Rise from your mistakes

Every now and then everyone makes some mistake or experiences failure of some kind. Bouncing back quickly is important to keeping you and your career on track. Here are some tips on how to recover from mistakes

DON'T HOLD YOURSELF TO RANSOM: Don’t focus on the mistake or fall into the trap of making that failure the reference point of what you can achieve or not. And don’t give anyone permission to hold it over your head either. If you boss can’t seem to get over it, let them know you have learnt from your mistakes and discuss what you need to do to for both of you to put it behind you.

DO THE PRE-NATAL ASSESSMENT: We know about post-mortem to find out what went wrong. That’s always a good idea. I would suggest that you focus on the pre-natal so that you avoid mistakes altogether in future: Identify what triggers, conditions or other factors such as poor judgment, let to the mistakes so that you can avoid these factors or minimise their influence. Remove anything that holds you back habits, associations, circumstances or fears.

DEVELOP COPING STRATEGIES: You may not make the same mistake twice, but you’re likely to make other mistakes. Know what makes you feel lousy and what cheers you up. Don’t let emotions and delusion derail you. Some coping strategies may include keeping a tough friend on side to stop you from wallowing in self pity, being solution focussed, reframing your attitude.

SET SOME RECOVERY GOALS: You’ll obviously learn your own lessons but you can learn from mistakes of others too. Avoid those who might keep happing on your mistake. If your self confidence has taken a hit, find a way to build it back up by applying yourself with discipline and focus.


Now take action: How do you ensure that you learn from your mistakes?

Climb a corporate tree not a ladder

Wanting to climb the corporate ladder is a very worthy goal. But perhaps developing your career ‘climbing a tree’ rather than a ‘ladder’ might serve you better? Here’s why. A tree;

HAS STRONG ROOTS: Think about what keeps you grounded in your career. Qualifications, experience, awards are important but what is critical and move you forward are having a ‘can do and will do’ attitude, being solution oriented, being prepared to stretch outside of your comfort zone and taking personality responsibility for how your career develops.

CAN BE PRUNED: You can do this by shedding habits, attitudes, and toxic associations that pull you in the wrong direction. Take time regularly to reflect on what is unhealthy to your career. Pruning isn’t just about removing dead wood but also preventing overcrowding; removing distractions so that you focus on what matters. Also know your strengths and figure out ways to develop them further.

HAS BRANCHES: These give you options unlike a ladder which offers only one direction. A successful career isn’t necessary one that ends you at the top. Rather one that makes you better as a person and helps you make a significant contribution. So don’t waste time sitting still waiting to climb the ladder. Don’t just look up. Branch out by taking on big assignments, interesting projects that create more value and flexibility for yourself.

IS A LIVING THING: This means you watch out for any stagnation or any risks that might stall your career. You identify actions and decisions that will increase opportunities, raise your chances of bearing fruit which may manifest in the form of promotions, increased profile or recognition or the gaining of well sought after skills.

Now take action: Where ‘dead’ things do you need to prune from your career?

Raise your sights

Time is the most perishable asset we have so we must use it well. Here are four lenses through which you can redeem the benefits of time.

HINDSIGHT: Hindsight offers lessons for now and the future. To benefit from what’s gone past ask yourself questions such as; what new did I learn that I did not know before? How is this new knowledge helpful today? What would I do differently faced with a similar situation? Analyse hindsight in the context of new circumstances so that it’s relevant to current goals.

INSIGHT: Insight can come from the past or present. When you get insight, you understand more about an issue than may be immediately obvious. Insight is not facts, it’s the new meanings you get for example from additional information or the connections you can make between seemingly unconnected facts. Gaining insights requires open mindedness and a willingness to see things from new angles.

FORESIGHT: Foresight is trying to understand changes that are likely to happen in future and preparing for it. For example what changes are likely to occur in your profession? How is your industry likely to develop, what additional competencies would you need to remain competitive?. Don’t just react to trends, try to anticipate them and respond. Keep your eye open to emerging changes so that you are not overtaken by events.

OVERSIGHT: When you exercise oversight over your self you take accountability for ensuring that your career flourishes. You keep track of your goals, you keep your skills fresh and your networks solid, you check that you are growing as a person in the level of responsibility you can handle, the challenges you can face and surmount and the amount of success you can enjoy and still remain grounded. Now take action: How can you prepare for changes that might affect your career?

Is your career on track?

A good career should not be stagnant and that’s why a progress assessment from time to time is helps to ensure that you are not sitting on your laurels or selling yourself short. Here are some standard questions to ask yourself.

WHERE DID YOU WANT TO BE BY NOW?: This ought to be as clear cut as possible ‘I want to be a boss someday’ is too woolly to be measured. Boss of a team? An organisation? If so what type of organisation?. Did you want a role that allowed you to apply more of what you are naturally good at? How can that guide the next stage of your career?

WHAT'S THE REALITY OF YOUR CAREER NOW?: How far is where you are now from where you wanted to be? What would it take for you to get on the right track? What are the potential opportunities that you can anticipate or could create for yourself. What personal growth could you achieve? How big should your goals be? What sacrifices are you prepared to make to achieve these goals ?

HOW DID YOU GET TO WHERE YOU ARE?: For the future to hold more, you need to understand how you’ve operated. Did you proactively follow a plan that brought you here or did you just land where you are by chance? Either way, what gave you most satisfaction along the way? What was your least favourite activity and why? What could have been better?

WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?: The better future you won’t just happen, you have to increase the chances of that happening. What better choices can you make? What bad habits must you drop? What sensible risks might you be willing to take? What support do you need to move forward?.

Now take action: Do a career status check