5 Ways to Excel Your Business Career

Many of us want to take our careers to the next level. The goal may be to earn more money, move up on the corporate ladder, starting your own business, or a combination thereof. The next question is: how can you do that? Here are 5 ways to excel in your business career.

Understand Your Employer’s Goals and Focus on Meeting and Exceeding Them

Align your work with your employer’s goals. Take time to understand how your role aligns with the company’s goals, be it increasing sales or improving product quality. Report your weekly and quarterly accomplishments within that framework to improve management’s visibility into your work.

Set professional goals that allow you to meet and exceed their goals as a department or division. When you achieve something like winning a contract or graduating with a certification, be able to explain how this benefits the organization.

Go for a Doctorate in Management

A doctorate in business management or a DBA in Management may allow you to take your career to the next level. A doctorate in business is not just a credential to stand out in a field full of MBAs. A doctorate in management can teach you valuable skills like data analysis, risk management, or data-driven management. These skills may open the door to higher management to allow you to become a business consultant, or even start your own business.

Take Initiative

One of the best ways to stand out at work is to identify problems and take steps to solve them yourself. Document what you did, so that the process can be replicated elsewhere, or the results independently assessed. Show your employer your problem-solving skills rather than telling them you want to be one.

Openly communicate with your manager on goals and needs. Furthermore, if you can anticipate their needs and fulfill them, you’ll show that you understand their needs and are an invaluable contributor to the team. This increases the odds you’ll be given a leadership role and/or be promoted.

On the flip side, you can avoid unconscious bias by learning what your boss doesn’t like and avoiding the things they can’t stand. Be receptive to feedback to learn areas where you may improve upon. Feedback not only helps you grow personally but also helps improve communication and increases transparency.

Be Open to Learning and Volunteering

This is not necessarily a call to take classes or sit through seminars, though that may be necessary to learn some skills. Read books and magazines related to your industry and consider it a great way to learn how you can improve the organization. Ask coworkers for regular feedback, this will also help to create a friendly work environment. Take feedback gracefully and learn from it.

Do better rather than making repetitive mistakes. Consider working with others on their project in a supporting role to learn more about that area. If you volunteer for new projects, leadership could also recognize your effort. You might be partnered with team members with complementary skills or someone who lacks your project management skills but can teach you about what you need to know.  As a general approach to volunteering in the workplace, look past the amount of work required and evaluate the totality of the potential experience.

Get Involved in Mentoring

Mentoring is a great learning opportunity, and it is an invaluable networking tool. This is true whether you’re mentoring new hires or being mentored. You’ll learn a lot of inside knowledge that is difficult to learn otherwise. Furthermore, it demonstrates your commitment to the organization. Remember that you can learn a lot as a mentor from your mentee, whether it is the latest technologies or what they’re learning in school.