Build Work Profile Series – #1 First Steps

First Steps to Raising Your Work Profile

The process of creating, building and raising your work profile needn’t be as difficult as we normally make it. There’s definitely an element of confidence and self esteem involved, but there’s more than that making up your work profile. The two words that I feel describe it best are: positioning and visibility. In order to create a solid picture of yourself in the minds of your employers, you must make sure that you are in the right place at the right time and that you are noticeable.

Most people have this impression that it’s who you know, who you are or some other excuse for why they aren’t where they should be in their jobs. The bottom line is, your work profile is 100% your responsibility. It’s no good waiting for a good boss, or the right circumstances, or even the right type of work to land on your desk… if you want to make it at work, you have to grab the bull by the horns.

Work profile’s require patience…

This is true! It doesn’t just happen overnight. You won’t wake up one morning in the right position and right on the front line of your work, with your bosses clambering all over each other to have you promoted… But you’ll probably have seen one or two (usually undeserving) people who appear to have the midas touch! In order to raise your own work profile, there’s some really important first steps:

1. Stop bitching about those undeserving people who are getting all the breaks. It doesn’t help you. It doesn’t get them fired. It’s an indication that you are stuck in poor quality thinking.
2. Grab some paper and write down where you want to be – make sure there’s plenty of detail in this. You can write a list of points, or better still you can write a day in the life of [insert your name here] being [insert job title here]. Focus on how you feel going into work – hopefully you’ll be excited and feel valued and be part of a great team. Add in any details that are necessary – like own office, PA etc. but avoid naming people – it draws you into that seductive fantasy that it would be great to be so-and-so’s boss, so you could teach them a thing or two…
3. Put that paper somewhere safe – like in your bedside drawer – and then let it be. You don’t have to look at it every five minutes, just remember the essence of it as you go about your life.

It’s now time to raise your work profile. Because you are no longer bad mouthing, bitching and generally wasting your energy engaged in negative thinking and gossip, you’ll have a whole lot more time and energy to engage yourself in the really important bits.

• Is Your Job Killing You? (foxnews.com)
• Methodical Steps To Get That Raise And Promotion (businessinsider.com)

In the next part to this series, I’ll be discussing how to conquer the first key to your work profile which is Positioning.

• 2nd Part - Positioning and Your Work Profile
• 3rd Part - Visibility in the Work Place