Act As If You Already Had It

“Dress for success!” was the message of late 70s and continued to be a popular topic of corporate speakers for decades. The high tech companies have challenged this message a bit (sandals with white socks, sometimes even no sandals and no socks…), but the core still applies. It goes beyond the clothes. It’s about behavior, about the whole persona you are trying to portray.

When you walk around making jokes about executives in your company, fussing about laziness of your coworkers, or looking for ways to hide in your office so that you can focus on your tasks, nobody will ever imagine you as a potential leader.

If you really want a specific role you feel passionate about, you have to behave your way to get it. Act as if you already had it. Let’s assume you want to manage a team of people in your organization. How would a manager behave? Well, he would care about the needs of the people on the team, he would support them, listen to them, cheer for them, provide them with great feedback that would motivate them to be even better. He would also make them accountable, challenge them, treat them with respect, look for ways to build their trust in him an in each other. The list goes on, but you get the point.

All of this is what you can already do from the first day on the job. Even if you were hired as a temp, as someone who just runs reports, someone who writes code, someone who boxes the equipment before shipping. Think of what behaviors are crucial for success in the role you want. Is it being diligent, creative, caring, funny, helpful, careful, daring…?

Imagining that you already have the role will keep you from acting foolish. It will allow you to notice opportunities you wouldn’t notice otherwise. And when the time comes to make the move, it’ll seem like a no-brainer to everyone around.