24. Positioning yourself for Success

How can you put yourself in a position to be considered the go-to person, or the person seen as the solution to a problem. 

In my career, I’ve tried to establish myself as someone who can get things done, as someone who can deliver, and someone that people enjoy working with.

There’s nothing worse than dealing with difficult people at work. Whether they're difficult to pin down for a meeting, difficult to get information and resources from, or just plain difficult - difficult people often go overlooked for promotions because the higher-ups don't want that culture trickling down any further.

For this reason, I like to position myself as someone who can get along with people, and more importantly, someone who can make time for people within the organisation. I’ll have a meeting with anyone in my organisation to go through outcomes, goals, schedules – that’s one part of being someone who’s good to work with.

Let's take a moment for self reflection. Ask yourself:
How do you turn up?
Are you organised?
Do you have things under control?
Do you have the capacity to take on more work?

I always talk about positioning yourself for the next job you want (and the one after that!) and growing the skills you’ll need for that next job – by saying yes to opportunity, and presenting yourself as someone who has their workload under control, you demonstrate that you can not only handle the work you do have, but are available to take on more tasks and responsibility.

It’s really important to have a can-do mindset, be polite and professional, and also available to get involved with new work or projects that are kicking off in your organisation. These may seem like obvious, basic aspects of doing your job, but you'd be surprised at how many people lack basic courtesy and let their personal 'stuff' affect their professional performance.

When I worked in an organisation in the UK, I would ‘hunt’ for new work: I’d find out what new projects were set to kick off, and I’d talk to the people who were delivering those pieces of work to see if I could help in that delivery. I did this in part to extend my contract, but to also be seen as the type of person who is keen to learn new skills and grow, professionally.

While it's important to work hard to achieve your goals, it’s also important to set boundaries for yourself, to make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself. It’s important to set yourself up well, particularly if you have children and a partner, in terms of boundaries around working hours and the like. In every organisation I've worked for, there are always some people who arrive at 8:30 and finish at 5:30, like clockwork, but they have their head down the whole time they’re at work and they get their work done. Others may be a little more flexible with their working hours, so they can afford to be quite social. And others still make their entire personality all about work, putting in long hours and working on weekends and public holidays. That level of commitment is unsustainable, and you're setting yourself up for failure when you teach those in your organisation that you have no boundaries when it comes to work, then try to enforce boundaries later. Set yourself up from the beginning to save your sanity - and reputation - later.

When opportunities present themselves, it’s important to say yes. Whether it was a special project, a temporary relocation, or a project that would really stretch my skills, I said yes to almost everything that came my way. I worked really long hours when I was younger, but it paid off. At one stage, I was heavily pregnant, renovating a house, I had a three year old and my company couldn’t find a project manager for a piece of work. Everyone was shocked when I put my hand up, particularly since the project was considerably junior to the role I was currently in. I had capacity to take on the additional work (if you can believe it!) and it well and truly positioned me as a team player.

Take a look at your behaviour at work:
- Are you easy to get along with?
- Are you generous with your time and your talents at work?
- How do people at the office perceive you?
- Do people come to you when they have a problem?
- Do you have the capacity to take on more work?

If you’re aspirational in your career, and you want to move forward, you need to become conscious of how you show up at work, and if you suspect that you may be a little difficult to get along with or aren’t performing at your best, you may need to check in with yourself regularly to ensure that you’re making improvements in these areas.

Choose how you want to show up, choose how you want to be.


You need to be showing up with a learning mindset, with the willingness to help others, with a problem-solving attitude, in order to help your organisation deliver their business outcomes.

If you're a current or future leader in need of mentorship or coaching, don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to work with you.