I have had the chance to work with many leaders in senior positions throughout my career. A key skill I have developed is being able to adapt to their personal leadership and management styles.

Understanding the ways they prefer to work is extremely useful when it comes to your own career development. I quickly learnt that even those leaders who do want to help you develop your career, may not have the time to sit with you to consider potential pathways and opportunities.

In my experience I had to be proactive about my own development. If I wasn’t, I probably wouldn’t have gotten many of the opportunities I was fortunate enough to undertake.

I’d like to share some of my insights from what has worked well for me. These don’t work with every leader you work with so it is just a matter of trial and error to figure out what works in your working-style with your boss.

Tip 1: Lay the foundation

The most essential step to take when working with senior leaders yet still developing your own career. Start by demonstrating you can handle any task and do a great job, no matter how big or small. Become reliable and trusted. You need to establish yourself before you can go on to the next steps of asking for opportunities for career progression.

Show you can handle what you’ve already been given to do first. Once you have established your foundation, you will be able to go on to the next steps of career growth.

Tip 2: Do your research and clearly articulate what you want

If you are interested in a career path, investigate it further. There are a number of things you could do. Start by engaging with the people in your network. Find out what qualifications and experience you need. Attend industry events and ask people in your network to introduce you to someone who is in a role you might want to be in one day. Do your research. Be clear on what you want from the next steps in your career. Note – from all that research you might find its not actually what you want to be doing!

You might find you have to take this approach if you don’t have the chance to have these conversations with your boss, but your boss is very keen to help you grown in your career. In my experience I was lucky enough to have several bosses who were supportive in helping me progress. They were willing to help me create opportunities, I just had to let them know what it was that I wanted.

Tip 3: Take initiative your boss’s key deliverables

You might be in a situation where you aren’t sure of what you want to do in your career at the moment, but you want to keep moving forward. I recommend understanding your boss’s key priorities. What do they need to deliver on? What are the priorities they are working toward? Is there a new way of working they might be introducing across the organisation? Offer to be involved/lead something in that space.

For example, years ago, a boss of mine wanted to introduce agile ways of working for all his teams. He then had big plans to expand more broadly across the organisation. I offered to work with a lead contractor he brought in to help roll this out. I put up my hand to do anything and everything and did it well. Responsibility came slowly but surely.. I was able to not only develop a great understanding of this new methodology. I also ended up leading projects in a new unit that was established and found a new passion!

Tip 4: Get involved in meetings

Ask to attend meetings you see in your boss’s diary. I was fortunate enough to have a boss who took the approach of “If you see anything in my diary you are interested in, just come along”. This was gold to me and definitely one of the best perks to working with a senior leader.

I went to so many interesting meetings with many different internal and external stakeholders. It gave me an excellent opportunity to shadow my boss and understand how to run their portfolio. I also started offering to take on tasks to do that came out of these meetings which turned into projects I was able to lead. I appreciated every opportunity!

Tip 5: Find a time that works

I still recommend trying to find a time that works for a chat with your boss. It would be a shame to miss the opportunity to receive guidance from a senior leader. I would figure out what time would work best for each boss I had. For instance, sometimes I met my boss very early in the mornings for a coffee, before the working day began.

Other times we would meet after work following our last meeting, or when my boss was working from home I’d give them a call via video-conference. Find what time works well for them and take that opportunity to have a chat. There is a wealth of experience you could learn from a senior leader.

Tip 6: Take a step back and reflect

At the end of each week or fortnight, write down the things you have achieved. When working with senior leaders, it is so easy to get caught up in the high work load that you may not get a chance to be fully aware of and appreciate your own achievements! Take the time to sit down and write out what you achieved during that period of time. I am sure that you will be pleasantly surprised by what you come up with.

Wishing you the best of luck with your career progression!

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