3 Proven Ways to Grow Your Career

3 *Proven* Ways to Grow Your Career

Are you familiar with the term, Career Catapult? If not it's time to get familiar!

Career catapult is a term from the CEO Genome project. Read about it in The CEO Next Door. Authors Elena L. Botelho and Kim R. Powell  explain  that many CEOs had a career catapult which helped them accelerate their route to the C-suite.

There are three types of career catapults: 

❇️ Go small to go big

❇️ Take on a mess 

❇️ Make a big leap

The titles tell you what they mean, but here's a short description of each and why they're effective for career growth.

Go small to go big

This is where you take on a more senior role at a smaller company. You get to take on more responsibility and decision making. You can really build your resume and get to add the advanced role to it too.

Take on a big mess

This is where you take on a problematic project or job. It's usually something no one else wants to do. I did this once and I remember thinking, well I can't make make it works, it can only go up from here!

This helps advance your career because people remember the person who came in and fixed things. Visibility and praise come with the territory because people respect you and want to know how you did it.

Make a big leap

This is when you take a job way outside your comfort zone. It's usually a role or special project that you don't believe you're qualified for, but go for it anyways.  

The reason this is so helpful at accelerating your career is because you get to demonstrate your skills – usually as you're learning them. It's uncomfortable and scary, but it leads to personal and professional growth.

Like everything else, there are pros and cons to taking on an endeavour like this. Here's a summary for you:

Potential CONS

• People  what you’re doing
• Working at a company with less prestige
• Less security 
• It might not work out
• Highly challenging

PROS 

• Strengthen your personal brand
• Get to the next level faster
• Show you have what it takes 
• Growth on steroids (accelerated growth)
• You gain visibility, credibility and more.
• Build important skills quickly

🎥 Watch my video (and subscribe to my channel) on the three types of career catapults for more details on the pros and cons of each

Consider your goals and your tolerance to risk when deciding if a career catapult is right for you.

If you're ready to walk a proven path to success, consider a career catapult! ✉️ Connect with me today to talk about designing your very own career catapult.