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The Boston Business Journal interviewed a number of prominent women leaders asking them to reflect on their career paths and what they learned along the way.  These women work in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and their observations could be useful for anyone interested in managing a successful career.

Below are a dozen tips distilled from their words of wisdom helpful to anyone at any career stage:

–       Be bold.  You can’t wait for others to recognize you or to encourage you to take on intimidating challenges.  Dare yourself to do more than you think you can, and don’t be shy to let others know what you think and what you have done.

–       Build relationships.  No matter the stage of your career, knowing how to connect with others is critical.  Do not limit yourself to people like you (even though we all have a natural tendency to do that). Rather, seek out people in different roles and in other organizations. Intentionally find and learn from people in an age range younger and older than you. Connect with those whose experience amounts to less than yours. Also, connect with people with more experience than you. Discover the connection point with those you find, and keep in touch over time.  You never know how you may help one another.

–       Stay focused.  If you set a goal, do not allow yourself to be side-tracked or distracted.  Keep plugging away, persist and don’t take no for an answer.

–       Do not allow yourself to feel like a victim.  No matter how awful your circumstances, take a good hard look at your situation, and determine how you are going to change things.  Overcoming deficiencies, obstacles and plain, bad luck is one of the keys to career success.  Your career experience is not likely to go in a straight line, so the quicker you learn from a situation and formulate a bounce-back plan, the faster you’ll get where you want to go.

–       Give back.  Being a good citizen is a part of everyone’s career success.

–       Find a mentor.  Being mentored helps you overcome a lack of knowledge and exposure in a role, organization or industry.

–       Work hard.  There is no escaping this.  And, quality counts more than quantity.

–       Strive for balance, and understand your choices.  Often, the ideal, balanced life is just not possible.  But, being aware of what is most important allows you to make acceptable, even if temporary, trade-offs.

–       Create a trustworthy team.  Surround yourself with people who have your interests at heart, who understand and wish to support your goals and who can complement any areas where you are less strong.  They will also give you much needed perspective when you are stuck or facing difficult challenges.

–       Think strategically. Sometimes you have to take an indirect route, but keep in mind where it is you are headed.

–       Tackle challenges methodically.  Make a list of obstacles, and devise strategies to overcome them, one at a time, in the right order.

–       Find the right environment.  If your own values are mirrored in the organization’s culture, you are far more likely to succeed than if you find yourself feeling like an alien in a hostile culture.

Fredia Woolf , founder of Woolf Consulting, blogs to help people improve their workplace effectiveness and optimize their careers.  As an organizational consultant and leadership coach, she works with clients to increase insight, inspiration and impact. She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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Last updated on April 20th, 2010 at 01:38 pm

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