Elevate Your Career: 3 Boss Moves Every Woman Should Make
In today's dynamic and competitive professional landscape, women are making significant strides in their careers, breaking barriers, and shattering glass ceilings. To take your career to the next level and achieve your fullest potential, it's crucial to embrace three essential boss moves: building a powerful professional brand, cultivating a connected network, and securing powerful sponsors that can help you gain the visibility and influence you deserve. What sets these strategies apart is their alignment with your authentic self and values, ensuring that every step you take reflects who you are and what you stand for.
1. Build a Powerful Professional Brand
Your professional brand is more than just a resume or LinkedIn profile—it's the essence of who you are as a professional, what you bring to the table, and the impact you make in your field. Think of your brand as your calling card. When people think of you your brand is the first thing that comes to mind. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that your brand exists whether you have intentionally crafted it our not. Own your story and don’t let others decide who you are or what you can do. As you use the following prompts to define your brand, consider asking others for feedback so you can determine your starting point. You might be surprised to find that your brand (or a version of it) already exists. Use this starting point to build on the great attributes and determine where you might need to pivot. To build a powerful professional brand in alignment with your authentic self and values:
Define Your Unique Value Proposition: Identify your strengths, skills, and expertise that set you apart from others. What makes you uniquely qualified and valuable in your industry?
Craft Your Narrative: Tell your story authentically, highlighting your journey, accomplishments, and the values that drive you. Share your passion and purpose with clarity and conviction.
Showcase Your Brand Consistently: Ensure that your brand is reflected across all touchpoints, including your resume, social media profiles, online presence, and personal interactions. Be authentic and consistent in how you present yourself to the world.
2. Cultivate a Connected Network
A strong professional network is a valuable asset that can open doors to new opportunities, provide support and mentorship, and amplify your influence in your industry. Your network is your net worth so it is important to be intentional about the relationships you build and how you ensure you provide value to those connections. Meaningful networks are maintained over time and should not be transactional in nature. Make sure you nurture your network the same way you would any important relationship in your life. Cultivating a connected network in alignment with your authentic self and values involves:
Identify Your Network Goals: Determine what you hope to achieve through your network, whether it's career advancement, skill development, or mentorship opportunities. Identify individuals that help support your goals and determine how you can contribute to theirs. As you define your network consider individuals that can help you in a variety of ways including those that can part of your personal “board of directors,” those that can provide objective feedback and those that have healthy extended networks that you can tap into as needs arise.
Build Genuine Relationships: Focus on building authentic connections with individuals who share your values and interests. Invest time in nurturing these relationships through meaningful conversations, mutual support, and collaboration. Send articles that you think would be interesting and offer support when members of your network demonstrate need.
Give Before You Receive: Be generous with your time, knowledge, and resources within your network. Offer support, advice, and assistance to others without expecting immediate returns. Authentic networking is about building genuine relationships based on trust and reciprocity.
3. Find Influential Sponsors
Sponsors are influential advocates who champion your career advancement, advocate for your opportunities, and provide crucial support and visibility within your organization. Sponsors are different from mentors because they are not meant to coach you throughout your career, but they will lend their political capital and influence to make sure they represent you and your interests in the right rooms. Securing powerful sponsors within your company in alignment with your authentic self and values involves:
Identify Potential Sponsors: Identify senior leaders or influential individuals within your organization who have the power and influence to sponsor your career advancement. These individuals do not need to believe the same things you do or operate the same way, but as you build a high value career, you want to make sure they can represent your interests in a ways that feels connected to what matters to you. Make sure you have open communication with your sponsor about what you care about and how you want to be seen in important moments.
Demonstrate Your Value: Proactively seek out opportunities to showcase your skills, expertise, and contributions within your organization. Demonstrate your potential for growth and impact through your work. Sponsors often seek out talent, but you can make yourself more visible by standing out from your peers and offering new perspective or contributing beyond the scope of your role. Show your value by doing more than is what required and you will be noticed for your work ethic, ingenuity, and courage to be seen.
Build Trust and Credibility: Build strong relationships with potential sponsors based on trust, respect, and mutual understanding. Seek feedback, act on advice, and demonstrate your commitment to personal and professional growth. Being consistent in the work product you deliver, acting with integrity, staying authentic to your values and your brand and showing leadership courage are all ways you can maintain your brand and be a credible talent in your organization.
By embracing these three power moves—building a powerful professional brand, cultivating a connected network, and securing powerful sponsors within your industry—you can elevate your career to new heights while staying true to your authentic self and values. Remember, success is not just about climbing the career ladder but about making a meaningful impact and leaving a legacy that reflects who you are and what you stand for.