5 Upgrades You Need To Make To Thrive In Your Career In 2021

Can you believe it?

January is already nearly over and I don’t know about you but for me it just has flown by.

From selling my apartment and car literally within the same 24h during the Xmas and NY period, to half moving in with my partner (we are still in transition) and of course all the launches that we’ve had incl the design thinking workshop which kicked off 2021 in the Future of Work Campus, our monthly membership. 

We were joined by Ale Wiecek who was also a guest in episode 21.

She walks us through how we can apply design thinking to career and life planning.

 And I can tell you- this is only the beginning! I’m excited to share more of what’s coming up in 2021.

And this is also one of my goals for the podcast – to let you in to more behind the scenes as it happens and also give you some more updates what’s going on in my personal life as I got so many messages after episode 20 where I recapped 2020 and how I pivoted, launched and scaled during and after Covid hit. 

I love those 1:1 conversations so please keep them coming, reach out and say hello. Podcasting can be a bit of a lonely journey because you never know who’s listening.

And speaking of conversations and wanting to know more about you… 

How’re you tracking with your new years resolutions?

Usually by this time, most of the good intentions already said sayonara … and I’ll be real – no difference with me. One of my intentions (which you may have seen on Insta or LinkedIn) was to do weekly lives on Facebook and Insta. Well, what should I say? We are in week 4 and I’ve done a couple. 

Buuuut, I didn’t just let that fall through the cracks, I actually did some live sessions but in a different way. I’ve been on Clubhouse – the new social media app which is invite only at this stage. By the way- if you’re on, connect with me and say hola!

Anyway, at the beginning of Jan, I got a notification from a LinkedIn influencer who I’ve been following and liked her content. So I joined the room but she left and made me moderator… talk about getting thrown in the deep end.

Then, a couple of days later, Leanne Hughes invited me to join one of her rooms to talk about keeping conversations on track which was great… and from what I’ve experienced so far, clubhouse is probably the most social platform there is at the moment as it’s live talks, no videos or recordings or curated content. It’s great to have real time and direct conversations, you can learn from the big guns in the field and ask them directly questions (although some of the rooms are quite busy and you don’t always get the chance to get on the stage.

But anyway, speaking of side tracking on the conversation … but this is something I want to do a little bit more of this year, letting you in to my crazy life and be part of the journey as it happens. And to be honest- the reason why I struggle with the FB and insta lives is because I really don’t like Facy and I don’t want to always look the part for Insta.

 So I see it Clubhouse actually as an upgrade to my original plan and it already has resulted in some new business opportunities already. 

This is however a great example of how to not do it because it was such a daunting goal that I set myself, simply because I just don’t enjoy either platforms for lives myself. And whilst I’m preaching that always to my clients that they need to choose the platform they’re most comfortable with and create content that feels easy and natural … I didn’t take my own medicine as I wanted to push myself a little and upgrade my commitment.

And speaking of upgrades … this is a good seqway into today’s episode as it’s about 5 upgrades you need to make if you want to make your career progression a priority in 2021 …because – as we know, nothing is like it used to be and I don’t see things going back to where it was. Times change, people move on, establish new habits, have new demand and interests and also technology advances … so instead of holding on to the good old times, now is the time to let go of habits, routines, things and even people who are no longer aligned with your future direction. Because as Einstein already realised  .. doing the same thing and expecting a different result is insanity.

So if up-levelling your career is something on your agenda for this year, then I also have good news for you: I’m running a live masterclass on the 15th Feb where I’ll teach you how to build a portfolio career and increase your income in 6 weeks.

No, this isn’t a get rich quick scheme … it’s a method that future-proofs you as well as helps you fast track your career journey because you gain more diverse industry experience, build a diverse network and develop a diverse skill set. So you basically skip a few years if you do it the right way.

Ok- now with no further ado, let’s chat about those 5 upgrades you need to make in 2021 to fast track your career success

1.     Shift from thinking the future happens to you to you creating the future

It all starts with self awareness and ability to pitch yourself. The clearer you are about your strengths, your drivers, your interests and also what drains your energy gives you more control and confidence.

And as we know- as much as people want your expertise, they also (if not even more) are drawn to your energy and level of confidence. If you don’t think you’re the best person for a particular job- how can you expect anyone else to think that?

I truly believe that being able to marketing and sell your point of difference is a key skill you can’t neglect in 2021 and beyond. We live in a more connected and competitive environment and the more you can stand out by being clear about your value proposition, the easier you’ll get ahead.

If you have troubles with clarifying your secret sauce, I’ve created a guide to help you with that. 

Download it now and get clear on the 3 aspects that make you unique and you want to hone in on.

2.     Don’t wait for opportunities; create them

I truly believe that there’s never been a better time than now to create a career your point of difference. There’s a need for nearly everything if you tackle it right. I don’t mean with that however that you just run and start something.

It all starts with doing some research, staying on top of trends and being able to read between the lines.

• What do these changes mean for your industry or profession?

• What is and will be in demand and what won’t be for much longer?

• What is one thing that is needed in the market and how can you offer it in a unique way? 

I recommend you to research relevant authorities and thought leaders in your field or the field you want to get into.

Subscribe to their newsletters (you can also do that on LinkedIn now), set up Google Alerts which gives you daily or weekly summaries on trending articles on the topics you subscribed to.

This way you stay up to date with what’s going on and also get some inspiration from the headlines as these journalists have been testing what attracts attention for years.

And then of course, also follow relevant hashtags on LinkedIn so you can train your feed with relevant updates. 

3.     Change your static online presence into an appealing shop front

Instead of resume > resource > reputation management tool

Let’s be real here guys- we are in 2021 and digital doesn’t go anywhere. If anything at all, it will continue to grow so treating your social profiles like a static page won’t work in your favour. It will probably even hurt you in the long run.

Trust me when I’m saying that there is a ‘hidden job market’, especially when there are more talents than jobs. Rather than putting ads up which can be very expensive and often lead to not much, companies and recruiters target specific talents who fit the profile pro-actively. And whether you’re getting tapped on the shoulder or not comes down to how well you’ve positioned yourself/

• Is your value proposition clear?

• Have you used the right keywords?

• Are your profile sections up to date and complete?

• How active are you yourself? 

• Are you engaging with your industry? 

• Are you showing up and providing value? 

• Would you be top of mind when it comes to your area of expertise?

This is why one of the core sessions we have added now in the Future of Work Campus is content creation where we map, plan and create content for the month ahead so that our members build up their online presence and increase their career and business opportunities whilst setting themselves up as experts and authorities in their field.

Interested in joining one of those monthly live content creation workshops

(and yes, you also get the replay)?

4.     Rethink learning: instead of focusing on ‘learning from the world and others’, shift to ‘learning through and with others’.

With changes in every industry happening so quickly, going back to Uni doesn’t cut it in most cases. What is relevant is how you apply knowledge and how quickly you can implementing and respond to trends. You don’t need a diploma to start an Instagram account or to write a blog. Simply doing it, getting feedback from others, sharing your progress, asking questions is how you can fast track your career progression.

There are 2 main activities that will help you with that:

a.     Portfolio career – having multiple engagements, across different industries, professions and commitments at the same time.

In next week’s episode, I’ll share with you the exact steps you need to take to create your own portfolio career and do it in a strategic way as if you don’t tackle it the right way, it can be overwhelming and unsustainable. And that clearly doesn’t work in any one’s favour. So make sure you hit the subscribe button to get notified when the episode dropped.

b.     Networking – you can not only get information but insights from your network, as well as introductions and referrals. ‘I’ve done it allll by myself’ ~ said no successful person ever.

So get started with joining industry associations, interest groups and also follow relevant people and companies on LinkedIn so that you see their updates, can engage with their content (which by the way- is the fastest way to get on people’s radar) so that you can build a relationship and connect also offline.

5.     Build a Brand, not a Career

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – build Brand, not just a career or business. The beauty of building a Brand is that it’s multi-faceted and allows you to pivot. You want to be known for more than just your job title, especially in this fast-changing world of work where we have to change careers more often. You want to be known for your traits, characteristics and personality that no one else can compete with. 

And when you focus in on showing your soft skills, you’ll be able to pivot much easier as those skills are transferable to any industry or profession that’s in demand at that time.

Now how to do it?

Good question!

Simple answer:

By showing up and showing rather than telling.

If you want to demonstrate strong communication skills, show it!

Create content regularly (online, at events, as speaker …)

Not only will you become visible to decision makers, which – as we know especially on LinkedIn where 4 in 5 people are in decision making positions is key to getting ahead.

You can also set yourself up as not only the expert but authority in your field.

What’s the difference? 

Experts learn from authorities and by you creating your own, original content you can achieve that.

Again- this is why I’m running those live workshops for our Future of Work Campus members where we create content for the month ahead.

If you’re interested in stepping up your online presence in 2021. In those live workshops you get:

• pre-populated content calendars

• themes and topics for the month ahead

• key dates and awareness days

• prompts for each of the 6 content types

• plug and play caption templates

Now just to wrap things up, the 5 things you need to upgrade in 2021

to fast track your career progression are:

1.     Shift from thinking the future happens to you to you creating the future

2.     Don’t wait for opportunities; create them

3.     Change your static online presence into an appealing shop front

4.     Rethink learning: instead of focusing on ‘learning from the world and others’, shift to learning with and through others

5.     Build a Brand, not a Career

Thank you so much for tuning in and again, make sure you subscribe.

February’s topic is centred around innovation and creativity and we have some great interviews lined up.

In next week’s episode, I’ll talk you through the steps how you can create a portfolio career and fast track your career progression in 6 weeks.