Driving your own career! Why you should ask for more!

Have you ever wondered, the levers, that the C suite use to drive their career? Has anyone ever sat you down and said this is what you should do? 

In this episode of Lady Leadership - Sam shares 5 strategies, that you can use, straight away, to progess your career. 

She covers:

1 Why mastering your current role is the platform for your success.
2. The benefits of asking for more work (oh no!)
3. How you can learn and grow into that new role. 
4. How you can make your dreams be seen by others. 
And lastly 5. Who you need to have around you and why?   

About me: 

My name is Samantha McIntyre and after 30 years in business and technology - from starting out on the helpdesk to getting to and staying in the C suite, being on Executive boards and being a mother and entreprenuer!  I am passionate about helping women in their careers. 

What I have enjoyed the most in my roles is helping those around me succeed - particularly women!  

I have lead technology teams for some of the biggest businesses and brands in Australia and the world such as Tesco, Loreal, Coles, Woolworths and Sportsgirl.

So  if you're looking for someone who knows what it is like to be a women in business and technology plus being a mother and an entrepreneur then you've come to the right place.

Contact:

Website: https://www.lady-leadership.com/
LinkedIn: Samantha McIntyre 
Twitter: sjmcintyre1
Facebook: @Samantha McIntyre
Instagram: @sammijmac and @lady-leadership

#women #females #technology #business #entrepreneur #womeninbusiness #careers

Transcript

speaker 0:   0:00
welcome. This is the Lady Ladyship podcast. Sam Skull is clean, helping as many women as she can make their full potential in business and in life. Hi, this is Sam McIntyre. And in this season, off the lady leadership podcast, I'm gonna be talking to you about how to get the most ask you create whether you have your own business, whether you work in corporate or whether you're just starting out. Maybe your finishing uni. So thanks for joining me. And I look forward to sharing all my tips and hints on Hannah Fast track your Korea. So welcome to Episode one off the Lady leadership podcast. I'm really excited. Teoh be talking to today about leadership, so I wanted to start with, you know, are you really fast tracking? Well, going for gold in your Korea, or do you find yourself that you're actually inadvertently or consciously actually holding yourself back? And if you are, then then why? So look, I'll just start by introducing myself. So my name's Sam McIntyre. I'm currently working the c I o. Uh, I've been working as a say I owe for probably the last 10 years. I certainly didn't start out as a C i O. And for May, it's just being, you know, one job after the next job after the next stop. And but it's very much been a deliberate kind of, you know, step, process and how you know how I've actually achieved that and have actually grown my career. So I've worked in a number of places around the world. I predominantly worked in Tech for the last 30 years, and so that's been both exciting and challenging as well. And yeah, I certainly had Ah very career and had the opportunity to work with some terrific laters along the way, which has been fantastic. I the you know, this year in 2020 I decided that it was just a good opportunity for May to start to share Maura and to actually give back. I've had so many women that have helped coached, mentioned May of the years. So yeah, I'm just I'm just excited, Teoh, you know, rich of broader audience with these podcasts. So thanks for joining me today. I'm really plays that you were able to. So I really wanted to just talk about how you're really in charge of your own career, and I think throughout you career you'll have many people that will help you or encourage you to push you forward or propel you forward. But at the end of the day, it's really up to you. So I think the number one thing just start with is that if you've got a job at the moment, then you really need to be doing so. If you're aspirational and you're looking for change and you want a new role, you want to work somewhere different or you want to grow your Korea, then I just think you're really going to start with doing the drums that you have now to the best of your ability. So I think that's really just showing to those around you that I think, you know, start with your drum description. Start with what's in there and what the tarsa. I think that's a first post start and haven't really good. Look at those tasks and break those tax down and think to yourself. OK, am I so everyone? A lot of companies will get KP eyes for the year old. You get, you know, projects that you're working on, and I think it's really important just to kind of sit down and plan those out and just figure out OK, How am I? How am I going to deliver those things? And then how am I actually going to get feedback on those as well? So how do you know that you're actually delivering them to the to the rock, To Grail, to the rot level. So I think Gramp, those those KP eyes as key deliverables as K projects whenever they aren't break those down. Now, if you don't have any of those, that might be an opportunity to sit down with your boss and actually define what there's are. So how do you know that you're doing a good job in the job that you have today? And, you know, just so you know, that's my first tip. Just really get clear on water, the expectations or the current role. And are you actually meeting those expectations? So attack the time, broke it down, organized to have a meeting with your boss to discuss those things and then, you know, just get really clear on that. So, you know, if you're sitting there thinking our brush, I don't get along with my boss that well, he's not really going to take the time to go through this week. Me then, you know, maybe find someone else a colleague in the organization to go through that drop description with you, or perhaps a friend outside of work that can help you kind of give you a second opinion. Or if you work for yourself, we work by yourself, then just, you know, sit down and review. Okay. What am I won my planning. What am I trying to get out of this role that I'm doing at the moment and kind of have that conversation with yourself? Look, if you want to give me a shout, hit me up on Facebook lifting, uh, instagram or, uh So I talked about, you know, during the drug that you have today into the best of your ability. And I think, you know, that starts with your commitment to that role that starts with being trusted to deliver. And so, you know, in terms of your commitment to the job, how you turning up to the office of a day or two wherever you work the day turning up. Um, and you organized. You committed to delivering. You seen a someone who wants to help you saying to someone that says yes. So you know if, for example, there was a problem and people might need you to work away Candle, Stay back. Are you the one the people can rely on and that they know that you're going to be available? So, you know, look, everyone has stuff on and certainly times when you can't do things. But, you know, do you say nice? Yes, 90% of the time, because, you know, that's what people want that what people who you know committed and who want to deliver and who want to help. So, you know, doing that job to the best of your ability. It's like how you show up. So, you know, I think what's really important is how you show up with the positive attitude. How you show up is being someone who looks and acts committed and then, you know, you actually trusted to deliver and Teoh make things happen. So if you're given a task or you for volunteer for a task, then you know the people believe that you're actually going to deliver that and help and I think that's kind of really important, too. Just that doing during the job that you have to di to the best of your ability. Okay, So my second tip for going for gold in your Korea is to actually ask for more work. And so you might go. I've already got enough work. What do you mean asked for more work? I think if you've been in your job for a little while and you've been doing the same thing for a while, you probably got that sorted and you know you. But the longer that you're doing something, the more efficient that you become And you know there is the opportunity to kind of extend your skills or grow your your mind set anywhere. Look, that's that's just again dependent on your aspirations. You might. So no, Sam, actually, I've got enough work. I don't actually don't want any more work, and and that's OK, But if you if you do want to grow, if you do want to learn mawr And if you do wanna grow your career and then you know, I do think my that asking for more work is a great option, so I think you know, the best way that I have grown My career is, you know, putting my heart's hand up for an extra project or putting my hand up to do an extra task. You know, finding finding a gap a swell. So, you know, certainly our contract ID for about use in the UK, And I was so you're only as good as your current contract. And, you know, so certainly when I was contracting I And if I was enjoying the company that I've worked for, I would actively look for and what the next project was that they were going to be doing and then, you know, talk Teoh people who were organizing that and see, um, you know, see if I could get involved in that pace of work. So, you know, it is very much, you know, putting yourself forward now, you know, to do that, you've gotta have relationships with people. So, you know, I think it's wise to, you know, create a good relationship with the boss. Correct good relationships with your colleagues, cried relationships with PayPal in in other areas. Don't do that at the detriment off your actual job. So don't be that person that's just constantly at the water cooler talking to everyone. But, you know, I think there's kind of, like a bit of a happy medium on that. And, you know, I think it's just again that positivity, that willingness to help that willingness to deliver and to get stuff done. And, you know, being known as I think in every organization is people that are that unknown for doing great work. And so how can you? How can you set that up for yourself so that you are one of those people and then you know, when opportunity arises, then you're saying as someone that can help, you know, I was safe. You wanna have relationships with the people that are making decisions about the roles in that organization. So it's not just having a relationship with one person, and you know, certainly if you're going to for senior roles, then you know having a relationship with or a person knowing so everyone on the exact team actually having an opinion about you so that when your name comes up that they can, you know, the people on exact teams will definitely sit around the table and I've been involved in, um, exact times where we've reviewed, um, candidates for roles. We've talked about people that we're sponsoring into roles, that type of thing. So how do you sell? Get yourself knowing in that space. You know, I think one of the ways is definitely asking for more work, so, yeah, that's my my tip number two. Okay, Tip number three. So my tip number three is, you know, just how you take hold of your own learning and on growing. So I think, um, you know often these courses if you work in the bigger organization, there's a lot, Of course, is that you can do online. Eso check those out on what might be of interest to you if you work in digital. You know, I think the world is your oyster at the moment. Um, you know, there's pretty much you can pretty much learning how to do anything on the Internet these days through different courses, you know, both free and both paid. So, you know, I think there's a lot of opportunity on YouTube to do anything. You know, um, the why I created this podcast is by searching handbag podcast searching how to use Garrett Band searching How toe, You know, upload my content. You know, I didn't know any of that stuff before, so I think it's just, you know, I would I would go with one. What are the courses? Opportunities that I can look into in the office. And then you know what I want to do? What am I interested in and what? Oh, I want to do out side of that. So, um, you know, and again, some paid, not paid. Um, you know? Yeah. Go for it. Let me soak so far. Say Okay. So we know he's made we've talked about during the job to the best of your ability. We've talked about asking for more work we've talked about How can you learn and grow in your current role? I think the next thing is, um So, for example, what's what's the next role that you see yourself in or what? What do you think? I think you know. It can be pretty assured in saying you're not going to necessarily go from being saying on the help desk oven organization to being the thing I o in one step, Um and so what are the small steps that you need to take him between? If you do have that aspiration to be in a more senior job or, you know there are expressions also don't always need to be kind of the next level above you. They can. Can you grossed skills in a sort of a junked position that's on the side of something that you're doing now. So often you might need to kind of step, start step sideways or moving to a different organization, that type of things. So I think, you know, start by, um, talking through your aspirations with either your boss or with a colleague will mental. And it could be, you know, your business analysts at the moment and you'd like to move into Project Management. What, what did they think he should do to make that happen? Could you take on a small project? For example, could you do a project management course? Could you go on work with the more saying your project manager? So I would, you know, really kind of work that through cheese self. Should you spend time with someone you know who's doing so say you're in a role and you kind of even potentially want to move into a completely different department. Could you go and spend some time with that person in the other departments? So, yeah, I think the fourth thing is, you know, making us new aspirations known to others and then, you know, formulating a plan of how you could think are about that. And then, actually, you know, make that. And I think finally, who is your cheese squad or who is your pit crew? Who are the people that are going to help you out as you go through your career and you have ups and downs and you know, who are the people that you can ring and Oscar in Boston? I think it's good to have a friend of work, you know, whether that friends in your department or whether that friends outside of your department, you know, they understand the context of the culture. They understand the people that work in there, you don't have to spend a whole bunch of time giving a great big backstory. If you've got a problem, you can kind of get to the crux of it. But it must be someone that you trust in someone that is not going to go and share your particular thoughts, potentially on, uh, subject to, you know, everyone if you don't. If that's not what you're after, I think so. I think you know, it's good to have someone in a workplace that you can confide it. I think also, it's good to have people outside of the workplace that you can also confined. And so, you know, I have a couple of friends who are women in senior roles who, um, you know, working, working, different businesses that will, you know, I know I can give them a call if I've got a complex work issue and, you know, asked for their opinion or ask them what they should do. Or what would they do if they're in my situation? Am I being silly about something or, um, you know, that type of thing. So, you know, it's just finding those people who will, you know, help you. I think you know, mentoring is terrific as well. So I think, you know, searching out whether again, at someone in your organization or somewhere somewhere else that will actually give you advice. Now, this could be paid, it could be unpaid. Someone that's going to kind of, you know, maybe make you think a little bit differently. Teoh, Um, how you are thinking Or perhaps, you know, push you to kind of think a little bit broader or just ask the difficult questions that you're not necessarily asking yourself. Or, You know, I often find when I'm mentoring and coaching people and I say or why don't you do this or why don't you do that? And I'm like, Gosh, I actually should be doing that for myself. You know, I always find it really, really helpful to Maine in situations that I haven't really kind of considered. So yeah, I think you know just who is your who is? You choose Goldman. Who's your support crew? Have you got a mentor? Just kind of finding those people together around you to kind of help you and support you and have you back. So this Look, let me let me know how you go with, um, ramping up your Korea. I'm really excited to launch this podcast and just say how you can, you know, go for gold in your career. So, as I mentioned doing the job that you've got to the best of your ability, asking for more work, learning and growing you Korea, making your aspirations known to others and have a plan to execute that and then finally finding that support crew tribe Chief squad Ah, mentor, etcetera to, you know, to have you back basically well, best choose. Thank you for listening. This podcast was produced and edited by race.