1. Make yourself indispensable.
Locking yourself into your current role is a great way of locking yourself out of the next higher role. Bonus if you actively higher weak performers who couldn’t replace you even if someone wanted them to.
2. Strive for work/life balance.
People who juggle passions have an entirely different outlook on life from those who juggle obligations. Rather than surround yourself with a job, friends, and family you care passionate about, try converting all the various parts of your life into a serious of appointments that you race to and from, like a gerbil on a wheel.
3. Avoid power plays and politics at all costs.
Frankly, other people are probably more qualified to guide your life, so you may as well let them. Standing up for yourself could possibly create opportunities for you to come across as confident and competent.
4. Apply for higher level positions when they open up.
Imagine the scene: you are one of 250 managers at Ginormous Co. who each fired off a resume the moment that new “fast track” leadership position appeared on the internal job board. Nice. Simply by playing by the rules, you reduced your odds for success to 0.4%.
6. Be humble.
Jim Collins says that effective leaders couple an iron will with extreme humility. A quick look around shows that no one hires a humble leader when a good self-promoter is available.
7. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Guess what? Not everyone wants to be treated the way you like to be treated. In fact, some of them hate it! Ignore all the social cues people send indicating how they would prefer to be treated. Instead, judge them and call them a bunch of whiny babies.
8. Select teammates based on proven track records.
Hiring based on past performance is like driving by looking in the rearview mirror. With all the change in the world today, it’s likely that the road ahead will look different than the one you left behind… which makes this a great way to crash and burn.
9. Hone your craft… more.
Continually developing your skills as a practitioner will preclue you from ever recognizing, learning, or practicing the various social, sales, political, motivational, strategic, financial, and problem solving skills you will need as an executive.
10. Ask your boss to clarify your directions.
What organizations want in their leaders is the ability to handle ambiguity–in other words, the ability to come up with the right answer based on limited, conflicting, or uncertain infromation. Asking point blank for more clarity about your role and the tasks you are to accomplish is a great way to make sure you do your work well… and a great way to signal that you lack leadership skills at the same time.
11. Focus on cutting costs.
There is almost always a space on the org chart above the penny pincher, and it is almost always filled by the dollar finder.
12. Avoid risk.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Well, this one’s a gimme!
