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Last month, I got a request from a client as to whether I could help him advance in his career at his workplace, which is not an uncommon request in my line of work, and something that I have done quite regularly. I met with him today.

In general, it is good to look first at where the current path leads and consider if that is where one wants to go - In his case, it is not. The next thing is to of course think about what one wants to do and whether it is realistic based on past experience and future potential and what we did today was essentially design a position to suit his needs. Generally, companies don't make up positions, but in this case I think if approached right, he might pull it off. 

https://i.imgur.com/eEAV5Tl.jpg

What he has to do now is seed the idea with the right people and present his case in a way that makes it attractive to consider. This means that not only does it have to make sense for the company, it also has to benefit his colleagues who are involved by either lessening their own burdens, or adding value to their current position. To get this through, he is going to have to justify the change of the organizational structure and then ,justify why it should be him to fill the position. 

 Essentially, career advancement is never an overnight process, but there are some people who will advance faster than others, and it is not because they are mates with the boss, although they doesn't hurt. A lot of people mistakenly think that if they work hard at their job, they will be rewarded with a promotion, but this is rarely the case. 

The reason is that in general, a promotion requires new skills to be learnt and unless they have been closing the gaps concurrently, they haven't demonstrated their ability to do so. This means that for the promotion to happen, a decision maker would be taking two risks - the first is whether they will actually be able to do the new job, the second is that taking that risk will automatically cost them a person who has proven themselves competent in the old job. 

The *work harder and smarter* approach means that at least some of the skill and experience gaps are closed between the old and new whilst doing the old well. This allows for the demonstration of not only skill development, but also the intent for advancement. When positions open up (or new are made), having someone who has already done most of the ramp up work is an easier decision to make than a person who has demonstrated their ability, but also appeared content doing what they are currently doing. 

Ambition often matters in work scenarios, but I think it is more than that also. The process of developing toward a different position by increasing skills and showing intention is actually an investment strategy into uncertainty  as there is no guarantee if the new position will materialize, nor if one would actually be considered for it. It is playing the long game, but simultaneously hedging the bet. 

The hedge is that skill advancement is rarely wasted as it opens up opportunities that might not be possible otherwise, much like no matter how great an investment is, if one doesn't have the necessary finances available to invest - it gets left by the wayside. That leads to the "I should have, but I couldn't" types of comments later on. Having skills and experience in a competitive job market is much like money in the bank as it means that when positions do arise, they can be taken and often, without as much risk as there are always more opportunities for those with the capabilities. 

Just like with investing, most people in the workplace are both risk averse and unwilling to do the work unless there is a near immediate return - and this is getting worse with younger generations who seemingly think they are entitled to promotions and the chance of responsibility, prior to demonstrating if they have any of what it takes. They want the reward without the work, the stability without building the foundation. 

While many people might not want a career, might not want a job - pretty much everyone wants to eat, have shelter and enjoy some luxuries of life. For most of us, *working for a living* is not only the way to pay the daily bills, it also can give us the potential to have a little extra to build an investment portfolio or, develop the skills to make one employable in the face of tough times, to be robust under pressure. 

So many people seem to want to skip work and get straight to the good times, without realizing that unless extremely lucky, that is just going to lead to discomfort and a reduction of opportunity - the opposite of what is wanted. The people who think that they are working smarter because they get the same results for less, are selling their future potential because they are missing the opportunity to do more investing now so that later the revenue streams largely take care of themselves. 

I see this on Steem a lot too of course, where people keep working for the weekly reward post by post, rather than taking the time to develop their entire account from all the possible directions, stake, relationship, content delivery, knowledge and personality. Some invest whatever they can, whenever and wherever they can, others take an approach like most of those in the workplace, just keep doing *what is comfortable* and hope that luck arrives and promotion happens or, that lottery win comes in. 

Working hard doesn't come with rights to desired outcomes, especially if the work done doesn't lead to where one wants to be. Honest, hard work is an investment into the future life of oneself, doing what is necessary to be better than one is today - even if the destination one aims for - *never arrives.*

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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