpersonal skills, networking, demonstrating your value and practicing interpersonal skills.

As an executive coach and seminar leader, I often help individuals to move to the next level. Depending on your track record is not enough. Job interviewing successfully is an art, whether internal or external. You had better understand who the interviewer is and what impresses them. You must be confident about your expertise and how you can make a difference if promoted. The more time you spend researching your corporate vision and how your talents can impact on the bottom line, the more successful you will be. And don't forget to study up about the interviewer to learn how they behave during the interview.

Advertisers will pay over $3 million dollars for a thirty second commercial timeslot on TV. Research shows that TV viewers will make a decision to buy or not buy with in this brief period. The same holds true in job interviews. Whether you like it or not, the interviewer will be forming an impression about you from the moment you meet. By 30 seconds maximum, they have formed their first impression of you. By four minutes, they already know whether they want to promote you based on (1) chemistry (2) the likeability factor (3) your capabilities and (4) how you work with other teams. Even though you may be interviewed by your boss, they are not always sure that you can handle more responsibilities. It is up to you to verbalize how you see your abilities contributing to the growth of the company and your passion for the promotion. Hopefully, you have been updating your boss over the year (each quarter) so they have an idea of all you do. With other executives in your company, don’t take it for granted that everyone sees what you bring to the table. Unless they work with you day in and day out, they might not have the true benefit of your intellectual capabilities.

How you create rapport, how you nurture relationships throughout the year, how you visually present yourself and how you project confidence are critical components for getting promoted. This is not superficial. This is absolutely about winning in your career. Stop waiting to be discovered and appreciated! Be proactive, not reactive.