Developing A Mindset To Build Credibility And Career Success

Developing A Mindset To Build Credibility And Career Success

Your mindset can shape your career.  When you develop a mindset focused on credibility and career success, you will be an invaluable team member and maximize your impact.

Our CEO and Founder, Jessica Chen, recently hosted a Soulcast Media | LIVE event on LinkedIn where she interviewed Best-Selling Author, Maya Grossman. 

They shared key tips and personal experiences on developing a mindset focused on credibility and career success.

As a VIP Communications Pass holder, this article is packed with extra tips and tools to show you how to be a more confident communicator, including videos, downloadable tips, step-by-step instructions, and more!

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/660698007

VIP Pass Communications Video – Credibility

Mindset

Thoughts and beliefs form your mindset.  These thoughts and beliefs can shape your habits.  Habits can change how you feel, what you do, and affect your personal and professional growth.

Your mindset matters.

You need to develop a mindset focused on building credibility and career success to advance your career.  When your mindset is focused on these things, your habits will follow.  

So how can you develop your mindset? 

Thinking like an owner, having a positive outlook, and tracking your success are three ways to develop a growth mindset for success.

 

1.  Think Like An Owner

Part of building your credibility is thinking like an owner.  This means developing an owner's mindset.  Thinking beyond your job description, finding solutions, growing professionally, and taking responsibility are all part of thinking like an owner.

• Think Beyond Your Role - Most people are only focused on doing the work within their job descriptions.  When you think like an owner, you consider your job description and think about your role in relation to the entire company.  There are a couple of ways you can think beyond your role.  First, think about how you do your job as if you were the company's owner.  Every role is critical to the success of the company.  When you do your job as if you were the owner, you do your absolute best.  You interact with everyone with extreme professionalism.  Another way to think like an owner is to go above and beyond.  Your role may only require you to meet with five clients per week.  Consider meeting with six or seven.  Developing an owner's mindset will change your perspective of your role within the company and how you can impact its success. 
• Finding Solutions - Every company will encounter problems.  The owner of a company is focused on finding solutions because they want the company to succeed.  If you think like an owner, your focus will be on finding solutions instead of letting problems stop your progress.  When you see a problem and fix it or offer solutions to it, you build your credibility.  Your superiors can count on your to get the job done, and be proactive when issues arise. 
• Growing Professionally - Being stagnant is one thing owners can't afford to do.  The owner of the company is always looking for growth.  Professional growth should be part of your mindset when you think like an owner.  This can look like many different things depending on your role.  For example, one way to focus on growth is to keep up with industry news.  You can also take professional development courses, attend seminars, or learn procedures and processes from other departments.  The more you learn, the more opportunities you create for yourself, which will help you advance your career.
• Taking Responsibility - Taking responsibility means taking ownership of your actions and understanding your career is in your control.  In the end, the owner of the company is responsible for its success or failure.  When you think like an owner, you don't cast blame on anyone, but instead, realize you own your career journey.  For example, if you didn't get the promotion you were hoping to get, you can think one of two ways.
  • Option #1 - You can think, "The hiring manager didn't like me, and there was no way I was going to get the promotion because they already wanted to hire Alan."
  • Option #2 - You can think, "Alan got the promotion because he is very qualified for the job.  What can I do to stand out for the next promotion?  I'm going to look for opportunities to showcase my skills, so I get the next promotion." 

In option #2 you can see how taking responsibility gives you power over your career, while option #1 gives control to someone else.  Taking responsibility gives you power over your career and builds your credibility amongst your peers and superiors.

Thinking like an owner doesn't mean working 24/7, but it does mean looking beyond your role within the company.  You will have to put in a little extra work, but in doing so, you will build your credibility, and maximize your opportunity potential. 

 

2.  Positive Thinking

Positive thinking can have a significant impact on your career.  When you shift your mindset into thinking positively, you allow yourself to believe what you want is possible. 

There are a few ways to make positive thinking a habit. 

• Turn Failures Into Lessons - There will be times during your career where things don't turn out the way you had hoped.  And that's okay!  However, allowing failures to derail your trajectory isn't okay.  You need to turn failures into lessons.  For example, let's say you are presenting ideas for an ad campaign.  You believe your ideas are excellent, and you've put in the work to present them the best you can.  However, your ideas aren't chosen.  When you turn your failures into lessons, you think, "How can I improve my ideas for the next opportunity?" In this way, you shift your mindset into always finding the lesson and moving forward.
• Remove Mental Barriers - Mental barriers are negative thoughts stemming from past experiences.  Most often, mental barriers present themselves as negative self-talk.  Negative self-talk can prevent you from achieving career success.  To remove these mental barriers, you will need to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones.  For example, when you think, "I'm never going to get that promotion, so it's pointless even to try." Replace that thought with, "I know I'm qualified for the promotion, so I'm going to try!" Replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk will change your mindset and help you realize your goals.
• Believe In Abundance - Believing in abundance means believing there are many opportunities out there.  For example, if your co-worker gets chosen to take the lead on a project, you believe there will be another project where you will get to take the lead.  This positive mindset keeps you from thinking there are only a finite amount of opportunities.  

Positive thinking will help you achieve career success.  When your mindset is focused on a positive outlook, you will be more apt to see opportunities that come your way.  When you believe in yourself, others will believe in you too.  This will build your credibility amongst your peers and superiors. 

 

3.  Tracking Your Success

Tracking your success keeps you focused on all of the things that bring you success, whether big or small.  There are many ways to track your accomplishments.  

• Write them down every week.
• Keep a folder in your inbox with positive emails.
• Mark the end of campaigns or lanches in your calendar
• Keep a spreadsheet 
• Actively lookup metrics and follow up quarterly
• Take screenshots 

Tracking your success is an important habit to practice for several reasons.

• Motivation - Every so often, you will need an extra push of motivation to keep you going.  Tracking your successes will motivate you to keep doing what brings you success.  For example, when you are going through an especially hard project, you can reflect on your accomplishments and remind yourself how proud you were when you finished.  Your past success will motivate you to keep pushing forward. 
• Follow Through - Tracking your successes will help you continue to follow through with your work and with your colleagues.  Follow-through is important in building your credibility and seeing career success.  Your credibility will increase when others can count on you to get the job done and do it well.  

• New Opportunities - Tracking your successes will help you be prepared for any and all new opportunities.  For example, when you have a list of your accomplishments at the ready, you can easily use them when going after a promotion or updating your resume when a new opportunity arises.  When asking for a raise, you can use your list of successes or show your superior how you're ready to lead a team. 

Making success tracking a habit, will focus your mind on what you did to accomplish your goals. 

Your mindset is powerful.  The more you can practice tuning your mind to think about what brings your success, the more opportunities and career advancement you will see. 

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