Your Business Rules OK...: 5 Ways to get that Career Promotion...

...how to get ahead, get noticed and get that Job...

First, I think that being fired should be compulsory in everyone career - at least once. Being fired forces us to do what we know we should have done years ago, it takes away the excuses and comfort of Salary...

If you do it right, you even get a cheque to help you start your next venture...

If however, you are still on your corporate journey, here are the FIVE things that you must do to get that Promotion you have been promising yourself...

1. Say Yes to Opportunities - mainly because 92% of people will say no, so you are already ahead of the game..

One Christmas Eve at 19.00 as a young Manager, I was about to head home when I had a call from the Chairman of my company, who said that he had an opportunity for me...

The opportunity was to fly to Dublin and get a copy of the Menu from the Burlington hotel signed by the Chef and bring it to his office on the 27th December; what would you say...?

I said yes and completed the challenge - turns out that this was simply a challenge set to my Chairman by a prospective client - if you are so good, get one of your team to do this...

We won the contract and guess who the client wanted to run it...?

2. Take Risks - go where others fear to tread.

At a mid size manufacturing business, 65% of our business was with the UK Ministry of Defence, and as such we had to have the appropriate Quality Accreditation; back then it was BS 5750 Pt 1, now it would be ISO 9000 series.

The Quality Manager was so stressed that he had a nervous break down 6 months before the assessment was due to happen - no one wanted to pick up the project, it was seen as being poison.

So I volunteered, never done it before but it needed to be done or else we would all be out of work. I worked like a dog - evenings, weekends until the assessment date. We passed with ZERO defects - almost unheard of in industry, kept the contract and 200 people kept their jobs.

3. Be Excellent - keep learning and make yourself indispensable to the company.

I spent 12 years at night school learning about business, sales, marketing - even industrial packaging and printing techniques. While others were down the pub I was at college, while others were out partying I was writing dissertations and giving presentations.

When any project came up, I made sure I was first choice - I was the youngest Manager, Director and General Manager - and I got a Distinction in my MBA too...

4. Show Up - be on time all the time and don't go sick.

I was caught leaving my post early as a Trainee in Royal Ordnance - and as a punishment had to file and scrape a piece of tough gun barrel steel to be exactly 2 inches long within +/- 0.001 inches. Took me 6 days and my hands bled from blisters and friction - taught me a lesson though.

Always be early for meetings and appointments.

Don't go sick - sounds ridiculous - but in essence there are very few times when you are so ill that yo can't get to work. Keep healthy and stay well. If you really want to get healthy - run your own business, then you can't go sick, you have to get out and get on with it - Entrepreneurship; best health care program in the World.

5. Get Results - longevity is no guarantee of success or promotion.

As a young designer in the Drawing Office of Royal Ordnance Enfield, I was sat at my desk when a chap in a brown coat approached me and took away my steel waste bin and replaced it with a wicker one, and I got a leather Desk Jotter.

I asked him why I was getting them - he looked at his list and simply said "Holland, 2 years service so you get a Wicker basket and a pad - after three years you get a coat stand and a desk tidy..."

I knew it was time to leave - don't think that because you show up over a long period of time that you'll get promoted. People who add value, get results and have the ability to lead a team get promoted.

Build your Brand as being someone who gets results...

6. Play Nice - karma is a real bitch in Business...

Yes I know I promised FIVE ways, but I always over deliver (that should be #7 itself...) and playing nice is a positive virtue in business.

Avoid drama, politics and stabbing others in the back - you are not the Wolf of Wall St...

Be inclusive, supportive and a team player - you can rise to the top by being excellent, you don't have to do it by being an Ass...

And when you get fired, which you will - relax it will probably be the best thing that ever happened to you - it was for me...