Beyond the Basics:
Try A New Focus to Achieve Success in 2025
Happy New Year!
January - the month full of promise and excitement as we wipe the slate clean and think of how we can bring a fresh perspective to our career and maybe push ourselves beyond the usual expectations.
This year, why not think outside the box and try a more unique approach to distinguishing yourself? Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is often 'where the magic happens' and by applying a few of the following ideas and strategies, you could surprise yourself by what you can achieve.
1. Strategic Relationship Building
Go beyond direct team members:
Identify key influencers and collaborators in adjacent departments or outside your immediate circle. Build alliances by learning what they do and how your work can complement theirs.
Reverse mentorship:
Connect with junior team members to gain fresh insights and help them grow.
2. Mastering Emerging Trends or Technologies
Become a trend spotter:
Research and share insights on upcoming industry trends or technological advances that could impact your role or organisation.
Be a technology advocate:
Learn niche tools that improve efficiency or solve complex problems, becoming a go-to person for specialised solutions.
3. Focus on Company Culture and Employee Experience
Culture champion:
Take note of the organisation's unwritten rules, unique rituals, and opportunities for cultural improvement.
Employee experience enhancement:
Develop or advocate for initiatives that improve work-life balance, mental health resources, or inclusion.
4. Aligning Personal Purpose with Company Vision
Craft a personal purpose statement:
Ensure it aligns with your role and the company’s mission. Use this to guide decisions and projects.
Look for storytelling opportunities:
Use your own story or professional journey to inspire and connect with colleagues.
5. Identify Inefficiencies and Propose Creative Solutions
Find "small wins":
Look for low-hanging fruit where minor process improvements can yield significant results.
Challenge outdated processes:
Question why things are done a certain way and propose alternatives with a clear business case.
6. Be a Catalyst for Cross-Functional Innovation
Encourage cross-team brainstorming sessions:
Proactively bring together diverse talents to ideate on persistent challenges.
Develop a "future-proofing" mindset:
Think of how your current projects can adapt to future needs or industry shifts.
7. Own a Unique Passion Project
Pick a side initiative that aligns with company values:
Ensure it isn't directly tied to your day-to-day role. For example, start a sustainability initiative, diversity effort, or community service drive.
8. Act as a Knowledge Curator
Synthesise external insights:
Regularly share summaries of industry reports, research papers, or competitor analyses that add value to your team.
9. Advocate for Customer-Centricity
Bring the voice of the customer into discussion:
Even if you're in an internal-facing role, seek ways to keep consistency and consider the voice of the customer into discussions and decsions more often as we can often overlook focussing on customers at every level.
10. Focus on Legacy and Impact
Define what success looks like for your role beyond metrics:
Identify how you want to influence people, processes, and company direction long-term.
Create a roadmap for leaving a positive impact:
Even if you move to another role in the future.
Trying a few of these strategies may help you gain an edge in building your career or even pushing you to try a new direction you haven’t though of.