August 16, 2016
Interview with Patty Azzarello, author of the book Rise: 3 Practical Steps for Advancing Your Career, Standing Out as a Leader, and Liking Your Life
Mike Carruthers:
A lot of people think that if you work hard at your job you will get ahead.
Patty Azzarello:
And it’s just a sad reality that hard work and good work does not stand on its own.
Patty Azzarello, author of the book Rise, says above and beyond working hard there are a few other things you must do if you’re going to advance in your career. First of all understanding that all the work you do is not all of equal value.
You have to start understanding which things have more impact than other things. And you have to go back and negotiate and say, “You know what of these 37 things you asked me to do, I think these 3 are actually critically important so why don’t I finish those first.” And when you do that you free yourself up and you actually distinguish yourself as somebody who knows how to contribute value to the business.
Next you have to be visible but not annoying.
Don’t expect people to come and discover you, you have to do things to make that work visible to the people who benefit from that work. Because you have to build your credibility you can’t be credible if you’re invisible.
And Patty believes if your career is going anywhere you must have mentors.
You could attempt a career without mentors but why would you? Because mentors can help you learn things, they can open doors for you, they can give you support – you’re just so much better off if you have people that are helping you.
