In every aspect of life, your needs and the expectations placed on you evolve as you do. The same applies when approaching different stages of your career. As your work tasks progress from entry-level tasks to more senior level ones, your mental approach to the goals at hand has to progress with them.

This is where many struggle in their career progression. The very same approach that can make you shine as an intern can be detrimental to you and your career as a manager and beyond. Knowing what stocks to invest in is important on a daily basis for an employee at a basic level, but a different skill set is required to keep track of a customer’s entire portfolio.

Because leadership demands a different skill set and mentality as being an entry-level worker, here are four ways you need to invest in yourself to transform into a key employee as your career progresses.

1. Start Making More Decisions, Without The Constant Approval Of Your Boss

When you start working for someone, you want to be sure you are on the right track. So, you ask questions constantly. You request advice, constantly. You request permission, constantly.

None of this is a bad idea when you are starting out. In fact, it is crucial to ensure efficiency and adherence to company policies. There does come a certain point, however, when you need to “take off the training wheels” and go it alone.

This does not mean to say you should never ask permission or discuss things with your boss. It just means that you need to change the nature, and frequency of such discussions. Instead of checking in for every little decision, learn to run the broader plan by them and figure the finer details out on your own.

This display of independence, initiative, and reliability will help you earn the trust of your boss, which will benefit your place in the company longer term.

2. Lead To Create Leaders

There is a saying:
“A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters. A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders.” — Neale Donald Walsch

Just as you had to learn to gain independence from your boss as you progressed to a management position, so too do those working under you need to learn to function without your pedantic supervision.

Again, the nature of consultation between you and your team members has to change. You will need to manage their long-term goals and keep them unified in the team vision while leaving the execution of the details to them.

3. Plan With Your Longer Term Goals In Mind

Most entry-level positions require you to work under constant supervision and instruction from your superiors, carrying out more short-term tasks.

As you take on more responsibility, your goals become bigger and thus, longer term. Your daily schedule has to look further than just your day, with the need to streamline your daily tasks to meet your long-term goals.

A weekly planner may help in scheduling a longer term view of tasks, such as keeping track of different stocks and their level of performance over an extended period of time.

4. Consider Who You Are, Professionally, Outside Your Company

Your work, as well as your professional reputation, do not start and end at the office door.
A significant part of career evolution is learning to think beyond the ins and outs of the office.

Whether you choose to grow with one company or move on to another, developing your professional reputation and your professional relationships are imperative to securing your position in the marketplace.

There are many avenues to develop relationships. One of the best ways is through a thoughtful social media presence. By thoughtful, we mean your social media posts and strategy have to be formulated with your long-term goals in mind-not just random posts. You may need to consider developing a comprehensive social media strategy with the help of a professional.

With any form of personal and professional growth, committing yourself to constant improvement and evaluation, while having a clear vision of what you want is a sure-fire way to meet your goals.

You can never get too comfortable. Keep changing, keep growing, keep evolving!

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