How To Be A Guiding Light In Your Workplace
So you’re looking to take on even more responsibilities at work; you’ve mastered your position and now want to shine even brighter so that your boss can see how ready you are to grow into a new role. Today we discuss the best ways to tackle both rising to the top and rising to the challenge of being a guiding light amongst your colleagues. Even if you’re not looking to step into a leadership role right this very second–even if it’s instead something you’d like to do a little further down the line–the tips from pros that we’ve assembled below are sure to make you stand out as an indispensable employee.
Jo Miller at The Muse provides “5 Ways You Can Position Yourself as a Leader (Before You Have Any Followers).” Our favorite? “Be Boldly Self-Aware. Do you know your workplace brand? In other words, are you aware of the unique impact you make in your office and how others perceive you? If you want a management position in your future, you should. That’s because emerging leaders must possess strong self-awareness…If you haven’t yet uncovered your brand or your strengths, try taking a 360-degree feedback survey or asking a trusted manager, mentor, or colleague to describe how he or she thinks you’re perceived by others. Listen for positive traits that are referenced more than once, and then aggressively seek out opportunities to apply those strengths.” This tip is great for so many reasons! In order to be a leader in your workplace community, you have to first learn how you fit into the organization’s needs. Both the research and implementation of your leadership efforts serve as ways to actively engage with those around you rather than just passively planning.
Yun Siang Long and Kelly Kuehn at Work It Daily also offer up a way to take others into account while still setting yourself apart: “Be Open To Receiving Feedback. Be open to criticism, otherwise you are just living off your own opinions and ideas. What does being open to criticism mean? When you are open to feedback, you are getting ideas and suggestions from others that are free. Often times, these ideas come from people smarter than you. They will give you tips on how to improve and how to be better. That’s what a leader needs—constant feedback…With no new ideas, a leader dries up.” This trick is also a great way to model the behavior you’ll want to see from the rest of your team. Witnessing you being able to roll with the punches will help your colleagues understand that they can’t take professional criticism personally—which is a key component of being a workplace leader!
A key component of both of these methods is to actively connect with your professional environment rather than sitting back and waiting for something to happen. When your colleagues are inspired by the energy displayed through your actions, they’ll want to get on your level—and you can then work together to make your professional environment the best that it can be. So let your guiding light shine!
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