Linear Career Movement

Employees in all career levels would sacrifice a hand and a limb to climb the career ladder. And you can’t blame them. It’s dog-eat-dog out there. But they do it the wrong way.

Most engage in networking by being active in their religious establishments. Some become more active in their old boys (girls) school associations and fraternities. Some befriend their bosses, religious leaders and well-oiled politicians. There are indefinite permutations. In extreme cases they join secret societies. The aim. To advance their careers.

Ask a McKinsey alumni what you should do to boost your career and the first recommendation will be to learn problem solving. Friends with all good intentions will recommend you get multiple certifications. Areas such as project management, data analytics and coding are their top picks. Those at the tech cutting edge quickly tell you, if you get AI skills, you’re made. Chatbots like ChatGPT are the rage.

If you are as naïve as I was when I started my career, you’ll listen to your industry senior colleagues and get sucked into professional qualifications. The most popular in my day were ICAN, CIBN, and CIPM. There is nothing wrong with the qualification from these institutions but they can only move your career linearly.

Exponential Career Movement

Three unheralded skills will exponentially explode your career. I call them unheralded because they don’t typically show up in the top ten when top career experts talk about career accelerators.

It’s understandable because they are not as fanciful as networking, project management, AI, robotics, digital marketing. But if you master these three unheralded skills you will be lording it over project managers and data analyst and networkers in you necks of the wood.

The three are:

• Writing
• Presenting
• Personal Grooming

What?

*Writing, Presenting and Personal Grooming*?

Yes, these are the *soft skills* you need to explode your career and they are not as soft as you think.

Writing

The men and women we admire the most all excelled in writing. Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Tony Robbins, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie, Shakespeare. You name them. Add to that list James Clear, Ryan Holiday, Malcolm Gladwell, and Nicolas Cole.

Nicolas Cole is one of today’s most decorated digital writing global influencers. He is one of the Category Pirates trio and his writing has garnered over 500 million readers.  He started writing at age 17.

In corporate settings what comes to mind when we speak about writing is report wring. Functions such as Risk Management, Compliance, and Control are regularly called to write and present their reports (findings) to the executive committees, and sometimes, the board of directors.

In our fast-paced corporate environments you have just a few seconds to make a first good impression with your writing. Though we write less than we listen and speak, bad writing causes more damage because of its permanence.

People who write well come across as more professional, believable and trustworthy. When you master the art of effective writing you quickly stand out and command authority or become more authoritative.

Presenting

When professionally presented, well-crafted reports compel attention and action. While effective writing helps in structuring your ideas logically and shaping your arguments, presenting what you have written with confidence accentuates your impact. Effective presentation skills make your superiors to act on your call to action with dispatch. Effective presentation is indeed an unrivalled skill.

A mentor once ran against the law and was hurled before a judge. In the UK. After he presented his side of the story, the judge called him to the inner chamber and whispered, “You spoke with eloquence to spare.” Long story short, my friend was left off the hook. Effective public speaking saved the day.

Public speaking does not come easily to the majority of people. Indeed, some people would rather die than give a public speech. The fear of public speaking is called glossophobia. Marrying the fine art of writing with the fine art of public speaking, aka Presentation, gives you unassailable all-round advantage.

Personal Grooming

Personal grooming is the icing on the cake. Without it, you’re dead in the water.

No matter how thought provoking your report and no matter how eloquently you present, if your personal grooming falls short you would have lost it. As Tony Jeary, a presentation expert, asserted, “Life is a series of presentations.”

The way you step out to make your presentation is a presentation. People say you can’t judge a book by its cover. Nothing can be further from the truth. Your audience (your colleagues and direct peers, your boss, your boss’s boss, your CEO, members of the board of directors and even members of the public) will judge you on how you turn out.

While I don’t recommend you invest in Seville Row, Barutti or Pierre Cardin suits, don’t pinch on your wardrobe.  Some say the hood does not make the monk, but remember, without the hood there is no monk.

You colours of choice should be dark blue and grey flannel suits for men and women. Avoid black if you can, it scares people. Yes, go for black shoes and belts; and white or sky blues shirts or blouses if you’re a lady.

Well-made African Ankara is equally excellent (for ladies). Wear matching tie (earing and necklace for ladies). Don’t miss a matching wrist watch. It’s part of your dressing. Ladies please avoid bangles and stiletto type skyscraper shoes. Keep your wardrobe fresh. Cull suits and shoes that are clearly out of vogue.

Next to your wardrobe is every other thing about you. If you have impeccable dressing sense but you’re known for not taking care of your teeth; lousy nails and unkempt hair, mustache, beard, etc. you’ll be regarded as none starter. You’re warned.

Years back, I went from the provinces to the head office of my then employer to complain about stagnation. After reviewing my case, the CEO directed his executive assistant that I should be redeployed immediately to the head office, for as he put it, I was a “head office material.”  

Writing, Presenting and Personal Grooming are a powerful combination.

These three unheralded skills will boost your career a thousand fold. These three skills are exponential career boosters because they cut across all industry verticals and career stages.

When you write well, you compel every reader to act on your writing. When you do that, you become an authority figure.

When you present well, you shape how you want the audience to comprehend what you are presenting by your choice of words and tone of voice. When you do that, you become their mouthpiece by the power of transference.

And when you display sartorial savviness, by impeccable dressing and grooming, you convince the audience you’re a leader. And your audience could be the entire world or just your CEO and board of directors. When you do that, your audience will sooner than later call you to lead.

Conclusion

Writing Skills. Presenting Skills. Personal Grooming Skills.

These are skills they don’t teach you in any Ivy League schools be it Yale, Wharton, or Harvard. They rather teach leadership, strategy, and executive management because that is where the big bucks are. They may grudgingly add one of these three as electives.

But don’t be deceived. These three unheralded skills will boost your career a thousand fold. Pursue them with a messianic zeal.

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