SCALE Your Influence and Personal Growth

 Agree or disagree?
 

• You don’t need a title to be a leader.
• You don’t need a large bank account to be a force in your community.
• You don’t need artistic talents to be a creative person.

 
If you agree, then what do you need “to be” to continue to advance in your influence and career?
 
The answer is you need to be able to multiply yourself and your ambitions, beyond what you can pull off in the 24 hours you have to play with each day.

I'm assuming that for most careers, you can't go it fully alone. You will rely on others to do their jobs, and do them well, to achieve what you want. You need more than an assistant, team or village.

You need mechanisms that create opportunities to develop skills, and connect with and influence others.

You also need to demonstrate consistencies in your messages and performances, and efficiencies with your time and the time you ask of others, to see the reflection of your discipline and hard work in the circles around you. 

Scaling Your Growth

Branching out does not always mean moving up (at least not on the surface). With today's career landscape described more as a "lattice" than a "ladder," growing in depth and ability, including skill sets in areas like emotional intelligence, is paramount to advancement.

As you know, opportunities don't always fall in your lap; you'll have to create them. The following are several mechanisms that create breeding grounds for growth opportunities, or better yet, put you in the position to shape your own experiences. 
 
SERVICE

In addition to the difference you can make for people and communities, feeding the duty and drive to serve something bigger than us all can be a self-charging battery, and continual source of inspiration to others.

​From the spirit of your giving, to the follow through, and follow up, service to others gives purpose to each day and context to your own hardships: past, present and future. 

CREATIVITY

It’s not an argument of art vs. science, or right brain/left brain. It’s about seeing people and situations through a different lens, and applying all you’ve picked up along the way to solve problems, discover new opportunities, produce memorable and measurable results, or simply sharing the creative thoughts that can spark others to also push further beyond convention. 

ADVANCEMENT

Both in personal and professional development of oneself and others, through education, training, sponsorship and mentorship.

​Contribute to building and sustaining cultures of inclusiveness, collaboration and innovation, across diverse backgrounds and generations.

Make a commitment to lifelong learning, and challenging yourself to take on new skills and environments (especially once you’re finally feeling confident and comfortable). 

LEADERSHIP

No matter your stage of career or expertise, find and/or create your own opportunities to experience the demands of leadership, develop skills overtime based on these experiences and reinforce your model inside and outside of your typical daily duties. 

ENGAGEMENT

Seek out participation with new people, organizations and networks in your community and industry, who are both like-minded with common goals, and push far beyond your comfort zone into new territories.

Social media also offers tools to extend your message, reach and touches. In the digital world or real life: commit to showing up, even when you’re tired, over booked or under appreciated.
 
Where to Start? 

In the future I’ll go deeper into these areas to show how they stand alone in your development, and also work together to create your personal brand and career story. 

To reframe the questions posed earlier…here’s a great place to start:
 

• You need the drive to serve others and worthy causes to rally around.
• You need your heart in the right place behind all that you pursue and ask of those around you.
• You need to create the time and space to allow yourself to be creative in tackling your challenges as they come. 

What are your key area, or mechanisms as I’ve called them, that contribute to your ability to achieve and surpass your professional/personal goals?


Christina Capadona-Schmitz (@ChristinaCS & @DownWithSpitUp) leads marketing communications for Oswald Companies, a risk management and financial services company in Cleveland, Ohio. She is on the clock 24/7 with her parenting resource blog www.DownWithSpitUp.com, among other creative pursuits and community endeavors. Connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinacapadonaschmitz.


Image credit Unsplash @ikarishinjigao