The 5% Secret To Powering Your Career

Want an incredibly successful, vibrant and long lasting career?

Then there’s no need to be a 100 percenter. All you need to be is a 5 percenter. What do I mean by that?

LET ME CLARIFY:

Always know 5% more than anyone else in the room.

That’s it. That’s the big secret to staying relevant, needed and having growth in your career. It’s as simple as that.You see, what got us here in our careers won’t get us further and it’s no longer just acceptable to keep up. Things are changing at a rapid pace and instead of keeping up, keep ahead.

This means, stay one step ahead of change to ensure that you remain current and at the edge of your industry. Staying one step ahead is a big statement isn’t it? You might be asking yourself: What does that mean Chris? How can I do it, and most importantly, how can I maintain it?

When I say know 5% more than anyone else in the room, I am not saying know 5% more of EVERYTHING. Focus on your area of expertise – your core capability set – the stuff YOU personally (or professionally) bring to the party…or the table.

If you keep ensuring that you know 5% more than the others, you have a place and you bring value. Colleagues and clients look at you as a sage-like figure who understands the mysteries of the future. You know stuff they don’t and you provide a trusted compass-point on what to do next, and what not to do.

I attend the Cannes Creativity Festival every two years and I pay my own way for it. Why? I meet people, I smell the trends, I suck in the learning, grab ideas, inject inspiration and I fill my career tank with insights. I come home at the edge of disruption in my industry and this fuels my toolkit – my counsel, ideas, and energy. It keeps me in the room for another two years.

I do other things to keep ahead too. The list is long but that’s not the point, the point is: What do YOU do to keep 5% more knowledgeable in your key capability area than anyone else in the room?

Are you doing it consistently, persistently, with relentlessness and vigour?

If not, get started! What got you here, won’t get you there. The young guns are coming to eat you. ‘Catch me if you can,’ I yell at my would-be usurpers, thumbing my nose at them and laughing into the wind as they chug along in the wake behind me.

They haven’t caught me yet. One day they will. That’s a fact. But not yet. Not yet.

How about you?

Want to know 5% more in the accounting and finance space? Our team specialises in chatting to accounting & finance professionals in the current market all day, every day. Contact them to speak about your career today.