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Competing Strategically in Your Career

Guest post by: Harris Silverman

Article Overview: Strategies used by businesses to compete can also be used by individuals to manage their careers.

Competing Strategically in Your Career

Elements of strategy that are normally used by businesses can also be used by individuals in the management of their careers. For example, knowing where you’re heading by writing a clear definition of your ideal future state can help you get there by guiding your decision-making, your professional development and your career planning. You should always know where you want to be and when you want to be there.

Another business strategy that can be applied to an individual career is positioning. Businesses benefit from being known in the public mind as being very good at one or two clearly defined things that people want. You can do the same. Make sure you’re known in your profession or company as the go-to person for a small number of very specific skills or services that people need and value. This will help you hang on to your job in tough times, and it will make people remember and value you.

It’s important for businesses to keep close track of the business environment so that they can anticipate threats, prepare for coming changes that will impact them, be sure they’re meeting current needs (rather than those of the past), and generally steal a march on their competitors. You can do the same in your career. Make sure you are aware of changes in your field or profession, and in your company and its strategy, that can impact your career and that may require changes to the way you are managing it. Many people neglect this, and it can give you a clear advantage.

Another case in point is developing and maintaining a competitive advantage. Make sure you have some skill, knowledge, or capacity that gives you an edge over people with whom you compete for jobs and promotions. Make sure you know what they can do and where there may be gaps that you can fill. Develop new skills; get better at the ones you share with them; find a way to develop an edge.

One of the best-known business strategies is SWOT analysis. Do you know what your Strengths are, and how you can develop and exploit them? Do you know what your Weaknesses are, and do you have a plan to remedy them, or at least to mitigate them? Have you identified Opportunities that you can exploit, and Threats you need to guard against?

If not, what are you waiting for?

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Article Tags: career, career planning, compete, competitive career



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