While packing your stuff into boxes in preparation for the big moving house, you find stuff you didn’t even realize you had. Some of it you place in separate boxes because you think “I could really use this” or “That could come in handy if I would…”

During your career you have also accumulated a bunch of stuff. Things you know and skills you have learned. You might be a PowerPoint wiz, be creative and full of good ideas (innovation), have excellent planning skills, be a great communicator or fantastic at defining a strategy and subsequently implement it.

These skills are your assets, but some of them you may have forgotten about because of job changes. Now you work in a capacity where you do not need some of them or at least you think you don’t need them.

Message for Garcia

Let’s take a sidetrack for a moment. Have you ever heard about “A message for Garcia”? The core message of “A message for Garcia” is for employee’s to do what needs to be done – not just what they are told to do. Statements like “I cannot do anything about it, I have to follow procedure – Do you want to talk to my supervisor” or “We cannot do that, it is against procedure” identify people unable to think outside the box and get that done, which needs to be done.

It may sound strange, but every employer is basically looking for the same thing - people, who can take independent action; people who can observe what needs to be done and do it.

Some people seem to think that making a good impression on the boss is the way to a career and some also make it like that, but try to ask the people working for them what they think about their leadership abilities. All too often you will hear very negative comments.

Other people think that the only way of accelerating their career is by changing jobs or go back to school. If you have very specific goals you may have to continue your studies, but for many of us it is about something else.
It is about putting the skills or assets you have built up over time to work and do what has to be done. It is time to accelerate your career.

Accelerate your career

You cannot mandate productivity; you must provide the tools to let people become their best.
                                                                                              – Steve Jobs

I agree with Steve Jobs, but what do we do if we do not have a boss who is a visionary? Can you actually create your own career?

Try to compare your company with any of its competitors for a second. More likely than not, you have more or less the same products and services being sold through the same channels. You may even be using the same production technologies.

So why is one of the companies more successful than the other? The answer is clear – it is the people!

It is their ability to put their skills, their commitment and energy to work. It is how they put it to work without waiting to be told what to do. Often such companies attract people who think function like that and those that don’t quickly look for another job.

5 Steps to Career acceleration

Let’s bring this down to earth a bit. Here are 5 steps, which will take you from just doing stuff and bring you towards becoming a career accelerator. Give each point some thought and remember to include all of your skill assets in your considerations when you think about how to implement them in your work life.

Add Value

Find out how you can add value to other peoples work, to teams or departments. Help them excel at what they are doing. What are the outcome or business value your boss desire; What about your department or your team? You are not adding value by producing a huge amount of e-mails or voicemails each day. Some people show that they are present in that way, but they don’t actually add any value.

Ask yourself “What do I need to do to better leverage my skill assets and add more value to the company/department I work for?”

Talk less and listen more

Effective executives know that talking more than they listen destroys creativity, innovation and burns energy. Ask questions – and by all means ask provocative questions and listen intensively to the answers.

Build your network

We are not talking about social networking platform like XING, LinkedIn or networks centered on social activities (smokers, coffee drinkers (or both), golfers etc.).
Instead build your network with people who accelerate. Find out who they are and network with them. Start to collaborate with the people in your network to add more value to your team, department and company.

Discuss with your network how to accelerate your acceleration and collaborate. This may sound a bit strange, but get going and I am sure you will see what I mean. Collaborate to excel is fun and creates a dynamic which leads to great job satisfaction.

Avoid Politics

Many companies are big on politics. People do or say things because of how it will influence their own position in the company – not because the positive effect it will have on the company’s business outcome. Politics can create a successful short term result, but it is only short term and you have to avoid it. Companies that are political are more often than not stagnating or even on a declining and have their best days behind them.

If you play along your career will accelerate down slope along with your self-esteem and personal integrity. Political managers work themselves into a corner from which they rarely escape. Focus your energy on the work; keep your self-esteem and integrity intact while staying away from the politics.

Say what you do and do what you say

I really hate when people say that they are going to do something and then don’t do it. People like that are decelerators. They slow things down and you have to spend time and energy to figure out a way to get stuff done without them.

Make sure that you are different. Manage expectations by making clear statements on what you are going to do. Statements like “I will have it ready by next week” are not management of expectation because you have Friday afternoon next week in mind but the other person is thinking noon on Tuesday. Latest Tuesday afternoon you will get a call or an e-mail. Make a clear statement on when you will deliver (day and time). Make a clear statement on what you are going to do (are you delivering a one-page first draft or a finished 12 page report?). Write it down, recap with the other person as you have written it down and do it as agreed.

If any unforeseen event keeps you from getting it done, you communicate it right away (most people wait until five minutes before a deadline for some reason) and negotiate a new deadline or look for a way to accelerate and collaborate with the other person to get the work done faster and better. Doing so shows respect for the other person’s time and planning.

Put it to work

Are you thinking “This is really simple stuff” or “I have heard it all before”? Good advice is good advice and lack of action is lack of action. If you heard all of it before, but you are not an accelerator already today, then you are the problem.

The magic solution does not exist. People who are value adders are quickly identified by both colleagues and managers – especially those who are genuine trying to help other and are not just running a personal marketing campaign. Just like Garcia they go and get the things done that have to be done.

By accelerating your own work and the work of others around, you add tremendous value to your company especially if you collaborate with others in the process. Then you are not only accelerating the company but also your own career.

You may think “My manager wouldn’t even notice” – never mind, you are not doing it for your manager. You are learning to become an accelerator and some other manager (maybe at another company) will notice and do what it takes to get you on their team. Now go, put it to work and accelerate!