Elevate Your Worth: The Secret to Growing and Thriving in the Workplace
I've been in a dream role for the past year, and it's been both fulfilling and challenging!
We're shaping the future of work for our corporation in the reliability and maintenance space by focusing on an enterprise architecture that integrates lean and agile principles along with digital data transformation.
This opportunity has allowed me to leverage my existing expertise while learning new analytical tools and building business acumen in different areas of the company.
In this journey, I've realized a key truth: To thrive in the workplace as a Female Engineer, you must be open to upskilling and have a posture for growth.
To position yourself for your next growth opportunity, consider this simple strategy:
Determine Your Destination: Know where you want to go. Setting a clear goal helps guide your actions and decisions.
Identify the Skills and Relationships Required: Figure out what skills you need and who can help you. Networking and continuous learning are key.
Break Down Barriers: Overcome obstacles that might hinder your progress. This might mean acquiring new skills, adopting new mindsets, or forming new relationships.
When you start with the end in mind, the rest follows naturally. Blazing a new trail often requires stretching beyond your comfort zone. You may need to acquire new skills, vocabulary, or relationships. Change brings new experiences, and with every experience comes an opportunity to create best practices, develop new systems, and apply learnings.
For instance, the skills required for a sales specialist role won’t land you the Vice President of Marketing & Sales position. Understand the competencies necessary for your desired role and the new level of expectations. Here are a few online educational resources to help you upskill:
Udemy (www.udemy.com)
LinkedIn Learning (www.linkedin.com/learning)
Coursera (www.coursera.org)
Skillshare (www.skillshare.com)
Class Central (www.class-central.com)
A Few Tips to Remember:
New rooms require new skill sets. Devote time and space to learn more.
Speak the language of the people. Understand the politics that govern the new opportunity.
If you don’t know the language, show up and listen until you can contribute.
Express gratitude when others share new information with you.
Build new relationships through social networking, events, and leveraging the networks of friends and family.
Growth involves you as the leader to fully engage, drop your biases, and commit to the process. By following these tips and continuously upskilling, you'll position yourself for greater success and recognition in your engineering career.