Work your way up in your career with rectitude

Most people who seek career advice want immediate results; they want short cuts to progress and advancement. The reason why they want this is because of widespread beliefs that moving up in a career is all contingent on the contacts that you enjoy. Regrettably, there is nothing more untrue than this. There are no shortcuts to move ahead in your career. However, there could be exceptions wherein some odd person may have succeeded through dubious means but the fact is that such progress will never be long-term. 

One can climb up the corporate ladder and reach a particular position. But being able to sustain yourself there in a manner that everybody looks up to you is difficult because herein come into play your aptitude, capabilities and brainpower. You cannot undervalue the subject of earning esteem and trustworthiness that is essential if one has to lead and oversee people. You simply cannot achieve victory in one big leap; it is accomplished gradually. And the best part of career advancement is that the magnificence of all accomplishments is contingent on the sweat that went in for the same.

In the light of the above, how do you move up in your career with rectitude? The following guidelines will be of immense help:

· Say ‘No’ to Machiavellian methods: Wily, underhand and sneaky methods to climb up the career ladder also require some planning. Such planning will consume more time for obvious reasons. It is better if the time is put to good use; you could always engender new ideas, toil hard and gear yourself to face difficult situations. Doing so will offer you distinct advantages that will have long-term ramifications. However, this in no way reduces the importance of conventional career planning. It is up to you to identify ways and means to perk up your proficiency level and accomplish whatever career objectives that you have set for yourself. It goes without saying that towards such planning, good networking skills are inescapable. You need to understand that Machiavellian methods call for greater caution and run the risk of exposure. Therefore, they need to be shunned because if your ulterior motives get exposed, you will suffer immense shame and opprobrium.

· Let hard work not deter you: The younger generation is not much inclined to sweat it out for accomplishing anything. They want easy ways out. Your own initiatives to learn the tricks of the trade are dependent on how serious you actually are with regard to your career. If you are really serious-minded, you should understand that you will achieve nothing without hard work. All hard work has costs attached and it is neigh impossible to achieve success by moving in a particular direction or method where there is no hard-slog. The fruits of labour are always sweet – you must understand this.

· Provoke new thought processes: New ideas and concepts are always welcome in any establishment. But that does not connote that you keep coming out with them to an extent that your boss gets confounded. Whatever you suggest has to be pertinent to your place of work and have the potential of heightening efficiency and outputs. It is also likely that your idea may be good but because of your inexperience, somebody else more competent is asked to implement it. If that be so, you should have no objection to credit being accorded to him or her. Your principle ought to be working for a principled stand and not commendation; a selfless approach will boost your image in the eyes of others.

· Mentor & guide others: It is likely that you are still rather young and guiding others may not appeal to you. Leaders can well be young. You can always adopt a leadership stance and concentrate on motivating and impelling others. When you do this, you will get to acquire knowledge and expertise to work your way up in your career. However, you will have to adhere to the tenets of teamwork. As a leader, you may have to be stern to ensure that things move in the correct direction, but you cannot afford to be authoritarian. All your actions should be governed by accepted norms and organizational interests at all times.

It is essential that you do not lose sight of your sight; your concentration also has to be of a high degree. It is also necessary that you adhere to simplicity and honesty in all spheres, including your thinking process. When you proceed with righteousness, you will realise what ascending the corporate ladder is actually all about. You also need to have a high degree of self-confidence to attain your objectives and self-confidence comes automatically with self-discipline. Moving up the corporate ladder with rectitude is the best possible way to also attain dignity, self-assurance and triumph.