1 Read more

You need to learn from mistakes but nobody said they had to be your mistakes. There is a lot to be said for reading, whether that be autobiographies, novels, informative books or just a newspaper.

If you have trouble prioritising your time for reading you should use your commute for this. Consider listening to an audiobook or podcast while you’re sitting in traffic. The Blinkist App is very useful for this. It summarises the best leadership development books into short 15-minute audiobooks, making it effortless to allocate time to learn into your day.

2 Get yourself on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with more than 610 million users worldwide.

It is a place where professionals can interact, job-seekers can show their skillsets and where companies recruit and head hunt.

While LinkedIn is a great place to show off your core skills, much like your CV it can work to your detriment if not presented well

Whether you’re looking for a new job or just keeping an eye out, LinkedIn is a great place to put your name into contention immediately.

While LinkedIn is a great place to show off your core skills, much like your CV it can work to your detriment if not presented well. A good LinkedIn profile should have a professional picture, a good, easy to read opening summary and don’t be afraid to show off your experiences and achievements.

3 Write down your goals

“You can’t hit a target you can’t see.” Allocate some time to set goals. Often people find it hard to know where to start when setting goals but a quick way to do this is just pick one thing you need to start and one thing you need to stop.

You should always write down your goals as it’s much easier to hold yourself accountable

This allows you to take ownership of your development. You should always write down your goals as it’s much easier to hold yourself accountable if it’s written down in black and white. And remember goals should be measurable. A good example is to pick three courses or seminars to attend before the year is out.

4 Soft skills

These are often described as personal skills, the most common soft skills that people struggle with are communication, time management, stress management and decision making. Things like communication skills are difficult to improve by yourself so you should consider attending relevant classes or events for this.

If you want to progress in your career, it is important to move away from firefighting so that you have time to work on your development

Udemy.com has some excellent content online to help improve soft skills or alternatively attending seminars, short courses, events and getting coaching will almost certainly benefit your development. Prioritising your time is a key life skill. If you want to progress in your career, it is important to move away from firefighting so that you have time to work on your development. There are loads of apps and technologies out there to help plan your schedule.

Managing your stress levels will also help you focus on furthering your career. A good start is to acknowledge you are stressed and what is triggering it. Exercise is a very good way of dealing with pressure, whether that be going for a leisured walk in the park or lifting weights in the gym. Don’t be afraid to ask your company or employer for in-house training or to facilitate development courses. Also make sure that you always mention any training you have received on your CV and in interviews.

5 Technical skills

Unlike soft skills, technical skills can be easy to pick up. Common technical skills that employers seek are usually in the area of IT. Most professionals can use Excel, Word and PowerPoint but being able to use them well and efficiently can greatly reduce your workload.

If you are looking to really climb the ladder, you will need to be good at project management

There is tonnes of content online which will run through how these platforms work or if you are a beginner, take a class or ask someone to show you the basics. Keeping up to tabs with the latest technology and apps are important, no matter what industry you are in. If you are looking to really climb the ladder, you will need to be good at project management, so software such as Microsoft Project, Google Docs and cloud-computing apps are always a good thing to be familiar with. Again it is important to mention your training or skill levels on your CV or in an interview.