Three simple questions to ask yourself when faced with any problem

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Much of your working life is spent solving problems, and yet each new problem brings with it a fresh challenge: knowing where to start. American entrepreneur Jim Rohn said that a good way to begin is to ask yourself three questions:  

“First, what could I do?

Second, what could I read?

And third, who could I ask?”

  Sound too simple? Read on to discover how taking each point at a time can unlock new thinking and generate bold ideas in even the commonest of workplace scenarios.  

Problem: There’s no obvious ‘next step’ for me where I work; how will I progress my career?

DO: Think about what it is you really want. Often we think about career progress in terms of hierarchal structures and in the absence of a vacating boss, assume that opportunity is lost. Consider if you’ve examined every conceivable possibility in your current workplace – secondments to other teams or even locations, stretch assignments, the option to gain management experience by hiring interns? Even if none lead to that desired promotion, you’ll have maximised your current role’s scope so that when a bigger opportunity does come along, you’ll be in the strongest possible position. If you need to do more thinking around any of these points, the everywomanNetwork Career planning workbook is a great place to start. READ: Transitioning between career stages is a great time to conduct a thorough analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, hone your personal brand and develop ways to sell yourself. Get started with these three quick everywomanNetwork articles: Understanding your strengths in 9 simple steps “Tell me about yourself”: 4 ways to construct your career story ASK: Your boss. Hope can easily turn to resentment when line managers fail to bring us career stretching opportunities, but don’t forget that bosses aren’t mind readers. Have you indicated to your boss that growth is a personal objective? Be as specific as possible if you want to remain front and centre of your manager’s mind when they hear about some opportunity that’s up for grabs. Finally, if you come to the realisation that growth means seeking opportunities beyond your current team, you need to be absolutely clear who your stakeholders are. 53% of everywomanNetwork members aren’t sure who the key influencers in their careers are. If you’re in that camp, take some time to identify the most useful people in your network: your boss’s boss? A past colleague? An industry expert? An external client? A recruitment agent?  

Problem: I’ve been given feedback in my annual review that while my performance is good, I’m not ‘visible’ enough in the organisation. Senior figures are unaware of my good work.  

DO: Before you can begin to increase your visibility (and your influence to boot) you must first consider what you want to become visible for. Think back over your good work and highlight which successful outcomes have added the most value to the organisation. Now consider how you begin to increase awareness of your particular expertise: speaking up more in meetings? Distributing monthly compilations of relevant content to people who may be interested? Offering foundation training to newcomers or interested parties from other teams? Writing something for the company intranet? READ: If you want to be recognised as an expert in your field then keeping abreast of new knowledge and insights is a must. You can increase your visibility further by adding your own analysis of what’s being written, using social media, workplace intranets or discussion forums. Get more ideas in the following everywomanNetwork articles: #techmums Founder Dr Sue Black’s rules for elevating your personal social media presence ASK: If you’re struggling to understand how you can come to the attention of senior figures, turn to your network. Who are the trusted individuals whose work seems to captivate those higher up the ladder? Can you reach out and ask them how they market themselves? Don’t forget the source of the feedback too – your boss has indicated you need to become more visible so he or she is likely to have both a vested interest in getting you there and some good ideas to help you along the way.  

Problem: I’ve spent a long time growing my network, but now that I have large circles, I’m not sure how I can cultivate them.

DO: Become an active listener. The best way to foster a network of useful individuals is to become one yourself; to do that you need to dial up your listening in order to understand where you can be of use to others. Take a broad view of your network and consider how you can really add value: by sharing useful content? Creating brainstorm groups? Connecting disparate connections to enable new relationships to be formed? READ: As you’ve discovered, growing a network is only half the battle. The everywomanNetwork has a wealth of information on how you can transform your network from a small number into a rich resource of career-elevating opportunities.   ASK: If you’ve started active listening you may already have answers to your questions, but if you need more of an explicit understanding of what your network needs from you, ask the question. Reach out to distant connections and ask what they’re working on, invite colleagues from other teams for a catch-up coffee, check out what discussions, groups and events LinkedIn connections are taking part in – the results of this fact-finding mission might give you the answers you’re looking for. Jim Rohn’s problem solving process is discussed in more detail in Sara Parson’s everywoman Network webinar Practical ways to extend your sphere of influence (log in now to listen back).

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