Why do some people stay longer in the middle and lower management while others tend to raise quickly to the top?
In any organisation, there are three types of people. Those who earn a lot by saying YES or NO, those who supervise others and give information for which those who say YES or NO base their decisions, and those who do the day-to-day work. These people work at three different levels top, middle and lower management. At the lower level, there is more usage of your hands than your brain. At the top, there is the usage of the brain and better payment. Alex (other names not disclosed for his privacy) is an Accounts Assistant. He wrote to me for advice on how to get ahead in his career, as he feels stagnating in his current job now 5 years later still with the title of accountant assistant, and only a 20% salary increase from his first salary since joining. To get ahead in your career, you need to network effectively.
The best way to network is to know the pains, and challenges of your immediate supervisor, and their supervisor, up to the top leader of the organisation. The reason you gather this information is to explore how you could be of help.
Strong friendships are built on give and take. If you are a lower cadre, you need to ask how what you do adds value to your peers, managers, and top boss in the whole scheme of things. You want to position yourself in a job where your performance affects the quality of the report your CEO needs to make decisions, that way you will be critical.
It is important to position yourself as a champion for certain activities or initiatives that make life easier for your team. That way chances for your career success and quick promotion are very high.
Once you understand the pains of your top managers, write a list of top five priorities or key job outs and ask for feedback from them. Also, ask for them to add any other output they would need you to help fix. As Banyoro says, ‘’obusaijababweteera”, you make yourself a man. To sit at the table of men, you must first have something to offer to them. By asking for your supervisor’s input and guidance and making it a point to provide progress, they start trusting you. People deal with folks who understand them and are very responsive. Before you know it, your boss will start confiding in you for his or her personal errands.
That is a sure ticket to learning a great deal about how leaders think and act. So that is how you can easily succeed in your career regardless of your present job title. Network effectively.
